Jings

It feels like that last month or so has been lived in fast-forward. Or maybe a strange combination of speed and busy-ness and moments of contemplation (after all, there have been two holidays).

I am a person who likes things to happen quickly anyway (and yet am not very keen on speed in and of itself - sports and activities that require one to go really fast are not my thing). There's an ad on TV at the moment (for AOL broadband I think), which has a guy in a variety of scenarios, experiencing frustration at how slowly things are happening (eg supermarket checkout) and intervening to remedy the situation (eg scanning his own shopping). Scarily, I'm reminded a little of myself. Andrew thinks I hold the land speed record for travel within an airport terminal (and probably for Princes St on a Saturday too).

So, what's been going on?

Well, on Friday we officially became property owners. Our little flat now really is ours. Exchange went without a hitch, except for the minor scare with the mortgage a week out when the Halifax inquired about A's accent and discovered that we had not been living in the UK for very long. Hurried lobbying of his HR dept and some signatures in the right place managed to avert that one. It's impossible to get any other credit here (except, of course, credit cards, which are given away like sweets) - we were excited about not having to pay anything towards our sofas for a whole year, but of course we failed the credit check, as they can't, for some reason, check NZ. In fact, we can't even open a bank account to deposit money into, never mind anything else, at the bank that A works for! Believe what everyone tells you, and set up your bank accounts BEFORE travelling the UK!

Our flat is looking a bit spartan (or perhaps minimalist) . We have the basics covered - somewhere to sleep (a new bed, heaven after the protruding springs of the last one), somewhere to sit, a bright red rug and kitchen basics - but our chest of drawers is still an assortment of shoeboxes, and our coffeetable is also of the cardboard variety. I had to go out and buy a grater today as we had a craving for carrot cake. It is nice, though, to be surrounded by things that are ours - the place really feels different. And that's before DIY adventures...

We've been to France, too - there are photos. More on that anon.