Into second gear - 2015 - A year in review

FEBRUARY 2015 - Part 2 of 12

Beginning of the month

Mid month

End of the month

Into February we head, having given our landlord notice for the house we were renting which meant we MUST be in our new abode by March 18^th, exactly 5 years to the day we moved in. The house has been great, if very big, but then I guess it needed to be in order to accommodate the brood. However, it was nigh on impossible to keep on top of the housework and consequently always looked like a bomb had hit it, forcing three different cleaners to leave due to the fact that they were “fighting a losing battle”. On the plus side, we avoided being burgled as any would-be-thief would think someone else had got there first…

Anyhow, this month was a race against time to make sure the new place was ready. A spell of horrendous weather now could spell disaster and delays for our moving in, so it was all a bit frantic with fingers, legs and everything else being crossed. In the end however, Mother Nature was kind. The month saw terrific progress (see pictures above) with just the interior decoration and installation of the kitchen needing to be done ahead of moving day, March 10^th. 

I had the Mercedes taxed and MOT’d, ready for me to start using and Dad was delighted. He was at this time convinced he wouldn't live to see us move in next door but despite him being in great discomfort, there was nothing to suggest that that would be the case and he was still being expertly cared for by Mum. He did have Prostate cancer, but then most men of that age have, and it's something we usually die with rather than of. He had received an injection for that last month and had an appointment to go back in April, so the medics were hardly concerned in the short term.

In other news, things were moving on a-pace as the details for the sale of the firm were finalised and a completion date set for May 1^st. That was such a relief for both Dad and I as it now wouldn't be all just on my shoulders and I would also be provided with a new challenge, something that I was looking forward to immensely. 

Another great love of my life, Southend United FC, were also beginning to mount a serious promotion challenge so that they could clamber out of the basement league, a division containing teams mainly playing "anti-football", i.e. stopping you playing rather than beating you through better performances. Quite legitimate of course, but pretty dull and boring to watch.

So this month, with lots ahead, it did feel like the year was going through the gears, shifting into second and accelerating towards the inevitable. Nervous and exciting times!