Maureen was going downhill rapidly, at night in bed, she would lay there crying, saying she needed to get away from this hell hole, we even started to look for somewhere to live. I was then contacted by a new man at the housing association, and to be honest, he was even worse than the schoolgirl they sent to interview us, he was arrogant and thought he was way above yours truly, so after Brian had had his heart attack I let rip, with this man, he emailed me saying he did not like to be threatened, and if I continued, he would drop the whole case, all I had said I hoped those at the Association were able to pray because if Brian died because of the problems going on at the Close, they would have blood on their hands. I also knew Brians daughter, she was livid with what was happening, and the fact nothing was being done to stop it, she told myself and some of the other neighbours, that if he dad died because of this, she would sue the company for her father's death, using negligence as her case.
We could not afford to move from our flat, plus the fact, we had, even though the flat didn't belong to us any more, been here for a long time, and we had some good neighbours, and we had over the years put a lot into our home, so we felt, that we were the ones being pushed out, not only by the housing association but by social services as well, all these huge organisations were ganging upon us, two old age pensioners were being pushed further and further down the toilet, then someone would pull the flush, end of the Palmer's.
We tried everything to get it sorted, the local press, Facebook, even our local M.P., but the company who owned the Close refused to do anything, it was always the same excuse. "The courts are closed, due to the pandemic, there is nothing we can do." and every week we had the police knocking on her door, then going away because she would be hiding under the bed. One day the police came with a woman, I went out and spoke to them both, and it would seem, that the housing people had written to her, but she refused to get in contact with them, I said. Your waisting paper, don't write, just turn up, if she knows your coming, she won't answer the door. They tried that, but still, the door remained closed to all bar her friends, who didn't use the door anyway, most of them climbed through the bedroom window.
One day, I got an email from the housing people asking if I would accept a telephone call the following day. I spoke to a very nice lady, who it seems had been handed the case and was planning to sort it out, I had now stopped the daily diary, it was the same every day, music in the mornings then quiet when they went for something to eat, then shouting and swearing, then more music, but I had kept the diary up until a week or so before the call, so she asked what was going on, she asked me to quote from the diary, which I did. An hour and a half later she had all the data she needed, she also had a copy of the police records of there visits to her flat, like she said at the end, we have enough to get this woman evicted.
A couple of days later, we heard a lot of shouting in the flat, then crying, this was followed by a female voice saying. "I hate it here, nobody talks to me." Maureen heard it as well, and I looked at the wife saying. "If she came and knocked on our door I could give her 365 reasons why nobody talks to her. I then got an email from the housing association saying that an eviction noticed had been given, and if needed would I be prepared to go to court as a witness, I agreed. I went and told the neighbours, including Brian what was going to happen, however, I was overheard by the music lady's school friend who now lived in a flat above our next door neighbours, we had been friends forever, we didn't live in each other's homes drinking coffee, but we did help each other, taking in washing if it started to rain, bringing in each others recycling boxes, and when I put in my Iceland order, if June needed anything, I would get it on my order and she would pay me for it. Anyway, the conversation I was having, was earwigged, and the next thing we knew, was the flat was suddenly empty, the woman and her new boyfriend were moving to Southampton, we also heard through the grapevine, she might be pregnant.
I informed the housing people, but as they said the eviction order was now in place and they could do nothing until the flat was back in there possession. During the end of the summer, we had an infestation of flies, we were killing them by the hundreds, Maureen would spray fly killer at night before going to bed, and in the morning, she would get the hoover out and clean up. This went on for a week or so, we also noticed a very nasty smell when putting out the washing. When madam had left her flat, we checked the shed, it was full of rotting black bags full of food, we washed the area down with bleach and water, but the smell was just as bad, we now knew where the fly infestation came from.
As a local councillor, I contacted the local health people, but as with all these organisations, we will sort it out within the next ten days, I contacted the housing association, they told me they could do nothing until they had the keys. Then in the first week in December we heard noises next door, I went to see what was going on and was told by the guy with a toolbox, that the locks were being changed, the flat was now in the hands of the housing people, I told him about the broken window catch in the bedroom, he thanked me and said he would sort that out as well. A couple of days later some women turned up and cleaned out the flat, removed the rubbish from the shed, no rats or mice, just a hedgehog in hibernation.
The flat next door is, in all respects ready for a new tenant, Brian is still not fully recovered, but I think that is worry as to who will move in, but talking to the guys who have done all the work, they seem to think, that the housing association, made a blunder, and would be very foolish to go down that road again.
As for Maureen, well she is getting better, she smiles more now, and she even laughs, but not as much as she used to. As for Christmas this year, we went all out, we had the full Christmas dinner in the front room, we had the table up with the trimmings on it, plus the bottle of wine. We pulled crackers and read out the jokes, we laughed and giggled and enjoyed a very happy day, and after we had done the washing up, we watched the Queen's speech then as it was Friday, we played cards. Christmas tea was cake and anything else we fancied, but to be honest, we were still full from dinner, we watched a film on the T.V. but I think it was one I had recorded, and then we went to bed. On the boxing day, we had the cold turkey and bubble and squeak, but to be honest, we were still feeling bloated from the day before, so a lot got chucked away, but again we had a nice quiet day, then on Sunday, I have a sort of ritual, I get up, strip down to my birthday suit, and stand on my scales, over the last few years, I have dropped from 16 stone to 12 and a half stone, and have stayed like that all this last year, I did have to lose weight, the doc wasn't happy, and having diabetes, felt that if I carried on I would end up on insulin, so I did the deed and dropped to 12 stone 7 lbs when I weighed my self last Sunday, I was shocked to see I had put on 3 lbs over Christmas, so I now have to get back to the 12 .7, I was hoping to get to a straight 12 stone, that would really please the doc.
So, folks, we are now up to date, you now know my life story, or at least as much as I want to say, and let's face it, if I was to go into too much detail, then that would be a case of Too much information, and I have no wish to bore you with that sort of thing. Except to say, this year is now almost over, and I think it is a year we all wish to forget, people have lost love ones through this horrible pandemic, and I feel for there loss, there have been people who have flouted the rules, and have given others a hard time for staying safe and doing what was right. There are some of us who have shopped online to keep the fridge and cupboards full to feed the family, and there are those who have shopped in the supermarkets and given the staff a hard time, which I would say speaking personally, is disgusting, the staff at supermarkets put there lives on the line every day to provide food for the people, as the doctors and nurses do in our hospitals, we should respect what these people do for us, without them we would be in a very sorry state. Like the manager at my local Iceland said, I have a fantastic staff, who work hard to help the customers, they do not need this sort of agro, just because something is not in stock, or the price has gone up on an item, to ball out the till staff, or the girl on the shop floor, is not the way to go, in this world today, we must be more tolerant, we are in the middle of something that is hitting us all in a bad way, and we should all try to accept it and live with it. I admit a year ago I had a bust up with the manager of my local Coop, and I said I would never set foot in the shop ever again, and I haven't, but that was a decision made over there total lack of providing the basics, the things we all need, bread and milk, something the manager should have realised, the people of my village needed. Today, if I need extra milk I walk in the other direction and go to M & S and get what I require from them, so for me, the Coop is not needed in my life grocery wise, I have Iceland and M & S for all my needs.
So we are now up to date, and tomorrow, even though it is a couple of days early, I will give you the next book, The Holiday, the story of two people on holiday in Malta, the story of slavery, murder and romance, So folks tomorrow is the new book, enjoy.
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