Secluded...excluded

I was so excited to maybe be involved and meet Cambridge people...ha!
Not so much.
This may be partly my fault seeing as I don't have a car yet.
 I discovered that buses to villages do not run on a Sunday, that a taxi would cost almost £60, a hire car about £45..bit OTT for an £18 tea party.
So, I missed the tea party .
I was upset all out of proportion by this.

Never mind.
 I will soon have a car.
 Will I ever meet  The Village People? Fuck these Village People. I want to go back to London. Am actually not liking Cambridge .

Gastro Tour

Fabulous Gastro Tour in Marylebone.
good company,  5 couples, all really nice. Of course we did have a start seeing as one of the couples was Amiga Jane and Hubby .
And the other couple was us. So, 3 other couples, who were really nice.
The guide on our tour, lets call her Cookie Wittering-Twit....totally D list celeb (none of us had ever heard of her)

So, Cookie Wittering-Twit had no idea how to run a Gastro Tour.

 The fact that we still had an amazing time was all down to the good company. We could have done the tour all by ourselves and still done just as well.
Without paying £50 pp to Cookie Wittering -Twit.
 Apparently she has a TV show and writes cookbooks and all?
At the Japanese knife demo, she had never heard of a razor strop. Also, she seemed to be a big fan of 'when in doubt, make it up' Unfortunately for her, she had a very sophisticated and knowledgeable audience. (not just me!)
She was somewhat hampered by the fact that one of our party was a senior exec at Cadburys (chocolate part of the tour) and that 4 of our party were fluent in Spanish (tapas part of the tour)
Almost felt sorry for her at the end!
We left Cambridge at 1,  did the tour, had supper, back at home before 10pm. So, travelling to London is a doddle. I may do it every day. I miss London. I am not loving living out here in the sticks.

Lordy!

Can you just imagine?
Bleh!
Yuk!

Bike Action Shots..

Woo Hoo! Look at me!

Probably, you can tell that I am not an expert on a bike.

Note to concerned family members...these pics were taken in our cul de sac which is why I am not wearing The Helmet.

Wildlife?.

As Lovely Wife Jo from Surbiton has just reminded me, in case I get too happily settled in Cambridge...there are no squirrels here. And, indeed , there are none. And no foxes. And the birds are worse than stupid. I have put out birdseed which they have just ignored. Bloody ingratitude. So far there has been a total of 3 birds, one of which flew into the upstairs study window, the other two seem to fight all day and make an annoying noise and crap on the patio. Country? How is this the bloody country? There was more wildlife in London. Across the road from me, an unknown neighbour has a duck. It is the most exotic wildlife I have seen since I got here. On my way to the shops I say hello to it. Is the most exciting conversation I have all day. Quack quack

Mr Meat Delivery

 Amazing...this was my meat order, sent from London to Cambridge, courier, no delivery charges...and this is how it was packed...dry ice, and woolly blankets...all this for a less than £50 order...

Ox Kidney- 325g  x 1
Gammon Steak- Pack(1) ... x 1
Lamb Shank- 500g  x 2
Silverside S...- Pack(2)  x 1
Ox Liver- 325g  x 1
Chicken- Small Peking x 1
Sausages- 1000g Pork &... x 1
Black Pudding- Pack(2)  x 1
Sausages- 1000g Cracke... x 1

---

Subtotal:  £48.48
Del Costs:  £0.00
Est Total:  £48.48

---

Lots of sausages because they are amazing sausages...Also, I thought this would be my last order seeing as I have moved..but apparently, no...they are quite happy to courier my orders at no extra cost. All this is organic Orkney meat, the type of produce that is tucked into bed at night with a bedtime story...the type of produce that Darling Simon would totally approve of. Result is I have a million sausages....ah well!!


For my UK blogger followers, Farmers Choice.
For my Saffa Followers...no idea how this compares to Saffa  prices....

Travels..

Had my first outing on The Bike today! Bit wobbly, bit nervous seeing as my last experience on a bike in Amsterdam ended in a fall involving a bench and a ditch, with The Hubby laughing so much he nearly choked to death at the sight of my legs waving in the air. But, all was fine,next time I will wear gloves as my hands froze. I have to remember to always watch the road as if I look anywhere else, I tend to steer in that direction. Luckily, this being Cambridge, there are cycle tracks everywhere. My only complaint is that they seem a bit narrow. Sure I will get used to it, but for now, another cyclist, a pedestrian or a dog approaching puts me in a panic. On the way home from my second trip out, I felt quite cool actually, and very "in" with the Cambridge crowd. For those of you who cycle all the time, this may seem a tad pathetic, but it is a START for me. So, I have The Bike. I have The Basket. I have the library card that allows me to go to ANY library in the whole of Cambridge. Next week I will get The Card that allows me free access to all the colleges (being a resident) All that is left is for me to see Stephen Hawkins and Simon Baron-Cohen and my Cambridge experience will be complete! Oh, and punt on the river of course, but that can wait till summer. If The Hubby says ONCE more that Cambridge stand on the wrong end of the punt, I may have to commit GBH. He is an Oxford Grad.

Amazing!

Just look at this! I am so impressed.
The Hubby and I don't drink milk at all, so never have any in the house. Even if I buy long life milk (UHT or whatever they call it here), we only use as much as a visitor needs for coffee or tea. I have thrown away GALLONS of milk.
Dr Lauren drinks no milk either, but The Gorgeous Son has it in his coffee. We go through an elaborate sniffing and inspecting sell by dates whenever he has coffee.
But now! Problem solved!

New House

As requested, some pics of the new house, we seem to be more or less organised now, just need a new light fitting in the lounge, the current one is really crap. The Hubby did try to put the new one in, bless him, but it involved me standing holding the light fitting looking like the Statue of Liberty, while he stood on the coffee table and flung tools around and swore a lot. We are calling in an electrician.

The Hubby's study comes in 2 parts, he has this small room upstairs, and then another study in the loft aka Mission Control , where  the serious computer system is installed!

 This is my study aka the conservatory.



The bed truly only just fits in this bedroom! There is however, a really good cupboard.

The landing, (top of the stairs for Saffas!)

Anniversary

Whew! OK, start again. 30 year anniversary is the year of the iPad. Never mind pearls...what would you rather have? So, as I was saying before I got distracted and annoyed by technology...And excuse all errors until I get the hang of this... Apple hates my blog...
 The Hubby and I were not married in a church (obviously!) But, having said that, the vows (England, 15th century) are still  true and valid.
 For richer or poorer, in sickness or in health, honour, love, obey (ok, obey only in certain circumstances!)
The magistrate , when we got married, said that we had to say "I love you" at least once a week. We still do, usually at least once a day.
 Compromise, compromise, and never ever take anything for granted, even after 30 years, it could change in a heartbeat... We are blessed with our wonderful children, our everlasting love...The Hubby is watching snooker downstairs as I type on my new iPad....ah!
Upstairs, downstairs...Isn't love wonderful! I love The Hubby.

Anniversary

I wrote a long and very sweet and sentimental piece about love and marriage and anniversaries. Made 2 spelling errors, so tried to correct them. After half an hour of fucking around and getting annoyed, I no longer feel either loving or happy, so I will repost it tomorrow when I am in a better mood.
I know this is not in the loving spirit of being married for 30 years... but it seems that 30 minutes of computer incompetence can wipe all that out. Maybe I will take a deep breath and try again......

Ankleversary

Let us not forget that last year this very same day was the day when I broke all my ankle bones.
Not such a fabulous anniversary then.
But...all healed now!
Scars...poo! Nothing!
Pain....absolutely minimal unless I am having a pathetic day.
Flashbacks...horrendous! I still walk down the stairs like a real old lady, Dr Lauren goes mad at me.
Poor Broken Ankle Man is having more operations on his ankle. I really truly do think of him every day , and will do until he is all healed.
Still and all...was not so bad spending the coldest month of the year in bed, with lots of drugs.

Anniversary

Correcting this post , now on my wee pee cee...too hard to blog on the ipad! Some lessons I think.
So, yes, today is/was our anniversary!

Gardening

The garden here is not too bad. At some stage, someone has made an effort . Not the last tenants....
Anyway, Gumtree to the rescue, and a lady gardener , who works for £10 an hour and did a clear up for me.
So now I can get into the garden and start to make it look nice.
The grass is a problem.
This sissy baby pom grass is mad.
You can't mow it, it would just be ripped out by the lawnmower.
If you stand on the grass, it gets flattened. There seems to be a lot of moss in the grass. This moss is yukky stuff. It grows into lumps which detach themselves and are like living entities. I can hardly bring myself to touch them.
What I need to do is COMB the lawn.
Arrange it into some semblance of order.
Or brush it with the kitchen brush.

Or just wait and see what happens when the sun comes out.
Nobody here has ever heard of kikuyu grass.

Weather update

To be fair, I have not done a weather update for some time. It is quite cold...not bad...for example, today , at 2C I walked to the shops and was fine. There is no wind. Quite pleasant would be my assessment.
Not cold enough for the jacket I bought, which would keep anyone warm in totally arctic conditions.
But cold enough to use the 'wipe runny nose 'thing that is on the sleeve (disgusting, I know, but practical) and the sleeves inside the arms thing (which I love! So clever)
Frost on the ground. If it is going to be this cold , it may as well snow. That would be nice.

Conservatory

 I do not get this conservatory thing.
These are my problems

1) Windows
     They all have to be clean all the time or it just looks kak.
2) Cold
     It is bloody freezing in the conservatory. There is no central heating.
     There is a heater (electric, installed) which works very well, but as soon
     as the heater is switched off, it is back to freezing. Does not retain the heat
     as the house does. So that is dof.
3)  When it is hot...what is the point of the  conservatory? It's hot anyway.
4) I feel like a goldfish
5) There is no security, and everyone can see inside
6) It is not a lounge. It cannot be a TV lounge either. (too many windows.
    It is not a flipping sitting room . Why would you sit in a cold/hot room
    anyway?
7)I know it is nice and light and airy, but it is the same outside

I simply do not get it
So, our conservatory is my office. And a very nice office it is too.
Everyone in the UK seems to have a conservatory, so there must be some point to it. Perhaps I shall discover it soon.

Wildlife?

I have just realised that there are no foxes either..so, no squirrels, no foxes, just some stupid birds.

Lovely Cambridge

 I realise that I have been slightly whingy and moany about Cambridge....

It truly is a beautiful city.
Has been a bit clouded up until now with the whole trauma of the move.
But, the house is almost done...and when I walk to the shops it is quite  amazing to see green fields and parks all around.
There is a free magazine which was posted through my door this morning, with all that is going on in the city...so much to do, lots of literary events and theater, and all so cheap! Lordy! I did realise that London was expensive, of course, but it is good to see that we can go to a show here for £15.

Eating out is much cheaper, transport is cheaper, all in all, I think it is going to be lovely living here.

I have solved many storage problems , and am no longer tripping over ironing boards, Dysons, brooms and buckets....
OK, maybe it is not traditional to store the ironing board in the bedroom cupboard, but it works for me!

I have ordered online useful items of furniture, like blanket boxes, it is all a case of buying furniture in which you can hide stuff.
The TV stand will arrive on the 17th, and then the lounge will be done.
Oops...lounge  , bad word here... then the Sitting Room will be done.
Apparently we do not 'lounge' , we 'sit'
Go figure

Watch this space, Dear Blogger Fans, soon I will stop moaning and will be loving Cambridge.

Neighbours..

Actually not going so well...

When I did eventually meet Next Door Neighbour Victoria, I was weeding the front garden.
( I say garden..ha ha ha ha....small area of crap vegetation outside the front door)

I had removed all the leaves and so on from around the rose, so was bleeding profusely, which blood I had smeared all over my face.  (whilst wiping the sweat off my forehead)

Also was covered in mud and dog poo.
Also had totally mad person hair and 3 day old clothes.

*sigh*

Rubbish Day

Well , yes, a whole new recycling thing.
I now have The Green Bin (garden rubbish and food)
The Blue Bin (absolutely everything else)
The Black Bin ( stuff that doesn't go in The Blue Bin, god knows what that is because The Blue Bin takes everything from glass to plastic)
On top of The Blue Bin (as a type of inserted caddy, is The Black Thingy , into which you put paper)
If I want a Kitchen Caddy Bin, I have to go and fetch it from somewhere which I have not yet located.
No bags are involved here..everything is just smooshed into the bins. They are very large wheelie bins.
I have managed to get rid  of an impressive amount of rubbish by arranging it in these bins.
I have thrown away an iron in The Black Bin, I know this is not correct and that I should take it to a WEEE place , but actually, I am quite fed up with moving and get over it already, will it kill the planet? Actually, just this week I do not care.

Dreaming Spires...

You may think Cambridge is the city of dreaming spires and punts along the river...actually it is the city of a broken washing machine and a schlep on the bus carrying a massive plastic bag full of washing and having to spend the afternoon in a room full of properly mad people and getting looks from the laundromat person when I couldn't open the fecking machine and said that I had not used a laundromat since I was a student.
Seeing as I know no one and am not actually going anywhere, I am not bothered if I wear the same clothes every day until the landlord fixes the washing machine. I am already impressed enough by the fact that the rental has a washing machine, a tumble drier , a dishwasher and a fridge.
It is The Hubby.
He has to go to work, obviously, but believe me, he will never run out of shirts, he has thousands of them.
Ditto trousers and jerseys..I have no space in the wardrobe.
It is the undies.
He has 'summer undies' and 'winter undies'
god forbid he should be reduced to wearing 'summer undies' in winter.

I could, of course wash the washing at home...but then I would have to hang said washing all over the house on the radiators and it would take forever to dry. Bad enough we are not 100% organised in the Almost Acceptable house, and then I would have to look at 'winter undies' hanging in every room? I think not.

Missing....

Missing Broken Ankle Man and Lovely Wife Jo... Missing Gay Charity Shop Man and The Worst Pub in The World and The Gorgeous Son and Dr Lauren....and Hoppy and Meisie, How am I ever going to be a Cambridge person?
I will have to buy a bicycle with a basket and learn to be a pretentious twat.
OK....not such a big step for me actually...

Cambridge Buses

OMG so not like London!
There seems to be no oyster card system, so everybody pays to get on the bus.
In London, no bus driver will ever speak to you, he/she will certainly never give you change, or will tell you where your stop is...here...everyone has a big team chat with the driver, searches for their money, drops their wallet, can't find their bus pass...drives me nuts!
Thank goodness we are going to buy a car.
A car in London is a problem. Out in the country, it seems to be a necessity.

 So far it is not going well . The Hubby wants to buy a big macho shithead SUV type thing..all I want is a golf type thing.
For now, walking and buses are the way I am going.
Also, people talk to you on the bus..scares me to death! I am used to Hardened Londoners that would only speak if the bus was on fire.
Nonetheless, I can now find my way around using the bus, also, the 500 mile walk thing is back in place. Took a walk to the local shop today, looked for a shortcut home that took me about 20 mins.
Still and all...walking is good for you.
Luckily the weather has improved.
I was fed up with house stuff today, so I did some garden tidy up  stuff.
Pricked my fingers and hands on the roses, and knelt and stood in dog poo that was hidden by the long grass.
Have  found a garden service on Gumtree.
The washing machine has a broken door , so the dog poo jeans are stinking up the laundry basket.
Wash them by hand I hear you say? No, perhaps not.
I have more important things to do.

Sad Squirrel story

While I was doing the inventory thing, poor dear Meisie came into the garden, hopped right up to me.
I had tears in my eyes.
Have not yet seen a single squirrel in Cambridge.
I made the ex Landlord promise that he would ask prospective tenants if they liked squirrels.
I feel really sad :(
Maybe if there are ever squirrels here in Cambridge, I should not get over involved.
What will happen when Hoppy returns if and when it eventually gets cold here?
How is it possible to get so attached to a flipping squirrel??

Going back..

Had to go back to Surbiton today to do the rental inventory check out.
2 and a half hours!
 That fuckwit estate agent is the most anal person I have ever met. Nice, she is really strangely nice, but she actually STUCK HER HEAD in the oven, which I had cleaned like I have never cleaned an oven before...and with her upside down head , with the oven light switched on, she declared there was some 'baked in grease'
It was downhill from there , as you can imagine. She even inventoried the bloody garden.
Luckily, our (now ex) Landlord is a sweetie pie and even he was rolling his eyes at one stage.
The new landlord, bless him, is so casual that an incoming inventory only consisted of telling The Hubby where the gas and electric reading meter things are.
So, basically have lost a whole day of unpacking.
Am knackered now .
 Am watching a programme about a 74 stone woman who squashed her nephew to death.
Yes, I know.