Page 175

The first thing I did on the Saturday was to go and look at carpets as I needed to carpet the Lounge and the hall. I found one I really liked it was terracota colour and quite a reasonable price. I arranged to have it fitted on the Tuesday.
The sofa and armchair looked lost in this huge room but it would have to stay for a while as it was in excellent condition. I also found a furniture shop in Hemel Town Centre and bought a round dining table and four chairs this was going to be delivered on the Thursday, so the carpet would have been laid.
I was so relieved to see there was a walk- in cupboard in the bedroom that had been turned into a wardrobe. This was great because otherwise I would have had to buy a wardrobe. It was a really nicely decorated room and looked really cosy.
I was also quite surprised at how much storage cupboards there were in the hall. The hall was the length of the flat plus an L shaped bit towards the front door. There were loads of units in the kitchen all in really good condition. All in all I think I had made a good move.
When the carpet was down and the dining room suite was in situ if I say it myself it looked lovely. Meg had changed virtually over night, gone was the snapping at everyone now she was pleased to see everybody.
We soon got into a routine with the walks and it worked really well. Sometimes I would take the car and let her run free in Gadebridge Park it was a couple of miles away but she loved it. We had loads of visitors so different to Milton Keynes , old friends looked me up, I think that was why Meg had changed so much we hardly ever saw anybody in Milton Keynes.
One thing Ian hadn't told me about was the drunken irishman who lived next door to me, the racket that came out of that flat was awful, it would start with really loud Irish Music then the arguments would start. Evidently they were a notorious family in this area and a huge family I had seen about four sons and at least four daughters and all the grandchildren who needed to be taught some manners.
Sometimes he would go out and drink then his mates would have to bring him home who were also drunk but not legless like him. On one occasion he came home on his own and tried to unlock my door, when the key didn't work he tried to break it down and I might add he was about 6ft 6ins. This went on for quite a while and then he started kicking the glass doors leading to the drying area, thank goodness they were toughened glass and the language was awful. This went on for about an hour, he then sat on my doorstep leaning against my door so there was no way I could get out so I decided I would call the police , 30 minutes went by and I called again and they said they had been and there was nobody in. He repeated the address to me which was wrong so he said they would be round in 10 minutes.
When they arrived he started fighting them and they had to arrest him in the end, he was completely out of control. This spoilt things for me, I never knew what to expect and dreaded mostly the weekends or St Patricks Day or any other day they could find a reason or excuse to drink themselves into oblivion.