Barbie undergoes renovation

So a few years ago I moved.  I'm still in the same place but due to some unbelievable luck it really doesn't look like it.

It started badly, we received notice from our landlord to move out in 6 weeks...that's quite a challenge if you haven't planned but it is do-able, although the housing market in this area moves very fast.  We took it as a good thing as we had problems with our neighbours etc and started the frantic search for somewhere else to live.

A couple of weeks into looking - already after several viewings and lots of disappointment - the 'new owners' of the property had come over...the flat had been sold to a housing association.  They didn't hesitate to offer us the option to stay (or move to  another one of their properties).  I used to work with social housing so I understood that they would never allow us to move to another property of an equivalent size - we are just a couple living in a 3 bed flat after all - so we opted to stay where we were (thank you sitting-tenant rights!) and have the place refurbished around us. 

To give a little background, the building is an old tenement which had been listed a few years ago and was in desperate need of work.  The took it back to the very shell of the building.  Not a single room or part of the flat was left untouched....so. much. dust.  It was a great amount of upheaval and almost a year of workmen coming in every day for different things.  We lived in the bedroom for at least a week!

But is was worth it..


On top of getting an almost entirely new flat they also let us choose the colour of the paint in each room...not sure they expected the front room! (There's not a drop of magnolia in the whole place)

It was Christmas....I'm not allowed to keep the lights up all year :(

Thankfully now the work from the housing association is completed on the inside - we still have some new floors to put down ourselves but that's a work in progress.  The outside of the building is covered in scaffold whilst they fix the roof..Not idea quite how long that will last - one day I will be able to see out the (new) windows properly again!

(and I've been wondering why I haven't had time to post!?!)

One year in the blink of an eye

I feel bad.  Not generally, life is pretty great in Barbieland at the moment, but I feel bad for being so absent. 

So, I thought I'd catch up a little...it's been one hell of a year!...but in good ways.

Last October, I changed jobs.  Even before then life was pretty hectic, but typical of me, I do like to give myself a challenge...The new job was in another city.  Great....so a commute was my only available option.  Mr B was still gainfully employed in our current city, but (thankfully!) was willing to look for a new job so we could relocate.

Just as I started my new job, another employee mentioned the magic word...kittens.  We had been looking to get a new kitten to keep Tori company since our lovely Sasha had passed.  My new contact volunteered for cats protection and had just rescued two kittens to re-home!  We had only planned on taking just one...but how could we separate them?

So, we had two new arrivals...

It took a few months of 3 hours on the train before I heard the wonderful words 'I have an interview!' of course, B being B, he aced it and was offered the job.  It wasn't just any job either, it was a job in his desired field and all the other wants we have when hoping for the right job to come up....Excellent!

Then came the panic.   I'd been looking online at places to move to for a while, trying to prepare for the time ahead, immediately, I started booking viewings and doing more research on areas and all the other important stuff when relocating.  It was time consuming, and due to work schedules (and the distance) I did all of these by myself.  That wasn't a problem at all, thankfully Mr B trusts my judgement!   Most of the flats were not making me particularly happy, and we were on a time limit.  So when a flat came back on the market that I had previously been quite taken with I pounced.  booked a viewing and took the flat without B ever seeing it.  Thankfully, on moving day a couple of weeks later he did like it!

Since then, life has started to calm down.  I can't say I miss the commute, I'm doing well in my new job as is Mr B, and we are starting to settle into our new city.  The cats seem to love the space and regularly use the hallway as a racetrack.

We are still trying to fill the new flat up, there are a few less boxes and a few more seats so its going in the right direction. 

So that's been it....1 year, 2 jobs, 2 flats and 3 cats.