Jackie writes:
Well I'VE FINALLY DONE IT . . . booked the removal van.
They arrive at 8.30 a.m. on 25 November to load up all my chattels
and take them north to the land of my birth
where it's cold, grey and miserable, just like here.
I still don't have a postal address.
It could be three months before I get one,
so the site manager has said we can use the office
to get our mail forwarding set up for three months.
I will set that up to start on 24 November.
The convoy will leave here about 9 p.m. on the Tuesday night
after we've cleaned round the empty houses,
taken last-minute stuff to the council tip
and gone for a meal.
Ann suggested we could have a wee nap, Haha, no chance.
Apart from the fact there will only be three dog beds left in my house
and I bet they won't be up for sharing one with me,
I will have nothing to sit on. I will still have a kettle and the microwave,
but neither will aid sleep.
So if you're scanning the sky for St. Nicholas or an early Santa Claus,
you might just see us winging our way north.
Mike will be in the lead towing their trailer tent,
then Ann in her car, then me "tail-end Charlie",
bringing up the rear making sure Ann doesn't get lost or have a problem.
Because Mike is towing, our speed is restricted to 50 mph,
so we expect to arrive on site about 7 a.m. on Wednesday,
allowing for a couple of rest stops enroute.
It's just over 400 miles to the new home,
but some of the roads are small with passing places
or through the never-ending roadworks on the M1.
The last time I did the journey,
it took nine hours following a roadworks diversion through tiny villages
and back roads and that was an hour from my home.
The removal vans won't arrive till Thursday
because they can't start the journey till Wednesday morning.
I'm a bit excited and a bit apprehensive.
It's a big move and although it's back to Scotland,
it is to an area I only know through Tom's stories
of living and working in Glasgow many years ago;
time and absence have stolen some of the memories.
I remember place names, but not the story behind them.
So if you don't hear too much from me,
I will be finishing packing boxes, cleaning, packing a car and driving.
When I get there I have all the paperwork to go through,
re: the home purchase, the guarantees, insurances, utilities, etc.
And I don't even know if I will have broadband.
No postal address also means no broadband.
I can use my phone as a hotspot for a while each day,
but unlimited data actually has a limit.
It's been a long and frustrating stressful six months,
but hopefully it will all be worth it.
| 
