I found myself recently putting together four separate lots of packing on one day – but I am lucky that, unlike Jae, I don’t have much else to think about. Jae and family are moving house from Aylesbury to Folkestone this month, she has a full time job (with a three hour plus daily commute) to do and she is attending a family wedding in France, the weekend before leaving for Kilimanjaro – not to mention getting the daily blog out! Everything they possess has to be packed up, while keeping track of the necessary kit for both the wedding and the KiliClimb. Just as well husband David is there to ensure that the three boys are, as always, fed and well cared for, as well as to supervise the house move – which now looks like happening while we are actually on the mountain!
I have the luxury of being able to pack my clobber for the different trips in different rooms. Up in the top room, appropriately enough, is everything coming to Kilimanjaro. I have tried to label everything in the hope of being able to lay my hand on anything necessary quickly. If you are eagle eyed, you may be able to see a dark blue bag in the corner labelled “…gloves, gaiters, Grandma……” “Grandma” is Stew’s mother, or at least some of her ashes. She was first mentioned in an early post called “Four Generations?”, and you may recall from Jae’s post “Ashes to Ashes” that we scattered some of her ashes off the top of Vesuvius in March this year. We had decided that as she loved a good view, that would be appropriate. So we are taking another pretty bag of Grandma’s ashes to sprinkle on top of Kilimanjaro – though Stew has very magnanimously said that if we forget in our exhaustion and excitement (as I nearly did at Vesuvius), that he is sure his Mum would be equally happy with the view, if we remember halfway down the mountain!
In the back bedroom is my packing for the wedding of my cousin’s son in France. Stew and I are going for six days, returning only the day before we leave for Kilimanjaro. A couple of people have asked if I am going straight from France to Africa. Well, the answer is NO! I might not always dress conventionally, but I cannot see how I could possibly wear the same kit to a posh wedding near the French Riviera, where the daytime temperature will be hovering around 30 degrees, as to climb the highest mountain in Africa, where the temperature is likely to be 20 degrees below freezing point at the top!
The reason why we are staying so long in France is because daughter Gwen from Australia is coming to France for the wedding too, and Stew and I want to spend as much time with her as we can. Gwen’s husband Ste came to the UK for a wedding on his own a few years ago, so this is Gwen’s turn to catch up with lots of family members in one fell swoop, as well as spend a few days with her friend Becky – friends since school and both 40 this summer.
So I am also packing a separate bag of things to take to France for Gwen. Last year Gwen ordered two massive picnic blankets in the UK to be delivered to me for sending on. However, when I weighed them, I realised that they would cost an arm and a leg to post, so they have loitered here since, apart from one outing for one picnic blanket to the park with friends. So one of the blankets is in the bag, as well as toys, clothes and some of Gwen’s old books for the children, and a couple of bottles of Ste’s much beloved Benenden Sauce.
My fourth lot of packing – in our bedroom – is for a quick trip up to London to meet up with old friends Anne and Len McGuire. Stew and Len became friends when they were about four years old and both their families were rehoused in brand new council houses outside Glasgow. Stew had a Co-op lorry and Len had an engine (or was it the other way round?) when they met up behind their houses for the first time. They have been firm friends ever since and were best men at each other’s weddings.
Len married Anne, who was at Glasgow University with us all – and she went on to become the Member of Parliament for Stirling from 1997 until she retired at the recent election. She was the Shadow Minister for Disabled People from 2011 till 2015, and was made a Dame of the British Empire earlier this year, partly because of the work she has done over the years in that connection. So our trip up to London is to say “Congratulations” to The Right Honourable Dame Anne McGuire DBE and to say “Hi” to Len!
So right now, all my possessions are tidily packed up in the correct places, I hope. In my Kili bag, I have tried to put in duplicates, if not triplicates of almost everything, because I know that if I was Jae, I would not have a chance of locating the right kit at the right time. But there is a bit of Wonder Woman in Jae – we all know that! I will not be at all surprised to find she has all her eggs in the right baskets, together with a wide smile on her face as usual, when we get on that plane for Africa!