Somerset, London, Wigan

Thursday morning the removal men were back with us bright and early, and by 9.30am we had packed the last of our bits and bobs, said goodbye to the house and Reading, and were on the road to Somerset.

By about 3pm the removal men had us unpacked and were gone, leaving us to enjoy the peace of our new (rental) home in the lovely village of Hinton St George. Hubby and I worked hard over the next few hours to get as much unpacked as possible and to get DC's room ready. We did a great job (if that doesn't sound immodest) and had a lot of clothes, kitchen items, furniture and all sorts of other things in the right places by the time the evening came round. We also had the chicken in her run in the garden of the house we've bought which is about a 2 minute walk round the corner. At 7.30pm we walked along to our local pub The Lord Poulett Arms where we had a fabulous meal. But by 9pm we were flagging and had to head home; we watched Coronation Street on the laptop (Sky only got fitted the following morning) and then headed to bed.

Friday we did more unpacking, furniture moving, had Sky fitted (VERY important!), etc etc and we also had to do a little bit of re-packing as at 2pm we left the tranquility of our new village to head back into the fray and drive up to London for a wedding (but not THE wedding!) Took about 3 hours to get there and we checked into a lovely hotel right opposite the Victoria & Albert Museum - what a brilliant location! We literally threw our bags in our room and headed straight back out again; we had a wander round the museum and then made the most of the glorious weather by sitting in the museum's John Madeski Garden (not a football in sight).I then left hubby enjoying his book, a cuppa and a scone and went for a bit more of a look round the museum and in particular the shop. Once we were both fully refreshed in mind and body we took a walk along the road to Harrods. It was about 7pm by this time and as we headed straight for the foodhall, I remarked to hubby on the chances of Harrods having any 'yellow labels' (ie reduced price food); well, would you believe it, it was 'buy one, get one free' on the cake counter and it would have been rude not to, wouldn't it?! We then took a walk around the rest of the foodhall areas and were sorely tempted by the smells coming from the pizzeria, but at £16 each, we decided to forego the delights of a Harrods pizza. We also decided not to partake of this particular brand of tea; hubby has decided to stick with Yorkshire for the time being.With our mouths watering we headed a little further along the road to Harvey Nichols with the intention of enjoying some fare from Yo Sushi, but along the way we were sidetracked by the Champagne Cocktail Bar and, since we were enjoying a child-free weekend, it seemed a shame not to partake of a cheeky drink - yum! We did manage to limit ourselves to just one cocktail each and then enjoyed some delicious Yo Sushi offerings. By 10pm we were happy to head back to our hotel.

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny yet again, and we headed out early to enjoy a little more of London before we had to head off to the wedding. We walked up to Hyde Park and through to the Lido cafe next to the Serpentine, a lovely spot to enjoy coffee and cake on such a glorious day. On the way back I dipped a toe in the Princess Diana Memorial water thingy - absolutely freeeezing!

Then it was time to get our gladrags on and head to the wedding which was being held in the Orangery at Holland Park; what a fabulous place, especially on such a lovely, sunny, blue-sky day. Once the ceremony had finished we gathered outside on the lawn to enjoy champagne (lots of it), canapes and afternoon tea. Then we went off on a two-hour Routemaster bus tour of London, which was great; we learnt lots of interesting facts (did you know London postcodes are plotted outwards from Trafalgar Square?) and saw many places we'd never really noticed before - Westminster Cathedral, for eg. We then had a couple of hours free (we spent them in Costa as a torrential rain storm cut short our plan to have a little walk) before heading to a lovely French restaurant for the six-course wedding breakfast. At about 11pm we snuck away feeling pooped, and leaving the rest of the guests to party (til 4am, apparently!)

On Sunday morning we made a quick visit to the V&A to buy DC a little gift, and to Patisserie Valerie to buy cakes before setting off on the three-hour drive to Wigan, where DC had been spending some quality time with Grandma and Grandad.

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

Hello Hello


Unbelievably, it's a week and a day since we made the move to Somerset! Where has the time gone? It feels like we left Reading months ago, not just 8 days ago as we've crammed so much in to such a short space of time.


Final Goodbyes
Picking up from where I left off, I had a few more 'fond farewells' to say. Firstly, and most importantly, to my most bestest and loveliest friend Liz, who I have known since we both worked together on a Sunday in John Menzies in Reading railway station in the early 1990s - oh, the glamour of it all. We bonded over many a bag of Cadbury's Mini Eggs which mysteriously split open and had to be consumed... Our final farewell was in the slightly more salubrious setting of Yo Sushi. I shall miss my Friday evenings with Liz and B :(



On Saturday hubby, small boy & I took our absolutely, definitely final trip over to Henley; while Sunday morning saw us at Basildon Park; even though it's only about 8 miles away, we'd never been there before - isn't that always the way? It was a glorious sunny day and we got there before the crowds for a lovely walk in the grounds and a cuppa and a cake in the tea room.


In the afternoon we strolled over to the lovely Caversham Court for a final cuppa and cake from the tea shop (can you see a theme developing?!) and a play on the grass.On Monday I did my last dropping off trip to nursery (hubby was doing the dropping off for the next two days), and took the opportunity to pick up a last Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks. I think our nearest Starbucks in Somerset is about 12 miles away. Sad, but true that I have looked it up.

On Tuesday I went into town to have my hair done (do they have hairdressers in Somerset, or do you just go to the nearest farm and get someone to lop off your locks with a scythe?), to have a last look round the shops (sob sob, so long John Lewis, it's been good knowing you [nearest JL is now just over an hour's drive away in Bristol]) and to say goodbye to a couple of former work colleagues, Estelle and Trevor, over a slice of cake and a cold drink (where has this heatwave come from?!) at Bill's. Then hubby & I went to pick up small boy from his last full day at nursery; here he is playing with a tyre in the way that only a boy can.

On Wednesday things got really hectic; hubby took small boy over to nursery for the last time and the removal men arrived to start packing up all our worldy goods.At midday I drove over to collect darling child from nursery and drove up to the service station on the M6 toll road (my glamorous life) to meet Grandma & Grandad and leave the small boy in their capable hands. By the time I got back home the removal men had finished and the house was pretty much bare, except for a matress for us to sleep on, a kettle, two deckchairs and the tv.

In the evening we had a farewell drink and bite to eat with a few friends in our lovely local, The Moderation.


Then Thursday came and it was time to load up the last few bits and bobs (plus the chicken), say goodbye to 201 (so good we bought it twice)and set off for Somerset!

More Fond Farewells

Less than a week now til we move; we've been cramming in even more goodbyes as we visit places and see people for the last time. Sob. On Saturday morning we whizzed over to Cliveden for a couple of hours, while Sunday morning saw us making the most of the sunshine with a trip to the park in Henley and a stroll along the river. On Tuesday DC & I went to Bounce (softplay) at the local leisure centre for the last time, swiftly followed by our weekly 30mins of singing at Rhymetime at the lovely local library. Wednesday morning, after dropping DC at nursery, I paid another visit to Henley for a coffee and a little wander round before meeting up with some mum's from my NCT group at the River & Rowing Museum (so busy chatting that I forgot to take photos!) Thursday I had to make a flying visit down to Somerset to sign for our rental house; also popped into our actual house to see what a dreadful mess it is for the last time before the builders start on 26 April - thank goodness! And today it was DC's last trip to toddler group. More photos and more goodbyes to follow!

Starting to Say My Goodbyes

On Friday we (finally) exchanged on the sale of our house in Reading. It's now less than two weeks til we move to Somerset. I'm excited about all the adventures and experiences that our new life in the village will bring, but I'm also very nervous and a bit sad to be leaving behind people and places that I have known for a long time, and even people and places that I've only known for a short time!

I first came up to Reading in October 1990 to attend University; I've not lived in Reading itself since then, having had a couple of years down in Hampshire, and several in Henley, but basically I've lived within a 15-mile radius of the town for more than half of my life. I think it's fair to say that a lot of what and who I know is based in this area, so it's understandable that upping sticks and moving just over 100 miles/2 hours by car away is a little daunting.

So, I've been starting to say my goodbyes to the places I enjoy visiting, and the people I enjoy spending time with. On Wednesday, after dropping DC at nursery, I took a stroll round Henley in the early morning sunshine and enjoyed a leisurely coffee in what was once my local Starbucks.

A walk along Bell Street, a bit chilly as the morning sun had yet to peep over the tops of the buildings:

A look left down towards St Mary's church which stands just across from the River Thames Turn right onto Market (or Falaise to give it its proper name) Square, heading up towards the Town Hall.Looking back down Market Square, with the churh tower in the distance.Cut through the alleyway at the side of Market Square, through the car park and into the lovely Waitrose where DC had his very first outing, aged just four days.Then jump in the car and head home along past this lovely old house which looks out on the the river

and round the corner past the offices of the local rag, the Henley Standard (or Sub-Standard as it is jokingly known); looking quite tropical, don't you think?!

Friday evening it was time to say goodbye to one of my very good friends, B. Along with our joint friend Liz, who B has known since they were both burgeoning bumps in their mummies tummies, I have spent the majority of my Friday evenings with B since first meeting her and Liz in the early 1990s. When we were young and fancy free our Friday evenings would be spent drinking and dancing til the small hours, then along came husbands and children and our Fridays have become a little more sedate and tend to revolve more around eating out or at each other's houses, or going to the cinema.

Good to see B doesn't look too sad at the thought of me leaving...

The Whole Tooth, and Nothing But the Tooth

Offending tooth, top middle The Wednesday morning trip to the dentist left us feeling much relieved that the tooth wasn't causing DC any major discomfort - having seen the dentist prod and poke with DC not even flinching, that much was evident. With the dentist's words of 'nothing to worry about, just wait til the adult tooth grows through' ringing in our ears, we felt like a huge weight of worry had been lifted from our shoulders. But, little by little, the worry-weight started to come back - is his tooth really going to look like that for the next 4-5 years til the adult tooth comes through? is he really going to have to eat by pushing food into the sides of his mouth and not biting at the front? are we going to be on tenterhooks just waiting for him to knock it again? etc, etc. So, on Friday we got an appointment at the emergency dentist who specialises in children; by this time the tooth looked different yet again, sort of swollen and boil-like (sounds odd, looked odd!) This dentist was pretty adamant that the tooth had to come out, and we were really rather relieved at this diagnosis. So, after a trip back to our original dentist for a referral letter and a trip back to this dentist to deliver said letter, we got a phone call that very afternoon to say that DC was booked in a week later at 7.30am at the Royal Berks to have the offending tooth whipped out. Hooray! We then had just one more trip to the dentist to sign some forms on Monday morning and then it was countdown to Friday.

Friday morning, 7am and we were on our way to hospital. By 9am we were in theatre where I cuddled small boy while he had a needle put in the back of his hand (which had already been numbed with copious amounts of 'magic cream'); within seconds of the needle going in and the anaesthetic being pumped through, he was sound asleep in my arms. I popped him down on the operating table and hubby & I were quickly chivvied out of the room, told to go and get a coffee and come back in 25-30mins. So off we went to the cafe for drinks and a sausage sarnie for hubby, reading matter at the ready. The time flew by and we were back on the ward a few minutes before DC was wheeled in in the arms of a nurse, just coming round from his little sleep. For the next 30mins or so he was a bit teary and upset, probably caused as much by a feeling of 'where am I? what just happened?' as much as the discomfort of having an operation, but not long after 10am we were back in the car heading home and the distraction of being out and about did the trick and we had no more tears. Home by 10.30am, small boy tucked up in a blanket, cuddling his favourite teddy, drinking milk and watching Chuggington. 11.30am small boy running round the house, eating pureed lunch and acting as if nothing had happened.

The fact that Friday happened to be April Fool's Day wasn't lost on us; I was very tempted to phone Granny and tell her DC had been fitted with a lovely little set of falsies, but I didn't.

Without offending tooth, but with big gap.