A few days ago I got my first electricity bill for the flat, something that has only taken e-on the best part of 6 months to sort out. It was under-estimated and still in the landlord's name so I figured it might be wise to get the matter cleared up before I get saddled with a court summons or something. read more...

We've finally replaced our ageing and decaying Bed. It was IKEAs cheapest and lasted a rather pitiful four years - the mattress was getting pokey, the slats kept moving in ways they weren't supposed to and on a regular basis would give way and clatter to the ground. read more...

A couple of days after we moved in I was bumbling around in the cellar, just sorting out some washing or moving some boxes or something and opened a little door I had not opened before. Previously thinking it was a little cubby hole leading to some half height under floor storage space I was slightly surprised to find it led to a big dark empty space and as my eyes grew accustomed to the darkness I started to make out an arching shape above my head. read more...

Being in a nice sub-urban setting brings us a whole new world of curtain-twitching potential. The latest installment is that I have noticed that next door is harbouring a very beautiful bees nest, nestling next to their down-pipe. read more...

On Saturday, we took possession of both our new home AND our new car - all in the space of about an hour. The trouble of course (being car-less) was getting there which on the train from Bolton and 192 bus from Piccadilly seemed to take an age, it was probably about 2 hours door to door. read more...

When we moved in here the freezer was severly frozen up. An engineer chap came to see to the melted dishwasher part He told us he would be back in a week to replace it. read more...

We have a beautiful collection of spiders with some spectacular webs decorating our windows. Great entertainment watching them do their thing. read more...

The other night we had Penny and Oliver round for tea and to show off our new gaff. We gave them the tour, including a viewing of the head in the cupboard and made them a nice quiche. read more...

We moved in to our new and swanky apartment last thursday and it's nearly very good indeed. We have a few teething issues though, one major one being cleanliness: The previous occupant also left some even less savoury remnants for us which I'm not going to publish. read more...

Jackie and I are looking after Anna and Mark's house and schizy cat in Lancaster at the moment while twiddling our thumbs, waiting for the paperwork for Valley Mill to happen. It's like a holiday without having to go anywhere particularly, so we have hosted a barbeque and been out to pick berries and look at waterfalls and generally mess about. read more...

It's not going so bad, but then it's early days and I haven't had a cup of coffee yet. Obviously I've cleared a path through the chaos as far as the iMac (I am supposed to be working at home after all). read more...