Thinking it was time to check out our house after six years of travelling we gave our tenants notice and then drove back from Portugal at the beginning of August.

It felt very strange being in your own house after so long away, almost like being in a rented place. The difference being, if you spill wine, coffee or anything else on the rug then it is your rug so there is no need to be too upset if you have to throw it away. As it happened we didn’t have to spill anything, it had already been done for us. That started one of many trips to the recycling centre, do-it-yourself stores, carpet stores, furniture stores and of course – Ikea.

What we thought might be a quick clean up and a bit of painting before we headed off on our travels again turned in to a mammoth refurbishment. Having a real fear of having to do anything with a screw-driver, saw, wrench or any other implement of that nature made the whole process extremely painful. Lorna says my cursing and swearing ability should be in the Guinness Book of Records. We did have a few laughs along the way though, especially with the kitchen fitters who did a superb job and we did manage to get away for a few days and visit relatives and friends.

So that’s that. After all these weeks (don’t mention money) renovating and so forth we have a beautiful new kitchen with all new appliances, the smell of fresh paint everywhere and in effect, a new house. It would be nice to sit back and relax and enjoy it all but where’s the fun in that? Our truck and trailer awaits us Southern California so that’s where we’re off to next week (November 5th). See you there.