They say patience is a virtue and I’m sure as hell it’s not one I possess. Yet somehow, after what seems like an interminable wait, this little 200 year old stone miner’s cottage perched atop Bodmin Moor is at long last ours.

The story of some of this epic journey starts here and goes on for the next week of writing....

We became the official owners on Friday and today we went down and changed all the locks, made it secure and took a load of our stuff so next time we go, we should be able to fit what we need in the car.

We’ve had a strange day – the dogs have been confused, we’ve been dashing and the weather has been the weather from hell – as soon as we crossed the Tamar it started to rain and it didn’t stop till we crossed back into Devon again this evening.

Amazingly we already know more of our new neighbours by name than we do here, after 11 years! They are a hugely friendly bunch (so far so good) and have been like a mini welcoming committee today, all outside waving us in. At one point, DM needed to move our car to let another car through and the occupants of the car smiled and gave me the cheeriest wave I’ve seen in a long time. I think we’re going to like it there.

Now though? The work starts – the house NEEDS a new roof, rewiring, heating and a kitchen. We also WANT to remove the plaster and new firplace from the chimney breast you can see in the photo because the original 200 year old granite one is behind it still and under the carpet there is a thin layer of concrete that covers the original 200 year old slate floor. It’s going to be a building site for some months to come…….ah well, we did say we like a ‘project’!

Anyway, as you might imagine, I feel like the luckiest girl alive tonight (even knowing I have to face a few sharks tomorrow at work).