Moving

Well, yes, Xmas and good will and all that, blown out of the water come moving time.

Got back 27th, moved 30th.

Cedric the Asshole Mover, who had assured me that his stupid Luton truck
 (WTF is that anyway?) could move a 3 bedroomed house...
Apparently, me, with my 2 bedroomed, one is a study, so actually only one bed house, has more furniture than an average 3 bedroomed house.
This is despite the fact that I have no white goods.

So, lucky for me, The Gorgeous Son was able , at the last minute to hire another van to take the remainder of the goods. Lucky for us, seeing as Cedric the Asshole Mover would have done another trip for £150 .

Imagine the scene, we have The Hubby, who is already in catatonic shock , as this is the first move in which he has ever been involved, we have Dr Lauren in bossy mode, The New Girlfriend, The Gorgeous Son, Darling Simon, Lindsay Loo, Broken Ankle Man, Cedric the Asshole Mover, Stoyan the Bulgarian Carpet Cleaner, Clive the New Landlord, John the Old Landlord (and his dad) , Charlotte the New Estate Agent, Ann the Inventory Clerk.

 The Hubby and Darling Simon in the van with Asshole Cedric, Dr Lauren and Lindsay Loo on the train, The Gorgeous Son and The New Girlfriend in the extra van...me on my hands and knees being the ousie for hours  afterwards and then training it up to Cambridge...
Rained and rained and rained.

I  am in Cambridge now.
Has stopped raining.

The Acceptable house is acceptable  (actually has a fabulous fitted loft with cupboards and extra storage that the fuckwit agent neglected to mention, so has been a wonderful surprise)

All the family were absolutely amazing and had unpacked half the household by the time I got there.
May I never ever say a negative word against any of them on this blog ever again.
I love them all very very much
We may be moving again in the next year.
Did I say how much I love them???

Xmas and New Year

Xmas at Butley  Mills again....Fabulous again, with Dr Lauren's organisational skills...
Same creepy scarecrow in the fields, is actually a famous sculpture...
http://www.laurenceedwardssculpture.com/


Shows how much I know!

Looked at it in a different light..... famous sculpture....still creepy.

Xmas was amazing. It was so bloody HOT!  Spent all the time opening windows and doors, we all wore T shirts, I don't think I wore shoes at all.

When I say hot, all is relative, but it was 15C and over, and will be the same again for New Years, apart from the days inbetween when we moved and it rained and was freezing cold.

I digress...back to Xmas.

There were 18 of us, from the Aged Grandparents (92)down to The Gorgeous Son
(25)
From in laws to out laws, from step parents to step siblings, to Grand Cat India...significant others...we had it all covered. Ex husbands and ex wives....we all had Xmas together, and that's what it's about.
It was good.

Merry Xmas?

We are moving on the 30th December. We go to the Xmas Cottage from the 23rd to the 27th.
The Famous Brother flies into London on Monday for 4 days. MOTHER is already here, in preparation for seeing The Famous Brother.
She spends most of the day sleeping, I have to check every now and then that she is actually breathing.
It is Dr Lauren's birthday on Tuesday. All the family are going out to  The Spur on Wednesday.
Somehow, I have to pack.......

Culture Vulture

Nice Bum!

 So lovely , going to the ballet! Tickets to the Nutcracker were my birthday gift from Dr Lauren and Darling Simon.
The costumes had £10 000 worth of Swarovski crystals sewn onto them. It was a wonderful night indeed.

Quite the funniest thing..in the interval (during which, for some odd reason, the Poms all buy ice cream?? It was bloody freezing!), anyway, there was a chav girl, on a date with a non chav guy. Eavesdropping, (as I am wont to do) , this is what she said....

A) She would rather have gone to a musical
B) Ballet is boring
C)You can stick your Sugar Plum Fairies and Tutu Boy up your arse.

Quite made my night, as she went on in this vein for at least 10 minutes.
I rather liked Tutu boy!

Leicester Square was crazy...millions of people, such a buzz, I am going to miss that so much!
I love coming home late on the trains with all the drunk/fabulously dressed/ many and varied people...last night there were 3 Saffas  doing mean things to a Hamleys Xmas Bear.

Breathing Space

A gap between agents while we rent....before we buy.
Not sure if my nerves can take it.

Cherry Hinton

Cherry Hinton is where we will be living in Cambridge. Sounds very Pom!

So, not the Charmingly Impractical Cottage.
Rather, the Almost Acceptable House

Despite the agents not being able to drive me anywhere, even in a car branded with the company name. Can you believe it? Crazy. Totally crazy.

Positive points:

The Hubby can walk to work
I can walk to Tesco's
Bus stop 2 minutes away to the city and station.
Garage for the car we will get (amazing..haven't seen a garage for years!)
An actual built in cupboard in the main bedroom.
A dishwasher . (phew!)
Garden

Not so great points

3rd bedroom same size as a coffee table
Looks a bit ugly from the outside


Disaster

The Bathroom.

But....is a 6 month contract, and overall, is awfully practical. Has 2 more rooms than we have now. If  you can call the 3rd bedroom a room.
I think I will use it as a dressing room.

Now, just to get someone to move us between xmas and new year.
Doomed comes to mind.

Agents!

It's hard enough looking for a house, these fuckwit agents make it even harder.
They are not insured to drive me.
There is no easy way of getting to the properties in the villages.
I will have to hire a car now.  And then drive behind the agents. Or find an agreeable taxi driver who will follow the agents and go to different villages.What a bloody pain.

London is way more civilized.
Last time I was up in Cambridge I noticed the buses do not have a display telling you where the stops are. This is not good when it is pitch dark , raining, the windows are steamed up and you don't know where you are anyway!
The one difference is that the people in Cambridge will actually speak to you, so you can ask for directions.
This is what I have learnt about asking for directions.

To avoid asking tourists who are as lost as you are, these are the ones to ask

People with dogs
Old ladies with shopping trolleys
People with children in school uniform
People who look a bit mad (but not too mad)

Nights in London

Don't think for a minute that my life is just house seeking..ironing..shopping..being a Pom...
Oh No! I have fun too!
I go to functions where the Butlers wear only aprons.....

Strikes

Really not seriously bad...Somewhat peeved perhaps? Biggest strike ever ,but nobody was terribly inconvenienced, and as you can see...the strikers were not awfully militant!