Beds, Bees & Snails

I don’t know about everyone else but this horrible weather is really starting to get me down. Yes I know we’ve been lucky because we’ve had 2 glorious weeks in the sun by the sea but I do wonder about all those families that can’t afford to fly off and are stuck with long summer holidays and all this rain. Phil’s long term plan is that we live somewhere hot in the winter but I’m rather thinking we should live in a hot country permanently and only come back to the UK in May and June. Actually August and September are my very worst months because it is wasp season. So far, not so bad, probably because of all the rain but I know the worst is yet to come.

Yesterday morning Phil dragged me to the OU where we walked past the cricket pavilion and over the bridge to look for snails. I am not sure why he wanted me on the expedition because all I did was hold the sat nav and wait for him to finish. As it got nearer to half past eight there were lots of people making their way to work on campus and I was beginning to feel a little self conscious. Also I desperately needed the loo, plus it had started to drizzle and I didn’t have a coat so I was really glad when Phil finally finished. We went back home for the loo and then Phil drove over to Whaddon to collect his car.

As Phil said in yesterday’s blog, Morgans phoned to say that we have a company let on the OB flat and we hand over the keys on Friday. On Monday we dismantled the double bed in the NH house and squeezed it in the car and put it up in the flat. Shane helped Phil get the sofa down the stairs, into Phil’s car and up the stairs at the OB flat. I took all the bedding in my car and made up the bed. Afterwards I went to Habitat to get some picture frames and found some really cheap prints in B&Q.

After Phil picked up his car, he came home to pick me up and we went shopping for a single bed, a single mattress and some bedding. We picked up the bed, a single frame for £99 and a sprung mattress in a bag for £129. I had spare pillows and pillow cases in the airing cupboard at the NH house but the rest of the bedding I picked up in Sainsburys. The second bedroom in the OB flat is very small and even though we choose a really dinky little bed, you can only just about shut the door. The flat looks much better with the beds and the sofas. It’s the first time we have tried to let without furnishing but it just goes to show that is much easier to let if you put in the basics, which is what we normally do plus a lot more. The dressing bit is the best bit for me and I felt much happier with the OB flat when I shut the door yesterday.

We still have last little things to do in the OB flat and I’m surprised we didn’t get these finished last week. It’s funny, we are really good at the big jobs but procrastinate with the little jobs. Phil did some last minute sealing on the bath yesterday, he put up a roller blind in the bathroom and he put up my prints in the bedroom. He has decided to change the locks over to our multi lock system, which is expensive but worth it, so we will be back at the flat sometime today. We have to meet an ex BT engineer later this afternoon who is going to sort out the many telephone cables and sockets in both of the OB flats so we can sort the locks then.

I had an email from Emma from the GP (Giffard Park) cul-de-sac to say that she had signed for a parcel for me from IKEA. Now I was slightly puzzled because I didn’t have anything on order from IKEA but I emailed her back to say I’d come round to pick up my mystery parcel and have a cup of tea. Phil had a viewing on a bungalow and he also had to meet William the carpenter at the 1 bed GP flat as the stairs have been eaten away by bees and are in need of repair. So whilst he was doing this, I took myself round to see Emma.

Emma is brilliant at gossip and rarely needs any prompting. Two cups of tea and 2 hours later I was completely up to date with all the latest goings on in the cul-de-sac. She told me that Ash had his parents over from India and they had been staying in our house since May. This didn’t please me and I am debating whether to contact the agent. Emma also told me that she thought that our guttering needed clearing so this is something I need to sort. If anyone knows a man that does guttering then I would be interested in getting his number because I have several gutters that need attention. Emma & Jason and the kids, Tegan & Kai went to Barbados for a 2 week holiday in early June and yesterday she showed me the 450 photographs that she had taken. Barbados has a special place in my heart because it’s where we got married but there are only so many photographs of beaches that one can admire!

We’ve got quite a bit to do today because we have Phil’s mum and dad and their friend coming down for lunch tomorrow. We think it may be the last time that they are going to be able to drive to Milton Keynes so we want to make it an extra special lunch. Time, as ever, is of the essence and I am going to have cut this blog short. Phil took his laptop back to Staples and we are squabbling over the use of my laptop. Phil is champing at the bit to get on line; he wants to check his emails and write up his snail project so I am going to have publish and sign off.