There’s always a few hiccups and glitches along the way with a house move, especially when living in the deepest dales. The storms last week did something to my electricity supply so now the boiler doesn’t work and I have no central heating or hot water. The internet isn’t working either, because it needs electricity for the router, which means my ‘phone doesn’t work as there is no ‘phone signal and it relies on the internet to make a telephone call.

To make a call I had to drive up to the top of the fell between Swaledale and Wensleydale until I got some signal and was able to telephone the local electrician. Sunlight reflected on Semerwater in Raydale and the River Bain glistened as it made its way through the river bank woods to Bainbridge. A sheep watched me quizzically, with a look in its eyes that said, why are you stopping here totally in the middle of nowhere, this is our place not yours!

The conversation went a bit like this: “Hello how are you, I’ve just moved in and my electricity is not working, there is a fault and the circuit board keeps tripping” At which point the signal cut out the reply sounded like water gurgling down a drain pipe. And so it went on for the rest of the call.

On top of that I’d ordered a ten-foot tripod ladder as my new garden has some quite big trees, the lower branches of which need pruning. One of them is right on top of the electrical wire to the house and I’m wondering if that is the cause of the problem. The ladder was shipped promptly, and I awaited its arrival. It didn’t arrive.

My neighbour next to my previous house on the moor sent me a text “An enormous ladder has appeared behind my house addressed to you”. I call the ladder company – they’ve sent it to the billing address (I hadn’t yet changed my banking details) instead of to the delivery address (which is 40 miles away across the vale and up the dale). It’s way too big to fit into my tiny car. Telephone calls (after driving up to the top of the fell) secured promises of pick-up and delivery, but I’m still waiting.

The good news is that my tawny owl nesting box from the Barn Owl Trust arrived in double quick time, and as soon as the ladder gets redirected to its rightful destination then I’ll try my best to get it secured up in one of the garden trees. After suitable pruning away from the electricity wires. Maybe the owls will nest there, maybe they won’t, but I’ll position it so that I can see the entrance from an upstairs window in the hope that I can glimpse some owlets later in the year.

Do you have ups and downs in your life? I’ve been able to cope with these quite well as I’m in a positive state of mind. Is that the same way with you – that dealing with life’s up and downs depends not on the thing that’s happening, but on how you feel?

Rowan on the Moor

A Moodscope member