Well it’s been a while since my last – doesn’t time fly when you’re busy?
In the build up to the festive season I had a wonderful weekend using up my birthday present – a gin-tasting voucher for a posh hotel bar in Woodstock (the cucumber and watermelon tonic was INCREDIBLE).
Well, as I know a few of my faithful blog readers are not on facebook, here are some of the highlights of my life, in the form of my facebook posts, for the last couple of months, purely for your amusement.
17th November 2016
So, while I’ve been in Kenya, my boiler broke down, which was really complicated to get fixed remotely from here, and although it is finally fixed now, it is going to cost me a fairly big chunk of change.
This morning my lodger informs me that the washing machine is leaking and has flooded the kitchen. No idea yet if it’s fixable or requires a whole new washing machine.
Apparently everything is broken.
I blame Trump.
21st November 2016
For all my humanitarian peeps, and any others who are interested, here is a really interesting piece on the future of USAID under a Trump administration.
“Women and girls may have the most to lose. From the World Bank to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the SDGs to the new UN Secretary General, the economists, technologists, health advocates, educators, humanitarians, rights activists, and data junkies are all aligned and making the argument that investment in women and girls might be the best dollar spent…. Vice-President Elect Mike Pence, a radical social conservative, may be influential in rolling back US policy and investments in support of women and girls.”
22nd November 2016
A memory that popped up from 2 years ago:
“Aah, lush evening at the spa with my mum and my sister. I’m proud to be from the kind of family that can start a water fight in the sauna of tranquility… 😀” Continue reading
Well, I have officially re-entered my life, and as usual there is much to catch up on!
Work has been busy as usual, and I’m happy to announce they’ve extended my contract for another year, so I must be doing something right! Yay for job security! (ish).
I now have an EXTREMELY sexy new washing machine, that plays tunes when it’s done, and weighs your clothes to calculate how much water to use, and many other cool and groovy things. There was a slight snafu when I came to install it however….
You see, the thing is, there is always a sequence of events. Idiotic things rarely happen in a vacuum. Continue reading
Well, it’s been almost 6 weeks since I arrived in Nairobi, and in spite of the many incredible things that I’ve seen and done since I got here, I must admit I am ready to go home now!
Partly because when you spend 6 weeks of living in a hotel, the novelty wears off rather quickly and it’s annoying needing taxis to go anywhere, not being able to cook or eat when you want etc. Also the shower in my room is rubbish so I can’t wait to get back to my lovely bath and much better shower! And my room with all my things!
It’s also because while I’ve been away, everything seems to have gone wrong with my house! My poor lodger, who has only just moved in, and who I abandoned rather suddenly to disappear off to Senegal and then Kenya, has been on her own in my house for weeks, kindly looking after the cats and keeping things ticking over, and dealing with all sorts of crises!
First, the boiler broke down, which was awful, as it was -1 degrees celcius in Oxford at the time, and the poor girl had to go without any heating or hot water for several days while I scrambled to get it fixed remotely. It was a pain to sort out, and required an awful lot of chasing and skype calls and frustrated emails! Initially they thought it was an electrical fault in the panel, which they replaced, and when that didn’t work they had to replace the PCB (whatever that is!) which required ordering in special parts. And when that was replaced they discovered a leaking pipe inside which had apparently caused all of the electrical faults, and so that had to be repaired as well!
In the end it took about a week, and will cost me about £500. But at least my poor lodger has heating and hot water again!
Then, about a week after the boiler was fixed, she texted me to say that the washing machine was leaking and had flooded the kitchen. Brilliant. Continue reading
This is a dish that my sister made for me recently, which was pretty much one of the best things I’ve ever had in my mouth. Apparently it’s an old Delia Smith recipe, and I have used my sister’s variation on this, rather than the original, which has more coconut milk and the addition of peanuts, which only makes it more delicious.
It’s very quick and easy to make, however you’ll need to prep the chicken the night before for the best effect. Continue reading
After my previous post Death vs Taxes, in which I outlined the ongoing saga of my tax disaster, there have been some improvements in the whole thing. However sadly there has also been some death, so I thought I would write about both here. Continue reading
Hi everyone,
Sorry for yet another brief hiatus – I have loads of posts planned to catch you up on what I’ve been up to, so will be posting some catch-up blogs imminently!
🙂
So, although I haven’t specifically written about it on here, last year my sister was diagnosed with bowel cancer, and she and I decided to do some fundraising.
As we thought she might lose her hair during chemo, I decided to let her live vicariously through my hair instead, so after raising nearly £1,000, I went off to see my lovely hairdresser (at Vente Tsunami in Headington, Oxford in case you’re interested – they are the best!).
Me and K ready to get started – I think she was more excited about it than I was!
This gallery contains 31 photos.
Well after my earlier post “Waiting for Spring to Sproing” when I dug everything up and was desperately waiting for everything to grow, Spring has finally arrived! Here’s a reminder of how it all looked back in February when I … Continue reading
Here’s a glimpse of my latest DIY project – my dining table, which is incredibly nice and sturdy, but a rather old, battered and stained pine, was in dire need of a makeover. Here it is with Stanley the toolbox on it…
Also one of my chairs broke a while ago, leaving me with only 2, which is awkward if I want to have more than one person over for dinner at a time… Continue reading
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Stuff I've seen, and places I've been...
Stuff I've seen, and places I've been...
Stuff I've seen, and places I've been...
Had we but world enough and time... 