Consuming in Clapham

We've spent 48 hours in London, and so far I am loving it. The temperature is somewhere in the low 20s and the common is green and beautiful.

Donald came to meet us at the airport and we asked after our boxes, only to be told that they can be picked up on a Wednesday between 9 and 3. (It was then a Wednesday at 7 pm.) Otherwise you could pay someone to deliver them so we did that and they arrived this morning looking like they had been thrown from the plane. Jules blacked out the 'in good condition' part of 'received in good condition' where you had to sign for them, and they didn't like that but really! One box was completely split down the side. But still everything seemed to be there and the laptops still work so that is good.

Wom was relieved to be liberated from the box and is resting on the couch waiting to return to his normal shape. He still has that lopsided look, and an accusatory glare, but is otherwise uninjured.

We went out to a tiny local pub called the Tim Bobbin in the back streets of Clapham that night that we arrived, which was lovely. Donald said he didn't have any food in the house and he wasn't kidding. Contents of fridge: 6 bottles of Stella Artois, some cans of coke, brandy mince pies with an expiry date of 3 Feb, baby carrots and beans with an expiry date of 3 April (and white tufts), some gherkins and a large block of Dutch cheese from Amsterdam (unopened). As he said: 'I seem to have become a bit of a typical bachelor'. So the next night we cooked steak and bulk vegetables, which will hopefully prevent scurvy setting in.

Yesterday we went up to Tottenham Court Road and got new mobiles. Jules of course had asked Steve which mobile was the one to have and Steve had recommended this beast of a phone that costs £600 and yet is not diamond encrusted or anything that you might expect for that price. I had to put my foot down and he ended up with a £70 phone instead. Then we had lunch at Nando's and wandered about noticing what had changed in Clapham. A very bizarre feeling standing at Clapham South, where the old hospital building has been demolished and is being replaced by a massive Tesco's. How many supermarkets do the residents of Clapham South need, one asks?

This morning we went for a walk around the Common before breakfast and Jules began his Bierodrome campaign early, with success, as we are just heading off there now.

Next week the job and flat search will begin in earnest.