Fear and Fairies

Did I mention I was absolutely terrified? This is such a strange feeling full of mostly fear a little excitement that dare not raise its head to high, then a huge dollop of serious terror. Its rather like getting on a roller coaster which you know you REALLY don't want to get on because you will probably throw up, scream and make a total ass of yourself but you do it anyway because NOT doing it would be equally as gruesome. When the ride is over you always feels exhilarated and as though you have conquered some huge great monster! All has been planned and much has been done in the preparation for this enormous trip. Now it is all in the laps of the Gods/Airplane Companies/Volcano Ash Directions/Other Weather Conditions etc. etc.



Tom has been SO patient and I can not wait to see what he thinks of it all. I hope upon hopes that we all love it and I think I KNOW that we will because it is meant to be (and Steve SAID we must)!!!! Phennie will be visiting in the summer and again at Christmas, which is truly fantastic and something to really look forward to.



We ALL leave on Monday morning at sparrows fart for Heathrow - arrive in New York at mid day their time, then hopefully end up in Saratoga Springs in the evening. Steven and the dogs will be meeting us the following day at lunch time THEN we will all go to our new home together. The Pie is now due to ship out on June 3rd so should be with us three to four days after that.

Fear and Fairies because, Fear, well that part is obvious and Fairies because I am having such wild and vivid nightmares that they make reality seem not so bad in comparison! What ever happens - if there has to be anything bad it will be balanced by something very good.

Until then......

Going the extra mile and then to France...

You know when you really KNOW you love someone? For me it is when they do something you would least expect them to. For instance, buying a farm house in the middle of nowhere in Upstate New York was pretty bloody shocking (for a New Jersey boy at least) and I CAN NOT WAIT to see it at last. It is so hard to comprehend that 'this' has all really happened and ALL through Steven's hard work, bloodymindedness and his relentlessness to give us our dream. He spent weeks driving through PA, WV, V and NY on a search for our new home, then we settled on one we found but hadn't actually seen, in the flesh, so to speak (I'll comment more on that once I have actually seen the place). This isn't where we had originally chosen to live our lives but life throws you off course sometimes and sometimes you have to just go with it.



So, he does it again. Mr Becker has managed to get himself AND the dogs a flight with Air France (at a third of the price I was quoted JUST for the two dogs), who so far state that they are happy to take our dogs in their kennels from London to Paris, Paris to New York... THIS really is going above and beyond as "they sneak into 'his' kitchen, leave hair all over the house, eat too much, bark too much, lick and love too much and J especially 'smiles' too much" (she really does this with Steve). For a lad that likes city lights, hustle and bustle from his unsociable, aloof country wife, THANK YOU so much for this amazing opportunity and new adventure. I really do take my hat off to you for this one.

Transporting Animals across the Atlantic....

So, you would think that maybe the larger the animal, the harder to organize and higher the cost involved of doing so? Well I did at least. It appears that I was wrong (thankfully in one respect and NOT in the other), it is the normal sized family dog that is rather more difficult to ship than expected. Having been told once already that everything was booked and absolutely fine for the dogs to travel with us, we did a final check, as one does. The dogs unfortunately (I have now been informed) are too large to fly on the plane with us in their Vari-Kennels. You see, the airlines only allow a large sized kennel which in fact only accommodates a 'medium' sized dog, so, if you have two 'large' dogs you need two 'GIANT' sized kennels, which the airlines will not carry - due to their size and not being able to fit them through the cargo door. So what now? Steven has suggested this and I definitely think Weasle would be up for it:

The picture above is one of Steve's planes - how fantastic?! Although desperate to get the dogs over there with us, might have to give that idea a miss! We will keep hitting the books and hopefully find a company that can help us out. Feel a bit like we are being screwed for wanting to take our dogs with us - they have us over the barrel and charge what ever they like, because they can. Hope to find a company as professional as the one below (who are shipping the other four legged creature) - they have been kind, informative and have kept me fully up-to-date with all the goings on, their needs and advised of changes immediately. Maybe I should ship the dogs as miniature ponies - think it might be considerably cheaper?!

The Volvo was delivered to the transporters on Monday and is already in possession of the Ocean Liner which will shortly be on her way across the Atlantic. Cleaning a vehicle for entry into the US is almost as time consuming at the Embassy interview - if you are British!!! ; - )

Only one week and two days to go....

Packers & Crates

This week sees the house packed up and crated. An incredible crew did what appeared to be a fantastic and thorough job (we shall have to wait the six to eight weeks it takes for the crates to be delivered to our destination address in NY before I sing their praises too highly)! It took two days and a crew of three plus Steve and I. 13 crates in total, these will be delivered to Portsmouth and shipped across the Atlantic. You hear horror stories of peoples crates being dropped in the harbour or left on the quayside where they get rained on so all the contents are ruined but these are just stories and I hope not to have to report the same....

Pie is due to have his blood work done this coming week, which will allow him to fly at the end of the month. Dogs have to have one final 'health check' 10 days prior to departure before being allowed to fly and I think we are almost ready. Poor old Steve had a hell of a job trying to book the dogs tickets. The AF it its wisdom, managed to book Thomas and I on a flight which doesn't allow dogs.... these had to be canceled and re-booked on a flight that would accommodate the whole family.

Volvo leaves on Monday..... arrives some time in June....

Now we all wait in a very large, empty house. Camping without the wildlife but with heat/hotwater and cooking facilities that light when asked ;- ) We will all appreciate our beds and belongings so much more when we see them once again.