All packed, all loaded all love and this might be our last blog for a little while

Finally removal day arrived. By lunch time we were ready and a large movers lorry arrived. It seemed huge. Two very nice blokes came from Ilkley, packed up our stuff carefully and efficiently. Amazingly the van seemed very full at the end. We thought we had decluttered and done life laundry but clearly there is more to do. Then they were gone, after exchanging telephone numbers and discussing the trip up, the possible horrific weather forcast for tomorrow, what we might have to do if the ferry doesn't run and so on. The house is completely empty now and it feels good. We have a matress, some bags of crisps, wonderful friends and each other. What more could gentlemen need?

We 'bobbed' over to see our Bev and say our farewells. It was lovely to see the family. I helped decorate Tom off out for Halloween trick or treating and Samantha for a party. I ate a humungous amount of spicy chicken wings. Young Martyn came over and we all exchanged email addresses and telephone numbers. Earlier I spoke with Matthew who has done some additional analysis for the business plan which looks great. There is still some tweeking to do but I think I will be able to get to grips with that once we arrive on Arran. Several friends and family called and emailed and visited us in the last few days. It has been much appreciated. A special "thank you" is due to Christine who will be our neighbour in Pirnmill, she is going to be dealing with handing over the keys, getting the tenancy agreement document settled and sorting out practical matters when we arrive. I spoke to her this morning and she gave some very timely advice about the possibility that the weather might stop us from getting on to the Island tomorrow. We will have to wait and see. It will be the beginning of our adventure.

This evening Karen and Sam came over to say goodbye and collect the keys. They have kindly agreed to look after the house until the sale completes. And so this prologue to our adventure is almost over. When we get to Arran, it will take us a while to get up and running with the blog again. We have to organise internet connection and apparently it isn't that easy there. More soonly.

We send our friends and family all our love.

Today and Yesterday /

Yes, it happens, two days worth of blogs in one day........again. This occurs when a new begining beckons.
Ok.
THURSDAY 30TH OCTOBER 2009.
David and I spent the evening in the company of Dorothy, Marks 'boss' and friend for over 20 years.
We chatted away about our future together and discussed our business plan.
Dorothy gave us very good feedback and inspired us to relook at our Unique Selling Points.
Thank you Dorothy and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Same day....but later on...... We visited Karen and Sam in Castleford, as we had been invited earlier on in the week, and today was the only spare day. As Sam was working early next day she had already retired to bed, so in the company of Karen we enjoyed a meal of Chilli Con Carne and Garlic bread. Thanks for a lovely evening and loads of laughs...just what we needed.

FRIDAY 31ST OCTOBER 2009.
Today was our last day at work.
It felt strange saying goodbye to people we have known for many years, but I know we will have many visitors which in itself eased the 'strangeness'.
We wrapped and packed the last of our belongings...mainly pictures, before calling it a day.
I think we might just be ready for the removal men tomorrow.

Stressed, don't ask, Marks Birthday and chickens

Good grief. Sometimes getting to the end of a process seems very difficult. We have had the most unbelievable difficulties with the removal company and the arrangements for moving and the payment and the agreed amount. It has been very stressful and is still not clear. However it will get sorted and won't seem so bad once we are arrived and settled.

However it has been Marks 48th birthday today. Happy Birthday Mark! He had lots of cards, and good wishes and some very silly presents from me. I did though manage to give him one sensible gift - a book about keeping chickens. It has lots of pictures which is good because as we all like to cliche "a picture is worth a thousand words".

I had a lovely call from Karen L this evening about the chickens at the cottage and some useful tips. There was so much to attend to this evening that we decided to celebrate with a slap up Indian take-away meal delivered to the grandure of an almost disassembled Park Lane.

Monday and Tuesday together.

MONDAY 26TH OCTOBER 2009.
Yes.....we both forgot (or was it we were so tired) to write the blog for yesterday so you are going to get two today and as it is my turn to write it, it will be somewhat short, sweet and to the point.
Ok...here goes -
What the heck happened yesterday....oh yes.....
I had my leaving 'do' in Harrogate at the Banjan Resteraunt. I was surrounded by friends from work and enjoyed a Steak and Ale Pie with chips.
Everyone gave me a good send off and although I am over the moon and excited at the prospect of our new life, I will miss them a lot.....well, I have known some folk for nearly twenty years.....I am sure most of them will come up and visit us on Arran.
I managed to make a bit of a speech of which I cannot remember anything only that it was something to do with being with UBU for twenty years and I shared some memories and experiences with everyone.
Dorothy, for who I have known more than twenty years, and who is a very good friend, adorned me with several practical gifts to 'cope' with life on Arran and we had a good laugh as I opened each one.
By the way.....did I mention that I had been with UBU for twenty years?
TUESDAY 27TH OCTOBER 2009
I had a toothache during the night that kept me awake for most of the time and 'woke' tired.
I booked an emergency appointment at my dentist for 3.00pm (the earliest they could fit me in) and by the time I got there the ache had gone. Nevertheless, I had an x-ray taken and nothing was found....phew!
David sorted out the removal company this evening.
We are arriving on Arran on Sunday 1st November and our belongings will be delivered on the morning of Monday 2nd November.....don't ask....it is all part of the adventure.
So this could mean David and I setting off to Arran before the removal men arrive, so my brother, Martyn has offered to come to help on Sunday....thanks 'our kid'.
Once again we were tired.....what is wrong with us.....and don't say it's old age, we are both spring chickens (tongue in cheek).
Night night.

Missed a day, Happy Birthday Sam and getting it sorted

We missed a day! The first time since we started our blog. We had a very busy day on Saturday, boxing things up and running around doing chores and more packing and sifting and clearing out. It was exhausting. Matthew came over to go over the cash flow and profit and loss figures for the business plan. These are now practically done and a final version of the plan with really professional forcasts and financial details should be ready by next weekend. Then we can start sending it out to potential investors. We think it's good for a first attempt and we have learned an enormous ammount from preparing it. Special thanks to Matthew for all his hard work, positivity and generous support.

In the evening we met up with our very good friends Sam and Karen and went out to X-Scape in Castleford to celebrate Sam's Birthday (which is today Sunday). Happy Birthday Sam. We went to a Mexican restaurant and had coctails (I had strawberry daiquiri and Mark had pina colada) and chomped our way through fahita wraps and chilli. It was fun. Afterwards we watched a recorded X-Factor (so wrong, so very wrong) and just about managed (with fast forward) to witness the terror twins murder another perfectly good song...so wrong, so very wrong, but so very road-kill fascinating. Life in West Yorkshire has been an education for me. By the time we got home we were far beyond being able to write the blog. (This might explain the excessive number of bracketed statements in this part of our blog).

Today we worked again on the house, took down the paintings and artwork ready for packing. Mark did a run to the municiple dump and I carried on lovingly packing up boxes. It has to end soon. I ache all over from carrying, shelpping, stuffing, taping, boxing and worrying. We cannot wait for next Sunday when we actually get to move. Just another five days of work here for both of us. It may be a little frantic for me as I have so much to do before I can walk away from my job. However I am determined to leave with as much as possible finished and ready to hand over to the next person. I think Mark is probably doing the same.

This afternoon we went to have 'Sunday dinner' with Mark's Dad, Ken, and his lovely wife Jan. It was wonderful. For the first time in ten years of living here in Yorkshire I had the honour of eating a proper Yorkshire dinner, made by a proper Yorkshire lass, with proper Yorkshire Puddings and onion gravy to start. I ate seven. Yes, seven yorkshire puddings. Gwowgeous! This was followed by roast beef and every kind of potato, roart, boiled, mashed and cabbage and carrots and parsnips. Just when it should have been enough Jan arrived with treacle sponge pudding and custard. It was a truly historic meal. Thank you Jan and Ken.

A SOLD sign, The Guardian left on the train, and a good sort out at Pixiedene

I woke this morning to the sound of people chatting in the street. I didn't really look to see what was happening. It was very early. But as we pulled out in the car on the way to the station to go to work, there it was...the SOLD sign. It was a cheery start to my 'last' day off work. One more week to go and I won't be a commutor any more. Yea!

I got on the train and found a discarded Guardian. I didn't watch Question Time on the television last night so I read the reviews and comments. Griffin did less than badly thanks to the BBC. Lots of attention, more support from the disolusioned and the bigots. And now, even worse, the media are beginning to stir up even more by reporting on the aftermarth. Stop it.

I arrived in York and spent a good part of the day sorting through my books and papers at Pixiedene. Allan made me a nice lunch we had a good chat and he helped me with outstanding banking stuff. I packed a few boxes, Mark picked me up and we came home. A few hours packing up books into boxes built up our appetites and we had a pleasant meal of home-made baked beans and big chunks of bread. All was good

Another day nearer.

I contacted the removal people to ascertain moving times and they are to get back to us so that we can book our ferry crossing on the 1st November.

We also received rental confirmation from the current owners of Mill Cottage, but we were unable to open the attachment that came with it.

It is quite tiring stuff arranging and organising things so we had a relatively early night.

I can't wait for the 'Sold' sign to go on our property board outside......and for our dustbins to be emptied (Leeds you see and the refuse collectors strike goes on into its eighth week)