Sunday, 28 December 2008

'Happy Holidays...'

Just another little cute Canadian 'tradition'...

On the satelite station there is a channel showing a continuously burning log fire & playing festive tunes!

Our Xmas Day hosts Ann & Chuck had their TV set to this channel during our meal - we all felt warm & cosy - Ian went cross-eyed trying to spot the seam in the film!

Wednesday, 24 December 2008

Happy Xmas from Tickle Trout Lodge!

Hello everyone & Happy Xmas & New Year!

(Isn't this the neatest photo - Bob's got an 'iced beard!)

Well... we have snow - lots of it. Bob n Erik are up to their 'ging-gang-goolies' in lovely snow.

Its so pretty, gently falling most of the day... However 2 days ago was a slightly different story - massive gales & a blizzard. We stood in the kitchen looking out towards the mountains at the back of the Lodge & watched a dominoes effect as one tree fell, crashing into another & bringing that down too - awesome! Then we had a power cut (again) for 6 hours... so 'Mr Bushcrafter' got out his petrol camp stove & did a brew up - it was the best tasting tea EVER! We had me Muvvers old oil lamps going (& they sell scented paraffin oil here - neat!) & played cards & dominoes & read books - this is how they must have spent their evenings in this old house years ago - it was... interesting - until it got a little too cool for comfort!








Our container came... & we had to go to Sydney to sign it in - all they were interested in was Ian's arrows - which he thinks he gave to Paul before coming out - so, as we'd sprayed everything with the foot n mouth disinfectant & paid our dues on the wood stove & mail box - they were happy to let us take everything with no further inspections... & now we are very cosy with our things around us. Bob was overjoyed to see his old plastic dog baskets & when I got his fur blankets out he was manic - shaking & licking the blanket & wagging his tail so hard he nearly fell over!

Erik's had another 'chewing episode' but this time he's advanced to M&S knickers... We've no further comment on this troubling habit!

We are all ready for Xmas & have several invites to friends & neighbours over the next week or so - they are so friendly here. There are of course a few things that are done differently here: no Xmas puds! or roast potatoes! Argh!! Balloons are not usually put up (what a sin!) & cards don't seem to be big here - which is a good thing I think - more enviro friendly. Most folks put up wreaths & lights outside.








We have blue lights on the front...& the tree is safely out of Erik's reach in the sun room (above).
We'll be getting out the cross country skis & snow shows for the next blog photo shoot!!
Anyway folks we wish you all the best for 2009 - keep emailing/phoning us - we love to hear the news from dear old Blighty & if you're thinking of popping over to see us - you'll be more than welcome - first come first served, & we have a few guys making noises that they'll be coming... just bring English chocolate (curly wurlys, cadburys caramel bars, maltesers), Ty-Phoo tea bags, Branston pickle, Sainsbury's chick pea dhal & Heinz baked beans - PLEEEEEEEEASE!!

Thursday, 27 November 2008

Erik's apple episodes...pharpppppppptttttttttt

Hello all... Been quite for a while I know - but we're 'beavering' away on the business plans for the Lodge (& Ian hates paperwork!).

We've been taking morning & afternoon strolls with the boyz down the meadow - over 'pooh crossroads', into mud meadow & back passed the zillions of wild apple trees. They look a bit odd right now as they have no leaves, yet still have a few apples hanging onto the branches.

Most are now on the floor - creating a food source for our friend 'Wile E Coyote' & his hareem... but Erik The Viking is thinking 'leave nothing for the enemy' & so delights in troughing several small apples as we go. Well this evening both of us heard the strangest of squeeking/creaking noises coming from the corner of the dining room where our lovely boy was sitting so pretty... then came a strange aroma... of apple pie spice! I kid you not - it was bizarre! We laffed our socks off & Ian admitted to smelling this aroma before & wondering where it had come from. Pharp! Now we really can blame the dog!
Erik has also had a few more 'sock-barfing' episodes the little monkey. (See earlier blog for details on sock episodes.)

Had about 6 inches of snow the other day - but it disappeared within a day & we had warm wind (no not from Erik!)



We still don' t have our container - it's apparently landing in Halifax today, so hopefully it may be with us within a week or so.
We're having snow tires (yes I know it should be tyres but we're learning/speaking Canadian now OK!) fitted tomorrow so we're all ready for the snow for the next 4/5 months.
Ian's truck is due next week - but that seems to be stuck in Halifax too.

We're looking for a smallish tractor (approx 32 horse power) to help us with clearing some of the land/snow clearing/pulling out logs/building the antiques centre & workshops.
All our Xmas parcels have been sent to the UK - but I really need to be more organised next year as we found out that it was rather expensive... so it'll be ebay buys or summat from amazon.co.uk or checks (yes another Canadianism!) from now on & I couldn't find any decent packs of cards - doesn't seem to be big over here.

We've a busy few weeks ahead: a cute Xmas parade in Baddeck on Saturday & the few shops that are open are tax free - yahoo!

I've been asked to pop to an all day conference just outside Baddeck on behalf of the small, local IT Centre - for a presentation/lunch/geo-caching (tecchy treasure hunting with GPS systems)/dinner/motivational speaker - neat hey?!

I've approached them to see if I can use the centre to provide short IT courses such as 'Computing for the terrified', 'EBay selling', 'EBay buying', 'Digital Photography' etc... they seemed very interested as there is a large 'senior' population that don't know anything about computers & the Canadian Government wants to ensure that all Canadians have the opportunity to learn / have access to computers - hence them setting up C@P sites - particularly in rural areas! So fingers crossed we can mutually benefit each other. So I'm busy doing the business plan & then need to move onto writing the courses!

TTFN.
the H-J's























Wednesday, 29 October 2008

We have photos...(at last!) & it's a small world.

At last - we are able to upload photos from 1 of the cameras. We had to buy a new laptop (as I knackered the old one!) & this laptop has a photo card slot in it! Yahoo...
My Boys - having fun... going 'down the meadow' (note the bonfire in the background!)




At the end of a hard day's fun!... Then ready for another one...

The septic getting installed, below the Lodge! Note the huge, new deck! Ace. The lower,long section of the Lodge is where we replaced most of the roof tiles.

View from the 'Skyline' walk on Thanksgiving Day & a moose we spotted in the brush that day...
& finally... my gorgeous antique piano from Toronto, made for the 1903 Toronto Exhibition, in Burr Walnut, with glass feet & ball & claw feet on the piano stool... fab! Sad I only have 2 sheets of music to play with so far - still waiting for the container to arrive...
One final final piece of news... a lady called at the Lodge today - she owns 'The Manse' an old renovated property, just down the road from us. We knew she was British & that her hubby was American & they live in Florida - holidaying in Middle River once or twice a year. When talking to her she mentioned that she came from 'near Chester' in the UK, well so do we... 'Well actually a town called Heswall', well so do I - now this gets even more weird - she used to live in 'Downham Road South' - I lived in Downham Road North. She went to Pensby Secondary School like me & Deb & she said she remembered Deb in school & we knew a number of the same teachers!!!!!!!!!!!Small World!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Neat hey??

Wednesday, 22 October 2008

Purple Gravy... & Roofing tiles... & @*&ty coyotes!

Most of you probably know that I'm not a great cook, but I am trying... well I did my O Level Home Economics & got a 'B', but that was quite a few years ago...However...! As we are now trying to be Eco friendly/living the 'Good Life' I am making meals for Ian & trying to make best use of all the food with little waste... Well, an American couple who were staying at their holiday home & left a few days ago, dropped off their left over, but still usable food for us... which included a purple cabbage... hmmmn now I've never cooked purple cabbage before - so (as my Internet was not working!)
I guessed it must be the same as the regular green cabbage & boiled it
up in the same way - I made Ian some gravy, using the water from the
purple cabbage... & ended up with purple gravy!!!!!!!!!!! (have you ever
seen the film Bridget Jone's diary where she makes blue soup!!!!!!!!!
- still he did eat it politely!)

We've also been very busy replacing the roof tiles on the back kitchen & back room - yes just the 2 of us - how romantic! Stripping off the tar tiles was the hardest & pulling out all the tacks. Ian did a brill job of laying ice sheets, waterproof membrane thingy & then the felt tiles- me I was the 'gofer' - hauling up the packs of tiles bit by bit... & I hate heights! 2.5 days to complete - what a team!
Oh - forgot to mention that we both passed our Canadian driving tests - yahoo. The examiner was a very small Frenchman (with attitude) - who forgot which centre he should have been in on Tues 14th & ended up in Port Hawksbury - an hours drive away! Not to be put off, as we'd psyched ourselves up for the test - we hung around the Baddeck centre until he turned up & could fit us in - however his main concern seemed to be that he needed to eat at lunchtime - never mind having cocked several people's day up!! Anyway I went first & thought 'hey that wasn't bad' - until the lecture at the end of the 10 minute test... which lasted 15 minutes - longer than the test. He said he was being generous passing me (I've only been driving for 26 years!) as I failed to do sufficient shoulder checks... he seemed to think that we should be shoulder checking both ways at ALL junctions - even single lane ones! Anyway I passed which was a relief. Then Frenchie went for his much touted lunch - so I took Ian on the course & told him where I 'went wrong'. So armed with all that info - he couldn't fail... His head was on a spring & he did shoulder checks galore... he too had a 10 minute test... & then had the SAME 15 minute lecture! The man is obsessed!! & obviously has his speech set up for every test, pass or fail... funny or what! Anyway we are up & running & have our lovely driving licences which are also ID cards -so we have landed!

'Pooh Crossroads' is very busy at the moment...
& the coyotes were like howling banshees last night!
I'm kinda getting used to it now...
We've also found HUGE Moose hoof prints + smaller hoof prints in the meadow - we assume this is a mummy & baby.
We will be clearing out some undergrowth to make a footprint pad (Ian called it summat bushcrafty, but I can't remember what it was!) so that any animals that walk over it should make clear imprints & we can see what is around - clever hey...
Ian's 'gone fishin' with Chuck - so he's in his element - & I'll make him a nice brown stew for his tea! We are preparing for that great British event 'Bonfire night' & I've stacked a huge bonny with old trees we've cut, that were too close to the house. Not many locals know the Guy Fawkes story - but I don't think we'll be burning any effigies - its a bit gruesome! We do have on order 2 large firework 'cakes' & we'll have hot dogs, soup, jacket spuds & beer - & as it'll be dark it doesn't really matter what colour they come in! Oh - I'm hoping to make Cream of Tomato Soup - anyone got any good recipies??

Still waiting for our container... I only have 2 pieces of sheet music for my beautiful piano so can't wait for more to turn up (neither can Bob Erik & Ian!!)

Bob has a sore ear - too much swimming & getting water in his lugholes (or is it my piano playing?!!). Anyway he's got drops so he's OK...

Congrats to Abi & Nic on their news - expecting again! (Have a dog its more fun & cheaper!!) & Congrats to Ange & Andy on their engagement! happy birthdays to Aunty May (25th), The Lovley Lynne (27th) & Kimbo (28th)
Love to all - post a comment if you feel like it! Don't be scared...
The H-Js
























Friday, 10 October 2008

Do bears sh1t in the woods...?


Yes they do - although we've not seen any evidence yet - just rustlings in the bushes! (Scared the shit out of me but was probably only a deer!) Oh - & the H-J's no longer use the woods either... phew...

But we have found lots of coyote poo & there seems to be a competition between 'Wile E Coyote' & Bob Jones as to who can poo the biggest & best at the 'Pooh Crossroads' on Tickle Trout Lodge meadows!!
Spotted a lovely woodpecker yesterday & a few bald eagles crossing the meadows too. The leaves are turning gorgeous colours: red, pink, orange, gold, lime etc.
It's Canadian Thanksgiving here this weekend & we've been invited out with Chuck & Ann, Sharon & David for Thanksgiving lunch at the Lakes Restaurant - sounds lovely & then everone takes the Monday off (well Ian isn't as he's helping Chuck & another neighbour Ian build Chucks deck - then its national voting day + the H-J's will be doing their Road Driving Test @9.30 & 10.30am in Baddeck - which has 1 crossroad, no traffic lights, a few pedestrian crosswalks & the odd left turn! So wish us luck - we'll need it!
I've been taking photos - but alas don't have my photo card reader with us - its in the container somewhere - which won't be delivered for a few more weeks.
Hit a problem with the great idea of shipping out our new (gorgoeus) 'Godin' enamelled wood burning stove... looks like the Canadians have regulations shooting out of their ......!
'It must be to Canadian code (ULC), must be fitted by a certain trained engineed (WETT), must be at the end of the apex of the house DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or you won't get insurance cos your house may burn down.'
So not to be defeated we're waiting for the French manufacturers to get back to us to advise what safety code it's been made to & then see if the Canadian authorities will accept this - the French company export to Canada & US so I think we may be OK... or have no insurance - either way - my Godin is going in - even if Ian needs to train to do the WETT test (should have put that another way!!)

I'm checking out flights in Jan back to old Blighty so look out UK I'll be in the vicinity from 27th Jan (mothers 80th birthday) until 2nd Jan - then off to Hampton Court Palace for a visit with Deb & hopefully Vic - should be a laff...
Yesterday I mixed 4 bags of concrete for the platform for my lovely Gargoyles, when they arrive - quite pleased with my efforts as it was all by hand, on my own & the 1st time I'd done it...& that reminds me - I've decided to make my own bread cos we're not too keen on the bread here... (now bear in mind that I burn boiled eggs & boiled rice!!) So I'm building myself up to it - have ordered the bread tins of good old ebay, bought some organic flour, found Delia's 'SIMPLE' white or wholemeal bread recipie - need to buy some yeast, neighbour Sharon has donated a huge stoneware bowl to the cause... now I just need to be in the mood... not sure when that'll be but I'll post the results on the blog in the near future! We will get our dental insurance up to date before sampling begins.
BOB n Erik the Viking (who should haved been called Popeye as he's massive!) say hello folks & Ian's busy building the magnificent dog pen. Photos to follow...
Love to all
the H-J's

Monday, 29 September 2008

We're Here!!

LHJ: Well I can't remember what 'D-Day' we're on now - but as you can see - we made it! & we have Internet (high-speed satellite thingy) & my laptop survived the flight (although it did need some tweaking to acclimatize).

So to get you up to speed here are a few newsworthy points from our journal:
8th: The house removers came & spent a day packing all our crap (fortunately it was a dry day) - including my beloved gargoyles - after me picking the pesky lichen off them by hand! But then they didn't fit on the van as the removers had someone elses stuff in there too (which I thought was a cheek!) - they had to come back for them the next day.
Ian called the (stupid) phone company to give notice to close the account on Weds am - but in their wisdom 'Johnny Foreigner' closed the account almost immediately - hence no one could get through to say g'bye on Tuesday! DOH!
10th: Said a tearful farewell to the family Tues/Weds morning - Vic,Teg n Holly were brill - turning up at 5am for the final clean. Ta guys!
We had a good drive down to Heathrow - the boyz were very well behaved & we arrived in time at the kennels, where Donna (BUPA) met us to see Erik - how cool was that! We inspected the boxes the boyz were going to be loaded up in & they seemed fine. Later that evening we met up with Donna &hubby Matt for a final, final, final last supper - we went to a lovely family restaurant in Staines... where we bumped into Paul Bridge (also BUPA - & a big Knob of the North Project Manager for my previous project - small world!!)
11th: The flight was probably the best one we've ever had to Canada: on time. No delays on the runway, very little turbulence & a really smooth landing. The only thing was... we could hear my beloved Bob barking in the hold below us! Arggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggh! Couldn't believe it! You had to concentrate to realise it was a dog bark, but for about 20 mins on take off, a few mins half way through during the tiny turbulence & then on landing we could hear him basically barking he'd had enough & wanted to get out to play. Ian wen to see the flight attendants & they said it was unusual to hear him - but the captain was aware &assured us they'd be fine. At one point they came to tell us one of the 1st class passengers could also hear him (probably put him off his canapes!! - tough shit!)
We sailed through immigration - but then had to get the dogs off the cargo area - that took another 2 hours as it was about half a mile away from the terminal & we were back & to getting documents & waiting for inspections etc - anyway - we got them & they were SOOOOOOOOO happy to see us, bouncing all over the place & remarkably unscathed - JOY!
We (well Ian) drove for 4 hrs & we arrived at the Lodge at about 10.30pm 'Eastern Standard Time' (I just love saying that - sounds so dramatic - y'hear it in all the disaster movies...).
12th: We caught our lovely neighbour - Sharon pinning a 'Home to Stay' poster on our garbage can at 8am the next morning!
We've had welcome cards from the UK, well wishers dropping by & phoning us - we are overwhelmed by everyone's kindness - thank you all.
Needless to say Bob was 'out of sorts' for about 2 weeks - getting his bearings - getting over jet lag etc & he hated the wooden floors here - which I'd anticipated & put down runners in the main hallways - but not the stairs - & he wouldn't touch them - but just sulked in the lounge when we went to bed... so we dashed off to Sydney (an hours drive each way) to get stair runner carpet & now he's fine - running up n down them as if he'd never had a problem!
Erik the Viking was suffering a little from allergic reaction to summat (fleas probably) so we had an interesting (& expensive!!) trip to the Vet Clinic - met a Scottish Vet! We've had pills for scratchings, potions for fleas/ticks/limes disease/heartworms??!! & injections for Rabies - cost $335 - ouch!! Still they're worth it & now they're insured ;~)
We've cut (well trod) some trails on our land for the boyz to have decent walks & can get to the edge of a stream where Bob n Erik (at 4 months old) go swimming & chase hoops (aka fling-a-rings). Its big fun. The coyotes seem to enjoy the tracks too - pooing on them to let us know they are around - you can hear them in the night & they sound like a pack of wolves... me n Erik are a bit scared of them, but Bob ignores their calls & pee's on their pee - that's telling them!

The main prob we have right now is... our sewage was backing up into the (unfinished ie not lived in) basement. Not much but enough to warrant investigation & another trip to Sydney to get a drain snake(!) to try to rod the drains... what a shit job (for Ian!!). & it didn't work - it seemed like there was a 90 degree angle in the pipes that the 'snake' couldn't get past. SO another trip to Sydney to get an industrial 'drain snake'... that too didn't work - neighbours we're calling by all offering sympathy, help & advice (so different to our Welsh neighbours!!!) We could use any neighbours shower/loo whenever we wanted - how kind is that!
We eventually had a nice young man on a JCB digger to try to find the septic tank - maybe this needed vacuuming out... he dug & dug & dug & dug & digged some more... no joy only water in 1 area - lots of it & some broken old clay pipes - he dug all the way to the drainage ditch a few hundred yards form the house - no sign of a tank... so either the old house never had one (which is a possibility as most old houses here just drained into open ditches - yeuk!) or what was there had disintegrated! Either way - we have no septic tank... so one is on order & due in a few days... Ian has ingeniously re-engineered all the sewage pipes to make them plastic, he's dug a straight ditch & amended the 90 degree angle pipe so that we now have straight lines which will lead to a nice new tank - & should the need arise in the future they can be rodded with little hassle! What a great guy...
Well enough of that shit - we made a few other trips looking for a vehicle. We are now the proud owners of a Toyota Matrix 2009 model, all wheel drive - which is great in snow. The only thing is its a charcoal grey colour - but as it was on the forecourt & ready to go - it was a little cheaper than ordering in a special colour - so we went for it. Ian also has a Toyota Tacoma truck on order for helping him do his logging/bushcraft thing later on.
We had a little drama trying to get insurance for us 'Limeys' as we (obviously) have no Canadian driving history... our 1st insurance quote came to $3500 a year - I nearly passed out!
Then the 'sweet talking sewage man' took over (as my stress levels were getting dangerously high!) & he called another firm & got a much more sensible quote $950... problem over.
Then today we both took our theory driving tests... & passed - YAHOO! Next step is a road test in 2 weeks, in Baddeck - which is great as there are only 2 roads here, 1 main cross road & a few side streets! Cool...

One final piece of news for now... my piano turned up! All 1000lbs of it. Late Friday night, 2 massive trucks pulled up with a crew of 4 to offload this beast of an instrument. They had to remove the backdoor to get it in - but it is gorgeous. Made for the 1903 Canadian Exhibition in Toronto - its made from Burr Walnut & is heavily carved, with glass padded feet. On the stool there are ball & claw feet on glass balls. Its magnificent... only thing is - I can't play without sheet music - all of mine is in our container not due here for another month - so I've found some free sheets online & will have to get to a PC with a printer to print them off so I can have a twang on my new toy - excellent - summat I've wanted to do for a longtime - re-learn the piano. Apparently the winters are long - so I should be to concert standard by the Spring!!

Well I'll see if I can get some photos to upload sometime.
Signing off for now... TTFN

Sunday, 7 September 2008

D Day - 6, 5 & 4!

LHJ:
yes soooooooo busy that I've not much time to blog...
D Day -6: Had me final hair do in Llangollen - with wet feet all day as Llan is a few inches under water! Then dashed onto do lashes, brow & have a hot stone massage - gorgous! Then trotted off to Liverpool for a final farwell to my Cermaic Restoration Gurus Lynne & Julie - fabulous elegant house Lynne & a superb veggie lunch - only trouble was the journey home in rush hour - DOH!
D Day -5: This was a MAD day - dashed off to Oswestry to collect my necklace that was in for repair, then a picture we had framed, then popped in on a neighbour to take photos of a plate I'd restored, for my website to be... all this whilst Ian was pumping out masses of water that had collected at the back of the house - & when the new house buyers were due any minute! Intro'd them to my nice neighbour - & then my mother - who was having a truly bonkers day and embarassed us completely so we left rather pronto! Then threw more bits of crap in a box, I sprayed all our shoes with the Foot & Mouth disinfectanct that had thankfully materialised & Teg & Ian scrubbed my stone gargoyles to remove any traces of soil, moss & lichen - then scuttled out to The Mill in Llangollen (without wet feet) for a final meal with sis Vic, Phil, Teg & Gazza. Yet another nice meal - but my waistline is now like humpty dumpty's...
D Day - 4: We just haven't stopped today - got our travelling clothes ready - & made another list of them - just for Customs. Ma & Pa dropped by, then Shirley & Ken came to say g'bye. I continued to pick at the lichen on me gargoyles as the boyz couldn't get it all off with the pressure wash & wire brush - anyway am aching all over - the van comes tomoz so hopefully everything will fall into place... now my laptop is blue screening & my antivirus has dropped off...as I will soon!

Thursday, 4 September 2008

D Day - 07

Said g'bye to my old BUPA mates today: Pete, Carol, Sue & Suzie... hope to see you all when I come back in Jan...
Dropped off Fanny Freelander to the car cemetery in Manchester -boo hoo...
Collected hire car for the final journey.

Threw a few more bits of crap in a box! Chased the foot & mouth disinfectant that we need to spray all our shoes with - should have been here by now - but remains 'undelivered' by RMail.
My curly wurlys, baked beans etc etc will be collected tomorrow by Parcelforce to be couriered to Tickle Trout Lodge - happy munchings ahead...phew.
No more episodes from little Erik.

Wednesday, 3 September 2008

D Day - 8 Erik's sock episode!

LHJ:
Yes this blog seems to be turning into 'what Erik did today...'
Well we had more poo this morning! Then (& I hope you've all had your tea) he barffed up an ankle sock....! Exrememly unpleasant. I've been what if-ing all morning:
what if we'd been about to fly...
what if it had got stuck in his tummy... etc, etc Anyway - he seems non the worse - in fact he picked up another sock (probably the other half!) & started to chew on that too this evening.

Had another farewell lunch with a friend of over 33 years (!) the lovely belly dancer Fatima (Den) & her very patient hubby Nick... make that booking for next year - or else!
Have been shifting boxes from one side of the diningroom to the other, labelling them - but seem no better off - in fact have found one box that I have no idea whats in it... so much for being organised.

Knackered & getting stressed - off to bed (after tidying away all spare foundation garments!)

Tuesday, 2 September 2008

D Day -09

LH-J:
Rayburn serviced.
Amended UK car hire.
Lunch with Nancy - nutty old bird! With a laff to match mine...ace.
Erik poo'd on carpet (don't tell the new owners!!) must have been his medicine, well that's the excuse we're using & we're sticking with it! His scabs look quite angry - hope they're all cleared up before the Gov vet inspects him or they won't let him in... Bob will be waving him g'bye from his first class cargo hold. Tee Hee!!!
Packed more 'crap' - wonder if we've got room for it all at the Lodge!
Shredded loads of old papers - why do we hold onto so much crap paperwork?! It's the just in case mentallity - you know the minute you shred it - you'll need it - but I'm in wind-down mode & don't care.
Chased delivery of the suit of armour I bought off ebay - good job too as he was thinking of mailing(!sorry - bad pun!) it out Monday - which means it won't get onto the van - DOH & my stone plinths haven't turned up yet either...& what am I going to do with my tins of macaroni cheese, Heinz baked beans, Sainsbury's chick pea dhal & oodles of boxes of curly wurlys???? Stuff em in my suitcase without Ian noticing I hope! Or send 'em surface mail - I'll have withdrawal symptoms if I don't have a curly wurly at least once a week (may loose some weight though ;~) ... no I'd rather have my CWs. )
TTFN!

Monday, 1 September 2008

D Day - 10


LH-J:
10 days left to go before we zoom off down the M6 to Heathrow Airport to deposit Bob n 'Erik the Viking' to Airpets - do they know how much these gorgeous pooches mean to us... hope so! Erik had a case of the itches - so we had a not too traumatic trip to the vets for pills n potions to calm his skin down - he's only 13 weeks & soooooooo cute.



Cleaned the wheelie bin to leave it nice n fragrant for the new owners - but yeuk what a horrid job! So take a tip from one who knows - either keep your rubbish (including dog logs!) in bags or get someone else to clean your bin for you!!

Balanced the bank accounts - another yeuk job I hate doing - probably cos I'm crap with figures...
I have a dodgy knee - must be my age...or all that driving I've been doing for the last 10 years I've spent in IT 3-5 HOURS A DAY! ARGHHHHHH & people ask why we are moving to Canada??? To avoid the overcrowded roads & ignorant assholes on the M62/M6.
Lunch with Nancy tomorrow... Den & Nick Weds... My BUPA Boyz Thurs & take Fanny Freelander back to the dealership - I'll miss her - they are the best 4x4xfar for sure...Hope I can find just as good a car in Cape Breton... I'm sure I will. Friday I'm de-stressing with my final UK trip to the hairdressers, a brow & lash & hot stone treatment & Ian's having some reflexology on his dodgy foot. Then Sat - meet the new neighbours, collect picture & jewellery from Oswestry & out for evening meal with Sis Vic, hubby Phil & our old mate Gareth... Sunday lunch with Paul n Sue, Monday the removal van comes - yikes Tues Bro in law Richie n Marian pop up then early to bed ready for the Heathrow run... Weds eve final supper with Donna n Matt Thurs 9th Sept - fly Air Canada to Halifax with the boyz in the cargo hold...
Exhausted thinking about it - but it's gonna be BIG fun & I can't wait!