Agnes is 3!

Three years of Agnes, the exuberant Welsh Terrier has brought a great deal of joy into our lives and we’re very happy to have this nutty little dog joining us on our DIY adventures.

The early days

From a tiny puppy to a fully grown, if not entirely mature Weshie, she’s a quirky personality, obsessed with raindrops, holes in the floor and the occasional piece of cheddar cheese.

Agnes will run away at any opportunity, won’t ever come back when called and bites my feet (and only mine) if I step over her when she’s asleep and it really hurts! She’s incredibly gentle with children, loves a cuddle sitting on a lap and is definitely not an alpha dog.

Agnes is a brilliant dog and very much loved. Happy birthday Little A!

The first viewing

On Friday afternoon Big T saw our new flat for the first time. Yes, that’s right, we’re close to completion and he hadn’t even seen it!

Apparently he trusted me when I said he would love it and it was right up his alley. Apparently I was right when I knew it was just the kind of project he’d like to do.

And so we went back for my second look and his first.

For me it was a case of “Yikes, do I really want to do this all again?” and for Big T it was “I can’t wait to get started!” I know him quite well!

The potential is still what I saw in the summer and I know we can make the place fabulous but there is more to do than I originally thought and we will have a lot of work ahead of us once we do the deal.

And then I remembered the reality of renovating in winter, with no heating and no bathroom…

 

 

Homeless in London

It looks like we’ll be homeless in a month.

We’ve been given the end of November as a completion date so will need to hand over the keys and vacate the property.

That’s great news except for the fact we have nowhere to go.

Our purchase has stalled as we’re waiting for paperwork from the seller and it’s unlikely that things will be done in a month.

Furniture will have to go into storage and we’ll have to find a short term (hopefully) solution.

Wanted: couple and dog seek dog-friendly accommodation in London for unknown amount of time.

Hmm.

Breakfast with the Lord

This week I broke bread with the Lord. Not in the religious sense, more in the business sense.

Well actually he didn’t eat any carbs so I ate scrambled eggs on toast and he had an egg white omelette which, quite frankly, I’ve never seen the point of.

This was a modern Lord as Lords go, having been the first openly gay Lord in Parliament.

We talked a lot about trends and fashion and how to buy handbags without branding so covered all the essential topics and then, with breakfast finished, it was off to work for me.

Dare I say lording it?

Deflated

For the first time in four years of cycling to work, I got that deflated feeling as I had my first puncture.

On one hand I can’t believe I’ve stayed puncture-free for so long and on the other hand, there’s nothing like pushing your bike home for forty minutes when it would normally take fifteen minutes to cycle.

I was up bright and early to push my bike to the nearest repair shop (twenty minutes walk) and ordered two lovely new puncture-resistant tyres to replace the old, cracked chaps I’ve worn out.

I had serious bike envy as neon-clad cyclists zipped past me as we limped along and then sadly I had to get the bus to work.

I’ll be back on my wheels tomorrow. Luckily it’s only one day!

Completion?

For the first time someone (other than us) mentioned a possible completion date where we finally exchange contracts. Things do not move quickly!

This is exciting news as it looks like things are actually moving forward and we might actually be moving. Of course nothing’s definite until those keys change hands but it’s getting more optimistic with each passing day.

Ideally we would like to move out and move in on the same day. This would avoid us having to put everything in storage and foist ourselves on the father of Big T which I’m sure would be preferable for us all.

I think the end of November would be our earliest date. Can it really all happen in the next month? Let’s see what happens next…

Survey

Finally, after four months of nothing happening, our prospective buyers organised a survey which happened today.

It’s a positive sign that they are serious, that they are willing to pay for a survey and we are getting slightly closer to a completion date.

That is, unless they find something which causes them to pull out…

Let’s hope not!

Drink and drink and drink

Last week there was a big tradeshow going on, there were conferences, meetings and dinners and of course, there were drinks. Lots of drinks. And more drinks. And one more for the road. And that was that.

By the end of the week I couldn’t face another London Brasserie or another glass of wine and so have decided it’s time yet again to go sober and detox. A strange sense of deja vu!

I’ll admit, this seems to come up at various times of the year (usually Christmas and January) but with OctSober in full swing in the UK, it’s another band wagon to jump on.

So here we go, Day Two.

Rye in the Rain

Saturday and we decided to head to Sussex to Camber Sands. A day trip to the seaside, in the rain, it doesn’t get more English!

It took us about an hour by train to Rye and another half an hour (including a short wait) to get to Camber Sands.

It was a lovely surprise when we hopped off the bus at Pontins, a wide sandy beach with an endless horizon. Plenty of dogs off lead as it was past September and Agnes running as free as a bird.

We were lucky with the weather, it was hazy but warm enough and Agnes behaved impeccably, fetching the ball and sitting for cheese.

As the weather turned cold, we headed back to Rye for a pub lunch and then it turned cold and nasty.

We looked around Rye in the rain and made a note to return in better weather as it was quite miserable and so we repaired to a café to wait for the next train to St. Pancras.

It was a nice day out and we’ll be doing more London excursions while we can.

One happy dog!

The Return of the Intrepid Two

The boys are back in town, or rather, Big T and Agnes have returned to London after summering (and springing) in the South of France.

They arrived back having ventured across France on multiple trains and under the Channel in the dog taxi before arriving at St Pancras on Saturday evening. It goes without saying, they were a little shell-shocked, not least by the change in temperature.

Sunday was spent reacquainting them with the delights of Maida Vale and Little Venice as we enjoyed a delicious Sunday lunch at our favourite pub and a walk past our future home (hopefully) perfectly located across the road from the park and around the corner from the tube station.

And so it’s truly Autumn with the intrepid two back in London and the temperatures outside dropping. Time to kick the leaves in the park and turn up the heating inside!