Phew!

Last week was a bit crazy for me. We moved house; I started supplying cupcakes to my local cafe; and I had an important deadline at work. Amazingly, all three turned out very well. The move was quick and painless, and much helped by the lovely Bear and Pirate, who drugged themselves to the eyeballs and endured dust and cats for the day. A week later we were in, unpacked and celebrating with a housewarming party.

The cupcakes were a great hit. They sold out within the day and I've arranged to supply the cafe with a batch twice a week. In the meantime they will use other caterers for cakes. I'm thrilled because it means I can continue to bake for them but at a manageable level. I'm loving all the piping work and playing around with all things sugar craft.

And the work thing went well too. I've been doing some knowledge management consultancy work with a client we're trying to develop our relationship with. Last week I presented my findings and recommendations, which they loved. They've asked me to present to their global legal board next week, so my Partner is feeling pretty pleased with me right about now, which is always nice.

All in all it's been a big week!

A new era

Ridiculous amounts of money were flying around this morning, and we're now the proud owners of a house! We pick up the keys tonight and move in over the weekend. If you're in London on the 22nd we're having a housewarming - come join us!

Exciting times

On Valentine's Day an old train carriage was deposited just off Deptford High Street in the old railyard area. Since then it's had several personas in the form of commissioned graffiti and a lot of work done inside an out to turn it into a new cafe.

It's the 'first step' in a regeneration project for that area which is to include the rebuilding of our station (the first suburban railway station in London, built in 1836 and not vastly different today), the building of some pretty swanky housing and the redevelopment of the old railyard area into a creative industries market, where I plan on opening a cake stall.

I've been watching the developments with great interest as I walk to and from the station each day, and am quite excited about dropping in for a coffee on the way home. I'm particularly excited about the prospect of a local cafe open on a Sunday. Our beloved Bear Cafe becomes a Church on Sundays and isn't open to us heathen caffeine addicts.

Sigh

And then it was done, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Buying a house is frustrating

You find a house, you make an offer. They accept the offer, everyone's happy. The housing market starts falling down all around you and you have to revise your offer because house values are dropping (and so, therefore, is the amount you can borrow). They accept the offer. Everyone's happy. Those further up the chain don't accept the offer. Everyone's not happy. A further revised offer and you're back on track. You organise the mortgage, you mark up the shonky contracts. You send them and a huge amount of money to your solicitors all ready to exchange. You exchange. No, wait a minute, you didn't exchange. You just thought you did. Mainly because of the letter from your solicitor telling you you had. You chase the solicitor. You chase the vendor. You hope they are both chasing those further up the chain. You start getting antsy because you've given notice to move out of your apartment, and have planned a housewarming. You start to get grumpy about the interest you could be earning if the deposit were still in your account. You feel frustrated.