1. The Countdown Is On - March 2025

23 Mar 2025

And I think it’s a “yes” in regards to updating Blogger via my phone! Yay!!! And while I’m here, can I say that we only have 2 more sleeps before we head to the Airport! Not that I’m excited or anything!

BTW: I think Blogs are meant to be read and written from the top down. But if you’re reading this then you already know that I don’t always play by the rules - and so my Blogs will always have the most recent news at the top! Like!?! Who wants to scroll all the way to the bottom just to see if there are any updates?!? And then discover that there are none!

My next test is to see if I can add any photos to the Blog - so here goes…

Well?!? That was a sort of a ‘yes’! But I nearly fell asleep while it uploaded the photo - but it didn’t insert it where I actually specified where I wanted it!?! I wanted it HERE, not at the top of the page!!!

Anyway the pic is of us at the recent Robbie Burns night which a small group of friends organised. The criteria was that we each had to wear some tartan! I am wearing my Armstrong tartan, which I bought at the 50th and 500th anniversaries of Clan Armstrong. My g.g.gm was Alice Armstrong. Norm is wearing a random piece of tartan we acquired. And we are standing in front of a tartan quilt I made a couple of years ago which I called “From Kilt to Quilt”. I do have some Clan Hope tartan but the weave is for a kilt, not for a scarf so it doesn't drape very well. And besides, I really like the Armstrong tartan, so I'm very happy to wear it and be proud doing so!

Later on same day (22nd): I think I’ve finally worked out how to add Posts to this from my phone. I’ll try again in the morning and see if I’ve cracked the nut (or at least the code).

22 Mar 2025

Well!!! We've had an interesting time these past couple of days, including:

• The battery in his laptop was dead and while he can get another battery, they aren't in stock, are they? However, they can get one in but it will take up to 2 weeks. Outcome: buy a new laptop!
• New laptop bought but he can't get his main email address to upload! Another grrr moment. Outcome: eventually with a lot of coaxing and looking at things a bit differently, it all uploaded!
• International monies: now this was supposed to be an easy, straightforward process. Upload some money (GBP and Euro) and check it at the atm to make sure both currencies can be seen but do not withdraw any money. Easy-peasy! Insert card into atm and immediately he did, the atm decided it was going out-of-order at that very instant and swallowed the card! Option1: report it and they will send a replacement card! Sure! But that will take up to 10 working days. Option 2: Buy a new card. Outcome: we reported it and opted to cancel the card, transferring the monies to our new card. And 3.5 hours later, it was all done and dusted but of course a lot of travel from where we were when all of this happened to where we could get the new card. And included in the time was being held on hold for several phone calls. More grrr moments.

Today we weighed what I'm taking with me and while it's a bit on the high side of what I'd hoped for, it was still in the ok bucket. We get 25kg per case with SIA (Singapore International Airline) But as we're doing a couple of internal UK flights while there, they only allow 20kg per case! Which means once we've finished our internal flight (to/from Ireland), we can buy a few things in Scotland, Norway and London! How cool is that?

With just a couple of days to go, we've been trying to run down our fridge, freezer and open bottles, jars and packets of food. I've also checked the "use-by" date on a heap of other stuff and if it is due to expire within the next 3 months, it's gone into the rubbish bin. I'm pleased to say that I didn't have to toss very much stuff!

Our friends who are taking us to the Airport checked in with us this morning to confirm our collection time on Tuesday and we've decided to bring it forward by just 30 minutes to 5.30am. Yikes! Is that really a time?

17 Mar 2025

We have ONE week before departure (that's 8 more sleeps, as of today being 17 Mar - St Patrick's Day) and there's a heap of things to do in this time, like what clothes and stuff to take! The other day I grabbed some clothes which are likely contenders for the trip and today I weighed them. I was pretty happy coz they have come in at 13.5kg (which includes shoes, boots and coats). However, I am sure there's more to add. Oh! And it also includes a horseshoe which my g.g.grandfather, Samuel Day, made way back in the period of 1870-1880. The dates are a guess only but they would be pretty close to the mark. He had emigrated from Bawdrip, Somerset and settled at Auburn, South Australia where he continued in his profession as Blacksmith until he retired probably around 1895. He and his wife emigrated in 1857. I checked with UK Customs and it's ok to bring horseshoes through, so hopefully, they will allow this one!

We are hoping to keep our luggage down to about 15kg each case (there will be 2 cases). This will be a challenge, especially for me as I generally like to over-pack!!!

We welcome you to journey with us, as an armchair passenger. I'll be trying to blog and Facebook on a regular basis, while we are away.