smugness

I'm feeling rather smug this weekend as I managed to get out of working Notting Hill Carnival,which as anyone in my job knows is practically impossible!Not even working double bubble today will get me to voluntarily do this if I can get out of it-standing around for 12 hours+on a concrete floor with people asking me what floats are where (how would I know as I never actually see anything of interest),how to get in/out/etc of stations,eating shit food-we dont get any jerk chicken/ackee and saltfish,which is gutting as I love Jamaican food and all-round general weariness from 'bad boys' or clueless out-of-towners-the sound systems are bone shakingly loud and even though we finally had earpieces fitted last year,they hurt your ears and you have to take them out to hear one of the above stupid Q's anyway.
Like I said I am smug and happy not to be working the damn thing!

more little jobs finished...

I got my handy man to do these but at last they're done;

hang a Victorian door a lady on the next street gave me
wire up a new light in the kitchen
mend the architraving in the bathrooom

done and a bargain!

I have finished painting the living room.

car booting!

One of the things on the list I had to do before moving was to have a car boot sale to get rid of some of my accumulated junk,anyway I did one today after cramming my little car full-I made £107 after taking out the fee,I think I'll just give the left over stuff to charity as I'm not sure I can face doing it again.I got sunburnt as it was so hot,and hated not being able to wander round and look myself!
This is a photo I took,I was trying to get the man in the African pyjamas in to send to my friend for a joke!

I bought this dress tunic from H&M-I might cut it down a bit though.
I also got some pale grey skinnies from Primark,some tie dyed blue jeans (not sure about these on me-I think I'm too old!),a purple boyfriend cardigan and the usual hair bits and underwear,quite restrained I think!

gorgeous orchid-I have put this in my bathroom and it looks lovely with the pale blue walls-obviously I am still going to move but it makes the room look pretty.

I want these

£120 from Carvela.

paint bodge

dont read this if you are a perfectionist-I glued the peeled off foot shaped patch of paint that peeled off my wall and then filled the ddges with filler and sanded it down and then painted over it and you can barely see it-see?bodging does work sometimes!!

DIY

I used to love it,now I hate it with a passion!I am painting my living room prior to putting the flat on the market as it hadn't been painted for ages and really needed freshening up and its hellish!
It makes it worse cos I have to keep moving the furniture round rather than having an empty room to just get on with.I normally get paint over everything but have only done this on one kitchen chair atm which is quite good going for me.I'm painting with white paint which is a mare to do until it dries too-now I just have the ceiling to paint,which I know I should have done first but I didnt.And I have to 'sort' (read:bodge)a patch of paint that peeled off the wall in the shape of a foot-so ignoring the advice of Dad,I have glued it back on and intend to paint over it rather than scrape it all off and start afresh-donkeys years of paint layers?no way!!

RIP Princess Pashmina

I only knew you in the online world,but 24 is no age to die.

RIP Jenn.

not quite the good life just yet

my beetroot-not looking too edible at the moment though

my tomato plant

a close up of the ONE ripe tomato,surely they should be ripe by now?!


I have another tomato plant that only has 1 tomato on it,the beans all got eaten by snails,the strawberry plants are going strong but hardly any strawberries though!My bay tree is looking healthy and was another car boot bargain at £4-my cucumbers never really happened and my lettuces also got eaten by slugs or snails,the only up point being I don't mind picking up slugs now and throwing them into next doors garden which I know under normal conditions would be spiteful but the flat upstairs have never looked after the garden as its rented and no-one seems interested in it.

my latest craze...

is car boot sales,I went to one today and was excited at what I bought;

this wooden box £2.50


these Uggs,£1-they are to wear in the house when my toes get cold!


I also got a pretty ceramic jug and oval serving plate for 20p each-the jug I have just washed and will sell when I do a boot sale to get rid of my junk!I couldnt say no for 20p.
a GOSH hoody-one of those from the Wags boutique programme-£4,ideal for work.
and new make up for £6,Body Shop concealer,Revlon nail polish x2 and a No7 Radiant glow moisturiser.
Bargainous!

woohoo!!!

I have got my transfer date,and my 1st choice of postings too-after wondering was I dong the right thing for so long,etc etc I was excited when they told me so hopefully,its the right decision for me and a new start with more opportunities.

healthy nails

my nails have been very dry of late,its because I always wear nail polish and it chips easily due to people trying to fight me on a regular basis so I put it on and take it off more often than average,anyway I was recommended this by http://vexinthecityx.blogspot.com/ and it arrived today so I will report back on how it works


I also bought this as I saw a review on http://helesays.blogspot.com

so hope that one or both work for me.

moving updates (not much to report)

1.get a valuation-had the standard 3 estate agents round the give me 'valuations' and I have picked one who I thought would do the job best,he has said to market offers in the 'region of' which I'm hoping will work out best price wise.
2.finish painting the front of the flat-er,I started it.I have bought a proper roller though cos its so hard to paint over pebbledash (not my choice)
3.finish off those little jobs I couldnt really afford to get done before-made some progress.or,yes *some* progress!I did buy a paint runner-which is a roller that you pour paint into and isnt supposed to not splatter everything in sight with paint,this is good because I am a messy painter,I managed to get paint on my house keys keyring (Gucci) and on my dress doh!
4.find out about extending the lease-still need to get this sorted,I might have to get a chartered surveyer involved.(more money)
5.decide on an area I like that I can afford and is near a tube or overground station-been looking like mad on Rightmove,the trouble with my job is that I only remember the crimes in an area and I'm getting paranoid about moving next door to some scrote.
6.decide exactly what to look for-ideally I would like a Victorian detached house (rare and certainly not going to happen on my budget!)but realistically should be able to just about afford a small Victorian 2 bed.
7.find out how much I can borrow-been to see a mortgage advisor and have to go again this Saturday-theres an hour of my life I'll never get back!
8.de-clutter-got rid of some stuff on Ebay and actually made some money!!Car boot next if I can bear it,anything after that I'm getting rid of!

RIP

7/7 or however you want to name it,its 4 years ago today since 52 innocent people were murdered on London Underground,I said I wouldn't forget and I haven't.

This was my welcome to policing and I think this was also the point that I realised it was the right decision to join.I very rarely travel through Russell Square but everytime I do,I get a memory of that day,and it reminds me to do what I do better.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/uk/05/london_blasts/victims/default.stm

moving...........

I decided last weekend I wanted to move flats,quite alot to do with the sort of people who are moving into the area and because I crave more privacy than I currently have.So once I decided,I have a list of things to do;

1.get a valuation-done but I need to get some more,not convinced about the valuation really as the prices seem so variable atm in my neck of the woods.
2.finish painting the front of the flat-er,I started it but its been so hot!
3.finish off those little jobs I couldnt really afford to get done before-made some progress.
4.find out about extending the lease-done but the freeholders are quoting £20k-£20k!!!I dont bloody think so,I have also found out about lease extension advisers who negotiate on your behalf,theres no way it should cost this much,the p*sstaking gits!
5.decide on an area I like that I can afford and is near a tube or overground station-been looking like mad on Rightmove.
6.decide exactly what to look for-I have a 1 bed flat atm,so it seems mad to move to another 1 bed unless its in a really fab area (unlikely) so I would need a 2 bed maisonette or house (not sure I can afford it).I also realise I really need a private garden,my garden atm is divided down the middle and although there is a fence up,its just not private enough for me.
7.find out how much I can borrow-initial enquiries done.All I can say is it varies so much,but is more than I thought might be on offer.
8.de-clutter-I am going to d a car boot sale to get rid of some stuff and have some auctins on Ebay.

I do love my flat but I can see myself getting more and more unhappy with the lack of privacy,I will be sorry to leave some of the neighbours though some of whom have lived on this street for 40 years or more!

I suppose I have to mention Michael Jackson

I never normally comment on news but I was shocked on hearing Michael Jackson had died.Someone told me whilst I was at work and I didnt know whether to believe him at first cos my relief are known p*sstakers,but it was true.It makes me feel old that one of the biggest pop stars of my childhood is dead,I'm not that big a fan but everyone loves at least one Jacko song don't they?
And Farrah Fawcett died this week too,another childhood figure,she was so beautiful.

some little things that cheered me up

I got this beautiful orchid off my friend as a belated birthday present last night,she also gave me a bottle of rose sparkling wine-she knows me so well!!!



bargainous beauty buys,2x Revlon pale pink polishes 99p each from the 99p shop,I can only wear natural polishes at work so these are perfect for that!
Olive butter body lotion £1.71 Tesco,I havent tried this before but I love the Cocoa butter one.
Cutex cuticle care paint on-also 99p shop,my nails are dry atm so I hope this works.
Arm & Hammer advanced whitening toothpaste-99p shop
nail polish dry
Garnier dry skin moisturiser,I only bought this cos it was 1/2 price in Tesco.

if I find you,you're......

dead,you thieving scrotes!
Some pond life broke into my car over the weekend and tried to TWOC it,broke all my steering column and left the doors unlocked,I suppose scrotes wouldnt lock up after themselves,but still.So now I have a £150 excess on my insurance so I will have to pay it out of my own pocket cos the insurers want to scrap it!!No way are they writing off my car,theres plenty of life in it yet.
Luckily the nice men from the garage I always go to came round and took it away and promised to make it all better for me,for price of course,but I am grateful to them,they came out so quick cos they know me and know I need it for work.Don't know how I'm gonna pay for it cos I dont get paid till Friday.

I hate working nights!

after finishing my run of nights on Thursday,I slept till 1pm on Friday and made myself get up in the hope I would be able to sleep that night,well I dozed off at 9pm,woke an hour later and that was it until 7am on Saturday,when I slept till 1pm- I got slightly sloshed in the evening and went to bed at about midnight and woke up again at 2.30am,so a total of 13-14 hours sleep in 3 days.I hope I can sleep tonight as I am now on earlies,no wonder they say working nights shortens your life!

I'm turning into my Mother!!

I have blogged a few pics of my recently sown herbs and veg and my new plants,but the other day whilst taking some ne'erdowell to custody,I was 'stop the van!!',colleague was all 'what what?',I had spotted a plant growing near the nick that I have been after for ages,I see it quite alot but dont know what its called,nor have I seen it in any gardens centres,so I wanted to get some of the berries it grows.Only I didnt get chance cos we were then called off again.
Anyway this is proof I am turning into my Mother,who goes around taking cuttings from everything she sees!


What happened to the me of old?