Away the Lads

With just a day to go until I travel down to Heathrow, this will be my last blog post from these shores of the UK.

Will it even be a UK in a short while? With talk of a unified Ireland and Scotland being in dispute about the Brexit issue and subsequent legality of their earlier independence vote, it seems as if the UK could suddenly just become England and Wales. A sad situation. All those shiny new blue passports are going to be in need of replacement before they have even been used.

Enough of politics!

I can't believe it has been a week since my retirement. Mind, I have been pretty busy with finalising things here. So many people to ring, and things to organise. Now it seems like peace has finally descended.

The bags of plenty ... The small carry on to the left is jammed and well over the 8kg allowed, by about double.. so unfortunately it is bound for the hold (which I try to avoid)… the lap-top bag on the right weighs spot on 8kg and contains more than just a lap-top obviously... so that's my carry on. My trusty rucksack that I usually take is being left for my old mate Baz to put his fishing tackle in.

Earlier in the week, the solicitor who is doing the conveyancing on my property informed me that during the ID check, she had noticed that my driving licence was out of date! Panic.

I applied online for a replacement immediately, since it is not possible to renew a driving licence from abroad... my new licence will be forwarded in the post.

Yes, forwarding of post was another job that needed doing - and a very expensive one. I could not believe the cost of forwarding to a European Country... it was about £145 for three months. A full year was eye watering, so I opted for the 3 month option.

Another micro panic occurred when I realised that my intention of traveling with just a carry on rucksack was not going to work this time around. Several things made this the case (pardon the pun), I now have my laptop and charger block, I would have had to ditch more clothes than I had planned to and my work mates got me a lovely fleeced hoodie that is pretty bulky and also weighs a ton! So today, I'm waiting for a small case to put in the hold, and a laptop bag to use as a 'carry on', in which I can also carry all of my paperwork and travel documents too. Cutting it fine.

Yesterday saw the house clearance team come and get rid of everything that isn't bolted down. More expense, but vacant possession means just that. There are a few jobs for me to do, such as a bit of cleaning... and the floors have yet to be hoovered in my absence.

So now, everything except last minute essentials are gone; last night I slept on the floor... another night of that before I get the luxury of a room at the Hilton at Heathrow.

A solitary pair of trainers remain, ready for me to hop into - otherwise bear empty space pervades apart from the two bags pictured above. Plate and eating irons, old toiletries and quilt will hit the bin on the way out.

Over on Faial, I have managed to secure the cottage near to the build for another ten days. This is good, as my project manager does not think the property will be 'camp-able' in until the end of March. The builders are trying to play catch-up after the delay of the roof, which essentially kicked the can down the road for all the subsequent build works: Roof late meant windows in late, meant that insulation and boarding was late, which means skimming late... so floors late.... you get the idea.

The container has arrived on Faial. But there is no where for the contents to go.

The container is residing on the docks for 14 days... of course this also costs, but fortunately the cost is very reasonable at just 5 Euros per day. It could have been a lot worse. Hopefully in 14 days some of the floors should be down and more importantly, the drive made suitable to receive the container or at least vans with the contents; the drive is currently full of building materials and is not firm enough for a large lorry.... ah, but no stress. What will be, will be : Que Serra, Serra.

Next Up: Blogging from Faial... Floors?