Dust to Dust...

When we moved into our first real flat together, it was unfurnished. We had to buy, beg or borrow everything from plates to wardrobes. This included a vacuum cleaner, which was a rather ancient Dyson donated by Mars and Venus.

It survived until last weekend (an impressive four years or so) when it suddenly emitted a shower of sparks, fused all the electrics in the house, and spectacularly died.

So last night we went out to Sainsburys and bought our first ever new vacuum cleaner. Got home, set it up, and tried it out on the living room carpet. This heralded the following discovery:

1. It is possible for one carpet to hold an entire 'bagless canister' of dust, undetected.
2. Our carpet is actually beige, not grey.
3. Dysons clearly DO, in fact, lose suction.

In the Deep Midwinter, Mookmoo Has a Moan*

I promised myself I wouldn’t keep apologising for the current lack of regular posting, but I feel bad if I don’t. So I’m sorry. Please forgive me.

Life is a bit of an obstacle course at the moment, which is why certain things, like the blog, have rather fallen by the wayside. It’s not easy working full time, studying part-time, being married and trying to have some sort of social life all at the same time. I wouldn’t recommend it, especially not in winter when you end up feeling as though you never see daylight except through a window above a desk (the desks at work, uni, and my study at home having become the interchangeable settings for 90% of my waking hours).

Still, it’s Christmas in less than six weeks, and while as you know I am not a big fan of Christmas for its own sake, I do like the ten days free holiday that comes with it. I also like any excuse to spend hours in Paperchase buying pretty things without guilt.

I’m so tired I could sleep for a week, and over Christmas I actually might. I’m in desperate need of big comfy armchair and a crate of red wine and no-one asking me to do anything involving a desk or a computer.

Positive things… Do I have any positive things to say…? Oh, yes. As soon as my course ends in January and I (hopefully) qualify, we’re out of here. Don’t know where we’re going yet, but anywhere but here would do nicely. Probably won’t be leaving the UK (although I would love to – have I mentioned lately how much I hate this country? The only place in the world where it seems possible to find oneself veiled with a light coating of stinking rain yet when one looks in the sky find that it isn’t actually raining. Oh, and don’t get me started on whoever decided that matching the pavements and buildings to the sludge coloured sky was a nice idea…) but hell, just away from Essex is a start.


*That’s from a Christmas carol, in case it makes no sense to some of you.