Hi everyone, I´m back
What a trip and a half that was, I have gone from sitting there with a cardigan and fleece on, (it was really chilly, dull and raining) to coming home to temps in the high 20´s and today it was 30C at 10am. It´s hot in the UK too now, so take care everyone.
Luckily the weather on the day of the party was quite good and the last day of my trip I actually managed to wear a short sleeved top, getting me in training for coming home!
We took lots of photos, especially the decor, which I am pleased to say everyone loved, but they are on different devices so I will have to collate them to post.
A couple of weeks before we went we learnt that Mum had had a fall and banged her head, leaving her with rather a large bump, but she didn´t have signs of concussion and was luckily Ok.
So it was a shock to learn that other members of the family had taken it upon themselves to investigate a care home in Basingstoke. Not only that but Mum had been whisked over to view and they signed her up on the dotted line and had already started the procedure to sell her property! Talk about fait accompli.
We had plans in place which meant we were hopping around the countryside to fulfill them, Chris was only over for 8 days so when
we were suddenly given the task to remove any personal memorabilia, mementos etc it was panic mode. Especially as we had to find temporary storage ready to ship over to Spain.
Mum´s house is a 5 bed, 3 reception house that she has lived in for 63 years and she is a self confessed hoarder. It was absolutely bedlam, everything was crammed in and we had to declutter a bit first then find all the treasures. Old Edwardian and 1920´s family photos stuffed in shoe boxes, Victorian items from Mum´s grandparents, including a mug from 1897 Victoria´s diamond jubilee, WW1 artifacts from her parents and many sets she has collected over the years.
We at least persuaded the others to organise auctioneers to come and value the items rather than their preferred method of house clearance. Most of the clearance companies wanted between 4 and 5000 and they kept the goodies! outrageous!
Anyway I´m sure you have the gist of the proceedings, so the whole trip was tainted by this sudden revelation with ´family meetings´, lots of stress and upset and that poor Mum will be living in one room, leaving most of her treasures and memories behind as the place is too small.
All this in 3 weeks, including viewings which resulted in accepting the first offer! Perhaps they don´t want Mum to change her mind!
However, we had a lovely day sharing Rebecca´s birthday with Antoni and we took the train to London, had a very nice meal (omg! the prices though) then went along to the Prince Edward theatre to see the musical Alladin. It was a brilliant show. To save money on taxis we walked from there afterwards to Paddington, it was a long way but we did save over 40.00 and passed landmarks for photo opportunities.
So lovely to create memories and enjoy each others company. I used to take the kids to the theatre in Barnstaple which is where Rebecca got her love for going.
We also found our train fares covered the cost of the underground, so with much trepidation I agreed to go on it, I hate, long tunnels, caves etc so this was quite a feat, of course we then had to do the same in reverse which was not so pleasant, probably because I was tired, but I did it, although I think I shall quickly gloss over that bit
Well I really need to find the various photos so will go now, enjoy the good weather and weekend. Catch up soon
take care
xcx
