Moving away from Moy!!

One of our friends has commented several times that the blog is called 'Moving to Moy' and maybe we should think about changing the name as we are actually here now. Maybe it was prophetic that we didn't as we have now moved out of the house at Moy and will hopefully be once again 'Moving to Moy' in a few months!

We had a frantic few days re-packing everything to the point where neither Richard or I want to see another cardboard box for a while but the removal men were great and not only moved all our furniture into the unaffected rooms but moved all the personal bits and pieces that we were taking (including my industrial sewing machine!) to the new house at Culloden. It is about 15 min drive from here - 11 miles. Sarah and Joe are with us for a few weeks and then will be moving into their own place about 15 mins walk away.

On the day we actually moved I was taking part in the SWRI (Scottish Womens Rural Institute) choir competition which meant a few hours packing then off to don the tartan! It was the first time that Inverness had entered a choir and we had good fun, despite the last minute stress of our conductor getting stuck in Dublin due to the volcanic ash flight disruption. Being good SWRI stock she made it back in the nick of time by train, ferry and car but none of us knew when we turned up at the venue whether or not we would have a conductor!! We did well although not placed in the top three (must have come fourth then!) but will probably continue to meet as everyone enjoyed it so much. Our local branch continued with a fundraising coffee evening on Friday which was well attended and raised £290 so we were very pleased.

Consequently I spent the day baking at Moy as we have been able to keep the kitchen and utility room accessible. It has saved having to move all the kitchen equipment and ingredients to Culloden as there really isn't the space to store everything there. I am having to get used to buying provisions in 'normal' quantities after thirty years of being able to bulk buy and Sarah and I will need to kit out two kitchens, having just managed to amalgamate all the baking powder, sugar, foil etc.

The builders were here for three days and have stripped out all the affected areas. Georgian houses have another layer between the floorboards and the ceiling below which is packed with a layer of ash about eight inches deep which acts as sound/heat proofing. The layer below our bedroom had to be removed as it was wet which was very messy! We were very pleased that the damage to the underlying timbers doesn't seem to be as extensive as was first thought so hopefully the drying out process will be much shorter. What may hold things up is getting listed buildings consent to re-instate all the walls and floors - can take up to three months...

We are going to replace our en-suite bathroom and Sarah and Joes bathroom while there is so much mess around so hopefully those will be able to be done while we are waiting.

Unfortunately our puppy plans have been thwarted as the litter was very small with only one bitch in it which the breeder was keeping to continue the line. We are very keen to have a dog with a good temperament and so would rather wait than take a risk from a breeder that we don't know. Rhema has been such a lovely dog that we may wait until there is a puppy available with similar parentage.

We are still on track for the hens though and I am told that the coop and run have arrived in North Cheam so we will look forward to picking them up next week-end when we go down for a family funeral.

The wildlife is abundant here, sadly often seen as roadkill, but it is not unusual to see deer by the side of the road, especially at dusk and the birdlife seems to be getting more prolific by the day. The swallows are back and although we are pleased they are here we are going to try and limit their nesting to the hayloft as the previous owners used to leave all the stable doors and the garage open all summer which meant that everything in any of them was covered in bird poo!

Our red squirrel is getting very bold and prefers peanuts from the bird feeder by the kitchen window although there are two squirrel feeders elsewhere in the garden. We have a fantastic collection of birds that visit including a huge number of siskins which can empty the thistle seed feeder in a couple of days and we now buy birdfood and nuts in sacks. Richard was given a nesting box with integral camera for Christmas which he has set up in the front garden and although we are not expecting it to be used this year it will be exciting to watch in due course as he can keep an eye on it from his laptop wherever he is in the world.

The days are noticeably longer here now - light at 5.30 and not dark until 21.00 so we are looking forward to some long days gardening here (well I am!). I am expecting to be here most days as there is much to be done and the weeds don't just stop growing. Tomorrow Pete is going to come and help us dredge the burn and the ponds and clear the overgrowth of pondweed before it becomes too prolific. We are still waiting to hear if we can erect a polytunnel and in the meantime the remaining greenhouse is bursting at the seams with veg. I am beginning to see what an advantage growing under cover will be as they are protected from the birds and slugs so much more. The council have been and inspected the site so hopefully we will hear next week. It seems unbelievable that we even have to get permission since it will only be seen by the sheep in the field behind us!!

What a difference a week makes!

Well - what a difference a week makes! On Easter Sunday we had an Easter egg hunt in the garden - in the snow!! Our very own 'Easter bunny' hid around 160 chocolate eggs in the garden and we had a crowd of friends from locally and from church who had a great time. We realised that the ponds were full of frogspawn which was also of great interest!

It was amazing that just a week later the snow had gone and we were having a cream tea in the garden with temperatures of up to 23oC

It has been a busy week with trying to pack up ready to move out on Monday and we had a three hour meeting with the builders to discuss the proposed schedule of works. We were a little concerned to learn that the builders who are stripping out the damaged parts will not necessarily be the same ones who re-instate them. In fact, there isn't anyone in place to do the work and because this is a listed building listed building consent has to be given for much of the work before it can be started. Where plaster and lathe walls and ceilings have to be taken down they have to be replaced with the same. Lime plaster apparently has to be applied in three stages with a considerable drying out time between coats so it is clear that the work is going to take longer than we thought. We had hoped that some of the work might be able to be done while the walls and floors were drying out but it would seem not!

Richard has been having fun with his birthday present, a new lens for his camera, which allows him to take more close up shots. We have loads of birds on the many feeders around the grounds and we were delighted to see our red squirrel back close to the house. The great excitement though was spotting the osprey which nest near here this afternoon. All jobs were abandoned as we headed for the loch where we saw at least three and possibly four meaning that there are possibly two nesting pairs. The female appeared to be sitting on the nest with the male keeping guard, as is the normal pattern so I expect we will be keeping a close eye on them over the summer.

We are adding to the wildlife in the family as well having finally decided that we need to find a friend for Rhema. We have seen her become far less sociable with other dogs since we moved up here. She always enjoyed playing with other dogs but now she shows little interest and when we are out for a walk she will just 'greet' another dog and then walk off without stopping to play. We have contacted a breeder recommended by the breeder that we got Rhema from and she has a litter due this week. We are hoping to go and see the puppies at the end of May and all being well we will pick her up at the beginning of June!! We are very excited at having a puppy again and as I am expecting to come over here most days to work in the garden it is an ideal opportunity to train the puppy over the summer.

I have also bought a chicken coop and run on e-bay which are being delivered to friends in N Cheam (it costs twice as much to have them sent up here!!) We will pick them up in the next couple of weeks as we have to return down South unexpectedly due to a family funeral. Once they are assembled we will move in the new residents. We are hoping that they will bepretty much free range but will use the run for the times when we can't be there all the time. We are looking forward to fresh eggs this summer. It is likely that I will stay down here in the tent for some of the time until they are well settled in and have got used to being shut in at night. We are in for an interesting time I expect training chickens and a puppy. Fortunately I don't have any work booked in Sutton so will be able to devote lots of time to them.