My paw prints

Back from holidays

2006-10-12T22:10:47Z

The strangest thing about moving house is coming back home from a holiday to the new place for the first time. Travelling in the opposite direction from the airport. Not going down the old familiar road and in through the old familiar front door. Even the pile of mail waiting seems alien.
There's a different name on the Avon catalogue. A different Avon lady: stepping out of the 80's with her Afro hair, enormous glasses and Janet S-P teeth, and a tendency to linger for an hour or so with lugubrious reports of the annual cull in the local geriatric ward, or the decline and death of each of her cats over the last 10 years.
The holiday was good - Crete - still bathed in late season sunshine, but quieter than high season. I return with memories including a coach trip called "Unknown Crete" from which we returned with absolutely no knowledged of where we had been! This was more than likely due to the Raki consumed at the first stop! There was also a boat trip where we were herded ashore into a Waterslide Park, an unpopular destination for those passengers over the age of twelve, where we were handed emaciated kebabs in paper towels and had to sit on sun-beds arranged on plastic grass watching the sun disappear behind black menacing clouds. Yes, we had some hilarious moments! It poured with rain on the last day to prepare us for the torrents awaiting us back at home.
And now I await the arrival of my daughter from New Zeland who lands at Heathrow tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. More happy and interesting days ahead.

ihave4t_ts @ 2006-07-23T18:14:00

2006-07-23T17:22:32Z

The big move is now in motion. Dan and Justyna were down this week-end to give me a good start with the packing up. What a load of useless paraphanalia I still had left and I thought I had already thrown away half of it! We made several trips down to the recycling depot, where they leap into the back of your car (in my case a Volvo estate which holds as much as a van) and make sure that you throw everything in the right skip! It was very hot work! Cracking on now, room by room, dismantling my memories and chucking them away. Mind you some things have remained untouched for decades and I hardly know what they are! Must get back to work!!!

Graduation Day

2006-07-17T20:39:26Z

Went up to London today for my youngest daughter's graduation. Met up with Dan outside Central Hall Westminster and after a nice cooling beer we took our places. While we were waiting for things to kick off, we had a conversation about the relevance of tradition in our lives, triggered by an announcement that we had to stand up while all the dons took their places on the podium. We discussed judges with their wigs and horse guards with their busbys and stuck up an impasse of where uniform ends and "useless" tradition begins. I personally enjoy as much tradition as I can get, be is flowing gowns and mortor boards (is that how you spell is?) or morris dancers. Take all that away and life would lose a lot. What do you all think about that?

ihave4t_ts @ 2006-05-14T00:41:00

2006-05-13T23:51:42Z

I have a provisional moving date for the first week in July - subject to all the delays and catastrophes that normally occur! I am filled with total panic at the prospect now that it looms so close. How will I ever manage to clear the house and do everything by myself? Clear the loft, the garden sheds, all the cupboards, 36 years of accumulation! Do I get house clearance, do I get a skip and throw everything in? Do I try and sell stuff? Forget e-bay, I haven't a clue how to do that. I don't even know how to get a photo up. And then everything that I am taking with me has to be packed into boxes. Where on earth do I begin? I have so much stuff! And now the children, who have been encouraging me to move for years, have started to get cold feet and feel insecure or rootless. And the moving costs escalate by the day with fresh charges piling on. I was so angstful today I went out and bought some new cloths. As I struggled in with my bags, my neighbour called out cheerily: "You're supposed to be getting rid of stuff, not bringing more in." She's right, you know.

My first post

2005-11-18T23:03:48Z

The start of a new era of communication! Who is out there?