Friday 9th May – The big clear out
Rent a van day. Catherine's brother Paul is over from England, he's there to drive the Transit, but a fine strong back on him for shifting furniture. We send a full load to Catherine's mother.
Saturday 10th May – The Even bigger clear out
And an even bigger furniture removals van to take the rest of our furniture to the auctions. It also takes a full load.
The house is pretty bare now, some furniture still left, the good stuff that is staying with the lease, and the "stuff" the auctions wouldn't take, to tide the people over until their own furniture arrives.
Tuesday 19th, we sell the car, phew, that's our going away money. We had to drop the price big time, but, well, they were nice people and I hope that get great value from it.
We still have the '94 Peugot to get us around, it's a banger, and Catherine's afraid of being stopped in it, but it gets us there.
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More old accounts and papers keep showing up for shredding.
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Friday 23rd May
Lunch with my Godfathner and his wife in Hartley's. They gave us St Christopher medals, one each for Catherine, myself, and Aragorn. I can assure you Tim and Blathnaid, that we have each worn our medals at all time since, and so far, he's been on the job!
Saturday 24th May – Drinks in the club.
Ger can't come, she's put out her back and can hardly move, but would we like the loan of her car?, since she can't drive either. Yes please.
Leaving drinks in the Dun Laoghaire Motor yacht club. Scheduled departure next weekend, but people suggesting they wave us off from the end of the pier. What time they want to know. Catherine advises everyone that we don't know when exactly we'll get away. Noon on Saturday the 31st I tell them all confidently, and train is rolling.
Thursday 29th May - All hands on deck!
Forgive the nautical pun, but Catherine's mother & sister are recruited for final clear out & cleanup duties as that train comes at us at full speed. My brother Lorcan is dragged along too, ferrying "stuff" up to Catherine's mother's house along with Erland who moved "stuff" to the dump and the boat.
Must be out of the house today, the lease starts tomorrow, however we have negotiated that we can stay 'til 3 p.m. tomorrow to complete clean up.
But those last few bits and pieces have become a mountain. Lorcan's trailer is creaking at the seams, and hardly a dent in the mountain.
Niceties are out the window. Take it with us, store it, give it away, dump it, just decide!!!
In the midst of all the mayhem Natalie showed up to take the '94 Peugot, and even pay us money for it.
Friday 30th May
CHOO CHOOO! Dump everything in the back lane. We've been offloading "stuff" for months, how have we still got so much "stuff". Grab it, sprint down the garden, dump it in the lane, sprint back, grab something else. Be out by 3 o'clock! That train is rocket propelled!
Did I mention the window cleaner is coming this morning?
Twenty to three, a girl from the letting agent rings for our status, it's the third time today. “Tight” I tell her, but I think it will be a while before she forgives me for the rest.
Five to three, I ring the agent, “we're out” I proclaim in exhausted and triumphant relief, but don't quite receive the accolade I feel we're entitled to.
Phew! Alas, no time to relax. Friday afternoon, and it's the June bank holiday weekend, gotta to get to the bank, the chandlers, and fix up with the marina, all before close of business. Then there's the small mountain of "stuff" in the back lane. Lorcan's going to need a bigger trailer.
Speaking of Dun Laoghaire marina, hats off to all there for looking after Aragorn and us for the year we spent there.
Five o'clock, I am ravenous. An all day breakfast for two in Dun Laoghaire shopping centre. We can't afford the time, what lunatic committed us to depart Dun Laoghaire harbour at 12 noon tomorrow!! But we haven't had a bite since 7 a.m., not even a cup of tea, the body is starting to demand its share of the spoils of today's minor victories.
There's a few calls to be made. Tom in SOLAS, among others, a detail about the new liferaft. “How's it going” he asks, I sigh and babble something about a rocket propelled steam train. “You can borrow my truck if you like” he says cheerily, I'll be out your way in an hour or so. It didn't sink in, “thanks, I might take you up on that”, I replied. 15 minutes later I ring back, “please, please, please, yes, can I borrow your truck”.
Catherine fills Ger's car with that part of the “stuff” mountain destined for the boat, I go off to collect Tom's truck, wouldn't you know, Friday evening, it's country music with T R Dallas on RTE, all I am missing is my Yorkee bar.
I return to the back lane. Marianne, my bemused neighbour, brings me in for a cuppa before she and her young son Timothy help load the truck. Catherine returns from the boat just as we're done. The truck takes the bulk of the load, the rest fits into Ger's car. Then off to Catherine's mother's in convoy.
It is not until both truck and car are unloaded that I notice the effects of the last month's transfer of “stuff” into Agnes's and Margot's home, especially the succession of car and trailer loads just dumped into any available space over the past few days. It is now 11 o'clock at night, and their house more resembles Buckley's Auction rooms than someone's home. There is room in the attic, where most of it is destined for, but there's a day's work in getting it all up there.
The triumph of reality over determination is complete, we negotiate a one day extension of our truck and car loans, we text everyone in our phones' address books to announce the postponement of our departure, and we sleep the sleep of the just.
Saturday 31st May
So not exiting Dun Laoghaire harbour in the beautiful sunshine of this Saturday morning, but stripped to my shorts in the sauna like attic, packing away “stuff”. There was delph, china, crystal, magazines, clothes, books, but mostly it was just “stuff”, and Agnes's generous attic swallowed it all up.
By evening we were done, now it was just a case of returning borrowed vehicles, a bit of shopping and a well earned meal in La Strada, where Faycal the chef presented us with an Algerian courtesy flag for when we get that far. Courtesy indeed, the flag is bigger than some of our sails.
Sunday, 1st June
After an early start, we filled up with diesel, and walked up to Dun Laoghaire to meet up for final farewells and coffee in “It's a Bagel”. Then back to the boat and cast our lines, just one day and a few minutes behind schedule, giving friends and family time to walk to the end of the pier to wave us off.
I had one last indulgence up my sleeve, one which I had not even told Catherine of, and as we hooted our fog horns and waved at everyone as we were exiting the harbour I bellowed out my carefully planned spontaneous rendition of “California Here I Come”.
So thank you Agnes and Margot for all your hard work cleaningour house, and letting us turn yours into a storage depot. Thank you Paul and Lorcan and Erland for moving all that “stuff”, Thank you Ger and Tom for the loans of your respective vehicles, Thank you Tim and Blathnaid for your thoughtful gift, and thanks to everyone who gave us presents, even though we told you not to!! Thank you Marianne and Timothy for the cuppa and the help loading the truck, thank you Anthony and Seamus and Brian for all the work on the boat. A special thank you to Sean and Paul D, for the mentoring and help with the boat. And thank you to all at Dun Laoghnaire Marina, and everyone else that was such a big help to us. Finally and sincerely, sorry to Frank and Angela and anyone else who's number was not in my phones' address books, who had a wasted walk down the pier on Saturday.
Copyright © Pat Egan 2008, all rights reserved.
