Tortoises, Paint and Packing!

With just 29 days to go now, the anticipation (and panic!) is building! Only two weeks left in our house! The living room is now almost empty ... just a piano, few coffee tables and lots of boxes. And it is being painted (with the kind help of Tim's Dad!) for our mystery tenants (yes - we still need some!)

The goal this week is to box up the belongings that we would like to keep but not take with us. My aunt and uncle have very kindly offered us a room in their house to store things. And so this weekend we are driving a moving van to Nottingham with our couches and other bits of furniture along with our boxes of china and dishes and other special things we really don't want to part with! Not knowing when we will see all these things again is a very strange thought!

Everything that can't go to my aunt and uncle's or fit in our suitcases (or possibly squeeze in our loft!) is going to be sold on Saturday at a garage sale at the home of our late friend Billy Excell. Janet and Mike have very kindly offered to hold this sale to sell Billy's and our things in support of us! We are really grateful! If you are around on Saturday, August 14th, please stop by 22 Duke's Ride, Silchester (RG7 2PY) ... there will be cakes too!

So next week our home living will be most peculiar - no furniture, no beds, no proper dishes! I think it will really feel like our adventure is beginning then! And the packing for Tanzania will begin in earnest! And the decorating and work on the house/garage ... and some shopping (we still don't have a camera and we need to do our Christmas shopping!) ... and a few more jabs ... ! And interspersed with all these jobs is the wonderful distraction from the stressful reality of packing and decorating ... lots of visiting! As the food is gradually getting rather boring and thin on the ground in this house, we will enjoy all the more some meals with friends over the next few weeks! We certainly enjoyed our coffee and croissants with the Davies yesterday!

And finally, the latest news from Tanzania is that we are to be the proud carers of two tortoises when we arrive! How fun is that!