This last week has been go, go, go...
On Monday, I signed the lease to my new flat. I measured all the windows and rooms and went to Hilary’s for dinner. I was feeling rather nervous, scared and apprehensive about what was to come.
Tuesday morning saw me disinfecting the flat (only because I would prefer to live in a place where I know when the last time was it was cleaned properly – not because I would EVER live in a flat that needed that much hard work!) On Tuesday afternoon, I went shopping for bits and bobs, collected all the stuff friends had kindly donated and went to furnish the flat. I arrived back at Hilary’s with a full dinner awaiting my arrival (and boy was I grateful!). We sat down to dinner and chatted about everything, and how it was all about to change. I discussed just how quickly time passes, and that before long it would be Christmas!
Wednesday saw me doing some more shopping and some more furnishing. During my mornings shopping, I had bought an airbed - for the interim (as my double bed was only being delivered on Wednesday the following week), which needed to be pumped up. I took the air mattress out of its bag and lay it on the floor, as per instructions. I removed my shoes and began pumping it up using my foot (as it said to). Unfortunately, for every ten pumps I was doing, it was going up one. My leg started to ache, so I switched to the other one, and when that one started to get sore (having exhausted both limbs), I practiced my CPR skills on the pump (thirty compressions, two breathes…). Now you can imagine just how much I was cursing the airbed as I pumped. Around twenty minutes later, I decided to give up (I have such perseverance, don’t you think?) I looked at the instructions again and was confident that I had followed them precisely. As I started clearing and preparing myself for the journey back to the shop, I picked up the repair kit and looked at it. I thought it was a little odd that it had big plastic bits in it, so I opened the sealed plastic bag. I fiddled with the plastic bit (which appeared to be a one-way valve) and thought that it was perhaps meant for the pump. So, naturally, I placed the one-way valve into the hole over the pump. It fitted perfectly. I began pumping again. Still no result. By this stage, I had removed my socks and my jacket and was sweating and using some choice vocabulary. I even resorted to verbal threats to the bed about how if it did not blow up it was going back to the shop it came from… I changed from hand pumping back to foot pumping (having nearly expired from the CPR), when I noticed that there was air flowing out over my other foot. I bent down to see where the air was coming from (quite grateful for a repair kit), when I found the quick release hole in the mattress. OPEN. Turns out the one-way valve was for that hole... I felt rather foolish. Seven minutes later, the bed was fully inflated.
Exhausted, I cleaned up and headed out. I closed the flat door knowing that the next time I saw it my big sister would be with me. I took a deep breathe and shut the door. Once at Hilary’s place, I had a bath and some dinner whilst I waited for her to get back from Oswestry. After she arrived back, we discussed my plans for the next few days and then I went to bed. I eventually fell asleep around midnight.
At 02h30 my alarm went off.
I got up, washed, dressed, ate and left for Gatwick airport. On my way down the radio reported a truck having caught fire on the main road to the airport (thank goodness for SatNav... It took a whole minute to recalculate my route!) Before long, I was driving down little country lanes, where I was warned against cows crossing and flooding. Three and a half hours later I arrived at the airport (which should have been two and a half hours). I parked the car and walked to the International arrivals gate. There were no crowds even though three flights were landing (seems as though collecting people off international flights is not an exciting thing to do here...) I waited and waited. Finally the Qatar airlines flight from Doha landed and twenty minutes later Sherelyn walked through the gates.
I was so excited, I think she was too. It seemed so surreal to see someone I know at the airport. It was weird to pick up where we left off. It felt as though I had seen her just yesterday.
We put her bags in the car and then went back inside for coffee. I took her to Costa coffee. I asked her if she wanted a large coffee, she said yes (I smiled). I walked up to the counter to order a Massimo Americano. She could not understand why we were going to the counter to get the coffee and not just sitting down. I had to explain that you go and place your order and pay before you collect your drink and take it with you to sit down (unlike Africa!). Then, when the coffee arrived, her eyes nearly fell out of her head. Needless to say, she did not finish her cup of coffee! It was so nice to sit and talk to her about familiar things, to watch her excitement about what she had just done and about all that was about to happen. I remembered when I had that feeling. It was so comfortable. Once the coffee was finished, we headed back to the car. We got in and she commented on my choice of snack food (banana, strawberries and pretzels). I set up my SatNav for the journey to Hambleden (where we were meeting Karen for lunch). It was strange having company in the car. I watched her as it dawned on her what she had just done. I watched as she took in the landscape. I watched as she spoke. I felt happy. I felt nervous. I felt fear for her. We drove on and spoke more.
We got to Hambleden around 11h30, parked the car and went into the local church so that Sherelyn could take pictures (I remembered when I took photos of everything I saw and liked. I wondered why I stopped). Whilst she took pictures, I phoned Karen to see if she was still working. Fifteen minutes later, all introductions had been made, bags had been moved around, and we were on our way to Henley (well, that is where we ended up). I drove in a BIG circle because Karen’s sense of direction was not so hot (luckily you agree, huh Karen?) we were driving for a while when we came across some civilisation (you must know that for the last ten minutes, we had seen numerous pheasant, guinea fowl, cows, sheep, hare and birds of prey and NOTHING else), so we parked and walked around for a while. I think that if anyone had known that we were three South Africans from the East Rand, they would have been suspicious!
We walked through a park, where Sherelyn took more photos. Karen and I reminisced (saying again, that we remember taking that many pictures!) As we walked, Sherelyn was rather quiet. I asked her why and she said that she was rather confused as to what the point was for our walk. Karen and I laughed because this is what we have gotten used to doing (just walking to admire the weather, the water or the green grass!) Sherelyn did not understand why we would want to do this for fun (I remember thinking the same thing – when you can’t go out for walks for fun, to suddenly do so is ridiculous!) On our way back to the car, we decided to go to Henley for lunch at the Catherine Wheel (Wetherspoons). We got in the car, half expecting to get lost, and a few minutes later, landed in Henley for lunch. It was nice to catch up with Karen and Sherelyn. However, around 14h30, the early morning, lack of sleep and excitement caught up with me and I began to fade (naturally, Sherelyn had already faded). I think this rubbed off on Karen resulting in her wanting to go for an afternoon nap!!! We dropped Karen off at home and left for the journey to Birmingham, home.
Sherelyn fell asleep as we drove. The car was back to normal. Along the way, I pulled in to a service station (for some coffee and a leg-stretch, as I was beginning to feel tired). We wandered around the service station and then headed for Sainsbury for dinner and fuel. By this time, Sherelyn had had her power nap and was alive and talking again. We got to Sainsbury for fuel (with a lot of questions from Sherelyn about how to do it) and for food (with a lot of upping and downing aisles to see all the shiny stuff). We left with soup and bread in hand and FINALLY headed home. I pulled into the parking bay, and began unpacking. It was REALLY hard work getting all her bags up the stairs, as the one big blue bag kept hitting the back of my knees and forcing them to collapse. I was amazed that I reached the top still intact.
I unlocked the door to the flat and let us in. I think it dawned on her just how much of a new beginning this was going to be. She was cold, had none of her familiar stuff and had to learn lots of new things (like what a boiler is and what it does, how gas ovens work etc). I tried to be excited and remind her of all the good things, of all the advantages to being here. I still felt her fear. She had walked down the passage and into the lounge when I stopped her in her tracks and asked her to please remove her shoes. Her expression reminded me that of a deer in the headlights. She began to refuse when I said that we don’t have a vacuum cleaner, nor a broom, which would mean she would be down on her hands and knees cleaning the carpets. I also told her that this was the done thing in England, as it would stop mud being walked into the house (plus this would be a habit and so she would instinctively do this in other peoples’ homes). She removed her shoes rather promptly.
We unpacked. I got out our ONE pot and warmed the soup (300ml) in it (it was rather funny – the pot is a fancy non-stick casserole pot – holds about 2.5 litres!!!). We sat in the lounge on our imaginary sofas (i.e.. on the floor) whilst we ate our soup and pita bread. We imagined it to be a Japanese restaurant (but without the correct food, utensils and table). It was funny. We discussed how to make this flat our home, deciding on a theme for each room. We planned what we needed to buy and when to buy it (the list became longer and longer as the discussion went on). It turns out that it is not as easy as everyone says it is having a blank canvas to start decorating. All our serious discussions were interspersed with laughter and debating (mostly as to what we were going to do in our empty lounge). Finally, we decided to clean up and then run a bath.
Sherelyn went to start the bath, but soon came in telling me that the water was cold. I went to look, and found that she had the tap on full. I had to explain again that the boiler heats a small amount of water as you need it, and was not capable of heating litres in a minute. I also explained that it uses gas to heat the water – so the more hot water she uses, the more expensive it will be at the end of the month. I also reminded her that she should use electricity sparingly – turn lights off, turn off appliances etc. Eventually, the bath was run and we were both in it. We spoke until the water was cold, and we were cold. We hurried out the bath and into bed (via the kitchen for some hot chocolate). As we got into bed, she went to turn the bedside light on (did I forget to mention that I forgot to buy bulbs?) Well, needless to say, Sherelyn had to take the bulb out of the kitchen light to be able to use the bedside light. We laughed as I said that this was the way to save electricity and to remind her to turn the lights off (the only problem with this system is that she would have to sit in the dark as she waited for the bulb to cool down enough for her to touch it!). I threatened her with a LED headlamp, as it lasts longer and uses NO electricity! Once we had some light, Sherelyn got out her laptop and we watched a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory. We crashed around 22h45 and slept like logs until 09h00 Friday morning.
We woke with a start as my alarm went off at 09h00. We got up, dressed and headed to Solihull town centre to set Sherelyn up with a bank account. After visiting a few banks, she decided that the first bank we went to was the one she wanted to bank with. We had an appointment for 14h00, so went for some lunch at spud-u-like. Once we were done eating, it was time to rush to the bank, where twenty minutes later, she had a bank account. The next port of call was the cell phone shops. Having gone to them beforehand, I lead her to the two shops I thought she would get the best deals from. Again, she chose the one we went into first. Once all this was done, we went to the job centre to see what jobs were available to her and where they were located (also to familiarise her with the system they use at the job centres). On the way back to the car, we browsed high street. Sherelyn commented on how sore her feet were and how much walking she had had to do…
We got back to the car and headed to the shops to get in two months supply of food for her. (as I will be working away most of the time). We managed to go to Iceland (18h00) for all our frozen food and to Tesco (20h00) for all other food stuff. Sherelyn loved playing with the trolley on the travellator at Tesco (as it is magnetised so that the trolley does not need to be held as you move between floors). By the time we were all shopped-out, it was late and we were hungry. I stopped for Fish and chips on the way past Hilary’s, home. I left Sherelyn in the car with the food whilst I went in to get some clothes for the next few days (I did not want her to come in and meet Hilary, as Hilary was not prepared for her visit). I packed whilst Hilary spoke to me. Fifteen minutes later, I found myself running to the car to warn Sherelyn that Hilary was coming out to meet her (I cannot help thinking that I looked somewhat like a flaling fish running towards the car). The meeting was brief (as Hilary did not want our fish and chips to go cold). I hopped into the car and headed home to unpack (Three flights of stairs and two months worth of food… need I say more?) We ate dinner, unpacked and then went to bed to watch a movie. It was delicious.
Saturday morning arrived rather promptly. We got dressed and headed to Hilary’s house and the post office. Unfortunately, the weather was rather miserable (Sherelyn had on approximately six layers of clothing – don’t ask me how!?!). Once we had done all the boring stuff, I took her to Sarehole Mill. We pulled into the parking where where Sherelyn read the sign aloud ‘Middle Earth Weekend’. I laughed at her expression, and began explaining why she was seeing people all dressed up. I told her about J.R.R. Tolkein’s history and how he had grown up here and based all his books (Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit) on this mill and the bog and landscape around it. She brightened up considerably. We got out the car, put our raincoats on, placed our lunch in our bags and headed to the mill. Unfortunately, the muddy environment did not make for the best walks around the area (BUT I’m determined to go back – with wellies on!) Once we were tired of Middle Earth, we returned to civilisation. I drove around our local town to show Sherelyn where everything was and then headed home to cook. It was a most enjoyable day out.
Sunday arrived nice and slowly. We spent the day indoors. It was nice to recover.
Monday arrived sharpishly. We hurried out the house and headed to Westcliff-on-sea to retrieve all my belongings from Bethany. After the long drive down, we stopped at the sea. Sherelyn got out and headed for the water. I laughed as she realised that she would prefer to head back to the car (as it was far warmer, far drier, far less windy and, probably, far prettier!) Our visit to the sea was rather brief.
We headed inland, towards Leigh-on-sea (but ended up back in westcliff-on-sea) for some coffee. Once our coffee was finished, we went to collect my belongings. Having put all my stuff in the car, I took Sherelyn to high street. It was rather nice. We stopped for lunch at Pizza Hut and then headed back home. The day was rather long, so by the time we got back, we were exhausted. We parked the car outside the flat and were once again reminded how many stairs there are leading to our flat… I packed my stuff and headed to Hilary’s place, leaving Sherelyn in the flat alone, for the first time, to unpack my stuff (I know, I know <evil grin>). Naturally, Hilary wanted to know where we had been, what we had been doing, if I had enjoyed it, if Sherelyn had enjoyed it, if I was excited she was here……… midnight arrived sooner than I had anticipated.
I was glad to see that the flat was still standing on Tuesday morning. I headed upstairs to get a few things and then we made tracks to Hall Green train station. I parked my car and we caught a train to Birmingham Moor Street. I think Sherelyn was trying to look like she knew what she was doing, but I found her in my shadow, looking for approval several times. I tried to reassure her that in a week or two she too would be doing this as though it was second nature. The train stopped at our destination and we hopped off. Our first port of call was the Bullring.
(The symbol of the Bullring – this bull – BUT, he was made out of Jelly beans!)
I walked with her through Selfridges as she glowed. I walked as she explored the shopping centre. I walked and walked and walked. We went to the Palisades, then to the Art Museum, then to Broad Street, then to the Symphony Hall, then to the convention centre, then along the canal to the NIA, finally ending in the National Sea Life Centre (where some random old lady gave us a voucher – 2 for 1 tickets to get in). We spent the best part of the afternoon looking at fish of all shapes and sizes, a 4-D cinema and then some more fish…
Needless to say, my feet were sore and I was tired and hungry. We stopped for some sandwiches and an apple on the way back to the Bullring. I had forgotten how good Sherelyn was at making my feet ache as though they were dipped in acid. I was rather grateful when we were on the train headed back home. Although, the day out was rather nice (but, shhhhh, don’t tell Sherelyn). I dropped Sherelyn off home and headed back to Hilary’s place.
At 07h30, my phone rang. It was the delivery people. They told me that my bed was their first delivery of the day – and that they would be there within the hour – yay. I hurried to get to Sherelyn before they did (just as well because they could not find the flat and I had to give them directions). Finally, my bed arrived and we began putting it together (well, the bits we could – as some needed a screwdriver – which we would borrow from Hilary). We got as far as we could and then headed to Hilary’s to pick up the necessary bits. Whilst at Hilary’s place, Sherelyn hopped on the net and looked for some more jobs (stopping only for a little bite of lunch). 18h00 arrived before we knew it. We headed home to build the bed. It was so exciting. Once the bed was built and made, I left Sherelyn alone again and headed to Hilary’s.
Thursday morning saw me up and about early. A lady from Oswestry came to collect the shower chair (and I felt I should be dressed when I answered the door!) Once that was out the way, I picked up Sherelyn and we went to Cadbury World. It was glorious. It was chocolate. At reception, I gave the guy behind the counter our reservation number (as they have that many people going on tours, you have to book). In return, he handed us our tickets, a brochure and then smiled and gave me a slip of paper (he lowered his voice enough for me to have to lean forward whilst he spoke, and said ‘this will get you into the factory shop where you can buy chocolate at staff prices’). He raised his voice back to normal and said that I might want to wait for the school tour to enter before we do. I thanked him, and as we turned to leave, he said ‘I would go around the back of the building to Cadabra once the tour is over for an extra treat’, and then smiled (Sherelyn and I looked at him rather suspiciously at this point). We entered the tour and were handed a bag with chocolate in it (a rather promising start to a tour, I would say!) Along the way, we were handed several bars of chocolate (I think this was compensation for the length of the queues and the length of the tour – the tour itself took THREE hours due to the amount of people in the factory). By the time the tour was over, it was just past 14h30. We headed to the factory shop (which was quite a walk, I might add), and bought £7.45 worth of chocolate and left. Sounds like we restrained ourselves, right? Well, for that amount of money, we walked out with approximately 10kg of chocolate. I think Sherelyn is set with chocolate for the rest of the year now!!!! The walk back to the car was a hard and heavy one (the things I will do for chocolate!) Once we had packed all the chocolate into the car, we stopped for some juice and a sandwich. We decided to make one more stop on the way home (for a drying rack, a fire lighter – as Sherelyn cannot light the normal lighter necessary to cook on gas – and some fruit).
One day, we will remember that we have to climb three flights of stairs to get things from the car into the flat…
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