Quirk is Here!

Quirk is here, fast asleep beside me on the sofa. Collecting her form the airport was a bit traumatic, and took far longer than it should have - we were meeting someone who spoke no english. we got her in the end, and I burst into tears. I think the guy thought there was something wrong with me.

so relieved to see her, and so happy to have my cat. N especially is thrilled, he hasn't been able to to keep his hands off her, and amazingly, she has put up with all his attention. She must have missed her people. TT is happy to see her too, and she has also allowed him to stroke her, which is very unusual.




we are a happy family.

We're here!

here we are, safe and almost sound. the trip was OK, but i wouldn't want to do it very often.

more details soon, but the battery is running out and we're using the only adaptor to power the wireless router, so it's laptop or internet at the moment...

One More Sleep

the last few days have been a whirlwind. there are loads of pictures to post, but no time to do it now.

we're sat in an almost empty house - just the sofa, one chair and a table.

we still have telly and internet becasue we have forgotten to cancel them. Bill has gone out to sell the car. hopefully.

the weather is miserable here - blowing a gale and horizontal rain. makes us look forward to the sunshine in the Santiago forecast for Monday...

i don't think i'll have a chance to post tomorrow before we leave, so we'll see you all on the other side!

5 Sleeps

Look who's still here.

Quirk did a runner this morning. We had barricaded the catflap, becasue we couldn't find the locking panel. Sorry, barricades are as nothing to a determined cat. She came home about 4.30 this afternoon, *just* too late to make it to Dunfermline for the day. The cat flap is now locked with the proper panel, taped shut *and* barricaded. Hah!

The boys enjoyed themselves today. The guys packing the house are all very nice, and didn't mind ots of questions. Here they are "watching telly" or so they said. Looks like they were jumping around to me. See, lots of stuff in boxes. Lots and lots. See those CD racks on the wall? The empty opnes? That's where the 4 new DVDs we bought the other day were. Until I forgot to retrieve them this monring. Yes, yes of course you can pack everything in the living room. Aargh.

Here's the boys' room. It will never be this tidy again. Unless they agree to not unpack at the new house. Chances of that?


Look!! YOu can see the surface of my desk! What are the chancs of it ever looking like this again? Less than that of the boys' room staying tidy, I think!

Oh, looks like Bill had to resort to CHOCOLATE while I was out at knitting...


Tonight was my last trip to the Borders Knitting Group. There was cake - a picture when i managed to hook my phone up here, Rachel made me a Chilean flag cake - lots of other cake, bucks fizz, and presents. I will miss that bunch. Lots. I left before I burst into tears... In a good way.

6 Sleeps

Once again a few days have gone by. We've been busy though! even Nico has been pitching in:



Here's what the house looks like now:





Today has been spent sorting out the clothes - what is going in suitcases, what's going in the air shipment, and what can go on the boat.

Oh, and a little bit of toy shopping! The boys spent some of the money we got from selling some of their old things. Lego, Transformers, and GoGo's were purchased.

And we took the car to a car wash. We're still no closer to selling it though. We *do* realise it would be easier to sell if it were actually advertised....

And Bill harvested our entire crop of apples:



we're hoping that the trees might be a little more mature when we get back and we might get a few more. Yep, that's from 2 trees. We lost a few to over exuberant children's play, and probably even more to the squirrels, but surely not all that many!

Tomorrow the removal people come back to start the full pack-up, and we take Quirk to kennels in Dunfermline. She won't be arriving in Santiago until Halloween. She'll probably be angry enough by then to behave like a witch's cat!

9 sleeps

is it really only 9 sleeps now?

today we said goodbye to Preston Street School and also to Cameron House Nursery School.

We then spent the afternoon with other friends, many of whom we've known since before Thomas was born - the parents all met at ante-natal class.

Tonight I'm going to meet Bill at the pub, becasue it was his last day at work.

Does that mean that the *really* hard work starts tomorrow? The last of the big cupboards is still to be sorted. Wish us luck!

10 sleeps

today I had to catch the 4 remaining fish in the tank. that waspretty easy for the two dwarf gouramis and the neon, but the angel fish gaveme a run for my money. kept hiding in the plants, so i'd move the plant, and it would dart off tothe other side of the tank. but eventually I got it. It was strong - I was worried it was going to jump out of the net and had visions of chasing a flapping fish around the room, but luckily I got it into the bag with the others, wrapped it all up in bubble wrap and newspaper, and took them up to school. They've gone to live with Thomas's friend Rebecca.

The school that we will probably be sending the boys to called us today. We have to be there at 09.00 on Wednesday the 29th, to meet the admissions registrar. Then at 10.00 the boys have to sit a test. Eek! They will still be jetlagged, but hopefully it won't be too difficult! It's to see what level they are at and help place them in the right grade.

No removal people today, but I managed to pack up a lot of my stuff, so it still feels as though something was accomplished!

11 sleeps

so today, when we asked the removal men if all houses were in a state like ours, or was ours particularly bad, they just laughed.

i still haven't decided how to take that.

TT went to Beavers for the last time. While he was there I went to the library to return all the books I could find. Which is about half the books we have out. I wonder how many will be packed accidentally? Oh well. I guess we can just pay for them.

The house is even more full of boxes now, and even though we took a full carload to the charity shop yesterday, the car is full again. I have *no* idea how that happened.

We've booked ourselves into a holiday flat for our last 4 nights - decided a hotel wouldn't be much fun, just one room between the 4 of us for 4 nights! I have a herceptin treatment next Thursday and that will be nicer in a flat than a hotel as well. It's in Marchmont, so if the weather's good to us, we can spend time in the Meadows and at the playground!

13 sleeps

EEK!


the packing has started. all our books, CDs and DVDs have been packed. except for the bedside books, oh and the boys' books! just the grown-up ones are in boxes. the DVDs weren't supposed to be packed yet. we think that we might have to go and buy a few new ones to keep us going until the boat gets there...

14 sleeps

there it is folks, two weeks to go.

we had a going away party last night, a huge bunch of friends came, and we had a great time, and most of the contents of the drinks cabinet has been used up.

both motorbikes are now sold -



the 748 went on wednesday - a guy bought it as a birthday present for his wife, which is pretty cool, I think. We drove the 750 up near Knockhill today to drop it off with its new owner. He very kindly bought the bike trailer from us as well, so that's one less thing.














Just the car to sell now.

Oh, and the small matter of a house to pack up! The boys have 5 more days at Preston Street School. Wow.

16 sleeps

ok, yesterday was my birthday and I was too busy playing with my presents to post here...

the removal company have asked to come early and start packing - did i mention that already? they are coming on monday morning - I guess to pack books and the stuff in the sideboard that only gets used at parties.

i've finished the last sewing project that needed done before leaving, so I guess they can pack up my machines as well.

today the boys and I went to Ikea - we needed something bigger for the lego, and I figured with no Ikea in Chile, maybe we'd be better getting something before we go. and i'm really rather glad we did. i thought it didn't seem like a lot of money when i paid, but i was distracted - TT and N were in the toilets, so I only had half my mind on the transaction. but the cashier was obvioulsy the same, I didn't pay for a £29 unit.

i felt guilty for a moment or two when i looked at my receipt. but not enough to get back in the car and drive out there to do anything about it...

we're having a going away party tomorrow - last time we did this we had a freezer full of food, this time we don't, so we bought some party food. we have a cupboad full of booze that we want people to drink, so I thought it best to provide some carbohydrates...

18 sleeps again

heh, another temporal shift. we looked at the flight *times* they were offering, but didn't bother looking at the *date*. we're leaving on Sunday 26th now.

The couple who came round yesterday want to rent our house. they are going to buy a houseful of furniture, to live here for one year. i think they are daft, but i can understand wanting this house when you have three kids (and another on the way) and like to grow food.

18 sleeps

well, the flights are booked! (or we've said, "yes, those flights are fine, please book them", that may not be the same thing)

we are leaving Edinburgh at the very civilised hour of 5.30pm on Saturday 25th October, and arrive in Santiago at about 9.30 the next morning.

we've been making plans for our going away party on the 11th.

We had the first people round to look at the house today. They didn't realise it was going to be unfurnished, so I was going round saying "oh well, I suppose we could leave this..." but really, we can't leave much. I think they saw the garden and wanted the house, but they are only here for a year, and really, they shouldn't be buying a stack of furniture, they really shouldn't.

their kids are at our school though...

the removal company want to come and start packing up one day next week. eek.

19 sleeps

our spare time on the day we had 20 sleeps left was spent driving and then sleeping, hence no post yesterday.

We said goodbye to the house.

we disposed of some stuff that was too far gone to save.

we brought rather a lot of stuff back with us.

so today, I have caved and booked Quirk with the super expensive pet travel service. The last straw was the foreign office legalisation service. for 5 minutes there I thought we were going to be ok becasue it turns out we have 7 days rather than the 4 that DEFRA had told me. But, no, the foreign office scuppered me. Not only will they not forward the document on to the Chilean consulate for legalisation there, thy won't let you chase up a lost document until 3 weeks after you have sent it in.

so, best case scenario is that they legalise the documnet the day you send it in (ha ha). then they send it back the next day, that's 3 days, then you send it to the chilean consulate, who require 2 days.

get the picture? See why £1600 has started to sound like a reasonable amount of money?

Well, no, I agree, it's extortionate, but whatever. We're going to grit our teeth and pay it.

21 Sleeps

an early post today, as we're away tonight. off down to say goodbye to the Dent family Homestead...

not sure how long this link will work as it's tied to our cable account: Gatecroft. i guess i can find it on the wayback machine if I need to.

Anyway, the family has had the place since I think 1840 something. so it's very sad to see it sold, but no one in the family is able to do the work that it now needs, so it's having to be sold. Someone will come along and make a fantastic family home from it. I know they will.

22 Sleeps

ah, progress! booked the removal date today - they will start on Tuesday 21st, and finish possibly ion the Thursday, or maybe the Friday. And we're leaving the next day hahahahahahahah

oh, sorry, got a little hysterical there.

at least we think we're leaving the next day but we haven't been told yet what flights, or even what airline. which means we've made no further progress on getting Quirk over there.

the removal company will tell us the name of the ship our stuff is on though, and there's a website somewhere where we will be able to track it. which will be pretty cool.

i am kidding myself that i am going to use the gym at the Caburga Inn. The swimming pool yes, but the gym? Hee!

23 Sleeps

that's only two days more than 3 weeks.

excuse me while i go off to hyperventilate quietly in another room.

as of today we know which removal company we are using - so i'll expect a phone call tomorrow to get that all booked and organised.

we are no further forward on Quirk's travel arrangements. but since we haven't got a clue about our own travel arrangements, I don't suppose that's a problem.

the house isn't rented out yet. it's been advertised for a whole day. should I be worried?

24 Sleeps

yeah, yeah, I know, I obviously can't be trusted to keep to an agreement, there I've gone and missed a day again...

today, can I start with OMG, IT'S OCTOBER and we're leaving THIS MONTH.

i feel that I should panic, or something. but first - if you've ever wanted to know what the inside of my house looks like, these pictures are SO NOT telling the truth. My house looks like that, but with lots of stuff lying around, lots of stuff...lotxs of stuff yhat either has to be packed up or got rid of. oh dear.

i'm trying to remember if we did anything toward moving yesterday or today - oh yes, Quirk went to the vet for her final set of vaccinations yesterday. Just a trip for her "export health check" in 3 weeks.

did I say 3 weeks? I think I did.

sorry, I can't write anymore, I have to go and faint.