Bluebell View

Hiatus

2006-05-08T16:41:00.000+01:00

The bluebells are out in full force. It seems heartbreaking to leave this place now, but also wonderful to be enjoying it at its best one last time. I think this will probably be my final post to bluebellview. Departure day is almost here. This time next week G and I will be loading up the van.

I still can't believe it's happening. The move, the trip, all this change. I have pottered along these last few years - emotional turmoil notwithstanding - and my home and work have been a great source of comfort and security. G and I could have probably continued to potter quite happily together. Things change, and you wonder how it happens sometimes, but this change has been deliberate and determined. I've been surprised just how much effort it has taken to change paths and do something completely different. I don't just mean coping with all the admin and bureaucracy, it has been a challenge to detach from normal day to day activities and cope with the physical and emotional uprooting.

But I am excited and thrilled that it's my last ever Monday in the office. Well this office anyway. I know it's the right thing to be doing and I'm definitely feeling ready. If not entirely prepared.

It's been a whirlwind of goodbyes the last week or so. Since Tabi and Sam came to visit, we've been in goodbye mode. Lara and family came for a final visit last Sunday. It was a magical day with walks in the woods and lovely times and (too much) chocolate cake. I'll miss her so much. Mum and Dad have been to see us again en route to helping Dad's elderly Aunt move house (an experience probably best not blogged I think. It got everybody thinking about what it'll be like to get too old to really know what to do with yourself). Coco has had her last walk in the woods. Friends have been popping in and I've spoken to more people at work in the last few days than in the last few years I reckon. We said goodbye to G's brother and family over several bottles of wine on Saturday night and tried not to think just how much G's two year old nephew will grow up while we're away.

We're pretty much all set to go.

After one last sniff of the bluebells.

www.travelblog.org/bloggers/milly-and-graham

Behind the scenes

2006-04-27T11:19:00.000+01:00

It has been a whirlwind of administration this week. I've been trying to do it all at once and nothing is ever straightforward. Even to cancel a TV licence you have to provide proof that you no longer need one… And I've found out that my broadband supplier had sneakily tied me in to another 12 month contract without telling me when I upgraded my connection speed 6 months ago so I need to pay a chunk of money to get out of it. Grr. Although BT told me yesterday that my account is in credit by the same amount so the broadband injustice seems a little less irksome now.

I'm also hugely relieved to have decided against using a removal and storage firm for the move into storage and out again. I just couldn't rationalise the big sums of cash. Anybody established and trustworthy was charging as much as two round the world plane tickets. Everyone else still seemed expensive and a little bit dodgy - what happens if they go out of business with all my stuff still in their warehouse? - so I couldn't make a decision. Anyhoo - I phoned a self-store place in Shropshire on a whim. Their prices were competitive anyway, but then they told me about their half price for 12 weeks offer and were prepared to give a 15% discount for the rest of the term as I wanted storage for more than 6 months. The guy had a reassuring brummie accent and I felt as if my stuff was going to be safe with them. Daft eh? Just as likely to go under or catch fire I'm sure.

So G and I will be hiring a Luton van for a couple of days and trekking up and down the M40 a few times. It's going to be extreme hard work I know. But I feel so much happier doing it ourselves. There's nothing we can't really lift between us. Heck if G can pick me up, he can probably manage a sofa on his own. We can be much more flexible about moving our stuff out of storage when we come home too. Do it a bit at a time and dump/re-store/relocate stuff that won't fit properly in G's house.

And even with van hire, diesel and packing supplies it's going to come in at least a grand cheaper than the cheapest removals quote. That should pay for a few slap up steak dinners in Buenos Aires.

We had a lovely day with Mum and dad on Monday. Mum has wanted to go to the British Museum since the millennium roof was put on. She used to hang out there a lot in the sixties. In fact the last time she was there was 1966. She reckons she won't get the chance again once we move further away from the big smoke, so mum and dad came down on Sunday night and all four of us nipped up there on Monday morning. Dad enjoyed the Michelangelo exhibition enormously and Mum was not disappointed by the roof. She, G and I looked round the Egyptian and Greek bits while Dad did the sketches. Then we came straight home and went to a local vineyard and micro-brewery for a free tasting. I won the tickets in a raffle at work. The table wine was not good - even I could tell that. But the fizzy and the sweet wines were pleasant enough. We managed to taste a fair bit and enjoy the lovely location. G and Dad bought some very strong beer too and proceeded to get thoroughly plastered when we got home. We finished the day off with a very boozy but delicious dinner at a local Australian run gastro-pub. The green-lipped mussels and 'roo steak were superb. G and dad were pretty well hammered by the end of the meal. Judging by the state of them the next morning, I'm glad I was driving!

Lost

2006-04-20T16:27:00.000+01:00

Sam lost his keys this weekend. Properly lost them. We looked everywhere. We retraced our steps over a five mile hike, went to all the same pubs and accosted random taxi drivers in an attempt to find them. No chance. Lost. No way to get into their car and no way to drive it home on Sunday morning.

I am extremely grateful to said keys for allowing Tabi and Sam to spend twice as long as planned with us. It was a great Easter as a result. It was a major pain in the @rse for Sam and Tabi of course and could have been a huge expense involving locksmiths and tow-trucks or an exhausting return trip to Cornwall to pick up their spares. Remarkably, a friend of theirs was driving up from Cornwall to London on Easter Monday and was able to meet them to drop off their other set of keys. It all seems a bit too convenient if you think about it.

I suspect it was some kind of mystical conspiracy implemented by agents beyond our comprehension in order to allow me and Tabi a bonus girlie shopping trip on the Monday and to let G and S complete their championship (kitchen)table tennis tournament… After all we're not going to see them again until 2007. I'm trying not to think about that too much.

I could have sworn I saw a polar bear in the woods too.

Getting things done

2006-04-13T16:50:00.000+01:00

The more decisions that need to be made, the less time I seem to have for contemplation and recording of thought processes. That's all well and good, but I don't like to be rushed into things! A rather panicky stressy week all in all.

Anyway. Tickets finalised and paid for. Vaccinations complete (apart from the final rabies jab). Anti-malarials prescribed. Travel insurance shortlist complete. Removals shortlist complete. Budget refined and financials in order.

Is that all I've done? Seems like lots more. Might try not to think about it much over Easter. Can't wait to see my sister. I just don't want to think about it being the last time we'll be together for over nine months.

Pincushions

2006-04-11T11:06:00.000+01:00

Busy few days. The pre-departure build-up is well and truly underway. Struggling with removals quotes at the moment. Horribly expensive. The removal charge seems really high when I reckon G and I could do it ourselves with a Luton and a lot of tea and chocolate digestives. However, the storage provided by removal firms in their own warehouses is very cheap. Commercial self-storage is about twice the price. And because we don't need access to our stuff while we're away, there's no real benefit over the removal firms' warehouses. So I may as well pay for the removals and get the cheap storage, rather than pay a lot for storage and have to do all the lifting too.

I'm desperately racking my brain and googling like mad to see if I've missed a trick and there's a cheaper, if not easier, way to do the removals and storage thing. Ho hum.

Four injections down and another two to go. Typhoid was definitely the most painful. The first rabies one was scary after my lovely colleagues told me it was an injection into the stomach wall. Seems their info was rather out of date and I worried for nothing. Just a jab in the deltoid and a small circular bruise after all that. Two more of those to go. Although it's a tiny bit painful and somewhat expensive, having access to all this medical care before departure has really made me think how lucky we are in the UK.

In other news, had a lovely weekend with G's mum and dad. Tabi and Sam are coming up on Good Friday for a couple of nights, and G and I are off up to Shropshire to help with some small scale demolition at mum and dad's before the builders arrive after Easter.

Five weeks until moving day. Seven until we leave these shores. Seems like an age, but there's so much happening in between.

Good when it stops

2006-04-04T09:56:00.000+01:00

Feeling a bit bashed and bruised today. It's been a physically demanding start to the week. G and I ran the 10k race on Sunday. I really enjoyed it. Once I'd crossed the finishing line that is.

It was great actually. G stayed with me the whole way round shouting encouragement - which only got a little bit wearing - and we finished in 1hr 5mins. Only half as fast again as walking - thanks for pointing that out Dad. I felt it was an achievement anyway seeing as I've never ever run that far before. Well, it was more a mixture of jogging and shambling along, but the ground was very slippery and there were a couple of nasty hills… G demonstrated extreme patience with my inferior fitness. I could tell he was desperate to whip the Tesco boys who were arsing around at the back of the pack. But he stuck with me. What a guy.

Thanks to our sponsors for giving us more reasons to keep going :-)

Legs have been a bit achey since Sunday and now both arms are stiff and sore. Two travel injections done with one more to go. Unless we go for the optional rabies. £120 and three trips to the hospital (and three big needles…!) seems a bit excessive, but as the nurse said yesterday, you pays your money or you takes your chances. I don't like the sound of taking our chances much where rabies is concerned so looks like more needles over the coming weeks. Hooray.

Yellowhammer

2006-03-31T12:10:00.000+01:00

When I pulled up at home last night, I noticed a clump of yellow feathers in the gravel of the driveway. I got out to have a look and it turned out to be a poor dead yellowhammer. He was very handsome - bright yellow with distinctive cinnamon rump. Yes - I had to look him up in the book to check. I didn't realise yellowhammers were quite so yellow. He looked very exotic. No visible sign of injury, but stiff as a board. He must have just fallen out of the sky.

I'm not really sure what to do with his little feathery body. I put him in our empty dustbin to make sure he didn't get desecrated by rampant moggies. Then a bit later I had to go and check to make sure he hadn't just been stunned and had come to inside the bin. He was still there. Such a privilege to get to see one up close. But sad too.

In other nature news, the lambs have arrived. The field out the back is filling up slowly and there are at least a dozen ewes and their gorgeous curly babies frolicking in the grass. I went to introduce myself yesterday evening. Funny how some lambs are really brave and inquisitive and others just peek at you from underneath their mummies.

Birthday girl

2006-03-30T12:16:00.000+01:00

My whole travel dilemma neatly encapsulated in the two birthday cards sent to me by my parents today. The first: a charming watercolour of a black and white cat asleep on a cottagey window sill with the caption 'home is where my cat is' and a big message inside saying 'don't leave me!'.

The second: A simple, inspirational card featuring the Bette Midler quote - 'Give a girl the right pair of shoes and she can conquer the world'. They know me so well.

I think it's safe to say they don't want me to go, but they do, but they don't.

Or it could just be they don't particularly want to look after Charlesworth, who will undoubtedly wee everywhere, pull out his fur and scratch things.

Anyway. Tis done now. No turning back and all that. Am getting more excitable by the day. Hope I don't peak too soon!

Nothing much planned for today. I did get a lovely breakfast in bed this morning with fab cards and pressies and I know there's a nice bottle of bubbly chilling ready for tonight. I have half a day off tomorrow and we're going to submit the itinerary to BA fares dept. for the tax calculations. If all goes well we should have our RTW tickets early next week! What more could a girl ask for on her birthday?

Gulp!

2006-03-28T14:57:00.000+01:00

Well I did it. I've just handed my notice in after building up to it for a day and a half. I felt a surge of elation followed by a stomach churning wave of resigners' remorse. Then an overwhelming need for chocolate.

And now I just feel happy and free.

Point of no return

2006-03-26T15:06:00.000+01:00

This is it then. No more vacillation. This week we are booking flight tickets, handing in notice and getting injections. After planning for ages and thinking and re-thinking (mainly on my part) we are making some serious investment, taking the plunge and really taking this trip.

We're both going round to visit a friend of mine and her husband on Monday night. They took a year off a couple of years ago to travel 5 continents. I'm hoping to get a heap of tips and some kind of unofficial confirmation that our itinerary is achievable. Then I'll be on the phone to BA to have a go at booking the RTW ticket and confirming our first long haul flight.

I am in the process of getting quotes from half a dozen different removals/storage companies. Depressingly expensive, but necessary. Kit-wise we're pretty much there. We need to get medical supplies for our first aid kit and a few more bits and pieces, but otherwise our backpacks are two thirds full and that's more than enough stuff.

Time to focus on the serious administrative task of packing up our lives and leaving everything in order. I'm extremely excited, but keep bursting into tears. And I'm not even pre-menstrual.

Stockholm

2006-03-23T14:48:00.000Z

Greetings from Stockholm! Well not exactly… I forgot my blogger password so had to wait until today to post this.

It's been a lovely trip to Sweden. I haven't met anybody who isn't nice or been anywhere that isn't pleasant. Our office is spread over a combination of lovely old manor house buildings and funky new barn conversions - all decorated in gorgeous subtle shades of blue and grey and lime washed wood. All the offices in the old part had huge tile stoves in the corner of each room - no longer functional - but I've never seen the like. It's a running joke in Sweden that it's freezing in the UK and nobody has central heating. Heating is obviously much more of an established priority in Sweden.

They have got a lot of things right over there I reckon. Illy coffee on tap. Free fruit. Alfalfa on the salad bar. Heaven! My colleagues looked after me very well. We had a great night out on Tuesday, sampling some fine raspberry mojitos before moving on to Stockholm's Icebar in the hotel where I was staying. It's a bit of a novelty tourist-trap type place, but good fun. I enjoyed an Absolut Wolf Paw which my colleagues informed me was a very Swedish choice - featuring frozen lingon berries. Mind you, everything was frozen. Including my feet by the time we left.

On the previous night, it was up to me to look after myself. My hotel room was ok but rather tiny and uninspiring - Ikea meets travel lodge - so I layered-up and headed for the old town. I got completely lost of course but tried not to let it worry me and pretty soon found my way to a bridge and some old looking stately buildings. Over the bridge and into Gamla Stan the streets became very narrow. Little shops, bars and restaurants everywhere but nobody in sight. Monday night in Stockholm is obviously not party night. I eventually found a restaurant that looked like it might serve Swedish food. No prices on the menu unfortunately, but I went in anyway. I'm so glad I did. The interior was lovely. Candles everywhere. Plenty of space for a table for one and I was very well looked after by the rather charming waiters. I had reindeer fillet with lingonberries and a nice glass of house red. The meal came garnished with something I can only describe as stringy watercress, but it tasted like fresh raw peas. Mum has since informed me it was probably snow peas. Lovely. The whole thing was fabulous.

After my hearty dinner I walked around the old town and found the royal palace. There was nobody about at all except me and some very cold looking guards on patrol. I tried to take some photos but I started to feel a bit conspicuous. They didn't come out very well anyway. This one of the view from one of the bridges is the best of a very poor bunch. I took the long way back to the hotel. Well. I took a wrong turn somewhere on one of the main shopping streets - probably distracted by the fact that they have a Debenahms there with a whole department devoted to Pilgrim jewellery! It was closed but I lusted through the window.

I made it back eventually. I know it's never completely safe anywhere in a city after dark, but I felt very safe in Stockholm. I didn't see anybody dodgy or anyone living rough. I'm sure they're there, but perhaps sheltering away from the wind chill. I hope so anyway because it was freezing. My thighs were numb after the walk back.

I watched a subtitled episode of West Wing on the first night in an attempt to improve my Swedish but I couldn't remember anything by the morning. My favourite swedish language observations were little signs above fire extinguishers saying 'Skum' and a chocolate bar called 'Plopp'. I bought one for G to make up for two nights on his own, but it was quite late by the time I got back so he decided to save his Plopp for later.

Tail chasing

2006-03-16T10:58:00.000Z

I am in a permanent state of nervous excitement. Nothing concrete has been achieved this week. I keep flitting from task to task - insurance, vaccinations, dentist, kit purchase, final itinerary for booking, securing our inca trail passes for early july, etc. etc. and haven't made a decision on anything. I am practically ADD at work too. I'm quite excited to be flying to Stockholm on Monday for a couple of days' work at our office over there. But I haven't done the preparation I was intending to and I haven't finished the other stuff I should have done by the end of last week.

I'm also excited that mum and dad are coming down for a visit this weekend. The three of us are going to meet a long lost relative she hasn't seen for 35 years who got in touch out of the blue the other week. Should be interesting. Although it will remind mum of a side of the family she doesn't really need reminding of. At least we'll get to let off steam afterwards and take Coco for a romp in the woods and help G drink up some wine on Saturday night.

I'll show mum my expedition gear and backpack too. That'll give her a laugh. She manages to look ladylike even in dog walking clothes. I am bound to be a disappointment in my pack-lite pants and utility fleece. But part of going is learning not to care about that sort of thing :-)

Packing up

2006-03-10T11:23:00.000Z

We have backpacks! We have to go now...

A fortuitous bit of scheduling meant I was in London yesterday meeting a customer and G had the day off, so we met up at lunch time and spent ages in Ellis Brigham getting fitted. The assistants showed great customer service and no end of patience as we strapped ourselves in, weighed ourselves down and walked up and down the shop floor trying things out.

I went for the new version womens Osprey Ariel 65 - it's lovely and light and girly blue/grey - which is the most important thing of course. It even matches my boots. But seriously… It has a great custom heat-moulded hip belt and top notch compression. I couldn't believe how much weight G and the assistant had put in there when I took it off and tried to lift it again. Splendid. Far too many straps and clasps and all that sort of thing, but it is a super piece of kit.

G went for a far more rugged, less technical Lowe Alpine pack. I can't remember which one it is because I was too busy playing with mine, but it's the same capacity and his will survive a bit more bashing than mine. He like basic utility items and would probably be happy getting most of his kit from army surplus.

Saying that, he did buy himself a rather luxurious down jacket for our high altitude requirements. A purchasing decision he got thoroughly grilled for by Lara when we popped in for a cuppa on the way home. She knows about these things and is a layering proponent. Quite right too. Common sense tells me it's a big thing to take that won't be required too often, but it does pack down to nothing…

So the packing challenge is officially underway. I can't believe how little space there is, but I'm glad we didn't get tempted by any of the larger capacity packs. And we really do have to go ahead with the whole thing because despite the great service in Ellis Brigham, Lara pointed out they don't do refunds. That's that then!

Lazy toe

2006-03-06T17:31:00.000Z

The weekend was great - a trip to London to see Lara et famille including an excellent excursion to MetalMorphosis in Selfridges to get Lara's ears pierced. It's a Danish thing not to get them done, which is why she never has, but whatever the reason for capitulating now, she's very pleased with the end result. It was great to catch up and we managed to get in some coffee/shopping/chatting together as well as letting me have a lovely time playing with Jody, who has more energy than several toddlers combined, and Miles who is placid by comparison and very, very snuggly. Just gorgeous.

I finished off the day with a quick stop at Itchy Feet where I purchased several items for the trip. On Sunday G and I decided to try out various pieces of kit and our feet with a 10 mile hike. We set off from home and walked through some woods, across a major road and a motorway and eventually found our way to the edge of the Chilterns and headed for a much needed pint and a sit down. The day was so sunny and calm we didn’t really notice the cold or the mileage. And the kit performed superbly.

Am slightly worried by what I can only term my 'lazy toe'. It was quite sore after the hike and I wouldn't have liked to walk a similar distance on it the next day - doesn't bode well for the trekking parts of our trip. It just flops on its side as I walk so gets squashed and sore from pressure being put on the outer edge rather than the toe pad. I have a ridge of skin along the underside of the toe from the repeated compression over the years. I really don't know what I can do to correct it, or prevent the soreness. Maybe a miniature splint... or some gaffer tape.

Duncans Dare

2006-03-03T14:26:00.000Z

G is starting to get twitchy about travel plans. I think he'd go tomorrow if he could. Not without me of course, but still, he's champing at the bit.

I think this is mainly fuelled by watching Travel Bug on CBBC in the mornings. Former Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan and his splendid wife and children backpacking round the world. Genius. They're going to all the places we'd like to see and more and doing it in a lovely unassuming way. I have no doubt I will be reduced to sulks (like the Duncan teen) and tears (like the rest of the Duncs) when things get rough though - it's good preparation for G.

Anyway, in an attempt to give ourselves a better handle on the timings of our trip, I have printed out some big calendar pages today and will take them home and stick them on the wall next to our map of the world with pins in. We really need to fix our flight dates in the next few days. Then it's time to book the tickets and sign up for a few injections...

Surprise weekend

2006-03-02T17:37:00.000Z

I went to my first ever surprise party at the weekend. It wasn't my birthday. In my capacity as guest I got to go down to Cornwall, sneak into Tabi's house under cover of darkness and shout 'surprise' when Sam came in from the pub. It was all very exciting. Sam was genuinely surprised and really happy to see everybody.

It was a great weekend. Freezing cold by the sea, but in addition to the party we still managed to fit in:

A bracing cliff-top walk
Surfer watching (not sea lions as mum originally thought)
Shopping in lovely Falmouth gift shops
Browsing funky Falmouth surf shops
Pictionary extravaganza
Much reminiscing about school days for tabi, sam and G
A visit to the amazing Maritime Museum - truly the most exciting museum I've been to for ages. Highly recommended.
Coffee in Becky Biddles - a must for all girlies obsessed with objects of desire
More shopping in lovely Falmouth gift shops
A thrilling if short ride in Tabi's MX-5
Several pasties - G increasing the average pasty per day score significantly
A fab gourmet lunch at student prices at the Clipper Café - the best burger I've ever had

All in all a great long weekend. It was lovely to see everybody again and even in the middle of winter, Cornwall made us feel like we were on holiday. Ah me.

Bit stiff

2006-02-22T13:59:00.000Z

Ow ow owww. I have come into work today but not sure I'll last the day. I woke up on Saturday morning with a horrible nervy spasmy muscle pain in my left shoulder. It wouldn't go away despite lying flat, getting up and running around, stretching, sitting very still and straight, taking lots of ibuprofen, strapping hot water bottles to myself and getting G to give my back a good rub.

Went to the doctor on Monday expecting to be told to take some more ibuprofen and put up with it, but he told me to stand with my hands behind my neck and fall backwards into his arms. I was willing to try anything by then. I'm not sure if it was some kind of shamanistic voodoo or what, but there was a loud crunch as he caught me and the spasming stopped instantly. Apparently that was the sound of several of my vertebrae popping back into place.

It's still very sore and whilst the muscle-relaxing pills from the doc are making me feel very mellow and a little snoozy, my shoulder still seems to think it needs to clench to protect my spine. I may have to give it a good talking-to.

I spent yesterday lying flat on the sofa watching terrible made-for-tv films on channel 5. OK, one of them made me cry, but the rest of daytime telly was awful. I didn't feel any better for it so thought I may as well come into work. We've got 'workstation training' this week. I'm hoping to learn something that will prevent this kind of thing happening again! I'm not going to be much cop slinging a massive backpack over my shoulder at this rate.

Plans afoot

2006-02-17T16:42:00.000Z

Much progress. We have a first stab at an itinerary and I have new boots! We've based the trip on the OneWorld Explorer ticket that allows us 4 flights within each continent and charges us for the number of continents we visit. This seems the best bet considering we're not going to Asia and the alliance includes LAN for getting around South America. Other options included a ticket that allows up to 7 stops and charges on a mileage basis. I'm still not convinced the OneWorld is the right way to go as it is sort of forcing us to take internal flights we might otherwise not bother with. For example - one flight in and out of NZ would do us. Instead we're looking at where we could go in Aus just to use up the flight allowance. Given there's no price difference between this and mileage based ticket, we shouldn't feel obliged to use all the flights I know, but it goes against the grain.

So - rough itinerary is as follows:

London - Rome - Madrid - Rio - Buenos Aires - Lima - Santiago - Auckland - Queenstown - Sydney - Cairns - Perth - Jo'burg - Cape Town - Vic Falls - Nairobi - London

How we're going to fit all that in I don't know.

There's a bit of to-ing and fro-ing and back-tracking to Jo'burg in amongst all that, plus no connections to Nairobi - so we'll have to get ourselves there from SA. We may decide to ditch some of the flights in favour of more exploration overland in general rather than having to get back to the major cities the whole time. We may simplify it a lot and decide to go for the mileage based ticket so we could go to NZ via Fiji, but at least we're starting to get a better idea for what's possible.

The main aim is to be in Tanzania in December, climb Kilimanjaro for Christmas and spend New Year on the beach in Zanzibar. Nice.

Research

2006-02-15T16:50:00.000Z

Yes it is quiet at work at the moment, but I am using my time wisely. I think. I have been reading a couple of really good travelblogs. The first is by a couple from New Orleans - Sean & Shannon and the second by a couple from Sheffield - Kim & Richard. They are visiting most of the places G and I want to go to and many more too, probably doing the whole thing with much more savvy and a better eye for a photograph it has to be said. Excellent reading.

I know cities are dangerous places wherever you go and tourists are always plagued by hawkers and touts and the like, but reading these accounts does bring out the worst kind of paranoia in me. If stories of gunpoint muggings in Rio and obnoxiously persistent touts weren't accompanied by incredible photos of Ipanema sunsets and Inca ruins, I might be having second thoughts. I do know it's going to be hard work most of the time if not dangerous in places. Not sure G has thought of it this way yet, but his sense of adventure is much more highly tuned than mine.

Looking forward to our day off tomorrow. Lots of questions for the travel agent and real sense that we need to get everything sorted itinerary and kit wise in the next six weeks or so. I can then concentrate on the big pack-up and all the associated administration tasks in April. Countdown has begun. So to speak.

Cow pie

2006-02-13T16:43:00.000Z

Posh dinner at rock cottage turned out to be a splendid event. Dad made the biggest pie I've ever seen. It was stunning. I'm not sure this picture gives a proper scale. It should have had horns coming out of the top. We only managed to eat half of it too - the suet pastry was flavoured with thyme and parmesan, the inside a deep well-stewed beef and chestnut filling. We didn't have to wait too long to be 'served', which was a pleasant surprise. Dad gave the impression of being out of control, but Mum's help and one failed prototype starter notwithstanding, it was a performance worthy of a Masterchef finalist. Mum and I were the only ones sober enough to tackle the washing up though and that did take us a good hour. I think Dad really did use every utensil going. Including mum's icecream maker to freeze the tomato and tequila sorbet he made as a palate-freshener. Mum doubts she'll ever get rid of the raw garlic residue.

Sunday saw G donning his work gear and shovelling gravel, chopping wood and shifting a large mossy stone block that was probably part of the cottage at some point but has been at the edge of the woods for some time. Not technically Mum and Dad's land, but nobody was looking. Not sure why Mum was so determined to park a big block of stone outside the back door, but I suppose it is in theory the rightful home of said stone and fitting that rock cottage should have a few rocks to call its own.

Unbearable cuteness of being

2006-02-10T14:09:00.000Z

I have spent far too long looking at Cute Overload during the last couple of days. It is easily my favourite site on the interweb at the moment and the perfect antidote to office tedium/anxiety. I think it actually releases the same chemicals in the brain as chocolate and it's calorie free! Genius.

G and I have an appointment next week with a rtw travel agent to try and pin down our itinerary a bit and decide on the best ticket. An early June departure suddenly seems close. Heaps to organise, but I've started a project plan. We'll just have to apply ourselves and stop watching telly. And gazing at pictures of teeny tiny kittens.

Human zoo

2006-02-08T16:33:00.000Z

Another dismal day in the office. I have spent my most enjoyable half hour watching a pair of wagtails patrol up and down the roof ledge catching miniscule insects and generally wagging a lot. The idiocy of salespeople continues to amaze me. I used to be shielded from them, sat in a nice quiet corner of the office. They only approached me if they wanted something and had to be civil. Now I've been moved to a busier part of the building, I get to observe them go about their routine strutting and posturing to their peers. It's all a bit Desmond Morris. One today was bemoaning the fact that other road users automatically treat him as a w@nker just because he drives a bmw with a personalised number plate. I like the reverse logic. He's not a w@nker because he drives a bmw, he drives one in the first place because he is a w@nker. It's his fate.

Let's get a take-away

2006-02-07T16:20:00.000Z

Thoroughly enjoyed Walk the Line on Saturday night. Predictable biopic approach, but excellent performances all round and even a bit of Jerry Lee Lewis I wasn't expecting. Splendid. It helped jog G out of his post-six nations match rage too. He took the Welsh drubbing pretty personally. Charlesworth and I had to hide in the kitchen while G threw abuse and cushions at the screen. I knew it was bad when everything went quiet a good 20 minutes before the end. Hopeless. Hope he doesn't have to endure a repeat performance this Sunday. We'll be watching the match up in Shropshire this weekend with his dad. Double the enthusiasm!

Looking forward to seeing my folks on Saturday. Dad has been planning the menu for some time to complement a couple of nice bottles of wine he and G have selected. I get the impression it's being over-planned though and as no decisions have yet been made, no ingredients have been purchased. We may be limited to whatever he can get in Morrisons and Lidl on Saturday. Mum has washed her hands of it and delegated all responsibility to Dad.

Whatever happens it can't be as bad as Dad's legendary curry night. OK, it was a good twenty years ago, but we all still remember. He spent the day prepping and cooking his carefully selected dishes from the big Madhur Jaffrey book, hand-grinding spices and grating onions… Several hours behind scheduled entrée time he presented us with three different ways to make curried potatoes. I can't remember what they tasted like. I think I was too tired to eat. I'm sure it was all delicious and highly authentic, but he has never lived down the potato obsession. Nor his time-consuming meticulous approach to cuisine. With G in the house he'll need to be thinking more 'fast-food' or there'll be no wine left to wash down the spuds.

Al-cat-raz

2006-02-02T16:49:00.000Z

I am updating out of sheer boredom today. I have nothing to report other than my job is exceedingly dull at times. I have spent most of the morning devising a scheme to enable Charlie Cat to be safely housed at mum and dad's while we're away along with their resident cat and dog. Here are the facts:

Charlie is borderline agoraphobic, but prefers to go outside once a day to 'perform' than to use his litter tray
Charlie thinks all dogs will kill him
Charlie likes to hide in dark warm spaces in total isolation, but freaks out if completely deprived of human company
Pinkerton (incumbent cat) prefers the great outdoors but freaks out if completely deprived of human company

Here are the unknowns:

Pinkerton may or may not hate Charlie
Charlie may or may not hate Pinkerton
Coco (over-enthusiastic chocolate labrador) may or may not want to kill Charlie

I have requested blueprints of the house, garage and garden boundaries and will be designating a 'pink' zone, a 'chocolate' zone and a DMZ. Any space that's left is for Charlie. I think this will basically mean the airing cupboard, dad's sock drawer and occasional occupation of the DMZ (living room) when clear of all other residents.

Charlie and Pinkie are brothers, but I doubt this will stand for much. It's a long time since they shared a basket. Maybe under controlled conditions a re-introduction may be possible. I have doubts Charlie will ever accept Coco's attentions. Last time I attempted to introduce them I needed a tetanus shot.

Poor old Chaz. I feel so guilty about leaving him. I know mum and dad will look after him properly and encourage him to get fresh air and some exercise, but when I went to Australia for three weeks he pulled out all the hair on his belly. This could finish him off.

Where did January go?

2006-01-31T15:01:00.000Z

I always seem to be in a vile mood on mondays. I know it's nothing unusual, but it was as if every fibre of my being resented being in the office yesterday. Maybe I'm just enjoying weekends so much these days that it's like being on a mini holiday and the return to work is more traumatic. Anyway - doesn't matter now - I feel great today and ready to tackle anything. What a turnaround!

The weekend was OK. G was working on Saturday and forgot he had to stay late so we had to cancel our dinner plans. We had a lovely day on Sunday though. Walk in the woods, trip to the gym where we spent most of the time in the outdoor hot tub and after in the bar reading the papers. Then out for a heart-to-heart chat over pizza - lovely after 2 weeks without much time together. Did bugger all housework and chores but we had a great time. All over far too quickly.

More plans and discussions about the big trip. I really want to get on with finding some suitable boots as quickly as possible. I need to make sure they're going to be light-weight and comfortable enough for wearing a lot, but robust enough for trekking. I wish I could just take some good walking shoes, but I know if we do any steep stuff as we're intending I'll miss the ankle support. And I can't take both. I just know how hot I'm going to be in boots - and I don't mean in a sexy way… oh lord no, quite the opposite.

I've been trying to warn G he's going to have to get used to seeing me in my natural state. No make-up, infrequent opportunities to shave legs, etc. He doesn't seem bothered at all. I hope I find it liberating. Reckon I'll be sneaking in a small selection of multi-functional grooming items all the same...