This morning was Operation Pretend We Don’t Live Here with the first 90 minutes of the day spent putting everything in cupboards so the house looked properly empty. Some of us have a methodical approach to such tasks, taking time to ensure that even the putting in cupboards has an element of logic to it, not creating waterfall cupboard situations to deal with later, being sensible about what we might want out of the cupboard in which possible order and reversing the way we put things in. Others of us just shove. Slow cookers on top of cheese graters, bin liners under sleeping bags…
Popmaster was the teabreak moment which put us back and meant the final five minutes was frantic shoving by all.
Hayley the letting agent arrived, walked around our new vinyl flooring in her high heels (grr!) but was far less bolshy than she had been when she came before and wrong footed by her camera battery running out meaning she had to return later to take photos. I gave her a key and signed paperwork. She returned later to take the photos and rang Ady to check if they can put a To Let board up. It’s already on their website although no pics have been added as yet.
Hayley left and we realised we had little in the way of food for lunch so Scarlett and I made some cheese scones. We had a rind of blue cheese lying around in the fridge so grated that to go in along with some cheddar and it was gorgeous 🙂 Ady and I had them with some of Tasha’s chutney (green tomatoes, onions, garlic, cumin and cardamon, very gorgeous). Scarlett and I made some Chinese Chews (a recipe passed on from my fabulous baking friend Jay) for afters. I am *loving* baking 🙂
I had a flurry of text message exchanges this morning making arrangements to see two sets of friends tomorrow and being invited to the Book Group meeting in April – it had been the March meeting last week and apparently Rose had been asked to see if I could come along next time. If we’re still around I will pop along, it will be nice to see everyone :).
After lunch we took some stuff over to my parents to add to the ‘Going to Rum’ pile and then went over to meet Dad at a builders merchants. We were early so Ady and I had a wander round Tescos and bought some fruit as we seem to have run out and Scarlett is All About The Fruit at the moment – building up the vitamins for all those sunlight deprived ricket making weeks on Rum ;). Dad’s tenant (in the house he was left and now rents out) is putting a patio in and had asked Dad for some help in getting the slabs. He is 80 (the tenant, not Dad) and only has a small car and wanted 40 slabs and 4 bags of sand. Dad knew he would only get half of that in his van in one go and was very aware of the slog involved in carting 40 slabs about too so asked us for help which we were only too happy to give.
Ady and I did a lot of the manhandling and pulling trolleys about then loaded half into Dad’s van and half into our car (which surprisingly didn’t sit down anywhere near as much as I’d have expected) and then drove to the house and unloaded them. That was less easy going as it was down a narrow passageway into the garden but we realised two at a time was just about managable so it was at least not too slow a job. I met the tenants who are very nice and we had a cup of tea with them before going back to Dad’s.
I’d been sorting out vehicle stuff like insurance for the Pajero, cancelling the Sharan, swapping over breakdown cover etc. so Dad gave me some money for various costs involved in that and we arranged to collect the cash for the Pajero from him tomorrow to pay for it on Wednesday. We won’t collect it til Sunday though as I’ll tax it from then.
We had a cup of tea with Dad and a chat, the kids finished sorting their room over there and we came home via another supermarket where we picked up three dinners worth of stuff for about a tenner. We’re getting better at frugal 😉
Baths – Scarlett shared mine with me which is lovely for closeness (impossible to resist the daughter who begs ‘oh please Mummy let me get in the bath with you, I just love spending time with you!’) but less lovely for my enjoying these last few potential baths before I give it up for who knows how long (will have to come to some arrangement with David the castle manager on Rum!). Then we watched some Good Life before bed.
I’m definitely up to half an hour of the new hour now.