1 month and counting

Are you absolutely sure she IS winding you up Absent?

Really looking forward to Saturday but that you are leaving forever.

gillybob I hope so. It's so easy to do I don't know why anybody bothers. Actually there is an element of truth because she and her husband are having a house built and that is due to be finished in May, although I think it's running slightly behind schedule. She has pretty much taken it for granted – and she is quite right to do so – that the children can stay with us for a few days while she and her husband dismantle stuff and pack up in their present house and then unpack and re-assemble in their new one. I never believed that arranging for me to rent a house that has an additional five single beds was a coincidence.

The day we moved into our new home here in Hampshire, to be near DD and family, was my DGS's 7th birthday and also the day my DGD and DSinL were going to a long-planned ball. We had hoped to be in situ a month before that (but of course there were delays) and the promised sleepover for DGS and DGD had to be fulfilled so their parents could go to the ball.

So amidst all the boxes and mayhem when the removal men had left, we had to accommodate our overnighters. It went well actually and they were hugely excited to camp out in the guest room. It's amazing what you can do when you have to and I am sure you will love being near your DGC absent and will quickly become "the world's best Granny", as my DGD calls me! I wish you God speed and much happiness in your new location.

Gagagran My removals have never been very straightforward either – I think it's always like that. I managed to get locked out of one house at ten o'clock at night with a van load of furniture and had to borrow a ladder from the local pub to get through an upstairs window and I nearly froze to death in my present house because the boiler had been switched off for two days, we couldn't work out how to light it and it was bitterly cold. I shall never make fun of a living flame gas fire again.

In this case we shall be renting a furnished house for three months and, as it's normally a holiday let, it supplies bed linen, iron, broadband and all manner of things that are not always automatically included. It takes about 12 weeks for our possessions to be shipped over at which point we shall transfer to an unfurnished house. When it seems a good idea to sell property in this country, we shall try to do so and then maybe have a house built just for us in the same way as absentdaughter and son-in-law.

Thank you for your good wishes.

Absent I do hope what you are letting yourself in for ! .

Perhaps when you and Mr A do eventually get round to having your own place built, you should make sure it is a tiny one-bedroomed place with absolutely no room for any Mini Absents. Only joking I am sure you will love every single minute of being the best grandma in the world. Plus it will give you a chance to reinvent yourself on GN.

Oooops should have said " I do hope you know what you are letting yourself in for". Fingers working quicker than brain cells today! (again).

absent I too remember the posts when your decision to go became possible; stick with those feelings! You've explored every angle, and you will not only enjoy the DGC but also have some emotional support yourself, and you deserve that. GO for it! and, of course xxx

Absent - what a coincidence if you are going to rent the same house that my daughter rented in Brightwater. It did have a lot of bedrooms! I will ask her the address, as I can only remember that it was on Lord Something Road.

I googled the map - Lord Rutherford Road!

No I shall be in Richmond to begin with in Selbourne Avenue.

Richmond library is wonderful - and you can walk up Richmond Hill!

Absent Well done you, I am of the Gally and Gracesmum 'persuasion' and am simply not brave enough to make huge moves but always wish I had done when it is too late! (Some of you adventurous gals will be saying: 'It's never too late!')
..... and when Greatnan arrives, think of all the lovely things you will do.
I think you should write about your 'new life'. I for one would love to hear about it!

Perhaps I'll start a blog – or maybe not but just a few intermittent jottings. It is a strange coincidence that Greatnan's daughter and mine already live within a few miles of each other and will soon be in the same very small village. It follows that we – that is Greatnan and me – will also end up in the same place. If you wrote it in a story or tv soap everyone would say "Nah life isn't like that." I don't think Wakefield is quite prepared for what/who is going to hit it.

I had a look on Google maps and it looks very pleasant Absent. Will be interested to hear your impressions of life in NZ.

On Google Earth I can find my daughter's house - it is on Clifford Road, next to the tennis courts.

I'm not sure what street absentdaughter's new house will be in – it's got a roof and windows now and the 3-D plan of the kitchen looks luscious. At the moment she is still living in Richmond.

Today is going to be another day of struggling with paperwork. The insurance company with which I insure my rental houses won't insure for overseas landlords, so I have to cancel and take out new insurance from 10 May. There must be dozens of establishments, from the bank to the pensions people, to whom I must write with my change of address.

Next Saturday is my farewell lunch with my Gransnet friends; 5 May is the farewell party with Mr absent's family and some local friends; a slightly less local friend needs to be fitted in (as it were) some time next week; then 9 May is the farewell gathering of London friends and family. I've never had such a busy social life!

Okay – back to filling in forms and writing letters.

You are getting there! I wish I could be at your GN farewell lunch - I will be with you in spirit (not spirits, I don't drink them, but I bet some of you will be!)