Snow Galore!

If I thought last night was snowy, check out these photos that I've just taken in the last half an hour. These are houses opposite ours:

Our house:

Needless to say, I'm snowed in at home hee hee. P and I just saw someone skiing down our street, surreal!

Winnie is not too enthusiastic about this weather as it's very cold on her little paws. Luckily, she does her business on command and was very quick this morning so thank god for small mercies! I love it though. At lunch time, I am going to the park by the river to take some photos. It is getting heavier as we speak and I am so going to enjoy this day off!!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let it Snow!

Technology is a wonderful thing. A couple of weeks ago, a colleague read in the paper that we'd have another cold spell at the beginning of February. Taking heed of her warning, I immediately invested in a few pairs of wool and cashmere tights. I'm so glad I did because this is the scene outside our house as I type this:

Our street:

Our back yard:

I love the snow so I don't mind. In fact, I hope it snows so heavily tonight that all the trains will be cancelled and I don't have to go to work tomorrow. Please God, let the incompetency of these people benefit me for once!

My job is going alright and I am enjoying life in Brrringland a bit more now. I have met some nice people recently as well.

The great news is that P and I will be heading back to the Small Island for a short holiday over Easter and I JUST CANNOT WAIT! My dad has kindly sponsored my flight ticket (thanks Dad!). I am really looking forward to the warm sunshine, wearing my sexy clothes (if I can still fit into them ugh), chilling out during happy hour and shaking my boo-tay!

I have not gotten drunk since I moved here. Mostly because there are a lot of yobs out and about and I never feel completely at ease in this country. The other day, B-dawg asked me why I don't write much on the blog anymore. Basically, my life has changed a lot over the last year or so. P and I don't go out much so I just don't run into men in drag or meet other weird freaks like I used to!

But for two weeks in April, I'll be back home sweet home and I am going to let my hair down and PAR-TAY! Woo hooooooooooooo!

All Things Christmas and More

As I drink the last of the mulled wine that we bought for the festive period, it's a bittersweet feeling realizing that the last two weeks of good times with my close friends have come to an end, at least for now.

I had planned on updating the blog over Christmas, but P and I were so busy with our visitors Yeller Fever (from the Small Island) and the Gorgeous M (from the Land of the Free) that I just didn't have time.

The two weeks, jammed pack to the brim with activities, have flown by in a blurr. I walked more in those 14 days than I have in the last 14 months combined! We visited Brighton (our hands down favourite), Bath, Hampton Court (the summer residence of Henry the 8th), Greenwich (where time began!) and Kew Gardens. One afternoon was spent on a pub crawl around central Blundon and we whiled away time at the Christmas Market at Hyde Park another evening. We met up with friends for lunches, dinners, drinks, etc. You get the idea.

We did so much that when Yeller Fever and the Gorgeous M left us on New Year's Day, P and I promptly developed sore throats that night. I have not left the house in the last three days in an attempt to get better as we both are back at work tomorrow, groan. But that's life, bills have to be paid!

Anyway, I won't complain as my boss got me a wonderful Christmas present. She gave me a £150 gift card from my favourite Brrritish furnishing store, and I bought a lovely rug for our dining room:

I guess it's her way of telling me that I'm fabulous and to thank me for all the hard work I put in during the year. And frankly, who am I to argue with that?!

Way back in September, P bought me a cornflower blue sapphire ring and matching earrings as a Christmas present:


But as the weather turned very cold recently, he also gave me two pairs of Ugg boots and a long DKNY Jeans puffa coat. They are rather ugly but in this weather, who cares about vanity? Certainly not me! P says I look like a walking bedroom with my new coat but I honestly can't be bothered. Being warm is my first priority.

Yeller Fever got me a Swarovski mobile phone charm and Canadian Mum gave me a 2008 edition Swarovski Christmas ornament (which Yeller Fever was kind enough to bring for me). I also received a luxurious grey cashmere scarf and a funky set of pyjamas from the Gorgeous M. I got many more gifts but they are too numerous to continue listing. 'People, don't jealous hor' ha ha.

As 2009 begins, I have already starting making plans for the year. The weather forecast for tomorrow is set to hit -5 and with the flu I'm fighting off, I long to be somewhere warm. I miss wearing spaghetti-strapped tops and shorts, and eating food from the hawker centres that cost $3. I think I hear the voice of the Small Island calling me home.

But for now, it's back to the real world and as it's too expensive to eat out in this sh*thole, cooking dinner in my cold kitchen calls me louder. Ugh!

All Things Christmas - Part 1

Those of you that know me well, know that I love, love, LOVE Christmas and everything to do with it. In particular, the shopping! For the longest time, I have wanted to visit a traditional German Christmas market and last weekend, P and I did just that.

We flew into Munich and met up with our friends New Mum and New Dad. They left their little one with her parents who live just an hour away.

The city has several Christmas markets dotted around, each one with its own theme. My favourite was of course the main market in the Town Square:

This is the biggest advent calendar I have ever seen, so pretty right?


There was also a medival market, which I at first thought was a market for middle-aged people (middle ages) ha ha. Sometimes, even when you have known someone for over 10 years, things DO get lost in translation!

I set myself a budget and stuck to it, but still managed to buy quite a few lovely items for the tree. My most extravagent buy was a hand-painted glass decoration with a winter scene. It has pride of place on my living room shelf:

Besides beer and handmade Christmas decorations, another thing the Germans do well is food. We ate lots and I now bear a slight resemblance to a pork knuckle (big and brown):


Some guys who didn't look like pork knuckles were the storm drain surfers. On the edge of the Englischer Gartens is a huge drain where water gushes out, permanently creating a surf. There is a group of surfers who 'ride the waves' in the middle of the city, even in temperatures close to zero. We spent almost an hour just watching them jump, turn and fall into the freezing waters. They were absolutely amazing.



It was a super weekend where we drank a little, ate too much, laughed even more and had a fantastic time with good friends.

P and I got home and I couldn't help but put the Christmas tree and decorations up in our own house even though I was so exhausted. I love my new handmade patchwork tree skirt, which I bought online (of course!):


I managed to find another great seller online who made the reindeer garland and door hanger:



The pine table wreath is from our local florists:

I didn't decorate the upstairs area much. A friend made this huge stocking for me years ago and I've hung it over the master bedroom door. P thinks it's wishful thinking that it will be filled ha ha but dreaming is for free right?

The garland in Cath Kidston's 'Lapland' fabric hangs across the guest room window:



In just a couple of weeks, our friends will arrive from the Land of the Free and the Small Island respectively. I just cannot wait to see them. I'm sure we'll eat and drink too much, but that is what the festive season is all about!

Our Cosy Corridor

Just to reassure you guys that not ALL is bad in Brringland, here are some photos to show you how nicely our house is coming along.

BEFORE - Standing at the door of the guest room, this is how our upstairs corridor looked:


NOW - This photo was taken from the master bedroom looking into the guest room:


I love our new Laura Ashley gold and ivory 'Malmaison' runner. On the left wall is a white metal heart-shaped tea light holder.

The 1905 Cecil Aldin's vintage prints hanging on the right wall are from "A Dog Day" featuring a naughty little Jack Russell. Going from left to right, the titles are: Treats from the Table, Sick in Aunt Brown's Room and Fighting the Rug. I bought all three including the white frames for about $70. Not bad.

The living room is being 'cosified' at the moment and once it is completed, I will post some photos.

The End of Summer

Actually, a more appropriate title would be: The End of Summer, What Summer?!

This past weekend, the clocks went back an hour, signalling the start of grayer days and even darker nights. To be fair, we didn't have much of a summer in yucky old Brrringland anyways. But at least the days were long and I always had my vodka cranberries to cheer me up after yet another day of working with the small town locals (or should that be yokels) that I have to see in the office everyday!

Yesterday, it suddenly got very cold and even snowed in some parts of the country. It is now freezing when I get up at 6am to take Winnie out for her ablutions. I have to bundle up in a down jacket and my breath is frosty when I exhale. On our way to the train station, we see our neighbours busily scrapping ice off their windscreens.

In the mornings, sitting on the loo and showering in our house involves a lot of yowling (at least from me) as bare skin touches freezing plastic and the hot water is switched off. This leads to a 5 - 10 second gap when wet skin is exposed to cold air before I can grab the towel off the rail. Can I just say that this body was built for fun in the sun and not this cr*ppy cold?! I am just not "insulated" like the local yokels to endure these artic conditions.

At work, I sit next to floor-to-glass windows. It can be -2 outside, but when the sun shines, it feels like a greenhouse. I therefore have to dress for winter in the early mornings and evenings, and for Small Island weather in between. Ridiculous.

As you can tell, nothing has changed since my last few blog entries. I still detest this place and most of the people who inhabit it. My boss has even now banned me from saying, "On our Small Island, we do it like this and it is insert: more efficient / better / faster / cheaper / tastier." Even the Yanks at the office make fun of me. For example, if I give one of them something and say, "Use this, it's better quality", they will reply, "What, was it made on the Small Island?" Ha ha, I think.

I don't know if I will ever feel settled here. It is mainly because I see all the things that are wrong that would be simple enough to fix, but the people who can change things, won't for whatever reason. I know that it is my choice to live here, but I hope that my standards never drop so low that I will roll over and accept what I see as incompetent or plain wrong.

Let's say a burglar comes into your house, and robs and attacks you. If in self-defence, you end up hurting him, YOU will be prosecuted by the police/courts! The victim is made to pay while the criminal gets away scot-free. It is totally illogical but epitomizes the mentality of this country. I just don't get it.

I have also turned into a frumpy working housewife after living here for the past eight months. On the Small Island, I used to spend my evenings with good friends, drinking in trendy bars by the river, clothed in sexy numbers and high heels. Now, I have taken up cross-stitching after a hiatus of over 10 years to pass the long and pitch black evenings. The difference between 1995 and now is that I need my reading glasses these days to see the small squares. Note to Stepmum: I will let you know when I have to upgrade to a higher strength pair of reading glasses. Might be sooner rather than later.

I have to find solace somehow or I would go crazier than I already am. Going out for dim sum lunches with friends I have met here is always fun. We are all in the same situation and can enjoy a good moan together. At the end of November, P and I are taking a weekend trip to visit a Christmas market with our friends, New Mum and New Dad.

I am also 'nesting' (no, not in the 'I want to have a child way' (God forbid) but in a 'I am bleeping cold' kind of way). I have been doing up the house as cosily as I can. We have invested in a few new Laura Ashley rugs (on sale, even better!), which had added some much-needed warmth to our previously bare floorboards. You need a comfortable home here because you tend so spend so much time in it. Eating out is so expensive and the lousy weather doesn't lend itself to the al fresco lifestyle.

With the onset of winter on us, there are only dreary months and moaning blog entries in the foreseeable future. Is it summer yet?!

Old is New Again Part 2

In spite of the fact that I have been busy with work, holidays and visitors, I have still managed to find time to do some shopping for the house. Spoken like a true-blue Small Island girl!

I have continued my quest to furnish this house in understated Shabby Chic and our dining room is more less now complete.


The vintage embroidered linen tablecloth is from the good old US of A. The cushions are second hand and matched in pairs, each set slightly different but with a similar floral colourway. The clock and green mirror are new but deliberately finished to look aged. Everything was purchased online (but of course!).

The guest room has also had a little makeover, with a vintage-inspired Toile de Jouy blue and white bedspread. I also love the fully-working vintage alarm clock on the lowest shelf. Unfortunately, I can't wind it up as it ticks very loudly and I am sure would keep our guests awake. The important thing is that it looks good though!


I wish I could Shabby Chicify Winnie's crate bed, but somehow, I think faded florals and lacy trim would be lost on her, no?