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New Careers, New Home, New Life!

 They moved in barely three weeks ago, did Heather and Ollie. They have been lovely house guests. They have cooked meals for us. Ollie sorted out our toilet cistern which used to take up to 10 minutes to refill after a flush. Now it takes 27 seconds! Domestically, we’ve worked around each other very nicely for two couples who have been used to their own ways of doing things for several years. We’ve even got the knack of playing musical car parking spaces now there are 4 cars on the driveway.

Heather and I have enjoyed shopping trips and the occasional lunch out. We’ve watched films together, played quizzes, made jigsaw puzzles, barbecued, engaged in  deep discussions, sorted out the shite in the world. And between all this, they’ve been doing all the life admin stuff that needs to be done when moving 250 miles, changing careers, setting about creating a new life. 

Even Bambino and Harris are sort of cat chums now. They follow me downstairs for breakfast in the morning, and whilst I prepare it, they do little sniffs and nose kisses at each other. Harris has (mostly) stopped trying to punch Bambino’s lights out.


Here they are this morning. When I see them side by side I realise what a big old chap Bambino is, compared with average sized Harris. Mostly fur, of course! Very pouffey fur. I think Bambino will miss Harris when he leave…because on Friday, Heather and Ollie will be collecting the keys to their new home! 

Oh yes, they’ve ploughed through all the paperwork, checks and back and forth malarkey with the letting agent for the property of their choice and yesterday it was confirmed as theirs! Sighs of relief all round, because it’s been a tense couple of weeks not knowing if everything was going to slot into place. You know when you fall in love with something but you don’t want to fall too deeply in love with it in case something goes wrong? It’s been a bit like that with this particular house.

It’s more spacious than their old place in Kent. It has a huge garden and a conservatory. A long drive and a garage which will be perfect for Ollie’s side-line motorbike business. It is situated next to some woodland and fields, yet is perfectly placed for a ten minute drive to all the conveniences of modern day living - shops, theatre, leisure centre, sporting facilities AND Ollie’s workplace. It’s just half an hour’s drive from Damson Cottage. It has three bedrooms which means one can be a dedicated home office because…

…Heather has left teaching and at the end of September and is joining the NHS as an apprentice psychologist! The post degree training lasts 15 months, with continued career security at the end. She will be ‘earning and learning on the job’ as it were, a bit like when I trained to be a teacher using the Graduate Teacher Programme, as it was known back in the day. It’s all very exciting and will open many new doors for her.

So, a large van has been booked for Saturday and I shall take great joy in helping with the move. I’ve been keeping the faith that everything will work out well and it has. We went out for dinner yesterday evening to celebrate the new careers, new home and new life and I could see that Heather and Ollie were both excited and relieved about the impending house move. It will be nice, too, that Heather will have a few weeks to get the house straight and settled before starting her new career. They said at the beginning of the year that this would be their Year of Change. And they did it! 

So, as Heather and Ollie set up their new home, and Lord Malarkey and I settle back into the two of us at ours, I shall leave you with a favourite quotation of mine, from Jane Austen’s novel ‘Emma’…


P.S Three of the four second batch swallow eggs hatched and the babies are due to fledge in the next four or five days. Their siblings from Batch One, along with a few new friends, have been returning to the laundry every day to dance in the skies above, calling to their little brothers and sisters and helping to feed them. It’s been a sight wonderful to see. I like to think they are all singing, ‘Come on you little ones! Grow big and strong. We shall look after you, and each other, when we fly back south next month!’

I wonder which of them will be the first to return and make their home in the laundry next year…








Comments

Anonymous said…
Congratulations! They dreamt, they planned and they executed! Good job!
KJ
17 August 2022 at 18:40
Denise said…
Goes to show what can be done when fear of the unknown is left behind.
18 August 2022 at 06:49
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