Bus

When I lived in the East End I used to get the bus all the time. In Hackney there isn't a tube so bus is the only way to travel in to Central London by public transport. I used to get it every day and I really know my way around that area of London partly due to using the bus and being able to see where things are. The No15 for example is almost as good as an open top bus as it goes from the Tower through the City to Trafalgar Sq.
Since I've been a south Londoner my bus use has reduced to virtually zero - the odd trip when "up west" but nothing locally. Before we moved we lived so close to the train station and the town centre that the only option for getting there was walking. Now I could still walk (and do - it's only an extra 10 mins), however, I have the option of getting the bus. It stops very close to our house and I've got it home when arriving late and when arriving laden with shopping. It's almost like having my own private free (by virtue of annual travel card) taxi. I've only got it between my house and the town centre though;my next plan is to get it in the other direction and see where I end up.

Moving the Cat

Lavinia on the stairs
Originally uploaded by mrs_od

While we moved our cat Lavinia went to stay with my parents. We brought her back on Sunday and she's now exploring her new house. Moving websites suggest that we should keep her in doors for 2 weeks before letting her out. I was at first dubious about this. We had a cat flap at our previous place so she could come and go as she pleased so I didn't think that Lavinia would take to being a indoor cat for a few weeks. However 3 days in and she is absolutely fine. I'm really pleased. She is a bit noisy - especially at night time but if husb or I call out to her she usually stops meowing and starts purring. Which is just the best and it makes me smile.

I have moved

At last after months of waiting and being dissapointed on one house we have moved in to our new place in record time. We viewed the property just before Christmas and have moved in less than 2 months later. I am very very pleased. Moving day was an experience. How we ever managed to get so much stuff in to such a tiny flat is a miracle - we are not finding it too much of a struggle to fill 8 rooms - though we have been buying a lot.
I will, once our broadband connection is fixed, be able to make up for my lack of blogging and tweeting. I said I was going to blog every week but the move has hampered my plans. I will get going again soon.

Find Piers

A former collegue of mine's brother has gone missing. Please click here to view the details and if you see him please call the police as directed.

Exchanging

In the intro to my blog I say that I am "in the process of buying my first house". I have now nearly bought my first house. We exchanged contracts yesterday and I am very excited about it. However I am absolutely in awe of anyone who manages to buy and sell a house at the same time. Just buying has been bad enough. We started looking in March 2009 so it has nearly taken a year to get to this stage. 5 months of that time was spent waiting for a different property which was in a chain and which eventually fell through. Now we've exchanged on another (lovelier) place and I can't quite believe we're going to own a house in a week's time! There is loads more I could say but I'll save that for completion.

Stabilo Bionic Medium 0.5mm - blue

Stabilo Bionic Medium 0.5mm
Originally uploaded by mrs_od

I love stationery - always have. Used to spend hours in WHSmiths just looking at pens and folders and post it notes (have a particular thing for post it notes). So imagine my joy when I came accross #stationeryclub on twitter. It is like a book club but about pens etc and it was created by @iamjamesward. The first meeting is this week but I can't go along. I did however buy the item for discussion. It is not the best looking of pens, but it is a lovely writer. It's bright orange, which makes it quite easy to locate in the bottom of my handbag and I like the blue-turquoise plastic on the lid and on the bottom. However it can get dirty quite quickly.
The ink flows well accross the page (I'm using a John Oxford Black N Red notebook) and it even manages to make my scrawl look good (which is a major achievement).
I've enjoyed my first foray into #stationeryclub and I'm looking forward to finding out what the next item will be.