200706

FRIDAY 1 JUNE 2007 – Usual routine of 3 meals with swims in between.

YSS 5

SATURDAY 2 JUNE – There are a few more people on site for the weekend but unfortunately no other children so we end up back at the pool overseeing the kid’s swims. Donna & Luke call round for a chat late afternoon. Our planned evening at the bar is cancelled as the kids want to watch lots of programmes on TV and there are few people in the bar.

YSS 6

SUNDAY 3 JUNE – Andy organises a boules competition but both Steve & I with our respective partners are knocked out in the first round pleasing the kids as it means they can have a swim! In the afternoon they enjoy themselves “cleaning” Grandma Enid’s car with no worry about getting their clothes wet. I have the pleasure in finishing off after they get bored. There’s time for the 4^th swim of the day before Andy, Chris, John & Maureen come round for a drink and for us to look at their Morocco photos. The kids are pretty tired and settle down around 8pm, think the swim tally of 15 for the week has finally taken its toll!

YSS 7

£87 for the caravan for the week

MONDAY 4 JUNE – I get up at 7am and finish packing a few bits away before gently disturbing everyone else. By 8.30am we are packed and ready to roll and have an easy journey to Wakefield with the kids sleeping in the car most of the way. Auntie Pamela and Mum have enjoyed their cruise but weren’t so keen on the sleeping arrangements for the first couple of nights as they had been allocated a double instead of a twin cabin and had to share a bed! The car is well and truly loaded up with the kids and I squashed in the bag with Mum’s baggage on top and surrounding us. Luckily it’s only a sort drive to Bingley where we call in on Mom & Dad. After a very brief visit we rendezvous with Claire who is home on her lunch hour. Steve & I visit our solicitor to sign the sales forms for Parkwood Street to enable the deal to proceed once we are away. Once Daz has returned from work we set off for Manchester to visit David and family. He has lots of tales to tell about his experience at the Liverpool match in Athens and has added more memorabilia to his Liverpool shrine. Our final leg of the journey gets us back to Drayton around 6pm and I soon have a joint of pork roasting in the oven. It’s then just a question of what to deal with first, phone messages, mail or unpacking.

MARKET DRAYTON

TUESDAY 5 JUNE – I join Mum for a drive out to Newport in the morning then Steve & I spend the afternoon at Netty’s using the Internet. Bobby follows us back to Mums for a second evening meal and seems to have hollow legs, as there is no filling him. Only 10 more sleeps until we go.

MARKET DRAYTON 2

WEDNESDAY 6 JUNE – Spend a bit of time wandering round the market with Mum. It’s a lovely sunny day and Steve is sat out sunbathing when we get back. England are playing Estonia at football tonight so we go to Netty’s where Steve watches it with Bobby and I order an inverter and new computer battery on E-bay.

MARKET DRAYTON 3

THURSDAY 7 JUNE – George and Nicole, from Adelaide, are over on holiday and they come round in the morning and stay for 3-hours whilst we catch up on each other’s news.

MARKET DRAYTON 4

FRIDAY 8 JUNE – This morning Mum ‘s friends Anne & Tony call round, we know Anne so stay to join in the conversation. Netty & Nick call round in the afternoon, Netty with the good news that her boyfriend Ian is moving in with them in August. Late afternoon we drive to Pete & Carol’s in Newport to be joined by Paul, Elaine and Matthew. It’s another nice afternoon so we sit in the garden drinking wine and chatting. They are all off on holiday tomorrow, Scotts to France and Evo’s to Italy, so everyone is in high spirits. Next stop Kevin & Sandra’s where Netty & Mark join us and we sit in the garden to eat our Indian take-away. With 3 of the 4 Swatman children together we end up reminiscing. Netty begins to tell the tale of when Lisa went missing on a beach in Wales. She is nearing the end of the tale when Sandra chips in “did they find her?” Bearing in mind that Lisa is alive and well and living in Yorkshire we all crack up laughing uncontrollably and end up with tears streaming down our faces. We all know exactly what she meant but it doesn’t help stop us laughing over the question and it’s quite sometime before we manage to compose ourselves.

LEEGOMERY

SATURDAY 9 JUNE – When we get back to Drayton Mum is already out. Our friends Claire & Malcolm arrive from Cheltenham having driven up in their motorhome. We’ve not seen them for sometime and are soon sat out in the sun catching up on news. Receive a phone call from Netty with the shocking news that Bobby was in a car crash in the early hours of this morning. He’s OK but he was trapped for 40 minutes and the fire brigade had to cut the roof off to get him out of the wreckage as the steering wheel was pinning him down. Amazingly he was discharged from hospital with just cuts and bruises. Dad David took him home as Netty & Ian were at a hotel in Shrewsbury following a wedding reception. Netty is now on her way to pick him up from David’s. I drive round to Netty’s and arrive just as she and Ian get back with Bobby. He’s still got glass and dried blood on him but is able to tentatively hobble upstairs and into the shower. On the way back Netty and Ian went to look at the car, a total write off, and the pictures show that it ended up in an almost “v” shape. They also returned to the crash site and saw that he narrowly missed hitting a tree when he went off the road having lost the car on a bend at speed. They found his mobile phone in the bushes. Needless to say this has left them very shaken up and unable to believe how relatively unscathed Bobby is. I stay with them for a while before returning to Mum’s to tell her the news but at least I can tell her that I have seen Bobby and he is OK. Sitting out again at the back I notice that part of Mum’s guttering has a gap so Steve & Malcolm end up getting the ladders out and sliding it on along to fix it up. It’s unbelievable what a bad job a rogue labourer did on it, reckon Steve & Malcolm could set up in business and do a better job! After lunch, in Claire & Malcolm’s van on Drayton baths car park, we take the car for a drive to Hack Green “secret” bunker. £6.50 gets us into the underground nuclear bunker where the rooms have been laid out, as they would have been during operational status. It’s very interesting and takes us a good couple of hours to get around. Stop at Audlem on the way back and with a drink from the pub we stroll along the canal in the hot afternoon sunshine. Mum had her main meal at dinnertime so I cook up a pasta dinner for the rest of us before we retire to the conservatory.

MARKET DRAYTON

SUNDAY 10 JUNE – Netty & Ian need to go out early this morning so I have volunteered to go round to keep and eye on Bobby. Arrive just before 8am to find Bobby fast asleep on the lounge floor. His accident is reported on the front page of the Shropshire Star so no doubt I will be fielding a few phone calls and visitors this morning. Steve, Claire & Malcolm walk round to join me late morning. Bobby remains asleep until lunchtime when I disturb him to see if he wants anything to eat or drink, painkillers and water suffice before he makes his way up to bed. David arrives to drop Nick off and goes up to chat with Bobby. He’s very subdued and obviously in pain. Netty & Ian arrive back along with Ian’s son Dan. Steve picks Mum up to join us for a BBQ, eaten in the garden in the hot sun. A couple of Bobby’s mates turn up and he cheers up a lot and begins moving around a bit more. He’s even got his appetite back as he manages to demolish almost all the jelly and fruit that Mum made him along with a whole can full of squirty cream! Mum walks home after we have eaten and we linger as Leslie & Max call round to join us. End up back at Mum’s chatting in the conservatory until late.

MARKET DRAYTON 2

MONDAY 11 JUNE – We’ve been invited to join Claire & Malcolm in the motorhome for breakfast and it’s like old times when we used to park out van there. After her pupil has left Mum joins us for morning coffee before Claire & Malcolm head off. I begin to sort out what we need to take to America as opposed to what we would like to take as our baggage allowance of 20kg includes hand luggage. I loosely pack a couple of bags and find we are already near that weight!

MARKET DRAYTON 3

TUESDAY 12 JUNE – Claire and Daz are planning a family trip to London and have enlisted “Swatours” to find a cheap hotel so an Internet session at the library is in order. I quickly drop on a deal with Holiday Inn and Claire is delighted. Mum catches up with me and we wander to Lidl where they have lots of luggage on special this week. I can’t resist a large rucksack with a small daypack attached as it is 3 ways with transformation into a carry bag or trolley and at £30 seems like a bargain. Mum sees this as an ideal opportunity to buy lots more groceries without having to carry them home! The new inverter arrives and is faulty. We must have a 240v one to take to America so I traipse around Drayton and strike it lucky in Argos where they have one at £39.99 reduced to £29.99. Now the company can collect and refund the other one and I can cross another thing off my list of to do. Steve and I are both full of colds and feeling bogged under with chasing things up and very much ready for off.

MARKET DRAYTON 4

WEDNESDAY 13 JUNE – After my ruptured Achilles tendon operation I was told there was no need for physio but 9 months down the line I feel the movement is still restricted and my ankle aches. On Paul & Elaine’s recommendation I have book an appointment with the sports physio at Lilleshall Sports Centre. By 8am I am chatting to Nikki who then examines my ankle. She says the operation looks to have been a good one but the site is still inflamed and the area tethered making it stiff. She recommends ice for the inflammation, deep tissue massage and special stretching exercises to make my ankle more flexible. To get me off to a good start she does a massage and it is very intense and almost painful. I had been massaging it myself but much too gently. She does warn me to expect it to be quite uncomfortable tomorrow! I call back at Mum’s to pick her up for our day out. There’s a regular bus service to Shrewsbury and it’s free for Mum with her pass, £4.40 return for me. It takes an hour and drops us at the bus station where the escalator takes us up into Darwin shopping centre. After a quick orientation walk we stop for a drink then head to the hearing centre. Mum’s having problems with her aids and is pleased to find out that things can be improved, the man who fitted them at home didn’t tell her how to clean them are they are clogged up. At the “Hole in the Wall” we have the Wednesday special rump steak dinner before splitting up. There’s nothing I need from the shops so I wander the streets admiring the fantastic old wonky buildings until rain forces me into the shopping centre. The 3.15 bus gets us back in time for Mum’s pupils and with luck the whole trip will have inspired Mum to go off on the bus again on her own. Steve is still in bed; he’s not feeling well at all. I do a re pack to make use of the new bag I bought yesterday. It all works out really well until my test drag when I find that one of the wheels has gone wonky. Luckily they still have some in stock at Lidl and I can just swap it over and pack for the 3^rd time.

MARKET DRAYTON 5

THURSDAY 14 JUNE – Wake to torrential rain and to find that the guttering that Steve & Malcolm fixed has come adrift. I’m not confident our shower proof bags will stand up to this kind of downpour so re pack them with the contents within black plastic bin bags. Pop round to Netty’s to use the Internet to reconfirm our flights and accommodation with our host for tomorrow night. Back at Mum’s I make a start on cleaning up the area where we have been staying. She has a large duck shaped ceramic soap dish and I am cleaning it when it slithers out of my hand, dives into the bathroom sink and pecks a huge crack in it – a real ducking mess. Mum’s out up town so I contact the insurance company and luckily they have a system where someone comes out to look at the damage and make all the arrangements for the replacement. There’s £50 excess to pay for which I shall leave a cheque for Mum. Now I realise that the cheque book is in the bag that I have already packed 4 times but I’d rather delve in there than walk up to the bank! I am ultra careful with the rest of my cleaning up. The house sale is going ahead and should be complete within the next couple of weeks and all other lose ends are tied up where possible. So now we can concentrate on our trip.

MARKET DRAYTON 6

FRIDAY 15 JUNE – I have a surprisingly good nights sleep and wake to find that the rain is dying out. I scurry round gathering the bags together and doing a final clear up before Netty arrives to take us to Crewe station. We are catching the 0956hrs Virgin train to Glasgow Central, £12 single, running 10 minutes late due to flooding on the line. Booking on the Internet we chose to sit in the quiet zone with window seats so must find carriage “F”. With limited time at the station we elect to hop on board and then find where we should be. Easier said than done as the carriages are poorly signed and doors between them have a hand operated opening button but with bags in every hand they are difficult to use. We finally locate our spot with seats opposite each other and table with power point for me to use the computer. The train is fast and quiet the journey passes uneventfully entering SCOTLAND and arriving at Glasgow station just a few minutes late. It’s stopped raining so rather than paying £20 for a taxi we walk about 200 metres down Waterloo Street to catch the City Link airport bus for £3.50 each. It runs every 10-minute and takes about 10 minutes to get us to the airport. We are flying with Globespan and booked our one-way ticket on the Internet, www.flyglobespan.com for £180 each including tax. Prior to check in we have our passports and visas logged on the computer and are asked the full address of our first nights stay in America. There’s only one person in front of us so we are soon checked in with no problems about our baggage weight. Find some seats to bide our time and consume the last of our drinks and a bit more food. It’s a comparatively quiet airport with plenty of shops so it’s rather pleasant. Proceeding to security we are told we cannot take the empty water bottle through with us but don’t get asked to remove the liquid toiletries stored in the obligatory zip lock plastic bag! In the departure lounge we catch a snip of news on TV about the flooding in Britain today. We have been lucky to get away as the railway line between Birmingham and Wolverhampton is now closed and looks like a river (ours was probably the last train to pass through). In Bingley they show a car washed away down the river whilst crossing a bridge and more rain is forecast. There are just a handful of shops in this area but I pop into Boots the Chemist as they have a sign saying all food and drink bought there can be taken on board. For £2.99 you get a meal deal of a sandwich, wrap or salad, a choice of drink plus a snack. I make my selection and send Steve to pick his deal. At the boarding gate I realise there are going to be delays, there is no plane to be seen even 15 minutes before departure time. I ask one of the staff who says it has just landed and they will do a quick turn around and we will only be ½ hour late. Needless to say our 1600hrs departure ends up being almost 1730hrs! There are only 80 passengers on board this new route and the plane is a 737 with 3 seats each side. The lad sharing our row opts to move elsewhere giving us the 3 seats between us. Globespan is a budget airline and all extras must be paid for, and preferably booked in advance, such as £12 for a meal and £8 to watch films on a mini computer. There’s a menu of food and drinks for sale on board including sandwiches, soups and hot drinks. I buy a cappuccino to go with my “duck wrap”. After they have distributed a few meals to those who have paid they come back through the cabin with complimentary economy meals – sausage, mash and veg. The steward explains that on the flights to and from America they are not allowed to carry dairy produce so can’t sell sandwiches and instead of this they give out the free mini meal plus a cup of coffee. It’s a very short flight of around 6-hours and we make up a bit of time and land just 1-hour late at Logan Airport, Boston MASSACHUSETTS in the USA. 1900hrs local time, 5 hours behind England. Immigration is reasonably quick and processing seems to be going well. We have our finger prints and photograph taken and our 10 year 6 month multi entry visa is fine but at the last minute the officer calls another man over and we are asked to follow him. We are taken for a secondary immigration check and led to a strange room with rows of seats facing a raised platform where 4 immigration officers preside over you. No one else is waiting so we are soon called. Suspect it’s the fact that we have no return ticket and are vague about our departure point and date. We know we have nothing to hide but still feel under a bit of pressure as they can refuse you entry without reason. Reckon we must be Ok though as they allow Steve to make a dash to the toilet - unaccompanied. Basically they want to know of our plans, see our bank statements to show funding and then detain us for about ½ hour telling us all the things we should see and giving us a history lesson about the Alcan highway to Alaska! One good bit of news is that we may not have to pay to extend our visa to stay for 1 year as the border controls have it within their power to renew them. By the time we get to the baggage carousel it has been completely cleared and we find our 3 bags forlornly stood in a corner. One bonus is that the queues to get through customs are now short. Again we are stopped and hit with a short burst of questions at random, mainly about what type of motorhome we are buying, how we bought it and why we don’t work. Satisfied with our answers we are free to enter America. Make a swift withdrawal at an ATM (almost $2 = £1) before heading to the taxi rank. We’ve arranged a host through www.travelhoo.com and need to get to the suburb of Jamaica Plain. Tina has given us directions for the driver, good job too as he isn’t sure of exactly where we want to go. Wayne is very chatty during our brief trip. Journeys less than 20 miles are done by the meter and we knock up a £29 fare and add on $3 tip. Parkton Road is full of magnificent old 4 storey apartment buildings made of clapperboard and each with a traditional balcony. Tina takes us inside and shows us to the 2-storey apartment at the top that she shares with 1 friend and with 2 more soon joining them. It’s fantastic inside with old style ornate radiators within huge rooms with sash windows. She’s made up a sofa bed in the lounge for us but first we want to chat to her whilst waiting for a take away pizza to arrive. We’re thoroughly enjoying talking to Tina but are exhausted so she packs us off to bed around 11pm (4am our time).

JAMAICA PLAIN

200705

TUESDAY 1 MAY 2007 – Rod has told us about a huge blue and yellow parrot that flies around the area. Now we know that England is suffering from global warming but parrots flying around is taking things a bit far.  Actually it must be a pet as it talks and even swears on Rods video clip.  The bird appears on a tree in next doors garden to be chased off by the neighbour.  The moment he turns his back the parrot returns to peck at his tree and so the game continues.  Daz has offered to pick us up at 9am.  We are borrowing Jimmy’s trailer again so that we can pick up the new kitchen worktops and a few other heavy things.  Unfortunately Daz gets lost, hasn’t got the address with him and has no phone reception so has to back track towards Keighley in order to make contact with us meaning he doesn’t arrive until about 10.30am.  By the time we get back to Keighley Jimmy has gone out and we can’t get the trailer so it’s been a wasted few hours when we could have been cracking on with the decorating.  Get stuck in and manage to complete most of the bathroom, paint all the radiators and begin on the upper landing.  We can see we are not going to be finished by Saturday morning so Steve chats to neighbour Richard and engages his services at £25 day from tomorrow.  We’ve just time to go back to Bingley and have a bath before Mick picks us up.  Lisa is cooking us a meal and we are spending the evening with them.  They are having a new drive laid and have been busy building a wall around their front garden and it all looks very nice.  Sian has changed a lot since last year; she looks much older and is more confident.  After dinner we settle in the lounge so that the Liverpool fans, Steve and Lisa, can watch the crucial Champions League semi final against Chelsea where a win will put them through to the final in Athens.  David is at the match and text messages fly between him, Lisa and Netty.  It’s very tense as extra time is needed after Liverpool’s 1-0 score means a draw on aggregate.  After 30 minutes with no goals it is penalty shoot out time.  Lisa and Steve cringe but are ecstatic when Liverpool save 2 goals and score 4 for a win.  David is dead chuffed as he has already bought his ticket to Greece.  

BINGLEY

WEDNESDAY 2 MAY – The day gets off to a better start with Daz arriving at 9am to pick us up in Bingley, collect the trailer then go for the worktops.  Asserting my women’s prerogative I have had a last change of mind and decide to go for navy blue marble style worktops in an effort to make the kitchen look more modern.  I wander into town and arrive at the house to find neighbour Richard and Steve hard at it with obvious progress.  Claire again helps out by running me around during her lunch hour.  We need to buy 2 new plinths for under the kitchen cupboards but can’t find any in stock anywhere.  On the plus side we use Claire’s friends trade card again to buy 10 litre paint tubs for £13.49 + VAT (tot £15.85), we have now used 5.  We are deliberately leaving the lounge to last as the laminate floor is staying put but all the other rooms and the stairways are well under way by the end of the day.  With just 2 days before the kitchen and carpet fitters arrive it looks like the project has a chance of coming together. 

BINGLEY 2

THURSDAY 3 MAY –Normal morning routing with Steve going straight to the house and me to the shops.  Focus had no plinths in stock yesterday and won’t be getting any for 2 weeks but I want them to phone nearby branches to see if they have any in stock.  There’s a different person at the enquiry desk today and they want to know why I want one from a different depot when they have them in stock!  There is only 1 showing on computer but they find 2 in the warehouse and that’s exactly what I want.  (A definite déjà vu of the situations we encountered in Africa).  I’m reluctant to leave them for later collection as I may never see them again, they won’t fit in my trusty trolley bag so I lug them on my shoulders for the 5 mile hike up to the house, actually it’s less than a mile but fells like 5.  I arrive to find Steve and Richard working hard, Steve on the last of the emulsion and Richard glossing.  We’re nearly out of paint again so I do an about turn for a trolley run to get more.  Richard John calls round late afternoon and agrees that the floorboards we have exposed are not fit for carpet or lino to be laid.  We must have the kitchen floor screed and hardwood over the floorboards in the worst rooms.  Steve is staying in the house overnight as he is going to bowling but Claire comes to pick me up and take me home.  We pick up some ready meals from the Co-op and once she has left I give the flat a bit of a clean.

BINGLEY 3

FRIDAY 4 MAY – When I arrive Steve is already at work trying to figure out the floorboard problem amongst other things.  I begin ironing and hanging the curtains before having another scrub at the kitchen cupboards.  The carpets and lino are delivered but the bathroom lino is not what I ordered!  Richard John arrives late afternoon to scree the kitchen floor before giving us a lift home.

BINGLEY 4 

SATURDAY 5 MAY – Steve goes on ahead leaving me to change the beds and give the flat a last tidy up.  I pick up a worktop support pole but arrive to find it is too thick and would stop anyone fitting a washing machine into the gap.  Harry is busy doing the carpentry and Richard and Scott are laying carpets.  Harry must repair the floorboards on the stair and landing before any carpet can be laid but gets delayed when he realises he has locked his keys inside his van.  About an hour later he has broken in a got them but now realises he doesn’t have enough nails to complete the job.  I set out on the long walk to the timber merchants and arrive back 1 hour later to find he has finished for the day (it’s only just lunch time) leaving us in a mess.  Richard and Scott end up carpeting the stairs above and below the damaged steps and manage to get the 4 bedrooms done.  The dark beige carpet looks really good with the magnolia walls and fresh white paintwork.  Richard and Scott leave to lay a new carpet in Richards lounge.  I clean the kitchen cupboards (again as dust keeps coming in), rip off all the old fablon and varnish the wooden edges and knobs.  Spend the evening and night at Richards.  Sharon is away but their 10-year-old daughter Lauren is home so we raid the freezer for snack meals. 

KEIGHLEY, RIDDLESDEN

SUNDAY 6 MAY – After bacon butties for breakfast Richard runs us round to the house.  Steve potters round doing preparation work for tomorrow and I begin putting new fablon on the kitchen cupboard doors.  Mum and Dad arrive having returned from their Canary Island cruise yesterday.  We look at their photos and chat before Claire turns up with the children.  Head round the “The Bridge” pub where we are meeting Netty & Mark for lunch.  Claire has gone ahead to secure a table for 9 and told them we will be ordering separately but want all the main courses served at the same time.  There’s a very long delay before our meals arrive with starters and mains arrive simultaneously.  Claire is given chicken and chips instead of the chicken roast dinner and Steve’s salmon is obviously boil in the bag and looks and tastes like it still is in the bag.  The manageress offers to bring Claire some veg to go with her meal and changes Steve’s for scampi.  We order desserts but they take ages to come and one is wrong.  We’ve been at the restaurant for almost 3 hours by now and are getting very fed up.  Daz has even had time to play his round of golf and join us for a drink.  We are overcharged on the bill with Steve and Claire being charged for the expensive meals they didn’t have and another meal added to the bill that should have been free as part of the 2 for 1 deal.  They offer to re do it and in view of all the other problems to knock the desserts off.  It’s still wrong on the subsequent 2 attempts so Steve asks to see the Manageress who eventually agrees to wipe the whole thing out.  We are not alone as we have been entertained by many other people being served wrong meals and having huge delays however our tactic of quietly complaining to the management seems to have paid off whereas others have been very vocal and slammed wrong meals back on the counter.  Steve shows Netty & Mark our Parkwood Street house before joining the rest of us at Claire’s.  Everyone leaves in dribs and drabs and we return to Parkwood with Natasha who is going to camp over with us.  With her help I manage to finish the kitchen cupboards before settling down for the night.  A most uncomfortable one, with the airbeds collapsing and the foam mattress too thin to be of any use.

KEIGHLEY 2, PARKWOOD STREET

MONDAY 7 MAY – It’s a bank holiday so Natasha does not have to be up early for school.  I am only too happy to get up early out of my uncomfortable bed and do a bit of tidying up.  No matter how often I tidy and clean, the house messes itself up twice as fast but if I don’t do it we will never be able to find anything.  Natasha has a toy rubber alien in a container with a separate heart.  You are supposed to do something to keep the alien alive so I perform open-heart surgery with a Stanley knife to try and fit it in place but the body is not big enough.  End up fitting the heart into the alien’s head leaving it looking like ET much to Natasha’s amusement.  She has another one and encouraged by me throws it at the unpainted walls in the lounge to see how it lands.  Great fun.  Claire arrives to pick up Natasha and I join them for a grocery shop and to borrow some warmer clothes.  I arrive back and am pleasantly surprised to find both Richard and Harry at work but less than pleased to find that half the ceiling on the stairs has fallen in when Harry removed the wooden plank above it.  Not only that but the plaster has fallen onto the new stair carpet. There’s nothing I can do to help, the water and electric are off and it’s cold so I head off for a look around town but find all the shops closed.  End up at Claire’s where I have an enjoyable relaxing afternoon and a bath before returning to the building site.  Harry has “finished” but close inspection reveals that he has cut one worktop shorter than before meaning there is no longer enough space for a washing machine and the other one over the sink he has cut back too shallow and all the water runs over into the drawers and cupboards.  The cooker that was working before they moved it to do the worktops is no longer functioning, as the oven won’t heat up!

KEIGHLEY 3, PARKWOOD STREET

TUESDAY 8 MAY - It’s a miserable rainy day but we force ourselves to press on and get the lounge painted.  We have to laugh when the alien shapes come through the first coat of paint.  Claire arrives at lunchtime and takes me to buy some bonding plaster for the ceiling.  Neighbour Jimmy helps out by knocking lots more loose plaster down the stairs before doing a reasonable patch up job. 

KEIGHLEY 4, PARKWOOD STREET

WEDNESDAY 9 MAY – Both up early doing more painting but still the aliens come back to haunt us.  Steve sands down then paints the ceiling repair and then puts yet another coat on the lounge walls but there is no covering the aliens, spooky.  Chat to Stephen next door but one and he mentions that he is on wi-fi Internet and I am welcome to use it.  He gives me his network key and that’s the last Steve sees of me for the day as I shut myself away in the attic doing research.

KEIGHLEY 5, PARKWOOD STREET

THURSDAY 10 MAY – I manage to get lots of things sorted on the Internet including a possible motorhome to buy in Boston.  Steve takes a break to play snooker with Richard in the afternoon.  I go out to town with Mom & Dad.  Rod & Nancy pick us up for bowling in the evening and we both get to play in different teams.  It takes quite awhile for me to relax into the game and get used to having less mobility in my ankle but I stave off embarrassment by making the 100 in each game, just.

KEIGHLEY 6, PARKWOOD STREET

FRIDAY 11 MAY – We’ve had no interest from anyone wanting to rent the house and are now considering selling instead.  An agent calls round to do a valuation but we are not sure whether to believe his talk as he used to be a time-share salesman.  It’s Daniels turn for a sleepover in the evening and like Natasha he is no trouble at all.

KEIGHLEY 7, PARKWOOD STREET

SATURDAY 12 MAY – Claire calls round and stays for a while before dropping me down town.  The house is coming together nicely and there are really only a few small finishing touches but we have run out of steam and what should have been just a full days work has taken us all week.  Claire runs us up to Rod & Nancy’s where we enjoy a Chinese take away and stay overnight.

WILSDEN

SUNDAY 13 MAY – Claire picks us up to take us back to Keighley.  Natasha’s friend Rosie stayed over last night and she is also in the car.  Daniel stayed at another friends so Claire has to pick him up after dropping us off.  Claire’s taxi service definitely deserves a recommendation!  Steve is getting stuck in plastering the cellar so stays at home working whilst we go to Subway for lunch.   Harry arrives mid afternoon and does a pretty good job sorting out the worktop problem.  Meanwhile Claire has taken me to Bingley to buy a new cooker in the sale at £130.  By evening the kitchen looks pretty darn good.

KEIGHLEY 8, PARKWOOD STREET

MONDAY 14 MAY – I take a walk down town to get some low lights put in my hair and get back in time to meet Andrew the estate agent from Green Partnership.  He presents us with a very interesting fact sheet listing all properties sold along Parkwood Street in the last 10 years along with the price.  Some have been sold many times over, most are now in the hands of investors and all have gone up in price but seem to be levelling out. Using the internet I complete the negotiation for us to buy a 8 berth “c” class 29’ ex rental motorhome in Boston and secure it with a deposit.  It’s amazing just how much can be achieved solely by computer nowadays.  At 5pm we get Michelle from Whitegates who gives us an immediate valuation at well over £100,000 but suggests marketing at £99,950 for a quick sale – definitely overpriced in our opinion but a nice thought.  

KEIGHLEY 9, PARKWOOD STREET

TUESDAY 15 MAY – A visit to the doctors to stock up on my prescription medicine then it’s back to work on the Internet to get our travel insurance booked.  Claire calls in at lunchtime with the faxed bill of sale for our purchase of “Harry”.  We’re on top of the house renovations so spend the evening doing preliminary travel planning and reckon that as we are arriving in Boston we should begin by heading north up into Canada and across to Alaska to arrive there mid summer.  Realise our planning is limited as we don’t have a guidebook for Canada but that can easily be put right.  The man from the second hand shop calls in but all the things we are getting rid of are too old or no longer legal.  He admires the house and asks me if we would consider lesbian tenants with children.  He is a friend of one who is looking for a large house to rent so I give him our details. 

KEIGHLEY 10, PARKWOOD STREET

WEDNESDAY 16 MAY – I’m up early enough to get in a winning bid for a telephone on E-bay, £5 + p&p.  We need a tri-band one for the States and we are baffled by all the new fangled ones so I have settled on a really cheap basic model.  I also order a Rough Guide to Canada on the Internet through W.H. Smith.  It’s much cheaper than the in store price and they offer free delivery to your local store for collection!  Vicky and her partner Fay call round in the evening and love the house.  Vicky wants to move in with her 5 children who range from 2 to 10 years and is really keen.  We direct them to the agents then spend the rest of the evening discussing whether they would be the right kind of tenants or not.

KEIGHLEY 11, PARKWOOD STREET

THURSDAY 17 MAY – Mom and Dad call round in the morning and drive us around town to tie up lose ends.  There’s a new Chinese restaurant called “Alfe’s” opened on Church Green and we take them there for the £5 buffet lunch and it’s excellent.  Call in to Martin & Co agents and find that Vicky has called them but that as agents they won’t take on DSS tenants.  We are now leaning towards selling and ask agent Angela if she is interested in buying properties (she has many of her own that she lets) or knows anyone who is.  She gives us the name and phone number of Vaughan, also a friend of Richard Johns, who may be interested.  Just after we leave the office we get a phone call from Vicky pleading with us to let her rent the house.  She seems nice so we tell her we will think about it.  Call back to the agents to pick up some papers and Vaughan walks into the office.  We explain about selling the house and he will talk it over with his wife.  Get back home late afternoon.  We speak to Vicky and tell her we may take her on as a private tenant subject to referencing and insurance.  She arranges to call round to complete the referencing application.  Vaughan phones and asks to come round with his wife at 8.30pm.  It’s starting to get a bit complicated but at least we have been honest with them all about our situation.  We both set about giving the house a last thorough clean and tidy up.  Vaughan and Sue arrive first but Vicky arrives before they leave.  I take Vicky upstairs to complete the computer application and Steve gets a lift to bowling with Vaughan and Sue.  Vicky stays for ages and she has just left when Vaughan phones to say they want to come back and make an offer.  They arrive and offer less than the already lowered price we put to them but not that much lower.  I’m most surprised to hear a knock on the door and find it’s 11.30pm and Steve is back from bowling.  We have so much in common with Vaughan and Sue that they stay chatting until after midnight then leave us to mull over their offer.  So suddenly we have people wanting to buy and a tenant wanting to rent, which way to go?   Not much time to ponder, as we still haven’t packed our stuff up.  Needless to say it is very late when we get to bed, I won’t say to sleep, as we are both restless with a million and one thoughts going through our heads. 

KEIGHLEY 12, PARKWOOD STREET

FRIDAY 18 MAY – Unsurprisingly we are both up early.  Luckily we have both come to the same conclusion.  The house has never looked better and property prices may rise but we feel we could afford to drop out of the property market for a year or so without too much loss.  As a 4-bedroom property in not such a good area we are more likely to attract difficult tenants which is not such a problem if you are on hand to deal with it but a big problem given our lifestyle.  We both think we would be better selling up and maybe next time we are back buying something like a 1-bedroom flat aimed at a business person.  However we could do with upping the offer price and feel bad about raising Vicky’s rental hopes.  Contact Vaughan to try to agree on a mid price and he will get back to us.  Daz calls round at 9.15am to load up the things we borrowed from them and to take us to the bus station.  It’s after 9.30am so the bus from Keighley to Leeds is only £1.50.  During the journey Vaughan calls and says he can’t increase his offer but proposes that we take Vicky on as a tenant and keep the rent until the date the sale is completed thus giving us a bit more money.  The ball is back in our court as we are left to think over this option.  Arrive in Leeds around 11am and change to the National Express bus stationed at the opposite side of the building.  We’ve got a fun fare price of £4 from Leeds to Manchester and it’s a straightforward journey.  I get a call from the referencing agency to say there was a fault in the Internet application process, as the computer did not throw up the full questionnaire.  At the Manchester terminal we only have to walk a few yards to board the already waiting Birmingham bound bus.  This is one of the newer more comfortable ones with leather seats and all is well until we come to leave.  There’s a problem and we all have to get off.  It turns out that when the bus arrived the hydraulics lowered it onto the kerb but with all the passengers on board it had got stuck there and could not back out.  With everyone off the driver can inch backwards and we can set off.  Due to the delay we just miss a connection at Hanley and have to wait almost an hour for the bus to Market Drayton.  It has stopped raining by the time we arrive so we lug our bags through the town.  After 7 hours and 4 buses (total of £13.20 each) we arrive and Mum is delighted to see us.  Once we have settled in and caught up on the news I phone to sort out the sale but Vaughan has had to take his son to hospital so it will have to wait until tomorrow but at least I get an agreement in principal from Vicky.

MARKET DRAYTON 1

SATURDAY 19 MAY – Manage to speak to Vaughan and Sue and agree the sale details subject to getting Vicky through the referencing.  Walk up town with Mum and head to the library to use the internet for a new referencing but find we need some information that Vicky didn’t give us and we can’t raise her on the phone.  Talk about one step forward and two steps back!  Spend the afternoon taking photos out of old albums to store in envelopes as they are all going funny colours from the acid on the old plastic pages.  Vicky calls but needs to get the information from her Mum who is going to be guarantor so still no result. 

MARKET DRAYTON 2

SUNDAY 20 MAY – Mum goes to church in the morning whilst we crack on with paperwork. It’s a lovely day so I join Mum for a walk up to Tyrley locks and back along the canal.  Steve & I go round to Netty’s for a BBQ in the evening and I get a ride back to Mums in Bobby’s new car 

MARKET DRAYTON 3

MONDAY 21 MAY – Mum takes the car to visit her friend Anne in Loggerheads.  I walk to town and pick up more boxes to store our 10,000+ photos.  Agree to the sale of Parkwood Street and contact our solicitors to make arrangements.  Mum is having problems with leaking gutters and Steve thinks the problem is that they are blocked with moss from the roof.  Only last week there was a “House of Horrors” programme showing how an elderly man had contractors in to clear the moss on his roof at a cost of £800.  Instead of brushing it off they tried to do a quick job with a high pressure hose, flooded his attic and blocked and damaged his down pipes with the moss that got washed into them.  Steve reckons he can get up there and brush it off tomorrow and do a better job for a much better price!  In the evening we go out with John & Sue and their dogs.  They drive to Cheswardine where John’s daughter Sam, husband Mick and 5 year old Oliver join us for a walk through the forest.  The area amazes us, it is on our doorstep but we didn’t know about it. In the forest are the remains of an old glass factory where the windows for Litchfield cathedral were made, as Lord Litchfield owned the land.  There’s also a framework of tubes that can be played by one of the many sticks lying around.  We have lots to talk about as they are fellow motorhomers and have just returned from a 3-month tour of New Zealand.  After our long walk we stop off in the pub on the way home. 

MARKET DRAYTON 4

TUESDAY 22 MAY – Steve gets up on the roof to brush off all the moss that is blocking Mum’s gutters.  He does a brilliant job but runs out of steam when cleaning out the gutters so I return from town to find him soaking in a hot bath. 

MARKET DRAYTON 5

WEDNESDAY 23 MAY – Liverpool is playing in the Champions League final so we drive up to Madeley to Netty’s.  Her son Stuart, whom we haven’t seen for ages, is there and along with Mark we head to their friends Chris and Trina’s for a pre match BBQ.  There are a number of other Liverpool fans there and they are all very deflated when Liverpool lose.  David is at the match so he will also be very disappointed.  Return to Netty & Marks and stay up late playing buzz and songster.

MADELEY

THURSDAY 24 MAY – In Dawley we stop off at Mentors to discuss a new 5-year contract on our Newport bungalow, Saltershall Cottage.  Returning to Market Drayton we spot a Police car pulling on to Drayton car park and think it’s Rob Scott, Pete & Carol’s son.  It is and he says he will call in later to see us.   He arrives just after we have had lunch with Mum.  He looks much taller and very different in his Community Police uniform.  After chatting for quite some time we leave for Yorkshire.  Head to Auntie Pamela’s where Mum is staying overnight before going on the Adriatic cruise tomorrow.  We all dine at the Walnut Tree “two for one” restaurant and are joined by Karen, Chris and James and waited on by Sarah.  James has kindly given up his double bed to enable us to stay at Karen’s.  Spend lots of time chatting about common interest in properties, capital gains tax and motorhomes with Chris and Karen. 

WAKEFIELD

FRIDAY 25 MAY – Collect Auntie Pamela and Mum to take them to Doncaster Robin Hood airport for their flight to Corfu.  They look like twins with their brown cardigans, cream trousers and matching trolley bags and the trolley dollies are definitely raring to go.  Return across country to Karen’s and spend the afternoon on the Internet until Karen gets home from work.  Once Chris finished work Karen cooks us all a lovely meal and we stay up chatting.

WAKEFIELD 2

SATURDAY 26 MAY – Chris leaves early on his motorbike to go to a meeting at a racetrack.  Steve is happy to commandeer the remote control and chill out watching TV.  Karen & I had planned and early visit to the shops but this is delayed when her washing machine breaks down resulting in over an hours search on the Internet for a new one.  At the Ridings shopping centre I get a new SIM card for my triband mobile phone – my old one was too old to work in the modern 3g phones!  In the evening we drive up to The Heath on the outskirts of Wakefield.  It feels like a million miles from town with the old 12c pub “The Kings Arms” in the middle of the village green.  We are joined by James, his girlfriend Emma and her parents Steve & Jane, Sarah and her boyfriend Mike and Karen’s friends Brian & Jill.  We pretty much take over the conservatory for our meals.  Brian tells us of a ghost he once saw in the pub and shows us all the nooks and crannies.  Emma’s parents are recently retired and soak up lots of motorhome information for future use. 

WAKEFIELD 3

SUNDAY 27 MAY – We all get up late and appreciate a leisurely full cooked breakfast.  Steve & Chris drive over to Bradford to collect the new washing machine whilst I make use of the Internet to arrange some more things for America and Canada.  In the evening Karen serves a delicious roast beef dinner and we are joined by Mike and Sarah.  It’s been really nice to spend more time with Karen and family and we feel quite refreshed although extremely full from over eating.

WAKEFIELD 4

MONDAY 28 MAY – Traffic is light as it’s a bank holiday and the weather is foul.  We call at Mom & Dads for lunch before continuing to Claire’s.  We’ve just arrived when we get a real hailstorm.  Daniel is away on a Cub Scout camp and we pick him up at 4pm.  He’s had a great time in spite of the weather.  With Daniel, Natasha and the entire luggage piled into the car we set off for Hull.  Arrive early evening to be met by John at the gate.  He’s already been into the caravan and turned the heating on for us so it’s really cosy.  John & Maureen come for a chat later in the evening and time slips by.  It’s almost 11pm before the kids go to bed, good job they don’t have to go to school tomorrow.

HULL, YSS

TUESDAY 29 MAY – The weather is still poor so we drive back into Hull to visit “The Deep”.  It’s £3 to park but the parking ticket includes a £2 “squid” off voucher for in the museum  £27 admission for 2 adults and 2 children and as extras Natasha opts for a headphone set and Daniel an info pack.  Corridors lead your above then down and around the 10m deep pool with displays about the evolution of sea life and the different species to be seen in the pool.  From the shallow area at the top we see one of the staff going in to feed the fish but as we venture lower sharks and huge stingrays, best seen from a walk through tunnel, impress us.  We’ve not had enough of the fish so partake in a fish and chip lunch from “Bob Carvers” before checking out a couple of Hull’s many free museums.  Feeling weary we return to YSS where the kids suddenly find enough energy for a couple of hours in the swimming pool before tea, the water is lovely and warm so we are happy to join them. 

HULL 2, YSS

WEDNESDAY 30 MAY – It’s a very cold night and we can’t figure out how to turn the gas fire on so linger in bed under the covers.  At least it’s a fine day.  Chris calls round for a chat in the morning then we all head to the pool for a swim before lunch but the water is noticeably cooler so the kids can’t tempt us in.  After watching a DVD for long enough to let our dinner settle we return to the pool until teatime.

HULL 3, YSS

THURSDAY 31 MAY – Luckily the expected bad weather has not materialised and we have another nice day.  After breakfast and the obligatory session at the swimming pool where we discover that the heating switch has been tripped and the water even cooler but this can be remedied.  We drive to Asda for some shopping and for the kids to spend the rest of their holiday and pocket money.  At 2pm we gather at Andy & Chris’s for an afternoon BBQ and are joined by John & Maureen, Ian & Sarah.  Daniel and Natasha have a whale of a time playing with the cart that Andy uses for moving logs and also enjoy the BBQ.  In spite of all they have eaten we still have to feed them again when we get home.  Steve & Donna drive over from Beverley to join us for the evening.  We are just about to go to bed when we see that the movie “Wolf Creek” is on TV, it is about some back packers who go missing in Australia in an area that we have visited, don’t think we will be free camping in that area again.

HULL 4, YSS