Wednesday 7 August 2019

NORMAL SERVICE IS RESUMED

Apologies for the delay.

A week after my last post we got married, and that took a bit of organising. Then we went away to Rome for a week, and when we came back Fiona's belongings were moved into the Vicarage. I hadn't really thought about how difficult it might be to put two adult households together in one house; a failure of imagination, I suppose. So the house was filled with boxes, and duplicates of everything are slowly being uncovered, and decisions made about what stays and what goes. It all takes a while. Then I went off to Provence, my usual trip (organised last autumn, before I'd even met Fiona) to stay with friends and watch the Tour de France, on which Fiona was able to join me for the last weekend. So, it's been a busy time, and I haven't had much time to write this blog.

Returning to Paddington I am struck by the randomness of some of the driving you see here. This morning I watched an Asda delivery van indicate right as if to turn off the Harrow Road into Amberley Road, but in fact execute a u-turn, in front of a bus. Amazing. Each day you see something that surprises you.The local belief that yellow lines are just advisory seems to be even more widespread in August, and there's a car outside the church more or less permanently. Westminster's lack of interest in enforcing anything except residents' parking restrictions clearly contributes to people's attitudes, as no-one expects any consequences. I wonder whether some people have simply no idea what single yellow lines mean;  it would be useful if Westminster used their glossy magazine to publicise the rules.

I am pleased to report that the Grand Junction Cafe is now open. We haven't got the fancy permanent furniture yet, but what we do have will do for the moment. It turns out to be a complicated process to get beautiful results when printing on formica table tops, but I'm sure they will be worth waiting for. We're gradually getting signs produced, so everything is looking a bit more finished. We still haven't quite got rid of the builders, though; are we now in month 26 of a 12 month contract?


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