Goodbye Blighty
Our last week in the UK before moving on to our next temporary home in France was a busy one. We filled our time with visits to local parks and markets, and spent quality time with our family. And whist Sullivan was on a special camping trip with Grandma and Grimbly, our cousins from Sweden also landed in Manchester for a week of catch-ups too!
And amongst all of this we also found time to pack up 18 boxes of stuff to send down to France. All of the equipment, gear and furnishings that had been purchased over the past few months and accumulated in the loft were recorded, packaged and stuck on a truck. We waved our precious cargo off to Europe with much ado, only for our driver to simply park across the street and camp out for the night before he hit the road again! Fortunately, everything arrived at the right destination in France. Although, we can’t open everything for another month… so hopefully it is all there and in one piece!
With the car fully loaded for a summer in France, we strapped in the kids, waved goodbye and left Manchester behind for the south coast. We are lucky to have another good friend who happens to live just 20mins from the Portsmouth Ferry Terminal, so Mel and her family put us up for our last two nights in the UK. As well as breaking up the long journey, this also allowed us a bit of time to fit in some last-minute shopping at the big chandleries in Portsmouth. As you can see, the kids had a ball picking out their life jackets!
The past two months have been just superb. How grateful we are to have caught up with so many different friends and family all over the country. We are so appreciative to each and every one of you for making the time and effort to see us on yet another one of our whistle-stop tours of England! But a special mention must go out to Grandma and Grimbly; not just for putting us all up for the summer, but also for being on-call babysitters, unofficial post-officers, party & event managers, and even vehicle benefactors… Thank you!
Thumbs up to you, Blighty, it’s been fab!