Getting used to it

The first order of the day, whenever moving house, should be to remove the Estate Agents Board to declare "we have arrived". Miraculously, I managed to find the "emergency box of tools" specially packed for such a purpose.

I was almost thwarted by the Estate Agents use of at least a 100mm screw to attach it to the gatepost.
Q. Why did it need screws that big?
A. As we would later discover, living here is significantly more exposed than being hidden in the middle of a housing estate.

As the picture shows, the snow was very slow to clear and in the end hung around for the best part of the Easter Weekend after we had moved. It also gave us the chance to move boxes around and to get used to the significantly smaller space we had moved into.

Even better, the cold snap focussed our minds on getting to grips with the Central Heating, which is currently centred upon an Anthracite Boiler. With our limited experience of such things, we made sure that it was fully stocked each night before bed but its a lot different beast to having Gas Central Heating.

This was further evidenced by the fact that our decision to have both heat and hot water turn off for 6 hours at night meant that the fire went out. Cue waking up at 3 a.m. thinking "its a bit cold" and then getting up to find the chimney stone cold. As the self-appointed "Lord of the Flame" I hadn't exactly considered when I would get 'lighting practice' but my choice would not have been 3 a.m. in temperatures of minus stupid. To make it worse, the first two attempts at relighting were a dismal failure, and the slow return to having a properly functioning fire in the bottom of the boiler was not accomplished until 5:30. Not worth going back to bed then. Best to just get up and get on with it.