Making a House a Home.

3 days after moving in we here are all feeling rather settled.

If some what tired. xD

After blogging last night we watched the TV before chatting into the wee small hours. Clambering into bed at 4.00 AM I automatically knew today would be somewhat stunted. Dragging my backside out of my ridiculously comfortable, toasty warm, oversized bed at 11.45.  I thought it could be worse.
For some bizarre reason mundane tasks seem exciting atm.
Like cooking and cleaning. Perhaps its because we work so well as a team. Nothing is too much effort it just happens.

Though if I have to ring LUSU Living once more the Great British Tradition of putting ones complaints in writing will occur. Grr.  Less about them.

So yes, We're all very happy. :)

And to make you happy heres the blooper reel.

And for more laughs:

Till later
Beth xx

In which Beth suceeds in uploading after faffing with YouTube.

So after much messing about I managed it:

So Enjoy and tomorrow I'll blog the one that went wrong just for the lols.

Bethxx

In which Beth moves into a house, shoots video, makes roast, names mops and does various other peculiar things.

On Friday I moved into my house.

My mother came with me and we scrubbed the place from top to bottom. it was disgustingly filthy.
My mother was less than impressed: "I have NEVER had to sweep walls before"

We waged a war on grease and cobwebs.

Dawn & Beth 43 Cobwebs 0.

TAKE THAT SPIDERS!

We cleaned the whole place. Mum even washed windows.

The water was black and the cloth ruined.
If ever catch anyone of you putting Windowlene on windows I will beat you to death with the bottle.
You may as well take furniture polish or grease to your windows.

Warm water and a microfibre cloth people!!!!
Rant against windowlene ends here.

On Saturday, Amy arrived first, then Alyson.

They just about had time to plonk their stuff in before Alyson's mum whisked us off to the supermarket.

It was an epic shop. The behemoth of a trolley got to the point where it took both me and Amy to get it around the store. We have enough food to survive for several weeks.

Many heartfelt thanks to Alyson's lovely mum for the shopping.

Saturday continued to get crazier as Emily, Rach and Jonathan descended on us for the start of our saturday night Tv fests with Dr. Who and skyping Lucy.

Sunday was a a calmer day which started with Amy and I heading off to church, before we came home had a quick lunch and heading to uni to get Alyson's keys. We then having tramped all the way up to uni decided to make it worthwhile and had a wander around the northwest of the campus where we found these:

They seem to be acorn shaped learning pods in the middle of the woods near the LICA building. We thought they were pretty cool.

After that we went home and sorted out our kitchen that was in chaos before cooking a roast dinner.

It was excellent. And we did it all by ourselves. admittedly there was a couple of phone calls to mum asking how to do something. Having never made a full roast dinner before it was difficult xD.

We finished the evening by playing daft games on the gamecube! We are so retro :P

Today Amy and I went into town to gather a few things we needed, we seem to run into so many people Katie, Helena, Laura, Rachy, Tom, and Lee, the only reason we didn't see Menez is because he was en route from Gibraltar xD. If you want to find your female friends; head to New Look, to find their boyfriend and best friend step outside xD 

After Lunch, Emma came over and stayed to dinner. and that is what I have done in the past 3 days.

Apart from this:

Now I'm going to make a second blog because theres too much data on this one xD.

The next one will be the video tour.

It was great fun to shoot. Particularly as we screwed it up the first time. I say we I mean I screwed up. I shot it portrait and it doesn't work.  If you have a laptop you can sit on its side you can  see it because I will post it on the bottom of the Blog. They're quite different in places and equally as funny. Mostly because the vids are like unedited versions of my blogs, rambly.

Also as they were shot at two very different times you see two aspects of life here. 

See you in a few 

Bethxx

Playing Facebook at their own game!

If you, like me, have been a loyal facebooker for the past, lets not count how many years, you too have, most likely, put up with various new changes.

However the general concensus is that the changes that went live today concerning the News feed, which have turned one of the best features of facebook into one of its worst, is that this has taken the biscuit.

So I urge you even if you not like me, British, and this is not one of your national pastimes, too complain.
http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=ui_home

I don't often go so far as to get publically outraged and post all over forums, twitter and blogs, normally those in my near vincinity get a outraged rant aural assualt.

If however you want a more immediate solution, change your language from English to another, if you're not a linguist, one of my friends said they haven't messed up English Pirate yet. You can change your language in your account settings .
So TO ARMS BLOGGERS. And get on that keyboard!
Bethxx

This Post is unimaginatively titled. 4DAYS!

So I officially occupy my own home.

And before I'd even stepped in the door those money grabbing trouble makers at TV Licensing were demanding we buy their precious product because we were currently breaking the law.

Interesting for an empty house.

Especially one that wont have TV in until saturday at which point I shall begrudgingly hand over my hard grovelled cash.

We were as you are most probably well aware very excited to get into Sibsey Street.

Sadly we were to be very disappointed by the state it had been left in.

Broken Sofa, holes in the wall, mattress mouldering in the yard. rubbish left on the floor in the bedroom.

The Landlord clearly hadn't cleaned, grimy kitchen and never ending cobwebs.

Despite this everything is else is in good working order and we were pleased to find it larger than remembered.

So there's work to do, but the major issues are being dealt with this week.

One thing that does worry me though is the recycling.

In 2004 I went to Germany and was confronted by a mind-boggling number of bins under the sink.

Today I counted that we have 7 waste receptacles.


SEVEN!


In what universe are there seven sub categories of waste???

At home we have 4 waste receptacles.

That I can cope with. But 7? By that logic I should have at least 3 bins in my bedroom!

These boxes and buckets have no where inside to go. As such they have become filled with stagnant water.  I do not look forward to emptying them on Saturday. Plus I have to face the most depressing fact that Amy, Alyson and Myself will actually have to weed the front... well you can't legitimately call it a garden, that bit between our front gate and house, to actually free said receptacles.

We shan't revisit my views on gardening, they aren't positive.

Despite this we had a very good day and Amy and I enjoyed what was effectively my first sleepover since I was 14.

Emmy's visit to Lancaster wasn't a sleepover as she couldn't choose to sleep in a guest room. Owing to a non existence of one.

The next 4 days will be manically busy. The next blog shall most likely be Sunday. Unless i procrastinate that loathsome thing called packing.

Right now I'm going to go and have nightmares about Recycling.
Bethxx

Cue general squealing of excitement.

Having re-read my title, I have just realised I'm very glad Conor refuses to read any blogs.

He would have many things to say on the subject. Because he revels in being a swine. Which weirdly is why we love him.
But we have already discussed this.

And it has nothing whatsoever to do with today's blog.

Today we are mostly concerned with three things.

Thing numero uno.

This is Amy. As has been stated on this blog many times previously; she is made of awesome.
And she is turning up at my house tomorrow. :)
Because of this I no longer have a floordrobe.
I also had to use a duster.
I'm still sneezing - if you don't disturb dust it doesn't disturb you.

Whilst relevant this is not what is causing the excitement, Amy's visit is, because more excitingly still we're then off to Lancaster on Monday morning. We shall pick up Keys. And put crockery in. turn fridge freezers on and claim our house!

This leads directly in to Thing number 2.

This, courtesy of Google Earth, is my house. My first home of my own. The upstairs window is My room. The downstairs bay is Amy's room.
A week today I shall be blogging from that house there.
Warning: blog may contain rants on subjects of packing and unpacking. The word awesome maybe bandied about more freely than perhaps it ought to be and it is likely you may have to hear my voice as I upload a tour of the house especially for the lovely Lucy who has been stolen from us by Spaniards. We have yet to judge if they are indeed evil, but they are making her climb through windows just to hang her washing out.

I know that its nothing much to look at and that it is of a muchness on a street filled with houses of the like BUT! ITS MINE...ours.  I will be sharing with Amy and Alyson who over the next few months will without doubt be featured regularly.

But first I must make it to next week with out annoying mum too much otherwise I may not make it that far. Or she may refuse to bring me home ever again. Which may be a bad thing.

But I will have a dancemat.  I have all the comedy I'll ever need.
Simultaneously I really ought to get on to sorting our TV license.

Because without that
THING 3: is endangered.
(Also I will have taken my TV to lancs for little to no reason >.<)
Because Ladies and Gents, Autumn is back!
The return of autumn signals the return of decent TV. Downton, Spooks, and Most important of all, Merlin.

My friends and I are geeks. I refuse to apologise.

Though our obsession with Merlin has a large amount to do with Bradley James.  Amy, who we are to induct to the show this year, was talking to me about how she hadn't watched but had been told that she should on many occasions. Her first question was "I'm told there's some one hot in it?". This made me laugh because it was somewhat out of character for Amy.

But the plan is that there will be merlin nights. I'm making pizza and providing the tele. Emily is bringing the ben and jerrys, quality streets etc.  I shall bake cookies. And Lucy had better be getting herself on the skype.

Anyway before I excitedly babble you all to death I'm going to go and draw furniture layouts for the living room because its all wrong at the moment.

Bethxx

An interlude for comedy

I have two friends. Two of many.
Conor and Anna. They'd like you to believe that they hate each other.

They find great delight in insulting each other. Its a game (which they just lost) to see who can be the most inventive.

They also enjoy rick rolling each other. Comme c'est:


Anna Barnaby:Depends. Why are we having this conversation again?
Conor Mullaney says
Depends. Why do we ever have these conversations?
Anna Barnaby says
Depends. Because we're made of awesomes?
Conor Mullaney says
Depends. Who am I?
Anna Barnaby says
Depends. Isn't it made of Rick Roll?
Conor Mullaney says
Depends. Am I ever gonna give you up?
Anna Barnaby says
Depends. Am I ever gonna let you down?
Conor Mullaney says
Depends. Am I ever gonna run around and desert you?
Anna Barnaby says
Depends. Am I ever gonna make you cry?
Conor Mullaney says
Depends. Am I ever gonna saaaaaaaay goodbye?
Anna Barnaby says
Depends. Am I ever gonna tell a lie and hurt you?

It continued for a long time. Welcome to the land of crazy.
Bethxx

A Boombox? No! This is a retro iPod dock!

If you remember, I cleared my room out, and I found some stuff. Including this:

Its a rare object to find these days. But we all have one. Lurking. In dark cupboards. In attics. Garages. Sheds. Left, maligned and ignored by the march of technology. Most of us have rejected them for streamlined space saving iPod docks, or upgraded to systems with that little usb port on top.

Cassette decks?? Qu-est que c'est?

In fact I have met a child who wasn't entirely sure how you got a round CD in that square slot.
At first, that made me cry with laughter. Then I was was left feeling old. Very Old.  yes I remember tapes and how shuffle wasn't an option, and programming / playlisting was only achieved by a mix tape. The ever present worry that the machine would go crazy and mangle the tape and winding the tape back to the beginning or moving it forward with your fingers because F.F or REW. would cause the machine to tape munch. Walkmans were the worst. And the only way to get your albums on there was to spend 40 odd mins playing the album on to the tape to record it.
(Remind me that 3 mins on a slow connection to download from iTunes is fantastic next time I start bashing one of the Bennet family)

However before I got my mucky mitts on my first MP3 and later my iPod and its dock, this:

and its 3 predecessors, (even then technology and I were mortal enemies, "WHY *bashes* WONT *bash, bash* WONT *bash* YOU  *BASH* WORK??!!! Hang on, it shut. but now it wont open!!!!! *further bashing, prising and hysterics*)

I have now just about worked out that beating technology is about as effective as talking to a brick wall.

Now the eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed something amiss in the 2nd photo.

Spotted it?
Yeah?
Thats right, usually wires hanging out of the Tape Deck aren't a good sign.

But this wire is attached to this:

(priorly a resident of the Wheelie bi....sorry.. dads car... till the tape deck decided it didn't like it and wasn't going to work)

And thus with this simple device, I have reclaimed retro.  In all its metallic silver and royal blue glory.
Just slide it into the deck switch on the machine. Switch on the iPod and Boom! Ok so I've had better volume and quality. But only since we stopped using tapes xD

Retro without the fuss of actually going back to the glory days. These days even CDs seem like faff.

Having just done a mental inventory, I seemed to have a thing for metallic blue and silver boomboxes. 3 different brands and styles but the colour never changed.

My brothers however is pearly white and silver, whilst mum always had black ones... odd.

If you've been outside lately you might notice its a bit breezy.
Apparently its going to get worse. Much worse.
According to the weathermen we have a hurricane headed this way.
so its gonna get wet and windy. EXTREMELY wet and windy.
Which is why we had to wind proof the back garden this morning.

Any Gardening related activity is anathema to me.
Except planting Geraniums in a non functioning outdoor loo just for.
Anyone who knows me well enough should be well aware of my dislike of anything insecty, buggy, sluggy, creepy or crawly.

This mornings set activity thus displeased me.

As was ever predictable, at roughly 11.45 this morning the peaceful suburban quiet was rent in two.

As the MOST GINORMOUS SPIDER I have EVER seen, (outside the zoo) scuttled out from under the water butt lid.

The last time I saw one that big it was behind my curtain tie back, with its tentacle like legs wrapped around the centre of the aforementioned tiebacks.  Sleeping was difficult that night. Especially as my mother took the  time to mention spiders usually live in pairs.

Spiders aside.

This morning brought me to the following conclusion:

It is indeed possible to have too many plant pots.

We have a plant pot for every size and stage of plant.
In the plural.
We had semi submerged plant pots.
Plant pots held together only by their contents.
Plant pots that also doubled as Snail farms.

I don't want to see another plant pot for a substantial period of time.

Now I'm going to chase a flying insect out.

Bethxx

I'm Still alive! Just!

I have been suffering.

Tuesday I was genuinely ill, and have been plagued by a headache ever since.

However writers block is far more irritating. I can write a bit but I dislike it or I hit a wall.

I've been thinking on change. In one year so much has changed. Its a long time is a year. And yet simultaneously, its no time at all. it flies by so fast. This time last year at least 5 of the people whom I would class as some of my closest friends were entirely unknown to me.

Similarly there are individuals I could happily have not known,  incidentally, I was having a conversation about one such person this morning. 

And I've centre aligned this just because they arent' there to moan anymore.

Some people are impossible to please.

This time last year, I was a nervous fresher, this year I'm a bold brash confident second year itching to go back, and get in my new house and see my friends.

(Don't tell anyone but actually I'm terrified over the YA - but Lucy says it'll be fine)


Bleh. Its September. Hay fever should not be making my life difficult right now. Its AUTUMN!
Nevertheless I'm just about scratching my contacts out of my eyes.


Talking of Autumn. Some people I know have been planning their A/W wardrobes.

Not being rich enough to do such a thing, I haven't. Despite this I have pretty much decided on my clothes buys this term. Though I'm not entirely sure why I want one of my 4 items. Its a little bit dressy.

But I will wait till later till revealing them. Probably cause I want to save the excitement of OMIGOSH I DID SOME THING THAT WASN'T WORK!

So two weeks to go till I return to Lancaster. I haven't even thought about packing, I'm on my 15th rehash of the living room furniture ( Its not going well!) Oh and I've rearranged the bedroom furniture nine times. All of this of course was done mentally. Except five sheets of paper.

However I've spent a small fortune on renewing my purple & NUS cards because I simply adore discounts, bought my bus pass, (its gone up with a bump and it disgusts me, despite this I'm still making a £600 saving on last year)

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go and talk frozen food shopping lists with the girls. Why this excites me I know not but it shall all be done to Avril Lavignes 1st 2 albums on the grounds they are vastly superior to any of her more recent efforts. That, and I'm feeling mildly reminiscent of times gone by. If it gets any worse, the guitar'll come out.

I better go before I have any time to decide on doing very rash ideas....
Bethxx

P.s What do you do with a non functioning outdoor loo?

How to write of which there is nothing to write of.

I have the greatest desire to blog.

Yet I don't have anything much to say. I find this infuriating, And perplexing, for yesterday I had a bath.

This might sound confusing but; bear with me.

I have already confessed to being a bit of a geek. This will explain therefore that my love of Douglas Adams' finest work "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"
Adams when out of ideas would draw him self a bath and sit in there to think.
He believed the best ideas come whilst in the bath.
I find it very useful too. There and and in exam halls whilst idling. Or places where I am forced to to be quiet. But usually I go off into daydream.
Sometimes I sit and think up fantastic ideas and then because I'm forgetful they disappear back into the ether.
So my bath didn't work out. Not in the inspiration dept anyway.

So I read over some things I wrote a while back.


Its an incredibly depressing thought, but it seemed initially that I was at my best when lonely or depressed, though to be honest the two go hand in hand.

Then I looked at some of the old stuff next to some of the newer blog and had a thought.

My styles simply differ.

The earlier stuff is definitely darker and harsher, particularly in respect to myself.

The newer stuff is less introspective

Anyway Philosophy over.

I still wasn't inspired.

Just mildly depressed that lucy flew away yesterday :/

Oh well she'll be back in january!

Till one conquers writers block!

Bye!
Bethxx