A Place To (Almost) Call Home!

The day has finally come….we have our own place!  But a lot has happened leading up to this, so let me start where we left off.

This past weekend was the final weekend at our B&B out in the country.  We decided to enjoy a Saturday night out before the big move Sunday.  We ate dinner at Xen Noodle Bar in Truro, which was delicious, and then went for some drinks at a posh hotel bar right by the theatre.  And yes, they use the word posh often here.  Still always makes me think of the Spice Girls! 

From there, we made our way to the local theatre for a performance of “The 80’s Rocked”.  Well, let’s just say the 80’s didn’t rock so much that night!  The theatre, which is located at the centre of Truro Square, was pretty full and we were getting excited to listen to some awesome music.  Then the band came out and the lead singer proceeded to stand in one place and read most of the lyrics throughout the concert!  Come on, who doesn’t know the lyrics to all the 80’s hits?!?!  It’s pretty bad when the people going to the concert know more of the words by heart than the lead singer!  Another problem was that the band also had some technical difficulties and had to take a 20 minute break to get things fixed.  All in all, it was pretty horrible.  The only saving grace is that the band itself did a pretty great job. 

Yep, there's the lead singer reading the lyrics

Afterwards, we were somewhat scarred by the experience and decided we definitely needed another drink!  So we headed to a small pub next door who had a live band playing.  We had to laugh because the band, Vicious Disco, was amazing and we were able to watch them for free, and they knew all the lyrics!  So luckily, the night ended on a good note where we had some drinks and listened to some great music :-)

Plant from Annie :-)

Sunday, moving day, was finally here!  We started the morning with a full English breakfast and then packed up our suitcases.  Annie, who over the past two weeks has taken us under her wing, gave us a beautiful plant and card for our new place.  She has been nothing but amazing to us and we will definitely stay in touch with her.  She commented that she hoped she wasn’t “mothering” us too much seeing as she has kids the same age as us.  Little did she know how welcoming some “mothering” was coming to a new country and starting a new life.  Definitely needed!  Annie also offered to take us and all of our suitcases to our new flat on Sunday afternoon.  So we packed up her van, packed ourselves in, and made the trip in to town. 

We were greeted to 38 Richmond Hill by our landlord Dan.  He gave us a quick tour, we signed some papers and he was off.  Annie stuck around for a bit to check things out, then we said our goodbyes (and numerous thank you’s) to her.  Then it was just the two of us, looking at each other both excited and overwhelmed!

We realized that even though the flat came furnished, that meant only the big stuff like a couch, bed, desk, etc.  What we found overwhelming was the amount of stuff needed to make this place livable such as a dresser, lamps, microwave, pots and pans, shower curtain, sheets, etc.  We knew we had a lot of work in front of us.  So we started running around from store to store on Sunday afternoon trying to find the main things we needed just for the night.  We were able to get some stuff done, but everything (and I mean everything) closing at 4 on Sundays was not helpful!  So we made our way back and spent the night thinking about everything that needed to be done to make this place feel like our home.

Richmond Hill - There's our place on the left!

As John headed to work Monday, I found myself with the challenge of furnishing a flat knowing that we won’t be able to take anything with us when we go.  I have constantly been thinking of what we need versus what we want, while also keeping in mind that we are going to live here for the next year and want to feel comfortable doing so.  So I have been pounding the pavement the past couple of days looking for deals, asking where the discount stores are located and pretty much exploring every shop in this town!  I had to laugh to myself when I was picking up a ton of basic stuff at one particular store and had to stop buying, even though I knew we needed the stuff, because I knew I couldn’t carry it all myself back to our place!  Definitely a moment when I missed having a vehicle!

So the rest of this week will be focused on getting our place all set to go.  They are coming in all day Thursday to paint, we are going to try and find a cheap TV and TV stand in the paper this weekend and then finally get internet hooked up here next Monday.  So things will be busy!  And as for pictures of our place, as you could probably guess, those are to come once this place is a little more settled :-)

So on we go with this new set of challenges…..

In case you’re interested, our new and official address is:

38 Richmond Hill

Truro

Cornwall

TR1 3HW

United Kingdom