Home for a Gnome

After my last post, Nels asked what Much will do when we move. Which brings me to...

In the summer, Tony will retire and we are moving back to Northumberland, to a market town. If people didn't buy my books we couldn't afford to do this, so thank you, THANK YOU< THANK YOU, truly more than I can say.

Much is a part of this house and home, as much as the lamppost in the garden, the attic, the sycamore tree, and the front door. He will stay here with his friends and look after the new occupants. But we also have Captain Padra looking out over the river. He was in my Uncle Gordon's garden, and when when my uncle and aunt died I took Padra home. He will come with us. In the new garden there's already another, smaller otter, so Padra will have a young person to befriend and guide.

There's also a much mended statue of a wee boy, and near him there's his dog. The people we bought the house from didn't want to keep them and I get the feeling that they are part of the home, just as Much is part of this one. I seem to remember there's a stone hedgehog there, too.

I suspect that within a month of our moving in, that dog will have learned to talk. And blog. I'll be most disappointed if it doesn't.