In the past month, we have moved house from Sydney to the town of Walcha (pronounced Wolka) in the New England region of New South Wales. We have been warmly welcomed by the community. My husband has started at his new job, and my daughter has started at her new school. Our elder daughter remains in Sydney as she is now at university.
The picture shows a view down one of the main streets early on the morning of Anzac Day. It was about 7 degrees Celcius. When my doctor found out we were moving to Walcha, she said, “What are you moving to that cold little hole for?” It is undeniably cold here, but it is a lovely town, with many creative people, so I think we’ll do just fine!
Today is my first day back in the office, in my new office! I’ve been filling many orders, and will continue to over coming days. I’ll still be back and forth from Sydney for a while as I do some work on our Sydney house. I apologise that there will still be some times where I’m not in the office and therefore unable to send out orders until I return. As we’re no longer in a metropolitan area, post will take a little longer than it previously did. I apologise for this, but that’s where we live now!
We’re settling into our new house, and I’m starting to get my office organised. There are still a lot of books to go on bookshelves, fabric to be organised, and homes to be found for various things. One of the first things we did was to paint the walls of my office the appropriately named “Linen White”, instead of the bright yellow with a pink feature wall! It’s much more conducive to being creative now!
We’re making new friends and adjusting to a different way of life. Apparently there has been great excitement that a new family has moved to town. I was coming down the driveway the other day, and there was a man walking along the street on the other side of the road. He yelled out, “Welcome to Walcha!”. Everyone knows we’re new, and people have been so welcoming.
Many people have asked what I’ll do here, and the answer is – of course – continue writing my books! There is a co-op called Walcha Handmade that I might get involved with. And over the next year, I’ll look for other ways to be involved with the community. I’m sure I won’t have any problem occupying my time, even if it is just knitting new garments to keep me and the family warm!
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
I briefly visited Walcha a few years ago. It’s a very nice town and I hope you’ll be very happy there. I had to smile at the ‘books to go on bookshelves’ bit, as I’ve just moved to a new community down the hill from where I’ve been the past ten years. I keep telling people that if it’s books then it’s not hoarding. I’m looking forward to getting the books, CDs, needlework stuff etc, somewhere, as I always seem to have more things than places in which to put them.
And yes, winter will be very cold. ??????
Thanks John. Of course books aren’t hoarding! (So says an author and the wife of a librarian!) What do you mean winter will be cold? It’s already cold now and it isn’t winter yet! Daughter just informed me it is 0.7 deg C outside right now. 🙂
Of course books aren’t hoarding! Nor are CDs and LPs and craft supplies. They help make the difference between living and just existing. When we were house-hunting some years back we always counted the internal walls to make sure there would be enough to build bookshelves we needed. Yes, we’ve filled them. No, we haven’t read them all. You don’t have books because you’ve read them; you have books because you WANT to read them.
Congratulations on the move. I hope you enjoy your life in Walcha (somewhere I had never heard of before!).
What a lovely community you seem to have in Walcha … it may be cold outside, but how nice to receive such a warm welcome! Wishing you all the best as you unpack and settle in. ?
Hi Yvette, we had a sheep farm on the outskirts of Walcha for many years. They were the best years of our lives. So many talented folk live there. When you get a chance, head out with a picnic lunch to the little Gostwyck Church, you will love it.
I look forward to hearing more about your new life in the beautiful New England.
Blessings Gail.
Thanks Gail. It’s so good to hear that you loved Walcha. Everyone has been so welcoming. And yes, they do seem to be a creative bunch!