Looking Ahead to October

I have not been blogging so much lately. We have been staying in Roehampton with a really lovely friend so that my beloved and I can move beyond the unpleasant experience at Old Street. Many of you are probably aware of the temporary upheaval we have experienced in September. Because of this experience, September 2009 has definitely been the most challenging of times here so far. However in another way, it has been the most amazing of times. It all started when one of my colleagues at work who I barely knew offered a holiday of sorts at her flat. Well, I jumped at the chance and it was wonderful. I wish I could explain to you how amazing it was. We went to this lovely little Italian restaurant in Putney and it was awesome. We chatted with the people at the table next to us and we just had such fun. After dinner, we joined a book club that my friend had and we met a wonderful group a women. It was really interesting. But the best thing about it was the energy in the house. This woman lives with her two daughters… they were away at the time but... there was such a loving energy, you could just feel it filling up the house.

After that, another colleague opened her home to us… also in Roehampton… a block away, in fact. In a different house, with different energy, and it was also amazing. It is actually the house we had thanksgiving dinner in 2008. And we have been taking turns cooking supper for each other and sharing tidbits about each other’s lives. It has been magical. All very easy going and calm. I have been doing my taijiquan in the garden. It is the perfect size. My honey even baked cookies the other day. It has really felt like home. We visited ‘probably the oldest pub in Putney’ and another old pub on high street and it was loads of fun. It is right near where I work so I have been walking there. It has been nice. And you should see the streets: Lots of green in the front gardens and it just feels spacious.

I figured out that the reason I haven’t been blogging is that I really have not been able to focus on anything whilst been without a homebase. This experience has been an interesting one for me. I haven’t rented since I was a student in Worcester. After that I had a brief stint back at the childhood home and then I launched straight into home ownership. I don’t remember having to go through reference processes. Maybe I did. It is quite stressful to wait for references to be approved when you don’t have another to go to. This is one of those experiences that I cannot compare.

I am looking forward to concentrating on something else. But one thing for sure is that I have met some truly amazing and wonderful sharing and giving people here in London. Walking around, it seems a very lonely city, nobody looks at you, even when they bowl you over walking right through you like you weren’t even there. Now when I look at those faces who seem to be working hard to avoid my gaze, I wonder which ones of them have recently taken in flatshare refugees and given them a little bit of home, harmony, and hope

Flat Implosion and Something More Palatable

The world has turned sideways again and we are once again in search of a flat due to irreconcilable differences. I feel like I need to say something here as to the seemingly sudden decision to move. The whole thing started off badly and we thought things were turning around, but something happened yesterday that screamed GET OUT, so we are leaving. The straw that broke the camels was basically this: Saturday morning one of the flatmates rearranged the furniture in the common room. In response, two of the flatmates threw away half of the furniture in the common room that afternoon. Of course there is WAY more to it than that, but I need to move on to something else. My beloved and I have committed significant emotional and other resources moving to London to invest in our future and this clearly toxic situation is not worthy of our attention. So it is my intention to remove us from this situation as soon as possible. Enough said on that.

On a lighter note, two weekends ago was full of much more interesting adventures of a more social and touristy nature. The Saturday included a picnic with the Occupational Therapy department from work. Some of my favourites came along and it was a nice break from the tension that was building up back at the flat (ooops, how did that get in there, I thought I said enough said on that). Some of my favourites came along and it was fun and relaxing. We sat next to the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park and just chatted. And of course it was a picnic, so we ate and drank too. The first picture above is from the picnic.

On that Sunday, we decided to go to Hampton Court Palace. We had not been before and it was something that we had both wanted to see. The original plan was to take a boat up the Thames, but the tides were against us. The palace grounds are just unbelievable. My favourite thing I think is the Great Vine, which is a grape vine that is supposedly the worlds oldest (planted 1768) and longest (120 feet). The vine is in a conservatory (green house) but the roots are outside. I guess I would be remiss if I wrote a blog about going to Hampton Court Palace and not mention Henry VIII.

Some of you may be aware that I made a fly-by stop to Southcoast last weekend to take care of some government paperwork. I am sorry that I did not get to see anyone but I was home over such a short period that I decided to spend it with my parents.