I wandered lonely as a cloud.....

No, this isn't a reference to the loneliness of retirement!  It is a reference to the project which has been occupying a lot of my time over the past week.  I am making a banner for my church and need to have it finished by Easter.  And that banner involves a large quantity of felt daffodils.  I have 58 at the last count and need to make between 80 and 100 in total!

A host of golden daffodils!

As I want to finish this first, I haven't managed any house sorting yet.  Also I am letting myself into this new phase of my life gradually rather then trying to get everything done at once.

However, we have been looking further forward to our move to Madeira in other ways.  Although we already have a house in the capital, Funchal, our longer term plan is to have a new house built for us in a different area.  When we were in Madeira back in March we visited a few plots of land in our favoured area, and have one in mind.  So we have been enjoying batting ideas around about what we want the house to look like, how many rooms, where my vegetable plot will go etc. We have even bought tickets to Grand Designs Live in May to get some inspiration.  It's quite a daunting thing to plan your home from scratch.  We usually adapt to what is already there.  It is exciting though.

When I have finished my banner I have to get down to some serious de-cluttering.  Having been in our current house for nearly 18 years I have accumulated a lot of stuff.  And I need to find a home for lots of work clothes that I don't need any more!  Maybe that'll be covered in my next post.