Has arrived in Granollers!
But I have not.
Here in the empty house there is still lots to do : contracts to sign, floors to paint, books to sell, friends to see, vets to visit…… enough to fill the three weeks before Blue and Bonnie and I set off on our journey to Catalunya.
Look at that van with CORNWALL painted on the front sitting in Granollers! How exciting!
OK hospital procedure over and I can get back to packing and sorting. My consultant was most disappointed to find no stones to zap when he got inside me so it was not really necessary to go through with yet another general anaesthetic but….at least I know I have nothing lurking in there and I can feel pleased that my intuition was right when I felt I didn’t need the operation.
So, where was I?
Lists – trying to have only one on the go but I found I had two almost identical ones in the same notebook yesterday.
Van – I am waiting for the DVLA to return my log book with Campervan on it instead of Commercial. This is because Spanish authorities will not allow a UK commercial panel van to be replated and registered as Spanish. I have read some terrifying internet stories of the time and expense needed to go through this process but, who knows, maybe it will be different for me!
Money – apart from the fact that this whole move is costing me much more than I expected (what with 4 new tyres to conform with Spanish regulations, a new stove in my cottage, the very expensive palace we have created to house my furniture, the quotes for removals which range from £2500 to £3800…..) I have been looking into ways to send money from the UK to Spain. In the past I innocently went through my bank and did a couple of transfers. But this is a very expensive way of doing it and I now know there are specialist agencies who buy and sell currencies and give you better rates. You need to register first and then can either send lump sums or regular payments and there are no charges and give far better exchange rates. I spoke to one today and was surprised to find he is based in Penzance and lives in St Buryan! Cheaper than running an office from London I suppose.
Yesterday he was buying euros all day with the pound doing well because of the Italian crisis and today he was selling them.
It’s another thing to get to grips with which makes moving to another country so interesting!
Selling – I sold another book on Amazon and although it’s harmless fun it isn’t really the most effective way of clearing out your book collection. I’ve sold two in the past three months and it means an extra trip to the Post Office when there is so much else to do. I’m definitely more a fan of giving things to Freegle at the moment although it doesn’t help the bank balance. People come and take things away within 24 hours be it a food mixer, an old toilet, tree guards or a broken mini greenhouse. Noone seems interested in the ironing boards though – does noone iron these days?
Duna is on heat.
It is not the best timing but must be dealt with amongst all the thousands of other issues that are bubbling around in my life. I am trying to clear the house and yet all available time goes on helping to renovate an outdoor shed to make it ready to receive those things that I will leave in Cornwall. As with most jobs this one has expanded to fill what time is available so other things like packing boxes and painting my house and organising paperwork….have been squeezed into little corners in my days.
Today the electrics were switched on! And I have been sanding the floor. A kitchen area is slowly taking shape. It is a palace and once the chairs and tables and boxes have moved in…..they should be very comfortable!
Meanwhile, it rains. The dogs are bored and wet and they can’t go into the new space because of paw marks. Duna has returned to basics – Feeding, Fighting and Fucking. All her pent up energy is focused on these three activities. She has chosen Bonnie as her rival to growl at and attack whenever they are in a confined space together. Blue is her object of desire in spite of the difference in age
Imagine your 16 year old nephew trying it on with your partners grandmother and you have the picture. Blue is deaf and almost blind and has arthritis and to be honest was never interested in sex when she was young. But now she has an admirer who won’t leave her alone – it’s hard to know when to intervene – Blue sometimes stands in front of Duna waving her tail around invitingly. But when the inevitable happens she will snarl and snap.
I am waking every single morning around 5am and ….ping….the worries start. I have never suffered from sleeplessness before. Now it is a familiar companion. Everything that can possibly go wrong is imagined in the worst possible light. I won’t get the van log book back from DVLA in time to leave before Christmas. It will snow or rain torrents all the way through France. Duna will go crazy in the car when she sails from Plymouth to Roscoff this week. The removal men will damage the piano – or the piano will damage the removal men. Next week I will die under the anaesthetic at the hospital or end up with some awful infection. The person renting my house will never leave. We won’t find anywhere to rent in Catalunya that takes three dogs. Why did I do X? Why didn’t I do Y?
It’s as if I think I can avoid all problems by anticipating them. But as the days go by it is obvious that the opposite is true. It is harder and harder to make good decisions in the face of tiredness. One part of me thinks this is an interesting experience but another is shouting louder and louder ‘surely there must be an easier way to do this?’ How difficult can it be to move to another EU country?
Then I take a step back and think of all the others who I know are going through stressful times at the moment. It feels like life is winding up the pressure – perhaps for some good reason that it beyond my understanding. I may feel like a mouse on a wheel and I do want to find a way to jump off and play a little but at the moment these things must be seen through and, if possible, I must enjoy the ride.
There are things to laugh at – Duna met another hormonal female on a walk and they danced around each other happily swapping smells
and things to sadly smile over. One comment from a ‘friend’ was…why are you doing all this, you don’t belong here any more!
Moving away causes ripples all around. Strange times.
Any suggestions for anxiety relief gratefully received!
