London Property

Looking around at property in London is pretty crazy. In the picture below, for instance, I thought I was looking at the kitchen at first glance not the back yard.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

"I will admit there were details which annoyed me. The ease with which they parted with money, for example, thinking nothing of the occasional - but not altogether infrequent - meal costing perhaps fifty dollars a head. Or their self-righteousness in dealing with those whom they had paid for a service. "But you told us, " they would say to Greeks twice their age, before insisting things be done their way. I, with my finite and depleting reserve of cash and my traditional sense of deference to one's seniors, found myself wondering by what quirk of human history my companions - many of whom I would have regarded as upstarts in my own country, so devoid of refinement were they - were in a position to conduct themselves in the world as though they were its ruling class." The Reluctant Fundamentalist - by Mohsin Hamid (shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2007)

Our New Flat in London

We have moved to the grand city of London and have rented an excellent furnished character flat. These pictures are from before our stuff arrived, looking a little bare. The entrance hallway. The main door is to the right of the white chair. Our washroom which sports a sky light and a window out into the hallway (very high up). Our cozy kitchen which has been great to cook in. The main hallway again this time looking towards the washroom. One of the bedrooms. The guestroom. The guestroom again. You can see how spacious it is from this picture. It double as our office. Our dining room and living room. And looking the other way towards just the living room. It is brighter than the pictures make it appear. The backyard that is used by the ground level flat. We have a large park not so far away. The view from our living room window across the street. The view looking down our road. There are shops a block away. The view looking up our road going towards the park.

Bow Arts Trust

We finally got our Internet hooked up and I can blog again. Yay! It turns out my ancient Apple laptop is no competition for Nigel's ancient PC when it comes to filching free Internet from neighbours who forget to put a password. He merrily enjoyed Internet 90 percent of the time while I might have got the same connection 20 percent of the time. I still like my Apple. I took possession of my new studio in Bow (London's East End) where all the arts and artists are concentrated. It is an old nunnery that consists of two buildings side by side. The other has an inner courtyard while ours houses the gallery called "The Nunnery". The studio is in Bow Arts Trust which is an established Education Arts Charity allowing heavily subsidised rent for artists. I viewed 5 vacant studios alongside 5 other artists. I fell in love with this one, which was actually still too expensive for my budget. Luckily two others in the same positions also fell in love with it. We 3 are sharing the space. The large window looks our onto a little park which runs into another little park on the other side of the far wall. This is the wall I proudly fixed. There was a shabby panelled wall under the one above. I covered it, extended it higher and have since plastered and painted. Our workspace.

Lodgemoor Flat for Sale (Sheffield), £185,000

We have put our Sheffield home on the market. It is a great place on the edge of the Peak District and a 20 minute bus ride to town from right outside our door. A spacious, bright and extremely quiet two double bedroomed first floor apartment, occupying an enviable position on this popular and quiet residential development, which enjoys an excellent uninterrupted aspect over the nearby open countryside. Beautifully presented throughout and being well placed for the local public transport network providing links to Broomhill and Sheffield city centre. Fully warranting an internal inspection to appreciate the overall size and standard of accommodation on offer which has a light and airy feel, and briefly comprises communal entrance, grand hallway, excellent open plan dining kitchen, living room with superb views, master bedroom with en-suite shower room. Double bedroom two and bathroom. Outside: allocation off street parking. For a MAP click here. Looking up from the bus stop. It is nestled on a green and well maintained estate. This is the view from our window in the late winter. It is a great view of the surrounding hills and a very green area in the spring and summer. The floor plan shows the thick stone outer walls and the large hallway. Our favourite room for entertaining and cooking at the same time. Great views of the open countryside. The windowsills are deep and a great place to grow plants or curl up with a good book. The dining room. The master bedroom was hard to get a shot that really showed how big it is. It has both east and south facing windows. Another shot of the master bedroom. The en suite with shower. The living room with great views over the countryside. Living room view 2. Our second double bedroom/office. This is also quite spacious, but hard to get a good angle for a photo. The large hallway. One really has to see it to appreciate it. The second bathroom. Our view. For our PICTURES of the area click on the following: Winter in Lodgemoor Winter Storms in Lodgemoor Summer in Lodgemoor Stanage Edge Stanage Edge Ramble in Autumn Contact: michal@michal.ca History: Lodgemoor Hospital for infectious diseases used to occupy this site, but was sold off this decade and converted into a housing estate. The only original buildings on the premises are the clock tower and the old nurses quarters (which has been converted to our flat), hence the 3 foot thick stone walls. Surrounding Area: It is a hike or short drive to Stanage Edge, the famous cliffs that climbers love and were used in the most recent Pride and Prejudice movie with Keira Knightly. There are a myriad of foot paths and on 3 sides of the estate are open country side and farms. Great for kids with horses, cows, sheep, rabbits, squirrels, foxes, and some sort of small, long, furry red things that scurries under the bushes. Close Shopping: Lodgemoor shops are a short walk away (grocer, pharmacist, newsagent, hairdresser, post office) Broomhill and Crosspool are a short bus ride away. Transport: Bus 51 leaves from right outside your door every 10 minutes.