A change is coming...

I don't blog often but some of you have noticed we have been very quiet for the past few months on Instagram and YouTube. We have been very busy, and time just flew by. So please let me explain why...

The good news is we're not going anywhere. But the bad news (for me at least) is...we're moving!

We have outgrown our current 4 bedroom home some time 10 years ago, but there's never been a good time to think about moving. With 5 growing kids (and our dolls collection) you can imagine just how squeezed we all  began to feel :)...so it was high time to bite the bullet and do it.

So this summer, I have taken a hard decision, after lots of heartache, crying and deliberation, to put our current house for sale. That involved lots of decluttering and packing everything up  & putting into storage, That meant that all the kids toys, dolls, doll houses and my vast collection of yarn and crafting supplies had to go, so the house can be made "presentable" to potential buyers. Believe it or not, this took about 3 months to prepare the house for sale, including total repaint, Finally, it was ready, but in the meantime we missed out on a couple of properties that I really loved. Generally, the end of the year is not a good time to move house, so I thought it will take ages for our house to sell, whilst we can keep looking for our dream house...

Well, we must have done a good job, because after just 2 viewings and 1 week on the market, we had an offer on our house, and accepted it. Yayy! But now we had to find a new house, fast. We were hoping for a modern detached house closer to our eldest girls' high school, with a larger garden and at least extra bedroom, so not all kids will have to share..

Sadly, the dream house could not be found on our tight budget, so we have to compromise. Heavily. Which I am not happy about. But there's nothing else. And I did not fancy renting out with 5 kids in tow. So with a heavy heart we've put an offer in for a semi detached in the middle of the city, with more or less same size garden as ours. And same number of bedrooms. So we're not gaining anything in terms of space, other than being closer to the girls' school. So at least they are happy as they're daily commute to school with be cut down from 1 hour to about 10 minutes.

Personally, I can't see myself living in a big city - we currently live in a small leafy town, with lots of country walks, so I am crying just thinking about it. The kids are quite excited though so I guess there's no chickening out now. However, I did warn them that I am not planning on staying in the city for more than 10 years, so we've be moving again, and it's not a "forever home".

On a plus side, the new house is a beautiful period / Victorian semi with tall ceilings, and some original features, including an old fashion kitchen & pantry. so I'm hoping we can improve our cooking & baking skills...The house is generally in a great condition, as the current owner has restored lots of features, but it still has potential for improvement (and crafting). It does feel darker and smaller than our current house though, (and colder, so I'm crocheting extra blankets for us, like mad). It will also need some structural work like adding a window - there's absolutely no views to the garden at all - I don't know why Victorian houses were build like that :( And it need a second bathroom, which our large family really needs. I will definitively need to brighten up & fix it asap as it won't help my depression living in a dark space...

So because of all this house moving "drama", I have been very very sad since all the dolls had to be put away into storage, and I miss them terribly. Moreover, I fear that it may spell the end of our big collection, as I am 99.9% our new house will not have enough space for all the current dolls. And I need to have space for the future dolls AG releases (still did not get a chance to add Leah and Melody to our collection...). So whilst this whole moving experience is a sad news for me, it may be good news for some, especially if you ever asked me if I was planning to sell some of our dolls - there is a very high chance that I will have to. But I reserve the final decision once we're actually in the new house, had a chance to unpack and settle down - then I have let you know if and when I will be putting some of our collection for sale...

In the mean time, please bear with us - since everything is packed away, it's hard to do any photos or videos, but I will keep you informed how the move is going. So please keep your fingers crossed for us that everything goes well...

x AC