A very happy New Year to both my readers.

We spent New Year’s Eve at the Village Hall, wine tasting, with our Penrith friends, Phil and Deborah. We had an evening meal there and saw the New Year In. We do get on very well with them. They had breakfast with us on New Year’s Day. Once they’d left, we started to clear the kitchen in preparation for the next three weeks of demolishing and rebuilding. Well, I thought it would be three weeks!

At the end of the month, Phil has made good progress in the kitchen but there is plenty of dust. Both April and Cooper are away from school, both unwell. Tara was supposed to be working at the forest school that day but had to stay at home with the children.

An icy start to the New Year.

We started to move things from the cupboards and dumped them in our living room. We then started thinking about what we would take with us when we moved, temporarily, to Wren Cottage, a few doors down the road towards the church.

And on the third day an incredibly bright full moon (some suggested a very bright star, others a non-starry, starry night) brightened up the sky somewhat. Later, we heard that some shepherds had been turned away from the village pub. And then there were the camels; they must have escaped from the zoo as we don’t see many of them in Cumbria. We also don’t see too many wise men (nor women) at 10 pm in the pub! People who worked at the King’s Arms told us that the visitors were looking for a baby. Helpfully, they suggested visiting the maternity ward in Penrith hospital. Some folk talked about a bright star in the sky, but others suggested it was an RAF training mission.

We spent much of our day preparing to move out of Brooklyn (Temple Sowerby, not USA) for three weeks while we waited for our new kitchen to be gutted and restored. David invited a few of his neighbours to a ‘gathering’. I hadn’t realised how large a garden he had at the rear of his house. Most of the Temple Sowerby elite were there – Karen, our next-door neighbour, Simon the surgeon, Roger the yachtsman, and Peter and Mary – the party crashers.

The fourth day was strange. We moved out of our house to Wren Cottage, about 250 meters away, for three weeks while our new kitchen is being installed. The cottage was reasonably well maintained, roomy but chilly to start with. We contacted the owner about the heating, and she quickly boosted the temperature. Our first – and hopefully our last Air B&B.

Midnight – Harriett’s cat – is being fed automatically in the garage. One particular benefit of this arrangement is that, if we’ve forgotten anything, we are only a short walk away.

The M6 was being closed at weekends, as the west coast railway bridge is being built above it. The bridge is incredibly large. Residents are allowed to travel freely and have been issued with a pass. But anyone else must take a long diversion or face a fine.

After breakfast we returned to Brooklyn and chatted to Phil, who is project managing and working on our new kitchen. Electricians and plumbers were also involved. We also decided to replace our cooker, freezer and microwave, to say nothing about our kitchen cupboards. Back at our temporary home Norma, one of our neighbours, brought us some soup – our neighbours are like that. We sorted out the clothes we needed and lugged them in large suitcases to Wren Cottage. Later Tom and Tara’s family joined us for a short walk to Acorn Bank and back. Initially, Wren Cottage was too cold for us so we had to wear extra layers.

We spent the following day finding ways to stay warm. Lynette, a local friend, lent us some heaters. Tom and Tara came to set up the log burner. The house did become warmer, but we spent £7.50 on logs for the rest of the day – not sustainable. We contacted Nikki, who rents out the cottage, and she agreed to increase the heating to a more comfortable level.

On the 7^th of the month, I attended the chair yoga session in the Village Hall. Despite the yoga’s relaxed name, I always feel that I’ve had a good workout. We had pizza for our evening meal courtesy of Micky Pizza van. Annabel enjoys the pizza even more as it’s a night off cooking. We finished off the evening, watching Ben Hur; the Romans won decem duo (10-2).

Our shopping morning in Appleby was not very pleasant due to ice – we had to walk very carefully. Later, I missed walking with the Culgaith walkers. Instead, I walked to Acorn Bank but didn’t extend the walk as I had planned. I was pleased with some of the photos I’d taken. I returned to Brooklyn to do some processing and saving on the external hard drive.

On the first U3A photography group outing of the year, I drove to Penrith and joined Alan, who gave me a lift to Pooley Bridge. The weather was cold but there was no wind. I was pleased with some of my photos. A couple more people have joined the group. On the 11^th we had to baton down the hatches because of the weather. We had two more weeks before we could return to Brooklyn. I was finding it difficult. That afternoon we walked to the pub and ate a very good meal.

I went to the gym in Appleby and had a good workout. Although it was an unpleasant day weatherwise, I got home while there was still a good amount of light. The next morning, I realised that I had left my shoes in the gym. Whoops, as Sam might have said. The weather continued to be unpleasant. We visited Brooklyn and chatted with Phil about the kitchen, which is coming on well. We have a lot of confidence in him. He has also been feeding Midnight. All of the upstairs is in chaos. To get away from things we drove to Penrith for lunch, after which we visited the museum, which was really interesting. We chatted to the curators and bought a book about the Yards (alleys) of Penrith. When the weather improves we’ll explore the yards and take lots of photographs.

Bob, our temporary next door neighbour, suggested taking turns on Saturday mornings collecting newspapers, rather than both of us driving there and back. We buy the Guardian and the weekly Cumberland & Westmorland Gazette. He has the Daily Mail – no comment.

Hopefully, we are now about halfway through our kitchen transformation. I find it quite stressful, but better than staying in all the noise and dust. Phil, the builder, has made good progress – we have a lot of confidence in him.

I managed to join yet another walk with Brian Hodgson, the leader of the U3A moderate walks. It was quite relaxing really. I ate my large sandwich during the short rest but hadn’t realised that we’d also be stopping for lunch at Granny Dowbekins.

Annabel survived a visit to an acupuncturist who stuck pins in her. She wasn’t very impressed when I asked if I could save some money by practising my DIY skills.

Our weekly trip to Appleby gave us the opportunity to recover my brown shoes. Some idiot left them at the gym last week. We now have only one more week to go before we can move back into Brooklyn again – but the kitchen won’t be finished for some time yet. Annabel hasn’t been feeling very well recently – a rotten cold – but she now seems to be on the mend. At the same time Cooper has been off school for a while but it’s not clear why he is ill, poor fellow. I enjoyed watching a film (N.B. not movie) in the Village Hall for Burns Night, but Annabel stayed at home, still very tired. I won a tin of biscuits in the raffle and walked back with Laura and Karen (neighbours).

It was only when I got home with the local paper that I realised I had a half page for my photo of Midnight amongst the planters. We chatted to Adrian as my sister, Paula, is not very well.  We went back to Brooklyn, our permanent home and removed some of our cardboard boxes for recycling.  We know how to have a good time in Temple Sowerby!

For quite a while, Annabel was not firing on all cylinders, with a bad cold and cough. Monday was the start of our final week living in a rented house. I made a bit of a fool of myself because I couldn’t work out where I’d mislaid my camera. Luckily, I discovered it in a room in our rented house. I walked over to our real house to talk to Phil. I arrived at exactly the right time when he needed help manoeuvring the new oven into place. Jenny drove me to the pub where there was a quiz. She also gave me a lift back home.

I enjoyed the chair yoga class in the Village Hall, but Annabel is not ready to restart. We were both happy to be moving back into Brooklyn. I helped Phil with lifting the new oven into place; it was really heavy. I was hoping to see signs of an aurora that night, but it stayed at home.

I enjoyed our visit to Appleby’s greengrocer as I had a really good time making the staff laugh.

I drove to Culgaith for a walk in the afternoon. Although I had been on the walk before, I enjoyed it anyway, especially the coffee, cake and chat afterwards. The downside was that my tongue reacted to the cake, making me feel most uncomfortable. I drove home and Annabel phoned the village surgery. (Annabel has sent my photograph to the Chamber of Horrors). We’re trying to discover what is causing the problem and the culprit seems to be ginger. This is a great shame because I love ginger. Luckily, my tongue returned to its normal size.

After breakfast I made my way to join the photography group at Aira Force. More importantly, we started to move back into Brooklyn while Phil continued his transformation of the kitchen. Three weeks in temporary accommodation came to an end, but still quite a lot of disruption. We now have a fridge and a kettle in the kitchen. That evening we booked a meal at the village pub where we had a drink with a few friends. It was highly satisfactory to return to our house that evening.

At the weekend we prepared for Monday, clearing some of the stuff in the living room upstairs. I was somewhat disappointed because I’d had it in my head that the job would be over and done with by now.

A month since Christmas Day; where did the time go? Breakfast took a while to sort out but we started to return to our previous routine. Jenny invited us to an evening, which was pleasant and very welcome. One of my fillings fell out not very painful really – but definitely a dull ache which disappeared during the day, thank goodness.

Back home we did some cleaning and tidying. Progress, a workman installed the oven, the microwave and the hob.

On the 28^th of the month, I enjoyed a good walk with the U3A Moderate walking group in the environs of Penrith and Rheged. While we were taking a break a small group stood on a rise and I spotted a good picture. I was pleased with the set of photos I’d taken. We stopped for lunch and continued back to where our cars were parked.

Towards the end of the walk, we came across a very large field which was covered in spiders’ webs – an amazing sight. Back at home, Norma brought us a meal to warm up that evening. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember her name. Annabel suggested that I should simply ask for names, as the people we know are aware of my forgetfulness. I processed my photos of the day and uploaded a selection of the better ones to the group’s Facebook page.

Photography Group with Rock

We are still living in partial chaos, but it’s so much better than being elsewhere. Annabel has abandoned me today. She drove to Lancaster to meet up with a group of her very good friends from Cheshire and North Wales. I found the day was surprisingly quiet. I can’t think why!

At the end of the month, Phil has made good progress in the kitchen but there is plenty of dust. Both April and Cooper are away from school, both unwell. Tara was supposed to be working at the forest school that day but had to stay at home with the children.

At the end of the month, Phil has made good progress in the kitchen but there is plenty of dust. Both April and Cooper are away from school, both unwell. Tara was supposed to be working at the forest school that day but had to stay at home with the children.

P.S. Apologies for the delay in posting this blog.

Thank you for reading my blog; Thanks alsofor your comments and suggestions, which I enjoy.