Long lost blogger returns having surfaced from unpacking and move haze

Hello! I return with news that we are all still alive and have not forgotten our blog followers, even though we disappeared for a whole month while moving house. But we're in, we're unpacked and raring to go for spring and a whole new life in England.

It does feel like the beginning again, that in some ways we have just got home from America as this is our own home and we know we are settling here for the duration. I promise we are staying put - Joe and I have moved 6 times in 11 years together and we've had enough of the moving about! Our rental house was great and we were in a lovely town and met some lovely people who I know we will stay in touch with, but it feel so much better for us to be in our own home and to be in an area that we've picked after lots of careful consideration and research.

And we do feel so at home here in Barnwell, a village just outside Oundle in the northern part of Northamptonshire. We're in a rural village but very close to Oundle which is a quaint and very English historic market town (we worked out that was what we wanted as our rental town of Ampthill was similar). Oundle has everything we could need in the way of shopping for daily stuff, plus lots of lovely boutiques, old pubs and a fabulous cafe which brings a little bit of Manhattan to our sleepy part of England. But we are close to large towns and cities like Peterborough, Cambridge and Milton Keynes for shopping expeditions and trains to London.

Our new house is even better than we hoped it would be. It's spacious but cosy, there's loads of storage (so I get to hide all the mess), and we have the most stunning views of the village. From the kitchen window we can see our village pub which is a thatched cottage with a bar ad restaurant which we have already made our second home. There's always a roaring fire and sofas to relax on, plus yummy pub meals. We have been going down for early dinners and playing board games with Lucy in the lounge next to the fire. The other bonus in the village is a dear little post office and stores. The lady who runs it is kind of like a mother to the whole village and she is always bright and cheery and giving us advice and introducing us to the villagers. They sell lots of groceries and fresh food, alcohol and papers, cards and even have a little plant nursery at the front...way too tempting for me so I have bought plants galore already!

Here are some photos of the house that I know so many have been waiting to see. We have it ship-shape and largely as we want it. There are a few tweaks here and there that we are doing and plan to do in the future but no major works for a long time! The garden is our main project now and that is largely a fun task which won't leave the house in a mess as we change it, which as you all know is a pet hate of mine :)

Our kitchen - we painted the walls and fitted a new range/stove. I love the country look in this room.

Our sitting room - cosy, cosy! It is the homeliest sitting room we've ever had and I love it. The fireplace lit in the evenings is a treat and we have candles everywhere to make it even more snug.

The dining room - our nod to the Art Deco period with my paintings from Walnut Street and an antique display cabinet from the 1920s we picked up in Ampthill

The conservatory - this is Lucy's playroom and a family room. It's like a huge greenhouse with fab views of the garden and fields...

Views from the conservatory of the village church and Barnwell Manor and castle

Lucy's bedroom - she has stacks of books and toys in here and a lovely view of the front garden and village

Our bedroom is in a loft area with an ensuite which is separated from the rest if the upstairs rooms. It's small but our Pottery Barn bed set fits like a dream and it is so cosy. Views to the front and back gardens :)

We have two other bedrooms, one is Joe's office and the other a guest room. It needs a paint as it's currently bright blue! We have a family bathroom too which I just painted...

Family bathroom with the bath in an alcove. Very cottagey.

Lots more news about what we've been up to is to come in the next week. I hope not to leave it so long next time! Life has filled up and got busy again thanks to the move, new friends, new projects and the spring on it's way. Lists of to do lists are long again and that's the way I like it.