Merry Birthday!

I hope you people all had a lovely Christmas?

Despite Anthony kindly passing on his stinky cold to me I have had a very good few days. (I'm still off work, now until the 4th Jan).

Christmas was strange without Dad, but at the same time there wasn't a huge big horrible gap there that was impossible to fill. Even when we were having Christmas dinner and I was sitting in his spot at the table, it didn't feel odd. We did go and see him on Christmas Day, after opening stockings (supplied by mum (and Emily got one from Brychan too)) but before we did tree presents and got comfy. It was pouring with rain, but since other people had had the same idea parking was a bit tight at the site. I did mean to take my camera and get a picture of his stone, but I didn't as the weather was so horrible, I shall get one of it in sunshine which will be more fitting. This picture shows the pond at the site, Dad is on the far side, in fact the little tree on the far bank is where we hung the bird feeders that we'd brought along as his Christmas presents. After we'd hung the feeders the rain started coming down even heavier, so we took that as a polite hint to bugger off and leave him in peace.

Tree presents (although there wasn't actually a tree this year) are always opened while drinking Bucks Fizz, and this bit of tradition was stuck to. Emily had a Jack themed set of presents from me and Anthony - Jack Daniels and Captain Jack that is. Anthony had a selection of car themed gifts plus Band of Brothers from Emily. Me? I'm the happiest girl in the world in my new Leyton Orient shirt, with oodles of Lush stuff and The Sims 2 to play (when I've defragged the pc this afternoon). My lovely neighbour Angela bought me a Cath Kidston stationery pack, thus fulfilling my longings for both Cath stuff and pretty notepaper!

My new board game Bookchase provoked some mixed reactions when we played it as both Emily and Anthony were convinced they would do badly. Who won? Anthony. Who came last? Me. So, proof that book knowledge is not always required to win a board game based around books! (You also have to pick up cards that entitle you to three free books, and then roll a six).

Emily kindly let me open my birthday present from her yesterday, a beautiful green purse by Jimmy Liao that holds EVERYTHING all in one go. I've just been a Googling to try and get you a picture...the range is very new and has no pictures anywhere so I will have to charge the camera up.

I do not know what else I have for my birthday as I am not allowed to open anything until Anthony gets home from work. I will distract myself by defragging and loading up Sims 2!

Bookish

I had a very bookish Friday and Saturday. All the worrying about my lost sick note (which arrived at work on Monday morning, as I found out when I took my replacement one in) had got to me and I just didn't want to do ANYTHING.

So I cosied up on the sofa to read, and basically didn't stop until Saturday night. I had myself a fantasy kick to get my mind well away from the here-and-now.

I'd picked up The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce a few weeks ago and had started to reread it but got distracted by life. This time I read the whole damn thing on Friday afternoon (this edition is the 4 books in one) and then wanted more. So of course I went on and read the Immortals Quartet and the Protector of the Small Quartet that follow on from it. (this Amazon list shows all the books in their lovely lovely covers (same illustrator as the Casson books that customer didn't think much of)).

That took me through to Saturday night (with a couple of breaks for sleeping, eating and asking Anthony just why there was a mantelpiece in my hall*) and has left me with a small dilemma. What can I read next?

Logically I would carry on with the rest of Tamora's books, but there are hitches... I have Trickster's Choice which is the next in the Tortall series, but not Trickster's Queen which has taken three years to come out over here (and despite the picture, the edition we had in at work (the day before I came off sick) does not have the same cover style!), let alone Terrier. Emily does have these, but will possibly not let me borrow them...
The same problem occurs if I try to read the Circle Books (again shown on that Amazon list above) as I don't have the newest one of those either! (Emily does...)

(Yes, I know, I am so very pedantic about reading books all in one fell swoop)

I am now thinking about either reading some Mercedes Lackey or David Eddings, both of whom have written great series's's's, but can't sum up the energy for them quite yet. Instead I have gone off at a tangent and picked up Highland Fling by Katie Fforde instead. Hot toddies, snow, Scotland and a dashingly annoying hero - yum.

*The mantelpiece is there because a friend of Alf's moved house on Saturday and didn't want it anymore. Anthony went to help, I woke up when he went out (and read for a bit) but was asleep when he stopped here before breakfast to drop the mantelpiece off. So I wandered downstairs about 5 minutes before he got home and got rather confused. Apparently it's going in the front room, but not before that interesting shade of green on it has been painted over!

(The spellchecker changed mantlepiece to mantelpiece but I like the first spelling and by now can't tell which it should be!)

Sunset

I may have moved house three times in the five years that I've lived in Wolverhampton, but I haven't moved very far. The second house was four roads up from the first one, and this one is only one road up from it. All the houses have felt very different (certainly this one cos it's all mine and the Yeti has never been here). It feels like I lived in that horrible first house a hundred years ago, so it shocks me every time when I walk to the end of this road and look left and see it. It's also very weird nipping into the local shop, as it's the one practically opposite the first house and walking round there brings back memories that are not always good. (There are about 15 small supermarkets here so it wasn't the closest one to the second house).

Anyway, as usual I digress.

The fact I haven't moved very far means that my walk to and from work has been essentially the same route for five years. When heading home I cross the ring road and walk down Merridale Street which is one long straight road. I pass the posh car sales room, the dodgy pub next to a concrete blocky church, the garage where they've covered all the windows so the police can't see what stolen cars they're working on. Past a playground, the fire station and the old pub that became a funeral home last spring. Then comes the only bit of my route that has changed. For the first house I'd go straight on, for the other two I cut left through the park (ok in summer, a little scary in winter) and catch a whiff of the *interesting* smoke from the group of boys by the basketball court. Then I used to go left again but now I go straight on down the road to reach home.

Having had the same route for such a long time means that often I don't notice most of it. I reach home having immersed myself in my headphones (but never so loud that I can't hear what's happening around me) and having walked it on autopilot.
Tonight the world made me look at it.

As I came to the top of Merridale Street I looked along down it and was amazed by the sunset. The whole sky was dark and cloudy apart from a strip at the end of it that was orange and gold and pink and crimson in lovely hazy stripes. The buildings either side meant that the only bit of the sunset I could see was the bit at the end of the road, with trees (in the cemetery at the end) standing black outlined against it.

I wished and wished that I'd had my camera, although I know I wouldn't have been able to capture it.
I wished that my sister was visiting as I know that she would have been able to photograph it and do it justice.
But most of all I wished that I could have phoned my dad and described it to him, instead I spoke to Anthony and have blogged it in an attempt to keep that glowing band of colour in my minds eye.

Homework

I have been having a day off today. A planned one because I worked Sunday rather than a phoning work at 8.45am to tell them I can't face getting out of bed day off(haven't hit that barrier yet but aware it may happen at any moment). I had a nice lie-in until 10ish because Anthony stayed at his house last night so I didn't get woken up at 6am. Since my sleeping is erratic at the moment any chance to get more is good.

Any hoo, I had to do a bit of tidying and sorting out today as Emily and Brychan will be staying the night here on Thursday before we head to Center Parcs for mum's birthday weekend. I didn't want Emily to walk in and announce that certain things hadn't actually be tidied up since she was here for Harry Potter (the boxes full of stuff in her bedroom for example) so thought I would attempt to add to the housework I did last week with some organising of clothes etc.

I didn't actually feel like it when I got up so I spent five minutes on the sofa with my new inspirational book.

*********

The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket.
yarnstorm
*********

It's about domesticity rather than domestication - the difference being that the former is about homemaking and the latter housework.

Now I'm definitely far from being the best at housework, I still don't own an iron, hate washing-up (mainly because sinks are always too low for me so my back hurts!), hoover when I feel like it and only dust because my feather dusters are too beautiful not to use them.
But domesticity I like. When I cook things I tend to enjoy it (but hate the washing-up bit so much it puts me off),I like making things for my home, I like choosing things to put in it, I like having things in my house that say that it's mine. Things that say "Kate".

Anyway, after a flick through looking at gorgeous pictures of quilts and fairy buns I got myself up and blitzed the bedroom - putting all the clean washing away and sorting out all the dirty stuff. I'm quite good at remembering to do washing, but not very good at putting it away once it's dried. The spare bed is usually its resting place but since Emily needs it all clothes have been banished to the wardrobe instead.

Once I'd done that and had a general tidy round I read a bit more book.

This meant that I then went and found the hammer and put up my fairy lights in the living room as I've been meaning to do since we moved in. I love fairy lights. I have them round my bedstead already but had been dissuaded from putting the ones up in the living room by a certain man who shall remain anonymous. But hey, it's not that long til Christmas now (and I'm sticking to that excuse).

I then had a wander round the house with my camera and took some pictures of bits of my house that are me. Some of it is just little things like my new oven gloves and watering can. Other things have come together as a collection that will change as needed but will still reflect me. It very much made me think of this post by Keris

So yes, today has been a day where I have made a discovery that I may not enjoy housework, but I do enjoy homework.

Homeness.

Home is strange. It's mainly strange cos dad isn't here, although it still only feels like he's just in the garden or in another room. He's just popped out for a second, not died and gone forever. The other reason it's strange here is that this is the longest time I've spent in this house in five years, which means it's the longest time in five years that I've spent with my mother.

I love my mother, in a way I'm glad it was dad and not her (partly cos if it had been her I'd be working out a way to move back here for good to keep an eye on dad) but it doesn't change the fact that we get on better 150 miles apart. So far I think she's made me cry at least twice each day - and that's not cry about dad (although I'm closer to crying because of it) but cry cos she's said or done something. At the moment I am either perfect, or doing everything wrong - usually both at the same time.

The thing that is stupidly hard, is trying to get computer access. Now I knew I wasn't going to get hours of it, but getting five minutes is a fight. I'm also not allowed to blog or go on Facebook - and the blogging thing also includes reading my blog to look for comments, not just the actual blogging thing! Tonight she made me promise not to even look at my blog but she said I could look at my Facebook page (I think she hasn't realised you have to log on for that). So this blog is coming to you via Anthony, I've emailed this to him and he will cut 'n' paste it for me. Being unable to blog is a lot more restrictive than I thought. I can never handwrite fast enough to get my thoughts down while I can type fast enough. So all sorts of "deep and meaningfuls" have been lost to the ether and my poor silly brain.

We are busy doing things to get everything ready for Thursday but I still have lots of downtime when mum has to go make phonecalls or write emails. Thiis is currently mostly filled by sitting on the sofa working on her birthday cross-stitch (which is coming along wonderfully and she loves the fact that dad knew about it and kinda helped pick it) and watching the first season of Scrubs. I haven't seen much of it before. Partly cos it was always Emily's thing, but also cos it was something I wanted to see from the beginning and in order (like CSI). Darling Emily started educating me on Saturday by putting on her Season One DVDs and today I watched 11 episodes. Not all in one go, but three or four at a time. It's weird watching something that's only 30 mins an episode, can't get used to it. But I am enjoying it very much and hope that Season Two is round here somewhere so that I can carry straight on with it. I am enjoying finding out where some of her jokes come from, I watched the "Banana Hammock" episode earlier and burst out laughing.

Yeah, so apart from the lack of bloggage (and being able to read other peopels), life here is actually good. Yes I still have bad moments where I cry about dad, but the shock hasn't worn off yet so I still get to float around in a peaceful cloud. (Just give it a few more weeks...) Talking of peaceful clouds, I'm going to go have a hot chocolate with marshmallows on top and explain to mum that I haven't been blogging but emailing, and leave Internet Explorer open so she can check up on me...

Lack of blogging and unpacking...

Hello folks! (in best Neddie Seagoon type voice)

How you all doing out there? Well actually I know how most of you are doing as I've been reading your blogs but not actually writing one of my own. Campbelli told me she was shocked at my lack of bloggage so I thought I'd better whip up some inspiration from somewhere.

I'm still unpacking, naturally. In fact, there's still stuff at the old house to be moved over here! Most of it is bits and bobs that weren't essential to be moved straight off (xmas tree and decs, boxes of stuff from school and uni) but there are occasional things over there that I really wish I had moved that weekend (like the microwave). Since it is only a two minute walk between the houses, moving things hasn't been too bad, it's just getting up the umph to go and get them!

Most rooms are mostly done, but there's still boxes and bin bags scattered round the place. I've taken some photos of the house so far (which I will post when I've uploaded them) including my current wardrobe arrangements (black bags scattered across the spare room floor), the front room (with boxes of odd things that currently have no home) and my bookshelves in the middle room - which are about the only things that are "properly" organised so far.

Those bookshelves actually nearly drove me round the bend, trying to fit my favourite authors onto them in combinations that made sense but that also fitted! Then yesterday I made the mistake of buying the new Meg Cabot book (Size 14 Isn't Fat Either) and nearly cried when I realised it wouldn't quite fit! Luckily my bookselling skills came to the fore and I was able to fit it on in true bookseller style - the kind that usually fits 8 hardbacks in a space that should only hold 5 paperbacks, you know the style.

I have been "nesting" like crazy. Not in a broody fashion (although I am and trying to resist it), but in a wanting this place to feel like my home quickly fashion. The nice people at Additions decided to raise my credit limit just before I moved so I have splashed out on new throws, cushions and curtains. Now I just await my new statement and monthly payment total...eek!

In other news:
- I got to speak to Mark today after one of his colleagues was an absolute star.

- Campbelli didn't win the award she was up for :-( but she is still the best bookseller in our Division and we are very proud of her for that :-)))

- I have become far too enamoured with Facebook. I'm not spending hours and hours on there, but with the broadband changing (and thus the browser I use) it has become my new homepage... Once I've come online and poked everyone and then gone round and read blogs, whatever it was that I'd planned to blog about has just whooshed straight out of my tiny little brain!

Oh, and the various problems with this house (back door now broken) should all be getting fixed next week as the guy phoned me today to sort out coming round on Monday to start work. Yippee!

Right, I'm off to see what goodies we've got for dinner and to see if anyone has written on my Wall...

Our House?

I fully intended to blog all about Bath and what a lovely time we had there, but events have overtaken me. (I shall try to do it next week instead).

When we got back on Wednesday I had a phone call from my landlady to tell me that she would be selling this house. She offered me first refusal on buying it and then said she'd pop round Friday night so we could sort everything out. Well she didn't pop round, but that's not really a problem, just means I have to sort out with my useless letting agents (of which more later) exactly when I can give notice.

We had a scoot through the local paper and found a couple of houses in this same area that are up for rent, one of them is even cheaper than this one (cos the road is dodgier I think) which is saying something as the rents have changed in the three years I've been here. Also, the house opposite is up for rent again, and that would be a nice easy move! I like this area, yes it's a bit dodgy in places, but other areas at the same kind of prices are all out of town and would be a 40 min walk or a bus ride. This area I know (cos the house I lived in before was only down the road) and it's a nice easy walk to work.

The only bugger was waiting for the landlady to come round meant I didn't do anything about finding out how much the one over the road is. There have been several groups move in and out of that house in the time I've been here, mainly Polish folk, so the landlord there might not want someone "long-term" like me.

The main thing that's making us both really ratty, is that when the landlady offered it to me, the first thing I did was refuse. Now thinking about it, we could afford this but... I've known Anthony less than a year do I want to buy a house with him? Buying somewhere now hadn't entered our thoughts before her call (although we looked in lots of estate agents windows in Bath - doesn't everybody?) so why should one phone call change that.
I think it was that when he mentioned it to his mum, she said why don't you buy it. It's made us both get all paranoid and think, well why not. But we know all the sensible reasons for why not, not least the fact that technically I'm still married to someone else and if anything happened to me the Yeti probably wouldn't miss a trick if there was a house involved. (My nice little self-written will should be fine for all other things, but I bet he'd go to court if there was any prospect of real money).

I just hate the not quite knowing. I didn't want to stay here forever, I want to own a house, and live there with Anthony, and get married again and have babies and cats and dogs and happiness - but that's all an ahead dream, not a buying a place right now dream. The fact that we've both admitted to this should make it easier, but as it is the not-knowing about when I have to move is making us ratty and snappy and worried. Gah!

----------------------------------------------

The other, ongoing, problem is with my letting agents over my rent...

- 5th March, rent goes out of my bank account.

- 9th March, rent came back...confusing me.

- 9th March, phoned letting agents to discover cause of rent coming back. Informed that accounts have changed and should have had a letter, girl on phone informs me it would have been sent a couple of weeks before and addressed to a Mr Polly. I say that a) it's Polley, b) he hasn't been a tenant here for a year so it should have been addressed to me, and c) that I had no letter anyway. She then gives me a bank account no and sort code over the phone and tells me to use the reference HILLM. I ask why this reference, she says "it's your name". I point out that it isn't and tell her my normal ref is 37BURLEIGH. She says to use the new one. I say I'd like it all confirmed in writing.

- 12/13/14th March - no letter yet.

- 14th March, go in to see agents and ask for letter with details to be posted. Explain yet again that Mr Polly is no longer a tenant.

- 21st March, as no letter yet received go in and see agents. Get great satisfaction from walking in and announcing that I have a complaint. Everyone in office stops to help! Get official bit of paper with bank details on. (Acc number different from one given during phone call). Asked to sign this. Query why I am on there as Mr, and why ref is POLLYA. Told ref is POLLYA as he was original tenant and the one references were taken for. Explain we were joint tenants and refs were taken for me as well, also that Polly is spelt Polley. Man says is a Head Office thing, correct Mr to Ms and sign paperwork.

- 21st March, set up new standing order and do bank transfer of rent from March 5th.

- 22nd March, money comes out of account. Sorted!?

- 29th March, morning, receive letter from agents informing me that I have not paid my rent, their ref 37BURLEIGH. Phone agents. Get original girl on the phone and explain, she says I'll have to speak to the manager, Michelle, who is out but will ring me as soon as she gets back.

- 29th March, as no call received, phone agents again. Get same girl who is now rude as I have phoned back without waiting for Michelle to phone me. Say I phoned at 10 and it's now 4. Rude girl says Michelle is with someone, but has had my message and will ring me straight back.

- 29th March, no phonecalls.

- 30th March, ring agents twice, busy both times. No calls from Michelle.

- 2nd April, go down to letting agents with pieces of paperwork showing three different references and two different account numbers. Get very very very angry.

*breathe out*

Needless to say I won't be renting my new house though Martin & Co as they are a waste of DNA...