For the last few days I have seen everything from the point of view of how it's different since I've moved house. On Thursday the traditional pub gathering went to the Carlton, since this used to be the only one of our regular haunts that I couldn't sensibly get to other than by car, and now it's the one I live three minutes away from. So I sampled their beer for the first time, and jolly nice it was too :-)

Yesterday dreamingchristi threw a ‘Valentines Abstention Party’, which made me almost wish I'd left moving until after that, since it would have been three minutes' walk from me if I'd only stayed where I was. As usual with Christi's parties, someone had brought the Garlic Dip Of Doom, in the usual two strengths (‘that's quite garlicky’ and ‘good grief that doesn't mess about!’). Very nice too; and I felt there was something deeply symbolic and wonderful about a gathering of non-Valentines-goers eating ludicrous quantities of garlic, since that's one of the few things single people probably have more freedom to do than the attached :-)

I've spent most of this afternoon ferrying further carloads of stuff from Howard Close, to make up for the fact that when the removal men arrived on Wednesday I hadn't quite managed to pack everything. I think I've now brought everything here that I intend to keep; there are one or two things still there which I don't have space to put here, so I'll attempt to sell or scrap them or persuade the landlady she wants to leave them there for the next tenant, but this flat now contains everything of mine that I want it to. Although most of what I moved today is in boxes in the hall and hasn't been unpacked yet; I expect I'll do that tomorrow…

And tonight Becky is having a party, and since her front door is now literally ten seconds' walk from my front door this is the flip side of my regret at not having still been within walking distance of Christi's party yesterday. So I shall stop spodding in a minute and wander downstairs to go to that :-)