At the beginning of the week, Mum, Dad, Triar and I took a short trip to Dumfries. The main purpose was to pick up the keys of my newly rented house. Donna, a friend who lives in Dumfries had kindly been to inspect it for me, but I rented it without seeing it and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Happily, I love it. The picture at the top of the page is a view taken from the back garden, where there are sheep in the field. There are cattle in front of the house across the road too, so I instantly felt at home.

The house itself is pleasant enough. Hopefully Triar and I will be happy living there, once our furniture arrives.

The logistics of moving in remain complicated, mainly because I have no idea when Pickford’s will bring my furniture. I believe that it’s in a container and waiting to come over at the moment. Presumably once it’s in the UK, I’ll be told it’s arriving at quite short notice, but until then, it’s a guessing game. Various possibilities have been under consideration. Mum suggested an inflatable mattress, but the idea of camping out to that extent, with nowhere even to sit, wasn’t something I want to contemplate. She also suggested buying a chair or sofa bed, which I did consider, but finding one I like, which would be delivered in time, was difficult enough without then thinking about the fact that I would have to go back up to Dumfries to receive the delivery and then put it together before I could use it. So as yet, all I have done is to book myself in to the Premier Inn for Thursday night this week. I start work on Friday, so will need somewhere to sleep the night before. If necessary, I can hire a van and borrow a bed and an armchair from Mum until my things get here, but I can (hopefully) put that plan into action at fairly short notice if necessary. For now, I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that Pickford’s bring my stuff within the next week or so.

Dumfries seemed to be an attractive place with a river running through the centre and plenty of shops. We were in a café in the town centre which had signs up for a writers group on Wednesday evenings, so I may go along to that. There is also a women’s walking group, which I might try, but best of all, Donna has invited me out for a meal with some of her friends on 7th December. Having moved to Finnsnes in the middle of Covid, it took me a couple of years before I actually met anyone outside of work. Jumping into the middle of a social life seems like a dream.

There are still lots of things that I am trying to get sorted out. Sliding back into UK life after fifteen years was never going to be straightforward. So far, I’ve bought a new telephone SIM and number, registered to vote, set up a bank account, registered my rental house for council tax (which the landlady had to remind me about) and notified the electricity supplier that I was moving in. I’ve still to register with a doctor, buy some oil (the house has oil central heating) and get myself a car. I can borrow Dad’s car temporarily, but I need to buy one that is suitable for work and get it insured for business use. I am trying to weigh up prices and reliability, taking into account the possibility that the government might put more restrictions on older cars. Price is particularly significant. I have money in Norway, but the exchange rate with the pound is so poor at the moment that using a large lump sum seems quite wasteful. I am spending part of each day trawling Auto Trader and Car Guru to see if I can find something I like, which is ULEZ compliant, has cruise control and is still within my budget. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, I’ll leave you with a couple more photos I took up in the Dumfries area. The first is another taken from the back of my new house, the second was taken on a short walk down a country lane, when we drove out to look at another house that’s for sale. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely week as we head into December.