We are land barons!

Yesterday we took possession of our new digs, so now we are land barons, the owners of two fine properties.  Granted, this is a short lived state.  Soon we will return to our regular status of one small fiefdom when the sale or our current home closes on the 15th of July.  But, temporarily, we can refer to our "properties."

The possession of the newest landholding was heralded with much signing of forms, first at the lawyers office and then the bank.  We collected about a pound worth of papers for our files, the sort that you keep forever but never actually look at again. So, it's real. We are going.

I'm discovering, though, that the logistics of moving to a new town is quite different than moving within the same town. The movers will be around to collect all of our goods on the 14th of July and will deliver them to our new house on the 15th. EVERYTHING must be ready to go on the 14th.  There will be no running back to the house to pick up the last few things, so all those odd-shaped, awkward items which would usually be carted over to the new abode in our car have to be packed in protective boxes, ready for stacking in a moving truck. But, there are a few items which we will transport ourselves:

• two small boys with car seats
• one playpen that doubles as a bed for smallest boy
• diapers and other necessaries for smaller boy
• overnight bags with toiletries and two days worth of clothes for two adults and two small boys
• one stroller
• two coolers stocked with ice, fridge items and snacks for two days
• cleaning supplies to be used at new house
• hand-held vacuum for use at new house
• one cat, bag of kitty litter, litter box and cat food

Is all this going to fit in the back of our Subaru Outback?  And if it doesn't, what do we ditch?  We may need to make alternate arrangements for the cat.  She's been hanging around at the neighbours a fair bit lately, so Mike suggested that we might want to leave under cover of darkness while she's over there visiting.  An idea, definitely, but I think we'll have to come up with another Plan B for her.

Luckily, though, we have reservations at the Hotel Merriam for the night of the 14th, so we don't have to worry about transporting sleeping bags and foamies for ourselves, which would definitely put the car on overload.  The Hotel Merriam, located in lovely Langford and a quick 15 minute drive from our new house, has been our regular accommodation on our various forays to the Island over the last few months.  The proprietors are lovely folk but very choosey about the guests they accept.  I'm not sure how we made the cut but it must have something to do with the long history I have with one of the proprietors. We go back to grade one.

So, ten days left to complete our packing, do our final round of visits with friends and perhaps fit in a day excursion or two that would be to Liam's liking.  And then we'll be taking our last ferry trip for awhile and eating our last round of deep-fried ferry food.  Organic eating, here we come!