There is a fine line between being a friendly neighbour and a neighbour from hell. I am about to step out onto that tightrope. After 11.5 months here in Glasgow (yes! it’s been that long!) we are getting neighbours in our building. Officially they are next door. But in reality, they are located in our building, only their front door entrance is via next door, and their back door entrance is through our building. Yep, imagine the mess their going to have with the utilities companies!!!

Anyway. These 2 buildings were bought by a property developer a couple of years back, who gutted them and tarted them up with cheap interiors. What they also did, and for the life of me I can’t fathom why, is they moved all the front doors so that they entranced through No: 1. The only apartment that uses the front door for No: 2 is us on the top floor.

It’s nice for us, we come in through a grand entrance, then up 3 flights of winding elegant staircase to the top floor, and there under a skylight is our apartments front door. Half of our furniture is out in the hallway. We have chairs (to rest in on your way up) plants, shoes, bikes, paintings and recyling all at various levels.

Officially no-one uses our hallway nor entrance. In reality, the keys for the main front doors are the same, and the folk in No: 1 have to come in via No: 2 to get to the back courtyard and the bins. All except our new neighbours, who have an exit from their apartment in the basement, to our hallway leading to the back courtyard/parking bin area.

And so today was the big moving in day. We’ve known about it for some time. It started with small things. Minor repairs were getting fixed all of a sudden. Things started getting cleaned up. Flowers were put in the hall. A small courtyard was made in the front of the building. Plants went onto the front railings.. I cornerd the guy from the property developers one afternoon, and found out that they were selling one of the apartments downstairs. I talked my way into the apartment for a sticky beak. Strange shape, half basement, half 1st level – actually a 3 story apartment. 3 bedrooms but a decidedly odd arrangement. The price they were asking was crazy, I said to Michelle “there is no way they’ll sell that!” Then the following week, a furniture truck arrived. 12 hours later, I managed to talk to one of the removalists and found out that it was a hire company. They were hired to decorate and furnish the apartment as a part of the sales pitch. £20,000 later, I got to stick my nose in the front door, and wow! what a difference. I would have bought it myself! Imagine spending that kind of money on renting furniture and decorations just to sell the place?

Anyway, 1 week later the apartment was sold. They didn’t even have enough time to put up a for sale sign. The first sign that went up was “sold”. The furniture hire company came by 3 weeks later and took all the decorations and furniture away. Money well spent I’d say. It’s amazing what people will tell you when you ask… I knew who bought it, and for how much only hours after the paperwork was signed. (I should have been a detective)

And then today another truck, this time with regular things like ironing boards, washing baskets you know the type of stuff, not fancy hired furniture, but trusty necessities arrived.

Now I want to make a good impression. I’ve been told that the new owners were a “young couple” and so were hoping that they were going to be cool enough to share their sunny front courtyard with us – just a few plants, deckchairs you know – all our outdoor furniture from the terrace in Montreal needs somewhere to go…

So in an effort to appear friendly not freaky, casual not crazy – I stopped by our local organic grocers this afternoon and picked up some handmade chocolates as a gift for our new neighbours. Now I didn’t think it through clearly, as I ended up with some lovely chocolates, in a regular plastic bag, tied up with a knot at the top – definitely not Martha Stewart style, but nonetheless, a small “welcome to the neighbourhood” gift.

Suffice to say I think the gift was appreciated. Our new neighbours will be arriving on the weekend. I met the mother who was quite lovely. She was just doing some initial installations and cleaning and gracefully accepted my gift and welcome, and assured me that her daughter will be pleased to meet me next week on our return from Rome.

I left there feeling quite happy. Considering I was a bit grubby, and the presentation of my gift left something to be desired, I think the outcome was still quite positive. Now I just need to make sure the next time I put on a clean shirt and mention our outdoor furniture is teak – maybe that will help?

All this while Michelle was in Birmingham today
… and you thought I didn’t have anything to do….

SO YOU CAN SEE:
Now this picture was taken before the fixing up of the property. That’s our big arched doorway. We have the three centre windows on the top floor. Our new neighbours have the street level + the first level with those rectangular windows… we have no idea who lives directly underneath us.