Arrived safe

Hey everyone,
Just a quick post this time to let you all know about our move. We drove from Stirling to Ullapool on Tuesday, making great time and checking into a B&B at 10:45pm. Then we caught the 9:30am ferry the next day. We were stunned by the scenery on the way out of Loch Broom, until Deborah fell asleep under the influence of anti-sickness tablets and David was left to be stunned at the scenery for the rest of the (relatively) smooth journey by himself. Abigail slept the whole time. What a star!

We got to Stornoway at 12:15, and after taking care of some business, most important of which was feeding a ravenous child, we got to our new Home in Breasclete about 2:30. Meanwhile, Mum and Dad Renwick (with Pepper) in the Micra, Dad Chapman and Daniel in a hired van and Colin Hinde from the Northside congregation in "the Ark" minibus were on the ferry from Uig on Skye, and arrived at Tarbert on Harris at 3:45. Mum and Dad made it to the house in about an hour; the others got lost and took 2 hours. We then upacked the van, ate fish and chips, built a bed or two, and slept.

I am now in Stornoway, using wi-fi at a computer shop. We don't have a telephone line installed yet (so no Internet connection either), but those of you who receive emails from us will get our telephone number as soon as we know it.

That'll do for now. I'll have to go take care of more business, and Deborah and her parents are busy working at the house and buying groceries. Until next time...

The transition

Well, we are now officially in limbo. The lack of postings over the last 3 weeks is a reflection of the increasing stress we have been under during that time. I start work at the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway on Monday the 13th of August (only a week from now!) and we had to be out of our flat in Glasgow by Friday the 3rd. Ad into the mix the total lack of information from Lewis estate agents on rentals, and we had an acutely worrying time; as distant a move as is possible in Scotland, no house to go to, and not much time to arrange it all. After several weeks of getting nowhere, I finally relented last Tuesday and flew up to Lewis to go see a couple of properties. At the end of the day, we had agreed in principle to take a 3-bedroom house in the village of Breasclete, on the West of the Island. Since then I have made repeated phone calls in an effort to get our new letting agent to get moving, and our old letting agent to send a referrence for us. Friday arrived, and we had an exhausting day, emptying the flat in Yoker. Dad Chapman and Colin Hinde did a Sterling job of getting every available space in the van filled, but we still required the use of a minibus also. Today, I spent lots of money booking 4 vehicles to sail on Wednesday, and the new landlords have assured us that we are free to move in, even if the letting agents have got the paperwork completed. Tomorrow, we drive to Ullapool, and by Wednesday evening, the move will be complete. So its been interesting.

"What about Abigail??" you all scream! Well, Abigail is coming along by leaps and bounds. Not only does she study the world around her with rapt attention, but she is developing a sound control of her neck muscles, strong legs and does a good job of sleeping at night. We have had a few issues with colic over the last couple of weeks, but gripe water and InfaCol are making this easier to deal with. We are having a great deal of fun watching her interact with the world around her, and we're starting to think that we are on the receiving end of honest-to-goodness smiles! It's exciting stuff!

So for now, we're getting ready to move. Into our car seats, and hold on tight!