Gifts and the raft.

I suspect it will be diffcult writing a blog entry while a needy labrador is sitting on me, and I'm waiting for a cake to bake but I'm willing to give it a go.

 

I've been living in Witham for about a week and a half now and its all going well. It's very different to Kendal but it seems like a nice place. D came to visit last weekend and we had a good explore of the area.

There's a town nearby on the Blackwater estuary called Maldon which is one of my favourite places in the world. I have lots of memories of sunny summer days spent there with Grandma and Grandad, playing in the tidal swimming pool and at the fairground next to the Hythe and when I was a bit older, going for walks with Grandma and her dog Lucy. D and I went for a visit last weekend and it was a bit different to how I remembered - the swimming pool is now a pond; the fair is now a play area (no trampolines!) but its still a lovely place to go for a walk.

We also found a really nice walk along the river in Witham with lots of little fields and wooded areas. I'm hoping the weather improves sometime soon so that I can have a proper explore of the fields and footpaths around my house.

 

Today I went on a bit of a nostalgia trip and visited a lot the places in Chelmsford that we used to go to when we'd visit Grandma. I started with Hylands Park which is just brilliant and there's so much more to it than I remember. It's an 18th century country house with landscaped gardens. The parkland is lovely. Especially on a muddy, rainy day when your walking boots decide not to be waterproof anymore.

 

 

Work's going well. I've got three weeks of induction to start off with which is great in terms of meeting staff and things but it still feels slightly like being chucked in at the deep end. I think this is mostly because I'm a bit daunted by the amount of money I'm expected to bring in. But it seems good and I think the change from youth work to fundraising will keep me motivated for a while.

and so

I have moved! I am now well and truely residing in Darkest Essex which seems quite fun. All I've really done so far is unpack the car, make the internet work and find out how to walk to the train station from here. I think the town looks nice but it was really too  dark and foggy on the walk to the station.

Keswick & boring moving stuff.

The move is creeping ever-closer...

After my initial burst of activity (packing some stuff, moving some stuff to the parents, buying a new car, writing the old car off and finding a new place to live), I've not really done anything for a week or so and I still need to work out how to fit the rest of my worldly belongings into a Nissan Micra - I have a policy of "if it doesn't fit, it's not coming". But equally I'm a total hoarder so I should really start packing and make a more concerted effort to sort my things out.

I think now I'm on the home stretch, I'm less stressed out about the move and am focusing less on what I'm leaving behind.

Last weeked was hard, however. D came up to visit and we met up with some of my friends from Lancaster, Carlisle and Kendal. We went to Keswick on the Saturday and met up with my friend Jenny and her lovely dog which was amazing - snow on the hills and lots of fun exploring around the Bowderstone and tea at Temporary Measure - but I felt bad that I've found all these really incredible places around the county that I want to share with D  and, well, everyone in the world really and I might not get that chance. I know we'll be back, but coming up to visit for a few days at a time means that the little places might lose out to big day trips.

But that's fine. Because travel is fun, especially jaunts up and down the country to visit friends. And I'm starting to get really excited about the new job and the move. As work Oop North is quietening down it's giving more time to think about possible shenanigans with the new job. I don't think I'll really appreciate exactly what the new job entails until I've gotten started but from what I know of it so far, it's just really exciting. And as much as I hate leaving places that I love, I really love moving to new places and all the possibilities that come with it.

Guy Fawkes Night was excellent. This is the view of the castle fireworks from my roof. Lovely stuff.