The last of Edinburgh and the first of London.

Run off my feet!

So....today I got up and headed down the motorway to Penrith. I went to Morrisons to collect a 'Rug Doctor' carpet cleaning machine and took it to the house and started to clean the carpets. The stupid machine would only work if you slowly walked backwards with it which meant that you kept getting tangled in the power cable. I bought a bottle of carpet detergent enough for 4 rooms (I was only doing 3) which cost £15!...but had used half of it just doing the lounge carpet. I finished the upstairs before heading back up the motorway to Mum's for lunch. After lunch we drove into town to go to the bank to get Dad's bank accounts closed and the money transferred to Mum. We tried to do it yesterday but when we got there they were having computer issues and couldn't help us, saying we would have to come back. We were eventually seen today by Oliver with his many ear piercings and dyed blonde hair who copied all the documents we took and filled in all the necessary forms for us. On the way back to the car we stopped at M&S and Mum got three new tops, then we drove up to Kingstown and bought a new Dyson ( light, upright, cordless) Hoover and an electric blanket. I dropped Mum home for her nap and headed back down the motorway to Penrith. I went to get some more keys cut for the new tenants and also called into the Cancer Research Charity Shop to see if they wanted the 4 boxes of stuff left in the house by the last tenant. They did.Back at the house in Penrith the new keys did not work so I loaded up the car with the 4 junk boxes and headed back into town. I got replacement keys which the guy said were the last chance otherwise there was nothing he could do and I could have my money back if these new ones didn't work. I took the 4 boxes of junk to the Charity Shop and then went back to the house to try the keys. I didn't hold out much hope....but they worked.I finished off the carpet cleaning by cleaning the stairs carpet before taking the 'Rug Doctor' back to Morrison's and then heading back up the motorway for tea.Time is running out and I haven't had time to get in the loft and have a sort out up there yet. It looks like that will have to wait until next week.I head to London for the weekend on Friday.

Sorted!

So...I have made my decision and we have new tenants for the house in Penrith, a lovely young couple, a nurse and a roofer. It is such a relief to get it sorted...though there is still a bit of paperwork to do. I have informed all the people who came to view of my good news, but sadly their bad news. Those caged rats will have to gnaw to their hearts content somewhere else.

Edinburgh and Arthur's Backside.

The Man from Mardale Close says "No."

So...for the last few days I have been cleaning, clearing and showing prospective tenants around the house in Penrith. There are two that are in the running so far and a couple of others who will only get bad news from me. One such pair were a mother and son who arrived yesterday with daughter in tow. She marched in first with babe in arms and introduced herself, but I did not catch her name or if I did forgot it immediately."And who is this?" I asked tickling the baby's rosy cheek."Ocean-Abigail" came the reply."How unusual," was all I could offer as an answer.Mother came next. She smiled and showed off her four remaining teeth, which sadly appeared to be barely hanging in there either. Dare one trust one's house to someone who can't look after their own teeth?The son looked very shifty to say the least. They came into the kitchen."This is smaller than the one we had " said mother."Well, that is the point of downsizing" said the daughter."Is there a downstairs lavatory?" Asked mother."No," I said.We went into the lounge."Oh, this is quite a good size," said the daughter."And a bit of a garden," noted mother " though we won't be able to bring the dogs here."' No you won't,' I was thinking."Is it a pet friendly place?" piped up the son."Well, the last tenant did have a cat, "I said."Oh, it's just that I have two rats in cages, " he said, " they are very clean."We went upstairs."Oh, this is where your cot will go Ocean-Abigail," said the daughter.'Actually, no it won't,' I was thinking. They did not have a chance.Of course they loved it.Mother went back down to look around downstairs again."Where's the other door?" She asked when the rest of us went down. It is obvious there is only one."Only one door,"I wasted my time saying. "If there is a fire in the kitchen you dive out of the front window."Sadly Ocean-Abigail and her uncle's rats will not be living in my house in the near future...I will let them down gently next week.