30 July 2007

I've been thinking a lot about a friend recently. There are a lot of things around my home that remind me of her including a wicker basket with a teddybear on the front which she gave me for my birthday; and a copy of karma sutra that she gave me just after she found out that MrV and I were a couple.
I've been thinking about the time she visited us in Maastricht and we sat in a cafe having breakfast and she collapsed with the giggles because trying discarded pieces of wax on as pieces of jewelry was very funny.
I've been thinking about how every Friday after work she would drive us back in to the centre of Edinburgh because a bar we would go to had a free buffet and hell it was cheap way to eat.

She died on Saturday night after a long fight with cancer. RIP my friend.

26 July 2007

Did I tell you I'm a rain god?

What did we do to anger nature and get all this rain Meggie? Well, we moved house that's all. For 4 1/2 years we lived in a flat with no garden, and for 4 1/2 years we've had beautiful summers. This summer we move to a house with a garden and as I put the key into the lock for the first time the raindrops begin to fall.

I'm thinking of advertising our services to drought regions. They just need to provide us with a house and garden.....

25 July 2007

Organise me, please!

So my quest to become organised continues. Another home, another plan; this one is called Motivated Moms. Basically it's a calendar which a list for each day of stuff that has to be done. Some of it isn't relevant like coupon clipping, and some needed translation from US Eng to UK Eng ie the weekly purse clean out which I completely misunderstood, but it has got me doing things that I wouldn't previously have even thought about such as washing the front of the dishwasher. Ok I've never had a dishwasher before (note drinking straws do not cope well being washed in a dishwasher) but even if I had I doubt I would have thought of doing it.
Today one of my chores was to clean the bathroom windows. Inside is fine, I can reach them but the outside ones pose a bit of a problem as the windows either open outwards or upwards.

The whole thing with the neighbouring children is still ongoing. The older child is here at present playing with the FB. In fairness to him he is very good with little kids and seems to have limitless patience for playing with playdough and duplo. The other little boy is avoiding here like the plague after I had words with him yesterday. Ah well.

And still it rains.

20 July 2007

"S all right for ducks!



this morning it rained, and rained and rained. And then it rained some more. And just when we thought it couldn't rain anymore it showed us how wrong we could be. That is a waterfall coming down into our backyard from the field above.



(the river opposite flooded its banks)


gorgeous sunshine now though

19 July 2007

The fly in the ointment

Of course there has to be one.

We share a back field with the neighbours on either side, both of whom have children. They all play together (including a preteen boy who is very fond of playing with the FB which does feel a bit weird) in the back field but also in our back yard which is meant to be private. Now it is fine that they all are in there when the FB is out, but they've taken to using it as a shortcut when he isn't there, and being an intensely private person I'm not happy about that. There is also a problem with one of the children who has taken an immediate dislike to the FB (not enough of a dislike for him not to come round and play with all the FB's toys), calling him names and trying to isolate the FB from the other children. I don't know how to handle all this. I don't want to appear standoffish and therefore cause problems for the FB but I also don't want my backyard to become their playground and I certainly don't want the name calling etc to continue.

Any suggestions?

13 July 2007

Back

Woohoo we've got internet (and television too) AND it's stopped raining. We've still not finished unpacking. There are boxes of stuff lying about, but not that many, and none of the book boxes have been unpacked as the bookcases are still lying in pieces in the loft.


I promised a photo of the books and here it is. This is only 2/3s of them. The rest were still safely sitting on their bookcases waiting to be taken off so the shelves could be dismantled.




That's Froggy by the way wandering in and wondering what on earth we are up to.


My mother in law found us a gorgeous park near us complete with cricket grounds. It is like being in a little village somewhere in England when you see the cricketters in their whites. The difference between our old home in Tooting (twinned with a crater on Mars) and this place is incredible.


I give you - the view from my kitchen window. There are, to my father's disappointment, no fish in the stream opposite.

06 July 2007

Very Quickly Then

Am at my parents in Edinburgh for a few days while MrV does his stint as best man up north...

Move went pretty well. Finished dismantling bookcases at 3am last Thursday - photo of pile of books to follow. I wish I had a photo of the packers faces when they saw them! 60 boxes of books had to be moved.
Mother in law arrived on Sunday just in time for MrV and I to come down with a stomach bug!

Oh and well if you've been watching Wimbledon you'll know how the weather has been. I swear, we move into a place with a garden for the first time in over 4 years and what happens as soon as I put the keys in the front door, it starts bloody raining and doesn't stop! Arghhh

But the view from my kitchen window (yes I'll post a photo) is fantastic.

I'll be back sometime after the 12th when Tiscali finally get round to switching the tv and internet service back on.