Big breakfasts, narky dogs and unpacking boxes!

I went to my first Coastwatch training session last Wednesday; charts and plotting! Of course I didn’t understand a bloody word but it was still cool and I definitely learnt a thing or two. I have much more to learn, but that will come ‘on the job’. This was just an introduction. I also have a Tides course, Weather course and Radio course coming up…

Getting to Polruan was a little, shall we say, exciting? Torrential rain, freezing fog and a lot of unmarked, track-type roads that were as black as the inside of a witch’s hat… I was hunched over the wheel and actually praying out loud to whichever deity might take pity on me, to deliver me in one piece…

The people were lovely. I think it’s fair to say that I’m not a typical NCI volunteer! Only about 10% of watchkeepers are female, for example, and I was the youngest by a few years, but I was made to feel welcome and not out of place at all, which was really nice.

Our carpet has now been fitted! I’m now not tripping over a large roll of carpet in our front room and dining room (I’m tripping over dog toys or my wife’s shoes instead but that’s another story). We also managed a lot of sorting this weekend and felt quite pleased with ourselves – the bathroom looks great now and we’ve cleared the dining room table of all sorts of crap! But it wasn’t all hard work. We met our friends for breakfast again on Saturday, which was a lot of fun – and nice also to meet our friend’s niece and brother who are also very lovely so it must be in the genes. And on Sunday we took the dogs to Seaton beach and ran them (and us) ragged, before stopping off in Looe and buying a gorgeous hurricane lamp for the bathroom and a picture of St. Michael’s Mount (where my partner’s great, great grandmother lived), from a small gallery on the harbour. It really is a stunning picture and is going up in the dining room.

We did, however, have a bit of trouble with the dogs this weekend. As was to be expected perhaps, once they both settled down in the new house, hierarchies and boundaries would have to re-established. Consequently Bess gave Pluto a pretty hard time and we had to find a balance between not interfering in what is a necessary and natural process when two or more dogs live together and not letting Pluto be bullied. Of course, we also had to rule out that Bess wasn’t ill either. When dogs act out of character, two reasons might be either because they are frightened, or because they are ill. So this morning, without an appointment, we turned up at the vet practice that we were planning to register the dogs with anyway, and asked whether they could check Bess over. They were amazing and we got to see a vet within 10 minutes of walking in! We knew the vet was highly qualified and very experienced when she told us she thought Bess was absolutely lovely! She established that she wasn’t unwell and that the weekend’s hostilities were almost certainly all about the thorny issue of who wears the dog pants in our family...

Of course after all that fuss and nonsense things are practically back to normal anyway!

I hopefully have another Coastwatch training session this week and my brother in law is down for the weekend. It will be great to see him and he will be our first overnight visitor.

I wonder if he knows that when we said he’ll have to make up the spare bed, we weren’t talking about sheets and pillowcases, he will actually have to put the bed together!?

Top ten!

Well it’s been so long I should do a summary really…

1. We moved down last week. Pickfords were pretty good. The guys were great, although a few things are broken, the office side of the operation didn’t come across as well, but it’s done and we’re in…
2. There are boxes EVERYWHERE. It’s a bit of a nightmare but when I get too stressed I just remember that we’re going to be here for years and that if we only did one box a week, we would eventually get it all done. We had friends over last Saturday who were great. Not only were they good fun to spend the day with, but they also worked their socks off putting up shelves and pictures and unpacking boxes and even helping to plumb our new washing machine in.
3. We’ve had lots of exciting deliveries; a gorgeous (and rather large) new bed and mattress, washing machine, fridge/freezer and a great new TV. I was especially pleased with the TV when the Sky engineer (possibly the nicest and most helpful Sky engineer in the history of all such things) said it was the best TV on the market and one he wanted himself!
4. The cottage is wonderful. In the morning (when I’m not up at 6am for work!) as the sun rises it fills the bedroom with a golden light which is very beautiful. We have an owl in residence and there are deer in the field behind our house.
5. The dogs are happy and relaxed and love the garden as do the chickens. (In fact the chickens are on the move again… our next door neighbour had chooks but got rid, but he still has a large enclosure and much larger house than the one we’re currently using and he’s said we are very welcome to use it.) We haven't sorted out the best place for dog walking yet as around us is very hilly and I need flat, or flatter, terrain to walk on. The chances are though we'll start walking on the moors before work each morning which are only about 4 miles away from us.
6. Our neighbours are great(see above!) We left them all Christmas cards when we visited before Christmas and they seemed to really appreciate knowing when we were officially moving in, our names, and a contact number…
7. I haven’t started volunteering with Coastwatch yet, but am in contact with the Watch Commander who is fantastic and a very good advert for NCI – friendly and helpful.
8. I have however, started my new job. I really like it! I have a nice office, nice colleagues and am close to all the shops (OK, that’s actually a very bad thing as I went into Fat Face three days in a row…) Already my boss has said I should work part of the week in Liskeard which will be great. There’s lots I like here: I like that they have a dedicated environmental officer and that they take such things seriously, I like that they provide bottles of squash in the kitchen, I like that they are very relaxed and treat people like adults, I like that they provided me with a parking space and I like that people seem to care about what they do… I also like that they gave me an embossed diary, notebook and fancy pen and pencil to welcome me!
9. My partner is working part of the week back in London, which is a bummer. It won’t be forever though and it means she gets to keep a job she’s worked hard for and loves, and yet also gets to own a gorgeous house in Cornwall!
10. And finally, I might be getting a tax rebate! HR emailed me yesterday and said apparently I’m owed one. I shall wait and see and will assume nothing but if it’s true then it will go straight on the house as there are a few bits and pieces we want to do. But I’m sure there will be some left over for a nice meal with the missus.

Nothing is ever perfect and maybe one of life’s lessons is that if you keep seeking perfection you will never appreciate what you have or ever be truly happy, but this is a great time for us. I’m not a religious sort but I guess I do have a spiritual side because I honestly believe that someone is looking out for us – how else do you explain such good fortune? At least I recognise this and it inspires me to try and be a better person... wish me luck with that!

As you can see I still haven’t reconciled whether or not to stop blogging. At times I think definitely yes, and other times, like these, I want a record of everything that’s happening. Who knows what will happen.

But in the meantime, I think it’s only fair to wish you good fortune also!