Inevitable Costs of Keeping Nelson Running
This week marked another year of keeping the van running with the MOT due . Its always with trepidation that we drop the van off now that it is 6 years old and always expect the worse, but happily he sailed through again. We still take the van down to Cheshire to the garage that we have used for decades, as they have always been so dependable. A full service and MOT completed and we are ready for another years of travels. This month will see the van ticking over 100,000 miles, quite a mile stone and many years of happy travels have been had.
A family weekend
Luke and Charlotte have managed to get a few days of work together over the weekend and came to stay for a few nights. We keep pinching ourselves that the cottage is now finished and ready for visitors. We have had a great time exploring some of the local area, including a trip up to Malham Cove and a stop off at the local cricket club to watch a Friday night T20 game. There was a great atmosphere and a big crowd enjoying the evening sun and a few cold beers.
We have enjoyed sharing a bottle or 2 of wine in front of the fire each night. Not having a tuned in TV to watch in the new house is quite therapeutic as we tend to listen to music or just chill out reading. We finally managed to get the BBQ out, the first of the season, which is really late for us!
It is also quite a mile stone being able to give the kids a set of keys each to what is still their family home, they are already squabbling over who is staying here when we are on our travels as it is like having a small holiday cottage to stay in with the added advantage for them of being able to work from home and it’s free.
The mental health benefits of the sun
What a difference the sun makes. This is the first week we have had several days in a row of sun and NO WIND. We have loved being able to sit in the garden and read and we have been on a few beautiful walks from the house. It is nearing the end of lambing season, but there are still some teeny ones around with their watchful mothers bleating away at us as we cross their fields. The wild flower meadows are really coming into their own and the silage fields are nearing harvesting. We are discovering more new places and a greater variety of creatures around. Yesterday, we watched as a hare tore across the meadows oblivious to us and we came across 2 donkeys we had not seen before.
With a little persuasion we managed to drag Luke and Charlotte up Pen Y Ghent, our favourite of the Yorkshire 3 peaks. It was an absolutely crystal clear day and we could see right out to the coast. Parking on a weekend can be an issue in Horton as it is the starting point for the three peaks, however, the farmer opens up on of his fields at a cost of £4 a day, which is great value and keeps the hundreds of cars from narrowing the main highways. I think it might have been the most perfect conditions we have had for hiking since we moved here in November. It was great to see so many families out in the mountains and the kids enjoying their hikes.
The door is finally in!
For those of you who have followed our renovations, we had new composite front and back doors in a bid to improve the insulation in the cottage. I loved the front door but hated the colour of the back door when it arrived. (A little extreme, I Know!!) we had ordered online and the door I imagined from the images was a lightish oak effect, when it came, it was a dark orangy oak effect that clashed with the kitchen units and worktop. The joiners company who fitted them were amazing and have resprayed the door for us, a costly disaster averted. It is the only real issue we have had in all the workof the renovations, and really quite minor, luckily we love the new colour, an off white inside and a light grey on the outside. What a difference it has made to the warmth in the house.
Last few days on the coast
We had such a fab break on the Yorkshire coast last weekend. After a couple of nights around Flamborough Head we headed north again and spent a lovely afternoon at Robinhoods Bay before making a hasty retreat up the very steep hill in the rain to the carpark. When it rains on the coast, it really does pour down.
We finished off with a night by the sea near Whitby on Sunday before driving down to Cheshire for the vans MOT.
A year since we put on offer on the Yorkshire Dales cottage
Today marks a year since we first viewed the house on a cold, wet Saturday and put an offer in. Wow, how much has our lives changed since then! It took until mid November to finally get the keys and a year almost to the week before the house was comfortably liveable. We are so happy just chilling and enjoying all our new home comforts in a beautiful part of the world that we now call home.
Our latest YouTube Vlog was about us establishing Early Retirement routines now the house is finished and we have the World as our playground. One of my aims was to get the Blog out twice a week. Sadly I failed within days! I had this blog ready, bar uploading photo's, however we were busy fulfilling one of our other goals of being impromptu and getting away in the van when the weather was good and we had no reception for a couple of days!!
So apologies for the tardiness of the Blog and I will endeavour to do better next week! For now we will keep enjoying the sunshine and being out in the outdoors.
have a great week
Jackie and Richard
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