June is bursting out all over

The last few days seem to have been a bit of a rush, since I am off to Lundy on Friday for another weeks holiday, and the deadline for the village newsletter is also looming. I have been busy helping the current Editor with various pages, and have written a few of my own this time, one on the origins of April Fools Day and a double spread on the top 10 best April fools jokes. I am not sure if he will have room for either of them, but it is nice to feature seasonal things. I had the idea for a piece in the June edition, the first one of which I will do all by myself, entitled "June is bursting out all over". It may raise a few eyebrows.

Community spirit

Since we moved to our new house just before Christmas, I have been amazed at just how much there is going on around the area - loads of groups and fairs etc all over the place - all potential venues for selling and promoting books. You would have expected the opposite, since it is not a large town, about a third the size of our old one, if not smaller. There is though a real community spirit here, plus the fact that so many of the residents are either retired or semi retired and therefore have much more time on their hands to enjoy leisure pursuits, and also the fact that all the little villages around here have their own halls with various groups etc.

The village newsletter have agreed to let me have a free advert for the next advertising year, which starts in June, around the time that I take over the Editors reins. This seems only fair considering that I shall be volunteering my services for free. This should though help me to make me much more well known on the hill and within the local community. The wife of our Chairman, and current Editor, runs a women's group who meet at the village hall once a month, and she is going to book me in at some point to do a talk there as well.

Editorial Duties

I went to see the current Editor of the village newsletter this morning, and did my first three pages for the February edition - the horoscopes, the crossword and my very first news page as well, about last weeks storms! I must admit that I had been wondering whether I was really up to job, as I thought foolishly that I had NO editorial experience whatsoever, compared to my predecessor, who has worked in journalism all his life, but then I thought "hang on a minute, I edited my own book, so that must mean that I know at least a thing or two". I am now then getting really excited about this job, and really looking forward to the challenge of it all. I will have to get to know a lot of people - local Councillors, the National Trust wardens etc (our village stands on the edge of National Trust land, and the Trust plays an important role in village life), but it will be great fun and a brilliant way of getting to know everyone and what is going on up here - and as I am discovering, there is a lot going on - the storms, the ongoing battle to get the council to fix our road being the most important ongoing stories.

I will have to drive down the winding road that leads to our village for the first time in the pitch black tonight, as I have to go to Horsham to meet Caroline who runs the Heart and Mind Group that I shall be doing a talk at in two weeks time. That should be fun! Hope no one comes towards me on the other side when I get to the legendary hairpins.

Finally getting settled

Last time I wrote this was the night before we were due to move - or so we thought. We did not in the end get into the new house until the following day though - Thursday 14th rather than Wednesday 13th. The move itself went very well - the men - three of them were there bright and early, the new sofa was delivered and put straight on the van, and the old one taken away, and we were ready to go by a quarter to 12. The men went for lunch first, so said there was no need for us to rush there following them. I left around 12.30 while my partner stayed in the house tidying up and waiting for the new owners to hand over the keys etc and do the meter readings.

When I got there around 1pm, the van had not yet arrived, but the previous owners were there, so we did the meter readings and I went and sat in my car eating the wheat free rolls I had brought with me. It was then that I heard the previous owner on the phone saying there was some sort of problem. It transpired that the solicitor, in their infinite stupidity had put all the money in my partners account instead of paying the previous owner and Haulfryn, the park owners.

Under the law, when you sell a park home, the park owner is allowed to take a commission of up to 10 percent of the sale value. Until Haulfryn got their share they would not sign the papers to say that we were the new owners, and we could not take possession. So there was I stuck at the new house, trying to explain to three removal men why they could not unload the van, while my partner was back at the old one, trying to work out what the solicitor had done and get the money sorted out.

Unfortunately, because the funds had been transferred into a postal account rather than a branch based one, he could not do the transfers required, he also did not have the right ID on him, as it had all gone to the new house. So by 3.30 or so, when it became clear we would not be able to organise anything, he had to go and meet me at the new property. Luckily, the park owners did allow us to put the furniture into the house, but they could not allow us to stay there overnight, so we had to go and find a hotel. What really bugged me about this whole thing though was that the solicitors realised the day BEFORE we moved that they had made this mistake, but did not see fit to tell us. If they had then we would have time to sort things out and get the money transferred into the right accounts.

On top of all this, we then found that our mobile phones did not work, as about the only network that does work up there is Vodafone. So, we had to then get new mobile phones, which cost us around £80 a piece. Then the Royal Mail did not start the redirect when they should have done. The biggest bigbear though that we were without a landline telephone, email or internet until this afternoon, and it took BT a total of 10 days to get this sorted out.

I do not know what this has all been about - but to say it has been annoying is an understatement of the grandest proportions. Still, it all came out in the end, and we are now finally beginning to settle in and actually feel like we are home. The boxes were collected yesterday, so we have our living room back, and all that now remains to be done is to give the place a good clean, get some bedroom curtains and organise the network cables.

Moving tomorrow

It has been one hell of a week one way or another. I am having a few legal problems at the moment - nothing to do with me or anything I have written, but more to do with what someone else has written about me. I won't go into details as it serves no real purpose, suffice to say that matters are in hand to get what they have written removed.

We are also moving house tomorrow - at long last. It has been a fairly smooth process by any reckoning - our house was sold within 8 days of coming on to the market, and there was no chain at either end, but it has still been stressful - especially the last of packing everything away. Tonight 99 percent of it has been done - all that remains is the bowls for tomorrows breakfast, plus of course the cereal, wash things and towels that we will also need to use tomorrow morning, a few cleaning products, the kettle and the bed linen. All being well we should be out of here by 12.30 to 1pm and unloaded at the other end before 3pm.

Editing local newsletters

There is no news the move as yet. The buyers seem to be dragging their heels, which is frustrating to say the least. We signed the contract at our end 3 weeks ago, and theoretically there is nothing to hold things up at their end now the second survey has been done, so it is just wait and hope, wait and hope. It will happen though when it is meant to happen. I suspect it is all to do with the new writers group that I am starting tomorrow. If we were packing up ready to move, I would not have had the time to organise this properly.

The first writers group is tomorrow night. I need four people to cover the cost of the rent, and so far it looks good. I have three people who definately want to come, and all the flyers I put out have gone, so it should be an interesting evening. The first meeting will be mostly to discuss what everyone wants from the group and what type of writing they all do. I will also ask them to write their life story on one A4 sheet for homework. I will have to write mine first though ...

In the meantime though, it looks as if I may be the next editor of our village newsletter! This is a local A5 size pamphlet that is distributed for the princely sum of 30p per issue to around 2000 residents around the village that we are moving to. I had a meeting with the current Editor this afternoon, and have agreed to try out the role for a couple of months after we move, sharing it with him, with a view to taking over completely in May when he wants to step down. It will be great for my writng credentials and a fabulous way of getting to know my new neighbours so watch this space ....

The house is sold ....

It feels like a quiet week, when not much has happened, yet when I look back on it, a gerat deal has happened.

We have accepted an offer on our house, so it looks like the move will be going ahead. It is a first time buyer with no chain, and she seems as keen to get in as we are to get out. The park home site that we are moving to is the most sought after in the whole country, so we are very lucky that it has fallen into place. The house we are buying has been on the market for nine months, and we sold ours within a week! It was obviously waiting for us ...