I bought another cake stand today. I fear I have a cake stand fetish*. It’s an old school glass bell jar (with knob) teamed with a low white porcelain platter. I plan to admire it fulsomely when we finally move into our flat. In fact I may commission an open shelf in the kitchen just for cake stands.
Kate rather marvelously emailed me last night to check I was watching ‘The Supersizers…. go Regency.’ I was in fact watching and no doubt will watch it again shortly on iPlayer. The wonders of modern technology. Any man who can write in his food column about ” weeny bike thieves and kitten-stabbers” has won my heart. Oh Giles!
Watching Wimbledon just now and one of the commentators said “He has mad staring eyes, eyes like a scientist. A set of eyes on him all right.” WTF.
In flat news no, we haven’t exchanged yet. The contract finally arrived yesterday and we returned it to our solicitors by Next Day Delivery service today. Hopefully we can exchange tomorrow or Friday. I know I have said that before.
Looking through the weighty tome our solicitor sent it appears that their solicitor is a very rude and slow person. When I read his terse correspondence to our solicitor (and her repeated reasonable requests for information) I thought she was a saint for staying civil, bless her.
I did entertain a wild idea of giving up on this flat yesterday and had a look at other Brighton flats on t’internet but I found nothing I had the love for and that I’d feel happy ditching this flat… so I guess we are committed, or may be should be?
The only potential fly in the ointment is a clause in the lease saying we have to have carpet (and apply for permission to have pets and that we have to have suitable window coverings at all times). Now, I LOATHE carpet and I have asthma. Soft furnishings, especially carpet, make it worse. Our solicitor said we could apply to the other joint freeholders for permission to have wooden floors (and obviously state we would soundproof it to a level over and above the existing carpet so as not to annoy others). Fingers crossed then.
I’m hoping our new neighbours will be reasonable about the flooring. We haven’t met them yet. It was snowing and blowing a gale when we viewed the flat back in March so the neighbours were either inside by the fire or in the pub knocking back a whisky or three (I know I would.) The secretary of the freehold company (which we will have a share in) lives immediately below us and in his correspondence to the solictor sounded reasonable and sane. Nice penmanship too. The person above us in the small second floor flat is a guy who used to live there with his mother and took over the flat when she passed away. I’m getting a mental image of Ronnie Corbett crossed with Alan Carr.
Annoying woman upstairs in our rental flat (yes, they have NO soundproofing under their wooden floors) is now - by the sounds of it - doing step aerobics while holding a baby elephant and singing a medoly of songs from Oliver.
Oh God.
* I am eyeing up another one in a secondhand shop - what if it sells when I’m not there! - a 1950s two tier one with red roses and black leaves.
