Patience is a Virtue (I Don’t Have)
Patience Zero
Personally I think I’m pretty patient. Rosana says otherwise. Either way, this grand plan of ours is starting to test my level of patience.
It started off well enough when the house found a buyer so quickly. Leaving work was weird; it’s funny how a three month notice period simultaneously went in the blink of an eye and yet dragged on and on. Projects were finished, knowledge was handed over, leaving drinks were drunk and a long career finished. The friendships formed haven’t ended though, they’re still in place. I just have to remember to not be a stranger. It was incredibly humbling to receive a generous leaving gift and I did get a bit choked up about that.
A month after finishing work, four months after setting this plan in motion, where are we? Sat amongst boxes in a home that isn’t really a home any more. The news in the wider world of house sales isn’t great. On the back of massively unstable interest rates, lenders are dropping mortgage products faster than I can drop juggling balls. That’s impacting buyers but I have no idea if it’s impacting our buyer. I have no idea what is happening at all really, information is not exactly forthcoming which is incredibly frustrating. So we wait impatiently. If it all falls apart we have a plan B and I now understand why moving home is considered so stressful.
Busy Doing Nothing
We’re making good use of the time. A run of great autumn weather has seen us out walking the local country side, finding new places and revisiting some favourites.
A couple of Gumtree sale deliveries have allowed us to explore further afield too.
Watching the trees slowly change colour has been a joy, the soft greens giving way to vibrant yellows, reds and browns. It’s my favourite time of year to be walking among the woodlands, so I should be thankful really for the extra time we’ve been given to enjoy this.
We’ve pretty much completed the massive reduction in stuff we own, to the point that we’re sitting on camping chairs and sleeping on camping mattresses. Only a washing machine and fridge to rid ourselves of and our possessions should fit neatly in the back of a small van (even the Megadeth CDs went).
Rosana busies herself working on new craft ideas for our Etsy shop, hoping we can capture some of the Christmas market, assuming anyone has any money left to spend on Christmas this year.
The Joy of Old Vans
Godzuki! has had a few final jobs done. A routine inspection discovered a leaking rear oil seal on the engine and we’d discovered some rust under one of the front wheel wells which we though would be prudent to repair given that Rosana was sitting on top of it.
Those jobs were way beyond my pay grade, so that’s all been sorted thanks to my trusty mechanic. I thought we’d be out of here by now so I didn’t start work on the external oil cooler I wanted to fit for the transmission fluid, but I’m getting tempted to get my tools out of storage and work on that. I just get a bit panicked about the idea of something on the job going wrong and not being able to get the parts I need before we move out. Such are the joys of owning a near thirty year old grey import. That aside, he’s looking in great shape and raring to go. I even washed him.
Travel Plans
We missed the Adventure Overland Show, a shame as it would have been good to go but I think we’ll still be around for the Spring show in April. We did manage to attend the local steam rally. We’ve travelled across the country visiting other steam fairs, but never managed to make the local one – despite it being within walking distance of the house. It was a good day out.
Now we’ve got as much done as we can, we’re thinking of heading out and about while we wait for news on the house sale. I guess we’ll point Godzuki!’s nose north and see where we end up.
And that is a very exciting thought.