I'm back

Home sweet home

 It's been a rather long hiatus, I must admit. The last five months have, however, been busy to say the least. To give you a gist of how busy, there were 30 viewings of properties followed by careful consideration, on the basis of which we chose our new home. We then negotiated and managed the sale process, which included a not so proactive lawyer and going through nearly 300 pages of required reading on the building itself, its environs and local services - everything from sewers to chancel rights and planning applications, polluters and telecoms masts; the structure of Clapham South's society, if you will - which was fascinating indeed. Crammed between completing the sale and beginning the building works was a short, busy but sweet trip to Finland, and lots of choosing tiles, floors, furniture, vanity units, paint... you name it, we chose it. And too many trips to IKEA - although the kött bullar did make up for the stressed incurred, as they usually do. And so began three weeks of managing half a dozen builders over three weeks before we were able to move in and begin making the place liveable. Right now we're in the position of it being simply wonderful, incredible even.



As so often happens, however, just when you think things will calm down, someone or something begs to differ. On this occasion it was the boiler, which had to be put down due to it being at risk of exploding. And to top it off, no-one would take up the job of installing a new, legal carbon monoxide flue due to the formidably steep angle of our roof. (Big up respect to Simon "The Fearless" from SJB Building, Lurline Gardens, London.) Alas, we were left with a hefty bill attached to the mystery of why we were given a gas safety certificate that OK'd the boiler, when it was in fact about as stable as a Tasmanian Devil with tourettes. Again, as all too often is the case these days, everyone points to the other; "it wasn't me guvnor, honest." So busy days indeed, but great ones as well. In any case, I promise to do my best to make up for lost time.