Hello all you out there. I'm just taking a few moments out to let any interested parties know how the move is coming along.

So far, it isn't.

It's a bit like decorating. You spend days and days on the preparation - if you're doing it right - and then suddenly, it all looks finished.

We're still on the prep.

We have been told that the chain has been broken, as to avoid losing their sale, our buyer's buyer has sold up and moved into a caravan. I do hope they're alright, but then the weather's not too cold right now and hopefully, we should all be finished by the time it is. Anyway, that just leaves our buyer to get his shit together so that we can start on our side of things.

We have pre-empted the finalisation of the sale by going and looking at some rental properties and are stunned by the difference in value for money you get for your rent. What I mean is, people with real dives are charging just as much as people with nice places. There doesn't seem any rhyme or reason behind it.

The letting agencies are just as bad. One bunch wanted  £150 each from Pen and I just to do credit checks and the like. That's  £445 between us including tax, which we don't get back. Fortunately, there's a site on-line that deals with people's experiences with various agencies and rates them. I found that and discovered this agency was amongst the worst in England with only six people voting them as acceptable and the other thirty-nine saying they wouldn't use them again.

It's changed a lot since we moved here and for the worst, I think.

Still you can't fight it, you just have to go with the flow and all things being equal, we should be in a position to actually go for something by the end of this week or at least mid week next week, but like I say, that's all things being equal and how often is that anything to go by?

We've found a nice bungalow on the outskirts of Shaftesbury that's nice. I was surprised that it was as big as it was and it's reasonably priced too. We just have to hope that the landlady is a cat lover and doesn't mind a couple of smokers. We have offered to redecorate and have the carpets professionally cleaned when we leave, so hopefully that will tip the scales in our favour.

I did a good deed for our neighbours today, by breaking into their house for them after their daughter locked them out. All I broke was the cat flap. It was an odd moment in my otherwise hectic day, as I had to reach up through the cat flap and try and get the key out of the door so that they could open it.

Zoe, the daughter, had been told by her mum, Dianne, that she could get her to school, but couldn't make her any lunch.

"Couldn't you order me some?" she asked.

Once the door was opened, the cat flap lay in pieces on the step and she announced, "Hey mum, we're going to freeze. Look at that hole..."

Dianne and I looked at her and just burst out laughing. "And who's fault was that?" I asked. I don't think I have seen a pout that big on anyone and I don't think she really understood that well, she shouldn't lock them out in the future. I never said she was the brightest tool in the box :)

Anyway, back to washing up, making the bed and feeding the cat - who strangely, doesn't seem to be in the least bit perturbed by the thought of moving and until a few minutes ago, was sleeping on my pillow, but hey, perhaps he's like me and will believe it when he sees it.

Well thank you for listening.

See you all soon, I hope.

NB