I thought I'd better post another message since the glam shot of Geordan and Iulia has occupied my spot for far too long from the moment it first appeared. What an interesting week in my new house. I no longer have a moat stretching across the width of the house although the gas men appear to have forgotten to take all the barriers and signposts with them. So, anyone who needs large, blue, plastic fencing and a large arrow please contact me.

I'm loving my new home but am finally facing the realities and frustrations that accompany it. So far the utilities are proving a bit of a challenge:

• Sunday afternoon: plummer and me unable to find stop-tap in the house so turned everyone's water off by fishing in a hole in the street to turn the stand-pipe off
• Sunday evening: plummer flooded the bathroom, unwittingly leaving an inch deep layer of water to drain into a hole behind the loo
• Sunday night: thankfully spotted a drip of water free-falling from the lounge ceiling on to BRAND NEW sofa as I walked past it on my way to bed
• 2 minutes later having pushed sofa out of the way: foolishly touched v. large bubble in ceiling
• 1 second later: nearly fell off chair as water cascaded from the ceiling
• Spent next 10 minutes trying to decide whether to contact the plummer (now way past mid-night)
• Played the 'I'm just a girl' card and got plummer to look at hole in ceiling
• Finally: went to bed with a new drip from the bathroom sink tap dripping into a strategically placed cup
• Monday evening: arrived home very hungry and ready for a home-cooked meal. Alas, gas cooker broken - won't be fixed until Thursday night at the earliest.
• Went to bed worrying about a possible gas leak...can't smell any but I still have a cold and can't smell anything

Hurray! I made it through the night!