We had arrived at Lakemoor at the beginning of May 2020 but it’s been over a year since we purchased Lakemoor (read more about us, the Dell family, in our previous post). In that time the excitement of what Lakemoor could become whilst we are custodians had been building. Then Covid-19 hit and our conversations became “How are we going to get out of Germany!” as Easyjet flights were being cancelled.
Finally we found our escape route, booked flights from Munich to Frankfurt to Heathrow (7 times normal cost), informed removal company and it was time to leave.
With a 13 hours of traveling ahead, we waited quietly at Munich airport. It was one of the most weird experiences, there really was no one around and everything was closed. But, after two very bumpy landings we had arrived safely at Heathrow Airport, with just a 6 hour drive ahead of us to Lakemoor.
After all this waiting we had arrived…
Waking up in the morning, it was a big punch of reality in my face (as my honest friend, Julie, put it), and I cried a lot! What had we done? We were in a tiny house, with BIG spiders and a long list of jobs. So I called Julie, who basically told me ‘you have no choice Claire you have to do it!’ Julie was right. I stopped crying, thanked her for girl power support and called Dad and yep, I cried a lot!
So taking their advice, I made a list of jobs to do on day one, day two etc. Now I was calm, in control and wearing my ‘Big Girl pants’. I could do this! I headed out with a mission to cut the knee high grass with my ride on mower. First it needed repairing… I can do this!
After several hours (lots of bad words), it was obvious the ride on mower was (in technical terms) buggered! I cried a bit. Never mind, there were lots of other jobs to do now. I did something I knew couldn’t fail, I cleaned the house. Tomorrow is another day.
Finding new friends
Day two had to be better than day one, so Gracie and I went exploring down at the lake. We had arrived at our very overgrown, but beautiful lake with so much wildlife and the biggest blue dragon flies I have ever seen.
The lake was full of tadpoles, so Gracie scooped some up.
The tree that fell down in February is still there. Unfortunately no tree fairies have come and cut it up into logs.
It wasn’t long before our Tesco delivery arrived. Now the kitchen is full of food, wine and chocolate, everything is right with the world! With a belly full of food, I decided the grass would not beat me, I would use the petrol strimmer. After a quick YouTube lesson, I was ready to go…unlike the strimmer which had perished fuel pipes. It now also has a couple of dents from a good kicking – why me, oh why?
A quick Facebook post to Friends of Chulmleigh telling them we had arrived, and within minutes I had ‘Welcome to Chulmleigh’ messages. I chatted to a neighbour and then a farmer who offered a quote to cut the fields and pointed me towards someone to fix our mower. Oh the power of social media – thank you! So then I cried tears of joy.
Loosing new friends
Lakemoor is full of wild life, especially the eaves of the house. Built of stone with lots of nooks and crannies for birds to nest in. It is fascinating watching the organisation of Mummy and Daddy birds feeding their little ones. We had a rather cute robin that kept us company when outside working. Unfortunately we found him dead on the drive on Monday. Gracie cried a lot! We popped him in a little box and buried him. Something we are all going to have to get used to sadly.
Making a house into a home
The removal van arrived from Munich on Friday. Ben and Jamie from Good Moves worked so hard putting all the boxes in the correct location. Quickly the little 46m squared house was full to bursting and boxes had to start going into the outbuildings! Now it was time to unpack our treasured belongings. It was exhausting, but a glass of wine in front of the log burner was bliss at the end of the day.
A relaxing day together
Since we had arrived, I had been mowing, fixing, moving furniture, unpacking boxes, cursing and crying all week! Gracie needed a bit of Mummy time and I definitely needed some daughter time, so we headed to Westward Ho!
FUN FACT: Westward Ho! is the only place in the country (and one of only two in the world) that uses an exclamation mark in its name.
It was a lovely 40 minute drive to the coast, the tide was out so lots of rock pools. It was very quiet due to the lockdown, but we did manage to find somewhere selling pasties and ice-cream
Feeling relaxed
It has been a challenging first week. Lots of emotions, but I have achieved many things. The River and Lake field will be mowed this week. The strimmer, brush cutter and ride on mower will be fixed next week!
Stay tuned for the next instalment of Life at Lakemoor. Follow our journey on Instagram (which I am just learning to use!). We look forward to sharing our experiences with you and thank you for being a part of our adventure.
The Dell Family
