Slow progress...

I can't believe that it's already been three weeks since we moved into Dream Flat. What have we accomplished so far? Well, we finally got the telephone line working, only for it to break down again last Thursday. We finally got the washing machine plumbed in, only for it to overheat and enter laundy meltdown a few days later. Can you spot a theme here?

It's definitely a case of two steps forward and one (or maybe two!) steps back. Half of the kitchen is clean, but half, to adopt Clare's description of it, is still a rancid pit. Still, we've turned this negative into a positive by already building good relations with a whole host of local take-away restaurants. Such acclimatization into the neighbourhood can only be a good thing, no? :)

Also, although we haven't done a lot with them, we're now the proud owners of a whole host of exciting new DIY gadgets, so that's something, even if they are only cluttering up the living room and getting dusty. And, I'm now eminently qualified to write reviews on nearly every cleaning product on the UK market. In fact, I fear becoming a cleaning bore. For whilst I hate the act of cleaning itself, I'm becoming quite fascinated with the relative merits of different products. This is so not a good thing.

As far as unpacking is concerned, I'd say that we're about 10% done (which means, at this rate, we'll be all done in another 30 weeks! *sigh*). Of course, we have our priorities straight. We can't locate a single thing for the kitchen and all our clothes are screwed up in bags and cases, BUT nearly all our books and CDs are neatly shelved.

We've also mastered the enormous Community Recycling Centre which is run by the City Council. It's an awesome place, which totally stops everyone just dumping everything in one place to be taken to the landfill site. There are huge containers for just about every material imaginable and really helpful staff. Plus there are also containers for hazardous materials, so that the Council can then dispose of them in the most environmentally friendly way possible. We certainly didn't have anywhere this good where we used to live.

Actually, the whole area seems to be very community oriented. We've already joined a couple of groups that work to preserve local buildings and also provide input on the future of the city, and there's a million other things that we're looking forward to getting involved with. That is, of course, if we ever get unpacked. So I'd better get back to trying to improve upon the 10% completion rate...

I still haven't found our camera, but did manage to get hold of a slightly Warholized photo of the front of our house (and a few other houses in the Square) which I think is quite fun...