Well, we are still in Stagsden, and not moved into our new house yet. But, all is not lost ; today we got final confirmation of our mortgage and the removals are booked for the 17th June!
We went to see how the house-build is coming along last weekend and we were pleasantly surprised! The house is lovely and looked to be almost finished! The carpets were down and the gorgeous floor tiles. The bathrooms were just about finished and the tiles (which incidentally, I took ages to choose, what with me being so indecisive!) looked lovely! Only trouble was, they (the builders) had put them all in the wrong place! We have 4 bathrooms, so I guess it was an easy mistake to make? Errr, not when you've paid £800 for them! So, we have expressed our disappointment, but it really is going to be BIG job to remove all the tiles, re-plaster and re-tile, and we really don't have that much time left! So, we're waiting to see what happens next. Perhaps a nice discount off the price will soften the blow. We'll see!
Jaime and Tony's house move went well and they have settled into their new home nicely. Their house is lovely and in a really scenic area with lovely walks. It's nice to know they have their own home now and I hope they have many happy years there.
The weather has been quite horrible recently.....rain, rain and more rain! Katie and I haven't been out and about as much as we'd like although she is still enjoying her piano, swimming and Brownies. She's working towards her Computer Badge, and she's working extra hard so she can earn her badge before we move house.
We had a lovely visit from Katie's big brother Stephen recently. She loves spending time with him and the older she gets the more she is like him ; they are like two peas in a pod! It's funny, because she has so many of his mannerisms, she even talks like him, yet they spend very little time together. Katie wishes she could see him ever day, and she was actually quite sad when she saw him off at the train station. Ahhhh.
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Sunday, 5 May 2013
House Move in May
Spring has finally sprung here in Stagsden. It's been such a long winter and I really hate being cold (probably my age) We are finally getting out and about and enjoying the great outdoors.
We took a trip to Lincs to see how our house-build is progressing.The new house is coming along nicely, with surprisingly few hiccoughs so far. We are due to move in the end of the month, so it's all very exciting!
Jaime and Tony are due to move into their new home next week and they can't wait. They came to stay with us last weekend and baby Charlie was just so cute! He has quite a vocabulary now but he's still not walking. However he can whizz about at quite a speed on his hands and knees! Poor Morkie Maisie was exhausted trying to keep out of his way!
Katie and I have been busy.Dave is away working during the week so we have been getting ourselves out and about. Last week we went to see the author Christopher Lloyd at Moulsoe. He gave a fascinating and entertaining talk about History, spanning 5.3 billion years, with the help of his coat of many pockets! Katie bought his book, What on Earth and she was excited to have Christopher sign it.
Last week saw us with Piano and Brownies on Monday, swimming on Thursday with our HE group in Bedford and a lovely play-date with friends on Friday. Wednesday saw us "pond-dipping and meadow sweeping" at Priory Country Park in Bedford. The weather was perfect and we really had a lovely day! I think Katie liked the meadow sweeping best, especially when the children caught the most beautiful green-veined butterfly!
Katie is still enjoying her piano lessons with Beth. Unfortunately, we are going to have to find Katie a new piano teacher when we move to Lincs.
I have a feeling we will never find anyone
as nice as Beth ; Katie is so at ease with her,
and it's lovely that she is home-educated too!
We'll see.
On the down-side, the dreaded LA have finally caught up with us.Typical! Just when we are about to move house some kindly neighbour thought they would report us to the CME (children missing education). I contacted CME who were very nice, once I'd told them that Katie certainly was not "missing education" as she was electively home educated! The nice lady said she was happy, and would "close the case". Of course, I knew she would pass our details onto the EHE dept at Bedford.
Sure enough, a few days later, another lovely letter arrived from the EHE officer. The first paragraph was so enthusiastic and positive about HE, I was pleasantly surprised,but then it rapidly went down-hill. Just like every other LA in this country, they over-stepped the mark, gave themselves powers they are not entitled to, and asked of us things we are not obliged to supply! There was the usual rubbish about meeting with us and Katie in our home (because most parents are happy with that!) Or, we could send photographs of Katie engaging in educational activities and send samples of her work!! Needless to say, we will be doing none of that.
Dave and I updated our Educational Philosophy, wrote a nice long letter, and attached a list of resources we use and places of interest we have visited with Katie. Hopefully, that will keep the LA bod busy until we move house!
Of course, Katie is oblivious to all this, and she's far too busy having fun to worry about some office bod checking up to see if she's receiving an education!
We took a trip to Lincs to see how our house-build is progressing.The new house is coming along nicely, with surprisingly few hiccoughs so far. We are due to move in the end of the month, so it's all very exciting!
 |
| The New House |
Jaime and Tony are due to move into their new home next week and they can't wait. They came to stay with us last weekend and baby Charlie was just so cute! He has quite a vocabulary now but he's still not walking. However he can whizz about at quite a speed on his hands and knees! Poor Morkie Maisie was exhausted trying to keep out of his way!
 |
| Cheeky Charlie! |
Katie and I have been busy.Dave is away working during the week so we have been getting ourselves out and about. Last week we went to see the author Christopher Lloyd at Moulsoe. He gave a fascinating and entertaining talk about History, spanning 5.3 billion years, with the help of his coat of many pockets! Katie bought his book, What on Earth and she was excited to have Christopher sign it.
 |
| The amazing Christopher Lloyd |
Last week saw us with Piano and Brownies on Monday, swimming on Thursday with our HE group in Bedford and a lovely play-date with friends on Friday. Wednesday saw us "pond-dipping and meadow sweeping" at Priory Country Park in Bedford. The weather was perfect and we really had a lovely day! I think Katie liked the meadow sweeping best, especially when the children caught the most beautiful green-veined butterfly!
 |
| Pond dipping |
 |
| What have we caught...Katie like the leech best! |
 |
| Chasing butterflies |
 |
| Green veined Butterfly |
 |
| Green-Veined Butterfly |
Katie is still enjoying her piano lessons with Beth. Unfortunately, we are going to have to find Katie a new piano teacher when we move to Lincs.
I have a feeling we will never find anyone
as nice as Beth ; Katie is so at ease with her,
and it's lovely that she is home-educated too!
We'll see.
On the down-side, the dreaded LA have finally caught up with us.Typical! Just when we are about to move house some kindly neighbour thought they would report us to the CME (children missing education). I contacted CME who were very nice, once I'd told them that Katie certainly was not "missing education" as she was electively home educated! The nice lady said she was happy, and would "close the case". Of course, I knew she would pass our details onto the EHE dept at Bedford.
Sure enough, a few days later, another lovely letter arrived from the EHE officer. The first paragraph was so enthusiastic and positive about HE, I was pleasantly surprised,but then it rapidly went down-hill. Just like every other LA in this country, they over-stepped the mark, gave themselves powers they are not entitled to, and asked of us things we are not obliged to supply! There was the usual rubbish about meeting with us and Katie in our home (because most parents are happy with that!) Or, we could send photographs of Katie engaging in educational activities and send samples of her work!! Needless to say, we will be doing none of that.
Dave and I updated our Educational Philosophy, wrote a nice long letter, and attached a list of resources we use and places of interest we have visited with Katie. Hopefully, that will keep the LA bod busy until we move house!
Of course, Katie is oblivious to all this, and she's far too busy having fun to worry about some office bod checking up to see if she's receiving an education!
 |
| Digging for treasure...because treasures are everywhere! |
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