twentythree.: onwards.

We are moving.

It's not far - it's around one corner, about 5 houses down, a hop skip & a jump, & a very practical move. The new place is a cottage, it has fruitful fruit trees, blue paint, a wood fire, enough room to swing at least a couple of proverbial cats & kook galore.

But to move is to leave, & to leave is give away all the wonderful times we've had at McCulloch Street. The house of many doors, of mismatched wallpaper, of a room just for a shower, of two sheds & vintage wood paneling. The house where the veggie patch is bigger than my room, the house where we had to put a rug over where the dog chewed the carpet in her tiny puppy days. It's only been a year, but nonetheless, a year, here, here where every photo looks like it was taken in the 70s & where you more than likely would find a friend or stranger sleeping on the couch on any given night.

We moved here to get Rafi - the love of my life - the gangly, black dog who shares my soul & my bed. And this is her house, how do you explain to a pup that this isn't the drive we turn into anymore after a walk? That even though the new house smells totally different, that is now your home? As long as she is with us I think it not an issue, we are her pack & she is our life.

Here we have had couchsurfers, Christmas, we made mead & pasta, we spent whole days in our jarmies & whole days in our rooms. We spent days watching movies, days ignoring each other, nights piling into one car for snacks & chats. Many a beer was drunk, many a smoke was had, many a gathering was had in that sunroom. We had fights, bills, cold water. We had the time of our lives, most of the time.

And so as I pack boxes, as I give away things I no longer need, as I try to fit my life into as smaller physical space as I can, I am prepared to move. I am ready.

So here are a few summer photos to show you what will be in my heart, as the McCulloch Street Bandit house.

j x