What is the Deal???

So, I knew moving to suburbia would have its downsides--which, in honesty have been very few. But I was reminded of one a couple of Saturdays ago.
We didn't have the kids that Saturday, so sleeping until (at least) noon was very much the plan.
When the doorbell rang just shy of 11am, I hopped up remembering that I had placed an Amazon order the day before. By the time I was half way down the stairs, I remembered that my Amazon items were being delivered to the office...so who the heck was at the door?

Maybe it was the next door neighbour kids who threw yet another football into our yard wanting it repatriated. Nope. Jehovah's Witnesses.
Not two young, attractive young men in suits on bikes with narrow black ties--but two old ladies, wanting me to discuss my beliefs with them. All credit to them, they had some very leading questions that...were I not better practiced at the art of avoiding religious discussion, I may have fallen for it. Back to bed I scampered.

Not 15 minutes later, another ring of the doorbell. Who could it be this time? Maybe this time it's the neighbour kid. Nope. Window & Siding Salesman.
Man...what gives?!

If I want to seek out Jesus, I'll go to church. If I want to buy new windows or replace my garage door with vinyl siding--I've got people for that. LEAVE ME ALONE!

Still Unfinished...

eBay didn't work out. I was outbid on 3 lots of used corks. Back to the drawing board--or should I say...unfinished cork board?!

Another Un-Finished Project...

Well, we've been living in the house now for a little over a year. The living room and dining room still have bare floorboards, no paint on the walls and make-shift curtains. The kitchen ceiling needs a bit of repair work and a final coat of paint...as well as the floor sealed before the Travertine completely disintegrates. The list could go on...but it would only depress me.

On to the point of my story...I've been collecting wine corks for many years. I can't really remember when it started. But there are clues in the collection that tell me it's been at least 12 years. I'm not sure, either, why I thought it was a good idea to start collecting them, except that I like the unique ones, funny named wine, or a cork that commemorates a special night out with friends. I always intended to "do" something with them. So, having now amassed 3 giant ziploc bags full of corks, I set about creating my own personal cork board. The intent is to artfully arrange the corks onto a board with hot glue, frame it and hang it on the kitchen wall as a place to hang our calendar and other important bits of information. Mostly take-away menus.

So, here I went...decided what size frame would be good for the space (FYI, 1 metre tall by .6 metres wide--which is roughly 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide), had it made at the frame shop in town, got my hot glue gun out and started sticking.
Here are a few shots of my project spread out on the island in the kitchen.




Given the title of the blog, you will have surmised that something went dreadfully wrong with my little project.
Turns out, that even though I'm a wino, my extensive collection of corks wasn't enough. I ran out before I go the entire board covered--maybe two-thirds full. It's fair to say that I didn't really plan it out--as Paulster was quick to point out. But geez. It seemed like so many corks--am I sure that I didn't misplace a baggie of corks?! Maybe I should check the garage again...

So, plan B. I have asked our favourite pizza restaurant in town to collect theirs for me and call me when they have a critical mass--that was 4 days ago. And a back-up to the back-up--which may actually see me overrun with corks is ebay. You really can buy just about anything there. I'm currently bidding on 2 sets of corks (less than 20 hours to go on both bids!) that should give me enough to complete the project. Fingers crossed that I don't get outbid. I'm a bit of a ebay retard, so just figuring out how to find my list of stuff I've bid on has been a challenge!

I'll let you know how it goes. When it's finished and hanging on the wall, I'll post photos of a few of my favourite corks and any associated stories that are blog-worthy. Could be years from now...

And before you ask...Yes, I will gratefully accept your donations of corks should you have a handful laying around! They're light, so postage to (or within) the UK will be fairly cheap!

STAYcation 2009 - Week 1

This year, for a variety of reasons, we decided not to take a big vacation trip with the girls, so instead of travelling abroad, we decided to enjoy the fact that we live in Greater London. Apparently, this is a common phenomenon this year that has been coined a "staycation."

The girls arrived on Sunday and we did a little demolition in the garden to make way for more grass, less shrubbery. I have to say that Sulley is not impressed to see his hidey hole levelled, but he'll adjust.
Here are a few shots of Paulster and his little helpers, Drama and Blondie:




On Monday, we had a lazy day of lounging around the house, watching movies, napping, etc. our staycation was off to a flying start!
And no staycation can start without dessert...Blondie and Drama helped me make a Victoria Sponge cake on our lazy first day.


On Tuesday, we rolled the dice on the weather and headed out early to Legoland in Windsor. It wasn't nearly as crowded as I expected it to be and the sun came out to make it a lovely day.
Blondie braved the Log Flume and we all rode the Dragon ride twice. We were really tired by the end of the day and slept well.
Here are a few shots:








As the name suggests, nearly everything is made of Legos--dragons, life-size people in the park, mini-cities...spectacular.







A great day at Legoland! We always enjoy it, but it made me want to find a more adult-oriented theme park to get on some big rides!


Wednesday was a very long day. We started early by going on a tour of The Globe--which was really cool. Blondie had been wanting to go visit all year, since she studied about it in school. The pictures are sub-standard, because we were nearly to the tube station when I realised I've left my new camera at the house. We decided to use the mobile phone for pics on this day instead of going back for it.

We got there early, because on days when there's a matinee show, if you don't hustle...no tour...turns out this was a day for re-setting to Helen of Troy. Here's a pic of the stage being re-set.


And a shot of the actors just before they started rehearsing (when cameras are forbidden!)




After The Globe tour, we had pizza for lunch and then we were off to the London Aquarium. It's been re-done recently. They had a great collection of Sea Horses and of course...sharks. My personal favourite was the piranha tank.

By the end of the time at the Aquarium, Blondie and I had managed to get separated from Drama and Paulster...and, we needed a break, so off we went to the nearby Starbucks for a Caramel Frap (lite, of course). That's where they found us a little while later.

After our rest, we went shopping a bit and then made our way to a pub where several of Paulster's colleagues were gathering to "celebrate" their leaving the company en masse. Seems to be a bit of an epidemic for our company lately...

We were late getting home that night (see photos of Drama below--fell asleep and therefore, was subjected to our entertainment on the tube ride home)... so we decided to early mornings in a row deserved a lie in [sleep in].





On Thursday, we had brunch and then went shopping to get the girls some new dresses and bits and pieces. On Friday, we amped it up gently with another lie in and then off to Richmond for a trip down memory lane. We went for a swim at the pool where we used to go all the time. They have a great slide and turn on the waves periodically! The pool was surprisingly empty for a summer afternoon...but it could have something to do with the renovation going on in there. We discovered that if we'd waited until the next summer holiday week to go swimming, we'd have been stuck. The pool will be under renovation during that time! Whew!
After swimming, we went into Richmond by the river and ate at Tootsies...one of our favourite restaurants. Several of you who visited in Richmond will recall dining at Tootsies with us!



Another late night of tube riding...this time, none of our party fell asleep on the tube journey, so we played I-spy (or is it Eye-Spy?) for entertainment...

And that was the first week of our Staycation...gone in the blink of an eye. Our second week of staycation will be later in August!

Days Out!

In June, Paulster, Drama, Blondie and I had a couple of afternoons of fun in the sun. Neither were far from the house--one at a nearby park/field where we kicked around a football [soccerball]. Drama got bored with the physical activity and picked up the camera for a while--so the photos are courtesy of her.











The other was at the Harefield Dogs Trust. A no-kill dog shelter near our house that held an Open Day. It's quite evident that our life doesn't allow for us to have a dog live with us (not to mention that Sulley and Kenny would not be impressed in the least)--but we could go say hi to the dogs and tour the facility.




There were several activities on display, from flyball to agility and several dog shows.


Good fun!

Garden Update - Part 2

Well, the tomatoes and cucumbers and strawberries are still growing. In addition, new sunflowers have germinated and are well on their way.
See.


There's one flower that I'm particularly waiting to see how it turns out. It's called a "Ladybird" poppy. Ladybird [ladybug] poppies are red with black spots--as you might have surmised from the name. Drama planted several seeds and now there's one surviving plant that is growing nicely.

We've had decent success with the seeds this year. Blondie brought some mystery plants up that she started from seeds--turns out, they're daisies! And are now providing a huge pot of colour and happiness to my patio. They were growing nicely and one night I came home after several days away to see lovely, bright colours bursting from the pot. They made me so happy that I laughed out loud--which only reinforced the neighbours opinions that I'm a crazy person.

Here is Blondie with her flowers!



And here's another shot of them a couple of weeks later... and guest starring is my Sweet Sulley, of course!

They just make me happy!

And of course, you can't NOT know about how well our cucumbers are growing. Here's me being silly with the first two that were harvested! We ate them...and have since harvested 3 more--necessitating the sharing with the neighbours. There will be sharing with those of you here in London...I think we'll soon have more cucumbers than we could possibly eat--so, consider yourself warned!


These garden miracles don't just occur...they need the garden terminator to take care of them...here's me in my "Wellies".

Garden Update

The vegetable patch is little more than a hotbed for weeds, so this year, we're only growing a few things in the greenhouse. We've planted strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers and a few flowering plants. Outdoors, I've got a new lavender plant on the patio and some sort of daisy that Blondie started from seeds and brought to us.

There were a couple of sunflowers, but they got infested with some sort of bug and duly ejected from the greenhouse. They've struggled to survive in the garden with the cats and wind and sunshine, and look to be on their deathbed. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Everything else took root and is thriving. The strawberries were the first plantings and have really done well.
Here's a shot of a few of the plants in a "proper" strawberry pot.


And a few of the first fruits:


A few weeks later after some gorgeous sunny days...


The first batch, ready to rinse and cut up in my cornflakes this Wednesday morning. They were tasty!


This weekend, Drama and Blondie came to stay and there were a couple more ready for them to pick and eat.
.

The cucumber plant has just flowered, so we should see some fruit there soon. And the tomatoes have 2 tiny little fruit on as well. These are the Garden Pearl variety, "cherry tomatoes"--really. We have invested in some tomato food and expect big things from our little plants!

Additionally, the plum tree and apple trees have signs of life again this year. Hopefully, this year, we'll actually be able to enjoy more than 1 plum and the birds won't get their share.
Here is a shot of the plum tree.


And here's a shot of our growing greenhouse (pre-sunflower ejection)!