62 Days to Go...

Sunday - a day of rest?  Not particularly as I had it in mind to go off to Ninesprings or Ham Hill today to take some photographs.  I was going to see if Mark wanted to go and take the dogs for a walk as Laura was working.  Unfortunately the lovely weather of yesterday was replaced with a cold wind, heavy showers and hail storms so I decided not to go.  Just as well as poor Laura had been ill all night and Mark was playing Florence Nightingale.

I took John's mess undress suit over to Ilchester for Geordie (Steven Wilson) to try.  It gave me a chance to catch up with Catherine and the girls, Lauren and Natalie.  Both the girls have been poorly all week - such a shame as it was half term.

Catherine and I thought Steven scrubbed up pretty well in the suit - even if he didn't have on shoes, or a proper shirt or a cummerbund!!  Anyway I have left it with him to make a decision otherwise we will advertise it for sale.  Shame really that I will have only seen John in it once with Chief's buttons.

I decided to drive back down the A303 because I was in search of some sheep to photograph.  Well the tables were turned as I think I may have had my photograph taken but the mobile speed camera which was tucked into a layby - what is it with John and I and our determination to check out all the speed cameras in Somerset before we go???

Camera shots were confined to stll life in the kitchen which gave me something to do.  I am still struggling with the camera to get consistency - but I guess it is only a question of time.  I was, however, quite pleased with the following shot:



I managed to speak to John this afternoon.  He has been up to the house with Mum and Dad getting it cleaned up after the windows were fitted and the power points installed.  I asked him to take some photographs knowing that I had left my old camera over there - but completing forgetting that I had brought the memory card back home!  Hopefully I will have some photographs to post over the next couple of days.

I had a real treat this evening when Mark rang to see if I had eaten my tea, I hadn't even thought about it, so it was lovely when he brought me round a bowl of sausage, mash, peas and a red onion and bacon balsamic reduction cooked by his own fair hands. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm absolute heaven on a miserable cold evening and enough left over for me to have for tea tomorrow.  Thanks Mark you are a STAR xxx

63 Days to Go...

Saturday - I love it - lie-in and starfishing!!  I was good today though because I got up early to get some washing in - otherwise John will beat me to within an inch of my life for not fulfilling my housewifely duties (not really).  Plus I was meeting Sally Allan in town for an early coffee and a sticky before going off and playing the 'shoe-fairy' and using Mum's Clark's discount card to get Molly some school shoes.

Coffee and Stickies in Tamburino's was great and it was good to catch up with Sal who is organising a 'Swishing' event to raise money on Thursday night at Lanes.  If you don't know what 'Swishing' is well Google tells me  “Swishing is a growing trend, where a gaggle of fashion-loving women get together, feast on nibbles, guzzle wine and swap their clothes. Eco-fabulous recycling at its best.”   John needn't worry because I wont be swapping as we are busy trying to reduce the amount of clothes that we have - it will be an opportunity to take some clothes there for others to have rather than taking it to the charity shop.

Anyway school shoes were purchased - why is it all kids shoes come with Velcro nowadays??? How are they ever going to learn to tie laces???

Left Sal trying to find an outfit for her girls night out tonight and went to have my hair cut which was not before time as it seems to have put a real spurt on over the last few days.  I only have two more cuts left with Kim after about 10 years of going to her.  All I can say is thank God Mum's neighbour is a hairdresser - not only English but worked in Sherborne - what a small world it is!

Laura came round this afternoon with an early birthday present of a lovely black Jane Shilton handbag.  It was really kind of her and she is so sweet to take notice of me saying that I wanted a new black bag.  She and Mark are off to the Masons Arms tonight with Sam and Matt before Matt gets deployed to Afghanistan.  Let's hope he has a really uneventful tour of duty.

Managed to catch up with John this afternoon.  He had been out walking with Dad today and having a day off from the dreaded 'ToDo' list.  He really seems to have had his finger on the pulse and got a huge amount sorted over the last couple of days - I do love him for taking this all on without me being there - I just know that he will make a brilliant job of turning our house into a home.  I also love Mum and Dad for all that they are doing to make our move as easy as possible.  Mum just make sure you do a decent job of cleaning the windows tomorrow!!!

64 Days to Go...

OMG as they say in textspeak nowadays (that's Oh My God for those of us who dont indulge in that form of communication) what a day it has been...

Gemma and H were both off today - poor things there have been some horrid bugs doing the rounds - and I was booked to go to the Taunton and Dorchester offices to look at wiring requirements for the two offices and to meet with the lovely Andy Skinner from Kings who has sorted out our wiring requirements for at least the last 10 years or so.  I had left messages that anyone with an IT issue should contact Nicholas because that it how it is going to be in the future. 

The plan was to meet at Taunton, sort out the wiring issues, have a spot of lunch and then go across to Dorchester.  Would you believe it the work internet connection failed at about 12.00 today.  We did manage a very disjointed lunch but I had to go back to Yeovil to try and sort it out as it transpired that somewhere along the line our internet connection had been ceased this morning.  It took me the rest of the day to get things sorted.  Lots and lots of frantic phonecalls trying to establish what had happened.

For about a mili-second I wondered if I had inadvertently cancelled the connection - something which I managed to do many years ago and which took about 10 days to sort out.  However it transpires that there had been some sort of  'administrative error' at the Internet Service Provider which resulted in about 80 people having their connections shut down this morning and they wont be reinstated until Tuesday.  Deep Joy - but welcome to my world - this sort of thing happens and we just have to get on and sort it.  Not entirely sure who will do it when I have gone but that wont be my worry!  Still a very stiff letter of complaint is in order on Monday. 

And thanks Andy for the bottle of pink champagne which John and I will enjoy one day sitting around the pool.  It was very kind of you.

I wasn't sorry to get home tonight and have a shower before going out to ASK and catching up with my long-term friend Deborah (Watkinson).  We had a lovely time reminiscing about our formative years and the circle of friends we had in those days.  A time without mobile phones and facebook!  Her lovely Dad acted as our taxi driver tonight and our two meals for a tenner voucher together with a bottle of Shiraz meant that all the stresses and strains of our working lives melted away.  We feel priviledged that this sort of friendship doesnt need constant contact to remain intact.  I hope that she will be able to come and see us in the future. 

65 Days to Go...

Well people are dropping like flies at work. Gemma phoned in sick this morning and then by lunchtime Horatiu had to go home - he looked all in.  Guess it might be the same bug that laid me low last week.  Should be interesting tomorrow as I have to go to Taunton and Dorchester so the department could well be unmanned.

John seems to have had a really busy day today - he will be in his element!  I bet he and Dad have had a brilliant day striking things off of the 'ToDo List'.

I had a call first thing from his newly 'Cyprus Sim Carded' mobile.  We have communication!!!  We will have even more next week when CYTA connect a phone line to 10B along with a 2Mb internet connection.  Its a bit pricey compared to here but it will be a lifeline for us.  If we are lucky we should be able to get our television through the internet and that would be an awful lot cheaper than a satellite dish. 

John has also arranged for the Solar panel man to install the panels next week along with the water tank and water pump.  It looks like it should come in for less than we had expected so that's good - hot water without having to put on the immersion heater for the best part of the year cannot be a bad thing.

The kitchen might not be quite so straightforward as the inset sink is much more expensive than we had realised - so looks like we will go for an ordinary one which will save on the worktop cutting too.  I know that whatever he chooses John will ensure that it looks good - it cant look any worse than it does at the moment because there is bugger all in there!!

66 Days to Go...

Today I had the day off to take John to Bristol airport for his flight to Cyprus.  As you know my beef for the last couple of days has been John's luggage and his determined effort to flout Easyjet weight allowances.  Well I dont like to say 'I told you so' but I TOLD YOU SO...  Guess who had to pay £30 for excess baggage.  The good news is that it confirms that the luggage scales I bought are accurate - in fact spot on! 

Worse was to come because John's luggage held an ecclectic mix of tools and DIY items and a tin of wood filler called Isopon which we were recommended to bring out to finish off the shutter frame that had been repaired.  Poor John spent most of the day on Monday trying to track it down and then, when he did, bought a big tin.  He was sat in the airport and embarassingly had his name called out - they had found the Isopon in his checked-in luggage and apparently it is a banned substance.  So he had to extract it.  Interestingly the machete was fine!!  Well, ever the Yorkshireman, that tub cost him £10 and he wasn't prepared to abandon it so he phoned me (I was well on my way back home at this point) and so I had to turn round, swing by the airport, slow down and open the window so that he could throw the tin inside!  I probably spent the £10 in petrol but after nearly 20 years of marriage to John, I understand that it is the principle that matters!!

Still at least the flight left near enough on time, landed early, and Mum and Dad were there to pick him up.  On balance the £30 to get the extra tools and things over to Cyprus was probably not a bad shout!

I spent the rest of the day sorting more stuff - my pile for the Charity Shop is growing - at least someone else can benefit from my unwanted things.

Crib tonight.  I drove as the venue was the Griffin's Head at Nether Compton - a pub that no-one can ever find for some reason!  We needed a good win tonight - we are two points behind the top of the league and there aren't that many games left to this season.  As a team we managed a 4-0 win and you can't ask for more than that.  Personally Kev and I thumped our opposition 5-0 and I held a 24 hand at one point which is significant if you are a woman in our league.  John would have been proud of me!

67 Days to Go...

John has been off today whilst I have been at work struggling with the intricacies of next year's IT budget - should I care? Well some wouldn't - but I do because I want to leave everything behind neat and tidy because Gemma and H deserve it because they still have to carry on when I have left.

John spent the day ticking things off of his trusty 'To Do List'.  A bit of a red letter day today as he went back into the Camp to hand over his uniform so he now has just one day left to go back in and finish off his admin - then it is bye bye RN (how funny would it be if they try and call him back as a reservist!!!).

The long and the short of it is that I now have a cupboard that I can start filling with things that are definitely being shipped - the chaos upstairs is getting on my nerves a bit.  We dont really have enough room for what's staying, what's being shipped and what's going to the flat.

Having a chill out evening before taking John up to Bristol airport tomorrow morning.  Two rather nice fillet steaks from M&S and a bottle of Banrock Reserve to wash it down - now that will do nicely.  (Not to mention the sticky toffee pudding to satisfy John's sweet tooth!).  Just as well as it will be meals for one for me for the next ten days!!  On the plus side I will be able to starfish in the bed and have complete control of the remote!

68 Days to Go...

Back to work today.  Fortunately sore throat now gone at last. 

John had the day off and armed with his trusty 'To Do' list set about his last minute bits and pieces before he goes to Cyprus on Wednesday.  I have been trying to pursuade him that he really should weigh his bag because he couldnt keep adding and adding and adding and adding and still keep within Easyjet's weight allowance.  Lo and behold when I got home this evening he was surrounded by a pile of things which he had decided he must remove from his bag and on giving it a quick weigh it only now seems to come somewhere near the permitted 20 kilos. 

What is it with men and estimates of time, distance, size and weight?  Why do they think that terms and conditions apply to someone else and not them?  I distinctly remember trying to check onto a flight and John having to drink some cider at the check-in which I had told him he couldn't take and which he insisted 'would be fine'.

There will be no last minute packing tomorrow or Wednesday morning because nothing else can possibly be fitted into either his bag or his hand luggage.

When I said I was on a diet now, having eaten all weekend, I had a senior moment because I had forgotten that I was meeting up with 'The Girls' for a meal at the Phelips Arms at Montacute.  After nearly 30 years the term 'The Girls' is perhaps a little generous!  We are a select bunch who all, at some point in time, worked for Westlands. 

I cant believe the next time we meet it will be my last.  As I said I am NOT saying goodbye - I just wont be seeing people for a while, maybe a long while, but it wont be goodbye.

69 Days to Go...

We have just had the most idyllic Sunday - great company and great food.  Frank and Kate suggested we go to Sidmouth today for lunch.  They had been to the Victoria Hotel many (more than 20!) years ago and remembered it was a lovely place to eat. 

It was more than lovely, it was outstanding.  A little gem of British genteelness looking out to sea.  We enjoyed a superb five course lunch whilst a pianist tinkled the ivories (we had to persuade Frank not to sing along).  This is the sort of place everyone should experience at least once and it really wasnt expensive for the quality of food and beautiful surroundings. 

Check it out
http://www.brend-hotels.co.uk/TheVictoria/Home.cfm
and go along and try it.  And NO I am not on commission but places like this really deserve a mention.

That's it for me for food - I am totally pigged out and will take the opportunity whilst John is away to get back to normality - no chance for John as I know Mum has already made him a special cake and several casseroles to keep him going whilst he is out there.  Mum he wont have time to eat if he is going to get through the 50 or so items on his list (which is still growing).

Anyway Frank and Kate (Jo and Robbie) if you are reading this thanks for a wonderful day and sorry we will miss Frank's special birthday later this year - we will have to raise a glass to you from a distance.

70 Days to Go...

This blogging malarky is exhausting when you have to do two in one day!!! 

This morning we decided to go on a tool shopping spree so that John could get trowels and things to take out to Cyprus on Wednesday.  I insisted that we stopped off in town and got some suitcase scales (our bathroom ones having died) because John's bag is apparently The Tardis and he keeps shoving more and more stuff in.  Bearing in mind that he has a machete in the bag - all properly packaged I know - the last thing he wants is for his bag to be pulled.  I dont think "it'll be fine" will wash with the EasyJet check-in staff - I have seen those Airport programmes and all the staff are rottweillers (apart from the gay one that looks like Tin Tin).  Trowel shopping has the appeal of pulling my finger nails out one by one so I sat outside in the car rather than go into Screwfix.  John came back armed with plumbobs and trowels and mortar finishing tools and not a pair of shoes in sight.

We then decided to take a trip down to the the Old Creamery to see if we could find a slightly bigger dining table just in case we get all the people visiting us who say they are coming.  We have been thinking about it for ages and just couldnt make our minds up so went and had a look.  An expensive mistake as we came home with not only a dining table but two extra chairs and a bloody great reclaimed wooden door.  We are hoping that the wooden door will become the entrance into Villa 10b and it is lovely and was a bargain!! Bless the hearse as we managed to get it all home in two trips.  Now I have a dining table to sell - any takers??

We caught up with Catherine and Steven this evening and their friends Abi and Nick who will become temporary neighbours when we squat in the Navy Flat in Ilch for our final week.  We went for a really nice meal in the Ilchester Arms.  Our diets will have to start in May when we are on a weevil and a biscuit in Droushia as from now on we seem to be eating out at every opportunity.  Tomorrow we are off to Sidmouth for a five-course lunch with Frank and Kate.  Tomorrow's blog will have all the details - I need to slacken off my waistband and lie down!

71 Days to Go...

For the eagle eyed amongst you, you will see that this post is a little late.  There is a good reason for this - yesterday I succumbed to the throat infection and didnt manage to make it into work.  John had to perfect his Florence Nightingale skills but even he couldnt make those Beechams taste any better! 

It did ease as the day went on - which it has been doing every day which was good because we were able to catch up with Keinton friends Angela and Richard who had come in from Somerton to see us before they return to Cyprus on 5th March.  They will be flying back into Paphos on the flight that John (and Mum and Dad's friends Jane and John) will be boarding to come back to Bristol.

Angela and Richard are very significant in our move to Cyprus.  They used to live in Keinton Mandeville and many years ago offered their apartment along the Tomb of the Kings Road to Mum and Dad for a late week's holiday.  The rest is history - Mum and Dad loved Cyprus so much that they decided to buy an apartment themselves (off plan) - I can remember Dad receiving updates and us pulling his leg that it probably wasnt even his and that the developers had run off with his money.  We were wrong, of course, and the apartment was completed.  It was a good start for them but when they moved there permanently in 1991 they soon realised that they wanted somewhere with a little more space and went on to buy a plot of land and have their dream house built.

We could either have had a lot to thank Richard and Angela for or rue the day that Mum and Dad fell in love with Cyprus - we know that it is the former!! 

72 Days to Go...

Well for the fourth day in a row I woke up feeling like I was swallowing a pack of razorblades.  Not good but as I had a meeting I couldn't avoid today I went into work.  Funny thing is as the day progressed the sore throat wasn't so bad it was replaced by feeling like I had been run over by a steam roller and had an elephant sat on my chest!  I gave in gracefully after the meeting, went home and took myself to my bed.  Just one thing, who created Beecham's flu sips in fruity formula?  They were having a laugh - it is like drinking liquid Vic Vapor-rub!  Fortunately John is about now to bring me drinks and TLC.  I will wait to see how I feel in the morning.

73 Days to Go...

Wednesday and just a regular day at work although I woke up for the third morning in a row with a really sore throat, and that, as Mum will tell you, is a BAD sign as that is always, and I mean always, the beginning of a stinking cold for me.

Nevertheless I dosed myself up with Gemma's tablets - she cant have them now that she is pregnant - and got stuck into preparing budgets - deep joy.

Tonight was crib night, a cup match this week, and we had to traipse off to the very salubrious surroundings of Montacute Working Men's Club - the name says it all.  If it hadn't been for crib there would have been no-one in tonight.

Not successful, Kev and I were the only pair from our side to win, and then under rather dodgy circumstances which I cant divulge but let's just say it was a good job our opponents couldn't count their hands!!

Best we concentrate on the league from now one then...

74 Days to Go...

It's been a miserable wet Tuesday but great excitement in the Wiseman household as the bargain steamer from Robert Dyas has arrived which will mean I (Jill) will be able to do the last few nooks and crannies of my ancient Married Quarters cooker.  I am a bit concerned though because I think that, in places, it is only the grime that is keeping it together!

John isn't here so a quiet night tonight - going to consult my "How to Retire Abroad" book to make sure I have remembered all the places we need to contact.  There just seems so much to do - I really take my hat off to my Mum and Dad who did it all TWENTY YEARS AGO without anyone to consult - I mean if we get stuck we just give them a ring!

Just had a major panic as I have eaten my tea and then got a reminder that I was supposed to be out on a girl's night - false alarm as I remembered we had rearranged for next week - thank god for that either I would have had to have eaten twice or let people down - neither of which I relish.  John and I once eat a bloody great fry up and then remembered we were supposed to be out for a meal at friends - we went, and ate (three courses) and vowed we would never ever do that again.

75 Days to Go...

14th February and Valentines Day but being a good Northerner John gives it a stiff ignoring because all the prices are hiked up and I see that the card I bought him is still on the mantlepiece unopened because we 'dont do cards'.  

On the plus side, the old romatic that he is, John described the meal he would have cooked had he been cooking, so the best I got was to visualise seared hand dived scallops on a pea and mint puree artistically dragged down the plate by spoon (the puree not the scallops!), fresh grilled sea bass with minted new potatoes and (more) peas finished off with his home made lemon cheescake (no peas in this one).  Lovely and absolutely no calories at all - what more could a girl want?  I will hold him to it and make sure he cooks it one day.

John went into the Camp today for Bloods, Medical and Dentist but somehow managed to miss the medical appointment due to some mixup (not his fault) so has to go back next week instead.  Not a happy bunny as you can imagine - not his fault so it must be Janice's instead because he always blames her!!

He is busy trying to organise all the things he has to do before he wraps it all in in March and as he suffers with no sense of time or direction he is busy double booking himself left right and charley.

He is tetchy and I am tetchy - we are heading for a very uneven patio in Cyprus!

76 Days to Go...

Sunday and it is a lie-in day for us except John decided to get up and watch the footie this morning.  It has been the most miserable day so we shot out to Morrisons for a bacon bap and the weekly shop.  John is playing labourer to our builder-friend John this week in Taunton so sandwiches will need to be made and I thought I had seen the end of them!!

Dinner was simmering nicely in the slow cooker so we decided to go down to the pub for the Sunday meat draw although not before trying to sort out Dad's I-Tunes issue - his I-Tunes and his I-Pod have got out of sync somehow.  Thank God that Google has come up with some solutions!!

We won nothing on the draw so we came home to a house filled with the smell of pork casserole - just the kind of food when it has been piddling down all day and continuing to do so! 

That 'Oh my God it's Sunday and I've got Work Tomorrow' feeling will soon be a thing of the past but until it is it still creeps up on us at around 7.00pm on a Sunday evening.

Bring on the chocolate and a coffee and crap TV in bed!

77 Days to Go...

Well we have had a day of sorting out after spending a very pleasant evening last night with Aunty Janet and Alan. Nice food and nice company and we organised to stay over should we become bedless which will be a bit strange as Jill will be sleeping just up the road from her childhood home (Cottons Lane).

More stuff has gone from the Garden. Our neighbours have become grateful recipients and are planning to take on the allotment at Trevor's field now we have vacated. Jill will be a hard act to follow as for the last couple of years we have enjoyed an abundance of fresh vegetables - some of which I have never tasted before and have come to enjoy - Jerusalem Artichokes were a revelation. There will be some disappointed people at the Royal Standard this year as all our excess found its way down there when we visited on a Sunday for Crib and the Meat Draw.  We plan to have a go at growing our own in Droushia despite Jill's Dad's reservations - we will have to see if it turns out to be a waste of time - but it is cooler there so we live in hope!!

78 Days to Go...

Well another tick in the box as I (Jill) actually remembered to go to the Doctors today for my Cholesterol blood test (unlike last week when I gayly pitched up at work and then looked at my diary!!). The good news is that apparently I have the blood pressure of a teenager 120 over 80 - it is just a shame that the same couldnt be said for the rest of me. But that is good news bearing in mind that Mum has had a history of blood pressure issues. Perhaps this is one instance where I take after my Dad as I dont recall him ever having blood pressure problems. I am sure that my brisk 30 minute walk in the rain to the surgery will have helped - the nurse reckons that it is probably because of the statins but as I havent been very good taking them of late I am hoping that it just means that I am fit and healthy and have nothing to worry about. It would be good if the results come back and my cholesterol is fine because I shouldnt need to worry too much about tablets (and the cost).

John finishes his resettlement course today with an exam!! Still he should come home with the rudiments of bricklaying, plastering and tiling under his belt. All useful stuff for the plans we have for 10B.

I have missed him more this last three weeks than I do when he is away for months. I think it is because he is away but only really just down the road (or is it up the road for Cardiff?). It wont be the last time we are apart as he is jetting off to Cyprus on 23rd for 10 days and a list of jobs as long as your arm. But he likes that and functions better with a list!! By the time he comes home in March we should at least have the kitchen underway and solar heating sorted.

I guess it will be a weekend of more sorting for us!!!

79 Days to Go...

Day 79 in the Wiseman Household

Jill has given up cleaning the cooker.

Three cans of Mr Muscle, two bags of that lethal kitchen cleaner and one pair of impaired lungs later she has declared that it is the best that she can do. She is now in search of someone with one of those pointy steamer cleaners. Whoever has the cooker next ought to be very grateful - it is probably the cleanest it has ever been - they wont be able to tell though because the internal lights dont work!

One more job ticked off...

The Countdown Begins

Now that this blog is up and running it needs to be meaningful so from today the countdown really begins and I can put some milestones in place.

Not including today I make it that we have 80 days left and then the following day, May 1st, we are off. Between now and then the following has to take place:

February 11th - John finishes his course in Cardiff
February 23rd - March 5th John in Cyprus busy busy busy getting things sorted in preparation for our move.
March 9th - my birthday
April 21/22nd - Shippers come in and pack up our belongings
Easter Weekend - visit to Sheffield
April 28th - Farewell drinks at the Bull
April 29th - Bonfire party at the Field
May 1st - One way tickets to Cyprus

For those of you interested we have had the double glazing done and here are a few photographs to show you progress

Tuesday 8th February - counting down

John is in Cardiff still this week - perfecting his tiling skills and taking advantage of the home cooking provided by Maria his landlady.  As I am desperately trying to get our MOD cooker to march out standards then once it is clean I will never cook in it again.

Dad has sent a couple of emails today with advice on the wood filler we are going to need to repair the shutter frame and to remind us that we need a sink - John will have to remember to go out and get one before the marble gets cut for the work surfaces.

Work is happening - not quick enough for John but hey we have the rest of our lives!