Another good night out

Yesterday was a thoroughly miserable day weather wise - very cold, wet and grey. A definite day to keep in the warmth of the house. More sorting out of cupboards was undertaken - why do we store so much stuff? Again we had a pile of things to put in Esmerelda, things to put away for Cyprus, things to offer on freecycle and things to throw away. It is a very satisfying job to sort through belongings though - it makes you feel like you are sorting out your life - which you are in a way.

As explained in my last blog we went all the way to our next door neighbours last night to enjoy a meal with them. Steve and Jackie moved in to the next door bungalow last July. Before they actually moved in Steve called round and introduced himself and we realised that he is actually an old police colleague of my Steve's. That created a friendly connection immediately and they have become very comfortably ensconced in their bungalow and within our lives since then. We don't see that much of them but as Steve and I are both at home all week we have a few conversations over the garden wall. They have had a meal with us previously and we talked into the early hours. So last night we went to share the evening with them. They prepared a gorgeous meal for us, lots of chatting was undertaken and we practiced working the camera on the timer setting to capture the four of us together. Thankfully we did not have far to stagger home - again in the early hours and a Sunday morning is always a good time to recover.

Hopefully Steve and Jackie will come out to see us in Cyprus and many more late nights will be enjoyed there.

More celebrations!!

After a steady week of finalising accounts and bills and informing half of the UK of our intentions Steve and I needed to celebrate our wedding anniversary in style. It seems impossible to believe that two years have passed since we got married on that hot sunny day in Cyprus - but it has. I wonder what will be happening in another two years-I expect we will be living a very different lifestyle - but it is so difficult to look ahead. It doesn't seem real - more surreal at the moment. Its hard to believe its actually happening. We seem to have been planning this for ever and now its just around the corner. Anyway - back to our wedding anniversary.

I must tell the lead up story first. Shortly after Steve and I met in 2002 he arrived at my flat in Addlestone to take me to dinner. He surprised me by bringing along a bottle of champagne and two champagne flutes (so prepared is Steve). He then opened the champagne with a flourish - not spilling a drop - poured some into two glasses and declared that he intended to steal my heart!! and the process began with that evening. Not much renders me speechless but that did I can tell you. I wasn't used to such a bold and romantic approach believing that most men were distinctly lacking in assertiveness, forward planning or initiative (I still do really) so this took my breath away. He then swept me off to Pennyhill Park, which is a very posh hotel, for a magnificent dinner. How could I not fall in love with him after that??

So what better way to mark our last wedding anniversary in the UK but to return to Pennyhill Park hotel for another dinner. We were both excited and really looking forward to it and it did not fail to satisfy us.

The setting is wonderful for a start and the service is second to none. All the staff treat you like royalty from the moment you walk in and they time the courses to perfection.

We first had an aperitif in the lounge accompanied by some nibbles which were wonderful. We were shown to our table where we were served a wonderful three course meal with small entrees between each course. The menu was very complex with a lot of flavours and small quantities so that we left without feeling bloated but very satisfied with the meal. It was washed down with a lovely bottle of Stellenbosh. Steve had a lovely glass of Barolo to accompany his cheese course too. A lovely meal to remember to celebrate our anniversary.

Tonight we are visiting our neighbours Steve and Jackie who are cooking us a meal - more to tell you about tomorrow.

The party continues...

The blog didn't allow me to post any more photos of the leaving party on the last blog so I thought I would continue on this one. We will have the memories that way.

We are going to Vicki's 40th birthday party tonight in Camberley and need to do a few things before we get ready to go.

After a lazy start to the morning I drove us to Chertsey where Steve managed to blow away the previous evenings beery cobwebs by riding home the bike that had been serviced there. After that we called in to see Steve and Jackie next door as Chris and Lynn had called for coffee. The four of them had met up at our leaving party after many years. The three men (Steve, Steve and Chris)had all served in the police force at the same time many moons ago and it was time for a bit of a catch up for Chris.

Steve and I left them to drive to High Wycombe to collect an awning and sunshade for the caravan that we had won in auction on Ebay. We were very pleased with the goods as they were in excellent condition and we bought them for a snip. The sunshade will come in very handy when we are driving through Europe in May, June and July - we can sit outside without shrivelling up. We had a look around High Wycombe - not a lot to report there I'm afraid - and bought Vicki a birthday present then had a bite to eat before returning home.

The previous evening caught up with us then - I fell asleep in the car on the way home - Steve was driving I hasten to add! Then Steve went for a nap before getting ready to go out to the party. We are getting old!!

The party was lovely, well attended and the people very friendly. Lee had erected a marquee to extend the floor space and serve the drinks - very sensible. We hope you had a wonderful evening Vicki for your 40th.

Lee, Vicki and the boys are in one of the photos above alongside Tony, Lisa and their children who all attended our party.

Sunday was a definite day of relaxation for us. Thankfully the weather was awful - rain, hail, grey skies and cold temperature - ideal weather to force us to do a lot of our admin work indoors. We wrote a lot of cancellation of services letters and change of address letters and Steve and I drafted out a resume of all the camp sites we are visiting with their telephone numbers and directions to get to them. That will help us lot. We also put the bike on ebay - the one Steve collected yesterday and rode home from the bike service shop. It is surplus to requirements as he had kept it at work to provide him with an easy means of travel between offices in London. We still have our two cycles that will go with us on our travels.

The official leaving do

After saying au revoir to so many people individually the time finally came round on Friday evening to have our leaving party at the Cricketers pub in Rowtown. Steve and I had invited lots of people as we took into consideration the fact that many would be unable to attend for one reason or another. But we were very pleasantly surprised to see lots and lots of our friends and family - more than we could have hoped for.

Toni came to our house as she didn't know the area and needed us to take her round to Pat's where she was staying for the night. After taking her there Steve and I went to the pub at about 6.15pm to be able to greet people as they arrived. Shame on us that 3 or 4 people were already there - terrible hosts!! you always can tell the ones that can't wait to get to the bar! Joking you lot. Soon after that people starting arriving until the pub was heaving and the noise level was very high. A cold buffet was provided which Steve and I were very pleased with - there was enough and it all tasted good - what more could we want. I took lots of photos - not enough as I found out the following day as some people escaped my camera. I wonder if that was intentional in a few cases - camera dodgers. I'll try and grab a few of you again before we leave. I'll use this blog to say a few thanks to people I think -

To my gorgeous little brother Graham and his fiance Sue who travelled down from Bedfordshire - fantastic to see you both and you made it extra special for me.Make sure you visit us soon.
To some of the staff of the Intermediate Care Team at St. Peters Hospital who I used to work for from 1997 to 2002 and then still worked alongside until recently - thank you for the lovely flowers and card - they mean a lot to me.
To Chris and Lynne who drove up from Poole - great to see you both - keep in touch.There aren't many guys as mad as Steve Chris!
To Martin and Michelle who drove down from Bedfordshire and stayed overnight in a hotel - don't lose touch now guys - make an extra special effort, Steve will really appreciate it.
To my darling colleagues from the Social Care Team at St. Peters Hospital - my memories of working with you are wonderful. You are fantastic people and deserve a lot more than you will get from Surrey County Council - keep in touch please.
To Colin and Ally, Dean and Linda, Maureen and Steve and Woodsy - the Windlesham team! Thank you for all the laughs and good times we have had - lets have loads more in the future on both sides of Europe.
To Tony, Lisa and the children and Lee, Vicki and the boys - thank you for re emerging into Steve's life and making him a part of the family again. Please keep in touch.
To Steve and Jackie - our neighbours and new friends - thank you for coming along and I hope you have better neighbours after we leave!
And finally to my special friends - Pat, Ann and John, Diane, Carey, Toni and Judith - be happy, be lucky and be out in Cyprus on a regular basis to see me as I will see you in the UK when we come back to holiday here.

If I've missed anyone out please don't feel offended - my head is very full at the moment - as is my heart.

The night could not have been better for Steve and myself - it made us feel very loved and happy and it also created many memories that we will cherish.

And still it goes on...

So busy have I been meeting up with people and organising things that I haven't had time to write the blog. Not good time management I hear you say but its the only excuse I have. I will have to improve though as there will be so much to write during our travels that strict adherance to the blog is necessary. It will take me all day to write things up if I skip a few days then.

So let me recap to fill in the gaps. Last Sunday we met up with Dean and Linda and they brought along Linda's son Matthew as well. We went to the Fox and Hounds in Englefield Green which is a lovely location near to Great Windsor Park and the food is lovely there too. We had a lovely time, ate lots AGAIN and said our personal goodbyes to them. They will come to our leaving do on Friday but this was our last meal in the UK with them for a while. Pictures above.

On Monday I had a day of shopping, sorting out at home - scanning more documents and catching up on emails. Then on Tuesday I had the pleasure of a mammogram (at least thats another thing out of the way) after which I visited Ann and we went out to lunch together. Ann and I go back to 1997 when we both arrived in St. Peters Hospital to work for the Home from Hospital team. We both have Irish mad mothers and English fathers, we are the same age and have birthdays in the same month. We have always remained friends as well as colleagues and I sincerely hope that will continue to be the case. Ann has had a rotten few years receiving treatment for cancer but she remains strong willed, positive and with a healthy sense of humour. I am in awe of her strength of character and really want her and her husband John to come out to Cyprus and stay so that she can have a chance to relax and enjoy for a change. We went to the Red Lion Pub in Chobham and had another practice Cypriot lunch that lasted over 4 hours.

I got home just in time to change and go to my yoga class after which Pat and I tried out the Cricketers Pub for a bar meal and the pub quiz. The meal filled us was all I can say and I hope the cold buffet that they are laying on for our leaving do is more appetising. The pub quiz was entertaining but we performed miserably - too many football and celebrity questions for our liking. Thats when you need a larger team, including men, to answer some of the questions that we can't. So what a full day I had on Tuesday and ate out twice! Please don't make me eat any more food!!

On Wednesday I rode Steves bike (the one he kept at work) to a bike repair shop in Chertsey so that they could attempt to repair the gears. I walked back so that was my exercise for the day. The bike will be put on ebay to sell after we get it back. Then I put our VERY important documents (birth certs, marriage certs, divorce papers etc) in an envelope to post out by recorded delivery to Ruth and Lionel - our Cyprus next door neighbours and now good friends. They will take good care of them until we arrive. I also completed a redirection of mail form to take along to the post office, giving Pats details as a "care of" address in the UK. They require all sorts of proof of identity for that process so I took passports, utility bills etc in a plastic wallet to the post office.

I parked in Chertsey and walked round the corner to the post office where I stood in the obligatory dream in the queue. At one point I rechecked the plastic wallet and realised there were no passports in it. Silently cursing to myself thinking I had left them at home my mobile phone suddenly rang. It was Steve jokingly accusing me of trying to sabotage our planned trip by cunningly disposing of our passports. He then went on to say a passerby had found them on the pavement and handed them into Barclays Bank!!! - round the corner form the post office. I don't need to tell you about that awful hot and faint feeling you get when you see your life flashing before you do I?

So I hastily legged it around the corner to the bank and saw the teller who had the passports. He grilled me with lots of personal questions to ensure they were ours. Luckily Steve and I purchased ISAs from Barclays last week and so they had our personal details on their system - how lucky was that?? After I started breathing properly again I returned to the post office and continued with my task. I can't bear to think of the extra hassle it would have caused if that kind passerby had been anything other than honest. I don't know who he was but thank you my friend!

On my return home I got changed again and went to meet Judith for lunch at Fego's in Sunningdale where we met up a couple of weeks ago. We had a lovely lunch again and a long chat. I really like her and we have a lot in common. She will also visit us in Cyprus and is looking forward to it.

The car started playing up a bit on the way there - and it isn't the first time either. It will have to be looked into before we leave - we can't afford to leave anything to chance. It seems to be an electrics problem - lights flashing on the computerised dashboard system and various pings along the way for no apparent reason. Over the last few weeks it has been a bit temperamental - windscreen wipers not working at times and the doors not locking. Then it will suddenly pass and be ok. Yesterday was the last straw though - to the garage it goes.

That brings me to today. I have had a morning of housework. The letting agents are showing a prospective tenant around the bungalow this afternoon and I don't want them thinking we are messy and dirty - I have my pride. I will make myself scarce during that time and I hope the bungalow gets a nice new tenant to look after it when we have gone. So - better get changed again!

Food, food and more food!!

On Friday lunch time I met up with Kim, my oppo at work for lunch at the Kingfisher in Chertsey. It was great to see her and catch up on all the news. That news had little to impress me as regards the work environment though. Poor Kim is even working on Sundays to try to maintain her workload. She must be a glutton for punishment though as she says she is still enjoying it! Kim - you like a challenge - you certainly have one - and long may you be able to cope. I wonder where and when it will all stop though - how much work can an organisation load onto one person before they break. She looked well though so it can't be that bad.

The weather was glorious - temperatures of 18 - 19 degrees celsius - so we sat outside soaking it up watching the Thames flow past as we ate a lovely sweet potato and spinach curry each - not a bad life I suppose. Kim even paid for my meal as a leaving treat. I forgot my camera (again) so can't support this blog with a photo of Kim - but she is coming to our leaving do next Friday so I will make sure I capture her there.

Steve and I have indulged ourselves and bought tempur mattresses for the caravan. We considered it and dismissed the idea at first due to the cost - they are expensive. But since then we have both had back pain due to one thing or another and reconsidered the idea. When we did the maths we worked out that they would actually cost us about £1.50 per night of our trip - and that for a good nights sleep and the ability to enjoy our days - not a lot when you look at it that way. These were delivered on Friday too - so we decided to try them out in Esmerelda before we leave. Well - we have to see if we have got our money's worth don't we?

Yesterday we drove down to Southampton to visit Steve's dad Fred and his sister Deborah with her daughter Hope (pictures above). Before we left though we had to load one of our 2 seater sofas into the car to take down to her. She was in need of a new sofa and we have two of these - only one of which is needed in Cyprus - so we agreed to take the other one to her. Now these sofas are the bees knees - they have a very supportive squab to support our backs and they are recliners as well - ultra comfortable. Ultra heavy as well as we found out when we tried to pack them into the car. Steve had to remove the car seats first then we moved the sofa, in two parts, through the patio window as it was easier to negotiate them out that way. The metal action for the recliners weighed a ton and although we struggled with the first one we both failed to get the second one in place as it was difficult to fit them both in anyway and I didn't have the strength to lift the second one higher up. Our neighbour, Steve, came to the rescue and enabled the second one to be packed into the car. When we arrived at Southampton Debs had arranged for her and a friend to carry them into her flat - on the fourth floor! They did it too - with much huffing and puffing!

First though we went for lunch together- yet another goodbye meal - at a lovely restaurant by the river. The weather was cold though so we sat inside this time. It was a carvery meal which we all thoroughly enjoyed. It was Grand National day so we stopped off first at the bookies and all put on our pennies and crossed our fingers. After dinner we heard the race on the car radio and found to our surprise that Steve's horse, Snowy Morning had come third and mine, Slim Pickings had come fourth. So back to the bookies on the way home to collect our winnings - we made 100% profit from that so a good day all in. And Fred paid for all our lunches too - all this eating and not paying for it!

We stayed with them all until early evening before heading back home. Although colder weather and even snow had been forecast we decided to bite the bullet and sleep in Esmerelda to test the mattresses. Steve put a heater on in the caravan for an hour before we took ourselves out there with mattresses, pillows and duvet. The night was very cold - took me back to my childhood when we had no central heating and I had to put my head under the duvet (blankets in those days) to breathe in warm air. It was really comfortable though so the nights sleep was an overall success. We were very surprised when we woke up to look out of the window and see snow that any Christmas would be proud of. I had to capture that on camera - April 6th!! how unpredictable can the weather get?

As I write it is still snowing and shows no sign of melting. Looks very pretty though.

Yet more food today - we are meeting Dean and Linda at the Fox and Hounds in Englefield Green for lunch - another goodbye meal. At this rate I won't even be able to get into Esmerelda by the time we leave!

Steve also bid on an awning/sunshade for Esmerelda yesterday and we won! Brilliant price too but it is in High Wycombe - I have emailed the seller and asked if we can collect it this afternoon after lunch as we are heading in that direction - we hope he replies with a yes before we leave for the pub restaurant at 12.15pm - keep your fingers crossed. It won't be the snow that bothers us on our travels (we don't think so anyway) it will be the sun - so the shade will enable us to sit outside the caravan in comfort.

Family time

Well last week I had some special family time in Derbyshire and it was lovely - special memory making time for me. I took Caleb, my grandson, back to Derbyshire after he had spent a few days with me and Steve, then I stayed for a few days while Steve went to work.

My daughters are very different - thank goodness. It would be a very boring world if all our children were alike - or the same as their parents. I celebrate the differences in them and their children too and recognise similarities and differences to me as well. Of course they are grown adults in their own world at the ages of 34 and nearly 33(sorry to publish that on the world wide web girls) and have created their own lifestyles. There is also the obvious generation gap which I am pleased about most of the time. I think the music, the fashions, the lifestyles and the opportunities were better in the 60s and 70s when I was growing and nesting and they have a lot more pressure than we did. Steve and I are now benefiting from the good times being at the latter end of the post war baby boom - having more money, better pensions, more freedom and being fitter than our parents were. God help my grandchildren who have little hope of a Great Britain any more, poor job prospects, mega expensive living costs and next to no pension prospects. I will come off my political bandwagon now.

I stayed with Lisa, Caleb and Teyha for the first night and had the joy of being woken by a smiling toddler face at 6.40am who got into my bed, switched the cartoons on and generally indicated that the night time was over. I was sleeping on a mattress on the living room floor I hasten to add so I was invading their territory. I walked Caleb to school - he was very reluctant to go knowing he was going to miss a day out with the rest of us - but hey ho. Teyha came along too for some exercise and time with me. Afterwards I took Lisa and Teyha to Mansfield for a look round - the weather was awful - very cold, wet at times and bleak.It was good to spend time with them and Lisa and I did a lot of talking - as we do. After collecting Caleb from school and taking them home I went to Louise's for dinner (or tea in Derbyshire - the north/south divide has its issues). Mark, Louise's husband was at home, being on the night shift this week poor soul. We had a lovely dinner/tea and sat and chatted. I used Skype to call Steve and catch up with his day too.

That night I had a bedroom to myself as Aiden was bunking in with Neev so I had his room. After walking Aiden and Neev to school, I took Louise to the dentist - she had a gum infection and wanted to make sure it wasn't an abscess - which it wasn't thankfully but antibiotics were prescribed. Then we went off to Chesterfield for the day. We all used to live there so there was a lot of reminiscing and surprise at the new shops that have emerged. The day was much sunnier and bright which made it a lot more enjoyable. I bought pastry steak slices from an award winning butchers for our dinner and we got back in time to collect Aiden from school. The food was really gorgeous when we sat down to devour the lot - too much but everyone loved it. I then popped back to Lisa's to see the children again before they went to bed. I was staying at Louise's again and would therefore not be seeing Caleb the following morning as he would be at school. After another good nights sleep I took Aiden and Neev to school in the car as the weather had returned to cold, wet and windy and then left Louise to go to work after saying our goodbyes. After popping round to see Lisa and Teyha again I set off on the journey home.

The pictures above are of Louise with her children Aiden and Neev, then one of Lisa on her own and another of Caleb. I couldn't manage to get a picture of Lisa with the children as they didn't seem to be together or in a suitable mood when I was ready with the camera. There will be time ahead for those I hope.

The weather was atrocious by now - driving rain and strong winds - just what you need for a drive down the M1 and M25. The spray on the motorways prevented fast driving and the water was standing on the roads making the journey even worse. I think this must have put off a lot of travellers because at least the traffic kept moving. I was very relieved to arrive home in one piece.

I'm really pleased to have spent the few days with my family and although we will not be in the country with them in future years we will come back for holidays and be able to spend longer periods of time with them than before hopefully as we will not have work to interfere with our plans. We also hope that they will come out to visit us in Cyprus so that we can share time with them there too.

Another episode over - next weekend we are going to visit Steve's dad, sister and niece in Southampton. More photos to come of them. Today is April 1st - the month of our departure - it feels more real somehow entering into this month and we are growing more excited all the time. Steve is doubly excited as he is anticipating his leaving work with glee.