They said it couldn’t be done..............and they were right

Much as it pains me to do so, I must admit to an error of judgement ( I know, some of you would rather call it a F***-Up ), regarding the transport of our stuff from Germany to Ireland. The initial plan was to have a truck with trailer delivered to our house and we would then pack as much as possible into the truck before deciding if we needed the trailer. Imagine our surprise when the transport company turned up on Thursday 26 June, 4 hours later than planned and without the trailer.
Katja was immediately convinced that the truck alone was not big enough but, after receiving assurances from the transport company boss that, in such matters, he was the absolute maestro, we decided to press on.
To shorten the story here a bit, we spent the rest of Thursday and all of Friday filling every cm² of this truck until sometime on Friday evening we were forced to admit that it wasn’t big enough and immediately ordered the trailer. Said object arrived a short time later and, once again, Katja, by this stage supported by various females in the neighbourhood and her sister Heike, voiced the opinion that we still didn’t have enough capacity for everything.
Well, midnight on Friday arrived, the trailer was stuffed to the gills and there was still a large pile of stuff sitting on our parking-space looking for a bed for the night.
What to do, what to do ??? - of course !!! why didn’t I think of it sooner. Let’s take everything out of the trailer again, making sure to break a few of the larger pieces in the process and then everything else will surely fit.
No sooner said than done, our kitchen table, chairs and corner-bench were swiftly dispatched to the rubbish pile and the rest was packed back into the trailer.
Let me put it this way, we nearly made it, we would have only needed another 4m³ and everything would have been perfect.
I am not going to list all the things we left behind but every family member was forced to say goodbye to something. Katja insists that I came out of it relatively unscathed but I also suffered. My beloved Pat, who has accompanied me on many such adventures was left in the care of a friend of ours, who was also taking care of our horses, to be possibly picked up at a later stage by the man collecting our horses for transport to Ireland.
Who the F*** is Pat ???, I hear you asking. Pat is a little man that I found by the side of the road in Foxford about 13 years ago and persuaded to come to Germany with me.
He is also the same little man that frightened the life out of my nephew Luke in my apartment in Frankfurt in September 1995. Luke was 9 months old at the time and just beginning to crawl around the place, and it seemed that no matter in which direction he travelled Pat always managed to be hiding around the next corner. 13 years on, Pat hasn’t grown so Luke is at least twice as tall as him but I did detect a look of anxiety on Luke’s face when he came to visit us last Sunday and found Pat waiting for him in the entrance hall. Yes, that’s right, Pat made it to Ireland, thanks to the guy bringing our horses, who managed to prop him up in the passenger seat of his truck.
Speaking of the horses, they arrived safe and sound last Tuesday night and are currently keeping the grass down in the fields around the house. They are having a great time and our kids are thrilled to have them so near at hand.
So, it is now 2 weeks since the removal truck turned up at our house in Germany and the following has been achieved.
Our furniture has arrived safely and most of it has been re-assembled.
Almost of all the cartons have been unpacked and the contents stored in the appropriate places.
I have been busy drilling holes and hanging shelves and pictures.
The horses have settled in their new home.
We have mobile phones and Internet access.
The TV man has installed a satellite dish and Katja has her favourite German channels.
I managed to make it back to work ( thanks for the lift to the airport, Dad )
We have found a Lidl close by, we also have a Tesco but we were not too impressed with that.

To-do list

Buy a kitchen table and chairs ( preferably unbreakable )
Buy a second-hand car ( no point in buying a new one until Katja learns to drive on the wrong side of the road )
Anyone got 2 tickets for the Connaught Final, Ronya and I would love to go – Come on Mayo

Thank you

I extend our thanks to the following people for their help

Kerstin, Frank, Benny, Nicole – thanks for everything and you know where we are

Heike – danke, danke, danke and you know how much we will miss you

Aneta – thanks for being so great with the kids and for lots of other stuff – you should have come with us

Patrick – We would still be packing the truck if you hadn’t be there to help. Look after Aneta or I’ll have to take the Hurley to you

Nik & Simone – got stuck in when they noticed we were running out of time, thanks for being great neighbours

David ( Toddy ) – Estate agents, furniture removal, advice on TV and telephone, this man has so many fingers in so many pies it’s a wonder he has time to do his day-job.
Thanks a million Toddy for all your help.

Vinny Duffy – Cancelled his workout in the gym to help unload the truck on Monday, climbing stairs with your hands full is more fun anyway.
Go raibh maith agat, a bhuachaill.

Mam and Dad – thanks for all your help, again.

See you in the next cartoon !!