Where did July go?

Yikes its August! How did that happen?

We have met so many new landlords, let so many rand moved in so many tenants over the last month that we haven't had time to sit still other than to do more paperwork and eat!

Of course the biggest news has been the torrential rain followed by flooding in Abingdon and other places around the county. This is Ock Street in Abingdon on that wet Friday.

This is a picture taken on Sunday of the river rising under the bridge a few yards away from my office. The boat is one the river but it it supposed to be next to the footpath! You can usually walk under the bridge through the narrow arch but it was well underwater and impassable for a couple of days.

Sky news parked up there for a couple of days and talked up the threat of flood inch by inch which had all our landlords ringing to find out if their properties were safe and if we were ok in the office. We had dry feet but we did have some leaking through the ceiling which set of the fire alarm and I collected a bowlful of rainwater which came throught the top of my window.

The council brought us sandbags just in case but thankfully we didn't need them.

Our door is looking terrible but with number 25, the Police Station and the Old Gaol up for sale no-one but me and my neighbours Peter and Deane seem to care about it at all. We have become quite attached to our little offices and will be sad to be moved - if and when someone makes a decision about its future. Apparently this is the only building along Bridge Street which isn't at least Grade II listed so it can be knocked down without many people shedding a tear or getting agitated about it which is a real shame.

Here you can see my window in the middle of the top floor, the Old Gaol boarded up behind to the left and the Police Station to the right. We'll see how it all looks in a couple of years' time.

I had my five minutes of fame being interviewed by BBC Radio Oxford becuase I was doing a viewing for an Abingdon lady and her family who needed to rent somewhere to live as they ahd had to leave their house due to the flooding. I don't know how many people heard me becuase it was broadcast early on the breakfast show - I certainly didn't catch it live!

We also had a new banner ad on the front page of the Property Weekly yet again announcing our fixed price of £65+VAT. Thanks to Seb and Tony for that!

One of our landords has been in the Oxford Mail too as coach of ice dance champions Katie and Josh.

Much to my wife's shock and my children's delight, I found an albino rat roaming Audlett Drive one day on my way to work and managed stop it biting my shoe and bring it home. We called the RSPCA to come and collect it but they dsay they called at about 6am the next day and it would have to be the house falling down to wake anyone up in our house at that time of themorning! They said they would not call again so we rang a few petshops to see if they would have him; none would but one told us not to ring **** Pet Shop as they would have it and feed it to their snakes! We made some Lost Rat notices and put them up round and about but no-one called.

So we kept it in our recycling box to feed it up a bit...... with my wife still protesting that we absolutely didn't need a rodent as a pet - not after our experience with Snowy the hamster who we inherited from a childminder years ago, (don't ask) - then it escaped...only to be found hiding under the wendy house in the garden.

By this time we had been informed by a friend that we shouldn't call it an 'it', we should find out if it was a he or a she. None of us wanted to pick it up and see but we are reliably informed that if it was a male there would be plenty between the back legs to distinguish it without needing to pick it up sooo it is a 'she'.

Here she is on the day I found her. I can assure you that she is much more chubby and smiley now but we haven't been able to see her for long enough to get the camera out!
We carried on putting food out for her and now she has made herself a little entrance under the shed from the back garden and a little exit from the other side of the shed out to the front garden. She seems happy to live in the garden and has escaped the jaws of the neighbourhood cats for 4 weeks now so we do have a semi-pet rodent now and it is my wife who feeds her. She is kind- hearted really!

I think we're all caught up now but if it carries on like this I'll be ready to retire soon and after watching the Red Bull Air Race I think I might just retrain and become a pilot :)