Welcome to Substack, Anne - I have read your blog for years, without ever commenting (mainly because I’ve been so behind in my reading). I’ve enjoyed reading about your everyday life, and think the set up with two mates in adjacent flats sounds great. Like you, I had a period of working in local government (Barking and Dagenham), but that was many years ago, and retired at about the same time as you to take up a life of reading and travel.