Moving

Another month of fairly s l o w blogging- started this one a few weeks back, but things are pretty hectic in Flora-land at the moment, so please bear with me! Hopefully normal service will resume in the not too distant future. So as I alluded to in a few of my recent posts, you may have picked up on the fact that I moved cities! I now live in Sheffield (from having lived in Preston since 2010). Still ‘up north’, but now on the other side of the Pennines (and slightly more south- so maybe a little bit warmer)?! Guess time will tell…

So why the move? Basically, both myself and my partner wanted a change. I moved to Preston over a decade ago now and had never intended for it to be a place I settle (I also have no plans for how long I might stay in Sheffield either- it might be somewhere we decide it’s not for us after a few years or who knows, it could be somewhere we decide to stay permanently). The move was prompted by our yearning to live somewhere bigger with more going on, plus a change of scenery and new places to travel to on the weekends. We still wanted to live in the north, so Sheffield kind of ticked most of the boxes (affordable, not in the north west, more music/ art/ culture, better film/ animation scene, good skate scene, an independent cinema and so on). Though like Preston, it sadly doesn’t have a county cricket ground (this was also on the ‘where to move to’ criteria)!

I have also had my fair share of bad memories/ experiences related to Preston (and it’s a place where my mental health was at it’s worst), so living there and ‘reliving’ those times if you like haven’t really made the last few years all that enjoyable. Especially when Preston is so small, therefore making some places (and the memories/ unhealthy nostalgia attached to them) hard to avoid. Don’t get me wrong- I’ve had some brilliant experiences too and met some great people, but for me it always feels overshadowed by the negative experiences, so I thought a move would do wonders in improving the whole mental health side of things. It’s still early days so unable to comment on this. I’ve actually been ready to move from Preston since around 2015/16, but not really had the opportunity until recently. Better late than never, right?!

I thought I’d have more of an emotional reaction to moving, but I wasn’t emotional at all- and since moving I’ve not missed Preston one bit, despite the settling in period here is taking longer than I would have liked/ hoped. It’s finding new routines, new ways of doing things- for example, the city centre is approximately 3 miles away. So without being able to drive, I must admit I’m finding the lack of easy access quite difficult, so I need to come up with some ways of getting about independently, safely and conveniently. I am also struggling with the location of the house- it’s surrounded by extremely busy, long, dusty main roads, meaning any walking I do setting off from the house is far from pleasant or relaxing. Which is quite frustrating as I love my walking and fresh air! I feel once the house is in a more live-able and comfortable state, I can start building routines etc again, but feels hard to do right now when so much time and attention is used up trying to (cue cheesy phrase) make our house a home.

My room is pretty much done now (at last), but who knew furniture shopping is so hard?!?! Especially when the room has sloping floors! It’s taken several weeks to decide what pieces of furniture might actually fit well in my room (after a bit of trial and error), but I like to think I’m near enough there now. At one point it just felt like nothing I was buying was fitting or suiting the space and it felt a bit like an impossible jigsaw. But I made a few switches in position of some things and then it kind of then clicked. Perhaps I’ll put some pictures up on here- maybe! Though first, I need to embark on the mammoth task of making some blinds. My room is south facing so it gets hot hot hot! Of course there will be a post on that once they’re done! Though I’m procrastinating starting them as it’s a big daunting task. Oh and the fact that I don’t yet own a sewing machine!!

It feels great having moved, but because there’s been so much to do on the house, we’ve barely had the time or headspace to properly get exploring or attend any events etc until recently. As it’s honestly been hard to focus on anything else. So right now, it feels like there’s a lot of potential to be had from Sheffield, but not really had the time to sink our teeth into it thus far. Perhaps I’ll do a follow up post in a month or so on how I’m feeling about the move… Right, I’ve rambled enough and I've got these blinds to make, so see you in the next one! xo