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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
   
The retirement month.
Two days ago we said bye bye to our furniture, it is now in the hands of Aerofreight Cargo Ltd and we hope to be reunited at the end of October.
We moved into temporary, mid week, accommodation in Canterbury and every weekend was spent with Les and Jill. We became such fixtures in their home that fly boy Les applied to the Council for a grant for the homeless, but without success.
We had some great weekends with these good friends who bailed us out in our hour of need. Les kept reminding me that I should have another Ruddles County, as I would have to drink lager from here on in. Little does he know, we will be back to visit.
Les and Jill also have this pet which we where privileged to see most nights. A lone badger, which is living under their garden shed and comes out each night for peanut butter sandwiches and cat food.
I also got a chance to try out his flying hobby, just the once, amidst mutterings of lack of coordination etc. Because the weather was kind to us, Joan was also able to do one of the things she enjoys, potter in the garden, in this case Jill’s garden. They were rechristened The Garden Gnomes.
The month seemed to pass very quickly because there were also many things to organise such as all the change of address notifications, bank account changes to cancel regular payments etc. At the same time we were trying to get as many evenings out with friends as we could cram in, such as the night at the dog track with Paul and Lynn. Another opportunity to lose money!
Also at the same time, we were still going to work and finding it increasingly difficult to believe that over 40 years of working was coming to an end, for both of us.
Because Canterbury Christ Church University College was having a 40th anniversary party on the last Friday of June, which we also attended, a leaving do had been organised for Joan on the Tuesday prior, to which I had also been invited. Debbie and the girls in Resources did her proud, strawberries and champagne and lots of well-wishers. Bill Taylor made the leaving speech and then gave support to a very emotional Joan, whilst she tried to say bye bye. The final surprise was the horse and carriage, laid on to take Joan and I around the College.
Next stop Stanstead.
On Friday 28th, I shared my leaving do with Terry Kingsbury. I think we were declared to be the mean buggers who wanted to split the cost, but really we thought that this way we might get a reasonable turnout and never really know if they came to see him or me. Because everything was packed and in store, my leaving present was a nice monetary collection, which Joan and I have put to good use. Two nice sun loungers ready for the pool terrace. There is even some money left for that little table, where we can rest the liquid nourishment; after all it does get hot out here.
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