Sunday, 24 February 2013

We are back and it's all change for Amiryck!

We have been quiet for a bit on here for a couple of reasons.  Firstly we had a lot going on... and secondly the dire weather we have had for a number of months had made our ground so muddy that it didn't make for good pictures.  Back to the first reason... for some months now we have been "in the process of moving".  As is often the case things didn't go smoothly, we secured a sale and eventually found somewhere to buy, then our sale fell through when the vendors decided they didn't want to relocate from the home counties after all, resulting in us also losing the house we had wanted to buy!  We then found someone else to buy the house and a number of houses later found somewhere else to buy.  The process was fraught with a change of solicitor midway and we finally had exchange and completion on the same week, with a rather long, tense, wait for the keys!

So we have now moved and now we are back online (thanks BT for weeks delay, despite us paying business rates since Richard's job depends on it).  The great news is we LOVE it here!  All the stress and hard work has been worth it.  The two main triggers for our move were to move closer to the children's school and to own the land our alpacas are on.  The children were having long days at school living 45 minutes away (an hour door to door when they went on the bus) and we seemed to spend our weekends ferrying back and forth.  Now we are just over 15 minutes away and what a difference that makes!  We were also very lucky to rent the land behind our house where we were.  This was a wonderful agreement and we were very grateful to be able to do it but we found there was so much we wanted to do with the ground and never knowing the longevity of such agreements it was difficult to invest any more into the land.  We now have acreage of our own and what is more is it isn't covered in mud and the alpacas have plenty of grass to eat.

We have plenty to do and as always will be kept busy but we are so thrilled and relieved to finally be here.

Lower Mackham Farm
The outside/farm cats have settled in well already
The granary and house
The alpacas seem to be loving it here.  The substantially drier ground and greater quantities of grass in their field must be a good thing!

The girls
A few of the girls
The boys
Amiryck Fagus - a real cutey
The boys popped up to say hello to the girls while the dogs sat and waited.  There was a very faint scattering of snow this morning as well
The dogs are also enjoying less mud and the new ground to explore!

We now live on a no through road, which is noticeably quieter!
Waiting to make sure the road is clear 
Being good for dad!
Pearl
Cezar
Now we are here I will try to keep my postings more regular but with so much to do...

5 comments:

Frances Selby said...

All looking good. It's nice to see it all in pictures and to know that things are going well - after the various hiccups.

Good luck there. xx

Patou Alpacas said...

Yes, all looks very good, lovely farmhouse and dry land! Excellent!
I look forward to visiting!

Unknown said...

All looks great Karen. Congratulations!

Apple Vale Alpacas said...

Great news! welcome back, and congratualtions on the new home.

Marianne Parr said...

So sorry to lose you from the neighbouring village but the new place looks great. We had meant to bring Ginny round before you left but didn't manage it! So great to see you were at crufts (twice!). Hope you're settling in well.