Monday, 15 November 2004

Somewhat Sodden
I should have blogged days ago but I've been busy (mostly) enjoying the new house, and its garden, interspersed with flurries of moving things around inside it and shopping for household things. Oh, and going to work, of course.

Several days of brilliant sunshine and thick, muggy heat turned, yesterday afternoon, into fragrant, heavy, yet still muggy rain. Though it has cooled down this morning. I came home yesterday at seven of the clock and decided it was a good time to re-fill my bookcase. So I started at the bottom shelf with the heaviest books, as is usual, only to have to deal with the messy fact that some of them had been pissed upon by some despicable roving feline before we moved. I had prior warning of this, but it was a horrid thing to face up to. I wiped the smelly books with slightly soapy water, and in most cases it wasn't too tragic - and not all of them were contaminated. Only one casualty made me cry, which was a strong pong on the cover of Paul Gallico's The Snow Goose, of which I have a lovely old copy with a textured, pictured, absorbent dustcover. As I was sniffling over it, my sense of smell seemed a bit compromised, but I kept going and got through them, not surprisingly in a severely pissed-off mood - or should I say pissed-on? I gulped some cider and became somewhat drunk and very sleepy: eventually making my evening meal and nodding off halfway through eating it.

What to say about the house? It's not much bigger in the bedrooms or lounge than our previous residence, but they're somehow better arranged, and we have a dining room attached to the kitchen, both of which can be closed off from the lounge when necessary. The bathroom is huge - almost bigger than my bedroom - and pleasantly cool, though a bit retro in design. It's all very private: the next house up the hill sits far enough up a bank that they don't look into our windows, or even into the courtyard thingy that runs behind the house, and the deck at the end which is surrounded by shrubbery and trees, including several large tree ferns :) :). My room is at the back corner of the house, looking out upon the deck and courtyard, where I plan to house many pot plants and hanging baskets. Mum and Dad's room has a view down the valley, over this very treeey suburb. There is a large kashmir(cashmere?) cypress in front of the lounge window which stops people looking into our living room, and next to it is a very large conifer of some kind in front of the dining room window, which is absolutely wonderful to look out upon. Underneath these trees there are ferns, rhododendrons and other shrubs, and along the railing of the steps up to the front door is a vigorous rambling rose. There is a long, sloping driveway alongside us which has parking space and allows easier access to the back (kitchen) door for carrying things in from the car or what-have-you. Outside the back door is the washing line in a sunny corner, and a little herb garden with a colourful honeysuckle on the trellis above. Most importantly: the cats love being here!

Oh, I could go on and on... like I already have... but I've just looked at the clock, and I must go soon and make ready for work, the next step of which is making breakfast. The rain is being thrown in hissing sheets through the air at the house and it will surely smell wonderfully earthy outside. Ahhh, this is good for the soul.

See you later.

~ posted by Anna @ 8:55 am
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