Tues, March 28

Today we had a ride down to the West End to see if we could get some work clothes. We both picked up an Oyster Card so we could travel on the London Transport system at a slightly discounted rate. While in Oxford Street, we popped into Marks & Spencer and Debenhams before finally stiking gold in British Home Stores. There Paul picked up a jacket for £20, plus a pair of trousers and tie. Dawn picked up a couple of blouses, a skirt and trousers. All together it came to just a little over £100.

Sun, March 26

Today was Mother's Day in England and Paul was able to carry out one his goals. Over the seven years we lived in America, he had roses delivered to his dad's flat so that his dad could take them and lay them on his mother's grave on every birthday of hers, every wedding anniversary, every anniversary of her passing and every Mother's Day. Well this year Paul was able to take the flowers himself, along with his dad and brother George. While there, he noticed something very aptly worded on a headstone: "Memories are the golden chains that link us to those we love until we see them again."

Fri, March 24

Well Paul finally gave into the temptation to get some Fish & Chips. Tonight he drove over to George's Fish Bar in Enfield to get some of his much-needed fix. What he did not expect was to have to get to the end of a line that had about 25 people in it. However, the wait was worth it for him. Check out the delight on his face when he got home with the fare!

Fri, March 24

We finally got a replacement carrier for Tiny. Now we can take her out with us in the car when we're away from the house for a while. It will also allow us to take her to the vet around the corner (Village Vet).

Thu, March 23

Yesterday, we took a drive outside the M25 to visit some real estate offices (realtors) to get on their mailing list for properties that we hope to be able to afford once we get a job, and when our current lease expires in September. We also met with a financial advisor to discuss our mortgage situation.

Today, we took a drive back to Wood Green (see photo) so we could find some work clothes for Dawn. Dawn has already applied for over 20 jobs and needed to have some work clothes should she get an interview. We thought that we would have our stuff from Florida within 6 weeks. However, we found out last week that it hasn't even left New York yet, so we won't see the clothes we've shipped for another month at least.

Tues, March 21

After we'd been to the cemetary, we headed to North Finchley to visit a building society to discuss our position regarding getting a mortgage in 6 months. While we were there, we picked up a pair of shoes for Dawn for work (should she get an interview), popped into a couple of high street shops, and dropped into another Wetherspoons (The Tally Ho) for lunch. See above!

Tues, March 21

Today we drove over to Finchley so Paul could visit his mum's grave. We had already planned to go on Mother's Day (this coming Sunday) with Paul's dad. But, seeing as it had been nearly 5 years since we'd been, we felt it would be better if we went on our own first.

Sun, March 19

Today we picked up Paul's dad and George and took them down to Rainham to visit Paul's brother Phillip and his wife Jean. This was the first time Paul's dad and George had seen their house, and the first time we had met Jean. Phil and Jean decided against cooking for us and took us to the Albion for dinner. We had typical pub fair and spent a good few hours chatting. We had a good time, and are looking forward to seeing more of our family over the coming weeks and months.

Sat, March 18

Today Paul got a mini-cab to the car dealership where we bought our new car and collected it. Once he got home, we just stayed indoors and spent the day with Tiny. We had left her on her own the last few days and would be out most of Sunday, so we just wanted to help her have a nice day with us for a change.

Fri, March 17

Today we left early to drive around the M25 (London's orbital road) to return our hire car to AVIS. It went pretty well (apart from snow flurries), and we returned the car well in time not to be charged an additional day. However, the train ride home didn't go so smoothly. We already knew that we had to change twice (at Victoria and Finsbury Park stations), and that the journey would take us around an hour and a half. Unfortunately though, a few minutes before our train arrived the train station was closed and all trains passing through Gatwick were delayed due to fatality on the line in the Purley area. We eventually made it home, but the journey took over twice as long.

Thur, March 16

After popping down Chapel Market (where we froze our butts off), we dropped by Paul's dad's flat to collect his dad and brother George and brought them back to see our flat in Winchmore Hill. Paul then made dinner for us: salmon patties with green beans and cauliflower covered in home-made cheese sauce. Paul's dad brought a nice bottle of wine, which helped wash it down, and we finished the night off with a bakewell tart each.

Thur, March 16

Today Dawn was in hog heaven after she was able to pop into a Pie & Mash shop at Chapel Street in Islington. She'd waited nearly 5 years for one of her favourite all time meals, and felt that the wait was certainly worth it.

Wed, March 15

Back on the road again today. Had a ride up to Crews Hill to pick up some stuff for Tiny from the Jollye's Pet Superstore. We also dropped into Enfield Town and did some more shopping at Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, WH Smith and best of all Phones 4U where we picked up two cell phones for just £25 each with no contract and really cheap calling rates. We also popped into a post office to mail our CarMax check to our bank in Dunedin. Oh yea, we also dropped into one of our old haunts from when we lived in Enfield over 7 years ago - Moon Under Water. Check out the photo and see if you can guess why?

Tue, March 14

Today was relatively quiet compared to the last week, despite us being out of the flat most of the day. First we dropped by our local recycling center to get rid of all the boxes and trash we had accumulated before popping into the local Barclays Bank to change our address on our checking account, then did some more shopping at Argos, B&Q and Morrisons.

Mon, March 13

What a day. This morning we headed out to the local shopping center in Wood Green to pick up some more odds and ends (sheets, blanket, ironing board, and television stand). However, the journey didn't turn out exactly as planned. After buying most of the above at the local Argos store, we were informed that we could not return to our car as someone had fallen to their death from an upper floor of the car park into the high street. Consequently, the street and car parks were cordoned off by the police. So we headed to a local pub for lunch until we could get into the car park.

This afternoon we headed over to a local car showroom in Enfield and sorted out a car for us. We had hoped to buy a new one with a 0%apr deal over 4 years. However, seeing as didn't have jobs, that didn't go down well. Instead we were able to pick up a three year old 5 door 1.6 6v Vauxhall Astra that only had 3500 miles on it. The dealer had to sort out some odds and ends, so we wouldn't be able to collect it until Saturday.

Sun, March 12

Today we drove up to Holloway to see Paul's dad and brother George for the first time since 2001. They both looked really well, especially Paul's dad who will be 78 this year. We then drove down to the Coronet where we all enjoyed a roast beef dinner each. To our disbelief and pleasure, the meal came with a beer or soft drink each and only cost £21.85 for the four of us. Now that's a bargain. When we got home, Paul called his brother Phillip who lives in East London and made plans to take his dad and George over to visit him and his wife next week.

Sat, March 11

Today Dawn left the house for the first time. After the major ordeal Tiny had been through the last week or so, we didn't want to leave her on her own too soon. Anyway, we dropped into loads of shops including Woolworths, Argos, PC World, Comet & Currys. However, Morrisons was our favourite. Our local grocery store had more meat, fish and produce than we could ever get at our local Publix back in Dunedin, and best of all at such affordable prices. We were both like kids in a candy store. In between our trips to the shops, Paul watched his football team Spurs live on television. Shame about the result, though.

Fri, March 10

A busy day for us. Paul first left the house at 6.30am to get a phone as we could not call our family to tell them we had arrived safely yesterday. He was then in and out most of the morning picking up a computer, television, coffee maker, and other electrical bits and pieces we needed. However, the good news was that by the end of the day we had satellite television installed and had access to the Internet.

Thu, March 9

What a stressful couple of days. Yesterday morning we took Tiny to our vet so she could inject some fluids to help Tiny with the long flight. Then we drove to Orlando where we had to leave Tiny with Virgin Atlantic, drop off our car at CarMax, and then catch our flight home. Needless to say, leaving Tiny was the hardest part of everything we have had to do. On the flight home, we got very little sleep worrying about her. This was made worse with all the noise on take-off, and worse than normal turbulance.

We arrived at Gatwick about 8.45am this morning and after getting through customs and immigration, picked up a hire car (a huge 2lit Passat estate) and headed to cargo to collect Tiny. Unfortunately we had to wait an extra couple of hours while they dealt with the paperwork. However, Virgin Atlantic could not have been better with Tiny. They really put her welfare first.

Once we collected Tiny, we drove to our new home in North London, collecting the keys on the way from the real estate office.

We've been through a lot over the last three months with selling our business and house in Florida, and dealing with Tiny's immigration. However, now that we're home, we both feel that it was really worth it.

NEW BLOG

We will bring this upto date for the last few days, but in the meantime you can check out our new home at: www.beverleyclose.blogspot.com

Tue, March 7

Today was a busy day running errands. Without listing everything we had to get done, we made another trip to the vet so Tiny could have her last shots before leaving, stopped by the post office to collect the last of our mail, dropped in on our accountant to pick up our 2005 tax return (and mail it out with a nice check for the IRS), and Dawn spent all afternoon getting the car cleaned and getting a quote from CarMax for the sale of the car.

Mon, March 6

Yesterday we had a teary departure from St. Augustine as Dawn and Kelly said their goodbyes. Brady and Jim had popped by a little earlier before setting out on their drive back to Flowery Branch. We on the otherhand drove back to the gulf coast and booked into the Knights Inn in Palm Harbor, right on our favourite road, US Hwy 19.

As for today, this was the 1st in four traumatic and stressful days for the three of us. First we had to drive to our vet (Diane Perry) to pick up Tiny's papers. We needed to get them signed, etc before we could take them to the USDA in Gainesville, FL (120 miles away) so they could endorse them and approve for us to take Tiny out of the country. If the drive to Gainesville wasn't bad enough, while we were at the vet's, one couple had to bring in their 17 year old cat to be put down, and another cat needed a leg amputated. It certainly put our ordeal into perspective.

As for the USDA office, Dawn was in and out in less than six minutes. But at least we had the paperwork approved, and had passed another of our objectives.

Sat, March 4

Yesterday we set out for and arrived at Kelly's (Dawn's sister) house in St. Augustine, FL so we could spend a couple of days with Kelly and Michaela, Brady and Jim, plus Kelly's eldest son Matthew and his girlfiend, Amy.

We arrived shortly after lunch time yesterday. Dawn drove over to meet Brady & Jim for lunch while I stayed in the house with Tiny. Kelly dropped by for lunch to see me. Friday evening, Dawn, Kelly, Michaela, Brady and Jim popped out to a local bar/grille for something to eat. Again I stayed behind with Tiny. Matt and Amy arrived while they were gone. When the others returned, we chatted for a while until Brady & Jim left for their hotel.

Today was all about Michaela, as it was her 8th birthday. Six of her friends, plus her dad (Walt) turned up for her party and everyone had a great time. It was certainly a day we will remember for a long, long time.

Thu, March 2

After spending Tuesday night at John & Phyllis' house, we set out for Ocala with Tiny to take a couple of days rest on our own. All of our plans to visit family and friends in GA & SC had been ruined thanks to the late closing Tues and our having to vacate the house suddenly. The whole last two weeks had been such an ordeal that we needed to rest and try and help prepare Tiny for the biggest ordeal of her life, spending her first night apart from us and having to be cooped up in the cargo hold in a carrier on the 9 hour flight to London.

Tue, February 28

Today we moved out of Cedar Dr. The sale of the house turned sour when the new owner (who had offered a cash purchase) informed us that he may not be able to close on time. This was not an option for us, as we had already shipped our belongings to London, arranged travel plans to see family and friends in GA, SC & FL, booked our flights to London, and even paid three months upfront for a flat in London, too.

The buyer then informed us that he could make the closing two hours later, but that we could not stay in the house until our departure as agreed. Thanks to Mary (our realtor) and good friends John & Phyllis, we were able to get all our belongings out of the house and had somewhere to stay the night until we sorted ourselves out.

At the closing, the new buyer never said a word to us, leaving us with a sour taste in our mouth. Not exactly the way to bid farewell to the home we had spent the last 6 years in!

Mon, February 27

One day to go until we close on the house. We've been out to sort out some errands, and started getting ready for our trip to Brady's. Paul took some last photos around town. Then this evening we met our good friends John and Phyllis Courtney and were treated to a nice meal with good friendly company at Tiffany's before going back to their place for some coffee and cake.

Sunday, 26th February

Today we spent most of the day dealing with a lot of odds and ends. Called Dad to give him the latest on our progress, and that all was still scheduled to close on Tuesday. We then took a ride over the new Memorial Causeway bridge to Clearwater Beach, so that we could enjoy some grouper nuggets at Frenchy's Rockaway and watch the sun set over the gulf one last time.

Saturday, 25th February

Compared to the last two weeks, today could have been described as one of leisure. Once again we were out and about so Paul could get some more photos of Dunedin, but we also dropped by Countryside Mall (Westfield Shopping Center) to pick up some shoes, and had lunch at one of Paul's favourite haunts, China King. Then, this evening we were at Ruth Eckerd Hall for the last time and saw the two Rock Star:INXS finalists perform with their respective bands. Runner-up Marty Casey's band Lovehammers opened for INXS, fronted by Rock Star:INXS winner JD Fortune.

Friday, 24th February

We have still been pretty busy with our plans.

On Wednesday, we dropped into our accountant's office to get our taxes moving. He should have them all prepared and wrapped up soon as our business taxes are due by March 15th. Dawn picked up her new drivers licence. However, mine will be mailed to me. We also received Tiny's carrier, and an Avid chip reader that we needed, too.

On Thursday, we spent most of the day away from the house, dropping in at Schiller to organize a reference for Paul, the Post Office to mail stuff to London that we hadn't been able to ship, and finally Los Mariachis for lunch to enjoy some Mexican (will be much missed).

On Friday, we dropped into Hairdooz and had Mary Beth cut our hair for the last time, before having a walk along Edgewater Drive and downtown so Paul could take some photos. That evening Marsha and Ed dropped by to see us before we left. We enjoyed some Bambino pizza and great company.

Tuesday, 21st February

As was the norm, we had another restless night and were up early. However, today we had good reason. We needed to get the 55 boxes out in the garage so that the shippers could get to them easily. They arrived at 8am and were on their way to New York within 45 minutes. Paul contacted BT in London and sorted out a telephone connection for when we arrive, in addition to broadband access for the computer. We ran some errands, which included picking up a new suitcase at Walmart, and some City of Dunedin pins that the Mayor had promised to leave us in his office. Also enjoyed our last lunch of 911 wings and fried grouper sandwich at Hooters. Paul finally completed our accounts for tomorrow's meeting with the accountant, and ordered Sky satellite.

Monday, 20th February

Today we passed another milestone on our journey home. At about 9.30am the door bell rang and Fed-ex handed us a parcel with Dawn's passport with her new settlement visa in it. We were delighted to say the least. We completed the shipping paperwork, and faxed it to the shipper. Worked towards finalizing the paperwork for our accounts. Ordered a second carrier for Tiny, as we still had not received the original replacement yet.

Sat & Sun, 18th & 19th February

We had a busy weekend. Paul was dealing with the paperwork side of the move, especially preparing our 2005 taxes for our accountant. We have a meeting with him on Wednesday. Dawn on the otherhand spent all her time wrapping and packing. By the end of Sunday night, we had 55 boxes full our our belongings. When we arrived in America 7 years ago, we brought 21 with us. That must mean the difference is all the photos Paul has taken!

Friday, 17th February

This morning we attended our final DCO breakfast at the Dunedin Country Club, and received a wonderful reference from our friend and ex-customer (Keel Golf & Promos), John Courtney. After that it was back to the house where Dawn continued with the packing. Over half the 50 boxes completed. Paul needs to go through his clothes and kitchen stuff and decide what he is leaving behind or doesn't need for six weeks. Best of all today, we received an email from the British Consulate in New York to say that Dawn's visa had been approved and that we should have the passport back in our hands early next week.

Thursday, 16th February

Today we ran up the road to Countryside Mall and picked up some odds and ends that we wanted to bring back to London with us, stuff that we could get cheaper here, and needed to pack in the boxes being shipped by freight. We mailed the signed copy of the tenancy agreement to the landlord in London. We banked a ton of coins Dawn had spent a month of Sundays rolling, and also dropped into the Post Office and UPS Store to ship out stuff we had sold on Ebay. Dawn got stuck into packing up our belongings into the countless brown coloured shipping boxes.

Wednesday, 15th February

This morning we expected a visit from an inspector to review the property for the the new owner. However, we received a visit from the new owner's appraisor instead. We received the balance of boxes bought from our local UPS Store, so Dawn was able to start planning the packing. We received a contract by email from the landlord of a flat in London as was able to sign it, email it back and secure our new home for a six month period. Paul called CarMax to discuss selling our car to them. We also cancelled our spare telephone line with Verizon.

Tuesday, 14th February

We dropped by the bank to get a cashier's check for Dawn's visa and then the Fedex office to ship the supporting documents and payment. Dawn contacted a shipping company to arrange for them to collect our belongings. We estimated there would be 50 boxes, but won't know for sure until we have packed everything we're taking. Paul continued to deal with a realtor in London trying to secure a short term lease on an appartment for us. We returned a pet carrier to the supplier because it was broken. Now we need a new one!! We rode up to our local UPS Store and paid for 50 shipping boxes, a huge bag of popcorn and a huge roll of bubble wrap. We brought home ten of them that they already had in stock. Paul contacted our accountant and made an appointment to go over our taxes for 2005. In the evening we went to Tarpon Springs and had a nice St Valentine's meal at the Greek Pizza Kitchen.

Monday, 13th February

Now that we have a contract on the house, things should progress quickly, so we will update our blog daily (where possible).

Today Paul called a couple of estate agents in London and started the ball rolling with regard to finding somewhere to live, and went to the bank to wire some cash to one of them so that we could pay the deposit once he had secured something we liked. Dawn spent a good amount of time on the phone with the USDA to confirm Tiny's immigration details. She also booked our flight to London, and confirmed with the airline that Tiny would be on the flight too. We filed Dawn's visa application online with the British Consulate in New York. And for good measure, Dawn also found time to go to the dentist.

CONTRACT ON HOUSE

Today we had a very successful open house. In fact, the very first person who viewed the house was a realtor who provided his own contract to accompany his offer. To our delight (following a couple counter offers) a price was agreed by both parties and the contract signed. Now we have the fun of dealing with Dawn and Tiny's iimmigration, finding somewhere to live in London, and shipping our stuff to our new temporary home. We also have to fit in the Paul & Dawn White farewell tour to visit family and a few friends,too.

PAUL RECEIVES PHF

On Wednesday, we attended the Dunedin North Rotary Club meeting where Paul received a medal, pin and certificate to confirm that he had been named a Paul Harris Fellow "in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding friendly relations among people of the world".

HOUSE FOR SALE

Yes, we have finally put the house on the market. On Thursday we signed the contract with our good realtor friend, and today the sign went up outside the house. Keep your fingers crossed that we get some offers, soon. We can't wait to get back home! Oh yea, if you want to check out some photos of all the work we've been doing, check out our other blog at http://2143cedardr.blogspot.com/

NEW POOL CAGE GOING IN

Our house is slowly getting there. Today, are new pool cage started going in and it lookes awesome compared to our old one. Check back for photos of the cage when it is completed. We also have someone coming out to repair the pool edge at the weekend, too.

BUSY DECORATING

It seems like we don't stop. Since Christmas we have painted the master bedroom and bathroom, guest bedroom(and got rid of the yellow ceiling), hallway cupboard, kitchen cupboards, and the Florida Room. Paul pressure-washed the roof without falling off, but did get a sun burnt neck. And he somehow managed to fall into the pool while pressure-washing the walls!

POOL DECK COMPLETED

We are glad to report that our pool deck is now complete. However, that just means that we now have to pressure wash the outside of the house before we get the new pool cage installed.

OLD POOL DECK GONE

We finally had our old pool deck removed this week. The contractors started to remove the cool deck yesterday and finished by midday today. They also cemented over the flower bed in the corner. Hopefully by the end of next week we'll have a new clean looking pool deck.

HOME AT LAST

Today we arrived home after what seemed the longest weekend. In addition to driving over 1100 miles, we unwrapped countless Christmas gifts left by Santa, ate more carbs (thanks to some delicous cookies, chess pies, party mix, pecan pies, cheese biscuits, and fruit cake cookies) than our body could handle, and took so many digital photos that it would have taken up 45 rolls of film.

DESERTING BRADY & JIM

Although we had a great time with Brady and Jim over Christmas, we all made our exits today. Kelly was heading to Rock Hill to spend some time with her boys, although how she packed her car we'll never know (see photo). Jim took Margaret home, and Dawn and I drove to Perry, FL, where we stayed the night in a hotel to break down the trip.

CHRISTMAS DAY

The noise from the burglar alarm last night didn't prevent Santa from leaving some presents for Michaela. Although, as the space under the tree was already taken, he had to lay them out in front of the Hi-Fi. Other gifts received worth a mention were a personalised photo journal of our time in America for Brady and Kelly (see photo), and a top, toy and unique gift for Jim.

CHRISTMAS FARE

With so many gifts under the tree to open, Brady decided that it might be better if we had the Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve.

ARRIVED IN FLOWERY BRANCH

After another handful of hours on the road, we arrived at Dawn's mum's house. However, when we arrived, it looked like Santa had arrived early as there was no more room under the tree for us to put our gifts.

SET OUT FOR ATLANTA

Today we set out for Flowery Branch so we could share Christmas with Brady (Dawn's mum), Jim (Brady's husband), Kelly and Micheala and Jim's mother Margaret. This time we broke the journey down into two days and stopped the night in Macon, GA.

NOT CHRISTMAS DECORATING

We have finally started decorating the house for the new year.

Paul painted a couple of ceilings and removed the shower door in the main bathroom, while Dawn stripped the bathroom wallpaper and painted the walls and trims in the main bedroom and closet.

DCO APPRECIATION

When the board of the DCO (Dunedin Council of Organizations) heard that we are leaving Dunedin and moving back to England, they insisted that Dawn and I sit at the head table for this month's meeting. Then, during the meeting, President Pat Kennedy presented Dawn with a framed certificate for all the good work she had done above and beyond the call of duty as a director this year.

LUNCH AT SWEET TOMATOES

Today we met Marsha and Ed K, Cathy E, and Teresa D at Sweet Tomatoes on US19 in Palm Harbor for lunch. It was good to take some time out from training, and to catch up on what everyone was up to.

MARSHA & KEVIN @ THE DUNEDIN BREWERY

Tonight, with many of Marsha G's friends, we packed the Dunedin Brewery to the rafters so we could meet Kevin, her boyfriend from Scotland. Needless to say he was a hit with everyone and we couldn't be happier for Marsha and Kevin. They looked perfect for each other and need to make it happen. WE DID!

JUST SENTIMENTAL NOW UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP

Today we can finally announce that we have sold Just Sentimental to our good friends Sherrie and Ron Kinkead. We actually closed on the sale last Tuesday, the 22nd, but didn't want to announce it until we had moved the embroidery machines and everything else that went with the business to their house. It's been an amazing three years for us. We've had some great experiences and met some wonderful people. We can also walk away with great pride having made two businesses successful from the ground up in something neither one of us knew the first thing about before we started.

TURKEY DAY

We enjoyed a restful day watching the 79th Macy's Parade. Dawn started on our Christmas cards, and Paul cooked the dinner. Dawn also spoke to her mother and sister on the telephone. It was just nice to be able to take it easy for a change.

POOL CAGE COMING DOWN

Today our backyard looked like a hurricane had come through. But, thankfully it was man made and was due to a couple of contractors tearing down the old pool cage. It certainly looks odd, and we can't wait for the new one to go up.

DINNER AT GRILLSMITHS WITH JACKIE

Tuesday evening we finally caught up with Jackie Yaques, who was our contact at Cintas until recently when she left for greener pastures. We enjoyed talking over old times and really enjoyed the company. A nice friend, and someone we will definately be staying in touch with.

ART HARVEST AT HIGHLAND PARK

On Sunday we took an hour off from work and had a relaxing stroll around the many stalls of paintings, photographs, sculptures and jewelry at this year's Art Harvest in Dunedin's Highland Park.

GARAGE SALE

Saturday we spent the best part of the day in our garage selling our two bikes, power tools, a couple of book cases, fryer, vacuum cleaner, books, CDs, Records, and countless stuffed bears when our neighbourhood had its annual garage sale.

9th ANNIVERSARY

Today we celebrated the 9th anniversary of the day we met at the top of the Empire State Building by having lunch at the Dunedin Marina Cafe (see picture of Dawn looking out across St Joseph's Sound), and then later on dinner at Umberto's of Long Island.