The highlight of my week was getting my new messenger tote. Handmade by Neil's cousin, see thewrendesign.com for more bags. They are really unique and fun! I have been using the bag for a few days now and I am definately becoming attached to it.
On Wednesday, we started off with a major cosmetic project. The front of the house was looking overgrown, so we pruned, cleaned out the bed, added a small border fence, edged the walkway, and cleaned the front door, mowing the lawn to finish it off. We are now chuckling as we watch the neighbor do the same.
Thursday, we took Michael to swimming lessons and then Neil went to work in London. Michael and I spent the day doing things around the house and it was quiet.
Friday was Michael's last day of swimming and he really made the most out of it. He finished his second week of lessons by completing ten meters! Great work Mike! Afterwards, we went to the library and chose our new books for the week, with Neil and I deciding that we would both check out the same book and read it simultaneously. Lucky for us, we tend to like the same genre and writing styles. It will be fun to compare our thoughts on this book. It is called Mister B. Gone, written by Clive Barker.
Saturday we went into Brighton at 7:30 to look at flats with Rod. We first went to breakfast at Carat's in Hove. I liked the restaurant. It was a really neat location and very clean. The guys really enjoyed thier breakfast and I thought mine was okay, the only issue for me was that I was expecting a canadian style hot ham and sliced tomatos and instead I got cold deli ham and stewed tomatos. It was good though for what it was. Next time I will order bacon and mushrooms!
We then went to the first flat on the list. This flat was my favorite. The views were absolutely astounding. Lots of light, but a lot of work needed to be done. Still, the bedrooms were large, the kitchen was unacceptable, but would be fabulous if it was moved and redone. In other words, the SPACE has tons of potential.
The second flat had loads of character, but the nature of the character seemed restrictive to improvement to me. Neil liked the second flat the most, as did Michael.
The third flat was a top level flat that had been refurbished enough that it needed little work done before moving in. It had an up to date kitchen and bath. Great views, but wasn't pleasant to view because 1. the people were home, and 2. They had a lot of stuff.
The fourth flat was really not even worth mentioning. It was overpriced and the kitchen had never been updated. It was also a one bedroom.
The fifth flat was in the same building that the fourth one was in. It had been refurbished extensively, but in my opinion in mostly wrong ways. The carpets were hotel like, dark and ornate. The kitchen had a multi color backsplash. The walls had been made to look like flowers were carved in stucco, the bath was nice. They knocked a wall out and combined the tub and toilet area, which was a great look, but all in all, you would just have to pull out all of these very niche improvments and make them more generically appealling.
Number 6 was probably last decorated in the 60's. It was overpriced, but had a fabulous layout, with two large bedrooms that were separate from the living area. It seemed to me that the kitchen was a bit small, but it may have been the layout and lack of proper space utilization. It had decent potential.
Finally, the seventh flat was done to the nines. I can't say that there was a single thing for you to finish. It was quite like being in a hotel! Everything was polished, clean, new, and stylish. Funny that having a look at something so complete makes you think it is a negative because there is nothing left to do!
It was loads of fun looking at the flats, particularly as an exercise for a foreigner to become aware of the subtle differences between the States and the UK. A massive difference in design is that the UK flats tend to open into a hallway, whereas the US flats will open into the living area. I found it quite odd to walk into a hallway as I think it presents distastefully. Another big difference was the realtors. The realtors here did not seem to be on the ball like the agents I have used in the U.S. Unlike the U.S., where you would have your own agent show you flats, here there is an agent for each flat and that agent is the one who does the showing. For having sole control over viewings of their real estate portfolio, you would think that they would be very familiar with the specs of the properties they show. Nope! It was odd.
Of course, no visit to Brighton would be complete without a stop at the comic store and the Lego store.
After viewings we kidnapped Uncle Rod and came back to the house. We ate dinner and after Mike went to bed we watched Taken, which was pretty good.
On Sunday we cleaned out the closet under the stairs, took recycling to the center, and worked some more in the garden, ending with a game of marbles. All in all a productive day before Neil took Rod back to Brighton.
Gardening is moving along. All of the seeds have decided to make their appearance, except for the standard tomato. We now have cherry tomatos, baby corn, cucumbers, beets, brussel sprouts, sunflowers and poppies. The bed was dug out and we have planted the cucumbers, corn and sprouts, as well as planting the cherry tomatos in pots. Our crown imperial is dying, so we dug it up and transplanted it for the time being to see if we can save it. Apparantly not a fan of clay soil, but the bleeding hearts are strong, the clemantis adequate, and the rose is the healthiest I have ever planted and is clearly taking advantage of the clay soil nutrients. It was not the easiest bed to dig up. Most of the issues were along the wall and the front of the bed. The roots of the grass and weeds at the end third of the bed were very strong, and it took a lot of work to pull up. On Sunday Rod suggested taking a string and pulling up the border fence to edge it straight. He edged and Mike picked up the clumps he cut out, while Neil worked on the last quarter of the bed to be finished and I knocked dirt of the grass clods into clay pots that we the tomatos and the sprouts in.
Still working on the sweater! It had taken the back burner with Michael out of school, but it is progressing slowly. I will be focusing extra time on it next week.
Til next time!
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