Movin' in.

We've now been in our new place for about two weeks. We're pretty much moved in and unpacked. We still have some things that we need to organize and put away and we definitely need more pictures to hang on the walls, but otherwise, we're basically done.

Here are some pictures of the move. I didn't include any from the old place, as they aren't that exciting (not that the ones below are, actually, either).

There is a video of moving in and moving out, which Mark has pulled together, but when I tried to upload it to YouTube I got a warning message about an audio track we had used; I completely forgot about the copyright issue of the music. I'm obviously going to be getting a gazillion hits on our moving in video, which will mean that the artist won't get their fair amount of attention, which wouldn't be right.

I'm not sure what we'll be able to do with it - it's too big to email. We'll work something out.

These are the two living rooms downstairs, during the move:



Our welcome sheep:



The cherry tree and daffodils alongside the driveway - we timed things really well, with the cherry blossoms coming out in full bloom, right when we moved in:


The downstairs rooms, after we got things in order:



The patio, out back, through the living room sliding door:


Our first meal, once we got the dining table (Chinese takeaway, from a nice place about 5 minutes away):


So we're now ready for visitors!

It's nice to be back.

I'll post some pictures soon, but it's just so nice being back online again. We really do a lot of connecting online via blogs and email that I did feel totally out of the family loop for a while. It's nice to be back in the fold!

Going offline.

Mark and I have both taken tomorrow off of work. Here in the UK, the Friday before and the Monday after Easter Sunday are Bank Holidays, so no work. We've extended our extended weekend, to complete the move.

Most of our stuff is over there - all that remains are the most important things that we aren't able to live without for more than 30 minutes - i.e. the computers, tv, game consoles and some kitchen stuff. We'll move that over tomorrow and then start cleaning the old place up.

Tomorrow BT (the phone company) switch our line from the old place to the new place - so we will be without internet for a few days until our new ISP can set things up. So we'll be incommunicado, at least via the interweb for a bit.

I think we have survived this in the past, but it's always an unknown to see how long we can make it before we start showing up at random people's houses with our laptops and a glazed, greyish countenance.

Wish us luck - and we'll see you on the other side!

Activities for Hornucopia 2010.

I've now posted the starting list of Hornucopia ideas, as Julie requested. Let me know what you'd like me to add.

I've kept the Hornucopia 2009 list up, but marked which activities were completed - in case there are any elements from the old list you'd like to transfer to the new list.

I need to catch up with the Wiilympics - I'll try to look back at the poll and pull a list together to transfer here.

Hooray - we're only about a month and a half away!

Hornucopia 2010's first challenge.

I don't know if you've all seen this already, but I just discovered Young Me/Now Me* via someone I follow on Twitter.

Do we have any "iconic" Horn family pictures that we can attempt to reproduce at Hornucopia 2010? The one I first thought of, we can't do (that one with everyone in front of that big wooden sign in Colorado - I think we were all there) because one of the big features is a location-specific thing. But any other ideas?

Not to post to the web site, just because I think it's a great idea and would be fun to do. Though maybe I'm alone in that.

I think for the biggest impact, though, it would have to be from when we were kids - sorry Jeff, Tony and Mark...

*you're kind of at the whim of the randomizer when you look at it - and a lot aren't as good as some - but enter in 160 or 110 or 186 for some good examples.

Five days to go.

The flat really looks like we're moving - i.e. very messy.


I took the doors and the back off of our wardrobe today while Mark was working (yes, on the weekend). I didn't go any further with dismantling it, in case it fell on me.


The boxes are multiplying, which is always a sure sign that we're getting closer.


We took some stuff over yesterday, and I've packed up the car again to take another load on my way to work tomorrow morning. We've booked the moving van for all day Saturday. We think we can do all the big stuff, plus a lot of the little stuff in one day, and then the rest we can do in cars.

It was great to visit the house again yesterday. We both really like it and it was much brighter than I remember, so I obviously must have been in a mood when I did that last blog post. I'm already planning my first plant projects...it's going to be great!

We got the keys!

Mark picked up the keys from the agent today. So we're in - though we probably won't start moving stuff over until the weekend at least. I still haven't had a chance to pack any more boxes!