Unpublished Wanderings

Oh well, from August onwards last year was pretty full on... I prepared this post and then never wrote anything or published it. 

We spent August in our temporary flat, and then moved briefly to Essex while we waited for our house to go through, In the end it happened without much fanfare on a Tuesday afternoon. I met Victor at the house where he'd met the vendor earlier to collect the keys. We now had a new home, but it was in desperate need of a thorough clean and a lot of love. It has been neglected for many years, but we are ready to make it our own. We just needed to get married first!

So yes, in September and October 2021 I started a new job, moved house, had my hen party, finished wedding prep, got married and went on honeymoon. It was a lot, all at once and I tried my best to just enjoy every moment of it but it would be a lie to say it wasn't also a fairly stressful time.

Of course our wedding day was simply the best day, celebrating with our friends and family - seeing some for the first time in over a year. The only COVID restriction was masks in the Church for our guests - pretty lucky considering. 

Below is life in August and September 2021.

Before we left the temporary flat, I squeezed in a Korean meal with two work friends in New Malden which was such a tonic. Finally seeing people in person to socialise brought so much joy.

A couple of final wedding bits ready for the big day!

Finally made it to the Postal Museum, which was my mum's Christmas present in 2019! An interesting place to visit, and a novelty to take a trip on the train which has so much history. 

First day in our house! 

Me and my hens! A super spice fun day around London with all the girls <3 

A new commute from the suburbs.

Wanderings :: April, May, June & July

I blinked and it's the end of July! So much life has happened since March. We put an offer in on a house and are still currently in the process of trying to exchange and complete. We hadn't expected things to take this long, but nevertheless decided not to renew our rental contract and moved out at the end of June. We have belongings in storage, at parents' and in our temporary flat. Pretty much everything is in a mess, but we really hope we're nearly there with the house purchase now.

We've sent our wedding invites and have started to have meetings about the day and make purchases (rings!) as it fast approaches. 

I've just got a promotion at work, and now things are winding down in my current role whilst I get prepared for the new position in September.

I'm an Auntie again, and have the most precious and tiny new nephew! Other friends' babies have turned one! Celebrations have typically still been held in the park, but as shops and businesses re-open and restrictions ease we've started to live life once again.

Weather is on and off, extremely hot and then torrential downpours and flooding in London. At least we are living somewhere with a small garden currently and so we are taking advantage of sitting outside in the evenings.

April & May

I think this is my favourite make so far, it was really quite simple and the sizing was pretty spot on from the packet. 

Continued to enjoy walks around Battersea park with friends.

Mastered giraffe bread and made it once a week while we were in our flat!

Had Sunday lunch at our local pub, ahead of opening inside we sat outside in these little pods. It was slightly too cold to be outside but still nice to go out and not have to worry about washing up!

Harry Potter studios was open so we were able to use Victor's Christmas present. It was nice to go again, as there was so many new exhibitions since the last time I went.

SUCH A THRILL to be reunited for an in person meet up with my friends. Ayoola was about 30 minutes late, so nothing much changed from before lockdowns!

Had my first vaccination

June & July

Another successful dress made, although this one was tough and I put off finishing it for ages. It was fairly simple in design but the sizing just didn't suit me and I had a really hard time altering it as I just don't have the knowledge and skills. I also still need to add a few buttons as it blows open a bit too much with the current fastenings.

SO MUCH RAIN!

Another Christmas present used! A lovely spot of afternoon tea - on one of the hottest days of the year.

And afterwards cooling down out in our garden with a homemade aperol spritz

Train tracks into Ongar as seen on my couch 25K route, Essex edition!

A nice after work walk turns out rather wet!

Our empty flat

Last drive from Essex to Wandsworth

Van journey to take our belongings to storage

Last night in our flat, dinner in a box sitting on camp chairs

and sleeping on the floor

Last Sunday lunch at our local, inside this time, whilst the rain was lashing down outside!

Scotland in the Euros (and England in the FINAL!!!)

Last walk around our local park - the place we've spent the most time outside of our house during the covid pandemic

Menu tasting at Mulberry House, ready for wedding decisions!

Wonderings Lately :: March 2021

March marks a year since we started working from home, social distancing and really taking things seriously. This month everyone seemed to feel quite reflective, thinking back to last year and the naivety that we had around how long things would last. I remember wondering whether I would actually get to the end of the 30 day yoga challenge I started the first day of wfh. It feel stupid to think that now, but really at the time it was only supposed to last a few weeks.

On the 1st March I dug out the Mărțișor that I bought in Moldova when I visited for interviews in 2019. This little broach symbolises the coming of spring and the tradition is to wear this everyday in March and on the last day of the month tie it to a tree. I like learning about little things like this when I've travelled abroad and I enjoyed wearing this just for me on the first of March.

I took this photo one evening when I walked to Balham to refill my washing up liquid. I don't usually walk as it's a nice cycle but my bike was vandalised and is now out of action. The walk obviously took slightly longer but it was also a nice route through Wandsworth common and strange and exciting to be out of the house when the sun set!

I've finally got into a nice routine with working out at home. Pilates and Barre classes through an online zoom subscription. I'm also pleased that my ivy plant has started growing again, after giving me a scare over winter immediately after I cut it back.

This book was slow to get going but once it did I devoured it and it's a trilogy so looking forward to the next two being released!

I went on a long walk to Wimbledon park which has this great big pond (lake?) and a delightful sunset. 

I met a friend for a walk in Battersea park and decided to walk home, past Albert bridge; one of the prettiest in London (in my opinion). I over-estimated my capacity to walk this far, after so much time barely moving and my legs were seriously aching for a couple of days afterwards.

I don't know how I am going to survive my first netball game when things start up again.

One whole year since we were all instructed to work from home. One year since that Monday evening when I walked in from work and Victor was watching Boris Johnson announce that all who could, should start to work from home and minutes later we were texted from work telling us not to come to the office in the morning.

This office space in our spare room has made wfh so much easier for me, I am luck that I can use Victor's desk, keyboard and monitor for work. Sir Woofington helps out on cold days so I don't have to have the heating on for the whole day!

The view from the window could certainly be improved upon though, that's for sure!

Wonderings Lately :: January & February

Well the year begun with that usual sense of anticipation and excitement. New Year is a celebration I prefer low-key in normal times so I was quite happy with a nice meal at home and fireworks on the TV. It's a shame that the tele-visual offerings were so dire - especially with such a captive audience - but thankful for surprise fireworks anyway.

So January began, and we all kept our optimism for a few days, remembering that there was a vaccine now, surely things will be getting better from now on? Unfortunately, the reality was that things were pretty much the same (or slightly worse) than before and we were back fairly quickly in a national lockdown once more.

So what is there to update each month? We've not really done much of anything. We are lucky, very much so, and we still have jobs and these lockdowns allow us to save money, which we really need to pay for our wedding. But that's so hard to plan for when things are so unknown, and life becomes so boring when it's so monotonous. The weather is grim, the days are short and I'm basically hibernating at home.

So I've not taken a lot of pictures, and I don't have a lot to write about as wanderings or wonderings.

As we move through March, the government's plans for easing are starting to be implemented and I am glad these are being done slowly and cautiously. Hopefully it is for the long term this time; third time lucky? I'm also anxious about returning to 'normality', life is very boring but it's also very easy at the moment. I have no plans and I need to go nowhere but home. What is life like post-COVID? Are we ready to find out?

As March starts to bloom, spring is in the air, days are longer, and the sun shows up a bit more. There is much optimism, and a little bit of trepidation is probably wise. We proceed with caution.

Lately...

I bought a new (to me) phone. Snazzier than my old one, which will soon be recycled.

Got this new tea pot for my birthday and absolutely love it! So much joy!

Here's Boris announcing the 'road map' out of lockdown. I really wish he'd brush his hair.

I went for a long bike ride on a nice day in Feb back to my old neighbourhood in Canada Water. Loved a change of scenery and revisiting somewhere familiar.

I enjoyed my birthday, despite the lockdown. I never expected that we would still be under such tight restrictions on my birthday but alas we were. I enjoyed a walk in the park with a friend, although less impressed with her sellotape (!) and Friday fish and chips. Since it was Valentines weekend Victor and I also enjoyed a fancy waitrose 3 course meal deal dinner. <3

Got a tiny bit of snow and it was very exciting!

And the majority of the past few months have been wedding prep. I'm crocheting and creating felt flowers plus drying rose petals for confetti. What else can you do with every evening in front of the TV?!

Victor's Christmas chocolates lasted about 2 weeks and I ate only about 3 or 4 of these.

Took a long walk along a new to us bit of the Wandle trail. Unfortunately not a particularly attractive outer London walk but nice to visit somewhere a bit different still within walking distance. This was probably the nicest part of the walk.

These photos are in the wrong order, so these last two are from our New Year's Day visit to Whitstable. Not too busy (unlike the parks in London), we had a lovely but chilly walk along the sea, blowing away the cobwebs and starting the new year fresh.