The Adventures of Lorie and Brian Groth

This one is for my dad who enjoys his WeatherBug gadget in Windows Vista: Our friend Alan summarizes our local weather and the approach to reporting it here in the UK: Alan’s Travel Tracker: The Weather

We are still waiting for final paperwork before exchanging contracts, which has to happen before we close the deal, which has to happen before we get the keys and can move in. However, we did a walk-through today with camera in hand. I will post more photos after I know we really have it, but we expect that to be within a few days though.

This afternoon Lorie and I signed a variety of paperwork before we can exchange, close, swap keys, and whatever else happens before we can move to a flat we are trying to purchase. It’s a very long and complex process compared to the US where most people go to a shopping mall and select a house from a variety of home stores – sometimes they are even shrink wrapped, which is always nice. OK, I’m just having fun with those of you reading this that have not purchased a house in the US, but I have to admit that the process here in the UK is a bit complex, but that’s probably because the laws, contracts, and split/shared dwellings have been evolving for a hundred years or more into the mess that they are today. Hopefully we will know more within a week though!

A few people have asked if we are seeing flooding in London like other parts of England. Even though I haven’t seen anything at our house or on the way to Victoria, I wasn’t sure what the Thames was doing. So today I waited until it was at high tide at around 1pm and took Milo for a walk, but the river looked normal as you can see here, which is what it always looks like at high tide (that’s a view of the rowing clubs in Putney, taken from Bishops Park). Of course, last Friday I was in Florida so I missed the excitement in south London and because of it, our friend Megan missed seeing the Rolling Stones in Budapest since Heathrow was a mess. That’s the worst personal tragedy I’ve heard of regarding the flood!  

On Saturday, we went to a party at Alex’s farm in Chearsley. There was good wine, food, music, we met lots of new people, and it was the furthest West of London we’ve been yet. The dogs had a good time too, as you can tell by Milo’s smile.  

Storing bikes in London is a challenge: no garage and most places have space in the garden, but you have to carry the bike through the house to get there. So I am considering a folding bike and Time Out London just provided a list of ones that look good. They are:

1. Airnimal Rhino – the only small folding mountain bike I’ve seen
2. Mobiky Genius – looks tiny!
3. Ridgeback Emissary
4. Bromptom M-Type (this is the one pictured here when it is collapsed)
5. Giant Halfway 7