Spook

I seem to have got off quite lightly: not all that many trick or treaters came round this evening, although that may in part have been due to me disappearing for an hour to take my daughter to a Halloween party. And perhaps also to the dearth of decorations outside the house, compared to the glowing cavalcade of gory horrors next door. Still, a few hopeful souls braved the dismal and gloomy path to my front door. (I hadn't done anything particular to the path: it just looks pretty miserable at the best of times.)

One the plus side, I have a large bowl of treats remaining, which I suspect won't keep till next year.

Bag

– You can never find one when you need one, can you?
– Sorry? Find what?
– A bag. A plastic carrier bag. For carrying shopping. Home from the supermarket.
– Of course. It can be quite entertaining, supermarket shopping. I ought to give it another go sometime.
– Yes. I wish you would.
– They probably have carrier bags in the store. They're usually quite good about that sort of thing.
– But they charge now. For each bag. An exorbitant amount.
– Really? How much?
– 5p.
– That's not so bad.
– But I usually come away with a couple of dozen. I like to ensure breakables are well protected.
– Well, if you can't find any bags, there are some empty cardboard boxes at the bottom of the stairs.
– You want me to walk around the supermarket carrying a couple of cardboard boxes?
– If it's easier, you could collapse them flat, then reassemble them with some sticky tape at the checkout.
– I think I will just pay for the bags.
– Or – you could just pile everything into the shopping trolley and then run all the way home with it before they catch you.
– ... I think I will just pay for the bags.

Fall

Autumn is now firmly established, the trees still for the moment interestingly adorned with colourful foliage, but perhaps not too far away from becoming grimly stark as winter's icy hand approaches. Or something along those lines. As if autumn wasn't enough, I am soon off to experience fall in New England, or at least I hope it will still be fall by the time I get there. But I'm not sure how many trees they have in downtown Boston: lush forests may get in the way. And the leaves would need a lot of sweeping up.

To get myself in the right frame of mind, I went to see The Crucible at the Royal Exchange the other night. It was very impressive, dark and emotional, uncomfortable (and not only because of the seating), and perhaps after all not the best preparation. But hopefully things have moved on by now.

Drain

Life seems to have hit a bit of a lull, after the heady excitement of kitchen installation. Days which were carefully planned to the nth degree have been supplanted by a vaguely directionless existence, the dully repetitive routine of dragging myself out of bed in the grey dawn only to slump all day in front of an unresponsive computer screen at work, and then, at home, to sweat over the cooker all evening. On the plus side, at least the cooker is new.

But that brings its own stress, as it is clearly impossible to cook even the simplest of dishes with getting the new cooker and the new worktop and the new floor spattered by a shower of flying specks and oily globules erupting from the frying pan. Even the humble toaster somehow manages to deposit a slurry of crumbs of at least twice the volume of the slice of bread that went in. And gone are the days when I could wash the dishes in a few seconds, leaving everything to dry on the draining board for the rest of the week: all of a sudden I am compelled by some mysterious force to dry dishes and pans and cutlery and put them back in the cupboard, and not only wipe down work surfaces but even apply polish to bring out their lustrous character. My life is no longer my own.

Bin

– It must be a good feeling, to see the back of all the building work. To have your house neat and tidy again, your life back to normal.
– Yes. Well, as far as things ever get back to normal. At least the fridge is back in place: it was becoming quite irritating having to wander into the dining room every time I needed something. But there are still things to do, little finishing touches. The walls look a little bare. And I've still not worked out what to do with the bin.
– I noticed it was in the conservatory. Again, slightly awkward for the sudden emergencies when you need immediate access to waste disposal facilities.
– I know. I think this is a minor flaw in the kitchen design.
– It is easy to overlook these things. Perhaps you could fit a small one in somewhere.
– And then there's the recycling container I used to have. That's also currently sitting in the conservatory.
– I wondered what that was when I tripped up over it.
– And my collection of wines and beers. They need to go somewhere. Not to mention the boxes full of kitchen utensils and crockery and pots and pans which I've still not found a home for.
– Kitchen design is a tricky business to get right, isn't it?