Accidental landlord

So, in the interest of chopping and changing at the drop of a hat, I plan to not make any more mortgage over-payments for a while. Instead I have found a surveyor to legalise for holiday rents our house in Crete. Cost will be big but being able to rent out for holiday should repay the investment in a few years.

Next on the list is to renovate the old house and landscape everywhere.

View from my bedroom balcony, just to remind me how lovely it is!

Soggy Bank Holiday

Yeah, three day weekend. But its England and its May so obviously we are not expecting any complications of sun stroke.

We planned to spend some time doing garden things, also finishing the bird cage refurbishment. We also completed the bird cage yesterday but ran out of paint. Today we have the paint but the rain wont give us a chance. Never mind, the birds cage is already fine and they dont know they ahve a new home arriving soon.

So instead we did a seriously clean out of the shed. Right the spider infested back. The pool table is back in doors, still wrapped up safe and sound. We insulated and the back and build another work top and generally had a big re-organisation. It had made the shed huge! Hopefully Fahed finishes it when I am back to work tomorrow.

If it hadn't rained then we wouldn't have done that so I guess its not so bad.

Kittie 1

This is Bagheera, our new little kitten. He was a surprise to his owner and the rescue centre cant take him but we can. We were talking about how pet ownership is good for you (pet owners live longer and are healthier apparently) when Fahed had his scare last week. And then we heard about this little guy and a couple of his cousins. I think we need each other. We think he will be ready to leave home around my birthday on 8th June but it can vary depending on dependency on mama. I can wait! (just about)

This is with his sister. She already has a new family.

Hellooooo (photo heavy post)

I haven't completely abandoned my blog, just a little bit.  Fahed had an angina attack and spent some time in the hospital and when that happens I don't think of very much else. He is home now and awaiting a trip to the cardiologist (he saw one in hospital but they want to see him some more). His heartrate is 46 bpm. Surely that isn't enough? I don't know anything if course but to me that sounds like the beta blockers are too strong. No wonder the poor man has no energy.

In happier news, we had a lovely trip to the Chelsea flower show. A friend of Fahed's is a stone carver and has a garden there so we went to assist but really she didn't need us so we had a day of wandering.

And also we have kittens. We tried to live with out pets because it is more convenient to travel but really a house is not a home without little mammals about the place. These guys were surprise arrival for their mummies owner and the rescue centre cant take them so some of them come to us, but if course not until they can leave their ma

ma. We are excited though.

A wander around my garden

Apple tree looking nice and healthy. I think we have some apples this year.

Luscious planter of mint

Strawberry plants just starting out in life.

Runner beans - Looking far better than I hoped as half dead when planted. I think I might need to separate them a bit if they are going to live!

Cute little baby courgette (zucchini - sounds so much more exciting than courgette)

Sad little cucumber. Maybe he makes it. I hope so but his friends are recovering from their near death experience more quickly than he.

The herbs I planted a few weeks back. Looking happy and healthy and a ton bigger.

Lavender, not for eating but for making soap smell good

Another little lavender.

Right place right time

£1.32 spent on shopping. If only it was always this way.
Peppers are marked down form 99p to 74p and then to 10p. Bliss.
Bread is white sliced but quite a nice one (Warburtons) so okay for sandwiches for the boy.

Meal planning - I know we dont but maybe this week we do

Times are a bit tight due to the usual (funding overseas relatives -as usual) but I prefer to tighten up and feel the pinch for a while instead of impacting on savings and mortgage over payment. So we need to up our game. We do tend to slacken after a while anyway so this wont kill us.

Shopping whilst Fahed was away was approx £25 per week but now we are 3 again and this week it came in at £48. I paid form my change bottle. I went through the self scan trolley exit in Asda and literally poured £48 in change into the machine (so you get 100% of your cash, unlike coinstar machine). I also paid for £60 of fuel with coins. To feel less of an idiot I drove through 3 times and put in £20 each time using 10 £2 coins. I thought they wouldn't be happy but the cashier thanked me twice as they were short of coins but I do bog them down in a ton of counting.

Yesterday Fahed cooked for us. Cubes of potato fried in olive oil. Then fry off a minute amount of lamb cutting into mini pieces. Add back the potato and then crack some eggs over the top and stir through in the wok. Served with salad.

We had the leftovers of that for lunch today. For dinner we had cheese sandwiches. But I did some cooking. I boiled up all the chicken bones form the freezer to make stock. Now it is made I am using it to make pea and ham soup in the slow cooker. This should be just right for tomorrow and the next day.

Wednesday will be chicken soup and bulgar wheat. The chicken soup is made with tomatoes, onions and potatoes and is lovely. Day one has chicken but day 2 is just tomatey yum with the bulgar wheat but if you make it without the chicken then its not so good.

Friday - something with lentils, either a lentil soup or dahl and rice.

Weekend? Too early to say!

Monday - Pea and Ham Soup
Tuesday - and again
Wednesday - Chicken Soup and Burghal
Thursday - Chickenless chicken soup and burghal
Friday - Lentils

Howzat!

OOOOhh, 'ello!

My to do list went well except that the paint that I started to use in the sitting room wasn't right, it was from the decoration before this one (various creams). So instead I did the oil based painting upstairs. I left windows open, fans on etc but I woke up on Sunday morning feeling very sick and not at all well. It stayed all week. At work they tell me that they think it is still the virus which I had the other day and feeling under the weather from the paint inhalation let it get the upper hand with me again. The week passed in a flash and I need to check the work which I did last week as well as I cant remember if I did anything stupid :)

So Friday and my boy (old man) is back from visiting family. He went to Jordan because its too dangerous to go to Syria of course but he got to see two sisters and some nephews and nieces. He got really quizzed at the airport on the way back though, which was a bit scary but we like to know there is security to keep us a little bit safe. Its lovely to have him back and not just because he feeds us well.

Yesterday we didn't do very much apart from cleaning and laundry but today we had a lovely day in the garden and I plant some little start plants which hopefully i can keep alive. A cucumber plant, a courgette (zuchini) plant, some runner beans and loads of strawberries. The garden does need more work but is looking rather lovely at the moment. Not too weirdly tidy but a nice old country style garden.

Now we are all back normal and I dont feel poorly anymore. So nice start to the week.

Let's get some stuff done!

1. I have had 12 hours sleep 
2. We have a three day weekend
3. Fahed is away
4. Jamal is away
5. Ahdel is in training all day and has a gig tonight.
6. I have nine hours before I have any commitments

I believe this should be the perfect storm for  a 'get stuff done' day.

I am not going down stairs for coffee until I have 'revived' the grout between the bathroom tiles. Its still perfectly good except the whiteness is a little bleugh!

Then downstairs for a quick tidy and sweep of the sitting room. Then touch up the cream paint in there. I am, rather unusually, fully prepared and have tested the paint and have a brush at the ready.

Reboot (by which I just mean kick start) dishwasher and washing machine.

Wipe, sweep and put away in the kitchen, more paint touching up. Cleaner the cooker.

Off tot he DIY store for some cream satinwood paint and some compost.

Depending on time some painting in the small hallway outside of the bedrooms - has to be done before Fahed gets home or I lose my chance.

Take a box of junk to the charity shop
Take some eggs to my parents
Take some half dead plants to my friend Margret.
Back to the house by 6.30 to get ready for the gig tonight, collect first of my passengers at 7.15pm

Three, two, one, go!