Berberis' World

It’s amazing how the prospect of strangers turning up at your house makes you focus on the essentials. The landlord’s estate agent sent a couple round to view the house this afternoon, and within the space of 3 hours the house was tidier than it’s been for months. Not especially clean – bathroom and kitchen excepted – but just… well, just tidy.

They were here for maybe 10 minutes, and said the house was too small. If it was our house, it might be a problem. It’s not, so it’s not. We went out for lunch and did some essential (and some non-essential) shopping and came home via the route to the new house. There was a car in the drive, which we assumed was the landlord’s.

Otherwise, the move is proceeding smoothly. People have been contacted and details updated. I find it a little difficult to comprehend that this is the last weekend we will spend here. Next weekend we will be surrounded by boxes, wondering just where the hell we are going to put everything. We have replaced a loft and small cellar for 2 falling-down sheds, which will house some of it, but a certain Swedish furniture store will no doubt be the recipient of my hard-earned overtime in the shape of an ottoman or two. And then, if it all gets too much, I’ve got a choice of hiding places.

It’s music festival season – Glasto(nbury) being the main one, although there are hundreds of others all meant to cater for the bewildering variety of musical (and not so musical) tastes of those with enough disposable income to take a week off to attend – and I have to admit that I’ve not really hankered to go to one, even when I was devoid of enough responsibilty to do so. However, I sat on the edge of my daughter’s bed last night, hot and sweaty and with a head fuzzy from alcohol, and watched Muse – Devon’s finest export since a decent clotted cream tea – and envied the tens of thousands of hot, sweaty, fuzzyheaded people who were lucky enough to have tickets. They – Muse, not the crowd – were awesome.

My contribution to this summer’s musical landscape will be a raucous rendition of Land of Hope and Glory, celebrating/bemoaning* (*delete as applicable) England’s performance again Germany in the World Cup.