I am back in London, at Candice’s – at least until tomorrow morning! I have been very efficient since I got up this morning in Alconbury, at Sarah’s, braving the maniacs (myself included) on the A14 and M11 to get back to Hextable by 9.30am. I have found out where it is I am going to tomorrow when I leave for Lucy and Fossi’s; booked a flight to/from Edinburgh and a hotel as well as ‘meet and greet’ parking, who will whisk my car away and park it for me when I arrive at Stansted on Tuesday. I have arranged to meet Eleni and Paul early in October and arranged dates with Candice when I will be foisting myself on her and Geoff. I have done 2 loads of washing and am about to pack my bag for the weekend.

If you remember, I was bowled away by how well everything had gone in Hornsea on the Monday. Well, it continued in the same vein so that by Wednesday the auctioneers had removed the big furniture, the British Heart Foundation had taken the small electrical – and a couple of bookshelves I saw them sequester away – as well as some other household items, the Dove House Hospice took the beds and fridge and Oxfam – courtesy of Derek (bless him) – got all the rest. Well, that is apart from all the dog and cat stuff – why did we have 12 dog/cat beds, including hers and hers in some designs – which went to a pet re homing project that Maureen is part of. Derek managed to get the bike off the wall and the lock succumbed to fierce work with a hacksaw while Gary rode it over to Kidds before going off for his session at the gym. The solicitor was very efficient and we completed 6 steps in the process instead of the normal one in the hour I was with her. I even managed to do all the little bits of house administration, management company and general tidying up that is the fall out from such a complex set of things. And all is well.

I had such fun at David and Maureens with their wonderful dog, Polly, who is nothing like Daisy and in no way reminded me of her. However, she did remind me of what real dogs do – licking, jumping, playing, rolling over – which Daisy does not do. But I think just being with another dog made me realise how much I miss Daisy (and all of you). Of course, as Rob has mentioned, there were the geese – not as scary as I thought they would be (well, actually, Maureen’s protection of me probably had something to do with that)- and the chickens, who are rescue chickens. Did you know that egg producers ‘discard/kill’ chickens who do not lay ‘regular’ eggs. Maureen took 20 of them but says 1,800 are regularly discarded! And all because supermarkets say the customer wants ‘regular’ sized and coloured eggs! I collected eggs from the chickens and fed the sheep some cabbage but did not get too close to the pigs who can be quite rough – but look very sweet. Maureen and David have 5 acres on top of a hill overlooking all the land to the coast and out to sea. They are on the edge of the North York moors and the view is spectacular and very English and pastoral. It is a view one would never tire of and Maureen says it is always changing as different things go on in the farm land and as the landscape changes. I particularly liked the variety of garden birds I sat and watched from their kitchen.

Coming there was a joy after a day in Hornsea when I was quite tired and a bit washed out from taking leave of our belongings, house and area. The drive was about 40 minutes through very pleasant, peaceful countryside with nothing to bother about apart from the slowest drivers in the country (Grrrr!). I can so see why they live there.

I was fortunate to finish work early on Wednesday and so I took myself off to Burton Agnes for some visual gardening and a (very) little shopping. The trip gave me the opportunity to make a side trip to Ulrome, and a minor road drive to Burton Agnes through farmland where there were skylarks, hares and a kestrel.

Yesterday I departed Yorkshire by the gentle route which took me through countryside with signs to towns such as Thwing, Fridaythorpe, Holme on the Wolds, Cherry Burton, Rascal Moor and Melbourne before I entered the fray again and drove down to Alconbury and Sarah. And it was quite splendid to be with Sarah again and catch up on what has been happening in her and Charlie’s lives (Charlie is going to university to be a designer of shoes). But the time was too short really and I had to be off this morning for London.

OK, now you are up to date and I am going to have some tea. I shall be away for the weekend but will log on again before I go to Scotland on Tuesday. LOTS of love to everyone – and some hugs too. Ann

You will have noticed that Ann seems to have disappeared from your virtual world. Fortunately, a pigeon just arrived and I’ve been asked to report (once I got it out of Sissy’s mouth) that Ann is well. Indeed very well. Somehow in three days in Yorkshire she has disposed of a container of our belongings, and seen solicitors, tenants, friends, charities, estate agents, Burton Agnes Hall, the disppearing Yorkshire coastline etc. She has been out of contact because North Yorkshire – where she is staying with Maureen, David, sheep, geese, pigs, chooks, rabbits and Polly (a dog) – is rather too near the North Pole for Yahoo and Blackberries to cope. However, she is now heading South to Sarah’s, Candice’s and then onto Lucy and Forest for the weekend, so no doubt you will soon get the full story.

Meanwhile, back at 42 Mozeley, the dog would like her chauffeur back, the cat her pillow, the worms their haute cuisine, and Rob just Ann. Further insights into the remarkable changes at No. 42 will appear over the weekend. Meanwhile we can all look forward to Ann’s next blog.

Hi Ann,
Great to read all your latest happenings. It is quite a mission. I am all ready to leave in the morning and very excited/nervous about the trip but really looking forward to meeting up with Amanda.
We have seen a little bit of Rob and I am sure the boys will get together while I am away.
The bathroom has been a litle delayed but hoping it will be finished by the time we get back.
We will catch up again when I get back 30th Sept.
lots of love from Mary

All you New Zealanders would feel completely at home, instead of rain on a tin roof we have rain on a perspex roof – sounds just the same. This is the first rain for about 10 days and welcomed by those who need the stuff – personally, I can do without it. Still, it is harder for Maureen cause she has to go and put the chickens to bed. Fortunately for me it was not raining when we made sure the geese we tucked up safely away from the foxes earlier this evening.

After a very pleasant dinner at Ticton Grange on Sunday, where I had the restaurant all to myself, I spent the night from 12 till time to get up wide awake. So, I thought today would be pretty awful, and I would need to borrow matchsticks to stay awake, but no, today was VERY successful. After a shaky start where the storage man (Derek, or fabulous Derek as I came to call him) denied all knowledge of why I was there, declared the impossibility of what I wanted and generally did a lot of teeth sucking, we managed to sort 4×20 cubic metre storage containers so that 1 got sent for shipping, rubbish thrown away and the contents of the other got spread out so that the auctioneers, who are coming tomorrow, can view them – and all in 3 1/2 hours! Pretty impressive, no?

Derek is an expert shipper and teaches classes in shipping (yes it is true), had walked all the peaks in the Lake District before he was 16, has 5 siblings, one son (chronically disabled) and a wife who he adores. I told him I did not want to have any more than 1 container, and, bless him, everything I wanted to put in he said he could find room for – even after I kept adding this and that and abit of the other. So, all I have to put in is Rob’s bike, and Gary is putting that on his trailer to take from the house to Kidds on Wednesday.

It was lovely to see Gary again and to catch up on the harrowing family eventsof the last two years. But they – Gary, Ben and Bianca – all seem to becoming through and surviving. The same is not true of Anne-Marie, whose lifeis descending into alcohol and chaos from which neither she nor anyone else can save her – so, so sad.

Continuing my efficiency I saw our house management agents and got all sorts of things agreed with them; I talked to our estate agents and got good advice from, another, Derek. Because of all of this I think it might just be possible to finish here by end of business on Wednesday!

I was early to arrive at David and Maureen’s, so I took the opportunity to look around Hunmanby, a small town on the edge of the North Yorks moors. Requisite Norman church, 2 pubs, 1 hotel, 1 of most kinds of shop including a florist come fruit shop and a shop selling an eclectic mix of fresh pies/bread/pizza and home made preserve and pickles – as well as,importantly, Yorkshire Tea, for all you tea enthusiasts.

I decided to go to the pub. Have you ever walked into a room and had EVERYONE stop and look at you? I thought that only happened in bad detective films, but no, it happens in North Yorks pubs. I reckoned they were up to something illegal to do with CD/DVD’s and were just checking I was not the local police. They all turned out to be really nice and helpful and I think I was the first person ever to be served coffee in that pub. But it gave me the opportunity to sit and read and watch for a while, which was extremely pleasant.

So now I am sitting with Maureen and Polly, who is a beautiful and intelligent black lab (David is out at a Parish meeting in his role as local councillor), with the rain beating on the conservatory roof, while we inside are toasty and warm. Who could want for more. Till later, love to all. Ann

Yes, the sun is shining, the day looks beautiful and it is, according to the weather report, going to be about 21C today.

I have been busy contacting people in Yorkshire and have them all lined up for next week. If all goes well – or at least as I have planned – then I should be finished by next Friday. However, we all know about well laid plans …

We have some belongings stored at Candice and Geoffs and I have been re-acquainting myself with them. Now, do I really need a 3 tier cake stand, an Austrian wine filter and a Victorian flower pot, as well as a framed print of Greenwich University (which I suspect is a a goodbye present given to Rob). I have 3 large boxes to take to Yorkshire with me but I may do some culling when I get there (after mature consideration, of course) and get rid of them!

As I was coming through duty free out of Auckland I picked up a device that I can plug into the cigarette lighter bit in a car and the other end into my (well Rob’s really) iPod and can play all my chosen music in the car – a very nice grey car (a Peugeot, so Geoff tells me) – as I beetle up the motorway to Yorkshire. This will vastly enhance my driving experience early on Sunday morning.

However, first, Ed and Jan are coming over to Candice and Geoffs for lunch today and I am so looking forward to seeing them. Candice and I have prepared lunch, Geoff has set up the table on the lawn and – as I said – the sun is shining. Now, what more can one ask for, good food, weather and friends, so I shall have a very pleasant afternoon, before packing this evening for departure tomorrow.

Ticton Grange, where I am staying on Sunday night has no internet contact, so I will blog from Yorkshire , but possibly not till Monday or Tuesday evening when I am with David and Maureen. So, thats all for now. Love to everyone of you. Ann

It doesn’t matter how much or how little I sleep on a flight I still get the 3am wide awakes. So here I am at 5am drinking tea and eating peaches. The flight was long but as comfortable as any flight could be. Unheard of, it took 24 minutes to clear passport and baggage at Heathrow and to come out the other side where Candice and Geoff were equally surprised. What struck me – just lots of people, lots of cars, lots of busyness. Candice and Geoff as usual cossetted and cared for me and fed me – delicious food – and by 9pm (well 8 actually – but that was in front of the TV) I was sound asleep in bed, so that I could wake up totally alert at 3am and wonder why the rest of the world was absent. I am having a lazy day today and collecting the car, shopping for lunch for tomorrow when Ed and Jan come to join us and then after Candice has returned from work (about 2pm) we shall be off to Bluewater for some girl fun. So, I hope all of you are just fine out there. Will log on soon. Love. Ann

Well, OK it’s not Christmas. But the sort of intense work I have done the last few days makes it feel like the run-up to Christmas, and I am exhausted. But everything is done. Rob has his recipes, work has been tidied, Daisy and Sissy will want for nothing – even the worms have been tended, turned, fed and fixed up for the next few weeks. I’ve even finished packing early and have come in at a respectable 36kg. Not bad considering I left with 45kg last time. I have made sure I have no knives (unlike last time) in my hand luggage, and certainly no creams, gels or potions – so I guess I shall arrive like a shriveled up prune.

I think all this intense preparation is my attempt to control what I can and to de-emphasise how open and relatively uncertain/unorganised my time away is at present. Because of not knowing how quickly things will resolve themselves in Hornsea the rest of the time has been left open-ended. So I have not been able to plan my itinerary in the way that I had all dates times sorted when I last travelled. I am not anxious, and although I don’t know where I will be sleeping for a lot of the time, I do know that there are lots of beds available to me and if I am not near one, then there is always the credit card!

Anyway, I hope the next time I log in I shall be with Candice and Geoff in Hextable, waking at ridiculous times of the night as jet lag receeds and getting ready to travel to Hornsea on Sunday 16th. Till then, lots of love to all.

Meanwhile, try these 3-4 second videos taken on a visit to Russell. The reason they are so short was that I didn’t realise I was taking them!! Ann

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Yes, I made it. Arrived this afternoon back on the island. Will tell all when I get my act together.
Thanks to everyone who has written to me. It was very much appreciated. Have a look here in a couple of days. I should have unpacked and sorted myself out by then. xxxx

Hi and thanks to those who have written. I am SO tired. Things went swimmingly through to Epinal. Travelled along the roads less travelled; hardly another motorist in site along the stretches of l o n g, s t r a i g h t country roads. The previous night I’d picked up a directory of a certain hotel chain and made for their Epinal one. Close to my destination, I stopped in a car park to collect my thoughts and book the room when I guy asked if he could help. I told him the hotel and he said for me to follow him as he knew exactly where it was. Half an hour later, along a vast stretch of dual carriageway, darkness settling in together with rain he pulled over at a cafe and announced he was lost!! Satnav had taken me within what must have been half a km of the hotel so I was absolutely furious with him. In fact I told him to … off! In the cafe, I calmed down and asked where the hell I was and did anyone know of a nearby hotel. A guy said he knew of one and if I would follow him he’d take me there!!!!!! My brain was numb. I said OK. Bingo. And here I am in.. um… Remiremont, south of Epinal, having put in ten hours of driving. Not to be recommended. Night all!