The piano cometh

There's daily progress at number 13 right now. Yesterday the piano movers came round and swapped out the Fletchers' piano for the one that came with their new house (our "new" piano). The whole thing was pretty efficient: four guys with a wheeled trolley, rolling the piano whenever they could and lifting it when they couldn't. Getting the Fletchers' piano out proved easy enough, rolling it down the garden and along the lane. Getting our piano out of the Fletchers' house proved a little more challenging, involving flipping it up on its end (didn't seem to do any harm!) and removing doors from kitchen cupboards in order to be able to squeeze it through. It was all done within a few minutes and our piano is now pride of place in the dining room, forming an attractive centerpiece for the large pile of boxes. Sadly I've already exhausted my entire repertoire of piano music ("The Yellow Rose of Texas").

After a bit of a battle I also managed to plumb in the washing machine last night. The waste pipe was the challenge - the one that came attached was too short and had a strange end to it that wouldnt attach to the extension tube and joiner I'd bought. AFter a few failed attempts (and resultant emptying of the strategically placed bucket) I've cobbled a joiner together out of a couple of spare lengths of rubber hose. It's survived a whole wash cycle intact so I've hidden all the pipework and intend to forget about the whole thing. Doubtless my dad will check it out when the family come to visit in a couple of weeks' time :-)

Mission accomplished

We're all moved into the new place. No broadband yet so limited blogging, but I'm working on that (at least one local pub has free wifi, as does Rob and Is'...).

Anyway, the move went fine. We had loads of help (thanks guys!) and the sun shone all day (I actually got tanned!). Number 47 is now empty except for rubbish and a bay tree that we managed to forget in the garden (we'll be back for that). At number 13 we've got the kitchen, lounge and bedroom fully functional and the second bedroom/study is coming on well too. The dining room and small bedroom and still chock full of boxes though, ho hum.

This post may be missing a photo but I'll be making up for that soon. I captured the whole move into number 13 in time lapse photography (586 photos coming at ya) and as an added bonus there's a video of the empty house before we moved in. Now, back to that unpacking...

Oh yes...

We have completion!

All ready to go

Well, we've just about finished the packing now. A few essentials are left (TV, DVD, laptop, microwave...) but almost everything else is boxed up and ready to go. We've even got the champagne on ice! My friend Jouko is sickened by this (the planning, not the champagne), maintaining that you shouldn't start packing until the night before the move, but he spent all night packing before going straight into the move with no sleep last time he switched flats, so I don't pay his advice any great heed.

Tomorrow we get a night off to celebrate our anniversary (2 years!) and then wednesday we should get the keys. No big plans for that night other than being very excited. Thursday evening we start to drip-feed delicate items over in the car, and then Saturday it all kicks off for real. By Monday we hope to be exhausted but comfortable. It's all gone so smoothly up until now that I cant help but be nervous...

Oh, and that picture up the top is just a small portion of our boxes. We have 97 full so far :-)

flickrvision

Just came across flickrvision. It uses Google Maps to show Flickr photos as they’re uploaded. Did you ever want to see what photos people all over the world are uploading right this minute - well now you can! It's actually quite entrancing, watching the globe spin and a new photo pop up every couple of seconds.

[via Photojojo]

Gifford Circus

We took a break from packing today to go to Gifford Circus, out in the wilds of Gloucestershire. The circus tours the west country each summer, bringing a mix of traditional circus (jugglers, acrobats, clowns), brass band (rescued from a street corner in Paris), fairytale (general air of Eastern mystery) and pantomime (a man in a bear costume - or possibly a real bear if you're Al, who actually seemed quite concerned). The acrobats in particular were superb, playing a violin on a tightrope and juggling their children with their feet (you had to be there). We had a great time, and rounded it off with an excellent pub lunch at the Ragged Cot Inn.

I've posted some more photos up on 23.

In Helsinki

I'm in Helsinki for a couple of days at the moment, talking to Nokia about being bought. Caught a very nice sunset from the plane on the way over last night, and I'd actually remembered my camera for a change so I snapped it. This went some way to take my mind off the very nervous passenger sitting next to me who spent the whole flight sighing and muttering (in Finnish), holding her head in her hands and drumming her (fake) finger nails on the plastic seatback (not at the same time as holding her head in her hands, obviously). I don't think she enjoyed the view as much as I did...

Operation new house is progressing to plan. The extra boxes have arrived and we're just starting to pack (and throw things away!!!). The van is booked and we get the keys on Wed 20th - two weeks to go!

We've also ordered the sofas. They don't turn up until October, but at least we have a photo of them that we can print out and stick on the wall in the meantime...