I have scheduled this blogpost to auto-publish at 11.30pm on Thursday. This is because I am not at home. This is what I predict happened...
At ten o'clock I jumped in my daughter Frances's blue car. Together, we headed down the M1 motorway to Wood Green, London. Without stops, this journey should have taken about three hours and twenty minutes.
We picked up a key for her old flat - the one she bought with Stewart in 2017. We went inside and checked out the state of the old place. It is currently unoccupied. There is a heartbreaking saga to be told about its recent history and this involves the local council for the Haringey district of London.
It is a long and complicated tale that I will not bore you with right now. It has involved tears and official communications and broken promises and money and the business is still not resolved. It concerns several other homeowners in the neighbourhood. Let me just say it is all quite scandalous and wrong.
We unscrew a large mirror from the wall in the entrance hall and put it in the back of the blue car. It was made for Frances and Stewart by one of their friends.
Frances felt quite emotional about it all. The flat worries have hovered about her for four years now. We headed off to the nearby Travelodge on Wood Green High Street where we had reserved two rooms.
At four thirty she took a tube train down to central London where there was a reunion meet-up for her old London-based company. It involved drinks and dinner. She headed back to Wood Green before midnight.
In the meantime, I went over to one of Wood Green's Turkish restaurants for a lamb shish kebab meal with a bottle of EFS Turkish beer. It was as wholesome and delicious as ever.
Afterwards, I toddled back to the Travelodge to read and watch some television before hitting the hay around midnight. I was hoping to sleep easy in my hotel bed after confirming that Frances was back safely from her night out.
Return from London on Friday morning.
The plot thickens.
ReplyDeleteJust like the porridge.
DeleteHave a safe journey back!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that Frances - and, as you say, several other homeowners - have been having these worries about their properties. Without knowing any detail, all I can say that "this, too, shall pass", hopefully rather sooner than later.
Your Turkish meal sounds nice although I must admit I have never tasted Turkish beer, as I am not much of a beer person. Have you brought a few pictures back to share with us?
No. I did not take my camera. "EFES" is the best known Turkish beer and it went well with what was a super meal.
DeleteA bittersweet visit for you both. And still you didnt pop by for a cup of tea. Naughty YP. !
ReplyDeleteI did pop round last night with a crate of Tetley's bitter and some pigs' ears. I hammered on your door for ages but I know you have hearing issues.
DeleteYou mentioned the flat in an earlier post some time ago. One of several reasons I say don't buy a property without fully checking out all the possible land or building charges, which probably means rejecting the majority of flats.
ReplyDeleteI may explain the situation some time soon.
DeleteWIth the wind, maybe you can stay over an extra night.
ReplyDeleteOn the way back Up North the wind wasn't bad at all.
DeleteThis sounds like a complex and unhappy situation.
ReplyDeleteI may blog about it though a part of me I just wants to shut it out.
DeleteWhy is it that situations arise that should be simple but but become unbelievably complex.
ReplyDeleteThat is what happened to them.
DeleteWell, I hope the trip turned out the way you and Frances wanted and you got back home safely.
ReplyDeleteAll went according to plan Ellen... until we got close to Sheffield.
DeleteIt seems to me that property ownership seems, in so very many ways, to be at the heart of so many woes.
ReplyDeleteI may blog about it but what happened to Frances and her husband has been both frustrating and upsetting.
DeleteI'm trying to sell my condo again, I just want to be down with it. I hope things get resolved soon for Frances and Stewart. I hope you two had a nice trip though.
ReplyDeleteThey got themselves into something of a nightmare.
DeleteSurely you didn’t mean sheesh kabob. Shish maybe, but definitely not sheesh. It is American slang. Check it out.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bob! Silly old me.
DeleteWell, now I'm very curious about what's going on with Haringey Council and this flat. The more I read about property ownership in London, the more glad I am that I rent.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to go back to places we once loved.
ReplyDelete