Stuff!

Last weekend we went on a shopping trip to Ikea. We were really geeky (and practical!) and were pretty much the first customers through the door. Having the showroom of Ikea pretty much to yourself made the early start worth it. That, and also the free coffee! It was a browsing hour so they said they couldn't charge for coffee, but my croissant and any other food was mysteriously exempt from that arrangement. Not sure... 

Anyway, I haven't been there for years, and it was difficult keeping my blinders on and not buying everything in sight. Sadly, I had no joy in the photo frames section. Despite having LOADS of them they were all in odd European sizes that I thought looked a bit, well, long or tall so I left empty-handed in that deparment. 

We did get some curtains for the bedroom, though (which I desperately needed because I sleep really lightly and the nearly 19 hours of daylight here in the summer has been killing me.

We did get these lovely bed linens too. I just washed them yesterday so grabbed my camera while they were hanging on the line. I know it's not everyone's idea of exciting, but I'm feeling slightly giddy about having floral sheets. I wanted something a bit more girly than what we have, but Dan wasn't keen on any floral colours (and they weren't that hot anyhow). We found this perfect compromise in basic colours, but a lovely floral pattern. Yay! Can't wait to curl up in them.

Later that same day we popped into our local Habitat which is closing down. Hard to believe they are reducing their chain to internet and a few shops in London. The result, however, is some deep discounting at all the other outlets. I almost bought this lamp last year to help me draw and paint in some real lght in the winter... and I found it again for half price (£9 instead of a not unreasonable for Habitat £18 originally). Must pop in again to see what else I might find before the pickings are too slim.

 

Off to the day job! 

To-Do list

In an effort to give myself a break and stop worrying about all the stuff I "should" be doing and enjoy and appreciate the things I am doing, I made myself a relatively simple to-do list yesterday. morning. ** yesterday was, I think, Wednesday, but Blogger was down and it's taken me this long while working the day job to get this post posted! ** Suffice it to say, "should" is one of my least favorite words in the English language, and I do try to fight against it when I'm aware I'm succumbing to it.

On my list:

1. Nettles: There was a ever-growing family of stinging nettles getting out of hand on the right side of our garden that got to the point of actually blocking the path on the way to the bird table (gasp!) Nettles simply don't let themselves be ignored. I tried, but it didn't work. So I went to town on them in the midday sun, and I'm happy to say the area is now nettle-free (although still not altogether pretty!) and I only sustained two minor stings! This last bit is definitely an achievement because it seems like you could be wearing a coat of armor and they'd still manage to get you somehow.

2. Re-pot plants: The plants we got from the boot fair last weekend definitely needed re-potting immediately. They were in the tiniest little pots and their roots were desperately trying to get out the bottoms! This is one of those funny kinds of chores that I will put off for ages, but once I start getting dirty I really enjoy it. It occurred to me yesterday that if we owned our own place I could really get stuck in to some gardening. Something to look forward to in the future...

3. BBPhoto: That's scribble code for Blackbird Photo. A doofy blackbird was getting ecstatic on the edge of the deck the other day, with its mouth hanging open... and then it began to SING. I grabbed my camera and got a couple of shots through the kitchen window before it flew off. I was going to try to use one of them for my banner on here, but wasn't super happy with how his face was shaded. Any opinions?

4. Marlowe: I kept meaning to look up the Marlowe Theatre online to see about an upcoming production of Top Hat, apparently the first ever stage production of what used to be one of my all-time favourite Fred Astaire movies. Slightly cautious of disappointment, but I think I might take the risk! Stay tuned...


5. Howlett's: Was briefly thinking about taking the train to the sto near our favourite conservation park (read: zoo, but without all the nasty bits) and getting their free peak season shuttle bus into the park. Dan and I go all the time when we're off together, and I wondered what it would be like to go on my own. The task on my list was simply to look into the option, and as it turned out that's as far as it got! ... but now I know, for future reference.


6. Video for Monkey: I really didn't think I'd be brave enough to complete this item, but towards the end of the day (evening really) after I'd treated myself to a vodka and diet pepsi, I took out my Ricoh, set it to video mode, and ventured out to the deck in the garden where my newly potted plants were to show my great friend Monkey (aka MONKEY) the work I had done. Sorry, but this video was for her eyes only! ... but I did it, that's what counts right?


7. Blog: and this final item was to do a blog post, and as was mentioned before, it's taken a few days to complete it!


All's well that ends well... ?

Hamster Colony

Is it wrong to want a complete Iwako Japanese Eraser Hamster Colony? Well, I really DO!

I especially LOVE the sweet ones on the bottom row ... I really must visit the Japanese Eraser Museum (how can I find a way??) Their site made me realize a VERY interesting little fact... you can assemble your own hamsters to make different colour combos. The pieces pop apart really easily! And now I know, because I just tried it. Sausalito Ferry Co. sells the whole colony, and the bottom row set that I love. Uh oh...

These Are a Few of My Favourite Things #1

1. Old Navy Flip-Flops in loads of colours. Only $1 a pair!! 2. Speedball rubber slab and lino cutting tools which will hopefully result in my very own rubber stamps soon! 3. An old fave I found hiding in a box. Who wouldn't like tiny kitty punches? 4. Wonky roofs and chimneys 5. My cuddly pals 6. Funny ol' mistake photos that end up looking really decorative 7. Iwako hamster erasers 

8. Gertrude  Hawk Dark Chocolate Raspberry Smidgens 

9. Sid the Sloth Pez dispenser

First Walk of 2011! Beware asparagus geek-out

A perfect walking day

Bright and early-ish, before we could change our minds, we set off for our first walk of 2011. It was about a five-mile circular route around Sutton Valence and Ulcombe which we walked previously nearly two years ago! We thought it would be a good idea to do one we knew we liked since we've been out of the habit of walking any real distance. My post from our first time is here. It was a beautiful, crisp and sunny morning, completely clear, which I don't think we've seen since before Christmas.

Now here's something interesting we found out: The photo of the purple asparagus from our original walk... Well, that was taken in April and I remember how excited we were (yes, really) to see how asparagus grows. This time, we were equally excited to see what is left of an asparagus crop once the harvesting is done!

Here to the left is the image I took in April 2009 of that lovely purple asparagus ready for harvest.




And below is that very same field today. See all of those stringy, weedy, stalky plants? THAT'S THE ASPARAGUS!

I heartily apologise if this is the most boring thing you can imagine, but I found it quite an eye-opener, especially when I saw that the stalks of these woody plants look just like the spear of asparagus (a good reason for that, after all)!

Am I crazy? Look at this lovely little berry we found on an asparagus bush! Who knew?

Ahhh... asparagus berries...