For a (supposedly light, but actually quite heavy) pre-show supper, we ended up going to the Art of Siam, a Thai restaurant in Reading’s ‘The Walk’ shopping centre. The last time I went there was the night before my BA graduation in 1996 – am surprised that it’s survived given that the shopping centre has never managed to successfully fill its units for any length of time. When it first opened, it was peach-coloured and named ‘King’s Walk’ – as of a few years ago, it’s now black and named ‘The Walk’, presumably in an effort to revitalise it. It has a website stating that it is designed to “suit the needs of upmarket specialist retailers” (given the fortunes of the centre, I'd suggest that there aren't enough people in Reading who shop at such retailers). It’s also described as “a shining light in Reading” – ironic, given the new black décor. At least, since the Oracle was built, the balcony of the first floor ‘Dolce Vita’ restaurant (originally a brasserie, now a pizzeria) no longer looks out straight into a multi-storey car park – bit of a design blunder, that one.
Digressing rather: Retrowow mentions the car park in question, the Yield Hall car park, and its bigger brother the Chatham Street car park, apparently built by the same designer. When we used to come into Reading for the day as kids, Mum usually used to park in the Chatham Street car park. Even by the 1970s, I remember it seeming scruffy and smelling of wee. I suppose the exterior design was quite cool in a way though. Both car parks have now been demolished.
The master bedroom now has two cool new Walnut S side tables from Dwell. Had almost given up my quest to find a bedside table after last year’s Furniture Today fiasco (did eventually cancel the order in question, after the replacement failed to turn up because they had forgotten to load it onto the van – thanks, that was a day of my annual leave) but have become keen on Dwell’s modern, decent quality
and generally rather super furniture – we also purchased an office chair recently to replace the old and mysteriously stained Staples number.It was a weekend of targeted destruction in the house, with the master bedroom fireplace and the third bedroom ceiling both coming a cropper. With the recent passion for all things Victorian looking set to continue, I had thought that it might enhance the house to have an open fireplace in
the master bedroom – not actually to USE or anything, just to look good. The fireplace had, unfortunately, been bricked rather than boarded up, so Ruth knocked the cr*p out of it while I ferried the rubble downstairs in buckets and into an open Hippo bag in the front garden (v. useful, these, especially if you don’t have a car). The plan is to re-use the cast-iron fireplace that we removed from the second bedroom last year – for now it’s just wedged into the gap but will be properly fitted at a later date. Harley has already found out how to wriggle under the fireplace into the rubble-y space underneath – in fact he showed a keen interest in the whole process and was not noticeably deterred by the noise and dust. 
I remain in doubt as to whether his level of fearlessness is a good thing in a small prey animal.To keep my end up, I dismantled an old and cheap IKEA chest of drawers that had had its day. All went smoothly once Ruth had pointed out which bits required an allen key rather than a screwdriver. Well, I mean. I’m used to having men do this kind of thing.
As the Hippo bag wasn’t full, Ruth also decided to take down the ceiling in the third bedroom, the possible new-bathroom-to-be. The job was necessary labour as we want both insulation and a Velux window fitted, but appallingly messy and dirty. Am currently giving the room a wide berth, although we will have to clear the rubble away this coming weekend. It’s definitely not my home office any more.
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