the old flat was clean ...

[percival]

... all that remained to be done was hoover the hallway and polish one or two more bits of furniture.

My husband, a friend and her partner had just gone down to the car to with the last items of the last carload. Incidentally, those items had been the bucket and the broom which I'd used to wipe the kitchen floor while they were waiting. I was to pack up all the remaining items and take the bus to our new home.

Then I walked into the bedroom and discovered that they had left a bag of clothing. I grabbed the bag, and rushed through to the kitchen. Seeing them on the street, I was frantically banging on the kitchen window with the palm of my hand, trying to get them to notice me, when suddenly, a large part of the window pane disappeared in front of me, crashing down.

I screamed for the car. My screams echoed along the street.

Nobody noticed except for a group of people on the pavement.

However, my friend heard me scream and came back. I was in shock. The palm of my hand was bleeding a little. After clearing the windowsill and the kitchen floor as well as I could, I heard a knock. My friend had come back. A few minutes later, my former line manager appeared. He'd been helping with the move, and had come to retrieve his ladder. Upon assessing the damage, he immediately returned to his flat to get a large piece of wood to fasten over the hole.

The hole was almost circular, large enough for a man to get through. We needed a good-sized chunk of woodboard and two cardboard box covers to board it up.

Then, a downstairs neighbour, for whom I had been cat sitting, came up. She alerted me to the glass that was strewn all across the entrance way. She guided me down and swept up the glass with my brush and shovel, while I talked to the people from the main door flat downstairs, who had been concerned about what had happened. Fortunately, they offered to clear the glass out of their front garden themselves. They also told me how to exchange a window pane, adding that it was a relatively simple DIY job.

After we'd disposed of the glass on the pavement, I went back upstairs. I was going to finish the cleaning off, and that I did. I hoovered the hallway, cleaned the sink, packed the last remaining bits and pieces except for cleaning stuff that might be needed again and bags of clothes and books to be delivered to Barnardo's. At 10pm, I finally went downstairs to the neighbour with the cats to get some cat love and a cup of tea. I had not allowed myself to relax until I'd finished cleaning.

I finally returned home by taxi, at 11pm, badly shaken.

Today, my husband has taken the afternoon off work to fit a new window pane. It's £44 from the glazer; as it would have cost £110 to have them fit it, he'll do that himself. The glazer will cut the pane to size in the old flat.

I'm glad when this move is over.



Meanwhile, I'm planning how to insulate the new flat, for the floor lets through every cough from downstairs. I've also moved the kitchen up the list of renovation priorities as the second room to be finished after the main bedroom, because there is not enough storage space, and it makes sense to change the units before we get the new cooker.

Any handy hints on minimal equipment that can supplant a cooker? We have a MINIMAL worksurface. My current game plan includes a cheap steamer and a cheap slow cooker (the new oven should have slow cook facilities and a timer). Would a microwave be useful, as well?