Clickity Clack Clickity Clack

About once or twice a week I can hear the sound of horses on the street. To be honest, I am usually wrapped up in my warm covers sound asleep when they arrive. Lucky for all 6 of you about 2 weeks ago I was up early enough to snap a few quick pictures out of the window!

Oh... and in case you were wondering, these are royal horses ;-)

Playing Catch Up

I realize the posts are few and far between these days! Things have been incredibly hectic with travel, work, move, etc. As a matter of fact, it is Sunday and I am at work!! So here is a quick catch up and yet another promise that I will be posting about our trips to Eastern Europe and Munchen soon!!!

We have officially moved! Woo Hoo!! The new place has been a voyage of discovery with new things going wrong everyday. We are living without a sofa or dining room table but we do have satellite TV including ESPN America so Chris is happy ;-) Yesterday we went furniture shopping and got a sofa and table and have our fingers crossed that they will be delivered before or during the Kipphuts' visit... if not, please accept this as a formal apology for having to sit on the floor.

About 2 weeks before the move, we went to Munchen with 25 of our not so closest friends (truth be told I don't think I actually knew 25 people until the trip!) to celebrate Oktoberfest. Chris and I had been planning this trip since first visiting Germany a few years ago. Oktoberfest in Munchen is like Mecca for beer lovers... and as you all must surely realize by now, we are beer lovers! Take a moment now to imagine what the weekend was like... just think litres of beer, pretzels the size of my head, lederhosen, dirndls and of course Gnew Gnoah Gnome!!! Combine all of these things with a tent full of about 5000 litre drinking Germans! Good times!!!

And about 2 weeks prior to Munchen we spent a week in Budapest and Prague, as you may have guessed from the homeless disco tech post. I have a ton of pictures that capture the fun of eating pork knuckle, soaking in thermal baths, and enjoying the last days of Eastern European summer... Now if we could only get Internet access in our new place to upload pics!!!

Thanks for your patience!!!
Until next time,
XOXO

A day in the life...

of a very small, dual washer and dryer.

I am sure most Americans have heard of a stackable washer and dryer. However, a new concept for me is the dual washer and dryer. That is a single machine that washes and dries clothes...and it is very, very, very small. Doing the laundry is an all day or rather and all week event here in the Kipphut flat and requires a considerable amount of fore thought. I try to do a load every day in an effort to stay on top of things but with traveling back to the states and every day life, I have fallen behind. This is not the first time and I am predicting that it will not be the last. I have gone to the laundry mat ( aka launderette) but this is also an event and costs about 30 pounds to do 5 loads. So today is dedicated to laundry. Here is how it works...

First, I divide the laundry in to the following types of loads... some of which may sound familiar and some may not: whites, mids that can be dried, mids that can not be dried, mids that could be dried in a "normal machine" but turn into a wrinkled disaster when dried in my machine, darks that can be dried, darks that can not be dried, and darks that could be dried in a... you get the point. There is also the white towels, dark towels, dish towels and bathrobe loads. As well as the load of nothing but jeans that can only be dried for 25 minutes and then must be hung on a drying rack... the list goes on...

Second, I wash the first load which is normally whites because Chris is out of undershirts and socks. However, by now it is already 3 o'clock in the afternoon and one load takes about 2 hours so the rest will have to wait til tomorrow! Today is different in that I got up at 6:30 under the disguise of making Chris breakfast. In reality, I just wanted to see if I could do 5 loads of laundry in one day! Okay, I admit that I got a head start by doing 2 loads yesterday but they count because...well, I said so : )

Let me pause to fill everyone in on a piece of information that I omitted... if anyone is still reading this, that is... The fastest wash cycle takes 59 minutes and most full loads take between 50 and 75 minutes to dry. Towels take 90 minutes to dry, sweat shirts take 60 minutes plus about an hour on a hanger in the hall to dry and the bathroom rug never dries!!! Jeans and my pajama trousers can not be left to dry completely in the dryer because they wrinkle to unrecognizable levels. This means that in addition to the several hours in the machine many things spend another 60 to 120 minutes hanging on all available hooks, bars, chair backs, door knobs, etc...

Third, about half way through the drying cycle I remove everything from the machine to check for wrinkling, dampness and to determine how much additional time is needed. This takes about 10 minutes and inevitably ends in me either burning my hand on a hot button or zipper or forgetting to restart the drying cycle after replacing all the wet clothes. Neither scenario is fun.

And finally, after 2 or more hours I remove the clothes from the machine or their respective hanging locations, fold them and put them away... and then start on the next load.

The good news is that it is almost 11 am and I am about to finish up with load #4... maybe I should get up with Chris every morning...nah ; )

The waiting is over...

I spent the afternoon cleaning and figured it was a perfect time to take pictures.

With no further ado...here is the flat!

Unpacking

For the record... this is a picture and not a pitcher as the label seems to suggest. I read it aloud when the mover handed it to me and he replied "That is one way to spell it." Do you think it was Clare/Clara, George or the mumbling lady with an unknown name? I am rooting for Clare/Clara aka The Bomb Dropper!

Our bed after the movers unpacked everything... while attempting to clear it off last night I had a small mishap. We obviously have to make use of every inch of storage space. So I was standing on a bench trying to fill the top of the closet with all kinds of 'bits and bobs' when I cause the bench to turn over. According to Chris, I collapsed like a folding chair. On the way down I managed to hit by elbow and lower back before smacking the back of my head on the edge of the box spring. Chris came over and I asked if I was bleeding and he replied with a chuckle "yes." I started to panic and then Chris said he thought I asked if I was breathing! I sat on the couch for most of the night with a bag of ice on my throbbing noggin! I woke up this morning (thank goodness!!!) with a very tender head and some serious bruises. I also have a killer head ache... I guess that is to be expected!

This picture does not do the living room justice... It is literally covered in stuff even now as I sit in the cafe drinking my skinny latte and typing this blog... it is a mess! Oh well... it can wait!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!!

Until next time!

~Hugs and Kisses

Getting "Set-Up"

Until now we have been lucky with setting up our utilities in the new flat. The gas and electricity took one phone call of about 20 minutes with no problem and no deposit had to the paid. The water was set up by the landlord so I just had to wait for the letter in the mail with our account number... which we have received. The bank account was set up by Uncle Ernie (aka Ernst & Young) and my dear hubby before we even arrived in London. Now... let's talk about the Internet and cable... or the lack of it!

We were told by the landlords helper, Jacques (pronounced Jacks by the English), that the former tenant in our flat had Sky which is similar to Direct TV or Dish. So Chris called Sky and scheduled an appointment to come and hook it up. We paid the fee and waited... over a week for them to come on Saturday. We were told the service man would be there between 11 and 3. He showed up at about 5! Once there he took one look at the cables, plugs and various wires in the vicinity of the TV and said he did not know "what the bloody hell any of it is!" I am quoting Chris's version as I was outside in the freezing cold guarding the van from potential meter maids as we were informed that WE would be responsible for any tickets and the man refused to use the meter parking and walk the block to our flat! In the end, we still only have 4 tv stations and no Internet!

So the internet mooching and cafe hopping continues!

Sorry for the delay...

No need to worry... we are still alive! And we are moved in to the new flat! It has been a long few days especially since we are without internet connection at the moment. So this will be a short and simple post...

We got the keys to new our digs on Friday, checked out of the hotel on Saturday, re-located Moe via a mini-cab, realized we needed sheets, towels, plates, utensils etc, shopped, watched Florida beat up on South Carolina (assuming nothing changed in the 4th quarter), met friends for brunch, shopped some more, slept a few hours along the way and ate our first meal in our new place. That just about sums up Friday the 14th through Sunday evening!

Moe is settling in again... however, I think he is turning gray after all the stress of flying and moving and new smells! Poor kitty! Sometimes I feel guilty for bringing him all the way here but I can not imagine not having him with us. He is a constant source of comfort.

We hope to have internet in the flat in about a week... until then!

Home Sweet Home

I think we have a new home! I am just posting one picture for the moment as it is not yet a done deal. Once I know for sure I will post more pics!

This may soon be our front door...

Flat Hunting

In November of 2005, I honestly thought it would be ages before I had to go looking for a place to live. Wow, I was wrong! 3 short years later and I am at it again... although the potential homes have shrunk considerably and the price has risen drastically! I think I looked at 12 flats today. Around number 5, they all started to melt into the exact same image in my head. With Chris in Singapore, I feel a ton of pressure to find and secure the perfect place. I think I found a few great options and will be heading back out tomorrow for round 3! Wish me luck... XOXO