Home?

Having left Max sleeping peacefully at his Grandma’s we travelled back to Addlestone to say one final goodbye to our home. I already felt detached from the town’s streets as though it was already part of my past. Problem is, I wasn’t attached to anything else in its place yet so felt rather drifty and lost all afternoon.

The early evening consisted of us manically chasing the cats round the garden with bowls of tuna trying to persuade them that they really honestly did want to be locked into a cage in the back of a hot car for the next 12 hours. For Marx and Lenin, the attraction of the fish was too much to resist so we captured them and left them yowling agonisingly in the back of the car. Button however was having none of it and refused outright.

A delicious supper at friends later, and we eventually managed to cajole her into the kitchen leaving me with my back to the cat flap preventing her from escaping and M chasing her round the kitchen – petrified cats can really honestly climb up walls like Spiderman you know?!

The night was very very long – the car smelt of cat fear and various other feline secretions, Belgium blessed us with extreme storms and roads full of bits of tree and torrential rain but eventually, 15 hours later, we arrived ‘home’!

The house is even better than I remember (I had only ever seen it once so was slightly worried that in my mind’s eye, I was seeing it through somewhat rose-tinted glasses) AND the new sofa had already arrived (lovely brown leather) AND the new kitchen is so delicious I had to do a little dance on the spot! The only problem is, it feels so big that I keep getting lost and have to ask Marion to remind me which floor the bathroom is on! With all those stairs, I don’t need to go to an evening class to do step aerobics either!

Also took a little trip around the town and actually, it’s really quite OK – a pool, a nice big shopping complex, parks, lots of little communities with families in them, a couple of nice little restaurants.

I think we’re all going to be just fine – this afternoon, the removal men might even bring us a mug or two and some cutlery so we don’t have to eat muesli with our fingers anymore and maybe, just maybe, in the next couple of weeks the cats might come out from under the cellar shelves where they have taken residence!

Now, we’re off for a much needed and well deserved coffee.