Second night at Taymount Grange

FINALLY ARRIVED AND MOVED IN TO TAYMOUNT GRANGE


Hello everyone,

It has been a week since my last post. I am telling everyone it is jet lag - the older I get the longer it takes to bounce back after that long hall flight. I rested up at a friend's place. Lovely autumn days, even blue skies some of the time. The colour of the leaves is wonderful. I spent these days walking gthrough woods and wandering around the Dulwich village.

It has also taken the week to try to organise the basics so I can stay here......not having a car is hard to get used to. I rely on the goodwill of friends to pick up and deliver the bits and pieces to make life possible on a rug. Cars here tend to me smaller as well, so that moving my lovely Finnish leather chairs is proving difficult. I have hopes that they will arrive within the week.

The surprising and interesting thing to discover was that my claims that the rug in Australia was the same size as the studio room here has proved wrong! It seems the real estate agents made a mistake and misread 16 feet for 10 feet. So I now find the rug needs to be stretched to 13 feet by 16 feet.....terrific to find the space that much bigger.

The size of the studio room was a positive as is the largely intact art deco bathroom. A few other aspects were not so good. There are things that need fixing, pretty important things like one of the locks on the front door doesn't work properly.

The tiny kitchen needs a redesign, and I will work on this over the next few weeks. The oven and hot plates are too big and take up too much room in the tiny area that has to deal with preparing food, storing kitchen things, cooking and washing up. I have found a small stove/hotplates that will plug in. The tiny fridge, only a few months old appears not to work and I am trying to find out why. Let's hope it is simple, otherwise it is a new fridge as well.

It is an interesting and challenging experience to prepare a meal with a non functioning fridge (I am using the tiled ledge next to the bathroom window as a cold space). So far I haven't managed to do more than a simple scrambled egg dish, and tonight is even less work - a Sainsbury's ready prepared fresh potato soup. It is having no where at all to put anything!

I've made my breakfast toast and coffee twice and enjoyed eating it under the big window watching everyone leaving for work. I look out over the trees and lawn area. it can b e noisy as the workmen are renovating the communal hallways, and they congregate outside on the portico for a smoke.

The wonderful thing is with winter approaching, I can look forward to being very warm. I have to keep the window open as the central heating is so efficient. The endless hot water and the comfortable and large bath mean I will be clean and warm.

The other problem for me was to organise my internet connection. No internet no blog.
This took me out to test the public transport from Forest Hill to the nearest large shopping centre and the internet shop. It was an interesting trip via 2 buses. I am now able to access my pay as you go broadband. If i can find 'hot spots' I will get free access. All this is new to me, and let's hope I can make it all work.

I will now try for 2nd time to up load a few photos. ...........and failed again......just keeps on telling me it is uploading but never seems to quite get there. I'll try tomorrow again.

The TV is working but tending to 'drop out' as reception isn't the best. I must sort out myTV license or else the TV license police will be after me. Here they send a letter addresssed to 'The occupier' threatening all sorts of nasty things as they say they can tell you haven't paid your 140 pound fee. All of this is a city where dogs require no license and young kids train killer dogs as the latest scary fashion statement for hoodies.

Off to eat the potato sout, and to do so I need to pack up this computer, as this is the table for eating as well as working!