For the past year and a half we've either been wedding planning or having weddings. Now that both parties are over, we've tried to go back to normal life. The wee cottage we live in needs some investment, after 2 years of benign neglect. It's time to shake it all up!
Like all grown-ups do, we tried to start anew, using our possessions as a guide. We had received so many cool wedding presents, like our automatic vacuum cleaner that increased our standard of living, to our coffee machine, crystal wine goblets, Wii, etc etc.... So we (tried) to declutter, gave loads of things away to charity and replaced our Ikea togs with nice grown-up things. I'm still trying to live with less stuff so the CD shelf is next on the cutting floor. Then we replaced Pman's car with a cute sports car because i thought: we're young, we have no children and we better get it now before it's too late! We built Marbles a new floor to ceiling climbing post, which she likes (but will never replace her desire to play fetch with real humans) and we're considering how to fit the bubble chair that the Irish lads sent us into the living room. Sacrifices need to be made.
Pman in Max the Mazda
A bit of the bubble chair is visible on the left
We did other little things like replace the towels in the bathroom - which previously was a random collection of towels Pman and I had bought when we were students- with plush green matching sets from John Lewis (thanks again folks for the vouchers!). We built a bench to go under the dining room table and got rid of the non matching beech chairs that i had brought with me from London when i moved in 2005.
We're nesting, consolidating and trying to start our grown up life with routine and measured happiness. Oh yes, did i mention that I have started golf lessons because Pman's idea is that we should be able to play sport together and heaven knows i shall never attempt
rugby and roller blading again?
We had managed to get a kitchen company to fit our new kitchen whilst we were in Singapore for our second wedding and honeymoon. Our kitchen was always a source of slight irritation. Slight because it was 'new' when we had moved in, but it was an irritating DIY job and everything was just a little bit wrong as it wasn't done professionally. The previous owners were also cheapskates and it showed by the crappy appliances (the oven took 20 mins to heat up), the too small basin and their refusal to accommodate a dishwasher into the plan...or an extractor fan!
Our old kitchen was nice enough (post renovations in 2007) and it was a definite improvement over the horrible green one that i inherited when i first moved in (below)
Original kitchen (2006)
Here is our new kitchen! Induction hob (it's electric, but it acts like gas and it's awesome), self cleaning oven, 1.5 basins, granite tops and a house for the dishwasher. Loads of cupboards so everything is easily accessible, soft close everything, drawers that close smoothly without banging into other drawers (fecking DIY job!) and a rotating shelf in the upper corner cupboard so that all my spices are readily available!
I'm soo thrilled!
Oh yes, and a fab present from
swingdemon, thank you! It's so gorgeous and it's now above the couch.
Next stop for home improvements : garden and shed!
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The other thing that a newly-wed considers is how to live her life now that 'happily ever after' has arrived. Before the weddings, i was wedding planning day and night and going to the gym 4 times a week. That sort of lifestyle is not sustainable but i don't want to get fat. So what kind of stuff can we do as a couple which keeps us fit and helps us spend more time together?
We're decided to do alot more dancing together and had a lovely time in Dunfermline with the Edinburgh dancers. They were so hospitable and friendly to us Northern folks. Pman was thrilled as the level of dancing wasn't that great so he wasn't too intimidated, and i was just filled with pride as he swung me (and other girls) out on the dancefloor all night, with only 30% of the song consisting of made up moves.
The other thing that we did together was cycle. When i first moved to Scotland,
i swore i would cycle everywhere. However, i didn't as i wasn't fit enough, it really hurt and i was terrified! However, this summer i changed. I don't know what happened. Pman dusted off my bike and he took me cycling around town. He taught me the tips and tricks to survive and we enjoyed the long summer nights on our bikes, visiting friends and such. Today was a first for me. I actually took Mauve out and ran errands all day with her, and i survived! I cycled in the bus lanes, didn't scream when the buses started tailgating me, found all the bike racks and i didn't fall off my bike... not even once!
Cycling as a mode of transport is awesome.. it's between walking and driving. If you're sick of the speed, you can jump off and wheel it around as a pedestrian. You really see a city better when you're on a bike. Everything moves more slowly and you're more in tune with the city. And there is unavoidable eye contact with the kids walking down the street which i normally avoid with the earphones in my ears, my head down and those hands in my pockets when i walk.
Aberdeen is also pretty good for biking because it's not very rainy but it's always cool, so i would exert myself and have a glow, but not sweat buckets like i normally would in warmer climes. Everything in this temperate climate suits biking. We also won a tandem bike in a competition and we took the bike out for a spin tonight and it was SO FUN! Definitely great for us newly-weds. It was perfect for us to bond, to cycle in time with each other and to enjoy our rides together. It was easy too, two is better than one and the hills were not very daunting when we were cooperating!
So Tandem and teamwork are IN!