Misty Skye

Curtain of light
Originally uploaded by framboise.

It's all quiet on the move front. We've had a much needed break on the Isle of Skye (see photos here). No thanks to the fantastic art studios and galleries on Skye, we've come away with yet another print to add to our Western Isles collection. Another one for the packing crates... Other than that, we've done nothing much. We need a kick up the bottom...

Six Nations stops play in flat

Nothing doing today. It's the last day of the Six Nations, and possibly the last chance we'll get to watch decent rugby for the next few years. The sorting and packing has been suspended for the most exciting final day we can recall.

Filled boot

byebye4
Originally uploaded by framboise.

Managed to fill the car boot (US: trunk) with lots of games (for the BnB) and gardening equipment (for the veggie patch). So, some stuff re-homed, but 99% of the flat contents to go yet!

More stuff goes (cont.)

byebye2
Originally uploaded by framboise.

Another batch of stuff we can't take to LA will be making a long journey today. Our accumulated plant pots and gardening equipment is going for a permanent holiday to bonny Perthshire, along with a glass wasp catcher that we've been meaning to put up in the veggie patch for 2 years now.

More stuff goes

byebye3
Originally uploaded by framboise.

It's another farewell to some well-loved items. The pair of duvets were bought in 1994 on my very first visit to the cash-and-carry Macro outlet near Liverpool. It's been in various residences since, and has always come in useful on those extra-cold nights for sitting in front of the telly. They're off to our local Shelter shop.

bye bye...

byebye...
Originally uploaded by framboise.

It's farewell to some of D's dresses. They're in transit in London, waiting for the 'cheap courier' to take them home to D's mom. It's amazing how quickly packages within the UK can move when there isn't any Christmas/Valentine's/Easter post to slow it down. The parcel was sent from Edinburgh on late Wed afternoon, and arrived before 0700h in London on Thurs (waking aforementioned 'cheap courier' up). Sometimes, even intra-city first class mail can take 3 or 4 days, whether it's London or Edinburgh! Perhaps they route mail Edin-Lon-Edin or vice versa.

Freight rates

We knew shipping boxes would be expensive, but we hadn't realised just how much each box would cost! It looks like shipping heavier boxes would cost less via a moving company than using Parcelforce, and although the initial charges sound ridiculously high, it makes more sense the more boxes you ship. We'll have to work out just how many we want to ship before asking for quotations, and must bear in mind that some shipping companies charge a fee for packing your goods, even if you have packed them yourself (sneaky!). Oh, if only we worked for a company; they'd pay our relocation costs.

	First carton	Extra
Allied Pickfords
43.3x48.4x43.3cm	£295	£40
Excess Baggage
41x60x34cm	£175	£50
41x51x61cm	£205	£65
Parcelforce
41x60x34cm (14kg)	£101.30	n/a
41x51x61cm (21kg)	£128.35	n/a

Of course, these are just the rates for small crates/consignments. Goodness knows how much shipping furniture and other household goods would be!