We are up, we are in!!!
Time for an update and
the event of the year has undoubtedly been Moving House! We are now
resident in a bungalow in a little village called Haxby, 4 miles
north of York.
We are at that stage
where the furniture and packing has gone into the house – been
re-arranged once, but is now being re-arranged again! Yes more stuff
will, I'm afraid be going for sale, or to thee charity shop. The
undoubted effect of having lived in so many places and moved around
so much over the last 40 years.
Fortunately Pam loved
the house after all the redecorating and refurbishment. There's still
lots to do though. At least we have time!
One effect of moving up
here is a change in travel-mode over to the Continent. I have another
trip to Belgium coming up and I'm experimenting with going via the
ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge. More expensive, but it saves me (and
the car) 500 miles of driving. I'll let you know how it works out.
Now we ARE up of
course, we have to get on with all the minutiae of life; registering
with the doctors, library cards, etc. etc. Luckily I made a personal
check – you can get a bus into York avery 12 minutes and it stops
100 metres from our favourite York pub. This is important! The
Three Legged Mare (known locally as the Wonky Donkey)
Among the goodbyes to
the soft underbelly of the country was a Tuesday trip to have lunch
with the delightful Oxford Chapter of the Romantic Novelists
Association. Of course, I sweetened the pill (literally) by taking
some Belgian chocolates with me. A remarkably nice bunch of ladies,
and many thanks to Liz
Harris who has organised and been “mother-hen” to the chapter
for ages. I look forward to seeing them again, and to reading (and reviewing) their
books.
We also had a visitor to our (old) neighbourhood. Talli Roland is another author who keeps me entertained - and Pam and I met her, the Doc and young MasterTR in yet another of our favourite pubs for a lovely couple of hours. Her blog is here: Talli Roland. Oh, and young MasterTR is a grand little lad!
The pub is the excellent Fleece, at Bretforton. It is owned by the National Trust.
So – in the next
month – LOTS of sorting out in the house, garage and garden. It
already looks better though.
John
