under another sun

A blessed morning of not having to spring out of bed and stare bleakly at Keith staring back at me.  Instead Lorraine and I had a cheery day making bits of progress on the house. Lorraine's pal Carolyn called around for lunch, and to offer all kinds of useful gardening advice. Carolyn is planning to move to Scotland to buy a place with her man Ron. In the afternoon off to a nearby garden centre to buy soil and so on, and we started to plant some of the 350 bulbs Lorraine has ordered. Meanwhile Anton called to talk about the ghastly week he had running a business event.  Lorraine and I hurried off to The Boot at 5pm to have a drink with Steve. It was full of folks, and Steve greeted us very cheerfully at the bar, and the staff all joined in asking when we had moved and so on. All very nice. Soon were quaffing pints of Harvey's Old ale from the tap. Bloody lovely, and very nice to see Steve again now that we are neighbours. Better still was actually having a beer in a pub with L...

Saturday. Glorious not to have to work. Obviously earning money is admirable and manly, but having to sit manacled to my precariously balanced desk all week instead of doing new house stuff, and roaming about in the new town was a bit trying. This morning, loved having the time to feel waves of excitement surging through me just being in my home and garden.   Lorraine and I had a happy mooch off to the shops.We looked at wardrobes and other bits in a deceptively large furniture shop nearby VR Flowers and Sons, as well as popping into the Seaford Home hardware and -- inevitably -- into Morrisons for some provisions.  At a little before two I sauntered back to Seaford Station to meet Anton, now sporting only the one crutch after his knee operation, and looking forward to ditching it completely soon. Seemed ages since we saw each other. He too had been a bit peaky this week, but had rallied magnificently to come here.  Walked him to the new home, narrowly avoiding an evil wh...

A sigh of relief again this morning. Lorraine and I driving to the station. Kissed Lorraine goodbye in the car, a cup of tea from  The Daily Grind  and onto the train. This morning there was no need to work, instead I played Patience on my laptop, and listened to Villette, which I finally finished on the way home in the evening.  The final chapters were extraordinarily good, however, and it is a fine book well deserving of its reputation. But I had to be in certain moods to read it, and not a book you can just dip into very easily. In fact it took me longer to complete than any book I can think of. Pleased I stuck to my guns though. A strange day of work. Still very tired, but worked hard for the first few hours, then the afternoon there was nothing much to be done. Went to a pub called The Boot briefly with a few folks, including Sarah who is just about to go on maternity leave. Chatted to Karam too. The boot empty and like going back in time to an old fashioned London...