Our New Home

We've now been allocated our house in Singapore and it looks a little like this.  This house is just up the street from us, but i cant get a good picture from google of our own one, so until they forward us some pictures, this will have to do! 
How exciting, Daisy gets a nice big garden!

Things I'm looking forward to this Autumn

Things I’m looking forward to in Autumn:

Making a bonfire

Wearing pretty scarves

Making neepie lanterns

Making hot chocolate

Baking pumpkin related foods!

Building cosy beds made up of all the softest eiderdowns and blankets in the house

More roast dinners

Watching lots of family films on the sofa

Using lots of cinnamon and nutmeg in the kitchen

Making s’mores

Snuggling up with Daisy

Making applesauce and cosy meals

Smelling wood smoke

Carving a pumpkin

Decorating for Halloween

Seeing the leaves turn and kicking them into the air when they fall

Making toffee apples

Making apple and bramble pies and crumbles

Man Drawer

With The Husband away at the moment I’ve taken the opportunity to pull everything out and start to get it organised. We have three bedrooms, a study, a dining room, living room and a kitchen as well as the two bathrooms in our house. When we moved from our sea side cottage it was deepest mid-winter and the heating was broken. We had very little time to pack up and make the new house habitable so we threw all of the things that weren’t immediately needed into one of the bedrooms and closed the door…fast forward ten or so months and we are now in a predicament.

Last night I started to pull boxes out of this room and can now see part of the floor in it. A lot of the things pulled out went into other rooms like shoes that I thought had been lost or the bag full of tubes of toothpaste (why did I do this?). I’ve filled a wheelie bin full of rubbish as well as boxes I’ve put into the garage for TH to take to the skip. I’ve also made up a box of electrical wires and switches that TH can sort out for himself, as he has several MAN DRAWERS full of rubbish!

Two different moving companies are coming on Friday to give quotes so we want them to be able to see everything and I also want to ensure that everything is in its right place before they start to put things in boxes. I have a fear that something’s going to be kept in storage in the UK when I really need it in Singapore, but all I can do is plan.

I’d love to say that I was sitting and reading or hanging out in the last rays of sunshine. I have been having long walks with Daisy Dog, but that’s only so I can attempt to get healthier before I head off into all that heat. I hope your September is more relaxed!

x

Keep Cosy

Brrr, this morning we woke up and it was soooo cold.  Im still not going to get a tank of gas before the weather turns so we are relying on our electric blankets and the wood burner.  Oh well, wood warms you through twice, once when you cut it and again when you use it!

Singapore Home

We have found out we will be living in the Dover area of Singapore.

So we've been looking at different blogs and posts about it here and here.

I can't wait to get some pictures for you!

Tea Perhaps?

I've had some very good luck recently.  While working through our laundry pile I found some old unused, long forgotten vouchers for our favourite hotel in Aberdeen.

We went there for Valentines weekend last year and had so much fun.

We hung out in the drawing room reading papers and drinking tea.  We walked around the grounds, came back again and sat down to drink yet more tea.

We sat in the lounge and spoke to the First Minister (only for a short while mind).

We spent so much time just chatting to each other.

We ate nice meals and rested...away from any stress...

and when we came home we felt better and planned for our next trip, we told everyone how much fun we had and that Christmas we got some vouchers to go back....that is until they got lost in the move...

UNTIL NOW....!

Some tea and cake perhaps?

Weekends that Revive

Hello out there in Blog land. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are taking full advantage of all this great weather. It’s so cosy and warm-albeit a wee bit blustery, but who am I to complain?

It really cheers me right up to have days like this as they are so unexpected after last year, I really keep saying to myself as well as all that will listen, “we are so lucky it was this year we didn’t go on holiday and not next year.” If we had been staying in the UK then I’d be outside getting my bulbs in the ground, however that isn’t the plan this year. Because TH’s company is now saying they will organise everything we are presuming someone will knock on the door with a couple of boxes one day and somehow everything that needs done will get done. However, for now, I am enjoying this weather.

I met up with one of my dearest friends who lives far away and we laughed and chatted and made a great deal of noise late into the night. It was one of those evenings that lifts your soul right up and manages to fill you with lightness for no particular reason.

On Saturday we did the usual chores like tidying up and getting groceries as well as sorting out clothes that we’re putting into charity shops. By accident I managed to set my alarm for bright and early so ended up having a late afternoon nap right before The X Factor. I, by the way, can’t wait until Strictly starts again…you really know that the countdown to colder seasons has begun!  (Did you notice I didn't say any particular event in this cold season?  Much more of that to come anyway!)

 On Sunday we had the family round for Sunday dinner. It was so blustery and cold that we got a fire going as soon as we got down to the living room. We had about four massive packets of chicken browning at one point to make 2 dishes for fussy eaters. At least we could all appreciate and agree on pudding which was a giant strawberry/raspberry/banana Eaton mess.

TH had been a bit poorly all weekend and so we went to bed exceptionally early...although that didn’t stop Daisy Dog jumping up into bed at 3 in the morning only to stretch out and start barking at my feet…now if I could only have a nap on the grass..

September

Oh my goodness, can you believe it’s September already? What is happening this year? We’ve had an amazing Summery Summer (which, quite frankly, we could have had last year!) and now without me even noticing we’ve pounced right into September and Autumn. If I had a garden to be taking care of I may have been more aware of these things. Perhaps if I were looking at all of the clothes and décor catalogues I may have had a heads up. But alas twas not to be and I’m left playing catch up.

Despite all of this September is still one of my favourite months. When it gets a bit colder outside and the sky gets bluer I am happy. The air is crisp and if you are up early enough you can catch some frost. This is my favourite time of year. There is a paragraph from The Magic Apple Tree by Susan Hill where she describes her lifelong love of autumn and I agree whole heartedly. I implore you to read this book, it really is one of my all-time favourites.

September is fabulous because it is the start of the time when all of the meals prepared at home start to change. For breakfast I love to change to porridge instead of yogurt. As we’re having a pretty great Indian Summer this year I may move slowly into this and make some compote or have muesli with my breakfast. When lunch rolls round I normally just have soup and some homemade rolls if it’s the weekend. Tea time is the best though. It is normally something that has spent the whole day in the slow cooker making it like a true nursery meal and exceptionally comforting, or something that reminds you of childhood. I love toad in the whole or bangers and mash with proper butchers sausages. Toad in the hole reminds me of Danny Champion of the World and so really does help you feel cosy from the inside out.

Normally in autumn there are beef and ale pies or lots of mince. Chicken is normally for Sunday dinners and pulled pork sandwiches are what Saturday nights were made for. The most humble of all dinners is sometimes the best and that is a baked potato. I love them with a hint of bacon and sour cream with lots of cheese, though TH loving lots of protein as he does normally wants an egg in his. Not the healthiest of dinners but a real treat. If we have this it will be on a Monday as I wouldn’t ever put the oven on for just one thing. No, these need to be organised around the time the oven goes on for the roast at Sunday lunch time!

I’m already keeping my eye on some brambles in the area so as soon as they turn I will be ready for them. Everything in Autumn tastes strangely of brambles, apples, cinnamon and nutmeg when you come to my house. I never really eat much game although The Husband loves it and I know it’s autumn when I see new advertisements at the butchers stating that the more seasonal meats can be ordered in.

I feel that when I look back at last year’s posts they were about moving and now we’re in the same position again this year. Oh well, we’re always up for a new adventure!!

Seaside Walks

My friend has recently bought a house on the north coast of Aberdeenshire.  It is a very old fishermans cottage that looks absolutely picture perfect.

It needs quite a bit of work but she is willing, able and very ready to make this beautiful building her home.  It has a little courtyard with an overgrown garden-however this gives her the chance to pick out all of the best flowers and shrubs, and get rid of the rest.

The windows look out onto the sea and you can open the windows wide to feel the sea air flowing through the house.

The coast of Aberdeenshire is gorgeous and I've already had quite a few trips up north to visit her and see all of the work she has already done.  Some of the things are getting done by builders or the kitchen is getting put in by a very skilled group of people, but quite a lot is being done little and often by friends and family and helpers who pop in to visit.

I love the scent of the sea and she is so very close to it.
We walk past the harbour and out to see the fishing boats, and take drives to other villages.  We walk along beaches and the dogs run until they decide they will come to us to get water.
This is how we spend our weekends, i wonder what it will be like next year?

Time to Hibernate!

I am beyond excited that we are now into proper Autumn viewing and all for the lovely adverts for all of the best shows are starting again.

I know the Bake Off can put me in a great mood!  It is most certainly time to start moving back indoors and getting cosy as it gets darker earlier each evening. 

A Girls Night Out

Last night my friend Holly and I went to the show...oh my gosh it was so funny, it made me want to get up and dance!!  Now it did mean i had to stay out late on a school night, but once in a while wont hut, will it?

It was so sweet and really great that we ended up listening to disco all the way home in the car, then Holly came in for a coffee to try and wake up a wee bit before she had to drive for another 15 minutes home.  I ended up getting to bed at 3.15 in the morning...this just does not happen to me anymore.

I think i will be having early nights for the rest of the week to catch up on myself.
x

Bennachie day trip

How we're Saving

I haven’t done a post about how the saving is going for quite a while so I thought I would do an update. The original plan was to fill all of the ISA’s we could between us which would take us to early Summer and we would hopefully be able to go to the bank and talk reasonably about getting a mortgage. This would give us a 10% deposit for a small cottage on the out-skirts of Aberdeen which we would pay off as quickly as possible. Because we have been saving up my salary as well as paying off rent we were hoping that this plan would be very achievable should nothing go awry.

Now that there is a plan to move abroad we aren’t saving to get our own house next year as we aren’t able to own property in the UK while living in a government house abroad. However we are still living with ‘Thrift’ as our watchword. There are great things happening because of this move – mainly that we are getting rid of all of our excess ‘stuff’ and car boot sales as well as selling things on eBay are really helping us top up the ISA’s.

I really enjoy being ‘in charge’ of the money and give The Husband an allowance every month which he can spend on whatever he likes. Out of housekeeping he still gets all work clothes and packed lunches if he wants them as well as his own phone contract paid, so that’s quite a large sum for just frittering away. The housekeeping gets spent on all of those bills that are set in stone and never change and then the bills and things that need to be paid that we can change by either getting rid of the services or cutting back. I take my allowance and then the rest gets saved. Below is a list of the things we spend money on with a percentage sign to show how much each month gets put on it.

Things we can’t change:

1. Rent (17.25%)
2. Council Tax (5.6%)
3. TV licence (0.51%)
4. Subscriptions (0.34%)
5. Contents and Car Insurance (1% each)
6. TH’s Phone Contract (0.69%)

Things we can change:

1. Sky TV (0.75%)
2. Petrol (5.52%)
3. Groceries (6.9%)
4. Gas (3.45%)
5. Electric (3.45%)
6. Allowances (5.17%)
7. Phone and Broadband (1.03%)

I had been saving my allowance for the Girls Trip I had been planning for Edinburgh, but seeing as that has had to be cancelled I am just putting more into savings until I see something I would like. We aren’t saving any money for the gas tank right now as we probably won’t use a full one before we go so we’ve decided we can get by using the wood burner until then. Also because of this great weather and late sunsets no lights have been going on for ages and ages.

Menu planning and shopping around has saved us quite a bit of money and we should be able to save a bit more as we have started to run down the pantry and freezers. I have better lunches that are cheaper than I ever bought in shops as I eat quite a lot of leftovers now. This doesn’t mean we eat fatty or cardboard-like food. It’s a bit easier now that it’s getting colder as we had make more stews, casseroles, or things like toad in the hole. More mince and tatties or Sunday dinners served with a plethora of veg, dumplings or pastry.

We find and cut all of our own wood and only bought a chainsaw when we saved enough PayPal money from selling things online-making it ‘spend neutral’ in my mind. This meant we could cut larger logs in a shorter amount of time so we have been stock piling for autumn for a while now. We cuddle into a soft hot water bottle to keep cosy, just like we did when we were little. Water cleans most tables and worktops and cheap homemade solutions clean most of the rest.

We don’t have a pot for emergencies, although when we do have a mortgage we’ll have to keep one. When we had to get the brakes on the car fixed last month we just had to not save as much that month, but because our money is hardly locked up in stocks and shares we can get to it if there was a big problem. Also, although we rent which can seem like dead money, we also know that if something breaks we can get it sorted without us parting with any money.

When you see it written out like that I think you’d be forgiven for imagining we could have always saved money, however it really was only recently we thought about it. I feel so ashamed. When I think of money that was just ‘blown’ it makes me crazy! Oh well, onwards and upwards! I just have to keep acting like those of my grandmothers generation and save every penny I can.

Swallows in the Garden

Way back in Spring we found some swallow nests being built on the side of the house.  We left them to it and they left us to it also so there was no need to go out and stare too much.  We soon heard the noise of little swallows and were thankful that the weather was warm-not thinking too much of it.

Then one morning we came out of the house to find that the nest had fallen.  We could only find two birds, both of which were alive, but they were quite little.  There still seemed to be lots of adult birds flying around overhead, but the little ones were firmly planted on the ground.  So we were very worried for them.

I phoned the SSPCA who told us to put them in a box and take them inside as they couldn't fly and feed.  We were told to put a little bit of water in with them and we made the box comfortable.  A man from the SSPCA came out quickly and took the birds away and told us that there were many little birds that had fallen during the hot weather. 

He told us that our little ones had a good chance of surviving as they were so very close to flying away themselves.  The other day he looked in whilst we were at home and said that all of the little birds he had collected that day survived.  TH is now planning a fishing trip with him and the rest as they say is history!

Another Swap

I have recently been over to Blueberry Hearts fantastic blog where she has been planning another swap!  I've copied out what you can see below from the blog post about the swap so get your thinking caps on people!  I have put my name down for the Hocus Pocus one so can't wait!

Hocus Pocus Hallowe'en - a Hallowe'en themed parcel to thoroughly immerse yourself in the wonderful black and orangeness of the occasion. Some ideas for this are bat shaped bunting, Hallowe'en themed cushion or sweets for trick or treating. So many options with this one I think...

Autumn Glow - an autumn themed parcel which could include anything autumn themed that you like. For example an autumn themed wreath, some cosy hot chocolate or even a handmade scarf or hat. Possibilities are endless!

Awesome Autumn Plans

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how much things will change when we move to a new country. One of these things is ridiculously simple and so impudent that I am even thinking about it. We are being shipped off to an amazing place on the other side of the world and my little worry…oh it was just about how I love autumn and winter. My worry was that I would be sad missing golden crispy leaves falling to the ground. My sadness was that I would be missing snow covered branches and twinkly lights I associate with my journey home in Advent.

I felt that if things weren’t the way they always were then they would automatically be bad, or I would perhaps become sad. Fear of feeling sad in the future is something that I’ve only just learns terrifies me. I have had some really tough times in the past and I guess I am subconsciously very worried about being like that again.

To overcome this (or at least in part) and hopefully move forward I am planning an Autumn Adventure with The Husband. I would like us to have a slow and leisurely drive down to Dundee taking in two lovely shops I always HAVE TO stop at. We will then set up camp there for the night and then travel on to St Andrews to walk around the prettiness there. They have so many cute little independent shops and I always feel so at home in University towns as I think they are some of the most inviting and welcoming places.

So there we go, that’s my plan. I will have a last hurrah to autumn and then I will attempt to move forward and embrace and love the new.

Whatever happened, happened well

the Bhagavad Gita

“Whatever happened, happened well. Whatever is happening, is happening well. Whatever will happen, will also happen well. For what are you crying? What did you bring with you, for you to lose? What did you create, for it to be wasted or destroyed? Whatever you took, it was taken from here. Whatever you gave, it was given from here. Whatever is yours today, will belong to someone else tomorrow. On another day, it will belong to yet another”.

Looking for Jobs for the move ahead

The move to Singapore has The Husband and myself planning what we need to arrange and sort out before we get there. Because of TH’s job I will get a full visa and will be allowed to find work, however how easy it will be is another thing. Singapore is so full of people at the top of their game that it’s going to be quite hard to get something, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. Any money that I am able to make will still go into a pot for when we come home so that we can buy our own home.

I was lined up to do some training with work, but because of this move everything im involved with will be winding down and work will be slowly taken from me. I look forward to being able to help with the training of somebody else and can’t wait to get into that role in the coming months. I was looking forward to all of the training that was lined up for myself. I had been accepted to a university course which would have been a great asset for my CV and would have been free as an employee. I was also lined up for some Project Management training which would have been great, but as it is I would have to pay for it, and I really don’t want to even start something I can’t finish right now.

What I have been looking at is getting other sorts of training under my belt so that when I look for a job abroad I will be able to get something half decent. I’ve been looking at lots of courses which I hope will help to set me apart-even if it is just to prove that I can do things off my own back.  Train the trainer training courses are for those who want to get into training others in organisations, so I hope that I can build on the times I tutored with computer training through the library. They do all sorts of courses and this will hopefully build on my skill set to make me look like a good future employee! The courses are mostly under £500 so are something that I am more easily able to get involved with and I seriously look forward to getting my teeth into something new. They do all sorts of things but right now I am looking at getting into something to do with education as we know people out there that run their own school. I hope that this does make me look a better candidate as I think it will be easier to meet new people if I have a job too.

This is such an exciting time and I am really trying to focus on all of the positives as I can be really averse to change so part of my looking at these courses is something to do with preparing myself for the move…. All we need to do now is pack up all of our worldly possessions, sort out all direct debits and bills, sell the car and excess furniture etc…. Hmm, not much then!

Singapore

Can't wait to get over there!

So excited for the move to Singapore