So much to blog about ....

... but we have had so little time to do it !!

Elaine here - and here is a bit of a recap of the last week (or so !) Russell, Frank, Tracy, Kim and Chris delivered Caxton safely to its new mooring - here are a couple of pics from along the way and also a pic of it tied up - just waiting for us !!!  (I think Russ said they tackled 127 locks - way above and beyond the call of duty ... but glad it wasn't me on our maiden voyage !)

Caxton at the Cube in Birmingham

Waterfall !

Visitor - our dogs are gonna go mad when they see swans !

Caxton - ready and waiting !

As for things on this side of the world - we have now vacated our house and are residing at Paul's work - in a spare office on top of the warehouse !

Last week the removalists came to pick up our many and various boxes ... the truck managed to get up our hill of a driveway - only took out 3 tree branches on the way up too !

A few of the boxes we have sent to storage !

Boxes we have shipped - sorry Daddy and Trev !

Removal truck driving up driveway !

Parked up - having done a neat reverse turn at the top - also plenty of rocks under the wheels !

After the removal truck went I set about cleaning out the kitchen and bathroom cupboards ... and scrubbing them clean !  Note to self - become a 'spring-cleaner' from time to time ... some of those cupboards were rotten !

Then on Wednesday night, we said goodbye to the little Suzuki ...

Going, going ... 

Gone !  Enjoy it Em !  (PS:  Why did no-one tell me I had my slippers on !)

Thursday was our last day in the house - we still had plenty to do ... so Paul had the day off work.

We still had a few furniture deliveries to do also ... I will be so happy to never have to deliver any more furniture !!  We cleaned and sorted and packed and repacked (and realised we still had too much to fit in the suitcases, so we had to pack yet another box to air freight ... already air freighted one box - sorry Russ - here comes another one !)

It was really wierd to see our house so empty (and echoey!) ... but we decided it would probably have sold better empty ... the rooms actually looked quite big!

Front room cleared and cleaned !

 By 7.30 pm, we had done one trip up with our stuff to our new abode at Mona Vale and had to head back to the house to pack up the rest.  It was just starting to rain and Paul was determined he wasn't going to do another trip (its about 30 mins drive up to Mona Vale) - so we packed everything in the ute and stuck the bed and mattress on top of it all !  We must have looked like the Beverly Hillbillies driving up that night ... cats in the back, me and the dogs in the front and a tray full of stuff - topped off with our mattress - getting slightly damp in the rain !

Switching off the last light switches and saying goodbye to the place was a big tear jerker ...:( 

Last drive down our driveway !

 We finally got up to Mona Vale and unpacked ... here is a pic of our new temporary accommodation - pretty flash or what ?!

Bed, cat and dog crates and cat litter tray ...

... what more do you need in life ?!

 We hit the sack finally about 11.30 pm on Thursday night ... quite tired and emotional !

On Friday, it was Paul's last day at work ... he didn't have far to go ...

View from my 'penthouse' window ... there is Paul and his boss !

... and there he is - hard at it on his last day !

 On Friday morning I took the dogs for a long walk - we have been neglecting their walks of late as we have been so busy - so they were quite tired at the end of it !  The cats weren't happy with their new place - poor little William was hiding under the covers of the bed the whole day and the other two (Geoffrey and Jaffa) were hiding in various places ...

... and here is Paul after work ... crashed out with Bombo !  Do you like our bedside cabinets ?!

 Paul only had 2 mins lie down after work because they had a work do planned for him (yes, another one!) ... the guys set up a barbie in the car park and got the beer and wine in ... we started about 4 pm and finished up about 8.30 pm - by which time we were very blurry !!!

Car park barbie !

Paul got a lovely bell bought for him from Scott ... it is also engraved 'The Manly Ferry'

Paul is very excited about that bell ... why do I suspect it is going to be used to call me to lock duty !

In between all the merriment, the Fed Ex man came to take our last air freight box ... wish we had packed the bell in it !

...  on its way to you Russell !

The A-Team !

Even the dogs came down to join in the fun !

It is now Sunday afternoon ... yesterday we did another couple of furniture deliveries and went to visit our friends Olof and Jane - who sorted out a few hiccups on our new laptop for us!  Yesterday afternoon, we sold the last bit of our furniture - the little sofa - yay - it's gone !!!  Last night we went for dinner with our lovely friends, Pat and Martin ... Pat made us an amazing meal - just what we needed !

This lunch time I went to the Newport Arms to farewell my beautiful friends Anne, Louise, Sonia, Krista and Karen (and little Sage!).  I thought I would be bawling my eyes out but I feel wierdly detached from everything at the moment - which I am sure is some kind of defence mechanism - as there is still stuff to get done - just don't have time to be a blubbering wreck yet !!

Sage - with the biggest lolly !

Krista, Sonia, Louise, Anne and Karen

Sonia, Louise, Anne, Karen and me !

Tonight we are off our to dinner to farewell our friends Mick, Pattie, Liz, Phil, Sue and Howard ...  and that's us - up to date !  Only two more days here, then we will say tata to our animals til we see them again at Heathrow ... more on that later !