Proud As Punch!

I am almost hugging myself, still, regarding my keeness to share this post with you. I received an email from school yesterday with the subject title of Secret! Intrigued, I read on and had my gast totally flabbered.  

Both my boys will be receiving a cup at Thursday's end of year presentation afternoon for their progress in Welsh! They have been learning the language for just over 10 months and we were told at their parents' evening last week that the level they had reached is one which any child would be at their age, English or Welsh. Wowser!

I admit to being quite tough on my kids when it comes to school because I just want them to do their best; I am not a pushy mother but have always done my best to work with them on their homework, created extra exercises for them to do at home and just encouraged them to go for that extra sentence or page of reading. 

This next bit I am unsure about writing but I'm going to do it anyhow. My two boys are bright boys and I will never be ashamed of being proud of them but I know some people don't like that therefore I am not sharing all the news from parents' evening. I understand that not all children are the same but I am so very pleased that they came into a brand new school, made friends easily and can now communicate in a foreign language better than I had ever expected they would be able to do when our new beginnings started!

Suffice to say I hope to share a photo of my clever boys after the presentation even though I do not do that very often.

Have a good day, it is overcast here today and the boys are on a school trip to Tenby to an adventure park so hope it stays dry for them.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx

Plans for our new beginnings, and the future - we think. Lol!

How many times do you get an idea in your head and you think you have a plan, and then you change your mind? Me and Jon have done that lots of times, trying to make decisions, for us, the boys, anything and everything.

Well, you may know we have some out-buildings here at Bronllan, thought I'd share that with you - the name of the house!

The section on the right, starting at the far left with the window and door you can just see, has had work begun on it. Jon has plastered completely inside, put up a stud partition wall and got the electrics done. This is all because we have finally decided to turn all three parts of the buildings, plus the largest section that is currently Jon's workshop, into bed and breakfast accommodation; the largest section will be the cooking and eating space.

BIG decision, but we think we can do it. We used to run a 120 seater cafe/restaurant just after we got married and that was mental at times, so this should be easy compared to that. Our plans were originally to have chickens and a polytunnel in the garden as we have enough space for both; it was just a case of deciding where to put them once all the bamboo had been got rid of. Because the renovations are going to take some time, not expecting to take paying customers until at least Easter 2017, we can make use of the garden as I would like to for a while.

I have advertised on Freecycle for a greenhouse and I'm going to offer the small shed we used to have as a kennel for Jake, and hopefully the greenhouse will go on the hard ground where the kennel was. Chickens will have to wait but, along with the work we plan to do close to the house we eventually want to use the field we bought with the house - approxiately 4 acres - as our proper smallholding. We will have ample space for chickens, a couple of sheep, some pigs, maybe rare breeds, the polytunnel and a big old barn for Jon when he loses his workshop. The work here will take some effort, too, as a road needs putting into the field as it has a narrow strip bordered by a stream before breaking out into the main part of the land, if that makes sense.

Phew! I KNOW!! We just have to take it a step at a time. Jon only has weekends to do the work but that is ok as we hope his dad will give us a little assistance. Once we get the greenhouse that is my job to sort out and I'll be looking for lots of advice - so please don't be shy. 

When we moved here we knew we wanted to use the field for a real purpose and also the outbuildings for something, too, but didn't really know what impact it would have on us as a family. The boys have always been foremost in our minds when it came to setting up a business but they are older now. Of course by the time we are ready to get going so they will be another year older so will not suffer and no doubt be eager to help. I like the idea of a business being close to the house but never wanted people IN the house so this is great.

Why we did it.

Hi.

Now I am able to write from our new home I thought I would tell you a little bit about why we have found ourselves in wonderful Wales. We began looking at moving from our previous home in Greater Manchester about 18 months ago I think. Our boys were still young enough to take on the challenge of changing schools and making new friends, be it all in a very different location and with a different language but we hadn't always intended to move to Wales. 

Our aim was to find what we were looking for wherever it happened to be. It was not about the location itself but what the location would afford us, what it would allow us to do and what we would gain from it. Some of you may not know that we took a very long and arduous trip to Lewis in the Western Islands of Scotland last year because we saw something which might have been what we were looking for. It wasn't, but there are some things you just have to do when you are on a mission.

We found our new home on the internet initially, as most people do, and were so eager to view it that we cancelled an already arranged viewing to see it. I can honestly say that with one foot in the doorway and one look to the left at the gorgeous, blue Rayburn in the kitchen I fell in love with the house and it had to be ours, whatever.  As you probably know we had to deal with numerous problems and issues before finally making the house ours, but that is thankfully all behind us now. 

As I write this I'm looking out of the kitchen window and can see the Church and Community Centre, the school bus stop my boys will soon feel very grown up using on their own and through the top kitchen window I can just see the far hills dotted with sheep. I hate to sound smug and describe it as so idylic but for us it is perfect.

We have plans for the future, a business, growing our own, having our own chickens and the boys still being able to have a childhood surrounded by such opportunities. I would never say we are wrapping them in cotton wool or shielding them from life elsewhere but I have a postcard which is a poster from the second world war and it reads: 

Children are safer in the country.... leave them there.

(With recent events around the world we have been thinking about a summer holiday and for the first time we have really had to consider locations. I would be more than happy to stay here and enjoy the Welsh summer but I think this year will have some time away and then next year we will hopefully have lots going on that will keep us at home!)

We think at the age they are, and for the time we have whilst they are young, we are very happy for them to be in this environment. I should say at this point they have been learning Welsh since the beginning of September and they are doing amazingly well and we are immensely proud of their efforts and hard work.

I hope to share some photographs soon of our home and the surrounding area. xx

Welcome To Our New Beginnings.

Oh my goodness, Mrs H has a new home!

Finally, and I mean FINALLY, I am able to write my first post whilst feeling we are here in our own house!

Thankfully all the pain, frustration and anxiety is over -  and now we are able to begin making it our own home!

I am so looking forward to sharing our new home and new life with some new online friends I have recently made, as well as some old ones. I have been around the house and taken lots of before photographs so I can look back and see how things have changed in the past months.

We have lots of exciting plans which means sometimes I can hardly breath when I think of what we will do first or how fun it will be when we have the chickens and can really see what we can do with the garden etc. 

One last thing. Here is a post I would like to share with you. I wrote it on January 16th 2014 and it makes me feel all fuzzy inside to think about the things I wrote, where we are now and where we are going along this journey with our boys. 

(Apologies about the banner photo but a tad excited to change it just now! xx)