Black as the devil, Hot as hell,

Pure as an angel, Sweet as love.
~Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord

I'm obsessing about coffee lately. Not drinking it, as such, but just getting it right. Ironically, I'm moving to Seattle, and I just don't do the whole bucket-full-of-frothy-milk thing. Sorry, Starbucks. Seeing the ranks of urbanites scuttling about the streets clutching paper cups of boiling hot froth which will become lukewarm and sickly by the time they reach their sanctuaries is one of the absurdities of modern life. Also, I really hate the whole paper cup thing. (See what Rands thinks too).

I disagree with Rands about the French press though - that's the lazy man's solution (hence, French...). It's the Italians who really know coffee, and it's gotta be a stove-top Mokka machine (and just a bit of sugar to take the edge off).

We're on the market...

... and had our first viewing barely 24 hours of giving our estate agent the go-ahead.

Apart from that hopeful event, my life is currently awash with documents: enough certifications, registrations, visas, approvals, applications, contracts, references and disclaimers to make a civil servant salivate for weeks...