I've not been around much on Blip lately, so in case you want to know, here's a bit of a catch-up.
In mid-November I bought a house that comprised five flats. I knocked the two ground floor flats into one and have been having bureaucratic wrangles ever since with the council and an electricity supply company about the fact that Flat 2 has ceased to exist.
For the last fourteen weeks I have been volunteering at a local winter night shelter two mornings a week. I've been helping out with breakfasts, making packed lunches and changing bedding for up to 20 overnight guests and I have loved every moment of it. On the two mornings each week I volunteered at the night shelter I had to stay late at my office to make up the time, so long and tiring days.
Getting to know the guests at the night shelter has helped me to understand and appreciate just how lucky I am. How very easy it is to be less lucky, slip through the net and find yourself sleeping rough. I have asked the staff there to help me find a deserving tenant for my vacant flat.
It was my final shift this morning and I'm going to miss it. One of the guests offered me a hug, which I accepted as long as he promised not to make me cry. He promised me that next year he'd try to be homeless again just so we could continue our breakfast cheerfulness. What a treat of a human being!