Chapter 4 - We're here!

Finally; I'm up and running again. So much has happened since my last post, it's hard to know where to begin!
Our friend Paul very kindly allowed us to stay at his cottage for the few days that we were homeless, waiting for our departure flight on Oct 1. I never had to dirty up his kitchen because so many friends had us over for just about all our meals!
The day before we were due to leave, another friend, Johnny G drove us up to London where we had booked into a hotel. Johnny was going to stay in London to see some client's, but just as we arrived his phone rang and Sarah, his wife had been rushed to the hospital with a very serious asthma attach. Poor Johnny had to hurry back home. We were all very concerned for Sarah, but thankfully she is on the mend now.
Gulliver was as good as gold, and lived up to his name as a great traveller! I'm sure he didn't think much of the flight, but came out of his crate at the other end and seemed to have taken it in his stride.
It's hard to believe that we've accomplished so much in less than the 3 weeks that we've been here. In the first week we really hit the ground running! Our initial idea was to rent an apartment, but after seeing a few places I was really not looking forward to living either on top or underneath someone else - even with a pool and exercise room available. We stopped by the real estate agent we have been dealing with long distance and one of the girls in the office happened to tell us about her uncle who she thought might have a house for rent. We gave her our cell phone number and said to have him give us a call.
He called and we followed his directions to come see the house. As soon as we came down the driveway, both of us thought, "this is too good to be true". We were greeted by a large wooded lot with a lovely house with a full front porch (tick number one on my 'like to have' list) Inside there was a dining room (tick no. 2), fireplace (tick no. 3), and a basement (tick no. 4). It sits on a 4.5 acre wooded lot, and is surrounded by 40 acres of protected woodland and is in walking distance of a beautiful lake. I assumed it would be well out of our price range but was astounded to find it wasn't! Both A and I tried to play it cool and said we would have to go away and think about it. As we drove away we talked about how we loved it but really shouldn't jump at the first thing, but then, I had this amazing 'sign'. A cardinal (that's a red bird, for you Brits)flew right across our windscreen and I felt with a strange certainty that my mother was saying, "this is the place!" I will have to back up a bit to explain.
On the morning of my mothers funeral, I went outside very early in the morning, feeling the loss and sadness intensely; I just didn't know how I was going to get through the day. I was standing by a little bush in the motel parking lot, and suddenly this lovely cardinal flew over and perched on a branch right beside me. Normally, they are fairly skittish, but this one sat very calmly and started singing. I peace came over me and I knew Mom was with me and that everything was as it should be. So now you know why cardinals have a special meaning to me now. (I can hear some of you scoffing - and I can't say I blame you, but that's just how it is)
Anyway, we called the next day and said we would take it. so here we are. I've already painted most of the downstairs in preparation for the arrival of our furniture. We bought a mattress and base and a sofa, but other than a couple of folding lawn chairs, we have no furniture. We are eating off paper plates and using plastic cutlery. Yesterday, a went out and bought a bottle of wine so we could relax and treat ourselves, only we didn't have a corkscrew! I went out first thing this morning and purchased one.
I was hoping to attach a picture or two, but we managed to pack the camera cable. Sorry about that - pictures will be forthcoming!
We bought a car and I now have an official North Carolina drivers license. I think they put someone else's picture on my license though. She looks nothing like me.
Now that we have a laptop, I will be able to add to this blog more often and it won't be such an epic. More later!