Section Two

▲This sign is on the M20 -its meaning is a mystery to me. I believe there is a large prize for the person who successfully discovers its meaning!
7.22 pm Sunday 4 May 2008
We had a very busy day yesterday indeed. J & L very kindly dropped us off at 62 Maidstone Road, and in due course David and Rosemary arrived. After a few minutes of getting acquainted we got down to business and started carrying stuff down from the attic. D & R have this all down to a fine art. They have acted as Executors six times before, so they know what to do and how to do it. Working directly from the Will and from the 'wish lists' of both Mary and Cynthia, they simply followed instructions and we were very happy to follow suit. Both Mary and Cynthia were organised to a fair-thee-well. Everything was packed and labelled with little notes advising us what to expect inside each packet. Amazing really. It certainly made things an awful lot easier than trying to sort everything out from scratch.

David had copies of the will and obituaries and lots of other related documents all neatly organised for me. I was able to grasp the situation easily and quickly. We decided to take the furniture as Mary had wished, take it to J & Ls and discuss what to do with it later. I am thrilled to have obtained some wonderful memorabilia, photos, letters and much more. I even have a photo of Alice's father, Mr. Greenup senior. There are a number of other little treasures that Mother is excited about.

After a few hours David and Rosemary offered to take us to their home and feed us -very welcome indeed. We enjoyed a delightful lunch and a tour of their lovely home, and then they took us to see the graves of Mary and her parents, my grandparents. They are in a beautiful spot and they rest among all the CIM (China Inland Mission) folk.

▲Albert & Alice's grave. I now know when they were born, which is wonderful.

J & L had offered to drop by Mary's house at midday to see how we were getting on. This allowed us to load pretty much every thing onto their van and by the time we got home in the late afternoon, J had very kindly unloaded it all and put it in our room.

We were very grateful when David offered to drive us home as, I must confess, I didn't really feel up to negotiating the catching of a suitable bus and all that might have involved! After arriving home, we started looking at some of the bits and pieces with J & L and then we hit the sack and didn't wake up until the next morning -getting old!

Today, Sunday, J & L took us to one of the much celebrated 'boot sales'. This was an experience. Held in a field, dozens and dozens of cars litterally open their boots and start selling. There were hundreds of buyers and we easily filled up the two and a half hours given to us. Barbara was in heaven and got her hands on some very good bargains. I bought a book -for 10p!

We do have to be a bit careful as £1 = NZ$2.43, so 50p is NZ$1.20.
Going back to the Will etc. Probate will take a while and the house has to be sold first. So, we may not see the completion of all related affairs until after we are back in NZ.

After returning home from the car boot sale we had lunch and then J & L offered to take us to Tescos. This deserves a mention as it is by far the best supermarket we've been to since we arrived in the country. This branch of Tesco's sells pretty much every conceivable item you can think of. TVs, LCD screens, DVD players and recorders, Broadband, and heaps more. I was pleasantly surprised at the bill -I expected it to be about £100 but it was only £35. Mind you, that worked out at about NZ$85.

▲J & L & B in the garden at 2 Pump Close

▲Barbara sitting in the Norman church of St Mary the Virgin in West Malling

More pics from inside the church.


When we entered this church to have a little look around, it's on the 'walk' around West Malling, there was a little service in progress. This turned out to be a Communion Service and was led by a very tall Irish priest. After the service, the congregation were very welcoming and anxious to tell us that they normally had much more than the three who were present (not counting ourselves) -the huge number of at least six! Rather a case of 'high steeple, few people'.
More adventures to follow...