I have been awarded the E for excellent award from Debio and now from Akelamalu as well.
Many thanks, you two. I am delighted by this award, and glowing to start a Monday morning. What a boost! But rather than pass it on to five specific people, I think you all deserve it. Please collect and display as you see fit. Or not.
And to continue my story of the tenants, which keeps being interrupted – the next lot were twins who said they were eighteen. I thought, No Way are we having eighteen year olds living upstairs. The place will be a tip, they’ll have endless parties, it’ll be unbearable. (I hadn’t run the student accommodation office at Falmouth art college for nothing. I could tell you stories that would make you weep.)
But faced with the prospect of 18 year old twins, Himself’s eyes lit up, as you can imagine.
In fact the girls came to see the flat with their grandparents and Himself knew the grandfather from sailing days. “I’ll vouch for the girls,” said the grandmother. “If there’s any problem, I’ll sort them out. And don’t worry about the rent. I’ll pay that.”
So we eventually decided in favour of the girls. Or rather, Himself spent hours persuading me until I gave in.
In fact they were great tenants. Their mother had died several years before and the grandmother had brought them up, and done a very good job. They were polite, didn’t play music too loud (or if they did, they were extremely apologetic and turned it down at once) and being at college and then working at Macdonalds, they were out all day.
There was only one incident when they woke us up and that was one summer evening. We’d gone to bed early and I woke with a start, hearing whispering outside our bedroom window. (This was before Mollie, of course, or she would have barked the place down.)
I froze. All senses on alert, I lay there, my pulse banging in my ears. There was a burglar outside. They were about to break the window – murder us in our beds. What should I do? No phone by the bed – should I sneak out and ring the police from next door?
Then a knock on the window. More whispering.
As Himself was out for the count, I crept out of bed and tiptoed to the window, convinced I was taking my last breaths but would die a true heroic death.
I flung back the curtain – and there was one of the twins with her boyfriend.
“I’m really sorry,” she hissed. “But I’ve locked myself out and my sister’s away for the weekend.”
I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. But all things considered, they were great tenants. They’re attractive, intelligent and caring girls and their mum would be proud of them.
