Swan Hotel Southwold

... br>Its going to be a a ******* Ball!!!!!
The Goodbye Party Organised and i think everything is sorted!
No more clothes to buy...maybe just a few xmas presents before i go.
And i have packed and unpacked my bag about 4 times already!

Its really bad i am just wishing the next few weeks away!!!

I'm sure i won't be sleeping for days before!!!!!

Only 553 hours to go!!!
Yippie!!!!

H.x

With time rapidly dwindling I went down to Banbury way this afternoon to visit my brother et famille before I leave, taking the opportunity to say goobye to two young nephews - one of whom was able to appreciate some of the implications of what I am doing, "But what if you get sick?" he asked. :-)

Back up to Stoke in the late evening. Last day of preparations tomorrow.

A quick update. Things have moved on, including us. We're pleased to report that a few days ago Brian the van was declared healthy, after some serious re-constructive surgery!

On Monday we left Norfolk and began a series of public transport journeys that would take us from Norwich to London, London to Cheltenham (to visit with friends for a couple of nights) and then Cheltenham to Birmingham to finally pick up our beloved Brian. We ...

... to work, then during the day we kept losing broadband connection. With an over booked plane it was imperative I checked in as soon after 7.20pm as possible so as I could to preserve our precious seats. Eventually after fraught nerves but good assistance from son Stephen I got the job done.

Off to bed with some relief.

... for them: clearing cupboard andwardrobe space, and giving the place a thorough spring clean. Vanda has spentweeks getting the (already very clean and tidy) house in tip top condition.There are places I’m not allowed to go now for fear of making them dirty oruntidy again.

As a riposte I preparedanother list: “The House Sitters Guide to Living at Nsansa”. At least Barbaraand Steve will know where things are and what to do if they go wrong.

... up early to be first in the check-in queue, smile at the check in lady and, standing on tip toe, ask for the emergency exit seats, because you say, with such long legs the other seats are too cramped. But airline have now got used to the wily passenger and have started charging extra for extra legroom seats.

To find the best seats (and there can be several which are not exit seats), find out what plane ...

... may be few and far between, so take a lot.

My view is several tee shirts and pairs of shorts will cover most situations, any anyway I don't want to be lugging a heavy case around for three months, so take a little.

And at the moment Vanda is sweating - she's right on her weight limit and still not finished packing. I've not yet told her that I'm 7 kg below my limit ........

No doubt over the next few days we'll find a compromise solution!

... time was against us and the suns rays were turning orange and throwing longer shadows... We moved on after a very short stop.

After Benacre we climbed up on to the cliff tops and followed a narrow path through some woodland, again there was so much character, a real unexpected delight. Following the path along we came to a road that had fallen in to the sea, looking inland we could see the ruins of a large church along with an expanse of farmland. We ...

... it here and relief -well that's obvious! The wind was a gentle NE ie on the nose so we motor sailed back to Lowestoft, the boys helming for 90% of the way. They were very good, I must say. It was then that I discovered that our main genoa winch that had been used to attempt to get the boat back onto the pontoon, was warped and that a new drum was required. So the Dutch will be hearing from me after all! As we approached the Royal Norfolk & Suffolk Yacht club and after several ...

... Next was Southwold, which was actually really lovely. There were still some arcade games on the jetty, but the houses were nice and there were coloured beach houses and a lovely sunset - and yummy fish and chips! The drive home was nice too: pretty little villages and fields and so on.