We have bought a second home in Norfolk. Yes, I have done all of the overthinking of course. I know that this sort of thing is frowned upon by Liberal Democrats and despised by others because, of course, far too many people don’t even have a first home. I know about pricing local young people put of the market, though that particular accusation is not valid for this house. All the above is true. We had always hoped to buy a home in Vaucluse until those stupid Brexit people made that impossible so at least we are spending our cash in the local economy of Norfolk. We’re don’t take the flights we might have taken. We aren’t spending the money in a different country. I shouldn’t really have to explain but I’m me and so I’m giving some sort of explanation to meet the inevitable criticism and for the sake of transparency. That’s got that out of the way.

Now, the Norfolk house is not a barn conversion but rather a house built to look like it’s a barn conversion. It’s rustic but with enough sockets and double glazing. One of the main attractions was the large kitchen at the heart of the house, with an Aga! I have always mocked people with Agas who can’t possibly live without one. How silly, I thought, I with my precision-engineered and accurate German appliances in Beckenham. And yet, I have fallen in love with the old Aga and I can see their point. It’s so easy and it makes the house so cosy. There will be more on this in future posts.

Our Beckenham house, albeit with its suburban mock Tudor frontage, is full of glass and granite and stainless steel and slate at the back. Clean lines. Echoey surfaces. Monochrome but with a few colourful touches. I wanted the Norfolk house to be cosy and welcoming and so it has become an expressionistic explosion of joyous colour. The Chinese Le Creuset in orange and purple has moved Up There, supplemented with the more harmonious bamboo colourway. I bought Duralex glasses in all sorts of hues, saddened that this iconic brand has now succumbed to exorbitant energy prices and closed down its final furnace.

Our sofas are deepest aubergine and the sleigh bed in the master bedroom – I’ve always wanted one of these – is upholstered in pink flowers and blue phessies. The parts of the house that need renovating will eventually be resplendent with happy colour. It’s like I have thrown caution and Conservatism to the Norfolk winds, where they deserve to be.  I’m looking forward to sharing it all in these pages, Dear Reader and I hope you’ll enjoy.

Find, then, some pictures of the story so far. Please excuse the blurriness of the pictures. I was using my new camera, and didn’t notice the manual clutch on the lens. *Eyeroll emoji*