So, looks as though we’re finally off to the bright lights - we got a mortgage offer yesterday that will get us into the property we’ve been looking at (by the skin of our teeth!) - and now it’s just a matter of finishing off the legal stuff and exchanging contracts…
Anyone fancy a garden party/moving day extravaganza some time in August?!..
It’s going to feel odd leaving Pen Llŷn after all these years - it was 12 years ago I moved in to Catrin’s house in Llithfaen, and (after a subsequent spell of homelessness) just over 6 years ago that we moved to Mynytho.
Although Angharad Lliar started off life in a little hammock in the corner of a bedsit made out of a pigsty among the outbuildings of Catrin’s sister’s small-holding, the only home she can remember is here - and here is where Beuno Llŷn has lived his whole life - so leaving is going to be pretty emotional.
But…
We have so many good friends in the Caernarfon area, and it’s going to be hugely important for the kids (and Catrin) to be closer to their cousins (who lost their mother at a dreadfully young age about a year and a half ago) - and then there’s the small matter of the new garden, which is large enough to lose a good number of children in. We’re hoping we’ll only see them once or twice a month after we’ve moved in…
Even though the new house is actually a fair bit smaller than where we are now, that seems like a good swap for such a garden - and there’s a chalet in the grounds that we’re planning on doing up well enough for my mother to be able to come and either live or at least spend months at a time with us…
And, if we ever figure out how to sell Spanish lessons, we should be able to do a small amount of extending (there was planning permission (which has now lapsed) for an extra downstairs bedroom, which would make a big difference).
So Catrin is thinking about what bits of beds and wardrobes and stuff will fit where - and I’m thinking about making sure we get satellite internet set up as soon as possible…
Wow.
It’s actually happening!
And we’ll have room in the garden (or in the chalet, until my mother’s there) for learners to come and spend some time living in Welsh with us, if any of you would like that…
It sounds perfect . I too would happily have a slightly smaller living space for a bigger garden. It will be great for your kids to have all that space to run around. Great idea to have learners come and stay with you . Would be a great experience for someone who is not from a Welsh speaking area. Pob lwc with your move. I hope it’s as stress free as possible
Congratulations Aran and Catrin and the fam!! Caernarfon was my favorite town during my time in Wales so I’m super excited for you guys! And to try and answer your question @mikeellwood, although I’m sure others can answer better haha… I heard more welsh in Caernarfon than anywhere else I went in northern Wales. It was spoken on the streets and people defaulted to it as their first language when you walked up to them instead of English most of the time. It was definitely a place where everyone was happy to be speaking Welsh as much as possible. All this made Caernarfon a delight for me as a learner haha! Anyways it’s an awesome place with probably the friendliest people I’ve ever met so congrats again guys!
I am very happy for you, because you wanted the move and it is good for all of you. As towns (cities?) go, Caernarfon is lovely and has good views and sea. It was where my honorary ‘Uncle’ lived for a while and seemed very friendly, even to English speaking southerners from Gower and Abertawe! After years in London, now I’d prefer Pen Llyn, but I’m not you!!! so llongyfarchiadau! I understand now why you haven’t been quite as available on the Forum recently.
For who knows what reason reading your entry here felt hugely emotional to me, as if I’d move somewhere. Mentioning big garden I already can sense all sorts of birds and plants and @CatrinLliarJones among all this with photo camera at ready … I can feel all enjoyement you’d have in and around this house. … Seing little video of the property Catrin has put on FB I felt extreamly good energies so … Congrats!
My dreans came true … I’m comming to Cymru … now there’s your turn for yours to come true also!
As for the party in August: I’ll probably already have “afterparty” whilst returning back home to Slovenia and who knows if there would ever be another chance to come back again …
Thank you all so very much for your heartwarming replies. We are very excited to have finally received a mortgage offer. It’s been months since we started this journey to make our home in a house we quite unexpectedly fell head over heels in love with. It’s a huge move to a new area with a new school, but one we feel in our hearts is right and will enrich our lives. It will be so good to be living closer to my brother and his girls, as well as many other friends and loved ones. I also love Caernarfon - it has so much to offer and is rich with culture.
Our new home is a little smaller than what we have now, but has the benefit of a spacious 2/3 bed wooden chalet in the grounds, which when my mother in law isn’t staying, is a perfect place for friends, family and Welsh learners to come and stay. There’s also plenty of room in the garden for tents and maybe in time we can pop a couple of wooden sleeping pods in there.
The house and garden have age and charm and character in abundance. It’s a place which says ‘home’ as soon as you walk in to it, a place which gives you a big cwtsh. The garden is perfect for spring and summer garden parties and barbecues, hide and seek, make believe and tree climbing - we look forward to filling it with friends and laughter.
Indeed, come moving in time we’ll gladly receive any offers of help in exchange for food, company, drink, a place to camp in the garden (or chalet floor with mattress) and plenty of ‘siarad Cymraeg’. We will need to lift and move, reconfigure, paint and LOTS of gardening. We may also be looking for plumbing favours and stuff to do with electrical sockets, washing machines, moving cooker points and so on.
If you are not going to use a removals company, I would be more than happy to drive a hired lorry for you, if you’d like to consider that. I could even bring a lorry with me, although it probably makes more sense to hire one from a firm close to where you’re moving to and I could just drive there and leave my car with them… I’ve done some work for Pickfords in the past and next week I’ll be training for an articulated licence, so I’ll probably be over-qualified…! Also happy to porter, of course. Our daughter is getting married on Sunday 7th August and then Phyl and I are in Bala on holiday for the rest of that week. I would be delighted if I could help the week after that, from the 13th onwards, or the week after that… If you’d like me to bring tools, just let me know. Camping sounds fun!
You know my phone number…
