Kew Gardens

A couple of weekends ago I went to Kew Gardens with a friend. I had been planning to go since I moved over to London three years ago. But somehow it never happened.

But now finally I made it on a glorious autumn day. Enjoy the photos:

 The Pagoda was very fascinating. I took many pictures of it.

 They had a little forest of redwood trees. They were huge, but apparently they weren't even half the size of the biggest ones ever found. That is just crazy!

 Pagoda from afar. There were big 'lanes' running through Kew where you could walk across and watch tree. I love trees. It was so great to be in such a green place in the middle of London. The only annoying thing were the planes heading for Heathrow. They fly really low and are very loud.

 Biggest surviving Victorian glasshouse structure. It looks beautiful. I took this photo from the treetops on the tree walk. Yes, they have a walk inside the treetops. It was amazing! And a little shaky...

 Banana palm. I used to have one. Much smaller though.

 Star fruit. 

 Bonsai. This was hidden away in the garden behind some research buildings. The map they give you is a bit crap.

I was very glad that I went. I might have to do it again in spring. Though autumn was really nice with the trees in glorious colours.

New place

We are in our new flat! And the internet/phone/TV situation is sorted. Was actually very quick and efficient. I am mighty impressed.

I managed to take some pictures. They are not the greatest quality, but here it goes:

Our kitchen. I tried not to take a picture of the counters because they are still packed with stuff.

Our bathroom. It's an actual room!

Bedroom. Messy, but I cleaned it up after this.

View of the balcony. It was pouring down rain when I took the pic.

Living room. The kitchen and living room are actually the same room, but it's really long.

So there you have it. Nothing spectacular, but I love it! Have been in it for only a few days now, but it is already home. I love all the space we have. The first night was a bit weird, but now it's all good.

1 boy + 1 boy = double auntie!

I forgot whether I mentioned that I will be going home in November in order to see my new nephews. I booked this flight a couple of months ago and placed it safely more than two weeks after the due dates (which were only two days apart) so I would not miss one of the babies. This is one for my sister one for my brother.

My sister in law had her little boy two days ago. All went well, he came in the middle of the night and she and my brother are happy first time parents. Who cannot agree on the name. I think they have to decide within one week otherwise the state will give the baby a name. Uh oh, excited how that will turn out!

And then yesterday my sister went into hospital and had a baby boy. She had to have a c-section, which we were all expecting since she had to have one with my first nephew as her hips are very tiny, but the baby was big, especially the head. But all is well and that little bugger actually has a name: Emil. Which I love, love, love.

They are in the same hospital on the same floor. They also live very close together in the city. Those little boys might end up growing up more like brothers than cousins.

So yay, the little buggers are there. Which means when I get there in two weeks time everyone will be settled in at home and I can enjoy my two new nephews!

And now I have to go to work. Booooo....

Where is my free time?

I am free!!! Or so I thought when I handed in my thesis at the end of September. I spent most of September, especially my precious weekends, polishing the thesis of (well writing it) and handed it in on the 30th. I took the day off work because the uni office opening hours didn't allow me to pop in before and after. So I spent my day picking up the thesis from the printer, together with another girl from my course. We ended up returning all our library books (yay) and then turning in the diss. Finally!!! It was actually pretty unspectacular. We didn't even get a receipt. Nothing. Ah well, it's gone, that's all that matters.

Then we went for a nice lunch with another friend who we met at the office. I guess we weren't the only once turning in our papers on the last possible day. We went to a nice Japanese place and had a lunch set. After we went for ice cream and some shopping.

I had to leave them for a bit then because I had an appointment at a real estate agent. We finally found a flat to rent we liked and went in to sign the contract! So that has been eating up my 'free' weekends. We have been moving stuff the last couple of weeks. This weekend we are taking a break (bf has to work). But next weekend we will properly move. We will have to bring over the rest of our stuff and properly set up. I took of a day to get the BT and Virgin Media guys into the flat to get connected to phone/broadband/TV.

I am VERY excited about this flat. It is new (the whole building is). So nobody has lived there before us. We have a proper sized bathroom with a bathtub (I don't really like to take baths, but am excited nonetheless). We have a balcony, a proper sized bedroom. We have double-glazed windows (score), we have a couch! The kitchen/living room is one big living space. But I love that. Makes the flat look much bigger than it is. Plus, it means bf cannot hide away in one room. We still get to spend time together.

We still have to buy some shelves for my massive book collection. Though I am getting rid of about half of them (breaks my heart, but what can you do). This also made the need for an ebook reader much more apparent. Though I still cannot decide which one I want. Well, don't have money at the moment anyway, so I guess I will figure it out later.

Anyway, just wanted to write this quick update. I am not dead, just massively busy. But hopefully in two weeks that will all stop and I will be settling into a brand new flat with free weekends (soooooooooooooo excited!).

Until then... Let's pack some more boxes!