7 Weeks left in the UK!

The house in Colchester is rented, lists are being made and ticked off as items are completed, and we are beginning to say "adieu" to friends and family.  The moving people arrive in early April to pack and load a 20x20 foot container with our edited stuff that will be shipped across the Atlantic, arriving in a few weeks.



Once the school term ends on April 8, we leave with the cats.  Due to airline legalities, the plane size we are travelling on only has room for one animal per flight.  So we travel on two consecutive days, each with a cat.  I will have to practice a nonchalant look to use when Marmalade's screams of distress at being caged up echo up from the baggage area in the plane.  It will make a change from listening to the yells of young children on the flight!



Blog entries will become more relevant to construction with lots of photos once we arrive in NS.  I will be looking for a teaching position, while Brian acts as construction worker and site boss.  We are hoping for a warm, early spring...but until that arrives we will be renting heaters and wearing layers.  Brian has arranged for a phone to be installed, and we are so pleased that we can also get a wireless internet connection.  Many thanks to Aunt Marg and Uncle Bill who will go and rendez-vous with the phone guys. 

ONLY 79 SLEEPS/MR. DRESSUPs UNTIL WE LEAVE ENGLAND!

When my daughters were young and anticipating an event or holiday, we used to use "sleeps" or "Mr. Dressups" as time measurements.  For those from the UK or Canadians too young to remember, there was a super Canadian kids TV show on daily that was called "Mr. Dressup". 

I used to run a home-based childcare when the girls were little, and along with the daily walk (which felt like a forced march some days, as some participants enjoyed walking more than others) there was a half-hour a day TV allowance.  In typical draconian fashion I chose the show as I watched it with them!  I enjoyed Mr. Dressup; he told great stories and illustrated them while he drew, encouraged use of the imagination and made crafts that we, in turn, would make. 

Mr. Dressup, Casey and Finnigan

There's another family link to Mr. Dressup.  In a budgeting mood, I decided to cut the eldest daughters hair.  She was, if I recall correctly, about 4 years old.  Her lovely thick, smooth straight hair proved more tricky to cut than I thought, and I actually resorted to putting a bowl on her head to use as an outline for the cut.  The resulting trim turned out to be a terrible "bowl cut" that was too short.  Even more horrifying was the fact that with her auburn hair, big brown eyes and healthy colouring, she now looked a bit like "Casey" the puppet from Mr. Dressup...and people would actually comment on the resemblance!  I never cut her hair again...well, maybe a bangs (fringe for the British population) trim now and then, but never the full cut. 

What is the point of all this?  Oh, yes, counting down to an anticipated event....our departure from England/arrival in Nova Scotia.  Brian and I are both a bit terrified at the scale of the work to be done on the Valley House, and I am praying for a teaching contract/substitute work, but we are getting more excited by the day!


Updates on the Valley House include the news that the old hot water tank and water pump (to draw water into house from artesian well) have had it, and need replacing.  I think this was done by Dave Baker (wonderful plumbing person) this past week while it was mild enough to dig down to the well.  There is a cold front there now, -7 degrees, but feels like -19 with the wind chill.  That is why we are waiting until April to go to this big, unheated, uninsulated house!  

Brian has been doing a lot of research, and has discovered the instructional videos online from the US TV show "This Old House".  He is now thinking he will blow insulation in, rather than take down the old walls.  This preserves the soundproofing that the old lathe and plaster walls provide, as well as the historic value of the house. 


So, onwards and upwards.  Our house here will be on the rental market shortly.  We have started packing and purging and flights have been booked.  Vet appointments have been made to get the paperwork sorted out for the cats, and their travel crates purchased.  Dates for farewell gatherings are starting to be written in on the calendar.  As we approach the "sunset" of our time here, I attach photos of Nova Scotia coastal summer sunset!



 



Santa can't visit the Valley House 'cause there aren't any chimneys anymore!

Former fireplace location in long bedroom (about 5 feet wide)

This photo shows where the large chimney used to run from the kitchen/living room where it opened into two angled fireplaces.  It used to jut out into the room, so it's absence will give us a lot more space.  The wide boards show how large the trees were, they would be the originals from 1760.

You can see the 1970's wallpaper that Mum put up, and the now saggy ceiling tiles Dad installed.  All will be removed.



The photo below shows the narrower chimney that ran through the downstairs long room (that easily held 24 family members during our Thanksgiving feasts) and the upstairs bedroom with the dressing room.  The photo shows where the chimney used to be in that bedroom.  I like this pheasant/fruit wallpaper, but I will have to use it as collage material, as it's too far gone to keep on the walls.
 

 

Location of narrow chimney through bedroom


So, the chimney's are gone now.  The photos we saw of the roofline without the chimney's looked quite bald, but we will adjust!  They were hazardous and had to come down.  We hope to put in a wood burner in the living room, put more windows in the south-facing kitchen to use the passive solar energy and remove the wood stove from the kitchen.

 Brian and I wish you all a happy holiday season!  We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of my eldest Emily and her boyfriend Maher.  It will be his first time in England, so we will be sure to take him to London, tour around the lovely East Anglian landscape, have fish and chips and attend the pantomime here in Colchester.  They are off to Paris for a romantic New Year's. 

Well, that's all for now.  I need to go pick up some groceries before the snow gets too heavy (this is so unusual for England!). 

December 2010 - The builder's have finished!

Well, here is the house with new foundations and fantastic new basement, rotted shingles replaced, and land pushed flat (to be proper lawns again someday)!  You can see that we lost the window in the process of lifting and the house straightening, but that is the only one damaged. 

The basement is now dry and sadly for the fox that wintered there, closed up tightly.

When you compare this to the boulder-filled, open to the elements, dank hole where you had to walk crouched over to avoid cracking your head, it is quite a wonderful transformation!  

We have just experienced a few days of snow here in England.  It caused chaos.  Without snow tires, plows or salt, it is very dangerous.  I didn't need to go out for the two worst days, but Brian did.  He had his first ever crunch, thankfully he is fine, but the railway van isn't.  

We are appreciating Advent in church and are anticipating the arrival of Emily (eldest daughter) and Maher (her beau) on Christmas Eve.  Emily has a blog you might be interested in if you like fashion:

http://www.tinfoilstiaras.blogspot.com/

Brian and I hope you enjoy your holiday preparations in whatever form they take, and if you are Canadian, remember to be thankful for snowplows and salt!

The Foundations of a house are important...and now the house has them!

The slide show was sadly edited out of existence by Brian, and then I have been lax in replacing it...but finally, TA-DAAAA...the story of the foundation work on the house so far.  Our brilliant contractor is Paul Uhlman, and he has done a stellar job in co-ordinating all the different aspects of this job.  From the  removal of the chimneys, the lifting of the house, the digging out of the cellar, to the concrete form creation and pouring, it has been a job of interest to family and neighbours alike. 

The house was a place of great fun over the years since Dad bought it in 1965.  I adored visiting the country, and remember snuggling up in my sleeping bag beside the crackling fire in the living room one cold Easter holiday night.  Another well remembered episode was when Mum was nursing an ill brother Stewart in the city, and Dad and I were in charge of the Thanksgiving turkey.  I remember Gramp peering into the oven, where the huge bird resided and after puffing thoughfully on his pipe, declared that we'd "trussed it all wrong, but she smelt ok".  Since it fed 24 or more people, it had to be a big fowl.  Fantastic pies, rolls, and veg. were all brought by other family members, it was a real team effort and resulted in a wonderful meal. 

the Valley House BEFORE the start of building work....

Built in 1760, the House needs complete foundation renewal.



October 2009 - The Valley House fronting the North Mountain














Here are two shots of the house taken last Fall (or Autumn, for British friends and relatives) 2009.  You can see the North Mountain and the lovely autumnal leaf colours.  In the top photo, a sliver of the Annapolis River is visible.

In July 2010, we were advised that the rock-walled cellar would need to be expanded to the perimeters of the house, and six foot frost walls put in place to prevent the house from falling apart! 

Although many assume Nova Scotia is way up north, it  actually shares the same latitude of southern France. 

Unfortunately, the early French explorers based their travel supplies and settlement plans on the assumption that Nova Scotia would share the weather of southern France.  The Labrador Current off the east coast (as opposed to the Gulf Stream that controls western Europe's weather) gives N.S. (Nova Scotia) a spring bursting with life, lovely summer of heat and sun, crisp fall and cold, snowy winter.  The cold, snowy winter resulted in a lot of deaths by scurvy. 

Well, I'll end my first post on that cheery note!  I will be thinking wistfully of family and friends enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner on October 11 (Canadian Thanksgiving is in October, Americans celebrate in November).