Epilogue

We arrived back in Oxford at midnight on Saturday. Our house, which we had let in our absence, was a model of tidiness and cleanliness. This did not last long, for two reasons.

Firstly, because we had let the house in our absence, all our clothes and many belongings were packed away in cupboards. Which had to be emptied.

Secondly, the house contained a large quantity of toys that had been forgotten about for three months, all of which had to be played with in rapid succession. 

And the general air of chaos was about to escalate. 

Laura had resigned her job to do the trip, and there was some uncertainty around my post. That was all OK though, as the trip was funded by Laura's inherited shares. 

Unfortunately, those shares were in BP.

Which left us thinking about ways to increase our household income. 

" Take in some language students" a helpful neighbour, who dabbled in such areas, advised. 

Our mumbled expressions of vague interest set wheels in motion rather more rapidly than we had planned. Later that evening, we were offered two Chinese students for two weeks of bed and board. They arrived in 4 hours. 

So, less than 24 hours after returning, we found ourselves with 2 lodgers.   

Several days later, I have concluded that the exercise is good practice for when my daughters are teenagers. Two girls, who avoid eye contact, say nothing, pick at their food and split all their time in the house between their bedroom and the bathroom.

Coming soon to a blog near you: 1 Male 5 Females 1 Bathroom