A week of catching up

We were up and about early on Monday morning and on the road before half past seven.  Having recognised that Phil's mum and dad are going to need our full support with their imminent house move, we've promised to go down to Melton Mowbray at least one day a week to do jobs.   That's fine by me, I don't do sitting on my backside for hours on end, I much prefer to be busy and besides, they've been so good to us over the years and now it’s our turn to help them out.   Monday was grey and miserable and I can't say it was a pleasant drive to Melton especially with Phil grumpy old man and road rage but thankfully we arrived at mum and dads' safely just after half eight.

When we arrived, mum and dad were sat at the dining room table trying to fathom out selling tick sheets sent by their solicitor; I'd taken down our photocopier so I tasked Phil to help George load up the car with stuff to take down to the tip and got stuck into the paperwork.  Phil's mum had filled out most of it but I filled in the gaps, then made copies and got together a list of signed documents ready to take to their solicitor.  The trip to the dump really took it out of Phil's dad, so we made him sit in the chair and rest and I went with Phil to do the second trip to the dump.  I always love tipping rubbish but I am not fond of new tips and the Melton one was a bit splayed out for my liking; plus it was drizzling and really not a good experience.  They didn't have a license for old paints so I had to bring them back with me and tip in MK. 

Mum and dad didn't like the thought of sending their passports or and house deeds in the post to the solicitor so Phil drove them to Loughborough to hand deliver and to sort out their identification.   I stayed home alone to sort out the lunch and to let in their buyers surveyor.  Lunch was easy because I'd made a lasagne at home and brought it with me so all I had to do was reheat this and put some baked potatoes in the oven.

The surveyor was running late, I made him a cup of tea and felt a little sorry for him climbing up a ladder in the rain.   Phil, mum and dad arrived back home shortly before midday and were more than ready for lunch, which thankfully, was ready.  Lunch over and washing up done, the surveyor came in with a couple of queries which I pretty much answered, even though I had little knowledge of the house.  He was a nice chap and said the only issue he had was with the wooden lintel in one of the bedrooms.  Only old houses have wooden lintels and even I know that they must be concrete.  Before I could stop him, George admitted that he installed the wooden lintel after a bodged double glazed unit put in by a local builder.  We have yet to receive the surveyors report but we know that the lintel will need to be replaced before the bank will approve a mortgage on the property.

Our job after lunch was to get up in the loft and bring down stuff to either take to the tip or to the charity shops.  I wasn't happy that Phil's mum was up the ladder like a shot but I suppose I did need her to tell me what was what.  If it were up to me, I would tip the contents of the entire loft, but it isn't my loft and I have to remember that Phil's mum and dad have lived in their house for almost 50 years.   Plus, they are a completely different generation to me.  We got a lot of stuff down and I think the 'minimalist' in me persuaded mum to dispose of stuff that probably she'd have like to keep.  I was on tender hooks though worrying that mum would trip and fall down the loft hatch at any moment.  The thought of her, going up by herself fills me with worry, so much so, that I can't even go there, let alone think of the consequences.   We got all the stuff down from the landing and into the front porch but there was no time to dispose of it because mum and dad had to get down to the doctor’s surgery to collect prescriptions and Phil wanted to get home.

On Tuesday I drove over to MK to pick up and Sue to take her to have her eye laser surgery as she wasn’t allowed to drive afterwards. This was the third appointment she’d made for surgery; the first appointment was cancelled because the surgeon was ill and the second appointment was cancelled because the laser broke down.  We had decided that if it didn’t happen on Tuesday then it obviously wasn’t meant to be.  Sue was the first one in for surgery and I was surprised that she was ready to be taken home just 15 minutes after the operation.  She came away with bags of eye drops and I took her home wearing her dark glasses.  She was advised to wear dark glasses and to keep both eyes shut and sleep for the day which is just what she did.

I didn’t go straight back to Overstone because I had quite a few jobs to do in MK.  After leaving Sue, I popped into Harriet’s flat to collect mail and then took myself off to the health club for a quick run and a shower.   Afterwards I popped into Asda; I haven’t found an Asda in Northampton yet so I visit the one in MK whenever I can.  I then headed to Giffard Park to drop off my new bedroom curtains to be taken up at the dry cleaners and my last job of the day was a trip to the dump to get rid of the old paints that I’d brought back from Melton. 

It was another early start to the day on Wednesday morning and another trip back to MK as I’d promised Sue I’d take her for a follow up appointment at the eye clinic.  Her eye was only a little bloodshot and she said it was still a little irritated but otherwise she was feeling fine.  We had to wait outside until the doors opened but that was okay as she was the first one to be seen.  Thankfully her eyes were fine when she was checked over and they said she had 20/20 vision.  So the operation was a success and for now she is pleased that she took the plunge.

After a quick cup of tea with Sue at her flat I drove straight back to Overstone has I had stuff to do.  I had a shower and a hoover and tidy up and for lunch we had butternut squash soup which Phil had made.  I caught up with paperwork in the afternoon and set up the new Applemac printer which Phil got with his iPhone.  It was tricky but I managed to do it and now we can print wireless without being connected. We should also be able to photocopy and scan but I haven’t tried that yet. 

As were staying the night in MK we decided to put on the alarm in the caravan for the very first time.  I don’t think there are any security issues here on the site but you never know and our insurance is invalid if we don’t put on the alarm on when we’re out so we really must get into the habit.   Before driving to MK, we drove to Northampton train station to buy a cheap day return ticket to London. We found the station quite easily and you get 20 minutes free parking in the short stay car park which was good.  We got a little bit lost trying to get out of town and got stuck in traffic for ages which made us very late by the time we eventually got to MK.  Our first stop was Argos to buy a digital recorder.  Phil had seen one in the Argos catalogue but when we were in the store he actually chose and brought a different recorder. I didn’t care as long as we can record programs.  We really miss BT Vision.  BT said that there was a chance that we could pick up BT Vision once the line had been tested but we know there is not a bats chance is hell as our broadband is soooooooo slow. 

It was dark when we left Argos and the traffic was building up.  So just time to go to IKEA to pick up a desk for the office and some rails to hang in the kitchen.  We weren’t too sure what desk we wanted and we hadn’t measured up but we spotted a desk for £9.99 and hoped that it would fit.   Jan & Steve had kindly offered us a bed for the night but we weren’t expected until 6.30pm, so with some time to spare we stopped off at Sue’s flat for a cup of tea.  Well the cup of tea actually turned out to be a glass of red but we weren’t complaining!

I dropped Steve & Phil off at the Ship Ashore to meet up with the rest of the Wednesday night boys and went back to have a night in with Jan.  It was good to have a girlie night and catch-up and it gave us a chance to talk about Australia.  As it happened, Jan’s daughter, Charlotte who is living in Adelaide happened to ring on Skype so I got to say hello to her.   Steve had made us fish Thai green curry which was lovely if a little spicy.  I love spicy and managed to finish mine but Jan struggled.  We had wine and both Phil & I slept like logs.  Jan had to be up to go to work but still found time to make us a sausage sandwich before we left.  Steve was off down to see Jan’s dad in hospital so we all pretty much left at the same time.  

We drove home on the A5 which was busy but the traffic was horrific on the approach to the A45 which was not really surprising because we were in the middle of rush-hour.  I think the thing I hate most about living out here is no matter what time of day, the A45 and Northampton town centre is always busy.  Still, not much I can do to change that so best just get used to it Claire.  It just doesn’t help that I am a crap driver and I do wonder how long it will be before I have an accident. 

When we got back to Overstone which was sometime just before 9am, there was no time to be idle because I was meeting Christine in London.  I just had time to shower and change and then Phil very kindly dropped me at the station.  I caught the 10.26 train which got into Euston at half eleven.  No hold ups thank goodness and I took the Victoria line to Oxford Circus where I had arranged to meet up outside Top Shop.   Christine phoned me as I came out of the tube station and said she was in Fenwick’s in New Bond Street which is where we had lunch.  It had been months since we had seen each other so loads to catch up with.  Consequently it was non-stop chat for 2 hours and then the train back to Northampton.  I can’t believe I went to London and didn’t even go into one shop!  Actually I find London a little over whelming and after lunch I was keen to get home. 

Phil picked me up from the station and we were back before dark.  I was pleased to see that he had put together the new desk and this was set up in the office.  I had to laugh though when he told me that he assembled the desk only to find that it wouldn’t fit through the door so he had to take it apart and reassemble in the office.   Things are never straight forward with caravan living as we are finding out as time goes by.  I was also pleased to hear that he has successfully put Phil & Mum’s old 1970’s caravan on eBay.  Although he’d brought on eBay before, he’d never sold so this was a first.  We are excited this morning to see the bidding is up to £80; there’s 8 days to go so let’s hope we can get some serious cash for them.

Even though I was awake before 6, I am on the drag this morning.  I started writing the blog last night and had typed about 3,000 words when my laptop went and died on me.   I tried everything I could to recover my file but to no avail; with auto-save I managed to retrieve about a page but that was it.  I felt totally disheartened last night and left it to this morning to re-write.  Today we’re off to explore the delights of Kettering.  Whether Kettering does have any delights to offer, well I shall just have to wait and see.  For now though, I must get my arse into gear and get going.