It has been a glorious Summer's day up here in the hills of Mid-Wales. The wind chased the rain clouds that lingered earlier this morning and the rest of the day was dry, sunny and warm. I spent some time watching the many birds that visit our garden – blue tits, great tits, finches, sparrows, great spotted woodpeckers are frequent visitors - and those that are a bit further away – like red kites circling high in the sky.

In one of the sheds, I have found an enormous container, almost full of bird food (peanuts and seeds). I have …

It is now a week since we have arrived at our new home, a smallholding in the hills between Welshpool and Newtown in Mid-Wales. There are still unopened boxes here and there and we need more furniture to be able to put some of our things away. The chaos and upheaval of moving is still evident but we are settling into our new home.

I have made the kitchen and dining area as functional as possible and I am happy with the space. The kitchen is very rustic, not at all the fitted, sleek look of our previous one! I …

There are many soft fruit bushes on the smallholding. I have found raspberries, alpine strawberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants. They seem very productive, obviously liking the soil and location.

On Friday, Peter picked nearly 4 kg of redcurrants before I had even arrived. Picked fruit does not wait so, despite us having just moved in, it needed preserving! I was going to make some jam but could not find my collection of empty jam jars amongst all the boxes yet to empty. So I decided to make some delicious redcurrant cordial. I have made this several times already as our single …

Well, that's it! After a hectic and exhausting few days, we have moved in and our life on a smallholding in the Welsh hills begins here.

The move was uneventful, only a lot of work with packing, emptying and cleaning at one end and unpacking at the other. Peter left Salisbury very early with cats Lola and Oscar, who were very reluctant to get into their carriers! They had a surprisingly good journey and, at the house, Lola and Oscar began exploring their new surroundings. We have been advised to keep them in the house for about a month before …

The last couple of days have seen us saying important farewells to family and friends as our time in Salisbury is coming to an end. It is hard to say goodbye - even though leaving is completely our choice, there is still loss and we are grieving.

On Friday, Peter finished his job of 18 years and said goodbye to colleagues, some he had known for that long.

We have had a farewell dinner with close friends who have been an important part of our life in Salisbury. We moved to Salisbury and actually the same neighbourhood at around the …

Yesterday, we exchanged contracts. It was a relief! It is unnerving to get to within ten days of the completion date with no firm guarantees that it will all go through. At least, the act of exchanging contracts gives more security in that all parties firm up their commitment to sell/buy as the case may be.

It is now ten weeks since we accepted an offer on our house in Salisbury and our offer on the smallholding in Wales was accepted. In the grand scheme of things, it is a short length of time - and things have progressed smoothly …

With less than two weeks to go before completion date, packing is now well under way at our house in Salisbury… there is plenty to be done: furniture to dismantle, possessions to sort, bags to take to the charity shop, cleaning to do… Every so often, a pang of sadness stops us in our tracks: as this part of our life is ending, we reflect and reminisce on the 15 years we have spent in this house, where our two children grew up. And as they are now leaving the nest, we look forward to a very different life in …