Life is calming down (thank god)

Things have calmed down quite considerably these last few days, which I have to say is a welcome relief.  On Friday I took myself off to MK, even though I am booked in which Rachel tomorrow for mesh highlights, I had to get an emergency cut because it was driving me bonkers.   Whilst I was in MK I did the centre, Dunelm’s and B&Q where I had to take back a blind.  I also found some throw blankets and some cushions in B&Q which were reasonably priced and perfect for the caravan. My last job of the day was to go to Sue’s to use her broadband so I could check my emails and post a blog.   I let myself in with the code and hadn’t been on line for very long when Sue arrived home.  She’d been at the hospital in Oxford with her dad so a difficult day for her in many ways.  We had a nice cup of tea and a chat and then I drove back to Northampton.  Being a Friday afternoon, the traffic was heavy; the M1 was a bit stop-start and then on the A45 it stopped altogether because of a 6 car pile-up.  Not good and I was very glad to walk through my flimsy caravan door.

Phil was in a very bad mood when I got back; I don’t know what I’d done, these days just looking at me seems to make him angry.   He’d had a busy day as he’d been underneath the caravan wiring up an electrical socket for the washing machine.  Apparently it wasn’t straightforward because he had to keep hoisting himself underneath the caravan and then up again to check whether the cable was coming through or not.  Plumbing in the washing machine wasn’t easy either; there were 2 pipes, 1 grey and 1 blue.  Phil plumbed in the blue hose thinking it was the cold water feed but once he’d once finished, it turned out to be the hot water feed.   He went to change it over but the cold water feed is actually broken so he will have to buy another and change it over.  Still, at least for now, we can wash with hot water.

I went to put out my rubbish and made a point of introducing myself to the 2 neighbours directly across the road from us.  Obviously they were keen to find out all about me and Phil and I gave them the brief version.  Carl has lived at Overstone for 8 years, he lives in the caravan with his daughter and although only 2 of them, they have all sorts of cars coming and going and sometimes staying.  Carl may come in useful though, he said he was a ground worker and so we may get him to tarmac our drive and gravel at the back.  The other neighbour is Andy; he lives next to Carl and has only lived on site since May.  Both Andy & Carl seemed friendly enough and I least now I have broken the ice.  Still feel like a newbie though.

On Friday evening we went over to Olney for a curry with Mads & Steve who we hadn’t seen socially for months.  Steve kindly sent me a text with brief directions but although we left at half six we didn’t get over to their cottage until almost half seven.  We ended up getting on the M1 and then coming off at a sign for Bedford.  After picking up Mads & Steve, we just about made it to the Amaya Indian Restaurant and to our table for our half seven booking.  The Amaya used to be the Castle pub in Olney.  It has been totally, and tastefully I might add, renovated.  Service was a little shaky in parts but the food was fabulous, just a bit too much of it.  Price was good too, £78 for 4 mains plus side dishes, 2 beers, a bottle of wine, Pimms and coffees to finish www.amayaofolney.co.uk.  

It was really nice to catch up with Maddy & Steve, crazy how life whizzes by and you realise you haven’t seen friends in almost 6 months.  Of course, our summer has been taken over with hormones and radiotherapy, so that’s our excuse but you know what I mean.  We went back for a coffee at the Cottage which Steve & Mads have just decorated and then it was back to Overstone with a Map that Steve had drawn.  This time, it only took us 20 minutes to get home.

Phil didn’t sleep well, eating spicy food late in the evening upset his stomach and by the sounds of it he didn’t get any sleep at all.  I, on the other hand, slept like a log.   Phil got up at 4am which I suspect was mainly to watch the Indian GP qualifying rather than toilet troubles. 

I did some housework or caravan work and by the time the qualifying had finished and we were washed and dressed it was almost midday before we set off for MK.  The main purpose for going to MK was to feed Norman for guinea pig for one last time and to whack up the central heating for Jan & Steve’s return on Sunday.  We stopped off at Sue’s to get a saw from her garage and then it was back to Overstone.  After reading the caravan information pack, we realised we needed resident park passes so went to Reception and submitted our form with photographs and Phil also submitted our plans for the garden which he had drawn up.  The lady on reception said that they were the most professional plans she’d ever seen.  This chuffed Phil but then again this is what he does for a living so they bound to be special. 

We’d invited Sue for a sleep over and she turned up on site just before 5pm after having a day of waiting around for deliveries.   She had very kindly brought over an electronic mattress recliner which Alan used to help him sleep.  We are hoping that it will help Phil’s dad.  Sue said she was very pleasantly surprised by the caravan, at how cosy and how big it was.  She said it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I’d described.  I suppose I can be prone to slight exaggeration from time to time and I forget that Alan & Sue, step-dad & Marie & Jim & Anne spend their winters in tourer’s and sometimes the summers, so our 35ft x12ft is bound to seem big in comparison.  I am glad Sue liked our van, I don’t know quite why but I was hoping that she would.  I have to say that everyone (except Harriet) have really liked the van and the site.  It will be interesting to see what the Wednesday night boys say when the visit us on Wednesday evening.

On Saturday night we had a bottle of bubbly and then walked over to the club house for a meal.  We hadn’t been in the evening and there were a few people dining in the restaurant.  Phil wasn’t sure if he was going to eat but he did and we ended up ordering from the menu rather than the board.  Food was okay and the bonus here is that it is all freshly cooked.  We got talking to some interesting people on the table next to us, all of whom have lived on the park for many years.  Two out of the 3 couples had cabins and the other couple had a van just like us.  They did tell me their names and told me where they lived but can I remember?  Its’ going to embarrassing when I bump into them.

Phil set up the sofa bed in the lounge for Sue and we were all tucked up in bed by 10pm.  We know how to live out here in the country!   I was awake early with the extra hour upsetting my body clock which is ****d at the best of times and unfortunately I think I disturbed Sue by switching on the twinkly lights and making tea.  I took the papers and my tea back to bed but we were all up and going by 7am.  Sue said she slept like a log and was plenty warm enough.  Mind you, it was pretty mild yesterday.  We drove to the shops for papers, Phil cooked bacon and egg sandwiches and Sue left at 9am to head home as she was babysitting her grand-children for the day.

After Sue had gone I left Phil on the sofa in his dressing gown watching the Indian and got in the car and went exploring.  I badly needed petrol and discovered a Tesco petrol station quite close by in Weston Favell.  I also discovered the Weston Favell Shopping Centre across from the forecourt so that will exploring sometime this week.  After filling up I then set off and attempted to find the DW Fitness and Sports Club.  I had written down directions from their website and they seemed easy enough but could I find it?   In a word, no; after an hour of driving around not really sure where I was so I gave up and headed for home.

I showered and change and after the Indian Grand Prix had finished we went to the clubhouse for roast lamb.  We were the first to be served and were out the door before the Halloween themed Bingo started.  Phil trying to get persuade me to stay and play but I’m not quite ready for this yet.  Everything in time or then again perhaps not on your Nelly.  Our Sunday afternoon was a relaxing one, telly, Sunday papers and some writing for Phil. I met another neighbour, Dick, who lives in one of the posh wood cabins.  He’s moving out next week to go and live his house in Kettering.  Dick has central heating and he says they stayed one Christmas and it was freezing. This worries me and I wonder how we will fare when the big freeze comes. I had a second wave of energy a bit later on in the afternoon and cleaned all the light fittings in the van and then attacked the grubby grouting in the kitchen with a grout reviver pen, a fabulous invention.  I went round once and it looks loads better but it does need another re-coat. After that, I tackled a week’s worth of ironing and after that was all put away it was some sofa time before an early bed.

We were a little worried yesterday after reading in Steve & Jan’s blog that they were caught up with all the Quantas flight cancellations.  They did manage to get on a flight to Bangkok where they had a 6 hour wait for another flight to Gatwick.  Phil emailed Steve and I think he has had a voicemail earlier this morning to say that they were home.  They are going to be knackered. We got them some milk and bread in so at least they can have a cup of tea and a piece of toast before falling into bed.

I’m not sure of plans for today; I was going to try and resist driving back to MK but Phil has run of his statins so I will probably have to drive over and pick up his repeat prescription unless he can make do until tomorrow when he has the surgery for his annual diabetes test and blood tests.  We shall see; one thing I am determined to do this today is to find this bloody health club, it’s about time we got back into a healthy routine, all of this eating out is doing nothing for my waistline.  The sat nav is fully charged so hopefully it will take me straight to it.

I just don't know.................

I can’t decide whether buying this 10 year old caravan with no central heating or double glazing was a stroke of genius or completely bonkers.  I really don’t know.  I realise that it’s only been a week since we moved in and that that we are only in the county next door but I feel like I am living on another planet.  I feel like an alien, quite literally.  In the summer when we viewed, this old van was not only the cheapest on site but it seemed the perfect solution to have it as a base while we flipped properties, but now I am not so sure.  I am not in a happy place right now; Phil says he is happy here but he huffs and puffs and moans all day and only chills out at teatime when he puts the gas fire on full, changes into his pyjamas, reclines the sofa, pulls the blanket over him and tunes into Deal or no Deal. 

Unfortunately his mood rubs off on me and one thing I do know if I am to survive the winter, I definitely need to change my mind-set. Rather than focus on the negative, today I am going to try a bit of reverse phycology and share what I like best about living in the caravan.  First up, I like the fact that it’s easy to clean; having deep cleaned in the beginning, day to day is easy, an hour tops and that’s it.  I love the fact that the rubbish bins are only a 1 minute walk from the van, I like to get rid of my rubbish and hated having rubbish bags lying around until rubbish collection day when we lived at no 11.  The added bonus is that we also have a recycling waste centre, that’s a common dump to you and me, right on our door step, literally it’s only a 5 minute drive.   And it’s a big one, I have only it visited once, I struggled to find my way around it the one-way-system but give it time and I soon will.

I love the Overstone lakes, it will be beautiful in the summer and sometime soon we will try a frosty walk around them to get our bearings; once I get back into my fitness regime, it will be nice to put on the trainers and try a run around them.  Running in the fresh air beats the treadmill any day.  The shop on site is good and reasonably priced and it’s a bonus that they have an alcohol licence.  There is also a hairdressers and a coffee shop but I haven’t tried these yet but I am sure it won’t be long before Phil tries out the café.   The Sunday roast at the clubhouse is great, all home cooked and you can get roast lamb, or in fact, any meet of your choice for under 7 quid.  I will be there every Sunday.  If anyone wants to join us then you are most welcome, there is no need to book.

Vicky and Den, our immediate neighbours, or the only neighbours that have talked to us seem really nice; perhaps not drinking buddies but wholesome, reliable people than will help you if you need them to.  I like the fact that we are sited in a cul-de-sac and the fact we live on a road with the posh state-of-the-arc log cabins; this may sound snobby for which I apologise but location does help and at the end of the day it reminds me of the cul-de-sac that I have just said goodbye to although it’s not quite the same and one really can’t compare.  I like the bed that came with the caravan, I especially like the wool mattress protector that I brought, it’s really soft and comfy and I will have one on my bed for the rest of my life, well for as long as I live in the UK anyway.  And that’s about it for the positives.  And now, for the negatives.

I hate the cold in the caravan and the condensation that runs down the windows first thing in the morning no matter how much I heat and ventilate.  I am girl that likes to be kept warm and I worry how we will fare when the winter really kicks in, which is hasn’t at the moment, indeed we haven’t even experienced a hard frost, let alone snow.  I hate the fact that I feel like I am living in a gold fish bowl and feel the need to shut my blinds even in the daytime.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I am doing anything naughty (too tired and cold for that) but I just feel exposed and I don’t like it.  When I run hot the hot water first thing in the morning, it takes an age to get hot (boy do I miss my dishwasher), it takes at least 5 minutes and now I resort to boiling a kettle.  I also miss the space of our 3 bed detached, it feels like everywhere I go in the caravan and believe me there are not a lot of places to go but it seems Phil always wants to be in the same space as me at the same time and we are forever tripping over each other.  Most of all I feel isolated from my friends who seem so far away.  They are not on my doorstep and from now on in and forever more, everything will need to be planned and nothing can happen spontaneously.  I like spontaneity and I grieve it even after only one week.  Phil is cross with me and my need to trip back to Milton Keynes almost every day but I can’t help myself.  It’s where I am familiar.  I don’t know anywhere in Northampton.  And Wellingborough which is nearby is a dump.

If I cared to do a word count (which I won’t because even I am not that sad) I wonder whether my positives will outweigh my negatives and actually, at a glance, I think they may, which is a good thing right?  I need to give it more time, I need Phil to sort the caravan out because I am a typical Cancer and I think that if my living space is right, then the rest will follow.  Fingers crossed anyway.

As usual, it’s been a busy week and we haven’t been idle. No change there then, but actually it hasn’t been all work and no play but more about that later. We were up really quite early on Monday morning and by 8am we had breakfast and had loaded up the car with the tumble dryer ready to take to over to Sue’ house.  It made sense really; she needed to buy a one because tenant nicked hers and we already have a washer-dryer so by giving the dryer to Sue, it gives us space to find a home for all of our tools which are taking up of half of Sue’s garage.  That’s what friends are for and not only does it solve a problem but it helps each of us out.

When we got to No 2, we unloaded the tumble dryer which was easy and then Phil put up 2 blinds for Sue in the upstairs.  Phil was keen to use Sue’s new blind cutter but it wasn’t straight forward fitting the blinds because he had to drill into the lintels.  But he managed it as he always does.  While I was waiting, I painted a white coat of emulsion in Sue’s lounge; I folded away the dust sheets and put away the ladder but unfortunately Sue needed to do a 4^th coat.

After we finished at Sue’s, we loaded the exercise bike in the Land Rover and drove over to meet Harriet at her dad’s house.  The idea was that we could free up some of the space in Sue’s garage because we are feeling somewhat guilty at abusing her garage space even though she said it was no problem.  We also thought that Harriet could use the bike but that plan backfired because Chris said that he didn’t want the bike in the bedroom so it had to be housed in the garage and there is no way that HH will use it the garage with all the spiders.

Before we left MK, we went over to Westcroft  to feed the fish and Norman the guinea pig who is always pleased to see Phil.  Then it was a quick trip to Morrison’s for some supplies and then back to Northamptonshire.  Before going back to the van we turned off at Billing to see if we could find the postal address shop that next door told us about. At the moment we have all of our post being redirected to Harriet’s flat but obviously this isn’t ideal. Neither Phil nor I could remember Vicky & Den’s directions, which were a little vague but we did recall that it was near a garden centre close to Billing Aquadrome.  We had a few turnarounds but eventually we parked up in the garden centre car park where we found a really surprising medley of different shops.  It was a real surprise and a most welcome one.  There was a barber, fishmongers, a butchers, all kinds of shops and most different to what you would find in Central Milton Keynes.  Unfortunately, we were tired, unwashed, and hungry and not in the mood to explore, our main aim was to source the postal address place.   We looked and we looked and almost gave up but we found the postal place in a sweet shop called The Manor.   It was a godsend, a real find; one hundred quid for a ‘proper’ postal address and an old school sweet shop with free internet access; Phil, bless him, was in his element.  We signed up for a hundred quid for a year but didn’t explore the shops, deciding to save this for another time.  We were knackered and hungry so we stopped off at Overstone Manor for a meal.   For the first time, we vetoed the soggy carvery and went for the 2-4-1 menu and very nice it was too.  I had the steak and Phil the gammon; it was good for pub grub.

On Tuesday, I got up at 5am and painted the bathroom; it wasn’t bad but I hate the mottled effect and the smell of smoke so it had to go. In the end, it took 4 coats and lots of touching up.  We did a few jobs in the van and then headed to Phil’s mum and dads for lunch.  I hadn’t seen them since before we went away on holiday but Phil’s dad hasn’t been well so we were overdue a visit.  Normally we head down the M1 from J14 to J21a but on Tuesday we went via Kettering, Corby and Oakham.  It was about 30 miles less but it took us about the same time.

We arrived at mum and dads only to find Phil’s mum on the doorstep in a total state of panic, breathless and almost unable to speak.  When she’d calmed down a bit, we ascertained that  earlier in the morning they’d had a call from the estate agent with an offer on their house of £210k which they’d accepted.  Initially they went on the market for £236k so they’ve had to drop quite substantially.  Not having moved house for 45 years, naturally they are very worried about the move and all the things that this will involve.  We will help them all we can and Phil has promised we will go down every week to do jobs but something tells me that their move is not going to be easy and will make our recent move seem like a walk in the park.  I do wonder whether Phil’s and dad will survive such a major move but let’s hope so.  They’re moving to a 2 bed bungalow just around the corner and once in, their lives will be much, much easier.  

Phil’s dad hasn’t been well for the last 5 weeks.  He’s been to the doctors and had blood tests, chest x-rays, and various other tests which have revealed water on the lung and some kind of kidney infection.  This has left him breathless, weak and unable to do anything. I was shocked when I saw how ill he looked and am quite worried about him.  His doctor is treating him with water tablets but it’s obvious to me that he should be admitted to hospital.  And Phil’s mum isn’t really doing any better, she nearly fell over 3 times when she was in the kitchen doing dinner.   Phil’s parents have never been demanding or asked anything of us before now but I feel that this winter they will need our help more than ever before. 

When we got back to the caravan we were remarked on how warm it was when we walked in and they Phil realised that the gas fire had been left on all day. Whoops. On Wednesday morning I painted the dressing room and the insides of all the cupboards which was a little tedious but it had to be done.  I left Phil putting up new blinds and then went off to MK to see Sue.  I am tending to go to MK on the motorway rather than the back roads and I try to get off at the services at Newport.  I have been lucky the last few times but it will be sods law when I’m short of time that the barrier will be down. I wish I knew someone that knew the barrier code.

I spent a few hours with Sue on Wednesday, she steam cleaned her conservatory floor and then we went shopping.  First stop was Christine’s house in Downs Barn to pick up post and papers and then it was off to Wickes to pick up some double glazing film. I’d read an article in The Times saying that it was a good to keep him heat so I’d thought I’d give it a go.  We did a few more stores, Dreams, Homebase, Harveys, Lidl’s and ended up at the city centre.  I needed to go into Bank of Scotland to pay off my credit card.  I’d tried to do this on the phone with no joy, I’d tried on line, again no joy and was eventually advised to go into a branch.  I queued up in the long lunchtime queue only to be told that they couldn’t take payment with my bank card.  I was quite verbal before walking out and ended up getting HSBC to pay them.  Sue and I had just enough time to eat a baked potato in BHS before driving back to Newport to meet Phil who was already waiting outside on Sue’s drive when we turned up.  We unloaded the shopping and did a few jobs and then we went off to Caldecotte to abuse Sue’s broadband connection while Sue went to visit her dad.

As it was Wednesday, Phil’s night out with the boys and we needed somewhere to stay.  We were very lucky because we had a choice of beds.  Jan & Steve very kindly said we could stay at their house any time whilst they were in Oz and Sue gave us a choice of a bed in Newport or Caldecotte.  In the end we decided on Caldecotte because we needed the internet and also didn’t want to dirty Steve & Jan’s spare bed for only one night.  I dropped Phil off at the pub and arrived back at Caldecotte just as Sue pulled up.  We nibbled on cheese and biscuits and drank red wine and put the world to rights.  We were surprised to see Phil pull up in a taxi at 10.30pm as this was early for a Wednesday night.  Of course it wasn’t early to bed and next morning we were all a little dosey.

We had tea and toast and did some internet and left Sue’s just after 9am and went to DW for a steam and a shower.  We went to feed the animals which was followed by the usual visit to Morrison’s and over to Newport to pick up Phil’s car which he’d left at Sue’s house.  I wondered where the morning had gone as it was almost midday by the time we got back to the van.  After unpacking, Phil said we’d go to The Swan in Holdout for lunch. I’d rather have had lunch at home but there was nothing decent to eat in the fridge.  It’s funny, we agreed when we moved in that Phil would take over the shopping and the cooking but aside from breakfast, we haven’t eaten one single home cooked meal.  In fact we have eaten out every day for the last 2 weeks.  I didn’t cook at home for our last week because I didn’t want to get my oven dirty after cleaning it.

We wanted to go to The White Swan because it was owned, or managed, not sure which, by the same people that have The Griffin’s head in Mears Ashby.  The menu was very similar but we were disappointed with the pub, which inside was old, grubby and tired plus it was almost empty. There was no atmosphere whatsoever; we had lamb chops with mash in thick gravy but the mash had been reheated and I was surprised that I had to ask for mint sauce which surely should have come with it?  I am sorry White Swan, we won’t be coming back.

Phil is slowly getting through the caravan jobs.  He put up the bathroom blind and a new white venetian blind in the bedroom.   He has now lagged all the pipes underneath the caravan and has managed to get an electric socket outside so soon we will be able to use the washing machine.  He just needs to get some extra-long hoses and plumb it in and then we must put some insulation material and our last job will be to try and fit the skirt back on. And then we should be all ready for winter.  Well, as ready as we’ll ever be.

I am now on page 5 of my word document blog draft and I think it’s time to stop writing.  I seemed to have gone on and on and on and this posting is turning out more like an essay.  I can’t help it, sharing all my thoughts and feeling online, is my therapy and after all, there’s been a lot happening to me this month and hence a lot to talk about.  Already I feel much better for getting it all off my chest.  Still no internet at the van, that won’t be up until next Tuesday at the earliest so although blog was written in bed at the caravan first thing, have published using Sue’s broadband.   

Completely Exhausted

Completion when it came on Friday was early, very early.  There was no chain so we weren’t expecting it to be late in the day but we certainly didn’t expect it to happen before 10.30am.  Of course we weren’t ready, I was still cleaning and Phil was up in Harriet’s loft when he took the call from the agent.  After that, it was all mad panic stations; I had finished the house and had the remainder of our stuff on the drive but I couldn’t pack it in the car because Phil had my car and the land rover was stuffed to the gunnels.  It was almost midday by the time Phil came back, he was gone ages and I was getting concerned not to mention bored and impatient.   He said he’d tried to ring me to say that he would be a little longer because he had go to Morrison’s to get food fresh for the guinea pig but I’d left my mobile in the caravan and by this time I had dismantled the landline phone.  Phil took meter readings and scribbled these down on a scrap of paper, he took the front door key off my key ring and then promptly lost it.  This sent him into a real tizzy and after a frantic search with no joy, we gave up.  So no emotional goodbye house moment, no tears; there was no time, we simply shut the door for one last time and that was it.

Phil took the one door key and dropped this off at the agents in Newport.  I went to the tip to dump the rubbish and went round to Sue’s house as we’d made arrangements to go to Ikea to have a look at soft furnishings.  Phil came round for some tools which he needed to do jobs at the caravan and then with a loaded car, set off for Overstone.  Sue & I went to Ikea.  We looked around the showroom part first to get some inspiration but nothing really jumped out at us.  There were no must-have moments which is rare for me.  Mind you, that’s probably a good thing for me, there isn’t room to swing a cat in our caravan and I already have a storage unit full of stuff, I don’t need more stuff but Sue does.

Sue brought us lunch in the café, it took ages to get served by some rather reluctant staff but we got there in the end and celebrated my completion with a glass of wine.  And why not, I think it probably did us both good to sit down and take time out.  Of course wine at lunchtime doesn’t bode well for getting things down in the afternoon but we checked out the market place and came away from Ikea with a fab mirror, a chest of drawers, 2 bedside cabinets, a couple of picture frames and an Audrey Hepburn print.  It was a bit of a challenge getting them all in Sue’s car but we managed just about and get them off loaded with no problems at the other end.  Then for me, it was back to the caravan park. 

Phil was already reclined when I got home; ummm did I say home, it doesn’t feel like home quite yet, more like a base.  I don’t think the reality of our brutal downsizing has sunk in yet, I still feel like it’s all a bad dream.   I had to unload my car and put away some of the stuff that Phil had unpacked and then on Friday night, we drew the curtains, put on every fire and slumped in the front of the telly.

I didn’t impress Phil much because I was up at 4am and managed to wake him up too.  I think he did try to go back to sleep but didn’t succeed and by 6.30am we’d eaten our porridge and were ready to get on the road.  We needed supplies and decided that whilst it was quiet on the roads, we’d drive to Wellingborough to try and find Homebase.  Phil knew there was a Homebase because he’d been there before but the one-way-system in Wellingborough is confusing and in the end we gave up and headed back to Northampton.  We saw a Sainsbury’s so we filled up with fuel and then got some shopping.  I knew that that there was a Homebase on retail park just a few miles from Overstone so we went there.

In the cold light of day (literally) it has become obvious that we have quite a bit of work to do on the van before winter really sets in.  First job is to lag the pipes under the van to try and stop them freezing; Phil got some insulation from Homebase and fitted this around the pipes.  It wasn’t an easy job because he had to lay on his back and ease himself under the van and unfortunately we didn’t have quite enough insulation so he will have to go underneath again.  We also need to try and fit the skirting which is missing at the back of the van but before we can do this we need to fit an electric socket to power the washing machine. Phil wants to get tarmac laid so he can park his car and he also wants to plant a hedge to define our boundary but I can’t think about landscaping for the moment, the inside needs to take priority.

The people that owned the caravan before us smoked inside and the smell of stale smoke hits you as soon as you walk inside, even though the lounge/kitchen area has been painted, the curtains have been washed and new carpets have been fitted.  I think it must be impregnated into the whole fabric of the van.  I’ve painted both of the bedrooms and these now don’t smell of smoke but the bathroom and the dressing room and the inside of the storage cupboards reek of smoke, so these will have to be painted and sooner rather than later.

On Saturday morning Phil sorted out the wiring in the second bedroom which has now turned into an office. The boxing and the wiring of two sockets looked awful and I knew Phil wouldn’t be able to live with it.  He ripped out the boxing, rewired it into a new double socket making it all neat and tidy.  He filled the wall, I painted it and now you’d never know.   Phil also fitted another double socket which I didn’t really think we needed but a boy can never have too many sockets; after all, it’s no good having, an iPhone4, an iPad, an iPad docking station, an iMac and a Windows PC if you have nowhere to plug them in! 

Phil wanted to take the afternoon off and persuaded me to get in the car and go exploring.  He said he feels that I am putting pressure on him to get jobs done and pushing him too hard.  I suppose he does have a point but I only push him as hard as I push myself and he knows that I won’t rest until I have the caravan as I want it.  Relationships are all about compromise and I suppose that sometimes, enough is enough; so I relented and we went to take a look at the nearby villages. There are some pretty villages surrounding us but we didn’t find any pubs that we liked the looks of so we headed back to The Griffin in Mears Ashby.  We have been here a few times now and the food is excellent. 

It was nearly 3 o’clock by the time we got back to the van and whilst we were unloading the car we got chatting to our next door neighbours, Vikki & Dennis who invited us in for a cup of tea.  Their van seems massive compared to us although Phil says its only 12ft wide like ours.  But I think not, I think they must have a double base.  Vikki & Dennis seem very nice and very kindly answered our 101 caravan questions.  Which is lucky for us, because at the moment, I feel like we are like pigs in shit and need all the help we can get if we are to survive the winter.

I know I am a girl that likes the warm, but I have to say, and Phil will agree that it is cold in the van.   The electric wall mounted fires and the one gas fire are not sufficient.  We brought an oil heated radiator with us and we have this on all the time, day and night.  It’s only October and I am already getting dressed in front of the gas fire.  And I have to force myself to use the shower. Living here reminds of when I used to stay at my gran’s house; she had no central heating and when you took a bath you had to put on the paraffin heater.  If things get really bad, we have a very old and very ugly calor gas heater in the plastic shed outside that we can bring that in the van.  Only trouble is, I don’t know if I could bare to look at this rusty old fire let alone have it living with me and where would I put it?  But I suppose being warm wins over vanity and needs must and all of that.

Yesterday morning I was up early once again but then I did fall asleep on the sofa at 7pm so an early start is not surprising.  Poor Phil wasn’t impressed but realising there was no chance of more sleep he got up and cooked bacon and eggs. Phil says you have always got to a have a fry up when you’re camping.  Trying not to disturb the neighbours so early on a Sunday morning, we locked up and drove to MK in my car. Whilst our bedroom is at the back of the caravan, Vikki & Den’s bedroom is at the front of their van.  So what with me being an early riser, living next to us isn’t going to be so good for them.  Once off the M1, our irst stop was a visit to Sue’s to pick up the saw and then it was over to Steve & Jan’s to feed Norman and the few remaining fish. 

We had our gym bags with us but neither of us felt up to a workout so we had a Jacuzzi and a steam at DW and then went to McDonalds for a coffee and also to waste some time.  I managed to get 26 minutes on the free internet but this was nowhere near long enough to do what I needed to do.  It didn’t matter though as it was 10am by then and the shops were open.  We went to Homebase for more insulation, Paul Simon for blinds and Dunelem’s for bead curtains and Phil also picked up a small heater for the bedroom.  We did hope that we would hook up with Harriet but I knew she was out clubbing the night before and she said that she’d me ring when she was up. We drove down the A5 back to Northampton and when we go on the park, we stopped off at the Launderette to put on the washing.  I hadn’t done any washing for 8 days so I had a bin bag full of dirty clothes.  

Phil was going to cook roast duck with all the trimmings but it was lunchtime and he hadn’t even put on the oven so we decided to eat at the clubhouse.  The bingo was on and the actual main clubhouse was packed out but we were the only ones in the restaurant.  This surprised us because the Sunday roast is only £6.75 per head; we both had the roast lamb which was delicious.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and really we should have got on with jobs but both of us had run of steam, quite literally. After feeding the dryer 50p’s in the tumble dryer, I did manage to bring my laundry home and do all the ironing yesterday afternoon but that was pretty much all I managed to achieve.  Phil sawed a piece of wood but that was it for him; we finished the day with Sunday papers, crap television and ham sandwiches.

I shall look forward to the day when there are no pressing jobs, nothing on the ‘to do’ list and when our time is our own to do as we please.  Will that day ever come I ask myself?  Yes it will Clairabella, you just need to hold on and keep going for a bit longer.

Bye Bye House

I knew moving week would be hard especially because we were moving ourselves but it's been real hard and very, very stressful.  Our week didn’t start out great with Phil discovering that Buster had died in his sleep.  Then went he got to the hire place in Bletchley he went to pay and found that the didn’t have his wallet so he had to come all the way back to Milton Keynes in the rush hour traffic and back again to pick up the small wheel based van so it was gone half nine by the time he got back home.  We filled the van with stuff and I thought we were very careful with our packing but when we got to the Arrows storage unit in west Bletchley and unloaded, a couple of bits had moved in transit; my beautiful Dwell high white gloss unit had a chip on the door and one of the white bedside units had a nick at the back.   It took several lift loads getting it all off and a little bit of planning to utilise the space but we did it. 

After the storage unit we went back home and loaded up for the second time and headed off to Overstone.  We unloaded but of course there was a problem, none of our furniture would fit through the bedroom doors.  We managed to squeeze them through the main caravan door but not the internal rooms. Phil went to unscrew them all but we’d forgotten to bring the electric screwdriver so we couldn’t do it.  It was lunchtime by this time so we popped into Overstone Manor for a soggy carvery.  Phil says he doesn’t mind the carvery here but it’s not great, all the vegetable's including the roast potatoes are frozen, its like eating soggy fresh air.  I am not going to write this place off though before I try something off the main menu, mainly because I like the venue and it’s within walking distance from the van.

I can’t remember what we did for the rest of the afternoon but I know we were knackered by the time we took the van back and on Monday evening it was early to bed.  And unfortunately it was also early to rise, I was in the wide awake world by 3.30am.  Just after half seven I drove over to Caldecotte to pick up Sue who had an appointment at Central Milton Keynes to get one eye laser surgery.  She was meant to have it about a month ago and they cancelled because the surgeon was sick.  Sue signed the consent form, had an eye check and we went sat patiently in the waiting room when the consultant came up and told us that there was a problem with the laser machine.  He said that the engineer was driving up from Birmingham and that there would be at least an hour’s delay before surgery.  We said okay and went for a wonder around the city centre and ended up having a bacon and sausage roll in BHS café.  Not long afterwards Sue got a call to say that there was a big problem with the laser machine and her operation couldn’t take place.  Actually, that’s not strictly true, they said she could drive to Cambridge which was where the surgeon was going but she declined.

I dropped Sue at Newport and then went back home.  Phil had been over to the caravan to breakdown the furniture and reassemble it inside the bedrooms.  He got back at the same time as me and we then we went over to Westcroft to bury the rabbit.  In the afternoon we took down all the pictures and filled all the holes.  We cleared everything from all the bedrooms all bar our bed.  It was looking rather bare and I was a little anxious because our buyer came round in the evening with another plumber.  She is ripping our bathroom out (I don’t blame her) and apparently the plumber she’d brought round last week had let her down.  I hadn’t really wanted to meet her but she was nice and seemed excited to be moving into our house.

Wednesday was another early wake-up; I was up at 3.30am and managed to rouse Phil at half five.  He ripped out all sound system cables from underneath the skirting in the lounge and together we took down the big TV.  It was really heavy.  Taking down the wall bracket wasn’t easy either but we managed it.  Phil filled in the huge holes and I painted the chimney breast.  Luckily I found the tin of paint in the garage so it was no big deal.  Sue had lent me her white paint try so I rolled over all the holes all over the house.  I ended up touching up skirting boards where last year I had painted around the furniture. We loaded up both cars and drove over to Caldecotte to put stuff in Harriet’s loft.  This took a while, I climbed into the loft and Phil lifted the boxes up the ladder and I hoisted them up from there, some boxes were easier than others.  Last job of the day was a big clean in all the rooms and a hoover up. Phil says I am a paranoid psycho and maybe he is right but I really don’t want our buyer to come into a dirty, unloved, house.  I want her to be as happy as we have been living here.

Yesterday was a big, moving day.    It seemed ages before I could stir Phil but luckily he was up at half six because he needed the loo. When he was dressed he dismantled our bed and also the sofa in the lounge.  Nigel the-bald-man-with van turned up at 8am and loaded up with stuff from the garage and he and Phil went to the storage unit.  I stayed home and did some hovering, cleaning and packing until Phil came back about an hour later.  He said our 40ft storage unit is choc-a-block and we couldn’t fit a single thing in.  It was lucky then that Sue kindly said we could use her garage temporarily to store stuff so we loaded up both cars and went over to Newport.

After Newport we shoved our double mattress in the back of the Land Rover and tipped this at the Newport dump.  Next job was another car load to take to Harriet’s loft and then it was back home to load up both cars with more stuff.  Phil was rushing me as he was eager to get to the caravan and as a result I forgot half the stuff that I needed to take.  Like the toaster, the kettle and all the food stuffs from the fridge.  Really I could have done with another couple of hours packing and cleaning but I don’t suppose it mattered too much because I couldn’t have got anything else in my car.

We arrived at the caravan and unloaded which took some time.  I started to unpack and put away but Phil was hungry and insisted on taking me for lunch.  We went to the village near Earls Barton (for the moment the names escapes me) for lunch which at the moment is our favourite in this area.  The food is all home cooked. I had the liver and bacon with mash and Phil went for the steak.  The only trouble with this pub is that the food portions are massive.  It was cracking on for 3pm by the time we got back to the van.  Poor Phil was knackered so he reclined on the sofa whilst I unpacked the boxes.  This took a while and things had to be changed around so I could find a home for everything.

Last night was ham sandwiches and telly.  We have quite a bit of work to do to make the van comfortable and cosy before the winter sets in.  As we are complete novices with camping and caravans I think we have much to learn.  But I have to say our first night was comfortable; our caravan bed is very comfortable and we both slept like logs.  Maybe this was because we were cream crakered from our removals, I don’t know but I think the pair of us are going to be happy here.  I had brought new PJ’s for our first night and Phil, bless him, and put a hot water bottle on my side before I went to sleep so I wasn’t cold, but I have to say when I woke up this morning.  It was okay when Phil got up and put the heaters on but if you put on to many on the electricity trips and you have to go outside to flick it on. Phil has brought torches to put in every room for when it’s dark, but this is not ideal and we will have to get it sorted.

I wrote this blog in my new caravan bed first thing this morning but I am actually publishing it from our house.  I tried to hack into networks on the caravan park yesterday but unfortunately they were all secure.  Another 2 hours on the telephone with BT on Wednesday evening and we are not going to be connected at the caravan for another 2 weeks.  I worry that I may have a nervous breakdown without the Internet so today I am going to have to try and buy a dooley dangle thing but not one on contract.  Not sure if there is such a thing but I am going try.

Well I suppose I better sign off from the Internet for one very last time.  I have a few last things to pack, the garage and the kitchen floors to clean and then it’s time to say goodbye house.  God, what am I like, my eyes are filling up as I type this sentence.  I have loved living beside the canal and I shall miss walking down to the pub watching the canal frozen over on a crispy winters day.  I shall miss my neighbours Emma & Jason especially, I will miss my kitchen and my dishwasher and I will miss living in Milton Keynes.  I am sure once with settled in the static I shall feel happier next week; well maybe even later this afternoon when our solicitor to say we’ve completed and the money is our account.  Bye Bye no 11 hello new life.

Oh dear

I am not sure that I have mentioned anything about feeding the animals but Jan & Steve asked us to look after theirs whilst they were in Australia.  We didn’t mind feeding them,  after all, Jan looked after our affairs whilst we were in India for 3 months and Jan very kindly said we could stay at their house any time we liked whilst they were away.  They don’t have many pets, just a tankful of tropical fish in the lounge, 3 normal fish in the kitchen and Buster the rabbit and Norman the guinea pig who both live in the utility room.  Steve said we only needed to feed them every other day but on our first visit after Jan & Steve had left for Oz, we found 3 dead floating on the top of the tropical fish tank, we decided to go every day.  Phil was alarmed straight away because he thought the light in the tank should have been on and he couldn’t see any bubbles.  We decided that the lights had blown so straight away we went to Morrison’s to get new bulbs but when we put these in, the lights still didn’t work.  On further exploration, we found that Steve had the lights on the timer.  Phew, we breathed a sigh of relief, put the old lights back in, scooped out the dead fish and went home, not feeling too concerned.

Phil felt uneasy about the 3 dead fish so he went round the following day, only to find 10 more dead fish.  OMG, now he was really upset.  He remembered that Jimmy had once kept tropical fish so he phoned him for some advice.   Jim said that it was very likely to be a problem with the tank and the fish most probably weren’t getting enough oxygen or heat.  Something like that anyway, I can’t quite remember.  Phil emailed Steve and sometime later he phoned Phil and said it might be a blocked pipe and told him what to twiddle.   Phil went back round to twiddle and whatever Steve told him to do, seemed to work and all was good until Friday, when he discovered another 2 dead fish.  Oh dear.  There was most definitely a problem with the tank and in hindsight we should have called a tropical fish specialist to fix it first thing last week and had we have done, we could have saved the fish.

Now if you think 15 dead fish wasn’t bad enough, think again, the worst was yet to follow.  So concerned about the fish, Phil went round to Jan & Steve’s every day last week but on Sunday, he had a hangover and couldn’t move off the sofa.    We thought missing a day wouldn’t matter, but oh dear, when he went very early on Monday morning to feed the animals before collecting the small wheeled base transit van that we’d hired, he arrived only to find Buster very still in his cage.  He phoned me on the landline in a total panic telling me he thought Buster was dead.  Now I knew that Buster was very old, but even I was shocked, how bad luck to be looking after a good friend’s pets and have nearly all of them die on you!!!!!

After Phil phoned me, I phoned Sue.  She is the only friend that I know that has her mobile switched on permanently and is up any time, day or night.  I’m afraid with all the dramas and misfortune of this week (and more about that another time) that Sue has been my ‘phone a friend’.  Not only have I seen her every day but I have phoned her at least once a day with some or other crisis.  Now the reason for phoning Sue about Buster, was because when she was round for supper last Saturday, she was telling me and Phil, that she once looked after a neighbour’s rabbit and it went and died on her.  When her neighbour got back from holiday she insisted on getting an autopsy.  Phil remembered this tale also and decided to leave Buster in his cage and not do anything until he’d emailed Steve and told him the sad news.

Whereas Sue has been my ‘phone a friend’ this week, Phil’s’ phone a friend’ has been Jimmy.   He phoned him on Monday afternoon, quite forgetting that Jimmy doesn’t work on a Monday and it was Shirley that picked up the phone.  Phil told her about Buster and Shirley, being typical Shirley, burst out laughing.  It wasn’t that she didn’t feel for Buster but I don’t think she could believe our bad luck.  I am sorry but I had to laugh myself when she said to Phil “I bet that poor guinea pig is shitting himself”.   

Steve emailed back in Oz and said that Buster was very old and that it wasn’t Phil’s fault; he told him where the keys were for the patio doors and on Tuesday we buried poor Buster in Jan & Steve's back garden.  I have to say that he looked very content in his cage and both Phil & I think he died peacefully in his sleep.  The rabbit dying on him has really upset Phil.  So much so that on Monday morning he felt physically sick.  He couldn’t think about anything else for the whole day.  Poor Phil; over the last week he had become quite attached with Buster the rabbit and Norman the guinea pig, they had formed a bond.

Poor Buster; R.I.P. my furry friend.

Packing up & saying goodbye to No 11

It’s been a fairly busy but quite pleasant few days and the sunshine over the weekend certainly helped the soul.  Phil took Harriet and 3 of their friends to Luton airport on Friday where they were headed off to Tenerife for a week.  I was a little worried that 4 girls and all their luggage would fit in the land rover but it was fine.   I spent most of the day on the phone and after nearly 2 hours on the phone with BT; I had almost lost the will to live.  And the trouble is, I am likely to have to do the same today because it still isn’t sorted.  The problem is we don’t have an individual postcode for our caravan plot and the BT postcode office needs a postcode before they can allocate a line.  I said to them why can’t you just use the Overstone office postcode but they were adamant that they couldn’t do this.  I phoned the Overstone Sales office and they said the BT engineer just needs to come to the office and they will direct them to our plot. 

The other complication is that I can’t quite remember whether there is a telephone box in the van so can’t be sure that the previous owner had a landline, so today I need to go over, find the box, plug in a code and dial a special number which SHOULD give me the previous telephone number.  If BT have this number then apparently then they can set us up with a telephone line, broadband and BT Vision with a postcode.   If there was no previous line and there is no box, then god only knows.   I already know in my bones that it is going to be some before we get communications.

On Saturday we went over to Newport to give Sue a hand with a few jobs at her house.   Phil fitted a roller blind and a shelf and put up a curtain rail; jobs which entailed lots of deep sighing and seemed to take him quite some time.  Sue & I cleaned walls and windows and I helped her clean the top of her conservatory which wasn’t easy.  First up, Sue uncoiled her hose then I went up to her en-suite window and threw down a ball of string.  Sue tied this o the hose and I pulled the string and brought the hose up throw the en-suite and then hung it out the bedroom window whilst Sue turned on the water.  I hosed whilst Sue scrubbed the conservatory roof with a yard brush.  It took a while and we must have looked quite comical but it worked. 

Phil cooked on Saturday and we invited Sue over for a sort of ‘goodbye house’ supper. Phil brought champagne and we had this before eating his homemade mackerel with Melba toast.  And very nice it was but there was just far too much of it.  We had spaghetti carbonara for main and a cheesecake with a homemade red currant jus which Phil was very proud of.  Sue came round with 2 bottles of some very nice red wine and we drunk this and some more!  Our last drunken night at number 11 and I think we went out in style.  Well judging by our hung-overs the following morning, I am certain we did!  I had a number of jobs that I wanted to do on Sunday morning and really needed Phil’s help but there no chance because he was really suffering (hangover) and couldn’t move off the sofa.  I managed to clear the second bedroom and then shot off to go shopping with Sue.  She wanted me to go with her to look at blinds and bedding.  We found blinds in Paul Simon and discovered that they offer a cutting service which costs 15 quid per blind which we didn’t think was too bad.  Unfortunately the cutting service takes 2 weeks so we decided against this and just brought the cutting tool.  They had the same blinds in Dunelme’s next door and they were much cheaper, but unfortunately they didn’t have the the size Sue wanted so she’s had to order them.   Our shopping trip was quite successful, Sue got a fabulous art-deco style mirror and some gorgeous bedding and a blind from B&Q for her blue bedroom.   We did talk about going to IKEA but I couldn’t face a trip on a weekend and I’m not sure either of was really in the mood.

I really felt like slobbing on the sofa with Phil when I got back home but first I had to get the bed which Phil had dismantled and our bedroom furniture down stairs and into the garage.  I then started on clearing the lounge and the kitchen. The washing machine was going non-stop yesterday and I washed anything and everything because I am not sure how long it will be before my washing machine at the caravan will be up and running.  Of course this meant hours of ironing and this was how I spent my Sunday evening.  Phil was in bed before 6pm so I suppose the ironing get me occupied.

Our house is looking and sounding like an empty shell and already we are echoing.  I think Phil was a little surprised this morning when he came down to find the lounge had been stripped and all that is left is the sofa and the television.  There is much to do this week and we have a particularly busy day planned today as we have our first van booked.  Phil is going over to collect it from Bletchley, and then we will load it up and drive over to the caravan.  We are moving ourselves and the plan is to come back to MK at lunchtime, load the van up again and off load at our storage unit.  I am fretting that we are not going to have enough space for all of our stuff but by the end of today we should be able to tell if we need a bigger unit. It’s all go, go, go, the joys of moving house.  Time to stop moaning now and get this show on the road.