Word of the week - Preparation

We're off on holiday soon and there is lots to do.

There's not a lot we need to do.

There was a lot we'd planned to do.

I have 6 weeks school holidays and 3 weeks have passed already.

Then there are two weeks where we'll be on holidays.

Then 10 days before I go back to school in which I have some planning to do and a camping trip to organise.

Then 3 days of panic where I look at my 'to do' I wrote in June with all the things I was going to do in the school holidays, that I swore I'd actually get round to doing this year and not leave till the last 3 days.

So I brought that list forward and tackled a fair chunk of it on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, along with packing for the holiday as a lot of it made sense with going away anyway.

The van had the water tanks emptied and cleaned and the tea, sugar, jams etc were all removed ready for a restock. The solar battery was also charged.

The garden was tidied up with plastic pots and the soft furnishings put away as there is some rain forecast while we're away. 

We'd already dug up the old fir tree and potted up some shrubs that we wanted to save. We moved pots where they had a chance of survival, slightly shaded from direct sunlight and a chance of grabbing some rain and we shifted the spare soil to the front garden after we'd treated the weeds the previous week. We are now ready to lay the path when we get back from holiday.

The hanging basket has been going on for ages so it was moved onto the gate where it will get some rain.

The beds were changed for the cat sitter and the litter tray and cat food was stocked up.

The house was given a good clean.

The loft rooms were tided up as my son in Australia had made a plea over the weekend to find some very important documents he needed to apply for his Australian passport now he has citizenship. Originals could not be located, but I found copies on my laptop and sent them over to which he responded with 'oh I've got those' He didn't know what he was looking for. I'd had to move a book case to get to the loft access.

At 31c on Monday in the loft rooms I was not over impressed, he did send a message of apology for stressing me out. But at least now the rooms are tidy and organised so when we get back from holiday I can start my crafting projects straight away and I've taken all the photos ready to upload items onto Vinted.

Holiday packing has been going on most of this week also. We've got 20kg checked in luggage and 10kg hand luggage each. We'll use our full allowance going out, but probably return quite empty, we usually do on holiday.

Suitcase packing is more about comfort than clothing for me. I bought an inflatable (£5.99 from Aldi) for sitting on, on the beach, using in the pool, relaxing on the balcony and using on the grassy banks at our hotel. There's a foldable beach chair (slightly rusty) which we already had for Peter (will leave behind)

8 books (from the charity shop, will leave behind) 

I've packed an absorbent bath mat and beach towels from a previous holiday (probably leave behind)

All the below packed in picnic cooler bag:

Boiler and milk frother for my lattes. Will buy a souvenir mug when we arrive. Some tea bags and ground coffee and sugar for the first two days.

Have tea towel and dish cloth and washing up liquid for dishes and clothes and a first aid kit (will leave behind)

Packed sponges and zip lock bags so we can have home made ice packs. Plastic cutlery and Tupperware pots for lunches (will leave behind).

Extension cable as the plug sockets are never near the bed or anywhere useful.

Peter travels much lighter than me and will pack the day we travel with just his clothes leaving everything to me, which I quite like. He does help with the lists so he knows what I am packing will ask if I've got certain things.