And so life without our personal effects began.

Once all the stuff going to Australia had gone, the house was a touch clearer and the cleaning could begin.  But we still had to live in the house for the next 2 weeks and we still had to work out what was going with us (sorry, already done, but not quite) and what we needed to get rid of, but some of it like the washing machine, fridge, freezer, microwave, kettle and so on was needed until the last minute.

And then there was the question of suitcases.  We didn’t own any. Pure and simple, we had to go on a shopping trip to buy some.  We didn’t buy enough as it was to turn out.  It wasn’t a question of could I get it all into the suitcases, but a question of me being able to keep the suitcases under the required weight limits as it was to turn out.  Oh well another large and another cabin sized had to be purchased the day before we flew.

Helen, our cleaning lady was to put in extra hours helping to get the house clean and I was exceptionally grateful for her help, but even with her help we knew we needed to get the place cleaner.  Luckily she was also our landlady’s cleaner so we knew that our landlady would be happy with her cleaning!

Then the was a lot of furniture, the car, the white goods and other bits that needed a new home.  Sadly the car could not come to Australia with us because it failed on 3 of the 4 criteria, not least of all we had not owned it for more than 12 months. The rest of the stuff was either sold to people or given away on freecycle with the proviso that it had to be collected on a certain date or couple of days, so that we could maximise how long we kept it for.

Slowly the house got emptier and emptier until finally there was the stuff our cleaning lady was having, the stuff going with us and the stuff that was homeless (one box) plus a few plants which we forgot to pass on to the correct people and they got left at Stuart’s parents’ home.

The leaving day just got nearer and nearer. Moving out was easier than expected in some ways, but harder in others.  Dusty, the Irish Wolf Hound we had known for the entire 4 years, knew something was amiss.  We had one final goodbye and it was time to leave.