There’s a long story around this photo involving a Russian dissident, a disquieting court case and a ‘search and rescue’ expert called Boris. I think many of our neighbours have, in the past, quite fancied the house - it’s a big 1930’s property, not modernised and with an enormous garden. Unfortunately, due to the demise of the Russian dissident who lived there since he was ‘exchanged’ for someone that Russia wanted, it has been neglected and abused to the point where I suspect only professionals or those with a very big budget will take it on. Nobody seems to be sure who actually owns it but they have finally managed to remove Boris, the ‘house-keeper’. He installed a ‘recycling shelf’ on the pavement which was basically full of junk though I sympathise with the sentiment and filled the front garden with so much rubbish that clearing it will take several skips. I hate to think what it’s like inside the house and in the back garden but the next door neighbours have been trying to get the council to act for years because of vermin (to say nothing of what it looks like). On top of that there have been a few climbing plants damaging the roof (the stick coming out of the chimney is the remnants of a Ukrainian flag) and possibly the windows. Boris knocked on our door a few weeks ago with a letter saying he was looking for a new live in house-keeper job and were we interested. Apart from the fact that we don’t have a house-keeper sized house we are not aspiring to convert what we do have into the municipal tip. He means well but if his ‘search and rescue training’ is as good as his house-keeping nobody will survive. He does have a loyal following though (all rocked up at my neighbour’s citizens’ advice clinic wearing headlamps once) and this time last year he delivered a homemade mask to each house in the street with an offer to help those in need along with something about nuns. Unfortunately he seemed to have sterilised the masks with some sort of survival ‘urine’ technique to they ended up straight in a lot of dustbins. As I say - he means well!
Weather: deceptively chilly
Covid: I want to socialise so badly...
Good thing: I think I have managed to replace the broken automatic window opener in the greenhouse. I say think because I haven’t seen it work yet. There was a LOT of cursing as the fixtures are rusted on and I had to dismantle the new one and the old one and reassemble them. Retaining clips which are nearly impossible to get off and on again were involved and there was an upside down, repeat the other way up, find out it wasn’t upside down after all event....
I give this a fave Judith for this very interesting & rather amusing tale. Boris sounds completely bonkers & will probably end up sleeping in his car somewhere! Sad really but I doubt he will be successful in job hunting some how. I think this will be an ongoing story so nose to the ground Judith, we want instalment two ASAP!
@happypat see my comment to @fueast above Pat! I’m sure there’ll be more gossip when I’m allowed to have my neighbours across the road for a coffee in the garden. We’re all dying to know who owns it - whoever they are they must be appalled by what’s happened to it. I think Boris may need all his survival skills....
