Sam leaves, good house news and the Queen's death.

Big things happened today in the Kenny household, and one national one. First was that Sam left. Lorraine drove him off in the rain to his dad's in London, in a car stuffed with his belongings. Gary will drive him up to Scotland tomorrow. Sam did very well as change is not his favourite thing and coped with the last minute packing and scrambling about very well.

Lorraine was already turning the car around to face the right direction, and he gave me a manly hug, after saying a formal goodbye to Calliope and Brian, and then I watched Lorraine and Sam drive off in the rain. Although I feel it was time for him to start the next chapter of his life back in Scotland with Jade, I felt sad to see him go.

In my empty home, I did a bit of tidying in my office, filing and so on, and went down to eat a Linda McCartney sausage sandwich and watch the Daily politics, and they covered the speaker saying that the Queen was unwell. A business meeting this afternoon, and

Lorraine and I were driving to Lidl when we heard the news. When we turned the TV on in the evening BBC people were wearing black, and all the coverage was about the Queen. I am not a monarchist, but it is undeniable that the Elizabeth did an amazingly good job with the hand life had dealt her, and appeared to be a paragon of duty and dedication and I was surprised at how touched by her death I felt. Of course this also has political ramifications. She was part of the glue holding the home nations together, and some symbol of continuity in a country that has lost its collective marbles since Brexit. 

What a start for Liz Truss... Breaking off from tackling the fuel situation (making us all pay for it over a longer period rather than a windfall tax on the energy companies gloating over the billions they are making) to have to deal with the first monarch's death since 1952.

The best news, however, was that Michael the Seaford estate agent called to say that our sellers were ready to swap contracts on Friday 16th. This means we can move out in safety. And they have agreed the 21st October to be the completion date. This is a huge relief, and now everyone knows what they are doing. Lorraine gleeful, and me daring to hope after feeling distinctly pessimistic about it lately.