Generally Gemma

Peace and quiet

Seems like it has been a long time where we had a weekend to just do what we wanted without having to think ahead and plan and panic about the state of the house. This weekend was just that, a catch up on sleep and peace.

We went to Wimbledon on Saturday to do some shopping, I visited Lush and as part of the trade off G got to visit the Natural World and play with the idea of buying a solar system for school!

Bought a new lounging set of clothes, bottoms and a little jacket for around the house and a couple of pretty little camisole type tops and a top the exact same shade of limey/pistachio green as my comfy comfy walking shoes! A very pleasing find. So all in all it was a pretty profitable shopping excursion. Not too expensive either which is always good. Clothes and nice smelly things for my face, even convinced G that flaky eyebrows and skin was not a good look and managed to buy him some moisturiser!! What a girly thing to do! It is however called Lad something or something Lad so he is happy that it is suitably manly. Bless him.

Today well, today I woke up late and then to atone for my laziness cleaned up the bedroom and had a throw away of some old make-up. Eight mascaras!! Who needs eight mascaras? All bought whilst on the constant search for the perfect one to give me a thicker longer lash. Yves Saint Laurent by the way, was the result of many year hunt. Turns out I just had to be grown up enough to accept that Boots 17 range was not going to cut it! So the bedroom is clean and tidy, two loads of washing have been done and are now hanging in various states of dampness around the house, oh a dryer, a dryer my kingdom for a dryer and a laundry room to put it in!

I also bought bulbs, freesias and lily of the valley, the success of the snowdrops, croci and daffodils has gone to my head and I am going to try more. So they will need to be planted next month. Although who knows if the schedule on them is even right, seeing as the others weren't supposed to be sprouting for another few weeks and some of them are already budding! The topsy turvey weather has us all confused.

Had Chinese take away for dinner and my fortune cookie said

Behind every able person, there are always another able person.

Which of course I take to mean is that G is less able than I!! His reading of course is slightly different.

And of course tomorrow is Monday, which means returning to the mad house that is my work. Although admittedly not quite as mad as school where G has to go!

Snow!!

Not enough to take a picture of or to settle, but snow none the less!! I'm such a child to get excited by such things!

Smuggled

I had a little delivery of one of my favoriteist things in the world today. I have just smuggled them into the house as they are on the banned purchase list, so that will have to be our little secret.

Yankee Candles! Of late I have develped an unhealthy obsession with them, all the fault of an American message board I sometimes hang around on. I heard the lyrical raphsody of high oil content, lifelike smells, longevity of aroma and I was hooked. (G doesn't call me an ad-mans dream for nothing!)

Amazing how a smell can conjour up so many memories though. The smell of the sea is one that exlusively belongs to home, Spain, the trip home from the airport with the windows open that truely means I am back. Chocolate, which will always remind me of working in a chocolate shop. (A bad idea if ever I heard one!) My Mum's perfume a bitter-sweet fragrance that always reminds me of airports, excited and happy to arrive and miserable to leave. Cut grass takes me back to being a kid and Daddy cutting the grass, can't remember that one really but I know it is there. Dama de Noche (Jasmine) is the smell of a hot Summer, laying in bed with the windows open and it's heavy scent creeping into my room.

On a cold and frosty morning!

Well, after having waxed lyrical earlier on about the joys of a bright crisp English morning today I was reminded why it is I so often wonder why I stay in this country. Today was one of those cold, dark, dank mornings that reminds me of why it is I generally tend to hate the British weather. Crisp frost underfoot that makes it feel like you are walking cornflakes and a damp chill in the air that feels as though it is sinking into your bones. The sort of morning where on my walk to the train station to begin my daily battle with British rail that your nose drips constantly like a tap. Not pleasant. Still, at least today the train was only ten minutes late so my bottom hadn't completely frozen to the bench on the platform, just a small amount of frost bite that was sorted out by cuddling the radiator when I made it into the office.

Not like these poor little darlings. (Not a great picture again) Every morning when I arrive in the sleepy little village I work in these ducks cheer me up. This morning though I was quite concerned that perhaps they were frozen into the pond. (After seeing them for three Winters in a row you'd think I'd realise this doesn't happen. But, first thing in the morning and only one cup of tea down your mind can play funny tricks on you.) Suffice to say they weren't frozen in, they managed to extricate themselves with quite a flurry when a small child threw a stack of bread at them! So there was no need for me to take them to work to snuggle the radiator with me! (I did take the picture after I realised they weren't in any danger, I'm not that mean!)

The other nice thing about where I work is this sort of mini glen near the train station.

It always seems quite peaceful, it has a small path that wends it way through it and when it is dark and the lamp posts are lit it looks a bit like the clearing in Narnia, when the kids first come through the wardrobe! Or perhaps that is just my imagination running away with me. When Spring is a bit closer there are always daffodils and crocuses (croci, I'm never sure of the plural) and snow drops scattered around too, so it is quite a pretty little place if you can ignore the train line behind the trees and the road running behind you!

Finally Graduation

So G finally graduated.

After a nightmare of a couple of years we are finally done. He has a proper job, a career even, he is happy, I am happy we are both earning fairly decent wages and have a house that we like. Right now life is good. Not perfect, for that we would own a house, be thin and be rich!! But, it is good, contentment is reigning over the GG house at the moment.

So that is pretty much it. Reading back of the last few days I do seem to have been rather busy! <shock> G and I are never busy! So the first few posts of this blog really aren't indicative of our lives at all! From now on they will be more normal. (for normal read dull <smile>.)

But seriously for a minute, it does feel like life is back on track and running smoothly now I just have to wait for the next thing to go wrong!! Hopefully though this will be end of majorly bad life changing events.

So, congratulations G and here is to the rest of our lives being disaster free!

Visitors and Graduation begins

Well, I am back at work, G has graduated and I survived the in-law visit unscathed!! Mentally and physically exhausted but without any major foot in mouth moments, which for me is a big deal!

Well, MIL and BIL arrived first, we sat and had a gossip and ate my simply delicious soup and homemade bread. The house was clean and tidy and fresh flowers were sprinkled about the place.

I come over a bit domestic goddessy at times when we have guests. (I don't think that is too bad a picture with my poor little camera. I really felt the lack of something decent at graduation I can tell you!)

Then G and BIL decided that a game of cricket was in order, now remembering that the weather wasn't exactly great on Sunday they had to play indoors, in my hallway, in my rather small house! So a few ground rules were laid down.

1) If the bat hits the wall, game over
2) If the ball hits the ceiling, game over
3) If I think it is too loud, game over
4) If I get hit with the ball, game over.

I think they managed to enjoy themselves though.

Then my FIL arrived. We all went out for dinner and then came home for an early night as we had to be up at 6am (!!!!) the next day to get into London for G's graduation.

Birthdays and Hangovers

Forgive me if this post is a little disjointed and a bit all over the place but I am sitting doing this with a small hammer in residence inside my head. No, I am not ill, it is sadly self-inflicted.

January 21st is my brother's birthday and last night was the celebration. G and I don't go out drinking as much as we used to and Bro's birthday is one of very few big nights on the yearly calender. Attempting to keep up with people who seem to spend most weekends, and a fair few weeknights, mainlining alcohol was probably not the best idea I have had in a while. Every year on the way there I have such good intentions, every other drink will be a soft drink, we will come home at an early hour, we will not buy burger and chips to eat on the night bus. Every year I break every single one of those good intentions. Every other drink gets bigger, we stay till the bitter end and on the way home we buy huge burgers and huge chips. Will I ever learn!?!

Still it was lovely evening, good to catch with people and see what has happened to them in the last year, always a few new faces to learn about, new couples, breakups, new jobs. Caught up on a bit of family gossip with one of our cousins who always comes to the birthday knees up.

So all in all a good time. Until 9:30 am this evening when G bought me my tea in bed some plink, plink, fizz and reminded me that today is the day that his family descend on us for his graduation tomorrow. Arrrggghhh, so I am up, I am showered, I am simmering soup and I have candles burning to hopefully mask the scent of alcohol That is pouring from my pores. Wish me luck!

Ribbit Click

Today has turned into one of the most beautiful days we have had for a long time here. Clear blue skies, crisp air and a nip of a wind. All this after drizzle and damp this morning. It is one of those days that reminds me why it is I love England so much.

It is the sort of day that in the middle of a hot, sweltering humid Summer in Spain that I would dream about! And the most annoying thing is I forgot to bring my camera out with me today!! How on earth did such a thing happen.

Well I know how it happened. I have given up taking my camera out if it is raining. Everything looks miserable and I feel miserable and the pictures that I have taken have soooo reflected that. Every time I looked at them I felt miserable too. So there it is sitting on my table wishing it was out having fun.

Anyway and with a tenuous link I shall continue onto my next little story. I went outside last night to take the rubbish bins out and nearly trod on something.

A little frog! Awww how cute is he? I put my foot down and felt a little flurry of excitement by my ankle, screamed like a girl, looked down and saw him! So I thought the nicest thing to do would be to leave him in peace, once I'd taken a picture of course!

As for the quality of the picture. Well, it is dreadful, I only have a little point and shoot Fuji which means I am somewhat limited. What I really want is this

The FUJIFILM FINEPIX S9500. However, sadly until I manage to find £376.88 lying around in the road I am going to have to continue to dream and make do with my original little baby.

Blogging

Well I thought that it was about time that I got caught up in this whole "blogging" scenario. Everyone seems to have one but me, but no longer, I am now blogged.

Blogging seems to mix up a number of favorite things, writting, the internet, pictures, colour and memories. It might also be a way of allowing friends/family who are far away to see what I am up to on a regular basis, which would be nice. So that seems to be it for now. A single post to get me started and see how this whole looks when it is put together.

And a little picture just to see if I can do it. I took this crocus picture last year and played about with it in photoshop.