Culture Vulture

Nice Bum!

 So lovely , going to the ballet! Tickets to the Nutcracker were my birthday gift from Dr Lauren and Darling Simon.
The costumes had £10 000 worth of Swarovski crystals sewn onto them. It was a wonderful night indeed.

Quite the funniest thing..in the interval (during which, for some odd reason, the Poms all buy ice cream?? It was bloody freezing!), anyway, there was a chav girl, on a date with a non chav guy. Eavesdropping, (as I am wont to do) , this is what she said....

A) She would rather have gone to a musical
B) Ballet is boring
C)You can stick your Sugar Plum Fairies and Tutu Boy up your arse.

Quite made my night, as she went on in this vein for at least 10 minutes.
I rather liked Tutu boy!

Leicester Square was crazy...millions of people, such a buzz, I am going to miss that so much!
I love coming home late on the trains with all the drunk/fabulously dressed/ many and varied people...last night there were 3 Saffas  doing mean things to a Hamleys Xmas Bear.

Breathing Space

A gap between agents while we rent....before we buy.
Not sure if my nerves can take it.

Cherry Hinton

Cherry Hinton is where we will be living in Cambridge. Sounds very Pom!

So, not the Charmingly Impractical Cottage.
Rather, the Almost Acceptable House

Despite the agents not being able to drive me anywhere, even in a car branded with the company name. Can you believe it? Crazy. Totally crazy.

Positive points:

The Hubby can walk to work
I can walk to Tesco's
Bus stop 2 minutes away to the city and station.
Garage for the car we will get (amazing..haven't seen a garage for years!)
An actual built in cupboard in the main bedroom.
A dishwasher . (phew!)
Garden

Not so great points

3rd bedroom same size as a coffee table
Looks a bit ugly from the outside


Disaster

The Bathroom.

But....is a 6 month contract, and overall, is awfully practical. Has 2 more rooms than we have now. If  you can call the 3rd bedroom a room.
I think I will use it as a dressing room.

Now, just to get someone to move us between xmas and new year.
Doomed comes to mind.

Agents!

It's hard enough looking for a house, these fuckwit agents make it even harder.
They are not insured to drive me.
There is no easy way of getting to the properties in the villages.
I will have to hire a car now.  And then drive behind the agents. Or find an agreeable taxi driver who will follow the agents and go to different villages.What a bloody pain.

London is way more civilized.
Last time I was up in Cambridge I noticed the buses do not have a display telling you where the stops are. This is not good when it is pitch dark , raining, the windows are steamed up and you don't know where you are anyway!
The one difference is that the people in Cambridge will actually speak to you, so you can ask for directions.
This is what I have learnt about asking for directions.

To avoid asking tourists who are as lost as you are, these are the ones to ask

People with dogs
Old ladies with shopping trolleys
People with children in school uniform
People who look a bit mad (but not too mad)

Nights in London

Don't think for a minute that my life is just house seeking..ironing..shopping..being a Pom...
Oh No! I have fun too!
I go to functions where the Butlers wear only aprons.....

Strikes

Really not seriously bad...Somewhat peeved perhaps? Biggest strike ever ,but nobody was terribly inconvenienced, and as you can see...the strikers were not awfully militant! 

Hmmm....

Cambridge is lovely, but as expensive as London. Hence the village search.
Saw a lovely house yesterday (lovely is a relative term here, we are ignoring the fact that these houses have no cupboards) but it was properly in the middle of nowhere...think of the house in Father Ted and you will get the idea. So no on that one.

Second house was not quite so much in the middle of nowhere , but the lounge was blue (carpet and walls) the bedroom was pink (ditto) and no dishwasher. Actually no white goods at all, but panic set in with the dishwasher.
For some odd reason, this house has 3 bathrooms. Very unusual for a Pom house.
Still, was a bit crap.

Third house was the most quirky , wonderful, dear little Enid Blyton/Snow White Cottage I have ever seen. Totally impractical. For example The Hubby would not actually be able to stand in the bedroom, the ceilings are so low. But is fine for me.
Oh! It is so so charming. And delightful. And did I say impractical?
I love it.
The only thing that may stop me from renting this house is that our bed actually may not  fit in the bedroom.
The house is about 300 years old, all oak beams and rough finishes, but...the kitchen is great and there is a dishwasher! The shower is downstairs, and the bedrooms are accessed by what amounts to secret passages through which even I have to bend double...There is not one single bedroom cupboard , and none of the walls are straight.....the front door is just big enough for me to walk through with a slight bend to the knee.....
No double glazing, two staircases, higgedly piggedly on either side of the house, making a trip to have a bath a whole adventure...
If we do decide to move to Cambridge area, this is the one for me!