Returning to Our Regular Programming ~

Amazing, I remembered my sign-in here!! Ahhhhhh, the heavens opened, angels swooped low and shouted, 'It's *****, Dummy!' LOL..

We actually moved into our lovely home at the end of September. Lynne rented a 7 1/2 ton truck with a lift at the back and I thought there's no way we'll need all that space. Everything will be sliding from back to front as we stop and start. I couldn't have been more wrong. We filled that whole thing, plus both our cars, her step-mom and her sister's car too! Honestly, I didn't realize how good we'd become at stashing things in the flat! Who knew we owned so much stuff?

The house is gorgeous. Three bedrooms, with a giant bath and kitchen. Generous backyard and detached garage. The only drawback is how close it sits to the road, but the house, built in the 30's, is solid so it's not terribly noisy.

We're further out of the city now, in a more rural place. There are green fields, public footpaths and bikepaths. Without the light pollution of the city, we can now see stars from the garden at night.

There are three coal fireplaces in the house, one in the front living room and two in the bigger bedrooms upstairs. The upstairs ones are still sealed to conserve heat but we've been burning away like the pyros we are in the living room! At first we told ourselves we'd save on heat.. lol but we won't be saving NUTHIN if we continue to have to buy our firewood and coal at the rate we've been going!!

There's still loads to do here. The back end of the living room has some hideous wallpaper we need to strip. All the other walls are glacier white, except the front bedroom which is lilac.. We need some paint but have been too exhausted to even bother thinking about that yet!! I DID hang wooden blinds in the front window Sunday. Took me over four hours because, apparently the casing on the windows of an 80 yr old house is made of titanium or some other thing impervious to screws and drill bits, even when accentuated with swearing to rival a sailor.

During our first week in the house, Lynne interviewed for a new post at the university, and got the job. The little shit has now increased her annual income by more than I make myself. It all starts happening in earnest for her on Nov 1st, when she assumes the post of .. umm.. now I've forgotten the title. Okay, all the postgrad students who take further studies to become teachers.. she's the program manager for all of them, not just the English. Clear as mud, eh? I can fix that later. I know she'll correct me, can almost see her reaching for her red pen already... Postgraduate Education Program Leader.

Also during that first week in the house, I sat for my Life in the UK Test, required for my permanent residency application. I'd read the book through once. (It's all I had time for). I felt pretty confident until I got into the testing center and saw others with not only the book but study guides including hundreds of sample questions!! CRAP! I didn't know they had those!!

There were 24 questions and I had to get 18 right. It was computerized and we could go back to change answers if necessary.. but I kept track and was only unsure about 5 of them. They only say pass/fail and I'm pleased to tell you I passed! The application went into the post office the next day, good thing too because the Postal workers went on strike the following Monday!! Last week came the reply from Home Office; I've been given Right of Settlement, Permanent Residency with no work restrictions!!

The next weekend, I brought all my favorite perennials from the front garden at the flat and have them heeled-in until I find their new homes here. Then I have to prepare the veggie garden spot. We've got two sets of french doors at the back of the house. We want decks off both of them and I'm sure we can do that ourselves and save money. The last owners graveled a lot of the yard. I hate gravel but think I may be able to get someone to take it away.. and and and... There's so much to do!!!

Oh it's been a long month!