Let the game begin!

For weeks now I've slowly been getting used to the idea that I'm moving, alternating between tears of sadness and smiles of relief, but now I'm actually packing!  It is an extremely fraught time, I have to admit.  So many memories being left behind yet a new period of life beginning.

Christmas 2010

I have the most wonderful daughter-in-law!  Just look at this Christmas cake she made for our dessert yesterday, with strawberry and cream Santas!!!!!!!  It was our first Christmas in the new house and we sat out on the deck, overlooking the swimming pool surrounded by trees.  The in-laws were there, too, so it was just a perfect family time.

I needed a happy day, as the previous day had been very stressful, with me reading old letters and sorting throughvarious bits and pieces, like the tickets, boarding passes, etc, from when Philip and I went to live in France in 1973!!!!!!!!  I threw them out, but have hung onto the drawings he did when he was in kinder, and all the cards he's ever sent me in his whole 40 years.  There's a tear-bringing card that his Nanny sent to me once when I was holidaying in London and he was about 6:  'Dear Mummy, I miss you more and more as the days get longer and longer.'  Needless to say, I hopped on the next plane home!

Michael, by now you will have received my email and know I did, indeed, get your ecard.  Thanks again.

And thanks to you, Winifred and Frank, for the lovely cards that were waiting for me at the new address.

Sky and sand...

This is the carpet - laid only yesterday - in my new bedroom.  We picked a tough one to withstand Muffy's clawing.  She never did take to her scratch-pole, always preferred the carpet.  However, in her 8 years in this house she never did any damage, so I hope this one will be just as hard-wearing.

I love the painted walls.  Years ago, when this effect was all the rage, I spent a fortune on books showing how to do it but never tried.  Now it's done for me, which is nice.

The previous owner was a plumber but I think he must have had an electrician as a mate as I've never seen so many power points, switches and lights!  It will take forever to work out what all the switches are for.

Now that I have a date for moving I'll really get stuck into culling again.  I did do a bit a while back, but then gave up as I needed a deadline to keep me motivated.

Contract exchange day in November

Friends Bruce and Wendy were with me in this shot, taken moments before Wendy tipped her tea all over me!!!!  My handbag, trousers and shoes were completely soaked and people ran from everywhere to help clean up the mess.  Wendy took advantage of the opportunity to introduce me to them all, telling them I'd just bought a house in the area and would soon be moving in.  So I made lots of friends!

Yes, that pic of Hornsby shopping centre sure looks deserted, Winifred.  I didn't take it myself - found it online.  I'll bet it's full of peope now, just days before Christmas.  You can't imagine how nice it was to read your positive comments about being with the grandchildren.  My 'friends' continue to be extremely negative, so much so that I really don't want to be bothered with any of them any more.

I spent the weekend in Montview, among the dozens of cartons waiting to be unpacked.  Emma and I sat for hours together in the living room bird watching while Hugo snored away contentedly in his rocking cradle.  The view from there is nothing but trees - just beautiful.  We're having a cold snap, though certainly nothing like yours in the northern hemisphere, so were not in the least tempted to try out the pool.

This morning I rang my swimming friend at 7, saying, 'Let's forget about it today!'  I think it was 12 degrees, with a gale blowing.  So Muffy and I curled up and stayed in bed till 10, when I had to get up and get ready to go out to lunch with friends.

Philip has booked a removalist to take my stuff down on 24 January.  I met the young couple who've bought the house - they're both architects, and fell in love with the place after 10 minutes, so I'm very glad to be leaving it in loving hands.

Nice boardwalk near home

This morning I signed my house away.  What a strange feeling...I have to be out by 31 January 2011, but can, of course, go anytime from now.

To celebrate, I bought myself Susan Boyle's Christmas CD, which is playing as I type.  I know I said I'd never buy another thing, but this will be nice to listen to in the car as I go between houses over the next weeks.  Philip wants to borrow my car - a stationwagon - so I'll drive down (with a lawnmower that a friend gave us) and he can use it to move various bits and pieces they don't want the removalist to handle.

I've googled the library, aquatic centre, etc, in Hornsby and am pleased to discover they are only about 4km from the house, as is Westfield, one of those dreadful shopping centres that I don't like a bit, but I suppose I will go there occasionally.  Here's a pic - I'm sure these places are the same the world over:

It seems too good to be true, having both bush and city right on our doorstep!

I can hardly wait...view from near my new home.

My house sold in a blink to a young couple and now it's just a matter of their doing the paper work and building and pest checks.  I'm stressed out of my brain making decisions on what to keep and what to throw away!  This morning I took a couple of boxes of books to the university, where they have a huge book fair every two years.  I told them two of the books, 'Firing,' by Ninette Dutton and 'Out in the Open', by her (now late, and deservedly so) husband, Geoffrey, must be sold together.  Written in the 90s, Ninette's book was a charming tale of her life with her husband and family and Geoffrey's, 'a disarmingly frank autobiography', revealed years of betrayal with other women.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I read it.  What an absolute rotter!!!!!!!!!  How could a man so publicly humiliate his wife like this???????  Wikileaks has nothing on this shameless revelation.

I'm listening to old tapes, dating back to some of Philip speaking French when he was 3 and 4.  I can't possibly get rid of them as they bring tears to my eyes.  He was so cute, just the way Emma is now.

I'm also having coffees and lunches with many friends, to say goodbye, though I intend to come back here to Newcastle frequently.  Am also doing a lot of lying on the sofa in front of the telly watching reruns of 'The Bill'.

Queen Victoria Building Christmas Tree 2010

http://www.qvb.com.au/Christmas-Tree

Have made a couple of trips to Sydney lately and both times had lunch in the Queen Victoria Building, gazing in wonderment at this giant tree.  Of course, absolutely everything is online, so I found a video of people putting it up so you can see for yourselves.

I wasn't even tempted by the bling in the shops, though did enjoy looking at it all.  Have bought only one thing for Christmas, a battery-operated mother frog with a baby on her back, which both my grandkids will enjoy in the new pool.  As I continue to declutter, my distaste for stuff of any kind is growing exponentially!  All my visitors must leave laden down with stuff I force upon them!  And in the morning I'll be taking a huge basketful of stuff to a charity shop, the first of many, no doubt.

There has been a lot of interest in my house and yes Winifred, some of the lookers are waving cheque books around, so I'll no doubt be gone by the end of January.  Have lost all sentimentality and am really looking forward to my new home.  It is a hard period, this waiting...

Open House

Selling one's house must be one of life's worst experiences - just squeezes in ahead of buying a new swimming costume.  I was going to sell it myself, but Philip told me if somebody walked in wearing a nice tie I'd offer it to him at half price, and I do have a record of working like that.  So we got an agent and he told me on Wednesday we could have the first Open House on Saturday (yesterday), so boy, did I need to get cracking!!!!!!!!!

I can honestly say any attachment I thought I had to this place has completely evaporated.  After days of dusting, vacuuming, washing years of grime off walls with sugar soap, washing curtains (and hanging them straight from the washing machine), cleaning windows, hosing exterior walls, scrubbing, tidying, packing, giving stuff away, weeding, sweeping, throwing out piles of junk and so on, I absolutely hate the place and can't get out quickly enough.

I am appalled at the sheer volume of stuff I've acquired over the years.  Shopping will have no interest for me whatever in future.  I don't want or need ANYTHING, ever again.  I will be more than happy to live very simply. 

The agent tells me six lots of people came through yesterday, which is good, considering the ad had only been online three days and not yet in the newspaper.  One man wants to bring his wife today.  I wish I could just close my eyes and the next few weeks would go away!