Sanders Blog

Year 4 of the Blog starts here…………….. 

18th December, 2011

2C outside. Heavy frost on the ground. No heating on in the flat which is 22C. We can’t understand how it is like that but we are delighted. In Oldham, we heard that people were ‘snowed in’ but I braved the frost to drive down to the papershop. One has to keep fit, doesn’t one? If only JaneBG could get in to this routine! It beats Nutella on Maltloaf, Jane.

We are still enjoying the spoils of our trips in Europe. Lunch was Duck paté from France washed down by a bottle of Prosecco from Italy. Actually, it may have been washed a little too heavily and three, consecutive football matches on Sky became rather blurred in to each other.

Had a lovely email from Ruth today reminding me that she is my chief Blog reader. She is, of course, absolutely right. Nowadays, I write with her in mind.

19th December, 2011

Today is grey and damp but we don’t mind. We are waiting for more deliveries: shelving and furniture. I’ve forgotten what it is like to sit on a settee. I’ve been living on a sixty year old rocking chair for the last month. We have decided to hang to the Richard Chair for a while longer. We have found just the place for it. While we wait, I am delegated to do the hoovering. We have a Dyson. I hate it. I find it heavy and clunky. On our new carpets, the filter clogs and the motor overheats in minutes. I thought he was supposed to be a design guru.

I don’t think I was made for hoovering especially with a Dyson. The furniture company have just phoned to say that our three settees will arrive on Thursday and they’ve given us a precise time window. It will be between 7.30 am and Midnight. Do wait up.

The Inland Revenue are still pursuing us for £4,000.00 under paid tax from the year 2009-10. It seems bizarre as we have spent our entire lives under PAYE but there it is. It appears that Oldham’s ‘Salaries Department’ were as incompetent as they were stingy. Because we had three separate income streams that year – Teacher’s salary + Redundancy + Teachers Pension – it was all too much for Oldham Accountancy practices. We appealed against the claim but lost although we have managed to delay payment for a year and, now, pleading poverty, we aim to arrange repayment over three more years. It still hurts but it has to be done.

20th December, 2011

A gorgeous morning with clear blue skies and delicious sunshine. First thing this morning, a man from the Developers has been round to investigate a squeak on our stairs. It is on the bottom three treads but, when he assessed it and the upheaval required to our newly fitted carpets to ‘possibly’ erradicate it, we decided to live with it.

Got a phone call from Dave Beasley from his Welsh farmstead where he has been living for the past thirty years with Sue. He will be 70 on Friday. He is fit and well and still goes on long walking holidays, chops down oak trees and logs them for the stove. He is happy and deserves to be.

Another person who deserves to be happy is Ruth and tonight she is. Bolton played well and beat Blackburn. She hasn’t been able to say that too many times this season. She sent me some texts because she knew I’d be watching. She says she will be at the Boxing Day match against Newcastle so all look out for her and give her a wave. I will.

21st December, 2011

Every year, Pauline makes ice cream as an alternative to or supplement for Christmas Pudding. She makes it with double cream and it is so rich, it is impossible to eat a lot without suffering later. Believe me, I have tried many times. She uses an automatic icecream maker which I bought from John Lewis’ Department Store in Manchester 25 years ago. I remember it as if it was yesterday. I was 35 years old, reasonably fit and I was buying it as a surprise present for Pauline. The surprise was on me. The refrigeration unit inside it meant it weighed nearly 50lb and I carried it half way across Manchester to the car. I was nearly dead when I got it there.

Nowadays, we only seem to use it at Christmas for icecream and inter-course (steady) palate cleansers.

Confirmed today that we really do have to pay the Inland Revenue £3,800.00 immediately after Christmas. Well, at least we’ve got it and we’ve managed to prevaricate for over a year.

22nd December, 2011

Joy of joys! Our settees were delivered by mid morning. Two leather settees and a storage footstool for the lounge and a bed settee for the Study. We lounged and lounged. Actually, we didn’t because we had to dispose of the two chairs we possessed which we brought from Pauline’s Mum’s flat over a year ago and which have got us through. One was Pauline’s father’s rocking chair and the other a simple arm chair. We managed to get them in the car and over to Pauline’s niece’s house in West Byfleet.

23rd December, 2011

Gloriously warm days as we near the end of December. Thursday and Friday this week have reached 14C / 58 F which feels remarkably warm. I am in a short sleeved T-shirt and we have used no heating for two days.

Pauline & I are cooking Christmas Lunch for Pauline’s sister, Phyllis and her husband, Colin, and their daughter Mandy and her husband, Kieron, and their three boys, David, James and Daniel. Pauline & I like to cook and it keeps us out of trouble. This year we are cooking a minimalist meal:

To start we are having a choice of terrines on a bed of leaves – pork and pheasant with fig & apple chutney or fresh & smoked salmon with tartar sauce – served with slices of Pauline’s onion bread.

The main course will be turkey with forcemeat stuffing and sage and onion stuffing, cranberry sauce, (No bread sauce because I’m the only one who likes it.), pigs in blankets (my favourite part), sprouts with lardons of pancetta and chestnuts, roast potatoes, carrots and peas.

The sweet will be Christmas Pudding and custard or cream or ice cream or all three or home made ice cream with home made meringues and Waitrose raspberries.

Oh, let it be over!

Today, Pauline made the meat terrine and tomorrow she will make the fish terrine. The ice cream and the Chistmas Pudding is already made. The turkey has been collected from the butcher today. The cranberry sauce has been made as has the fig & apple chutney.

I have been working on something very productive and not before time. I have been redesigning my website. I’ve been aware that it’s needed it for over a year but life has been in the way. It won’t all be done in time for Christmas but it will for the New Year.

24th December, 2011

Nobody will persuade me to worry about the Duke of Edinburgh who is so sick of his family that he had to feign a heart attack.

The turkey got well and truly stuffed today. Everything is better prepared than it has ever been. We even had time for a lovely meal of smoked salmon and champagne. Pauline indulged herself in the kitchen with her cooking. I indulged myself in the Study with my website: http://jrsanders.eu/index.html

11th December, 2011

This is the final week of the third year of my Blog. On a personal level, the Blog has recorded some of the most momentous experiences of my life. Its first entry was Christmas Day, 2008. Mum had been dead for just a few weeks and I was hurting badly. Three years on, that hurt is mitigated by the passage of time but she still features in my thoughts regularly. The first day of the Blog featured Pauline’s Mum. She too is now dead and has been for just over a year. Pauline carries her around in her thoughts daily. I, for one, would never have predicted the effects of these deaths on me from my past experience of loss.

During the three years of the Blog, Pauline and I have both stopped running on the treadmill of work after nearly forty years of doing it. Once again, neither of us could have quite predicted the effect it would have on us. We didn’t hate our jobs although we had had enough. We both felt we were good at what we did and could have continued if we had to but, given the chance to stop, would do so unhesitatingly. Well, we were offered that chance and took it just under three years ago and, in spite of being elated with the sense of release, we have also felt a little lost, a bit of a fraud and asked ourselves if we were selling ourselves short. Happily, that phase is behind us and we embrace every morning with huge pleasure as we decided which way life will take us each day.

The third, major dislocation in our lives over the past three years has been our move from Yorkshire to Surrey. We had planned it for many years – hardly believing it would really happen. It has and it is exciting, interesting, challenging. Down-sizing is rarely easy and we have and are still really struggling to get to grips with it. We sold all our furniture but even the merest traces of our past – our pictures, our crockery, glasses, cooking equipment – are causing us difficulties and making us question our move. Interestingly, our energy bills in Huddersfield were £2500.00 per year. In Surrey, by mid-December, we have hardly had the heating on.

For some years we have been looking to spend the entire summer in Greece. Now we have a large house there and spend April – October in Greece. The Greek economy has imploded just like that of so many Euro countries. It is touch and go whether we will sell in euro denominations when we do. In the mean time, we will continue to enjoy our house and life there.

12th December, 2011

Went to Woking this morning. Pauline is trying another hairdressers. It is a franchise called ‘Headmasters’. I sit in a coffee shop for an hour reading the paper. Once again, the haircut cost about £65.00 but is only ‘acceptable’. It looks like we may be going to Sassoons in Covent Garden next.

We desperately need a microwave. We research it exhaustively and settle on a Whirlpool with microwave, grill and steam functions. About £150.00 from Comet. We went down to get one. They only had it in postbox-red and ribena-purple. We go home and order one from Tesco-Direct to be collected in store tomorrow.

Watched Chelsea beat a disappointing Man. City tonight. High level skill in the game. At least it will have helped United.

13th December, 2011

Went to pick up the microwave. It was an acceptable colour but it had no steam function and the touch panel didn’t work. Apart from that it was perfect.

We took it back immediately and got a refund. We drove past Comet, went in, saw a simple, small microwave for £75.00 and said we’ll have that until we could find a better one. When we came to buy it, they told us they had none in stock but could order one. We chose not to accept that. We looked on the internet for someone who could supply it and a Bolton company, Appliances On-line said they would deliver it on Thursday. We ordered it.

14th December, 2011

At 6.00 am we were up and, by 6.50 am, we were standing in the Woking Walk-in Medical Centre waiting for yet another INR test. My results are all over the place at the moment and I seem to be having a test every seven days. At last the new tumble dryer arrived today. It is a Hotpoint. It is not damaged. It works perfectly. We cannot believe it.

15th December, 2011

I stayed at home all day today while Pauline drove over to pick up her sister, Phyllis, and take her shopping for the morning in Woking. She phoned me at lunchtime to tell me that they were eating bacon sandwiches which was intended to make me feel jealous – and it did. During the early part of the morning, our new microwave was delivered and I unpacked it and set it up in the kitchen. Fortunately, it worked fine although, Pauline pointed out as soon as she got home that it was dented. If you’ve bought a microwave recently, you will know that they are very, very cheap. It is hard to pay more than £150.00. For this, very simple model, I was paying half that and, as long as it works, it’s not going back.

With the Study up and running, I spent the rest of the day getting rid of anything that is unnecessary. It is all going to Age Concern – only chosen because it is easy parking on Byfleet High Street.

16th December, 2011

Going out this morning to buy shelving for the Study. We just need more and more storage space. We’ve got a little man coming round in the first week of January to put up shelves, hang mirrors, etc.. The wireless doorbell we bought for £40.00 about five weeks ago has stopped working. We are going out to get a better one this morning.

Got a lovely email from from Jonathan Kelly this morning. Some of you will remember that he was a boyhood friend of mine who lived in Chestnut Way, Burton Road, Repton. He was in the scouts. He married an American girl called Cathy whose father was teaching at Repton School for a year. Jonathan has been living and working in Boston, Massachusetts for the past forty years. He came over to the UK in the Summer – while I was away – and met up with Dave Beasley & Sue – ex of Well Lane, Repton & Scouts – in the Welsh Farm which has been home since early 1970. I last saw Jonathan around that time. He now looks exactly as his father did in 1965. Dave and Sue look older versions of how I remember them.

17th December, 2011

Apart from to get the paper and to screw a new door bell on, I haven’t been out today. It is actually rather pleasant to have a quiet and settled day. Strangely, once again, there is no live football on Sky Sports on a Saturday. There are three good matches on Sunday afternoon. After I have watched them – 12.30, 2.30, 4.30 – I will have cramp, lethargy and be footballed-out. It’s a good job Mum can’t read this. She was furious about sport on Sundays and, as for Supermarkets, there could be no call for them after a six day week. You can’t get in to our local supermarket on a Sunday. It’s only a Tesco Superstore with car parking for 2000+ and, on Sunday, it’s full! Of course, Mum wasn’t too familiar with people having to go to work during the week. Mind you, a two hour walk in the rain with my wellingtons and the family would almost certainly better for me than six hours in front of the television watching football. So, the football wins.

The big news of the year is:   THIS BLOG HAS A READER!

Received a beautiful Christmas Card from David Pritchard. (Didn’t know he was still alive. How old must he be?) He confessed to reading the Blog. Merry Yuletide, David. Glad to read that you are well and back in the Marathon Stakes. I think I’ll be up for the Bypass soon. I will try and make my life a bit more interesting now I know you are reading the drivel I write.

4th December, 2011

Just an ordinary day. I’ve just looked back to this day last year in my Blog and my first words were exactly the same but followed by “….surrounded by snow”. We had been snowbound in the shoebox for about three or four days and we were feeling trapped. Quite the reverse this year. We drove out in sunshine through clouds of Autumn leaves to get the Sunday papers.

I watched a poor Wolves v Sunderland match and then continued to set up the Study while Pauline unpacked some of the last remaining items and tried to find homes for them.

5th December, 2011

We got the car ready for a trip to France tomorrow. Made sure we had warning triangle and reflective jackets readily available in the back. Made sure the travel bag contained passports, tickets, insurance documents, etc.. Early start tomorrow and we won’t have time to check things then. I made sure all our destinations are pre-programmed in to the Sat. Nav. in advance.

We drive round to see Phyllis & Colin and take them some cut glassware we didn’t need but we thought they would like. We are going to buy a large, flat-screen television for the Study so we offered them our smaller one and they seemed pleased with that.

This evening, I watched quite a good Fulham v Liverpool match which Fulham won. Earlier night because we have to be up and out tomorrow. Ironically, snow is forecast on our old route over the Pennines tonight. We may even wake up to a bit of frost.

6th December, 2011

Our Tunnel crossing is just after 9.00 am UK time. We set the alarm for 5.00 am, leave the house at 6.30 am and the fields around are showing signs of frost. The journey is quiet and enjoyable. We arrive at the tunnel, go through automatic check-in and park up before heading for a coffee shop. By 9.00 am we are driving on to the train and by 10.30 Central European Time, we are on the French motorway en route to our favourite wine store. After buying our wine, the store give us a free ferry crossing voucher for our next trip. By 12.00 pm, we are in the shopping centre Cité Europe shopping in Carrefour.

We bought a bottle of whisky and a bottle of champagne to say thank you to Colin & Phyllis. We bought joints of pork, duck breasts, chicken joints, fresh fish, wonderful cheeses, saucisons, salamis, tins of Confit of Duck, jars of Paté of different sorts and some more red wine – mainly claret.

We went off and had lunch and then drove back to the tunnnel where we caught our train at 3.30 pm. We were back in UK at 3.00 pm and back in Surrey by 4.30 pm.. It is certainly very different from having to do four hours from Northern England and the same back and then taking a couple of days to recover.

7th December, 2011

Another beautiful day. We took presents round to Phyllis & Colin. I’m going to have to take the ‘Richard Chair’ round to Bob’s house. I haven’t got room for it. One of Bob’s sons has Richard as a middle name and, therefore, is entitled to the chair. I offered it two him a couple of years ago at Mum’s funeral and he expressed an interest but hasn’t contacted me since. I checked Bob’s address and was shocked to find he only lived 17 miles away from me. And yet so far apart.

Something miraculous happened this afternoon. Our broken (new) dryer was collected and we were in to hand it over.

Watched a poor United lose to Basel in Basel. We drive through Basel twice a year and it is a nightmare, a horrible place which is constantly ‘under development’ and has been for more than ten years. Those roads must have got to United!

8th December, 2011

Had to be up at 6.00 am today. Out of the house by 6.30 am and at the Woking Walk-in Health Centre by 7.00 am. It was another INR test because it doesn’t seem in check at the moment. I’ve given pints of blood recently and my arm is constantly bruised and plastered.

Back home for breakfast while the rush hour dies down and then off to Weybridge to have my brake pedal unit replaced because the old one developed a squeak. Coffee, biscuits, newspapers for an hour and then off again.

I phoned to check on the timing of delivery of our settees this afternoon. It was a bit depressing to hear that it would be December 21st/22nd before we got them. Still at least that is less than two weeks away.

9th December, 2011

Today, we had to go to the Bank to get our identity and new address certified. We want to move some ISAs and open some new investment accounts on-line. I had scanned in our passports and driver’s licences and printed out these scans to send off to the financial institutions that I had chosen. We were shocked to find that our bank of 40 years, Nat. West had recently decided to only provide such a service for people who are investing in their funds. This is a change and quite disgraceful and I shall be telling them so.

I have stayed glued to news of Cameron’s Euro nonsense. We are going to find ourselves out of Europe very quickly if we are not careful. How the Lib.Dems. can live with themselves, I have no idea.

We went off to Guildford this afternoon. Pauline wanted to go to Lakeland (the shop she has only ever bought from at a distance in the past.) but we got stuck in a multi-storey carpark which was full of Christmas shoppers and decided that claustrophobia dictated a different action. We drove home.

10th December, 2011

We have been in our new home for just two weeks now and in England for two months. We feel we have achieved a lot.

Today,  we went in to Woking early to miss the crowds. We sorted out some new investments with the Halifax Bank and booked Pauline a hair appointment at Headmasters (ironically!).

27th November, 2011

We had a wonderful night’s sleep in our new bed in our new bedroom in our new apartment. We haven’t got a dining table or settees but it is delightful to be in at last. It is still incredibly mild. We just don’t need the central heating on.

28th November, 2011

The flat is full of boxes of stuff. We had to get them off the floor so that the carpets could be laid. As a consequence, one of the bathrooms is unusable until we can find homes for everything. First today I have to see the Diabetic Nurse at our new surgery. I turn up at 9.00 am with urine sample to be told I am overweight. I promise to try harder. Later in the day, we go to our dentist. We both need a filling. It is the first dental work we have had done for twelve months. The dentist is a young (Year 11?) Indian girl. She turns out to be fantastic – super confident, quick and capable. We make a return appointment for March to cover our six months in Greece.

29th November, 2011

Our Lounge furniture minus the settees arrives today. An oak dining table and leather covered chairs accompanied by a tall display cabinet and small sideboard all in oak. We have to be so careful not to over fill the lounge and yet we need storage.

The chairs are covered in a cream leather to keep the room light rather than the dark brown pictured here.

In the afternoon, the bookcases and desk for the Study were delivered. Things are really beginning to look up now.

30th November, 2011

We set off just after 9.00 am to go to Weybridge to visit Trident Honda for our first major service on the car. This year, for the first time in the past 35, we have driven under 10,000 miles in spite of going to Greece and back. We have always averaged 13 – 15,000. With this car which we picked up on December 1st, 2010, we have three years free servicing (parts and labour). In the past three weeks, we have developed a squeak as we release the footbrake. I expected a dollop of grease being applied. Instead, they are going to fit a whole new foot pedal unit. We have always had fantastic service from Honda. Since the early Eighties, we have always had free replacement cars for the day. Today was the first time we haven’t needed it. We walked a few hundred yards in to Weybridge Centre to Cafe Rouge. We sat outside for an hour in gloriously warm sunshine drinking coffee, eating pain au chocolat and reading the paper. It was the day of the big strike and I knew how we would be feeling if we were still working. We are so grateful to be out of it.

We had a few problems in our drive out because an accident on the M25 had thrown traffic on detours but we had a pleasant drive as we left Weybridge for a giant B&Q in New Malden. We drove the outskirts of Chessington, Epsom, past Hampton Court and near to West Wimbledon. The weather was delightful. The trees in full colour gave the lie to the last day of November. We bought a standard lamp and some ceiling shades. Unfortunately, when we got it home and set it up, the lamp just wasn’t right.

Just as we were cooking our evening meal, the tumble dryer we had ordered was delivered. As soon as we had eaten our meal, we opened the lid of the box to reveal the panels of the dryer were bashed and separated. It had obviously been dropped in store or transit. It had to go back.

1st December, 2011

December and we’re still not using the central heating. It is delightfully warm.

Back to New Malden this morning. While we were away, the van called to pick up the damaged tumble dryer. Of course, it will have to call again.We chose a different lamp in New Malden and, as soon as we got it home and opened the box, we found the first broken piece of the shade. It has to go back. We went to a nearer, smaller branch in Guildford, immediately and got a replacement. Don’t you just wish you could join my jetset lifestyle?

2nd December, 2011

A day at home today. We are going to liberate the main bathroom. All the final boxes are being emptied. I don’t have many baths nowadays. I love the power-shower in our ensuite but it will be nice to be able to see the bathroom back to its default state.

Had to pop out to buy a screwdriver. It took 10 – 15 minutes but, when we got back, we found that they had tried to collect our damaged tumble dryer while we were out. It seems to have been the theme of the week. Pauline called them back and they said the would next be in our area on Tuesday. Unfortunately, we won’t. We’re off to France.

3rd December, 2011

Quick trip to Tesco at 8.30 am before the crowds. Back home to coffee and newspapers  along with ‘Saturday Kitchen’ on TV. I’ve now got a working Study so I can start to set up my computers and get on with projects. The Study has a large, L-shaped desk with a computer chair and two filing cabinets, two full height bookcases and a TV. We have a sofa-bed waiting to be delivered and I will then go out and buy a large TV to mount flat to the wall. It really is beginning to feel like home. Quite amazingly, the temperature has reached 15C/59F and we still aren’t using the heating. In fact, we have the windows and patio door open. A bee came in today. Greece is 18C/65F which is a significant difference but not huge. One thing that I meant to mention. On our road there are two fully fruiting fig trees and an olive tree. You wouldn’t see that in Yorkshire.

20th November, 2011

This is the week that the apartment finally comes together. Monday – all the fitted furniture is installed and lots of extra shelves are put up in all sorts of cubby holes to help with storage. Even my wine racks are being fixed in the walk-in cupboard in the underground garage. Wednesday – wooden flooring installed in the hallway and carpet throughout the rest of the flat. Thursday – Burglar alarm being commissioned and linked to named phone numbers. Friday – Furniture including new bed delivered. We will spend our first night there on Saturday. Today we are going to spend the day in there so that everything is ready for the fitter tomorrow.

21st November, 2011

The wardrobe fitter was due at 8.00 am this morning. We got up at 6.00 am and left for the flat at 7.00 am.. People on the roads were rushing to work, rushing to beat the traffic jams that soon build up here. We got to the apartment five minutes before the fitter arrived (45 mins early). He is a lovely bloke and very skilled. He toiled until 3.00 pm without a break. By the time he stopped, the bedroom looked great. He will be back tomorrow and then will finish off on Friday. All the time he was working, Pauline & I spent the entire day completing our phone books on our new phones.

Later we went shopping for lampshades in Woking but without success. We seem to be out of step with current fashion. We really do not want chandalier-style light fittings but they do seem to dominated the market place at the moment.

22nd November, 2011

The bedroom fitter was back today to fit shelves in the kitchen, shelves in the cloakroom, a mirrored cabinet in the downstairs toilet, a mirrored cabinet in the family bathroom, three mirrored cabinets in the ensuite, shelves and wineracks in the garage. He even had time to put the kitchen clock up for us.

By the end of the day, we were exhausted. We went out and bought a couple of delicious pizzas. Particularly, we had a vegetarian one topped with crisp broccoli, asparagus and artichokes. We topped it off with Man. City losing in Europe. Brilliant!

23rd November, 2011

Today has been very strange and rather Greek. We have spent most of it sitting in our garden in the quadrangle of our apartment on garden chairs. It wasn’t too hot – about 13C – but it was necessary. Every floor space apart from the three tiled bathrooms and the tiled kitchen is being covered with underlay and carpet or wood flooring. The two young men who came to do the work arrived at 8.30 am and pushed themselves non-stop until 6.30 in the evening. The quality of their work was wonderful. In fact, every craftsman we have employed has been honorable and dedicated and reasonably priced. We have been extremely humbled by the service we have received.

Today is the day the apartment became homely. However, we have one problem. Because all the floors – upstairs and downstairs – are concrete, we ordered extra thick, top quality underlay. As a result, five of our doors had to be taken off and are waiting to be trimmed and rehung.

Another late night, another take away. It was only average so we won’t be going back there. We topped it off with watching Chelsea lose in Europe. Brilliant!

24th November, 2011

Today we met the practice nurse from our new surgery. Then we went on to the apartment to wait for the burglar alarm commissioner to arrive. Our burglar alarm is linked by telephone to three separate people who can take action if they are contacted. We no longer have to tap codes into the alarm but just swipe a digital disc across the alarm box on the wall. It has been a very busy week which will culminate in our new bed being delivered tomorrow. We finished the day with a salad and a couple of dips – taramasalata and humus – with black olive bread sticks  and a bottle of Montepulciano D’Abruzzo.

25th November, 2011

Today the apartment was finished. Our carpenter came and trimmed and rehung the doors after the flooring had been laid. Then our bed was delivered. By the time the workmen had gone, we shut the door and felt we at last had a home. We cleared all the packaging away, hoovered all the carpets and felt that, after twelve months of living out of boxes and suitcases, we could finally relax. To top it all, I got a Welcome to your new house card from my sister. That was lovely!

Tonight is our last night at Phyllis & Colin’s house. How would we have managed without them? We are taking them out for a meal tonight to an Italian restaurant which has rather a good reputation. The restaurant is called That’s Amore. Not very original but this is the menu.

26th November, 2011

Went to Purley, Croydon today to buy a new desk at IKEA. It really gets me that the last time I was in Purley Croydon was 57 years ago. In 1954, Bob & I went to stay with Nana & Grandad Coghlan where they lived in Purley, Croydon. Here I am – full circle. I hate IKEA  and I was exhausted at the end of it but we got what we wanted and it will be delivered on Tuesday. We got back to the flat in time to watch Stoke thrash Blackburn. I sent a text to Ruth thanking her for my card.

I’m just going to have a shower in my new en-suite and go to bed in my new bed in my new bedroom. It all feels nice.

13th November, 2011

The weather since we returned from Greece has been incredibly mild and amazingly sunny. Throughout October, we have enjoyed the glorious countryside around our new home. It is incredibly wooded. Living in Yorkshire, we have usually considered the latter half of October to be the height of Autumn with strong winds encouraging brightly coloured but dying leaves to leave their tenure on the trees. Not this year and, particularly, not in Surrey. Two minutes from our home is Pyrford Common Road pictured below. We drive along it every day. It has taken a long time to recognise the onslaught of Autumn.

At last the trees have accepted their fate but the sunshine and relatively warm weather persists even in mid November. Today the temperature reached 17C.

Everywhere we drive, the trees are dominant and beautiful. They must also be very expensive because, as the Autumn deepens, the Local Authority are busy everywhere sweeping, blowing, sucking up and shredding leaves. Arborealists are assessing trees, lopping branches, felling huge and diseased old trees. Log sellers are advertising.

14th November, 2011

Today we had the car washed and valeted for the first time since we returned from Greece. Death on the road was everywhere with Greek flies spattered on the bumpers and wing mirrors. They earned their £30.00. The car cleaning service is in the huge Tesco car park. On the other side of the road is the famous but old and delapitated Brooklands race track.

When we were no longer ashamed of the state of our car, we went off to Honda in Weybridge to book its first year’s service which is due in a couple of weeks.

15th November, 2011

Pauline is a perfectionist. The carpets are being laid next week. Pauline has looked at the skirting boards and decided that she could finish them better. She is repainting the lot today. I can’t paint to save my life so I’m reading the newspaper and making hot drinks. Life’s hard!

16th November, 2011

Today, I took Pauline to the doctors. We then went on to the apartment to meet television engineers. I need remedial work doing in the study so I can receive Sky+. Because we are moving in to a block of apartments with central satellite dish and a cupboard full of cables, this is not as simple as I expected. After hours of investigation, I have to ask the builders permission to run a cable to my study.

Pauline’s nephew, Daniel, is 8 tomorrow. He wants a lemon cake. After a trip to Waitrose, she is baking this afternoon. I’m cooking Sea Bass fillets on a bed of pea & parsley risotto for Dinner.

17th November, 2011

Glorious day today. Bright blue skies, clear sun and 14C. Had to go for my first INR check in Woking this morning. They have a weirdly slow and expensive system. In Huddersfield, I turned up, had my finger pricked, waited for two minutes and was the advised of my warfarin dosage for the foreseeable future. At the same time, I would be given my next appointment. In Woking, I have to turn up and give an armful of blood then go home and wait for a letter to tell me what dosage to adopt. Then, I have to telephone for my next appointment.

The development company phoned to say I could have a Sky cable run from the communal dish to the Study. I’m going to get a huge television stuck on the wall with another Sky HD box so I can watch the football without annoying Pauline.

18th November, 2011

A pleasantly mild day of 14C. For the first time in weeks, we have no commitments. We decide to create our own. We are going to do the Over-60s Bowel Cancer Screening Programme process. (If you’re squeamish or eating, look away now.) What you get is a card with three flaps. Under each flap are two ‘windows’. In total, one has to smear faeces across each window with one of six cardboard paddles. In order to do that, one must intercept a stool from reaching the toilet pan and take samples from different areas of the stool. Surgical gloves are an advantage. Two samples each day for three days have to be stored in a cool place (the fridge?) and then sent back to the labs. Life does not get much better than this!

In spite of some technical difficulties, we both managed it today. We have resolved to eat more onions today to give the testers something to draw on.

19th November, 2011

The wardrobes are being delivered today between 8.00 – 10.00 am. We got up early and arrived at 7.15 am. The furniture arrived 15 minutes later. Two young men carried it in but didn’t apolgise for being early. At least it will be ready for the fitter on Monday.

6th November, 2011

Spent the day at the apartment unpacking the last six boxes. It is a bit of a nightmare at the moment because we are waiting for the carpets and wood flooring to be laid and are reluctant to put anything down which will impede the fitters. We are having to cram everything in to kitchen cupboards, on to already tiled floors in bathrooms, etc. Anyway, it is done. I even managed to find time to watch some football on Sky although Wolves v Wigan was not earth shattering.

7th November, 2011

Can you believe it. We are doing our Christmas Cards at the beginning of November. We have the time. Our cards will include a copy of our new home address and phone number. We have had this problem with TMobile’s credit agency. I have written to them clarifying our address and today I tried to speak to them to resolve the issue. I was met with a stone wall. I have to wait for them to deliberate. Very frustrating.

8th November, 2011

One of the real frustrations in a new build is getting the ‘Snagging List’ addressed. This has been exascerbated by the fact that we have been abroad for our first six months of ownership. The first snagging list was done but only after Pauline’s sister constantly nagging the builders. Since we have come back and started to prepare the flat to be lived in, we have developed a new list of increasingly irritating ‘snags’. The Sky engineer found satellite points on the wall unconnected to anything outside. Already, I’m not having a good week!

9th November, 2011

In Huddersfield, Anti-Coagulation testing is very user-friendly with the intention of encouraging warfarin-users to take up their support. In Woking, it seems to be quite the opposite. I have now been to three separate testing centres who are reluctant to take me on because of the pressure of numbers on their service. Of course, non of them can refuse but they don’t make me welcome.

Today we went to a National Health Dentist to try it out. We went with some trepidation. The practice had five dentists listed but we were assigned to the youngest and least experienced. When we met her, she turned out to be a skinny, little Indian girl who could have been a Sixth Former. Actually, she was brisk, efficient and excellent.

10th November, 2011

The telephone engineer found telephone points on the wall unconnected to anything outside. After a while, trying to address these niggly little snags wears one down. When I phone the Developer’s Customer Help line, I always get an answerphone and I am beginning to lose patience.

I have bought a Sky Bundled Package of TV/Broadband/Phoneline. The telephone engineer is from BT Openreach because the local Exchange has not yet been ‘unbundled’. Fortunately, we got an engineer who knew the Development and was able to get in to the central (Dry Riser) cupboards and connect us up. He says we will be up and running by tomorrow. In addition, our TMobile phones arrived. I chose TMobile over other providers mainly because of its reception in our apartment but also because of its generous (unlimited) internet/email provision and no extra cost. I chose an Android-based smart phone over a Blackberry because of its much superior internet facility. Two, free Samsung Galaxy phones arrived today. I set them up and put them to charge.

11th November, 2011

Went down to the apartment. The landlines were working and the mobiles both worked perfectly. The week may be finishing on a better note. Pauline and I cooked Cassoulet for tea. It was very enjoyable to make and to eat.

12th November, 2011

Two weeks today we should move in to our new apartment. That will be seven weeks after our return from Greece. We feel that we will have achieved a lot in a reasonably short time.

Watched England beat Spain tonight. I’m not sure what it proved but it was a pleasing result.

30th October, 2011

One of the problems with our new apartment is poor mobile reception. Over the years, Pauline and I have had spells with O2 _/ with 3 and, currently with Vodafone. Unfortunately, there is no Vodafone signal at all inside and only a poor one outside. That is not acceptable. Today, I cancelled our contracts and obtained a migration code to port our numbers across to a new provider. The only provider with a useable signal in our apartment is TMobile. They are now owned by Orange so one gets the best of both signals. Fortunately, TMobile will give us a nice, new smartphone free with unlimited free internet and an hour’s free international calls a month in addition to our any time/any network minutes.

Had to get to Gatwick Airport for 1.20 pm to pick up Phyllis & Colin returning from a week in Spain. They were on Easyjet and the flight landed 25 minutes early. Fortunately, they were held up in Baggage Reclaim for quite a while which meant we were there on time. They arrived to find a temperature here of 17C.

31st October, 2011

One day before November and 17 – 18C is forecast. We have clerical work to do in the first half of the morning – contacting Woking Council to get them to collect the bed base we no longer need. Apparently, the cost of collection is £26.00 unless one is aged 60+ when it becomes half price. Doesn’t seem fair, really. Does it?

1st November, 2011

Happy November! I’m still wearing short sleeved Tshirts. Today we are meeting the Sky engineer at the apartment. He has an appointment time frame of 8.00 am – 1.00 pm and actually arrives at 1.00 pm. When he does, it takes him five minutes and he is off. Fortuitously, just as we are leaving the Taylor Wimpey ‘snagging list team’ arrive unannounced and begin to address all the little niggles that we have asked to be addressed. They were excellent.

The Greek situation is spiralling out of control. Papandreou has been forced to offer a referendum at the eleventh hour when it appeared Europe had found a solution. It could all come crashing down around our ears.

2nd November, 2011

Another day of shopping. Lovely mild day and quite sunny. We went to Guildford to shop for bathroom furniture. We also were looking for ceiling lamp shades and standard lamps. We left the house at 10.30 am and returned at 2.30 pm. I was absolutely shattered. I really don’t like shopping.

When we got back, I cooked prawn risotto while Pauline arranged for my anti-coagulation test. We are really pleased to have a system that will work while we are in Surrey and in Greece. Watched Manchester City tonight easily beat Vila Real. Quite boring really.

3rd November, 2011

We went to the doctor’s surgery to try to sort out diabetic eye and foot checks and a diabetic clinic. It turns out that everything is done on one site which makes life easier. They gave me yet another urine sample bottle so that, when I go to the surgery on the 24th and 28th November, I have to take two urine samples to the same nurse for different purposes. She will take two blood samples and test them separately for different purposes. That really is taking the ….Michael. I’m going to be walking round with an empty shell of a body.

4th November, 2011

To get a new mobile phone contract, we have to go through a credit check. Our new-build address is causing a problem with that. Either companies do not list it at all or they have it listed in a different form. We have companies telling us that we’ve got our own address wrong. Today, I have to contact TMobile because their credit rating agency have rejected us. Pauline has to contact the company selling us oak furniture on a buy-now-pay-in-12 months basis because they have rejected us. Both companies believe it is because of our unestablished address.

5th November, 2011

My first chance to watch Sky Sports football in High Definition and in my own home today. Newcastle against Everton could be quite a good match.

23rd October, 2011

Almost November and the temperature reached 21F in Woking this afternoon. The sun was out; the sky was blue and the trees showed early signs of Autumn. If this is Global Warming, give me more of it. We were up early and out at 8.00 am to take Phyllis & Colin to Gatwick for their flight to Spain. The M25 was very quiet and we got there and back in an hour. We were back in time to watch the rugby final. It was a good match which I enjoyed because I wasn’t partisan.

This afternoon we went down to the flat but we have been so busy over the past two or three weeks that I felt too tired to continue unpacking boxes or cleaning. We picked up the post and went off to read the papers. I was only pleased that I don’t have access to Sky TV so I couldn’t see United’s humiliation.

24th October, 2011

Went down to our apartment to open some more boxes. I wrote an inventory of our unwanted furniture – or our second downsizing. Went to Waitrose to buy food for our evening meal. Met Mandy which was quite a surprise. Later, as we were about to start cooking, Mandy called round with the boys who had been out playing tennis. They gave us each a little chocolate cake that they had made. To say thank you, I put the boys on the carpet and sat on them. I’m sure they appreciated it.

25th October, 2011

We were supposed to be meeting the Sky installers this afternoon but the day started off disastrously. We had lent our large, flat screen TV to Phyllis & Colin while we were away in Greece. Today, we had to take it down to the flat ready for the Sky+ installation. We have ordered Sky+HD multiroom and Sky phone and Broadband package. It saves us about £50.00 per month on our separate services from Sky and BT. Let’s hope the quality is as good. Anyway, as we carried the huge TV down to the front door to put it in our car, we realised that there was a problem. The front door would not unlock. It is a mortice lock and it looks like one of the levers has dropped down blocking the lock in the process. Nothing daunted, we manage to lug the TV out of the back door, through the conservatory, across the car park to the car.

We drove down to the flat. When we got there, I took out all the paperwork I had received from Sky only to realise that viewing cards should have arrived in the post and hadn’t. I had to phone Sky and rearrange. Viewing cards will be sent in 3-5 days. We returned to Phyllis & Colin’s house, tried the lock again with no success and proceeded to search for local locksmiths. As luck would have it, there is a locksmith who lives twenty houses up the road from here. We are waiting for him now.

While we wait, I phone Woking Community Furniture Project and ask them to come and collect our our unwanted furniture. They will come on Friday. They have craftsmen who will spruce it up and give/sell it to needy people.

The locksmith came, inserted a screwdriver into the lock and gently twisted it until it clicked back in to place. It took him thirty seconds. He said he would normally charge £75.00 but, because he was a neighbour, it would only cost £45.00. Oh, Thanks!

26th October, 2011

A very grey and wet day. We went shopping – again. We went to Bath Store in Walton on Thames to buy cabinets for the bathrooms. We bought mirror-fronted stainless steel wall cabinets – 3 x double, 1 x single + 1 x tall – to have put up in the family bathroom, the en suite and the downstairs cloakroom. We have a little man coming to put them up for us soon.

We went on to Farnham to a shop I had found on the Internet and which we were so pleased to see. We wanted a dining table and chairs, a tall display cabinet for glasses, etc and a sideboard for cutlery & crockery.  I found some lovely oak pieces on line and one of a handful of outlets happened to be in Farnham about a mile and a half from Jane BG’s house. I didn’t destroy her day by calling round unannounced but I may do one day. The furniture store is called Oak-Furniture-land in East Street. As soon as we saw it, we loved the furniture and bought everything we needed. The lady processing our order was struggling with her computer. I told her I was an ex-IT teacher and it made her even more nervous.

We went to Waitrose in West Byfleet and bought trout for tea. Pauline cooked it with a lemon, tarragon and olive oil marinade. It was wonderful with a green salad. Waitrose is posh even for a Sainsbury shopper. When we leave the carpark we don’t put our validated ticket in to a machine to raise the barrier. We hand it to a man who is dressed like, looks like and sounds like Prince Charles. He says, Thank you very much, Sir. Drive carefully. I’ve started to tease him that he could be a machine. I ask him if he needs oiling, etc.

27th October, 2011

A pleasant and quite warm day. After quite a lot of driving yesterday, we had a morning off bringing our diaries up to date, contacting suppliers to firm up delivery dates, doing correspondence we have not done since leaving Greece. After lunch, we went down to the flat and prepared for visitors who are arriving on Friday. The Furniture Project are arriving to take away unwanted items many of which had belonged to Pauline’s Mum and had just tided us over in temporary accommodation:

Items for Collection

·      Reclining Arm Chair – Large upholstered metal action
·      Two walnut veneer coffee tables
·      Old pine kitchen chair
·      Dressing Table with back mirror – modern pine
·      Two bedside cabinets – modern pine
·      Kingsize Bed – Pine Head & Foot boards – Iron side rails – folding base
·     Nearly new mattress
·      Circular Dining Table + 4 chairs
·      Standard lamp
·      Television stand

The other callers tomorrow will bring wood flooring for the hall which has to acclimatise in our property before it is put down permanently.

28th October, 2011

Beautiful clear blue skies and strong sunshine. We had to be down at the apartment for 11.00 am. We got the furniture ready for handover and then took a couple of garden chairs outside and sat in the sun under the gloriously autumnal trees and waited for visitors. Packs of wood for the hall floor arrived first at 12.00 pm and we had to wait almost until 4.00 pm before the furniture was collected.

Back at Phyllis & Colin’s house we ate rabbit stew with garlic bread and green salad. It was absolutely delicious. Brought my calendar up to date: 

16th October, 2011

I actually bought a Sunday paper and read it from cover to cover. Went down to the apartment to unpack boxes. We have to get a charity to take a lot of stuff away. It will be the second downsizing since we left our large house. This one will be painful – lots of huge, framed pictures, pottery we have collected over the years with lots of invested memory.

Lovely colours on the trees around our garden:

17th October, 2011

Big day today. After more box unpacking at the apartment, we have to seal a new doctor. Tomorrow, we go to Huddersfield and say goodbye to our doctor of over ten years. We have a present of Sifnos honey, Italian olive oil and French wine to thank her for her wonderful service. An excellent doctors’ practice that we have identified has rejected us because we live too far away – 1.85 miles. We are going to look at one which is just 1.5 miles away.

We have been to the Hillview Surgery and are delighted with it. It is newly refurbished and welcoming. Even better, it was the surgery of Sir Alec & Eric Bedser. They had donated a great deal of money to the surgery.

18th October, 2011

Up at 5.30 am – a beautiful morning but cool. Out of the house at 6.30 am and on to the M25 heading for Monsom Lane, Repton. Visited Mum’s grave and said, ‘Hello’. The beech nuts had fallen in huge quantities and were scattered everywhere but real signs of Autumn in the tree colours were hard to discern. It was a windy day. The winds of October are supposed to drive dead leaves from the trees. This October, the leaves aren’t cooperating. Someone had left flowers at Mum’s grave quite recently.

On to Oldham. Today is the first anniversary of Pauline’s Mum’s death. It is a painful time and we went to the Crematorium to view the inscription in the Memorial Book. On to our hotel near Brighouse.

19th October, 2011

Up at 7.00 am and down to breakfast by 8.00 am.. So unusual to eat bacon & egg. Off to Hepworth Honda to visit our friend, Chris Woods, who has sold us new cars for the past thirty years. On to pick up our pre-ordered prescriptions and then on to Sainsburys to pick them up. The novel part of this was that the prescriptions were all free because both of us are 60.

After a cup of coffee, we drove to Leeds to Barker & Stonehouse. We looked at a dining room table and a set of chairs and two cabinets for the lounge. We may order online. Back to Oldham and to our old house at Quarry Court to visit our neighbour, Jean. As we left her, we met our other neighbours, Graham & Margaret. It was nice to see them all again.

20th October, 2011

A day of meeting friends and relatives. After breakfast, we drove down to the Anti-Coag. unit at the hospital for the final test. Then we drove over to see Brian & Val in Shaw, Oldham. At lunchtime we drove to Bolton to have a cup of tea with Ruth and then drove back to Huddersfield to go out to Dinner with ex-school friends, Margaret & Viv. Finally back in our hotel room, we collapsed – full & tired – and watched footage of the killing of Gaddafi.

21st October, 2011

Early morning appointment with our wonderful GP, Judith, to have flu jabs, a final diabetic review and to say goodbye. We gave her a jar of honey from Sifnos, a bottle of olive oil from Italy and a bottle of wine from France. It was a lovely, final meeting. Back to the hotel and then off to the motorway for our drive back Surrey.

The motorway was great while it was called M1. As soon as it changed to M25 it clogged up. The last 30 miles to one and a half hours because of a number of accidents and one slow patch where we were advised that pedestrians were on the motorway. We saw one young man but have no idea why he was there. We called in at our aparment on route to Phyllis & Colin’s house where we are staying. Lots of mail had arrived including our updated driving licenses. While we were there, a lady from the council called to talk to us about Recycling. Fortunately, I was in the toilet doing my own recycling and Pauline had to deal with her.