I don't know if I've mentioned on here how much I hate doing the dishes. I really do. There is no worse thing to do, in my opinion. Messing around with dirty water, getting it all over you and the kitchen. Scrubbing (I don't actually mind this part), rinsing, drying. I skip the last part. If there's something worse than washing the dishes, it's drying the dishes. The towel is wet after one pot and for the rest of the endeavour you're not really accomplishing much except putting towel bits all over your nice clean dishes. So I lie a towel on the counter and let the dishes drip onto that until the air dries them. Air doesn't mind drying dishes.
Anyway - I had to do the dishes today (our AirConditioning is still broken and I couldn't have the man see the ginormous pile of pots and other non-dishwasher things that had stacked up. and they had gotten a small bit smelly.) and it took me ages. The whole counter - about 1.5m x 1m - is filled with them drying. So that's done now anyway. I tell myself I'll try to do them as they occur from now on, but I know I won't. The weekend will come and I won't feel like doing it and then it'll be Monday and there'll be too many to face so I'll leave it til Tuesday, when there's even more and it's not until I have no pots and no pans left (and I have many) that they'll get done. Sigh.
I made French onion soup today for lunch. It was good. Not quite as good as that which you'd get a restaurant, but I didn't have 2 hours to let the flavours really develop - because I was hungry. The onions were slightly too crunchy and the broth wasn't quite flavourful enough. But it was good for lunch.
I can't think of anything else.
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
08 August 2012
31 July 2012
Air Conditioned
We got our air conditioning fixed today. It started dripping a bit and, being very pro-active, we got it seen to before it got any worse. So it turned out that the level of freon in the system had diminished (ooh, there's a nice word) and ice was forming on the unit, and it melting was what was dripping. Anyway, the maintenance guy topped up the freon (his words were, "I charged your unit." No you didn't. It needed its gas topped up. You don't charge gas. Americans are annoyingly loose with words and grammar. Ooh, another thing that seriously annoys me (because we've been watching a lot of Olympics) is when presenters say, "He medalled in swimming." No he didn't. He got a medal.) So anyway. It seems to be working much better now.
It does trouble me that the freon had vanished out of the system, though. Clearly we have a leak somewhere. And that's CFC simply pouring out into the atmosphere. It worries me. I think the guy just refilled it, rather than actually searching all the pipes and valves for a leak.
I can't think of anything else to say. Things are much the same as ever here. Ooh, I did make risotto for dinner today. It was yummy, but unfortunately I'm not so partial to al dente rice, so I ate it wishing for the rice to be a little softer. According to the internet it takes 40 minutes to get it really soft. 40 minutes of stirring is not my idea of fun for dinner.
Right. Bye so. I'm off to buy some blue thread to alter a pair of shorts which are too big.
It does trouble me that the freon had vanished out of the system, though. Clearly we have a leak somewhere. And that's CFC simply pouring out into the atmosphere. It worries me. I think the guy just refilled it, rather than actually searching all the pipes and valves for a leak.
I can't think of anything else to say. Things are much the same as ever here. Ooh, I did make risotto for dinner today. It was yummy, but unfortunately I'm not so partial to al dente rice, so I ate it wishing for the rice to be a little softer. According to the internet it takes 40 minutes to get it really soft. 40 minutes of stirring is not my idea of fun for dinner.
Right. Bye so. I'm off to buy some blue thread to alter a pair of shorts which are too big.
29 June 2010
planting procrastination
procrastination post. yeay. i haven't done one of these in ages.
i defrosted the freezer last night. it was kinda fun - going with the hair dryer, watching the ice melt away and fall into the little collecty bucket at the bottom. the freezer has significantly more space now, and you can actually see the metal bits that conduct the cold around. all the compartments open properly now. it was so bad, actually, that the ice had shoved some of the shelves off their rails. but they are fixed now, too.
the little pepper plant is still alive. the fern is also still alive. the dracaena got put out in the corner of the balcony reserved for dead plants. we can call it the plant graveyard. i put them out there in the hopes that the weather outside will bring them back to life. i suppose it's kind of a silly viewpoint, but it's always what used happen to dead plants at home. none of them ever came back to life either.
i think the bonsai might be making it way out there soon. poor plant just keeps on loosing its leaves, and when they grow back they are yellow and weedy. i took the dead bits off the other dracaena. it's looking good again. all green.
all this planty goodness has me wanting to plant the seeds from a cherry tomato. and we have black kale too. i could have a whole little garden happening on the window sill in here. it's a weeny (meaning small) windowsill, but it's the only one in the whole apartment that gets sunlight.
right so. i don't have much other news.
just to note - dinner is on (yes, before 10:30am). and all the windows and doors in the apartment are open in an effort to cool the place down. it was way too hot last night.
i defrosted the freezer last night. it was kinda fun - going with the hair dryer, watching the ice melt away and fall into the little collecty bucket at the bottom. the freezer has significantly more space now, and you can actually see the metal bits that conduct the cold around. all the compartments open properly now. it was so bad, actually, that the ice had shoved some of the shelves off their rails. but they are fixed now, too.
the little pepper plant is still alive. the fern is also still alive. the dracaena got put out in the corner of the balcony reserved for dead plants. we can call it the plant graveyard. i put them out there in the hopes that the weather outside will bring them back to life. i suppose it's kind of a silly viewpoint, but it's always what used happen to dead plants at home. none of them ever came back to life either.
i think the bonsai might be making it way out there soon. poor plant just keeps on loosing its leaves, and when they grow back they are yellow and weedy. i took the dead bits off the other dracaena. it's looking good again. all green.
all this planty goodness has me wanting to plant the seeds from a cherry tomato. and we have black kale too. i could have a whole little garden happening on the window sill in here. it's a weeny (meaning small) windowsill, but it's the only one in the whole apartment that gets sunlight.
right so. i don't have much other news.
just to note - dinner is on (yes, before 10:30am). and all the windows and doors in the apartment are open in an effort to cool the place down. it was way too hot last night.
16 May 2010
washing randomness
i put two white sheets into the wash today. one came out light blue, the other came out a dull sort of purple. (yes, i do just chuck everything into the same wash regardless of colour, because the only non-coloureds we have are sheets, and it's not worth putting on a whole wash just for them.)
and i wouldn't even mind, but it's not like we don't have colour catcher sheets. and they do work. oh well. that's what i get for assuming / hoping stuff won't run. the blue sheet looks kinda good, though. it died very evenly. i even had to ask myself if we'd actually been sleeping on a blue sheet. but no, we hadn't. the other sheet is pretty evenly died (a little darker in the corners) but it's not a very nice colour. it can be the spare room's spare sheet.
so yea. they are now drying in the sitting room. they don't really fit on the clothes horse and now that lordkilljoy is gone away, i can put the clothes where ever i like.
i've been listening to deftones' new album, diamond eyes. i'm enjoying it. beauty school is my favourite so far, followed by the title track. it's very deftones. but i love their sound, so i'm good with that.
i went to see robin hood yesterday. it was an engaging 2 hour 20 minute diversion. but that's all it was, really. a fun thing to watch to pass the time.
afterwards, i went out to dalkey quarry, and ran up the hill to the top (there are stairs). it was good. the views from up there are spectacular - you can see way out into the irish sea on one side, and over dublin on the other.
then me, penelope_stone and liam went to nandos. yum. and then we went home and watched gladiator (skipping over all the boring bits). heh. i could call it a ridley scott afternoon.
and i wouldn't even mind, but it's not like we don't have colour catcher sheets. and they do work. oh well. that's what i get for assuming / hoping stuff won't run. the blue sheet looks kinda good, though. it died very evenly. i even had to ask myself if we'd actually been sleeping on a blue sheet. but no, we hadn't. the other sheet is pretty evenly died (a little darker in the corners) but it's not a very nice colour. it can be the spare room's spare sheet.
so yea. they are now drying in the sitting room. they don't really fit on the clothes horse and now that lordkilljoy is gone away, i can put the clothes where ever i like.
i've been listening to deftones' new album, diamond eyes. i'm enjoying it. beauty school is my favourite so far, followed by the title track. it's very deftones. but i love their sound, so i'm good with that.
i went to see robin hood yesterday. it was an engaging 2 hour 20 minute diversion. but that's all it was, really. a fun thing to watch to pass the time.
afterwards, i went out to dalkey quarry, and ran up the hill to the top (there are stairs). it was good. the views from up there are spectacular - you can see way out into the irish sea on one side, and over dublin on the other.
then me, penelope_stone and liam went to nandos. yum. and then we went home and watched gladiator (skipping over all the boring bits). heh. i could call it a ridley scott afternoon.
10 July 2007
settling down while down under
does new zealand fall into the "down under" category of countries, or is that just australia?
anyway. we now live in christchurch and will be here until the start of october. we have a nice little flat just outside the city, with 2 rooms, a large kitchen and a sitting room. no furniture, but we got beds for $10 and a small bedside table (serving as a dining table) for $9. however, no place here has central heating and it gets very cold at night, especially now, when the weather is bad (it was -6 the other night).
so we have a house sorted, now we need jobs. letting a recruitment agency do the searching for you seems to be the way to go, but i'm afraid they will take all our pay in commission. hopefully we'll make enough to live a bit well. i'd hate not to be able to see the country because i couldn't afford it. and everything here is expensive. except the bus. with a bus card it's 1.90 for 2 hours travel or 3.80 for a whole day on as many busses as you like. tuesday is cheap cinema day (9.50 - usually 15), and there are cheap places to do grocery shopping. chairs are very expensive - we have none and have been eating dinner kneeling on the ground. i can't wait to get chairs!
we met some great people at the hostel we stayed in for the first week and have plans to go skating and snowboarding with them. there are figure skating lessons on tuesday evenings. knowing how to figure skate would be so cool. knowing how to skate at all would be cool.
we went out with simone and brian on friday night to sample the nightly festivities hereabouts. it's funny going into irish pubs in a forign country. they seem just like normal pubs - like any ol' place you'd stroll into in ireland. it's wierd. we tried out a karaoke bar too - much fun being on stage and blaring queen's "i want to break free" into a mic while people dance and sing beyond the stage. the sunday after, we had a lovely picnic in the park, sitting on a sheet beside the river, teasing the ducks with morsles of food, and playing bachi ball after lunch. much fun. the day rounded off with a stroll through the sunday arts market and back to our chairless home for hot chocolate and many games of zigity and cards. very much fun.
yes indeed. it's so hard to chronicle everything when internet access is so sporadic. mostly we spend our days looking for cheap furniture and remembering stuff we need to buy for our house. it's all very drab and normal and not really as much fun as you think it will be when you are 10 and have daydreams of moving to your own house (which will be bright and full of colour and warm). it is rather disillusioning to find out that you have so many bland walls in your house and arn't allowed to spice them up with posters or anything. "no blu tak" the contract says. yea, way to make a place utterly depressing. no furniture and no fun things on the walls. but we found fairy lights in cash converters for $15 and stuck them over the doorframes, where noone will ever need to know there was blu tak (it's not even blue - it's white). and there was a sale on kids' bedspreads in one of the shops here, so we both have bright duvet covers.
ok, i've definitley written enough now. i'm going to go.
anyway. we now live in christchurch and will be here until the start of october. we have a nice little flat just outside the city, with 2 rooms, a large kitchen and a sitting room. no furniture, but we got beds for $10 and a small bedside table (serving as a dining table) for $9. however, no place here has central heating and it gets very cold at night, especially now, when the weather is bad (it was -6 the other night).
so we have a house sorted, now we need jobs. letting a recruitment agency do the searching for you seems to be the way to go, but i'm afraid they will take all our pay in commission. hopefully we'll make enough to live a bit well. i'd hate not to be able to see the country because i couldn't afford it. and everything here is expensive. except the bus. with a bus card it's 1.90 for 2 hours travel or 3.80 for a whole day on as many busses as you like. tuesday is cheap cinema day (9.50 - usually 15), and there are cheap places to do grocery shopping. chairs are very expensive - we have none and have been eating dinner kneeling on the ground. i can't wait to get chairs!
we met some great people at the hostel we stayed in for the first week and have plans to go skating and snowboarding with them. there are figure skating lessons on tuesday evenings. knowing how to figure skate would be so cool. knowing how to skate at all would be cool.
we went out with simone and brian on friday night to sample the nightly festivities hereabouts. it's funny going into irish pubs in a forign country. they seem just like normal pubs - like any ol' place you'd stroll into in ireland. it's wierd. we tried out a karaoke bar too - much fun being on stage and blaring queen's "i want to break free" into a mic while people dance and sing beyond the stage. the sunday after, we had a lovely picnic in the park, sitting on a sheet beside the river, teasing the ducks with morsles of food, and playing bachi ball after lunch. much fun. the day rounded off with a stroll through the sunday arts market and back to our chairless home for hot chocolate and many games of zigity and cards. very much fun.
yes indeed. it's so hard to chronicle everything when internet access is so sporadic. mostly we spend our days looking for cheap furniture and remembering stuff we need to buy for our house. it's all very drab and normal and not really as much fun as you think it will be when you are 10 and have daydreams of moving to your own house (which will be bright and full of colour and warm). it is rather disillusioning to find out that you have so many bland walls in your house and arn't allowed to spice them up with posters or anything. "no blu tak" the contract says. yea, way to make a place utterly depressing. no furniture and no fun things on the walls. but we found fairy lights in cash converters for $15 and stuck them over the doorframes, where noone will ever need to know there was blu tak (it's not even blue - it's white). and there was a sale on kids' bedspreads in one of the shops here, so we both have bright duvet covers.
ok, i've definitley written enough now. i'm going to go.
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