Well surely you realised that if I had been alive and intact enough to write and post the blog I had not been hammered to death by Piotr the Protective?!!
Lesson learnt anyway so I will try to keep any cliff hangers hammer free. Gosh I don't think I've had a telling off like that for years. Probably not since I offered to shape Luscious Lucy's eyebrows and shaved them off completely. She had deserved it though I forget what for but she was a complete pain. Still is.
Anyway I digress - you let the Dashing Major read the post?!! You haven't let him read any of the others have you? He doesn't know we refer to him as the Dashing Major does he? Eek!!
I'm going to hope that you haven't.
And do I take it that you are rather star struck? Has the Pirate charm worked on her though?
Well until you tell me more I will go back to that night. As I told you on the telephone Piotr the Protective was hammering nails into the window frames to make it impossible for anyone to open them and let themselves in. Or at the very least make it difficult so it would deter them. Given that we were replacing them shortly, and I was not currently living in the house, he thought that was the best way of securing the property.
And in his experience, given the empty nature of the house, it was more likely to be local children who might try their luck and would most likely be put off if the windows were securely nailed shut.
And it was only the bottom part of the window so we could still open the top section if we needed to ventilate a room.
He was very concerned that having managed to buy myself such a lovely home that it should not be ruined by the local youth. And he was very angry with himself that he might have alarmed me. So I hung around and followed him around the building as he sorted out every window he needed to (there are some that are shuttered on the inside that he thought would be fine) and we chatted a bit.
Anyway it was getting late and I was hungry so I suggested that we go to the local pub and grab something to eat. He hesitated a little but I said it was my treat to say thank you for him taking the trouble to secure the windows and so we ended up at the pub in the village. Oh and before you tell me off I remembered to text the parents to let them know I was fine and what I was doing.
So we got chatting and what I didn't tell you was that he said that one thing he wanted me to know was that he did have a criminal past but it was just that.
Please don't fret about this bit.
It was in the past and he was now many miles away from it all and happy doing the (honest) work he was doing. It was why he knew so much about property security because he had spent most of his youth finding ways to break into people's homes and stealing from them. He was not proud of it but he had served his time and he did not want to go back to that life. So he was now using his knowledge and skills to protect people like me and it made him much happier than stealing had.
Reading between the lines I think Piotr the Protective may have had a horrendous childhood. Certainly stealing seems to have been something he was actively encouraged, if not ordered, to do by his family. And it is his family that he is pretty much hiding from by living in the UK I think. They have no idea where he is and he wants to keep it that way. He wouldn't usually share as much information as he has but given the circumstances of the evening, and as he would be doing a lot of work in the house, he felt it only fair to tell me and if I didn't want him there then he would fully understand.
There is a lot to be said for honesty and I told him as much. Reliable Rob knows all about his past and more than he told me so if I needed reassurance he was sure I could ask him but I told him that wouldn't be necessary. Everyone deserved a fresh start.
I was thinking about you giving Popstar Pete a second chance.
I'm not sure I need to tell the parents. I think they would worry. I might just let Reliable Rob know about the conversation though. Then he knows that I know.
Anyway I have now arranged an appointment for the kitchen and bathroom people to come over and draw up plans for the kitchen. Work must be slow because they can come at the end of the week. And I've been playing with the layout of the house and I think I'm going to ask Reliable Rob and his men to knock a box room into the adjacent bedroom so that I can have an en suite. And there is a 'cloakroom' affair downstairs that I think I want to be a downstairs toilet. It is a tiny space but am sure it will fit a loo and small sink in there. I'll have to ask Reliable Rob.
So other than that there is nothing left to do but carry on stripping the walls of each of the rooms. And Father-dearest has started sanding down paintwork. But nothing for the builders to do just yet.
So it was odd to hear the crunch of a car arriving on the drive and a knock at the door. The Mother-ship was nearest so answered it and I could hear voices but was a little preoccupied teetering at the top of a step ladder with steamer in hand.
And then in through the door walks Ever-so-capable Evelyn with a vase of flowers in hand and a look of shock on her face.
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