Today is the day we settle the contract on the house and take possession.
The first thing we did was to buy a washing machine so that we can do all the laundry we have accumulated over the past ten days or so. We also arranged to have the electricity re-connected.
We collected the keys and prepared to "move in". I had to do a bit of modification to a big cactus tree which encroached on the driveway into the back yard. Being a good grey nomad I simply took the tomahawk from the Motley and removed all the offending branches. I found the best way to reverse the Motley into the yard and we set up on the most level patch of ground I could find.
Robert and Marjorie and John and Vicki arrived for happy hour at three o'clock and helped us to celebrate our new status as landed gentry with champagne, biscuits and dips, and a cream cake.
Our next door neighbor, Elsie, who is a friend of John and Vicki, joined us a little later.
In the evening we all went to the RSL for dinner. Jean and I joined the club as a first step in the process of becoming 'residents'.
I went out early to buy the bits of plumbing I needed to install the washing machine. Outside the shop, I was approached by a local who asked if we had finally moved in to the house. He turned out to be another friend of John and Vicki who we had met on a previous visit to Barraba.
I installed the washing machine and we did four loads of washing.
I had also bought secateurs and I did some tidying up in the garden clearing a rampant bush away from the area of the hills hoist, pruning some other shrubs, and clearing away some kikiyu grass runners which were trying to take over the whole garden.
After all this energy depleting activity, I veged out for the rest of the afternoon.
It had been cold overnight again with the outside temperature down to 1°C when I woke up. The Motley is ,of course plugged into house power so we are snug inside with a thermostatic fan heater taking care of the chill.
I spent the day taking photos of the house and putting up a new gallery.
I am still having trouble with my internet connections and I will try to find a work around when we go to Tamworth tomorrow.
After a late breakfast, we went to Tamworth to do shopping we can't do in Barraba. We visited a second-hand shop that is closing down at the end of June and bought a three piece suite. It wasn't exactly what we would have selected but it was comfortable, cheap, converts to a bed, and will give us something to sit on while we search for something more suitable. We will have to arrange for the guy who does the weekly Tamworth to Barraba courier service to pick it up for us.
I also found an internet cafe with a wireless hot-spot which was really easy to use with the new iBook. I down loaded all the outstanding emails, I visited Austarnet website and emptied the mail box which had apparently filled up the 10Mb allowance. I also downloaded a new driver for the Keyspan serial adapter which should enable me to connect the Garmin GPS to the iBook so that I can use the MacGPSPro software I bought recently.
After lunch, we shopped at Woolworths for groceries which are much cheaper here than at the IGA in Barraba.
After a full day, we got back home in time for afternoon tea.
We were both a bit crook with sore throats so we did very little.
We ventured into town late in the morning and checked out the op shops for suitable furniture. The Red Cross shop had a wardrobe which isn't what we want but was so cheap that we bought it to be going on with. We also joined the local library, another step to becoming 'residents'.
At lunch time we were visited by the plumbers from the local council who were changing old water meters which record in gallons for new ones that record in litres. I had had a bit of trouble with the main water tap not turning off completely so I asked them to fix that as well which they were happy to do.
We were late up. After breakfast I got the suitcases of winter clothes out of the Motley and we sorted out lots of stuff. I also unloaded the sewing machines and took them and the big table indoors.
I tracked down the people who do courier truck services from Tamworth.
We had to wait in because some furniture was being delivered. I spent some time re-drawing the plans for the kitchen and bathroom so that we know just what we are going to do. In have yet to find a tradesman to do that job
I researched the possibilities for getting the furniture brought from Tamworth and arranged for it to be picked up tomorrow/