I didn’t get around to any of the republishing last week. Most of the time it was too darned hot. The rest of the time I was just doing other things. Like proofreading. Or packing. Or decluttering. Or melting in the heat.
On Friday, the only work I really did was the client edit proofreading. That really is coming along very slowly and it seems to be taking for ever. And beyond the usual daily chores, it really was the only thing I did. By the end of the day I was bored rigid by it, just because it was taking so long.
We had shop-bought pies for tea, but the poet made us some colcannon mashed potatoes, but he made it with chives instead of spring onions, although I believe the Irish and the Scottish make it with cabbage. Ugh! For pudding we had home-made apple crumble with fresh cream poured on it.
On Saturday, we went to the butcher’s for our meat for the week, and we dropped into the home store to get some bubble wrap and some bird food.
Back home, we cleared out another cupboard of crocks and things and the poet took it all to the tip on his way to the supermarket. At the tip, one of the attendants, the one who took all of his fishing tackle, intercepted him and asked him to put the dinner service in a separate box as they have charity workers who come and collect such things for when they’re rehousing addicts or ex-convicts or the homeless.
What a nice idea. Son #2 has recently changed jobs but until recently he was one of the people responsible for some of these people. He says it can be soul destroying and after 2 years or so most of his colleagues have burned out and need a change.
We nipped out to visit the poet’s mum before heading off to scout out a dog walk close to the new house. We knew there was a new nature trail around the playing fields, but we couldn’t find it. We did have a wander through a small wood where we saw a couple of rabbits. The dog wasn’t interested in chasing them, he was just nosy, wondering what they were doing. We also saw a fox in front of us, jumping over a fence and running across a field. But we didn’t find the new nature trail.
On the way back to the car, we asked someone and they pointed the new trail out to us. We’d been on the wrong side of the road. We didn’t even know there were 2 lots of playing fields in the new village, so that was a bonus. And while we were having a closer look, another local told us about several walks of differing lengths, all right off our new doorstep and all in open countryside. We’re looking forward to exploring those.
We had shop-made pizza for tea, but we skipped the apple crumble this time as it was already late and the pizza was quite filling.
On Sunday, I did some more cupboard clearance while the poet painted the garden bench we’re taking with us to the new house and the bird table. The sun was red hot and he knew he’d had too long in the sun by the time he came in, even though he’s a sun worshipper.
We signed some legal documents with our next-door neighbour as a witness. We took the next lot of crockery to the tip and the attendant relieved us of most of it again. And then we went on the dog’s favourite walk around the lake. There were a couple of ‘yoofs’ on a motorbike who kept moving along the path and parking up, and they weren’t wearing helmets. Instead, they wore face masks, probably so CCTV couldn’t identify them as riding without helmets. They weren’t hurting anyone, though, and they weren’t on the main highway.
Back home the poet made us a fish pie and we had another portion of the apple crumble, this time heated up with custard.
We were up bright and early on Monday as the poet had to be on site for a couple of meetings. He thought he was working from home the night before so was disappointed when he realised he wasn’t. I fed the dog, fed and watered the birds, put a washload through and emptied the dishwasher. Then I packed a box with crocks wrapped in bubble-wrap that we’re taking with us. That took longer than I thought it would, just packing one box.
First job of the day was Monday’s blog post. Second job of the day was June planning. I’ve left a lot of June free because we need to be moving house this month. But the jobs I’ve scheduled in aren’t time-specific, so I can move them again if necessary. Packing that one box was quite tiring and it was nice to report in at my desk. We’re trying to pack a box a day, or fill a rubbish bag, or take a load to the tip. And in between, things still need doing here, like the grass that’s growing at a rate of knots.
Third job of the day was Tuesday’s look at the month ahead. Fourth job was starting today’s blog post. I was already several days behind and could hardly remember what happened on Friday, so I was keen to try and keep it updated as I went along. That’s why Monday onwards is more detailed than Friday and the weekend. Apart from Saturday, which had a lot going on and I probably still forgot something.
I typed up a cover letter for the documents we’d signed in front of a witness at the weekend and put that to one side for either the poet to take back to the solicitor when he next went out or for us both to take if we made a special journey. We could have popped it in the post, but at least we know it’s got there if we hand-deliver it ourselves.
We took the dog for a walk, then I contacted the dog sitter to arrange Alfie’s meet-n-greet head of his visit later in the month when he’ll either be having a sleepover or we’ll be able to go and collect him at the end of the evening.
And then it was back to that client edit proofreading job. The poet made us a mixed bean casserole with dumplings for tea, and I finished work just before 7pm.
On Tuesday, we were up on time again. I wanted to check the conveyancing paperwork to make sure I hadn’t missed something. I had. We were supposed to sign the contract as well, but the contract he’d sent us was titled ‘draft contract’ and there were no dates on it. I’d asked him last week if we should sign the contract without any dates, but he didn’t reply. So I printed it off, we both signed it anyway, and I opened the envelope I’d prepared the day before so we could exchange the original letter for an amended letter. And then I sent him another email to let him know the poet would be dropping the paperwork in and that we still had questions.
I packed another box, this time with office stuff. I made a pile of office stuff to go in the bin as well. office stuff we’ve been carting around with us for years and that we’ve never used. There were several boxes of sheets of self-adhesive labels, but all the adhesive has worn out. So those went in the bin too. If we find we need some of this stuff after all in the future, we’ll just have to buy it again. We’re having to be ruthless this time as we won’t have as much storage space at the new house and storage containers aren’t such a thing in the UK as they are in the US. But we’re trying to reduce any additional unnecessary expense as well.
If I can do a box a day, or fill a box a day, or fill a rubbish bag a day, or do a something a day, I’m happy. At the moment I’m packing things I hope I won’t need over the next few weeks. I think the next box might be an ornaments box. We have a pictures box, it’s a large pictures box, but we still have 3 pictures or framed items that don’t fit in it. But that’s okay. Those can go in one of the cars and the box will go in the removal van. We have a kitchen box. And now we have an office box. Most of the work so far has been taking stuff to the tip.
One washload already washed was split between the clothes horse and the tumble dryer. I didn’t put another washload through as there wasn’t enough to justify a full load. I emptied the dishwasher and I fed the garden birds. The poet fed the dog while I made us our morning drinks.
The conveyancing work took up more time than I needed it to, and by now it was time for our midday breakfast. During this meal break we took the signed documents into town. I stayed with the dog while the poet went in and asked for a completion date. The receptionist spoke to our solicitor over the phone, who first said he was waiting for our paperwork to be signed and brought back. She told him she had the paperwork, and he said he’d received my email and that he’d be on with the sellers’ solicitor in the afternoon and get back to us.
I don’t want to have to negotiate any more time with our landlord as I think it puts us at a disadvantage if they’re seen to have done us a favour. If we ask them for another extension, that’s 2 favours they’ve given us. The poet said he would speak with the agent this time if necessary. But I think we’ve decided that we’re just going to go for it if we can.
The new house isn’t considered properly habitable. It doesn’t have an oven and there isn’t a working fire. If we were renting it, those 2 things are considered essential. The current house has to be cleaned to a professional standard, and we won’t be able to arrange that at this rate. So we’re going to end up losing all or most of our deposit. Perhaps we’ll just have to resign ourselves to that this time…
We’d both ruined a cup of tea each in our rush to get the paperwork to the solicitor before they had their dinner break, but at least I was able to go along and walk the dog while we were there. When we got back, I made us both a fresh cuppa then made sure I drank mine while it was still hot. I started today’s blog post, then it was back to the client edit proofread. As I’d finally made all of the author amendments, this meant a true and proper proofread that shouldn’t take very long…
An email came in from NetGalley offering me another book, but I’ve started to ignore a lot of these now. I’ve already stockpiled a load I know I’ll enjoy, I’m ignoring the ones I know I won’t enjoy.
I cleared a couple of chapters of the client edit proofreading job before remembering that this week’s workshop videos should be ready. I’d already received an email from Dean Smith with his response to the assignment I sent last week, which meant the Week 5 videos were probably live. so I came to a place where I felt I could stop and went to check in on the workshops. Sure enough they were there and I settled down to watch them all.
Right in the middle, the poet went off to band practice, which is always helpful because it’s a good indicator of the time of day. I kept checking my email to see if there was a response from the solicitor, and I was about to start this week’s assignment when said response came through. Yay! But I wanted to wait for the poet to finish band practice before replying because I knew that (a) he probably wouldn’t be able to hear me over all the noise in the studio, and (b) even if he could hear the phone, he wouldn’t want everyone knowing our business. Besides which, the solicitor had kept us waiting until 5:30pm gone, and I doubted he’d be working into the evening. Then again, he has surprised us at 11pm on a Saturday night before now…
I did the assignment and left it to cool overnight, went out to check on a bird that flew into the office window (it had already gone so was probably all right), and twiddled my thumbs until the poet called to let me know he was on his way home…
Glad things are moving forward with the house. Dishes always take longer to pack than I expect. Once you’re in the house and get the essentials sorted, you can figure out some built-in or house-specific storage, too. Since it’s yours, you can do whatever you like!
Sounds like you’re pacing yourself well. All the prep is exhausting.
It is. But we had the news we were waiting for today and it’s given us a real boost. 😉