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...

1 in 78 million

2006-01-27T14:14:00.000Z

New tv is lovely and sounds great. G and I are enjoying a West Wing marathon at the moment. I'm trying to persuade him to call me CJ, although whenever he tries it I always end up responding - yes Mr President? - and it just degenerates from there.

Really not much at all has happened this week. I'm trying to think of something to record other than how bone-chilling the easterly wind has been for the last couple of days.

G is working again tomorrow but we're going out for a nice dinner in the evening. Really looking forward to Sunday which will be our first mutual day off for a fortnight. Not sure what we're going to do yet, but I think it will include a large proportion of relaxation. Of course we could win the 100m jackpot tonight. Odds of 1 in 78 million actually make the UK national lottery seem like a good bet at 1 in 14 million.

I wonder how much I could spend on a beautiful country house and a herd of pygmy goats? G, on the other hand, is going to buy a battleship if he wins.

Lovely telly

2006-01-25T17:01:00.000Z

Scrap that. G managed to locate one of the cheapo sonys at lunchtime. Hurrah!

Stupid telly

2006-01-25T14:04:00.000Z

Feeling buoyant today and I'm not talking about my propensity to float. Not sure why really, just feeling in good health and excited about the future.

Decided to go and buy a new tv yesterday evening. I've been putting up with a cheapo one for the last four years, which works annoyingly well aside from the lose scart connection in the back which means I have to wedge the cable in and jiggle it around to get a picture every time there's a significant change in atmospheric pressure. Anyway, I don't want to spend much and don't want one of these fancy new-fangled flat things. Just a nice widescreen CRT will do me. Sainsburys and Currys are selling off an entry level Sony one so just decided to stop dallying and get one. Currys had sold out and when we got to Sainsbury's we were told they'd just sold the last one and no we couldn't have the display model. It would have been OK if we hadn't seen a gleeful bunch of blokes joking with the checkout girl and gazing lovingly at their newly purchased massive cardboard box full of spanking new telly on the way out.

I got over my disappointment pretty quickly though. I know I could probably find one somewhere else but I'm not sure I want one now. After all I've got a perfectly good one if you ignore the elastic bands and wedges holding the cables in place…

But if only we'd gone straight to Sainsburys! That would have been us laughing and joking and counting up the nectar points! Arrrrgggh. Stupid telly.

Anyway. More important things to save for and only a few months until there'll be no telly at all for a while! I really shouldn't be accumulating more things.

Talking to the animals

2006-01-21T11:46:00.000Z

Black-tie work do in Southampton on Thursday. It wasn't great and I didn't enjoy myself nearly as much as at the Christmas party, but I overheard a few things that made me realise it is definitely time I moved on. It was nothing serious, quite complimentary in fact. Just a couple of off hand comments about expectations that I would use the job as a stepping stone onto something more prestigious when I started. I never had any intention to do that and if anything, the job has shown me over the last 3 years that I could and would never want to do a supposedly more high profile role in a technology company. I have a huge amount of affection for the place I work now, but as a whole the industry is just not me.

It's not like I have a great plan for what to do when I get back, but I have a strong feeling that part of the adventure will reveal itself in time.

Although the whole 'event' was meant to be a perk, I couldn't help seeing it as a waste of my personal time. However, Friday was designated a day off. What a treat! Senior execs obviously didn't fancy being forced back into their cars still half-cut from the night before on Friday morning.

Probably on my suggestions it has to be said, a small group of us decided to go to Marwell Zoo on the way home. I had a fab time. I'm no expert, but it seemed a really good place doing a lot for conservation. The giraffes were amazing - they were all inside feeding and were quite happy to come over and sniff us out. I even managed to stroke the youngest one on the nose and we shared a lovely blinky exchange. Perfect hangover cure.

Focus

2006-01-18T17:54:00.000Z

G and I have been busy planning and generally wrestling the new year under control over the last couple of weeks. Money, house, new tenants, mid to long term plans. There have been lots of discussions and a few decisive actions. I'm not sure why I haven't felt like recording things much since my last posting, but it feels as if we're getting somewhere now and that I need to recap.

We went to the Adventure Travel show at Olympia last weekend. It was OKish - plenty of tour operators looking for business -and a few interesting talks and stalls. The main purpose of the visit was to get us thinking about travel again and focused on the trip. It kick-started us into working on all the administrative and logistic tasks we need to get through to get away.

We still haven't made any firm decisions about our itinerary, but have decided we need to simplify plans and accept that we can't do everything we might want to. After contemplating a trip taking in more remote, extreme places, an easier route around the world suddenly seems achievable. I'm a lot more confident it's going to happen.

Mission accomplished

2006-01-12T16:31:00.000Z

I have gone from feeling utterly useless at the beginning of this week, to being quite productive and chipper, and now I feel generally grumpy with the world. Last week was exhausting, but we achieved (most of) what we set out to do. G's house is looking sparkly and lovely top to bottom. Bad weather and lack of time meant we didn't manage to do much to the exterior of the property, but that's more a job for the spring.

Inside looks great. Each room has had a good scrub, remedial renovation and a fresh coat of paint. Mum and Dad were amazing. Dad for his technical prowess, boxing-in capabilities and ability to polyfiller like a pro. Mum was exceptional. She worked hard cleaning, prepping and painting, cooked us lovely food, was full of good ideas and generally kept us going. What a motivator. I don't think we would have finished without her. She also cleared the back yard and made it look like a lovely little garden - even though it was snowing - and she polished the beam running through the downstairs rooms with antique wax and touched up the metal work leaving it looking like a splendid period feature. I would have overlooked all that stuff, but she made a real difference.

I think she enjoyed having us close by and being able to pop in the car and drive over whenever she felt like it. I certainly enjoyed living there for the week. I grew quite attached to the place the more blood, sweat and tears that went into the work. Who knows, maybe we'll end up there at some point in the future. Anyway, plenty of people came to look round while we were working on the place and a nice young couple put down a deposit last week. Job done.

My shoulder has been very sore since we got back, but a good rub with ibuprofen gel and a couple of good sleeps on a proper mattress seems to have sorted it out. And ceasing all the repetitive rollering/paint brush action must have helped a little… I do feel very run down though. I have developed sore red patches under my eyes - almost eczema-like - and have a lumpy spot on my cheek that has failed to come to a head but also refuses to budge. I did live off chips and chocolate last week though, so it's not really surprising. Back on the healthy living plan this week. Well. Soon perhaps :-)

Not so happy new year

2005-12-29T10:21:00.000Z

Christmas was indeed lovely. It was possibly the calmest, most laid back Christmas day I've ever had. We were awake early and had opened our presents by 9.30, but then took the rest of the day to enjoy doing whatever we wanted to do. A nice walk, long lazy lunch, snooze on the sofa and Peter Kay dvd was about all we could manage. Got thrashed at Scrabble again mind you. I don't think either of us really wanted to get up and go to Shropshire on boxing day, but we made it and had a lovely time visiting all the folks.

Back again now though and plunged into the deep-freeze. It's mighty chilly. Both of us had to sleep in full thermals, socks and hats on Tuesday night. Gorgeous.

I had the challenge of collecting a urine sample from the cat this week. He's not been well, poor moggy, and in order to see if the tablets have worked, the vet needs a sample. I couldn't imagine how I was going to achieve collection, but I was given some non-absorbent stuff to put in his litter tray and once he had done his daily pee I was able to tip the tray and use a pipette. Nice job. Dropped it off proudly at the surgery this morning.

I hope his little problem has cleared up because we're about to traumatise the cat even further by taking him up to G's house next week while we attempt to blitz the place top to bottom. He may never forgive us. But it seems we're disappointing everyone at the moment. We've had to cancel the trip to Cornwall over New Year. The only time off available to both of us next month is first week of January and we need a good week with both weekends either side to tackle the redecoration required to make G's house rentable. If we go to Cornwall for New Year's weekend, we lose half the time and we just won't get everything done. I was looking forward to seeing Tabi and Sam so much, and am pretty gutted we're having to sacrifice a lovely trip in order to get the place sorted, but it's one of those things.

So it looks as if New Year's Eve and the next 9 days is going to be spent camping out in an empty house, sanding and painting like mad. Not exactly glamorous and not quite what I had in mind!

Happy Christmas

2005-12-24T15:35:00.000Z

OK, I've cheered up a bit since my last update. I'm still fed up with work, but at least I've got the next few days off! Today has been a fairly normal saturday so far, mostly shopping and housework, but I've just finished wrapping G's presents and am getting more and more excited as it gets closer to him finishing work.

I'm not sure what I'm excited about really. I know what he's put under the tree and we're not exactly planning a crazy time over the next couple of days, but I can't wait to get started on my first Christmas at home with the man I love. I might just beat him at Scrabble too!

Bah!

2005-12-22T16:06:00.000Z

Why oh why oh why is my job like this? It happens every year, but it's still a surprise. We have had a stack of requests in this week all requiring attention over christmas and into January. Most have taken account that it's holiday time, but not all, and in any case it means January is going to be crazy.

Also, the company has had a very good year this year and everybody is congratulating each other. Much slapping of backs and all that. But the same old problems remain and I haven't had a single christmas card or thank you from any of my 'internal customers' who have hit their targets. I don't actually like getting thanks, but not getting it is even worse.

I think I need a holiday. A long one.

Between christmasses

2005-12-21T16:36:00.000Z

Well it was a lovely fake Christmas indeed. By the time G and I arrived on Saturday night, the gathered Sherds and Fergs were already three sheets to the wind. Tabi looked amazing in her party dress and it was wonderful us all just being together in the same place. I can't remember much other than there was lots of loud conversation and nobody really wanted to call it a night so we all sat up late in front of the box and watched reality tv finals taped from earlier in the evening.

I am now the proud owner of a cool retro Save Ferris t-shirt and some very uncomfy but pretty pants. G was delighted with his Top Gun Iceman t-shirt too - perhaps a little too delighted… He looks very hunky in it anyway :-)

Had a good poke around G's house on Monday with mum and dad. They were very objective and positive about the amount of work that needs doing and what we can achieve between us in the new year. There are some serious problems and a few bits and pieces that really should be tackled by professionals with scaffolding, but I reckon we can get the place looking spanky and attract new tenants.

There is a pretty lighthearted attitude in the office today, but I am having one of those clumsy days where I am a danger to myself and probably others. Think I'll go home and hide for a bit.

A bit fishy

2005-12-16T15:27:00.000Z

Fake Christmas this weekend! Very excited about seeing Tabi and Sam up in Shropshire and giving Tabi her gorgeous presents that I am rather loathed to part with ;-)

Off for the first of several Christmas lunches in a few moments. It's at work and will probably degenerate into random acts of food throwing. I may have to leave before they bring out the mince pies.

Am aware I haven't documented the progress of the travel plans recently. G and I had a good chat the other weekend and decided that our initial plan of early March departure is too radical and we're just not going to get organised in time. Given that nothing is booked and we haven't even decided on anything more than a rough itinerary, and December has been a write-off in terms of getting anything done other than organising presents and working overtime, we're thinking of a departure date slightly later in the year. It also gives G a chance to sort his house problems out.

I just need to do a bit of research on seasons and the optimal time to get to places. We don't necessarily want to hit peak season everywhere, but we need to avoid monsoons and frozen extremities.

-- later --
That was grim. Senior Management were waiting-on and the Director of Professional Services spilled fishy hollandaise starter in my hair and all down my shoulder. Bloody idiot! It was funny if I think about it now, but I do smell a bit suspicious. I might have to slope off home in a bit to have a shower. Off to see King Kong tonight and I don't want to draw that kind of attention to myself!

Big blast

2005-12-11T10:53:00.000Z

Woke up to the Hemel oil depot explosion this morning. The shockwave travelled through the house and then there was total silence. There was no mistaking that it was a blast wave. It felt as if there was something very wrong going on somewhere, but that it was probably far away. Couldn't believe it when we switched on the news. Then it dawned on me the plume may well be visible from the back of the barn. Over the last few hours a heavy swathe of black cloud has blocked out the sun. It's very eerie.

Despite the ominous start to the day, I feel ready to tackle some Christmas jobs. I need to return the new tree lights to Focus and then get on with writing some cards. I just wasn't in the mood yesterday. I spent most of the morning on eBay then pulled myself together and went out for a nice walk. I always feel as if I've done something worthwhile with the day if I have a good tramp through the woods. Did a bit of cleaning and reorganising of the living room so we can get a tree in, but still no tree procured as yet.

Almost finalised the Christmas food order on Ocado. The menu runs something like this:

Christmas eve: Moules et frites et maybe some bubbly
Christmas morning: Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs
Christmas dinner: Roast organic chicken, chippolatas AND sausage meat stuffing (guess who insisted on that!) roast pots, carrots, broc, parsnips, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, gravy. Cheese and biscuits, oh and new york cheesecake - that traditional christmas treat.

I feel a bit ill just thinking about it all.

Got absolutely trounced by G again at scrabble last night. I know I know - wild and crazy. We are going to have to find a game I'm better at for the sake of our relationship.

Happy Birthday to my lovely sister. Phoned her up at 9ish, hoping to wake her with a very ropy rendition of happy birthday to you, but she'd been awake since 6.45 opening presents. I think she was still drunk from the night before. Party on sis! Lots of love for the coming year.

Scrubbers

2005-12-06T17:29:00.000Z

Well I never - work seems to have unblocked blogger access now. Maybe there have been legitimate concerns about access denied to useful industry information or something like that.

I'm a bit worn out today after yesterday spent scrubbing G's house. Somehow it's easier to clean up other people's grime than one's own, but I'm glad I was wearing industrial strength marigolds. People can be so filthy. It's such a sweet house. I wanted to move in instantly and look after it. It needs a fair bit of love and attention and I reckon G is going to have to start kicking up a stink over the damage to the building caused by the demolition/building site next door. It's a mess and he's left with a much devalued property until the building work is completed and with the sub-contracted building firm going bust recently, it could be left for quite a while. Of course when it's all done, the increased curb appeal may improve the value, but until the damage is repaired and the site in good nick, it's a bit of a worry.

Have got my dad on the case though. He's full of good advice when it comes to taking on big bad corporations and obstructive authorities.

Glad I was able to help G out and share the burden. It wasn't quite the romantic christmas shopping trip I had planned, but it was lovely to spend the day together working hard, and then to meet a few of his old colleagues at Tanners. Seemed like a happy friendly bunch and they were very pleased to see G.

Mum and dad looked after us on Sunday eve too, although we're still suffering the after effects of mum's delicious cassoulet. It was all very Blazing Saddles.

Happy feet

2005-12-04T13:57:00.000Z

The vacillation continues. Took myself off for a walk through the woods this morning and had a strong sense of excitement about the future and getting out there and doing it. A complete turn around from last week. Trouble is that now I don't trust myself to stick with this mindset for long. I'm bound to change my mind about it all over again. I will just get fed up with being so darned introspective and indecisive soon and a decision will be made!

The Christmas party was excellent. I felt really nice in my outfit. The venue was close to home and the atmos great. I got merrily drunk, but not to the state of falling over. Managed some good twirly dancing with Jason even though I was about 6inches taller than him in my high heels. He's a good lead and was able to make me move without my really knowing his style of dancing. The band was playing some laid back jazzy numbers during the champagne reception at the beginning of the evening and I yearned for a Lindy Hop partner and the chance to do some real swing-outs. Few and far between though. G came to pick me up at midnight which was just the right time to leave. Head and feet still a bit sore yesterday, mind you.

Off for a flying visit to Shropshire tonight. Lovely chance to see mum and dad but will be rolling the sleeves up on Monday and helping G sort his house out in the hope of getting new tenants in as soon as possible. He got a phone call from the agent on Friday to say the current tenants had done a bunk without giving notice. Bit of a worry financially speaking, but at least he's got deposits to hold on to. Not the best time of year to be advertising for new people.

Nidification

2005-12-02T11:15:00.000Z

It's worrying how easily I've slipped into updating this once a week. I was hoping to post updates more regularly, but then not a lot has been happening. Work has blocked access to blogger.com too so I can't easily get in and administer the site. Ho hum.

Christmas shopping has begun. Managed to get quite a lot done during lunch times last week. Still some major purchases to make though. Two days off next week should get things properly underway. I'm really looking forward to Christmas Day this year. First time in a while. It's got to be an improvement on last year when I was laid up with food poisoning. There was a chance I would have spent the whole holiday smelly, weak and alone if Dad hadn't driven down to rescue me. With Mum nursing a kidney stone too, the whole things was pretty unfestive.

I'm looking forward to seeing the folks on Boxing Day and can't wait for Cornwall and New Year, but I've always wanted a quiet, romantic Christmas. I can't believe how quickly things seem to have fallen into place this year. Just me and G at the barn. Presents under the tree, lovely simple food, a bracing walk, roaring fire and the Queen's speech. Splendid. Just got to order the organic chicken and find G the perfect present.

I knew it would happen, but I'm starting to panic about travel plans. Christmas planning is taking up a lot of mental capacity at the moment and I know that once January comes around we'll have so much to organise it's untrue. At the moment I can't believe it will happen at all. I also spent most of this week wishing it wouldn't. I'm enjoying work at the moment and spending time making the house nice and feeling secure and cosy. The thought of walking away from all that is distressing.

But then it's got to be healthy to go and have some adventures when everything else is in good order. I won't feel like I'm running away from anything. I've also been thinking about G and what a trusting and generous soul he is. He gave up his own security net to be with me and must miss friends and all his sporting activities that were nicely established. A big part of me wants to make it happen for him.

People who know us both are worried about the strain it'll put on our relationship if we do go. We're quite new to each other after all. But I have a sneaking suspicion it'll be the best thing about going away. We'll only have each other.

Hills and thrills

2005-11-25T16:02:00.000Z

Wales was wonderful. It always is, but it was particularly fabulous last weekend. Cold and bright with mysterious low lying mist in the valleys and dazzling sunshine bouncing off the hills. We set off in good time Saturday morning and had reached the top of Corn Ddu by noon. I was feeling a bit full of cold, but once I'd got over the first shock of sharp air and steep ascent tackling the deceptive Y Gyrn, I could have trekked all day. We didn't make it all the way over to Fan-y-Big which was a shame - but we wanted to get back to the car before it got dark. I was tired and pleasantly achey all over by the end of the day and felt like I'd pushed myself nicely. I think G broke a sweat a couple of times. He was very gallant and waited for me when I was going slow and let me have the last drop of tea from the flask on the way back. It's such a special place. So glad we went there together.

Brecon was covered in thick icy mist and it was quite depressing leaving the hills and heading into the town. A steaming bag of chips in the car helped restore some vigour. We found our Youth Hostel, which was a bit tumbledown and draughty and very busy. As predicted, we didn't get our double bunk room together. We had to be split up into single sex dorms because they were so full. I spent a sleepless night with a very odd woman who complained about the cold then got up in the middle of the night to open the window in case we should feel claustrophobic, she said... The car thermometer registered -5C in the morning so it's a miracle we didn't freeze. Glad I had my sleeping bag for extra protection.

G had a bit of a rough night too so we were both up and off early heading across the top of the National Park then down towards Carmarthen and the coast. We stopped off at a mysterious mound called Trecastle on the way. I've driven past it a few times and wondered what it is. I think it must be an old motte and bailey now a bit sunken and covered in mature trees. We did a bit of trespassing to get to the top and marvel at the loveliness of the frozen morning. Then got a bit cold and decided to motor on.

Llansteffan was as perfect and as beautiful as I always remember it. We had a lovely walk along the beach and round the headland as far as we could before the mud flats started to look a bit dangerous. The pink house I saw on a family holiday many years ago is still standing, but is now white and rather smart looking. We explored the castle ruins and had a swift pint in the village pub before driving back up to Laugharne and on to Hurst House.

I was really worried about Hurst House. Staying there was going to be an extravagant treat and I didn't want to feel as if we were being ripped off. It has had a lot of good publicity yet bad reviews from people who have actually stayed there. I booked it on the strength of the publicity then read the reviews on Tripadvisor, but by then it was too late to cancel. Anyway, with expectations lowered and after an exhausting night courtesy of the YHA, we were utterly delighted. The place is undergoing extensive renovation, but the builders were all quiet on Sunday. The exterior of the main house is gorgeous and inside is a little vibrant and quirky, but not totally out of keeping. The house itself has got such age and charm that it seems to quite enjoy that young upstarts have turned it into a swanky retreat. It was very welcoming and all the more relaxing for a being a little rough around the edges.

We collapsed on the big bed and watched the B&O telly for a while, then had hot baths in the lovely bathroom with views over the marshes. Cocktails in the bar by the log fire then a fabulous four course meal restored us both. I had a fishy dish featuring samphire risotto and G had the biggest fillet of beef I've ever seen. We were too tired to get plastered. We just enjoyed the deliciousness of the food, petted the sweet young cat that seemed to have free roaming rights and made fun of the only other couple staying who looked thoroughly miserable. Maybe they didn't appreciate the quirky charm and spectacular food quite as much as we did. Or maybe they were allergic to cats.

We had breakfast in bed and didn't bother checking out until 11. Both feeling a bit tired we had a quiet mooch around Laugharne then set off on the long drive home. Felt very soppy and romantic and didn't at all enjoy setting out for work on Tuesday morning. Not sure where the rest of the week has gone.

I need to get the house in order this weekend as we may have an overnight guest next weekend after the work christmas party. I also need to decide what to wear for the party. I don't fancy the hard slog and expense of finding something new, but I don't think I have anything suitable at all. I don't really want to go.

Slow news day

2005-11-16T17:12:00.000Z

Not much to report today. Work is a bit frustrating. Just getting to the niggly panic stage of my current project - pre-first draft nerves. I'm hoping the document will come together and the contributors are writing what they're supposed to be writing. Will find out on Friday when it'll be up to me to pull the full version together. Plenty of time in hand for a nice production job next week, but the work always expands to fill the time available.

Chatted to Mum on the mobile during a crispy lunchtime walk. She's having trouble with the aging relatives who are not very close by and not exactly easy to help. She's also panicking about Christmas now that Dad's old banger has finally conked out and he's taken her wheels so he can get to work and back. She can't go Christmas shopping and has to stay in all day. At least Coco is happy.

Also spoke to Tabi who is very excited about our pre-Christmas get together with the folks. I daresay it'll be a boozy night with the over-excitement potential of us all being together properly for the first time in a long time. I'm really looking forward to New Year in Cornwall I have to say. Poor Tabs has to work a long day on the 1st but has got 31st afternoon and evening off. New Year's Eve sounds like it'll be a proper rowdy affair, but G said out of the blue the other evening, we'll have to go to St Ives over New Year. Picturing a chilled out chilly walk on the beach New Years Day. Our hangovers notwithstanding, it will be lovely to get out in the fresh air together and breathe in some new beginnings.

London and Lara

2005-11-15T18:11:00.000Z

Early start this morning for a 9 a.m. meeting in Islington. It's amazing how I can get straight up at 05.45 but find it impossible to move from under the covers at 07.30 every other day. Enjoyed arriving in plenty of time for an AMT breakfast and avoidance of the tube chaos, but the customer was a little disorganised and didn't offer us anything to drink or even a chance to nip to the loo. Hard work maintaining ultra-focus during a 4hr meeting in those conditions.

Made it all worthwhile with a quick stop at Lara's before heading home. Had a good squeeze of both gorgeous bairns and enjoyed a customary analytical chat with Lara. She urged me to avoid burning bridges workwise before going away and not to dismiss the idea that they may be open to a period of extended leave. She's right of course. It'll be over before we know it and if there's a chance at all of an income to look forward to on our return, I should take it.

I just know that would mean committing to a return date and coming back to this neck of the woods - where neither of us really want to be. It's by far the most sensible approach and would mean we had time and space to decide on the details of 'the next phase'. Then again work might very well tell me to stick my passport somewhere unmentionable. Will require a carefully crafted persuasive proposal. The boss will see straight through it!

LaMountain

2005-11-14T17:34:00.000Z

Ray LaMontagne was amazing live. He looks like a kind of muppet hobo with a flip-top head and raggedy clothes, but when he sings it's raw and visceral and really quite beautiful. His singing voice is huge, but he didn't speak to the audience in more than a whisper all night. It was a very sedate concert really. The crowd was more enraptured than anything. I enjoyed Kathryn Williams too. Bitter sweet and lovely close harmonies. She was very funny between songs too.

Lots of students in the audience - not surprising since it was at Warwick Arts Centre on the University campus. I'm sure Ray attracted more than a representative number from the anarcho-hippy crowd. The smell of cardboard and lentils and unwashed jumpers was unmistakable. Good to know they're still around.

The rest of the weekend was pretty productive. Tidying, shopping and cooking on Saturday. Met G for lunch and got to see his workplace for the first time. It was fun watching him in action. We had a lovely walk on Sunday again. I foolishly challenged him to race up one of the steeper inclines - mainly to get away from some ramblers on our tail. As he dashed up the slope on tip-toes I was left gasping and scrabbling at tufts of grass. I think he was a bit worried about me - he made me put my hands on my head and breathe through my nose for a while at the top. Not sure what for, maybe just to make me look even sillier. Anyway, I had plenty of stamina to get me round the rest of the route without moaning and it wasn't me who fell asleep on the sofa when we got back!

Being out and about together made me keen to get working on the travel plans again. Hope this clear cold weather holds for our trip to The Beacons and Beyond this weekend.

Tabi pulls it off

2005-11-09T20:46:00.000Z

Well done to Tabi for getting through her job re-interview this week. Her promotion is now permanent. Well deserved.

Odd kind of week this week. It's busy at work and although I feel better than I did on Monday, I've been lethargic and a bit miserable. I'm cross with myself for feeling miserable because I've really got no cause to be down. Vicious circle I expect.

I made it to the gym yesterday but then pretty much fell asleep on the sofa when I got home. I decided not to go dancing tonight. It requires a level of extroversion that I can't quite muster at the moment. I have stayed in and made more pumpkin soup instead, hoping the sunrise colours prove to lift my spirits.

Looking forward to the Ray LaMontagne gig on Sunday. Could be the catharsis I need for all this moody brooding.

Acopia

2005-11-07T17:38:00.000Z

I was explaining my feeling of lethargy and inability to get anything done or know where to start to Tabi this morning. She said her friends Claire and Vicki refer to the condition as acopia. I am definitely borderline acopic today. Not sure what's wrong and I hope I snap out of it soon.

Sunday was lovely. I had probably been getting unnecessarily stressed about the visit with hindsight. I spent Saturday cooking up a rich ragu sauce for lasagne and not getting enough cleaning done. I was way behind on the jobs list when G came home, but the lasagne was all the better for the extra attention. G was marvellous and did loads of tidying up so we were able to start Sunday at a fairly leisurely pace with most of the cooking and cleaning done.

It absolutely chucked it down all day Sunday, but G's mum and dad didn't seem to mind staying in the house. It was a real pleasure to see them. Lots of chat about travelling and what we were going to do. G's mum is petrified for us and says she doesn't know anyone who has done anything similar and not gone down with horrendous food poisoning. Then she did point out that it wouldn't do us any harm to lose a few pounds. Fair point. Maybe I'll be able to turn the experience into a round-the-world diet book - 'Daren't Eat/Don't Eat'.

This week is looking busy at work. Will make a nice change, unless the acopia persists. In which case I am likely to fall to pieces. May try to get back to dancing class on Wednesday night if G decides to take up the invitation to some rugby training at the local club. His session will probably only last an hour, but I daresay there'll be some obligatory post-training guinness consumption. Would be good to get back into the swing of things dancing-wise.

Extra special good luck wishes to Tabi for her interview tomorrow. Knock their socks off sis - you know you can do it!

Performance art

2005-11-04T16:05:00.000Z

Looking forward to the fireworks party tonight. It's the best work party of the year and it's a crispy sunny day today so it should be cold and clear this evening. Perfect conditions for a spectacular display, some warming soup and a pig in a bap or two. And this year I've got G to hold on to if the big bangs make me jump. Lovely :-)

Hope he enjoys it too. It means a lot to me that he's here to share it. He's a bit stressed about his house and is being plagued by utilities and banking admin errors at the moment. All a bit much. He needs some extra looking-after this weekend.

Have been feeling a bit out of sorts myself last couple of days. Had a tiring day yesterday attending a work conference in Birmingham. These things are always pretty draining and yesterday was no exception.

I spent a while daydreaming about plans, but no real progress. I'm worried I may have misrepresented Lara a bit in my last entry. She has offered heaps of practical, realistic advice about the unglamorous side of travelling and is doing her best to make me think things through before making any rash decisions. Might go to the Country Living Christmas Fair with her next week, but am really not sure it's worth facing the mad scrum. Would rather have a quiet coffee and a chat and a mooch around town. I don't really qualify as a fully paid-up Rayburn-babe either really.

Speaking of which, G's mum and dad are coming for Sunday lunch so am looking for alternatives to a big roast dinner, given the state of my puny oven. Feel a bit nervous as it's their first visit. I might have to resort to bangers and mash. Will see what G says. It might be safer still to take them down the pub.

Lots of housework tomorrow too. At least I haven't got to tackle the kind of deep cleansing Tabi had to deal with this week. Martha, the beloved kitten, must have eaten a long length or ribbon at some point a few days ago and woke Tabi and Sam up on Wednesday morning as it started to, erm, exit her system. Severely traumatised by the sensation, and with the thing half in and half out, Martha scooted about 'string painting' the entire house. Tabi was laughing by the time she phoned me, but only after she'd spent a good three hours scrubbing the decks.

Eaten by lions or worse

2005-11-02T17:48:00.000Z

E-mailed Dad today to see what he thought about the big plan. I haven't really had much chance to talk to him about it in-depth yet. He replied: "Who do you think you are - Alan Whicker?"

He thinks it would be much better all round if we could find a way to do it safely, avoid dangerous countries and, preferably, come home every weekend :-)

It is quite a selfish thing to want to do I suppose. I know in reality we could be back home in a couple of days - even from somewhere remote - if anything were to go wrong at home or if we really weren't enjoying ourselves. I know I'd miss everybody terribly.

So many unknowns - but I really don't know how I'm going to react to having no home to speak of and I how I'm going to feel without family close by. But as Lara wrote to me today - you have to commit to the unknown sometimes.

My lovely sister

2005-11-01T14:00:00.000Z

Can’t get over the difference in energy levels and outlook today. Yesterday was a write-off in terms of getting anything done, thinking useful thoughts or interacting with anybody in a meaningful way. I really would have been best off asleep on the sofa.

Woke up refreshed and happy today. Got loads done this morning already. Had a lovely chat with my beautiful sis at lunch time. Missing her very much. I keep looking at Cornwall photos longingly. Can’t wait for our New Year’s Eve get together and a pre-Christmas/birthday celebration weekend in December.

We’ve agreed to have a conference about Christmas purchases and what we’re going to get for people. I can’t believe it’s not that far away really.

She thinks G and I should get on with the big plan too. She told me we should just get out there and make some good memories

Autumnal weekend

2005-10-31T11:06:00.000Z

Went for two long walks this weekend. Woke up feeling full of the joys of autumn on Saturday and decided to head out across the hills for a bit of a wander. It turned into a good 2.5 hour up-and-down hike and I only turned for home at all because I was desperate for a pee. G fancied a walk on Sunday too, so we did a shortened version of my route which included a slippery descent into the woods on the return journey. No injuries but a few startled pheasants.

It was unseasonably warm and very windy both days. I’d rather have bright sunshine and cold fingers any day, but the falling leaves and wheeling kites set a very autumnal scene.

G came home tired after work on Saturday, but he mustered some strength and we went out for a posh dinner at the bar and grill. Amazing scallop starter but the rest was fairly average. I drank a little too much I must admit, but it stopped me being bothered about the (other) drunken idiots crowding the place and shouting at each other.

We made a tipsy commitment to the big trip and discussed simplifying the plans a little. I’m worried we’re trying to cram too much in and will exhaust ourselves too quickly. We’d get to Tanzania just in time for the last treks up Kili before the long rains start, then possibly miss out on a good stretch of time in South Africa so we could get up to Nepal before the end of the season there. We may postpone the idea of Tanzania and do that separately, flying straight into SA instead.

There are just so many choices! And even though it’s a drab work day with nothing much in the diary, the thought of quitting the job seems unreasonable this morning… Had a good chat with mum on Saturday about the whole thing. She thinks we’ve just got to get on and do it. The sooner the better, so we can get back and get on with life. By which I think she means start a family. Or possibly just being settled somewhere we can have a puppy. She’d be just as thrilled with either I suspect ;-)

In a surge of autumnal housewifery, I decided we should counteract the rich excesses of Saturday night with some homemade pumpkin soup on Sunday. I made the recipe up, so I'll never be able to recreate it exactly, but it included:

Onion
Carrots
Sweet potato
1 chestnut pumpkin from the parental pumpkin patch
Garlic
Fresh ginger
Cumin, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, smoked paprika, black pepper
White wine
Vegetable stock
Double cream

It liquidised down into the most luxurious velvety puree. It was just what we needed when we got back from our walk on Sunday.

I got cold and achey watching the rugby on Sunday afternoon. It was an important game and quite exciting, but the capacity crowd and all the tension made for a less enjoyable time than the Cardiff match we went to a few weeks ago. I felt very tired and couldn't get into the spirit so we came home and had a little snooze on the sofa watching a lovely prog about the wildlife in Mull. Amazing otters. Feeling a bit woolly headed and nasal this morning. It could just be an allergic reaction to Monday or it could be the start of a cold. Hoping to fend it off with leftover nutrient-rich pumpkin goodness this evening.

Cup fitting

2005-10-28T13:28:00.000+01:00

The meeting this morning went fine. I was a little flushed and rushed but the audience was recovering from a big night out on the company credit cards last night so I was at an advantage from the outset. Hope I managed to get my point across although I doubt I’ll have much influence on any decisions made further down the line. Made a big faux pas of course when I didn’t recognise a senior bod name drop. Just fed up pretending I know who people are in this organisation. Maybe it says more about the senior bod and his not so high profile…

Very pleasant evening yesterday swimming with Katy and having a relaxing steam/sauna/jacuzzi session while G was working late running a Christmas Tasting. Am sure these things are held so early so people buy cases of stuff they like, drink it all before December and have to come back for more. Good ploy.

He was exhausted when he got home - long day. I made it back in time for the first episode of Bleak House on BBC1. Brought back lots of A Level English memories.

Taking the car to the garage this afternoon. There’s been a safety recall – something to do with suspension springs touching the tyres or something. It needs a cup fitting. Sounds more like something you’d get at M&S or a specialist sports equipment shop. Hope this stressy headache goes soon.

Spag bol and cinema

2005-10-27T11:16:00.000+01:00

We didn't discuss the big plans much last night. I read a bit of Lonely Planet Tanzania while warming up the spag bol and waiting for G to come home. The more I read the less I want to go, but I suppose these books have a duty to point out the worst about places. If they set your expectations low you are less likely to be duped by a dodgy tour guide and will feel the euphoria of making it to the top of Kilimanjaro all the more.

Went to see Nanny McPhee on a 2-for-1 special courtesy of Orange Wednesdays. Emma Thompson's screenplay was pitch perfect. The pace was just right too. In fact, I couldn't pick holes in the film at all. Even the use of a vile animated baby's mouth could be forgiven for plot purposes. It did feel a bit self-indulgent to be watching it without children - a bit like a child-free Christmas day. But was worth it for being able to appreciate the tightness of the script and the warmth and whimsy of the whole thing. Extra lovin' to G for agreeing to go. He was a bit twitchy at first but was quickly bewitched. Have promised a boys' film next time featuring guns and war at least.

Developed terrible road rage on the way in to work today and it's taking a while to subside. I've got to lead a meeting with an unknown European Director tomorrow. Was feeling fine about it but when quizzed this morning about the agenda, the UK manager in charge of the visit got me riled. He said "you know - he is a director." He's obviously afraid I won't display enough obsequiousness. He might be right. I'd better go and practise.

First post

2005-10-26T16:58:00.000+01:00

I’m not sure why today is the day, but it seems right to start a blog. I hope I’ll be able to look back on this first post over the coming months and remember how scared and apprehensive I was before I made the decision to go to the other side of the world and back with my new love. I hope it happens. But I am scared and we have both got a lot to think about before we make our decisions and buy the tickets.

G has wanted to go travelling for a long time. He has been drifting for a while and never quite got round to it. I want change and excitement in my life. Now we've found each other and are happy and see a future together, it all seems very possible to do these things.

I'd be giving up a good job and a pleasant way of life it's true, but I know the way I live now isn't permanent. I don't want to be doing the same job and living in this part of the country in five years' time. I just have strong nesting instincts and don't know how having no home will affect me.

The question is - do we jack it all in, put everything in storage for 6-12 months and head off, or do we do this more sensibly - start planning a more secure future for ourselves that includes short term trips and travels?

There is so much to think about. Or then again so little. Maybe I should just be thinking about what to fit into my backpack and who I'm going to get to look after the cat.