h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

These last few weeks have been a period of great deliberation and decision making. I have been unhappy about the area where I live for some years but have tried to make the best out of it. The crunch came about three weeks ago, and K. and M my friend and I started wandering around Kent trying to find alternative accommodation.

I was horrified at the prices and then Hey presto!. I somehow managed to find something on the web. And my darling brother has agreed to let K. and I change our place of residence and move to a lovely new development called Leybourne Lakes which is near Maidstone.Facilities are much better there for K., and I shall have a lovely new two bedroomed, two bathroomed flat with a marvellous deck where I can have both my pots and my hanging baskets (which are looking absolutely wonderful this year.) No thanks to me. I bought them at a garden show at Tonbridge and they were made by a nurseryman at Faversham. Fortunately I have his name and will get new ones next year. I do not have a green house so it is very diffcult to get them planted and floweirng in our summer.

It is going to mean a lot of packing and sorting and hopefully weeding out of the clutter of ten years in England. Amazing how much one collects.

I have also spoken to Zarquhon and am going to meet both her and little in two weeks time. I am really excited about it. I shall always welcome visitors in my new home, so hope thatsome of you will call on me. I think the suroundings are so beautiful and Leeds Castle and Aylesford Priory are two lovely places near by.

So forgive me if for the nedxt few weeks I seem to be doing more packing than spending time on hootoo. |I am afraid that I shall be calling off my trip to South Africa. I really cannot indulge myself to that extent.

I send you much affectionate I feel that my wonderful 75th birthday party really gave me the courage to take this step.

We also managed to squeeze in a visit to Arundel Castle and Arundel Cathedral. How splendid they are. The the marvellous walk under the huge trees along the banks of the Arun were quite incredibly beautiful. There were games of croquet and bowls being played on the impeccable green grass. It was so peaceful and beautiful I came back refreshred and so grateful to be alive and well.

AR1

and I hope all goes well with the move.

I lived on the edge of Maidstone for about 3 years in the 60s.

YAY! Sounds like it's just what the ordered.
Buggers, always ordering fresh air & the like for *US* and keeping all the GOOD drugs for themselves.
I said that aloud, didn't I?



Hope you're all settled in by the time I make my World tour next Summer.

I'm very much looking forward to coming to see you AR1!

You hadn't said the name of the development and it sounds lovely. Is it near a lake or lakes?

I know what you mean about clutter. I've been getting rid of clutter steadily over the past few months. Trouble is there's such a lot of it! Oh, OK, I've got such a lot of it. At first the thought of sorting it out was utterly overwhelming. Now it's merely overwhelming.

With much

Hi my sweet Caerwyn,

Yes I remember you giving me the name of a friend in Maidstone. It is a very friendly, kind and compassionate place and we have been travelling from where I live to Maidstone ever since I arrived in England nearly twelve years ago. so that K. could benefit from the facillties there.
You have still not yet told me whether the three of you have got a roof over your heads or if you are sleeping in a sweet smelling haystack, or a mound of hops. Don't they smell wonderful?

Much affection

AR1

Hi my sweet,

As Lucher used to say to me when we occasionally met GOTCHER!!

When I opened the front door at quarter to seven this morning the marvellous frangrance of all the honeysuckle that I have planted outside my front door just overwhelmed me. It was quite heady and so pleasure-giving.

The development is called Leylourne Lakes and the firm doing it are The Berkeley consortium. They are very efficient, and the development is really smashing with top quality material and design. The Lakes are really old quarries which have been filled in. the only problem was that there are the most majestic geese on them. Last time I went they came scrambling up the bank and I turned tail in my wheelchair and fled!

Have a good day.
<Much

AR1

Dear Heart,

Your invitation to come and stay is on the other thread!1

See you next year,

Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter?

They are all wonderful on this lovely island.

Much

AR1

Also Ran 1. I wish you good move and pleasant house.

here is some extra luck A847019

I am planning live on this house for the rest of my life. I hate moving and did it 4 times in 10 years

AR1, I'm afraid you are mixing me up with coelacanth, which is no problem from my point of view at all as she is a lovely person!

When I was 10 we returned from a 3 year posting in Singapore to Invicta Park, Dad was in the Royal Engineers.

I haven't been back to Maidstone since and I expect it has changed a great deal and not much at all, the way British towns and cities do

Oh my goodness, Caerwyn,

Mea culpa! Mea culpa! etc. etc.

Of course. You are the white Queen and you have two sons (as opposed to coelecanth who has two daughters!!.) I obviously had not woken up properly. I must admit that the 1960 bit puzzled me.

How fascinating. How long did you live in Singapore? I have only passed through on my way to both Hong Kong and to Australia.

Plus ca change..... I think that Maidstone has changed even in the 12 years that I have known it. It has a wonderful charm, and I have met such super people there including those who run the Blackthorn Trust. the most caring organisation catering for so many people.

How is your garden growing? Mine is looking really splendid and it will be a real challenge to try keep up the one I have here.

Much affection,

AR1

Very dear pheloxi, big

Of course you would come and visit me I hope!!. I must admit that I was dreading moving even though I was not very happy here. Now that I have taken the plunge, I feel both elated and ever so much younger. It must be my birthday party and that wonderful rose garden!!.

How are you keeping? Well I hope.

Affectionately

AR1

Heyla my dearest AR1;

So now we both move. Greatest luck and hope all goes smoothly for you and K.

Hope the packing is not in the end, a mammoth effort, for I have found over the past week that I have some relly wonderful things that have been hidden away in deep dark corners awaiting the rturn of light and attention - including several photographs that I had forgotten about! It has been fun going through all my stuff (although I'm not going to get away from London with just the Suitcase and Backpack I arrived with! )

I'm just about to hit the last week in London, and it is scary to think I'll be gone. But hopefully not forgotten.

Anyway, much luck and joy to you and K, and keep in touch luv

Zantic

I must say I was not happy in my prevoius houses. I kept dreaming that all kinds of things* want re-design my bedroom while I was sleeping in it.

I still have dream every now and then to remind of the good house I live in now!


* alien, builders, family and spiders to name a few I can remember.

We've lived in this house far longer than any other place we've ever lived... I hate the thoughts of trying to sort through all the accumulated stuff in order to move, so I hope we don't do it for a long, long time!

Hope your move will go smoothly, AR1, and that you'll enjoy your new home!

*is very glad that the last time they moved, they made a point of looking at places with 2 bedrooms!*

Sounds lovely, dear

We lived in Singapre for 3 years, AR1, it was a huge adventure for a child, swimming everyday, waterskiing or sailing every weekend, staying with friends for a week or two in Malaya once ot twice a year. We only school in the mornings

Not so much fun for my elder brother as he had to go to boarding school from 8 years old and only came out once a year for the summer holidays. Dad couldn't afford anymore flights for him.

The parents had a great social life, I can remember them dressing up for costume parties (crasy in that heat in pre air-conditionning days!).

But we had curfews too as there were Independence riots regularly and had to keep away from certain areas.

Hi there Also Ran (and to the lovely Caerwynn too. Thank you!)

It looks like you will move before me although I have put in an offer on a house this week. When will your place be ready? I'd love to visit you but I'd never make the arrangements in so public a place as h2g2, so we will have to work out some private way to sort this out.

Packing and moving seems less daunting to me now. I like moving on, but then I did it a lot as a child. I'm not sure why Caerwynn's reference to the 1960's confused you. I'm old enough to have lived through them too! In fact I was in and around North Kent until 1968 when we moved to Essex.

Maybe you will make it to the Maidstone River Festival? It's the 26th July. I went once about 6 years ago and it was busy but a lot of fun. The theme this year is Pirates. See http://www.maidstoneriverfestival.co.uk/

Sunshine and Moonlight have finished exams now, my term ends next week and the long summer holiday is ahead. We're still in the rented house we took on at Easter but most of our possessions still packed up from last August. So, do we really need them!

Oh my dearest Zantic

Only six days to go now. It is going to be a wrensch.(spelling!!) Those lovely carefree days of being a student. I am sure however that you will enjoy being back in your native Scotland and also your new job. I presume you are starting up the employment ladder before you finish your PhD?
I see that you arrived late at the summer meet. I have such happy memories of last year's - meeting you and of course Dr. Muchkin and Toccata - and Zarquhon , and Gnoman and his sister, and my dear little friend with her baby - I cannot for the moment remember her name, and Lighhousegirl - Lotse of people.

We must keep in touch. I have been out to the flat this afternoon to see if my furniture will fit into it. It was Soooo peaceful and quiet and it really is a lovely flat. There is one massive problem. I think I shall write about it in my journal as I really do not know what to do.

Enjoy your packing my love, and do not throw anything away that will remind you later of your will rmind you later of your wild and happy youth in NodnoL
My dearest to you
AR1

Very dear pheloxi,

I am intrigued about the home you have now. Please tell me about it. Is it in a large town or in a village? Is it near water? I always imagine everything in Holland to be near water and the canals!!

Do you live by yourself or do you share the house? Lots of uestions my dear. I have a problem which I am going to write about in my journal. I wonder if it can be solved.

Fond

AR1

Thank yu my dear Lady Scott for your good wishes. I think that the longest I have lived in one house was with my darling Dick. We lived in the same home for about fourteen years. The extraordinary thing was that he was a very keen radio ham. He kept wondering if he could have a special little den built but he always thought it was not possible with the house.

Some years after his death I went back to the house. We had a lovely garden and I wanted to see how things were growing. The new owners very kindly asked me in. You can imagine my surprise when I saw that they had a new room on one side of the house.

"How on earth did you do that" I asked.

"Well", they replied " "We went to the Municipality to get the plans of the house, We were very surprised to see that there was an extra room which had been blocked off"

My heart really bled for darling Dick. He could have had his radio ham's room at very little cost after all.

Here is hoping you stay in your home for a long time to come.

AR1