This week finds us again in the beautiful English Lake District, house sitting for friends. We have been treated to endless days of blue skies, freezing temperatures and deserted mountain summits. If it wasn’t for the treacherous road conditions we would be the perfect mountain break.
Renovations get very real…
No surprises I guess, but as the winter big freeze sets in, the builders quotes for some much needed indoor work started to materialise this week! It however was like a game of two halves. One quote, for the entire project management was so way off point, blowing our comfortable budget out of the water. Some of the additional charges for managing the project could not be justified- irrelevant really as we couldn’t afford the quote even if we wanted to.
The other quote, from the builder that we liked right from the start, was pretty much on budget, with the offer of starting the demolition of walls as soon as next week. This took us completely by surprise and put us in a mild panic for 24 hours or so… before we rationalised that we were the customers and we did have a say in the setting of timelines. We have a lot of prep work to book in prior to demolition work such as plumbers and electricians. In addition, we are still in the Lakes for another week or so, we then have Christmas with the family and we are then skiing which will take us into mid January. One way or another, it will be a busy few months ahead.
So we are now booked in with the builder for the end of January for the big knock through and all is well. That timeline fits with our schedule and also allows us to start booking in the other contractors that we need to complete the project. Who knows, we may be done by Easter?
The big freeze
Boy has it been cold this week! It has been a blessing for us in the Lakes as it has guaranteed us endless days of clear skies- ideal for mountain bagging. It has however turned out to be a bit of a curse at the same time, as in these remote parts, the gritting of roads has been rather sporadic and has resulted in us being unable to access the more isolated peaks that we have really wanted to visit. We have still had a fantastic time, but we have been limited to the mountains that are closest to the main roads.
The days we have got out in the hills have been epic- cold and crisp, snow on the ground and bluebird skies above. We have really switched off to the outside world, existing from day to day, only focusing on the next days adventures. It has been a simple life of climb, eat, sleep, repeat…just how we like it.
Christmas is coming… and so is the seasonal anxiety!
We are sooooo under prepared for Christmas. We are loving being away in our little Lake District bubble, but it does nothing for our pre-Christmas anxiety. We occasionally catch ourselves really panicking about all the stuff we still have to do, and how little time we have to do it.
We are behind with our Xmas shopping, we know we are at our son’s for Xmas- but we have no idea for how long, or what we are going to do for the remainder of the holiday period. We are thinking that we may have a cozy New Year together in our un-renovated house now that we have the positive luxury of an open fire that is safe to use, but that is as far as our plans go to date.
Life is not always greener.
Having seen so many sheep this week, we have come to the conclusion that they always think that the grass is greener at the other side of the fence. If sheep get the opportunity, they will always try to get to the other side of the fence, either by escaping the field completely or popping their head through the fencing and straining every sinew to reach that perfect patch of unattainable grass. They don’t even consider the field of endless grass that they are leaving behind.
We have come to this realisation about life in really remote, rural areas. Our new home in the Dales is remote, but where we are in the Lakes takes remote to a whole new level of isolation. It is stunningly beautiful, and we have absolutely loved our time peak bagging and exploring everything that this part of the world has to offer… but… it’s a bloody long way from anywhere!
Keswick is the nearest town via the safe and well gritted main roads and that is a hour and a quarter drive away. There are no major supermarkets to speak of, so we have had to be really organised with our shopping and our use of the freezer- there is no popping out for things that you have forgotten. With the cold snap, we wanted a quick mid-week visit to Mum to check that she was all ok- this was supposedly at 2.5 hour trip there and the same return. Due to rural roadworks (which were unmanned at the time- don’t get me started!), the journey to Mums took 4 hours and made for a very long day. It made us realise that there is a price to pay for rural retreats and it has reassured us that we made the correct decision when deciding to relocate to the Dales. It has all the benefits of a rural location, but with the added benefits that relative civilisation is only a few minutes away.
So that’s it, another week gone and Christmas is nearly upon us. We are so excited for a family Christmas and the relaxed frosty run-in in the Lakes has been the perfect preparation to build our festive spirits. We are so looking forward to catching up with everybody, and we are then looking forward to our escape to the Alps in early January for a family ski trip with a difference- we are all adults and we are going during school term time! Happy days.
Have an amazing week,
Richard & Jackie.
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