CATCHING UP!

Haven't been able to blog at all for the last couple of days. No Broadband in the house yet. And no time to be honest!! The move (Part One!) could not have gone more smoothly. We completed early, picked up the keys in Gateshead and were in our new home just after 11.00 and receiving our first visitors before midday! The house is everything we hoped it would be. Of course there are bits to do to it, but there is nothing major, apart from sorting the garden out and we have put the wheels in motion for that and also for some odds and sods of electrical and plumbing work. The neighbours have been very welcoming. Lots of offers of cups of tea and plenty of advice about mundane stuff (like bin day) Considering we have only had the house for about thirty hours, we have been able to completely unpack everything that arrived yesterday and to dispose of all the boxes and packaging materials. I think we've done pretty well actually! Now feel a bit headachy and am glad we have finished for a while, and have the holiday to look forward to. I'm sure it'll do us all good. Charles is wanting to set off before 6am. That makes lots of sense, but I suspect I may well go back to sleep in the car because I'm feeling so drained. I just hope HE has a bit more stamina!

YOU KNOW I SAID...

... I must stop eating? Well... mum decided that she was well enough to go to Betty's for the afternoon tea I bought vouchers for for her birthday. So, we have eaten sandwiches, scones and three different little cakes, washed down with gallons of tea. I honestly cannot remember the last time I ate so much during the course of five days. So much for all the careful, restrained eating I've been doing for months!!

MUST STOP EATING!!

We went for a meal last night. It was lovely, but seven courses long. Admittedly, one of these was coffee and chocolate covered strawberries, but even so, I consumed as much food in that one meal as I would normally eat in five. Consequently, I've had little sleep as I've had to wrestle with it all night.

BACK IN TIGHTS!!

100 denier at that! It's JULY for God's sake! And it's miserable, wet, cold, grey weather. Hardly makes you look forward to a fortnight in Cornwall The girls have just been for a walk with their beagle cousins and have spent the last ten minutes being towel dried, despite going out in their Barbours!! Still, I actually wouldn't swap our fortnight in KERNOW with my brother who's going on a cruise in the Med. With my inevitable sea sickness I wouldn't go on a cruise even if I was paid handsomely to do it. Mind you, after a fortnight I would certainly have lost a stone or so in weight!!

SHOPPED TILL WE DROPPED!!

Ate far too much. Drank too many coffees. Bought lots of lovely things. Got back to Helen's. Did 'Show and Tell' with our purchases. Then I got a migraine, and still have it now, so if my typing is complete rubbish it's because I can't see the keypad because of my DOUBLE aura. Have taken painkillers and just need to wait for it to pass...

GOING INTO LEEDS...

... with Helen and Hannah to spend a day shopping. I am ridiculously excited!!!!

THE SHEER PLEASURE...

... of being able to set off in the car for Skipton, to take the dogs for a relaxed walk along the canal, enjoy coffee and teacakes sitting outside, mooch around the shops and spend an afternoon drinking frothy cappuccino and reading home improvement magazines... ... Cannot be underestimated. This is pure therapy after the trauma of selling the house!

STRUGGLING...

... to stay awake, despite the good sleep last night. It's mid-afternoon, and I could happily shut my eyes for half an hour! Must be the sudden relief from stress that's causing me to feel overwhelmed with tiredness all of a sudden.

THAT WAS...

... the best sleep I've had in weeks, if not months. Have woken up feeling refreshed and relieved that the horrors of selling our house are over. Wonder what we're going to do today? Whatever it is, it won't involve worrying!!

PROBABLY TOO LATE TO BLOG

I'm tired. Ready for bed. The day started extremely early and has been frantic, full on activity. Removals guys turned up at 8.30, an hour early, and just as well really as we filled two large vans (seven containers) and a small van (just for plants and the Belfast sink!) and didn't actually get the keys to the estate agent until 4pm. We received a fairly unpleasant text from our buyers asking us what we were playing at(!!!) when we were completely unable to move any more quickly. It certainly took the edge off the day and was not really necessary. Never mind, we can put all that behind us now. We are at Helen's. And it's such a relief. The girls have met up with their beagle cousins, Bumble and Bentley, and are learning to tolerate their puppyish behaviour although both of them are showing signs of becoming Grumpy Old Women! No fun at all! Looking forward to a good sleep tonight!

LAST FULL DAY....

... in Fram. It actually seems quite strange to think that we will be leaving the village after 28 years. I have very mixed feelings about it actually. Up to this point, I have only been able to think excitedly about our new life in Fenham, but this morning I feel pretty sad about saying goodbye to the place we've called home for over quarter of a century. We've got Helen and Bill coming this morning. They are taking some of our furniture back to Yorkshire for Hannah and, hopefully, helping Charles take some large items to the tip. We're planning lunch at the Village Inn. It will be nostalgic. James and Claire are popping up later. We need them to take a few bits and pieces to their place (just stuff that's awkward to pack really) and then we SHOULD be pretty much ready for the removals men tomorrow morning. Let's just hope completion goes smoothly!

AND MORE....

... packing. The aim, however, is to have it pretty much sorted by the end of play today, although there are still a couple of time consuming jobs that might prevent us achieving that goal. Added complications are that we have almost run out of boxes and have to wait till this afternoon for more to arrive, the bedroom furniture that we are getting rid of is being picked up and the tumble dryer (which I have managed without for a week and a half at a time when I have been laundering everything that we are taking to the new house!) is being returned. I also need to nip into Morpeth quickly, although that in itself, takes an hour and a half because of the drive. Roll on the days when Morrisons is just two minutes away!! Anyway, can't stop here chatting. Better get on...

STILL...

.... PACKING. Getting a bit tired of it now to be honest. We even need more bubble wrap and boxes, so the removals firm is delivering more tomorrow. I used to boast that I enjoyed moving and could pretty much move into a new home and be sorted before bedtime. That won't be happening this time round. Might have to take two days over it!!

LATE WITH THE BLOG TODAY!

Not sure where the time went today... We seem to be making steady progress with the packing but, worryingly, there are just 5 packing boxes left and we still have a fair bit to get done. We're also going to run out of bubble wrap I think, because we still have all the mirrors and pictures to wrap and we've already used a fair bit of the roll the removals firm dropped off, just on crockery and fragile stuff. Had a visit from Tom and Hannah who have returned home for a brief visit afar teaching in Mexico for two years. They had some interesting tales to tell. They're off on their travels again next week and will be away for another year, mostly Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia. Oh to be young!!

OUGHT TO GET UP!

(Doesn't the word 'OUGHT' look strange? Some words do, don't they? Very odd!) Anyway, here we are, the last Sunday morning we will spend in Fram. I actually can't believe its really happening, even though I know damn well it is because of the complete chaos we are living in. This time next week we will have spent two nights at Helen's. I just don't know what we would have done without them. They have a house that is completely upside down because Bill is gutting the kitchen literally from the ceiling down, and yet they are still prepared to put us up for a week. I just hope we can make ourselves useful while we're there. Looks like a dull, overcast day and feels a bit chilly. Might stay under this duvet a bit longer!!

PACKING!

and baking fourteen large quiche. Could have really done without it today, but think it's the last delivery before we move out on Friday. Charles has made a great start on moving everything that's ready packed into one room, so that we have a bit of order and logic to what we are trying to do.

HUGELY FRUSTRATING,

I'm not altogether sure what support I expected to receive from the Mental Health Team this morning, but basically all they are saying is that we MUST involve the police if we are concerned. Obviously we do not want to have to do this EVER (what parent would? ) but three professionals have now given us the same advice since yesterday evening and we are going to need to think very carefully about it if it's a case of preventing an escalation of illness and an increased risk to welfare. It is so sad that we have got to this stage again, and, unless you have lived through what we have gone through, nobody can really appreciate the awfulness of it.

HAVEN'T WRITTEN THE BLOG...

... today, mainly because we've been so busy with deliveries, returning curtains, checking out nursery stuff, redirecting mail, more packing etc But most of all because we had a very distressing sequence of texts and phone calls from Christina. She is clearly in a very bad place. We desperately want to help and support her, but are struggling to know what to do for the best right now. It's so sad. We are really concerned for her well-being.

STARTED PACKING.

Ugh and ugh again. What a horrid job. I'd forgotten how awful it is. Mind you, it's been over quarter of a century since we did it last, so that will have dulled the memories I expect. The thing is, I work really hard and fill up the boxes and then I look around and I don't seem to have made any impression at all. I'm slowly peeling back the layers from Christina's old room and unearthing stuff that we'd bought for the original house and that I've forgotten about. Fortunately pretty much everything will work in the new house, so, other than all the curtains we bought, there's nothing major to return to the shops. Going to call it a day for now. In the morning we need to do a delivery to Centurion, then pop into town and make sure we take the Post Redirection stuff into the PO. After that, Charles can give me a hand with packing. He'll love that.

AM A BIT...

... overwhelmed by the arrival of the packing boxes. The enormity of the task ahead has suddenly hit home. I don't even know where thirty fully assembled crates are going to go. Panic!

JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED....

... our facebook announcement, we are going to be grandparents in January. We are thrilled to bits for James and Claire and so delighted that we are going to be living withing ten minutes of them.

CHARLES HAS SPENT...

... All his money. NO! JOKE!! Charles has spent HOURS ON THE PHONE TODAY - sorting out gas, electric, water, car insurance, house contents insurance, council tax, etc etc for when we move to Wingrove Road. We've finally managed to get a price from the vendors for the curtains in the property. I thought Charles would want to negotiate, but he's just agreed to it, so maybe he's not feeling too well, but at least we know we've got curtains already up when we move in and we can return all the ones we previously bought for the first house!! They've also very helpfully said we can leave our plants at the house from the day we move out. That will be a huge help. All we need to do is to have a discussion with the neighbour about the leylandii/fence situation, but he is on holiday and won't be back till just before we complete, so we need to be patient about that. We put a cheque in the post for our purchasers to cover their storage costs as we promised. Just need to get the mail redirection form approved at the PO, and will do that later in the week. Tomorrow we are taking delivery of thirty packing cases, so at last we can begin the final phase of this hugely protracted move.

FEELNG SO MUCH MORE...

... relaxed now that contracts have been exchanged. Actually had two reasonable sleeps and even a bit of a lie in this morning. Mind you, we've just been talking about the logistics of the actual moving process and it's going to be a total nightmare. We need to be out of here on 24th, but can get into the new house until 30th, so need to camp out with Helen for those few days, even though she's in the middle of having a new kitchen installed. We come back here for 30th, get a small amount of stuff moved in and the cleaning done and then have to leave again the very next day because we're all going to Cornwall for a fortnight. Seriously, the timing is awful and could hardly have been worse, but never mind... After the hols we have our next delivery of furniture and belongings on 17th August Our discussion centred around what we need to ask James and Claire to store, what we need to take to Helen's, what we need to do about holiday packing... ... And right now I don't really want to think about any of it!! (It's men's finals day. I'll just enjoy that and then I'll put my mind to moving.)

WHAT DID WE LEARN YESTERDAY?

Probably just to expect more of the same from NUFC. Passing and possession were okay, but finishing was non-existant. We were only playing Gateshead for goodness sake! Can't honestly say the start of the season holds any anticipatory thrill for us!

SO, AFTER ALL THESE MONTHS...

... NEWCASTLE ARE ABOUT TO SIGN TWO PLAYERS!!! INCREDIBLE!! Oh and we exchanged contracts on our sale and purchase today! So, a pretty good day so far!!

SO, STILL NO...

... exchange. Not sure what's going on. Apparently our solicitor left early for the day, but there's no reason why another member of the team couldn't have closed it off. We have now been told that if it doesn't happen by noon tomorrow the whole thing is off. This has added enormously to the stress levels we are feeling. So it looks like another sleepless night.

HAVE HEARD FROM...

... our buyers and feel that we can relax a bit. It looks as though contracts are ready for exchange, hopefully this afternoon as everything has been done to enable it to go ahead. I went to Morpeth to try and calm down. The combination of nerves and caffeine wasn't good. But a bit of retail therapy and a change of scene ( combined with the reassuring text message) sorted things out!

OKAY...

... I need to get out of the house, get some air and just get myself away from the stress of not knowing what's happening. No news at all from our solicitor today. If this is what selling your house is always like I'm amazed anyone ever moves anywhere.

I AM ACTUALLY...

... starting to hyperventilate. Seriously. I've used my inhaler so many times this morning I've lost count. If it all goes wrong now, I honestly don't know what we will do.

I SWEAR!!!

The towel that I was about to throw in last week... ... is in my hand right now.

THIS IS BEYOND...

... A JOKE! You really would NOT believe it.

NEED TO TURN THE SOUND DOWN...

... On this ladies match. Serena and Azarenka are both shrieking their way through every shot. It's getting really tiresome. Charles and I paid our (hopefully) final visit to our solicitor this afternoon. Everything is now in place for exchange of contracts and this should happen tomorrow. He did think that my suggestion of getting the champagne chilled was a good one!!

THE REMOVALS FIRM...

... have been out to us again. Hopefully we will receive their quote by tomorrow. It was the same guy who came to us last time. In fact, we have only contacted the one firm - Brown and Illingworth - because he is so lovely to deal with (and they were very reasonable in their first quote!). Have just spoken to our solicitor who is hoping we will exchange on Wednesday. This is great news for everybody concerned. Hopefully, for the first time in months, we might be able to relax a little towards the end of the week.

REALLY, REALLY...

... want to make a start on packing and doing the final clear out, but won't do anything until we know that contracts are definitely exchanged. We've been here before and look what happened then. I'm not taking any chances this time!

JUST BEEN...

... out for a light lunch with Charles's Mum. He picked her up and brought her into Morpeth, where I met them. She wanted to shop for a new summer wardrobe - which we did - and then ended up in Barluga for lunch. Made a nice change actually. Not much to do this afternoon. Lull before the storm, maybe? Tomorrow we've got our removal firm coming back to give us ANOTHER quote. It's going to be complicated because of putting stuff in storage, but wanting to take some stuff out before our holiday and leaving some in there until we get back. I'm not sure how we will cope with sorting all of that, AND stuff that James and Claire are going to look after (the MX5 included) AND the stuff we will need to take to Helens as well as holiday things. For someone with my level of OCD, the next few weeks are going to be somewhat trying.

WHAT AN AMAZING WIMBLEDON...

... it's proving to be so far. Maybe it's the Year of the Underdog! Heather Watson played brilliantly yesterday against Serena and was unlucky not to win. Can't wait for today's matches. Need to check what time Murray's playing before we decide on whether or not we need to go out at all. It's such a miserable day. We had torrential rain on and off throughout the night and there's now a really heavy drizzle, the sort that Peter Kay's dinner ladies would detest!!

IT LOOKS AS IF...

... we will be leaving Longfram on 24th July. Our buyers have agreed to wait until then and we are very grateful for their patience. Had we vacated the house on the 10th which was their preferred date, we would have struggled to find temporary accommodation. I was getting desperate at one point as the caravan parks and mobile homes are all fully booked and we didn't stand a chance of getting a holiday cottage unless we were prepared to go to the Peak District!! Thankfully, and even though they will be in the midst of refitting their kitchen, Helen and Bill will let us stay with them until the property on Wingrove Road is vacated for us on 30th July. This is ridiculously close to our holiday (1st Aug!) but we can't influence the vendors to act more quickly. Apparently, according to the estate agent, they already feel that we are hassling them. All we've asked is for an earlier completion date to fit with our buyers and whether they would accept an offer for their curtains, but apparently they are a bit fed up with us, so we don't want to upset them further and risk them taking their bat home completely, otherwise we'll be looking for more than just a holiday home. I can't wait to see James and Claire this evening. I haven't seen them for a fortnight!! Much too long. We're having Indian takeaway - can't wait for that either. Right now, I'm doing the unthinkable and RELAXING with the girls in front of the telly and Wimbledon. Might as well relax while I can because in a few days there won't be time for taking it easy!!

HAD A ...

... lovely visit from my cousin Anne today. She lives in Lancashire and we don't see her often, but she comes up to stay in Craster each year and calls in to see us while she's here. We had a really good catch up over coffee and cake! Also, Charles was extremely impressed with her campervan!! I think he might even consider one now!

THOUGHT WE WERE IN FOR...

... a thunderstorm this afternoon. Black skies, thunder rumbling around, but nothing much more than that. Very disappointing, cos I enjoy a good storm. Could do with something to clear the air a bit. It's pretty stifling in the kitchen, where I have been forced to spend most of the day, and a cooling breeze would have been very welcome.