Thanks to Pete

Yesterday Pete Machell finished his mammoth 8 week building work stint at my flat and headed back home to his home and girlfriend near Edinburgh. My brother Mike brilliantly suggested that Pete, his father in law, do the work at mine. He has worked completely on his own, often 10 hour days fuelled mainly by rooibos tea, kitkats and veggie thalis, as far as I could tell. From what was a musty beige carpeted flat he has created a space which is light and welcoming. Most importantly there is now lots of space for T'ai Chi both indoors in the lounge on the wooden floor he stripped (never seen so much dust in all my life) and outdoors on the purpose built stone patio. He has fenced the garden, painted, decorated, fitted a bathroom and generally put things up, taken things down and put things in order all over the place. Pete normally works in the Edinburgh area but will travel within Scotland for bigger jobs and I certainly recommend him. Thankyou so much Pete for putting your heart into my home, it's also been great to have you stay and get to know you more.
So it's time to sow vegetables, grow fruit and go skip diving. Soon I will advertise for lodgers, as soon as I have finished painting the last bits around the place, bought a TV and microwave (apparently these are considered necessary...) I am going to enjoy 2 weeks of alone time here, save the occasional welcome guest, as I have spent my whole life since leaving home living with lots of people; flatmates, partners, landlords, lodgers, my band (yes, even though it wasn't the sixties), squatters, wwoofers and in community. Before I advertise on Gumtree and the flat share websites I am putting this out to the T'ai Chi folks who read this. If you know anyone who is looking for a single or a double room in a Tooting flatshare who doesn't mind recycling, saving their veg peels for compost and who doesn't leave appliances on when they go out, put them in touch with me.