This last month...

Has had a few challenges for us.
We've moved into Cara the caravan, and tried to settle in. I think it would work if we had just one more room, and the awning worked as we hoped. We had intended to do all our cooking in the awning, and have space for playing, and hoped to eat out there instead. We've got heat out there, but the condensation has been a problem- it drips constantly (unless its frozen!). We stopped trying to cook out there (that only made it worse) and the girls aren't too keen to play out there much if we're not cooking. DH has been busy working on the leak along the side of the caravan ( in the awning) so although he'd had that to deal with, it hasn't affected things too badly.
As it is, that's meant the caravan living space has also been our cooking, eating  and bed space. Not great.
DH and the girls have settled in but I haven't.I think part of my issue with it has been that I'm the one out at work four days, without daylight eithe end.
After a bad day, involving a night of no sleep with a screamy child, I explained my feelings *very clearly* and after discussions we have given our tenants notice- we can have our own house again 4th March. That is a long way off, and coping ideas in the short term we've had include me having odd nights in a hotel close to work.
We're also not managing to cook food as we would usually- DH has had a busy week, but I realise that yesterday I managed to make a quick coleslaw in my parents kitchen, which just seems too difficult in the caravan. So I'm not inclined to cook, something I would do a bit more of, and for other reasons we've just not managed to eat as well- something that is bothering us. No chance of home made mincepies this year, even though I have seen the mincemeat I made last year.
We're having a night at my parents, and it feels luxurious to have the choice of a bath or a shower ( I really, really miss a bath), a kitchen with surfaces to use for cooking, and space to just be quiet on my own for a while- or the girls to be busy playing in another room. That's not mentioning the delicious meal Mum made for us all- fabulous!
I feel its been a really useful experiment-we know DH and the girls enjoy the caravan, and I would probably be ok with a dry awning space. If we were on our own land we could build temporary shelter around the caravan to solve a lot of problems, but we're on a caravan site and limited by that. I think this is an idea for summer- but a ppositive thing from this is that it has also got me to accept that moving to our old house is an acceptable choice. Moving there will give us a home, most importantly (to me, anyway!) but that also we can try to sell it again. We've reduced our belongings, so it hopefully won't be too cluttered, and we can really work on clarifying where we want to be for the longer term.
Our travels have shown us so many places seem better for growing our own food than windy wintery Yorkshire- but we need to find what really will suit us. So many adventures still ahead.....
There is one other thing that's on the cards, but until we've had chance to discuss it with a few more folks I won't say more right now.
I'll finish up with an apology- Christmas is hardly happening at our place. This year Christmas cards will be a miracle, and I've not got any shopping done. I have tried to delegate to DH- which hasn't really worked.
Normally Christmas starts straight after Big One's birthday, but I've really not been up to facing it. So, dear friends, we still love you but won't be showing it with gifts or cards this year. If we see you you'll get a big hug. If we don't see you, you might get an email if you're very lucky!