Sunshine in Suburbia

It's been a whole week since we officially left Brixton and thanks to the (mostly) sunny weather and warm temperatures, we've got off to a rather good start in our attic residence.

I've discovered a number of up-sides to living in Suburbia - most notably the abundance of magnolia and cherry blossom trees. It's also been quite fun re-discovering my local parks, the majority of which I haven't been to for 12 years or so. Time has treated them all rather well. Yes, they're not as great as Brockwell Park, but there are 3 to choose from and all are about 15 minute walk away. Also nice, is the quiet. Don't get me wrong, I love the bustle of Brixton but, even with the odd plane going overhead and the distant rumble of the trains, I can actually hear bird song now. Something I don't think I ever heard over the sirens, buses, traffic, our neighbours' music and people just generally shouting at each other in Brixton. Who would have thought that being able to have your window open and not go deaf would be such revelation! And, talking of revelations, because my parents have a house, they also have a substantially sized (and well-taken care of) garden! Where I can hang my washing out to dry! Seriously, it may read like sarcasm but drying my laundry in the fresh air is SUCH a luxury. I even re-construted our shoe-rack in the garden because it really is the nicest place to be. Of course, there's more than a couple of down-sides to suburbia: everything shuts early and practically nothing is open at all on sunday, we now live far away from most of my friends, travelling after the last train is seriously long - to name a few. But hey, I don't want to be too much of a negative nancy on here so let's just say I'm attempting to adapt to all the new challenges suburb living presents. On a positive note, you'll be happy to hear that Moriarty has settled in well and is the recipient of not two, but five people's attention and affection, not to mention all the extra play-time and food he's getting :)

What with being ill on Monday and Tuesday and dinner dates + late nights on Wednesday and Thursday, I feel like this week has gone unbelievably quickly but I'm not complaining. Happy gloriously sunny Friday to you!