on the move!
After a month or so of being very much confined to my ever more chaotic HQ, thankfully this last week has seen the opportunity for travel present itself once again, an opportunity which I was more than willing to firmly grasp! I have enjoyed a very pleasant dinner engagement in Leeds and even got to do some star-spotting when David Gower arrived with the SKY commentary team, although I was admittedly more impressed upon running into Nigella Lawson last month at the Royal Academy with Mr Saatchi in tow (her: stunningly beautiful, albeit reassuringly untidy, him: short and angry-looking). An early morning dash to Matlock followed; I have not visited before but was delighted to find a very pretty town in the Peak District with some impressive views, Kilimanjaro-esque hills and at least one very charming resident whom I hope to be keeping company with again (preferably having had more than three hours sleep; I spent the first two hours of my return train journey in mortal terror of falling asleep and as a result, arriving in Edinburgh a week early!)
My actual Edinburgh trip is this approaching Sunday – I have collected my prized Tom Waits ticket and am very much looking forward to a break after the excitement of my flat purchase! There are 48 hours or so to go before completing and I have arranged a very nice ‘man with van’ to spend Thursday helping me move from A to B as many items designated ‘unnecessary for the next week or so’ as possible, including books, DVDs, winter clothing (although as the weather has been so diabolical, this may require some rethinking) and one hundred or so pairs of shoes. I have been packing as much as possible into boxes which are now gracing my living room almost floor-to-ceiling and making it ever more difficult to pass off the state of the place to new visitors!
My proposed moving date is Wednesday the 30th of July – I will not be taking any calls that day as I will be far too busy lumping furniture around, making tea and swearing like a Marine. However, August is shaping up to be a busy month and my diary is filling up fast with many exciting assignations – most, happily, will be at my new place too – I do recommend (as ever) that anyone wishing to see me gets in touch as soon as possible to avoid being disappointed! And the weather finally appears to be brightening up, although I can confidently predict thunderstorms, high winds and torrential rain next Monday, as I have arranged to have the exterior of my house painted.