Last month I talked about selling Priscilla, and that she had finally found a new owner – but he had a two week delay as he couldn’t get an appointment at the Zulassungstelle (where you get the number plate from) in his town.
In the UK a car retains its numberplate throughout its life (although you can actually change the plate if you want). When you buy the car you hand over the money and you get given part of the ownership document which you send to the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority) and the seller also sends a bit of the ownership document (but keeps the rest). The new owner has the full document issued to them in due course but can drive without it. You just need to make sure the car is taxed and insured. Thus we were able to drive away in Carl the Mercedes Benz E-Class when we bought him last month.
In Germany you can theoretically buy the car with its existing number plate but the seller has the huge risk then that they are liable for all parking tickets, speeding fines etc until the new person registers the car, and a naughty buyer might never register it, so most people sell the car “abgemeldet”, which is effectively a permanent SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification in the UK) which means the car is not allowed to be driven on the public road.
So Priscilla’s buyer, MJ, had to wait for me to have the plates removed from Priscilla and I then got a special stamp on the car ownership documentation to say it was unregistered. I then posted this document along with the new TÜV (MOT) to MJ and he was then able to take these documents to his Zulassungsstelle when he finally got his appointment, and they updated the car ownership document and he got his number plates.
He arranged to come on Sunday with his wife to pick up Priscilla. I suggested they might like to have some lunch cake with us and he thought that was a grand idea – partly as he has been reading my blog (checking up on the references to Priscilla) and somehow got the idea I might like cakes. As he set off from his home near Frankfurt he said they would be with us by 12. They arrived at 11:59 and 40 seconds so I would say his punctuality is excellent!
We did the selling formalities (both signed a contract for sale), he handed over the cash and then we headed off for lunch cake.
We really enjoyed chatting to MJ and his wife. They had lived for six years in the USA and had also visited lots of other interesting places, such as Japan.
We came back and they put the number plates on Priscilla and then posed for a photo – here is the proud new owner!
We waved goodbye as Priscilla headed off to her new home in the hills around Frankfurt.
I had a message from MJ later:
Vielen Dank Helen ; wir sind gerade angekommen… Autobahn war gesperrt und wir mussten über Koblenz umfahren , aber Priscilla hat sich sehr gut gehalten und hat mit dem Mini mithalten können 😁👍.
His wife was driving his company car which is a Mini Cooper with the powerful engine – but the 25 year old Priscilla was keeping up with it.
Now Priscilla has gone I have started looking for her replacement in England, which will be another SLK (or possibly an SLC). As I am picky about colours (I don’t want black, white, red, silver or grey) there isn’t a huge selection – I am basically looking at dark blue ones. I prefer the 2.0 litre engine over the 1.8 as it is more fuel efficient and the road tax is cheaper, but I am waiting for the right one. I can use Carl right up until Klaus has to give up Murphy the company car Octavia which is unlikely to be before March.
More news on the move to England
Plans for the move to England continue. The UK subsidiary of the company Klaus works for are working really hard now on preparations for the Skilled Worker visa. We are impressed about how quickly they are moving, as it can be a long process. The current schedule we are basing our planning on has Klaus starting in England at the beginning of April, but we shall see. At the moment he is continuing his current job although there are some large changes to how departments are organised from 1 January, so from that date he will be working slightly differently at the German head office, but there is still plenty for him to do!
One really important thing for the Spouse Visa is the B1 language test (this is roughly equivalent to an O Level or GCSE). I wrote last month about Klaus having to take the test and being pretty nervous about it all. He felt it went well – and he was right! Two days later he got the results – pass with merit in all four parts!
This is the image Klaus has used on LinkedIn where he has been writing regular reports on the move to the UK (not that we will be travelling by train!) and he overlaid his results here. He was very proud of this – and I think it was his first exam in 35 years or so! That was the main hurdle for the skilled worker visa and, in the future, for British Citizenship if he chooses to apply for it, as it also requires the B1. I am very proud of him – he put in a lot of effort to do mock papers and to try to learn the best ways of answering the questions. So congratulations to Klaus on doing so well with his English Exam.
The end of Büllhorsthof Cakes?
Klaus, Lara and I decided to go to Mühlencafe Elten, which is where the lady who used to run Büllhorsthof in Winnekendonk moved to two years ago. It’s a drive of an hour and quarter but worth it for the cakes.
And it was a very good thing we went as she told us that she was giving up the café in mid-December and would no longer be running one, so this was our last chance to see her at her café. Bearing in mind we had our wedding celebration with her cakes, it’s a bit of an end of an era. She said she would be providing cakes for a café in Emmerich but not running it herself, so if we are desperate in future we might be able to enjoy her Pfirsisch Schmand Kuchen in Emmerich… but it is a sad end of an era. We have had so much pleasure cycling to her café for cakes over the last eight or so years.
The end of my working career?
I am exceptionally lucky to be able to emulate my parents and retire at the age of 53 – well, Dad retired at 52, but I almost made it! I acknowledge that it is the hard work of Mum and Dad and their careful savings that have enabled me to give up paid work now. I know as a Generation X I am part of probably the last generation that are as well off as their parents and I am grateful for that, and also aware of the difficulties for young people today to find somewhere affordable to live.
Anyway, I am aware I am very blessed to be able to decide to stop work, maybe forever (if I get bored then maybe I will go back to work, or at least do some volunteering). My last day at my current job in the candle manufacturer was planned for 16 December, and I wanted to have that as my last official day in Germany. We would in fact be travelling to the UK that afternoon for a pre-Christmas visit and so I booked the Abmeldung (deregistering) for a few days before.
In Germany there is an official registering and deregistering of where you live, and when you move abroad you have to of course inform them of that. This means that you no longer have to pay health insurance and would also have an influence on my tax affairs. For the year 2024 I am tax resident in Germany and so Germany gets to levy taxes on my worldwide income, but from 2025 I would be tax resident solely in the UK. The German tax year runs to the end of December so deregistering in December makes it really clear when the tax residency changes.
I was working 3 hours per day at the candle manufacturer and this meant it was all quite tight for time to get everything done, but I was able to hand over to my colleague Lucia who will take on a lot of my work, and another new colleague Petra has had various bits of work from others given to her to free up space.
I also used December to notify some of my suppliers that I was emigrating. I had only worked for three and a quarter years at the candle factory but had built up some good working relationships with some suppliers. One of our packaging suppliers had done a really posh advent calendar filled with decent chocolate pralines and with my name on it! Thank you Sinc Novation! The choccies were very tasty.
Anyway, I went to my appointment at the Rathaus on the 12th December so I could deregister, dated 16 December (my last working day). The guy serving me had also chatted a lot to Klaus when Klaus was picking up his new passports so I identified myself as Klaus’s wife and he knew all about our plans. We had a good chat about England (he is a real Anglophile) and then when he handed me the deregistering document he had dated it that day (the 12th) rather than the 16th. Oh well.
So my last working day on the 16th was good. My colleagues presented me with some choccies and biscuits (they know me well), a very generous gift of cash and vouchers for an online shop and of course a lovely candle bowl. I had only been there for three and a quarter years so I found it very generous of them. I had already mostly cleared out my desk so I went home at 11am, now a lady of leisure!
I didn’t have that much leisure to start with as we headed off to England that afternoon.
Klaus’s first English Christmas Do.
The UK subsidiary of the company Klaus works for were having a sales meeting and then a Christmas party, and Klaus was invited to both (as a representative of Head Office). He thought this would be a great way to get to know his future colleagues and indeed it was.
We arrived in England on the overnight ferry and I drove him straight to Wickford, where the company is based. This is just 15 minutes from where my sister lives and where I grew up.
He would be staying two nights in a hotel, and I was due to pick him up on the Thursday morning.
After I dropped him off I went to visit my sister to say hello and pick up a few Amazon parcels she had ordered for me. I then drove up to Ipswich, checked Mum’s house, had a shower and sorted out a few things. I had bought lunch for myself (soup and rolls) from the supermarket as I had some bits and bobs I needed for Bury too. So I ate my lunch and then headed off to Bury, to check out our new bungalow.
I was doing various odds and ends such as adjusting the heating timer, unloading stuff from my car, setting up the Ring Doorbell, setting up the Alexas. This shows our priorities – we have no furniture in the house but we have three Alexas doing their thing.
Whilst I was fitting the doorbell it rang – the letting agency had popped round to check all was OK as they weren’t sure if I had been there for a while, so we had a quick chat which was nice.
I drove back to Ipswich having achieved quite a lot of what I needed to do, and on the way back I picked up fish and chips for Maureen (neighbour) and I, which we ate in Maureen’s kitchen.
Klaus was sending me photos of them playing mini golf which was a bit of relaxation after the fairly busy and intense sales meeting. I had an early night as I hadn’t slept so well on the ferry.
The next day I knew I had to be in Ipswich for the afternoon as I had two removal companies visiting to do a survey, but I had the morning for jobs in Bury St Edmunds so I set off there with lots of crockery and other stuff from Mum’s stores in the car.
I unloaded everything bit by bit (I cannot carry too much weight at one time due to my dodgy arm) and found suitable homes for the two sets of china plates, bowls, teapots etc. I wasn’t sure which set we would use, Mum had had two (one Noritake, one Wedgwood), but there were far more items in the Noritake set so I think that’s what we will probably end up using (it’s what Mum used most). The Wedgwood set can go to another member of the family if they want it.
After I’d done all that I needed to at the bungalow (there’s not much you can do when there is no furniture to put things in), I walked into Bury along the public footpath that goes behind the walls of our garden and it was a very pleasant 20 minute walk to the centre of Bury.
It’s rather wintry and green here but I was surprised to see a white wading bird (too small for a heron) when I walked both ways.
I had lunch at Harriet’s Tea Room which was does Afternoon Tea but I didn’t feel like I needed that much to eat. A slice of Red Velvet Cake was enough.
After having this as my lunch I headed back to the bungalow and then stopped at the Sainsbury’s which is the closest large supermarket, just to see what it was like. It seemed fine – I was able to buy my soup and baguette for my evening meal. I also had to get more keys cut there as the ones I had had cut in Germany didn’t work! Fortunately I had the original key with me so was able to get four cut and would attempt to get a refund on the German keys when back in Kempen (this did work out, they refunded me).
From this Sainsbury’s I drove back to Ipswich and it was only 30 minutes so it’s really not too far.
I waited in for the two removal men. They were both punctual and friendly and had a good look around, making notes of how much space they would need in the van. In the end I went with Orwell Removals as their price was keener and they had a larger van (the other company would do it over two days, using two Luton Vans each day). It was good to get all that sorted.
After an evening meal of soup and bread again, with a doughnut chaser, I headed to bed for sleep. Klaus was just starting the proper Office Christmas Party – he managed four hours’ sleep before being woken up by a text message from me (mea culpa) at 6:30am.
I picked Klaus up from the hotel, which was over an hour’s journey from Ipswich. I was driving down the A12 at Rush Hour and it wasn’t too bad – it had been worse when we travelled from Harwich to Wickford two days before.
We went back to Ipswich but stopped off at a barbecue retailer in the industrial park outside Ipswich. Klaus really wanted to get a decent gas grill as he is a very keen barbecuer and we would now have the right sort of accommodation for that! He had done lots of research and decided he wanted to buy a Napoleon, probably a Rogue. We had a look at all they had in stock and discussed various options with the friendly sales guy and ended up with a Napoleon Phantom in black with a Sizzler (whatever that is). He needed to box it all up so we said we would pick it up when we returned from Bury, so about 4pm. This was fine.
We then drove to Bury. Klaus had a look around the house again – only his second visit, and we have been paying rent on it for more than a month! He’s not a fan of the kitchen (although I am getting more OK with it) but we see loads of potential in the other rooms – in fact in the house as a whole, although as rented accommodation we won’t do much ourselves.
We were still working out which keys fit which lock and managed to lock ourselves in the garage (I was mostly to blame) at the side door. We had to open the big garage doors (quite tricky) and I squeezed out to get a knife to help jiggle the bolt from the lock. In the end Klaus managed to open the side door to the garage but we decided we wouldn’t risk that again – it went on a list of snagging items that we have sent the property managing company.
We then walked to Bury town centre and I took Klaus to Procopio’s Pantry where Anna and I had enjoyed Afternoon Tea a few weeks before. Klaus and I had warming lunch as it was very cold with a biting east wind.
I loved my festive teapot!
We were both really tired so after a quick visit to Boots for some tissues and strepsils (for Klaus’s cold that has now lasted 10 weeks) we walked back to the bungalow, had a final look around and then headed to Ipswich to pick up the barbecue which was now boxed up.
The chap helped us get it in the car using a scissor lift thingie – it turns out it weighed 75kg! When we got back to Mum’s house we were able to roll it out of the boot slowly using Klaus’s legs to brace it and then slide it into the Cart Lodge on some hardboard that was lying about. We won’t be able to lift it back into the car ourselves but fortunately have some strong young relatives that would be pressed into service on their post-christmas visit!
The ferry back was quite busy with Brits heading off early to the continent for their Christmas. We enjoyed the traditional Stena Lounge relaxation.
The next morning I had to pop into the office to have a quick handover with my colleague Lucia who was taking over my work as she had been on holiday for my last day. We had a half hour chat and then off I went, no longer a working lady, but I made sure I benefited from my employee discount by buying a few more candles for my stock. I know they are good quality there!
Christmas in Germany
This was the first Christmas since my Mum had died and I thought it would seem weird but as I was in Germany it was actually fine.
On German Christmas Day (24th) Klaus and I drove to Mannheim to visit his father who cooked us Dampfnudel mit Kartoffelsuppe which is always popular with us! I had made a Banoffee Pie for dessert.
The next day, the 25th, was English Christmas Day and I cooked turkey with the trimmings.
Klaus’s father had bought me some very posh Lebkuchen (ginger cake/biscuit thingies) which were very tasty!
On Boxing Day we took it easy in the morning as we were heading off in the afternoon to the UK again, this time with Lara. Her Mum dropped her off here and then we set off to Hoek van Holland, giving ourselves enough time for a cup of tea at the Torpedo Lounge when we arrived.
On the way we double-checked that the Torpedo Lounge was open – and it wasn’t! So we diverted to McDonalds 5km from Hoek van Holland and had our tea break there.
When we arrived at Hoek van Holland and drove along the river Maas we were rather surprised to notice that our ferry was not there! We checked on MarineTraffic and it seems it had been docked since Christmas Day across the river in the port area but was currently heading out to sea.
Fortunately after half an hour we noticed that it had turned round and was heading back towards us. However, we were queuing waiting for a long time and knew it meant we would have to wait even longer for our Stena Lounge goodies.
Eventually the ship arrived and then what felt like an hour later they were ready for us to load. So we drove onboard, walked up the stairs to Deck 9 and settled in the lounge. Klaus and Lara were given Mimosas to start.
Followed up by a glass of wine each.
I eschewed the alcohol and went for cake.
We had a good crossing and were on our way at 7am the next morning to Mum’s house in Ipswich.
We stopped there for me to have a shower and to do a few minor jobs and then it was time to head for Bury St Edmunds so Lara could meet our new house.
As the heating had been turned down to 12 degrees it was pretty cold but we fired up the heating and then carried all the things in from the car that we had brought with us from Germany.
We had a look around, did some odd jobs, and then it was time to walk into Bury town centre for lunch cake. We went for Afternoon Tea at Harriet’s Tea Rooms – Lara and I shared this etagère.
In the end we had no room for the top layer (Klaus had a slightly different Afternoon Tea which had one slice of Red Velvet cake) so we had a Doggy Bag which I then carried around for the next couple of hours.
We spent some time visiting the cathedral and a very friendly tour guide lady gave us some information about Bury. The cathedral was surprisingly warm – they had heating on! It was lovely to visit again.
We stuck our noses into a few shops but weren’t particularly in the shopping mood so headed back to the bungalow and then back to Ipswich where we had fish and chips for our evening meal.
The next day my sister, niece Gwen and her husband Harley were coming to visit. This was most handy as we had the barbecue in the Cart Lodge at Mum’s and needed to get it in the car to take it to Bury. The thing weighed 73kg and Klaus and I had managed to get it out of the car on our own but had no chance for me to help him get it back into the car. When Harley arrived he and Klaus were able to do it with ease.
We then drove in convoy to Bury and Klaus reversed the car into our garage to make unloading the barbecue easier. Notice how large the garage is – that’s an Octavia Estate and he is parked 2 metres from the back of the garage to give room to unload the barbecue.
I reckon once I have my new SLK we might be able to squeeze it in there along with the velomobiles, but we shall see.
Another niece Hari and her chap Luke were coming directly to Bury but were a bit behind us so we walked into town. It was very busy and we weren’t sure if we would find anywhere to seat 8 of us so had a quick look in the cathedral and then went to the attached cafe, Pilgrim’s Kitchen, at which point a table for six opened up – bonus. We took it and soon a neighbouring table of 2 was added to our table and we were eventually all able to sit together.
Lara and I had jacket potato with cheese but then it was also cake time.
Klaus chose the slice above, he has learned that sponge cakes in the UK are not really his thing. The Victoria Sandwich Cake was mine, of course.
We wandered around Bury a bit more which was challenging with eight of us, but somehow we didn’t permanently lose anyone. Hari and Luke were parked in the multi storey car park so Anna went with them to collect the car and they drove it to our house.
The walkers arrived ten minutes later and we all sat around on the floor and drank tea from the 3 mugs available.
I was bustling around doing various jobs still – there is always something to do!
We then headed back to Mum’s house where the family said goodbye to the furnished house – the next time they see it we will have removed a lot of the furniture. It feels very sad as it is goodbye to such strong memories of Mum – she loved the house so much. It is good to know that Klaus and I are able to use a fair amount of the furniture though, it will stay in the family for several more years.
They all headed off and we ordered a pizza each for dinner. Unfortunately they forgot to bring Lara’s pizza so she had to watch us eat ours (we did share a slice each with her) and hers arrived after we had finished and we got to watch her eating pizza. They were pretty good but the delivery service was sub-optimal.
The next day was Sunday and we were going to visit Anna at home (and see Roderic and Val too). We decided to go to IKEA on the way (it’s not really on the way!) as we wanted to check out some furniture for our new house. Lara is an IKEA expert so was able to guide us round a bit. We were checking out an office cabinet for Klaus (we found one) and also what options there were for curtains. We also picked up various odds and ends such as loo bins, loo brushes, a chopping board etc.
We stopped for a cuppa halfway round and Klaus’s coffee was a disappointment – it was barely lukewarm. My tea was OK.
We were pretty successful overall and headed off to Anna’s house where she supplied us with a very good soup and bread lunch. Desserts were traditional Christmas Pudding (which Klaus went for) and I had some of this yule log.
We sat around and chatted, then watched the new Wallace & Gromit (Vengeance most fowl) before refortifying ourselves with cheese and biscuits – Roderic had chosen some interesting cheeses which were very good.
We were all feeling really tired by now so we headed back to Ipswich, not needing any further food after the vast quantities we had eaten at Anna’s.
The last day was sort of open for us, apart from checking a couple more things at Beech Rise (I was continually packing things up to take them there), so we decided to go and look at a possible car for me in Loddon which is near Norwich. All was well at Beech Rise and we just stayed an hour there before driving the A143 to Loddon. This is near Bungay and where I often used to stay in Mum & Dad’s former weekend cottage.
The car was a lovely colour and I found the test drive was good but Klaus felt the engine seemed a little disappointing and his gut feeling wasn’t right, so we said no (I have a couple of months to find something so there’s no colossal urgency). It was now 2pm and we had eaten nothing all day and then discovered that on the 30th January lots of places aren’t open or serving food, but we eventually found a pub the White Horse in Chedburgh which could do us scampi and chips. Klaus enjoyed an alcohol free Guinness.
Loddon/Chedburgh are on the Norfolk Broads so we had a short walk to some water but there wasn’t much further we could walk and the wind was really cold so we decided to head back – we were all still tired from the various journeys over the last few days. We stopped off for cake though at Two Magpies Bakery on the A12 – and I had this Baklava cake.
Klaus is once again choosing slice things, this was a Bakewell Tart.
This quite small-looking Brownie Lara chose was fairly mighty and she was full afterwards.
We had three hours back at Mum’s house to relax a little. After our cakes we didn’t need an evening meal, we could just wait for the Stena Lounge goodies which we duly enjoyed.
They had cut the cakes to half their normal size so I had to double up.
The crossing was fine but we were all really tired the next day. I am so glad Klaus can drive from Hoek van Holland to Kempen as I was really sleepy – I think when I do this crossing on my own I have to eschew the Stena Lounge evening food as it is too late for me when I then get to bed.
We dropped Lara off, went to the supermarket and then came home. It was lovely to see Poppy again and to be home. At the moment I seem to be partly living in four places (Kempen, Ipswich, Bury and the Stena Ferry) which can be a little unsettling at times.
I was so tired that I didn’t see in the New Year, I was in bed by 10pm. I did wake up at midnight due to the fireworks but Poppy heard nothing (an advantage of her being deaf) so it wasn’t at all stressful for her.
2024 is over. It was a good year in some ways (our Queen Mary 2 cruise, finding Bury St Edmunds as our new place to live) but of course all that is massively overshadowed by the death of my Mum. She and my Dad are always in our thoughts, especially at big events such as Christmas, and they won’t be forgotten.
2025 will be a real year of change for us, moving to another country (moving back home in my case). Klaus has a new and interesting job but it will be hard work and involve a lot of travelling. I hope to be able to travel with him around the UK as I am now a lady of leisure.
I wish you all a great 2025 and I hope you have enjoyed all the cakes in 2024.
I will have to cycle to Bury to see you, and Klaus. It’s been such a long time.