End point

We viewed a second house yesterday... and we move in early next year! Whenever we go and view places we tend to verbally rip it to pieces so we are not blinkered re. any problems. However, we were struggling to find negatives with this one. It's such a relief to see an end point to our current living situation - even if it does mean we will be abandoning a lot of our stuff as we don't want to risk taking bugs with us.

When enough is enough

After putting up with a lot of issues with our house, which in isolation would be easier to cope with, we have decided to start looking for somewhere else to rent. Our minimum tenancy is almost up, and we are so depressed whilst here it's unreal. I actually feel worse returning home in the evening than arriving at work first thing in the morning! Skewed!!

The final straw came when we attempted to turn the heating on with no luck for 20mins. The heating has proven tempermental before in that once you turn it on, it is pretty much guaranteed to turn itself off again within an hour. As it's now November and getting cold, it ain't good! Especially as the heating unit is located in the bedbug-ridden dining room, so you have to strip off in the cold before even entering the room in case one of the blighters hitch-hike's its way to other rooms.
So, after waiting 2 months for the shower to finally get fixed; 5 months of waiting for the bathroom window to get fixed (still waiting!); co-existing with bedbugs that were already resident in the property before we were; the heating dying and the general state of neglect - although the latter we were happy to ingnore as tht's why the rent was so low - we have decided that enough is enough. It's even worth paying the letting agent administration fees again to get out of this house.
I am a concerned about moving during Gareth's Masters, but he has said that he finds it hard studying here anyway due to the atmosphere etc.

Tonight we are going to look at a house about 10mins drive from this one. I expect it will be smaller, but if it means that we will not be paranoid about every black speck of dust, it's worth it!

AAAARRRGGGG!!!!!!!!

I found a bedbug in the frontroom on one of the dogs' beds. That means that they have somehow survived about four fumigations, a hearty spray of RIP and migrated back into the frontroom from the dining room.
I'm just so low right now. I feel trapped here because we can't really move as we'd risk taking the problem with us and then it would be our financial concern to sort it. Plus, the hassle and cost of moving midway through Gareth's Masters is hardly fair. It's makes decisions regarding our future difficult too; I'm considering going into accountancy, but with all the problems with the house I barely have the motivation to even do basic internet research to find out if it's something I'm interested in (or have the capabilities to do).
I know I shouldn't take life so personally - the bedbugs were just bad luck and not a personal slight on me as an individual, but sometimes you just want to scream for a break!

Update

Once again, apologies for the long duration between posts!
There hasn't really been much going, hence the lack of blogging material! Tales of life working in a bank does not make for a gripping read.

Tangent has been going to the dog club up here for about 6 weeks now and he loves it! I'm quite relieved that he enjoys training as I was starting to wonder if he would take to the Obedience side of things or not. Turns out he was just a bit lazy; with the motivator of livercake and not being fed his meal till after training, that no longer poses an issue!

I'm just recovering from a stinking cold. Gareth would be the first to tell you that I don't do ill very well - I'm not ill very often, and this is the first cold I've had in about a year. I admit, I do not bear illness with grace! I can get pretty stroppy about the mildest of things. Although the irritation of not being able to run because of it is very genuine. It's been about 5 weeks since my last run, and I'm desparate to go running soon, but not keen to see how much fitness I've lost!

More dogs!

Oops

The weekend before Gareth started his course he decided to trim his hair with the clippers. As he couldn't check the back that well, he asked me to go over it for him. Assuming he had already put the right grade on the unit I went to task. Unfortunately, he had taken the grade guard off so I had just put a grade 0 streak behind his ear. As the rest of his hair was grade 4, it was pretty obvious.
I managed to grade the rest of his hair to merge with the 0, but the longest grade he now had was 1. In my defense, I tend to think people are as paranoid as me and make sure things like grade guards are on before trustingly handing over the unit to a distracted and somewhat dippy wife.

I don't think I did a bad job in rectifying it; but I don't reckon the skinhead bovver boy was quite the impression he wanted to make on his first day!

Stuff

Thought I'd post a picture of one of the birthday cards I made this year. Unfortunately, the colours haven't come out too well in the photo

Convergence of guilt

Between Gareth returning to university, and me starting a job, the have suffered a bit in terms of walks. They hadn't really been out for about a week until yesterday when Gareth and my guilt at neglecting them must have coincided. After picking me up from work yesterday, Gareth said that he thought the dogs fitness must have really dropped as when he took them to Leigh Woods in the afternoon they got tired incredibly quickly. It was probably more to do with that being there second walk as I took them out before work that morning! They were pretty tired that evening.

The world of work

Sorry for the delay in posting. Last week I started my new job and am still recovering from the shock of full-time work. Before that not much was really happening.

We now have Draco (our snake) back with us, so now we are all back together!

My job is going ok. I was a bit dillusioned at first as no one really seemed to know where to put me for the first week and I spent the majority of my time either watching other people work or being trained on 4 different things simultaneously. The company has undergone a lot of changes recently, so there was an element of dischord still about. Things seem to be calming down though, and this week I at least have access to my own workstation!

Job!

I start my new job in mid-October, and it's an administrative role in a bank. I'm quite excited about finally starting a job that may have real career possibilities! As I don't start for a couple of weeks, I have a bit of time to actually relax too instead of stress about finding work.
I can't believe just how much of a relief it is to have got a job.

Job update!

Gotta a job! I'll give more details as to which one when the celebratory wine has worn off!

Interview update

My first solo motorway drive went well. As usual, it wasn't half as bad as I'd built it up to be. It was actually quite enjoyable - especially as I was completely at liberty to choose my drive-time music. Rob Zombie never sounded so good!
The assessment went ok too. It consisted of an 8 minute literacy test where you had to identify spelling/grammar mistakes in a passage of text. Rather embarassingly, I only found 12 of the 15 mistakes - my A'Level tutor would not be impressed! There was also an 18 minute numeracy test based on using a variety of tables of data to ascertain the information you needed. I was doing fine until ratios were brought into the picture. I've never been a fan of ratios! As such, I got 15 out 20 for the test. Oh dear. Oh well, it was enough to pass the assessment so I have to go back again on Saturday for the second part of the process.
Travelling 2 hours a day could prove tiresome, but I with the recession I think I need to be prepared to travel for a job.

Willow watching House

Interview and bedbug update

I have another interview tomorrow. This one is in Taunton so I get to do my first solo motorway drive. I am pretty nervous as I'm not really a confident driver (I passed 5 months ago but don't really drive much - driving in Bristol has put me off a bit). It'll probably be fine, but add this is a lousy sense of direction and you can see why I'm apprehensive.

I have started to sieve through the dining room and boy, is that job going to take awhile! I went through all the cross stitch charts sheets by sheet to check for bedbugs then called it a day as I was starting to go cross-eyed! If you are familiar with cross stitch charts then you'll understand how the symbols can be mistaken for small bugs and thus why it was such a mammoth task. I have a lot of charts. I'm going to attack the room again today and start checking my scrap book stuff.

Sketches

Over the last 7 years or so, I haven't really done a lot of drawing or artwork. I'm not sure quite why this is, but I think it is in part due to not having a lot of time when at university (working weekends and attending uni weekdays did not inspire creativity or energy!) and for a long time my head just wasn't in a good place - a lot things in my life took a backburner whilst I dealt with various things.
Anyway, I've started drawing again and thought I would post some of my sketches. I'm quite aware they aren't particulary good, but after such a gap I wouldn't expect my skills to have improved! Random dragonfly and a non-specific wading bird! For some reason there is a very snitch-like object too!

I have never been very good at drawing people, I always preferred animals - not surprising I did a zoology degree then really! However, I was pleased with this guy!

Ok, anatomically not very well drawn, but practice makes perfect - or at least passable!

Dog club

Gareth and I went to watch a dog training class yesterday. I wanted to observe the class without Tangent first in case it wasn't a good class and freaked him out - it can ruin a dog's confidence in those situations.
I was quite impressed. It was a fairly informal, soical class and everyone was really nice. The class is also small (maximum of 8 dogs) which is ideal! I was trying to bear in mind that it was a social club, not an obedience club though, as I'm more used to an obedience environment for dog clubs!
I reckon I'll Tangent next week and get him going regulary. He certainly needs practice with ignoring dogs when he is being trained!

Crazy dog eats own foot:

Rambling

The administration specialist job interview went well (apart from shredding my feet - see previous post). I should hear back next week. They interviewed 40 people for 5 positions, so roughly a 1 in 10 chance of getting it if I ignore any actual personal aptitudes!

Gareth's cousin's wedding was really nice too. They looked so happy! It was also good seeing the rest of Gareth's family, as we don't really see a lot of them. I also did my first night motorway drive too. It was a bit daunting at first, and I'm glad it was only half an hour of actual motorway, but I'm glad I've finally got around to doing it before I built it up into a major issue!
The next day, we took the dogs to Leigh woods where I managed to hit the 5 mile target for my running (my longest run has only been about 4 miles before now). I was pretty pleased, and Tangent was exhausted by the end! He didn't even want to play in the evening which is a rarity for him.

Time for new shoes?

This is what happens when you walk to an interview wearing shoes that are a little too big and rub. I also have blisters on the top and bottom of my toes:

Level up!

I recently did one of those 'what's your stress level' tests which consists of adding up points based on events over the last year. For example, death of a close relative is 40, moving home is 20 points, Xmas is 15 etc. (I can't remember the exact points, but you get the idea).
If you get more than 300 then it states you are at risk of serious health issues. Mine came out at 443. Hmm. I think more candle-lit baths and less double-bagging is in order! Oh yes, and 'dealing with bedbug infestation' wasn't even on the list! Problem is, I'm finding it difficult stopping. I can't seem to just stop, and when I do (i.e. the craft session - see previous post) it doesn't seem to work out. I know it's probably not healthy to be this wound up all the time, but behaviours can be hard habits to break.

UFC

This has to be one of the funniest photo's I've taken of Tangent! It looks like he has been scissor gripped in a UFC fight! He was yawning, not trying to tap out!

Creative block

The bedbugs are still here! After being isloated from my craft stuff for nearly three months, and deciding that that is more than enough time for any crafter, I went into the dining room to do some scrapbooking. I thought that after two doses of different pesticides and no bloodmeal for months, the chances of their being any bedbugs would be quite minimal. I started emptying the box I'd packed all the art stuff into and found one of the ruddy things at the bottom of the box. It had the audacity to be alive too. Gareth soon rectified it's mistake by dousing it in RIP, crushing it's head before manually homogenising it (not that we have personal issues with bedbugs or anything).
Instead of a relaxing afternoon crafting, I spent the next two hours emptying all the remaining boxes and found another live bedbug in a separate box. We have a lot of stuff to throw away in that room that we aren't prepared to take chances with (i.e. seat cushions etc.). I'm kinda gutted as I've being missing doing crafts and I still can't get my hands on any of it! The scrapbook/cardmaking things will have to stay in there until I can go through them one by one to make sure they are ok. I'm a bit annoyed by this as I wanted to make a wedding card for Gareth's cousin and his fiancee but we have had to buy one instead. I've also got to freeze all my cross stitich stuff for three weeks (when there's room in the freezer!) as the aida could harbour bedbug eggs.
I do have access to a sketchbook and pencils, so at least I can still be creative to some extent!

Blackberry picking photos

As promised, here are the photo's from our blackberry picking when the fumigator was last at our place:Willow the day after losing the tip of her tail. She did get fed quite a few blackberries along the walk. At least she had one good day that week!

The act of blackberry picking. I think Gareth got pretty bored by the end.

Tangent Tired after the day! Ignore the vast amounts of dog hair on the carpet; since the bedbug problem we haven't been able to vacuum the carpets as it will dilute the effect of the pesticide.

Ikea!

I am well and truly domesticated now. We went to Ikea a couple of days ago to get some bookcases for the multitude of books we own. Up until now the books have resided on the floor in a somewhat haphazard way (until we had to double bag everything anyway). Now that the spare room is bedbug free, we decided to try and actually use the house as a house and not a storage facility.
We bought three flatpack cases and I was surprised at how easily they went together. Normally you expect something to be either lopsided or flimsy, but I was pleasantly surprised!

The Bristol Ikea is absolutely huge though! We got lost for 20 minutes and ended up walking in circles until we orientated ourselves on the map they provide you when you enter.

Relaxing Sunday

Yesterday Gareth and I bundled the dogs into the car and drove to Leigh Woods. I took Tangent for a 4.2 mile run which proved to be pretty gruelling! It was a combination of variable terrain and gradients and not really eating enough before the run. Gareth took Willow for a long tough walk as his ankle was sore (he appears to have a permanent weakness there since breaking it two years ago). I'm certainly going to aim to make Leigh Woods a regular running place as there isn't really that many nice places to run near our house. At least not longer than 1 mile anyway!
That evening, I made an apple and blackberry crunchy crumble (the crumble had muslei in it!) using the blackberries we'd picked on Wednesday when the third, and hopefully final, fumigation was conducted. Pictures of our blackberry forage are to follow!

Willow's bad day

After a lengthy lie-in, I got up this morning and trundled downstairs and let the dogs out into the garden. I then fed them (although Tangent turned his nose up at his food so lost his breakfast) and started loading the washing machine. The back door was left open so the dogs could go out if they needed after breakfast which is just what Willow attempted. With my back to the door, I heard an almightly slam as the wind caught the door and smacked it closed. Luckily Willow had managed to get through before it shut on her. At least I thought she had until I saw a little tuft of white hair jutting out on my side of the door. I quickly opened the door to free her tail, and recieved a look of 'did you do that?' Drama over, I returned to loading the machine. Then I noticed a small dot of blood on the kitchen floor. I located Willow (primarily by following the blood streaks on the walls!) and felt her tail. She was bleeding a little so it was hard to see the damage, but it felt like she has severed the very tip (about 3mm) of her tail. I promptly woke Gareth up to ask if he knew where the first aid kit was (double-bagged, no doubt) and he came downstairs and had a look at her tail. He thought she had crushed the tip so we phoned the vet for advice. As she wasn't bleeding much and her gums were pink we didn't think she needed to actually go there and the receptionist agreed as long as we took her in if the bleeding didn't stop or she was in a lot of pain.

Willow is pretty good at looking after her injuries herself, so we left her licking her wound whilst I had my interview in the afternoon. When we got back, I was sitting in the living room when I saw a tuft of white hair lying on the floor where Willow had taken occupancy. It turned out to be the tip of her tail! I'm so amazed that she didn't yelp or something when she caught it in the door because that surely must of hurt.

The tip of Willow's tail. Ouch!

Willow and the tail tip that is no more. I think this is the most tragic expression I've ever caught on Willow's face. I don't blame her, the thought of it still makes me cringe and I don't even have a tail!

Interivew?

I had an interview today that lasted roughly 3 minutes. I was then told that I made to the second interview stage and had an interview scheduled for tomorrow. Sounds ace, doesn't it? I actually received a phonecall one hour after emailing my application to this company, so I was rather suspicious before I even got there - since when do you get offered an interview that quickly after submitting an application? The interview itself wasn't terribly indepth. They asked if I was motivated, ambitious etc. and I simply said 'yes' with no further explanations required! Also, a couple of the other candidates got a second interview and I thought it odd considering some of them had turned up in old jeans, trainers and a t-shirt - hardly management material. I don't mean to sound harsh or judgemental, but in business that attitide to an interview doesn't wash, it certainly shouldn't get you a second interview! I love the alternative/gothic look, but I sure as hell wouldn't wear it an interview if I wanted to be taken seriously.
This job (which incidently is with a 'recession-proof' company) is 100% commission based with very strange hours for sales (12:00 to 21:15 Monday to Friday and 10:30 to 17:30 on Saturdays). Apparently this is train you up to managerial material in record-time. 8 months, in fact. Hmm. Add into this it's a self-employed position and all-in-all it seems far too dodgy. Maybe I am being cynical, but I have turned down this second interview as I can't shift the feeling that something just isn't right about it.

Kitchen lament

I just spent an hour an a half cleaning the kitchen and it still looks like a pit! Gah!!!

RIP!

As we have not been bitten in our bedroom for about a month, we are fairly sure that our bedroom is now a bedbug free zone. So today I sprayed RIP flea killer (which is a non-specific entomological killer - i.e. it ain't just fleas it kills!) all over our bedroom as a final overkill stage just in case. Once the room has aired for a bit I'm going to start putting clothes etc. back into the room so we can have a semblance of normality. It's so nice feeling that the house is finally getting there after moving in almost three months ago!

Leigh Woods

To prove I don't spend my days constantly griping about the woes of bedbugs, I thought I'd upload some photo's of our recent trip to Leigh Woods with the dogs.

This doesn't even begin to show how vast this place is! It also looks quite easy to get lost.

Tangent and Willow in a definately not posed shot.

I think Gareth may be subtley telling me he's had enough of me taking photos.

Bedbugs: Warning, contains images some may find offensive!

Well, now the camera is out of quarrantine, and I've located the USB lead, I can show what we have had to deal with the last few months:

This is under the fireplace in the dining room. Ignore the peeling wallpaper - I don't think we can blame the bedbugs on that! All those black spots are the fecal deposits of blood left by fed bedbugs. Gross huh?

More bedbug poo spots.

Unfortunately this image isn't too clear, but this is after we pulled the carpet back from the wall and revealed thousands of cast shells, eggs, dead bedbugs and of, course, poo!
Gareth modelling our new range of footwear for bedbug-proofing. Yes, it is a black bag tied around his feet, and yes, that is all we wore when we were bagging up everything before the fumigator arrived. Luckily we finished before he arrived. That could have been awkward.

Photo's of Jack

Looking a bit bemused by it all.
Playing with perches!

Jack curing asleep in my lap.

Having another snooze with Gareth!

Home!

Gareth and I got back to Bristol ok yesterday, depite Britain's worst drivers flocking onto the motorway. Seriously, how do some people get their licenses!?

I'm in a much better frame of mind after our break and feel that although things haven't really gone as smoothly as we'd have liked, at least our lives are moving forward!
I phoned the company I had the interview with today for feedback on my perfomance as I assumed they'd made a decision and it turns out they are still deliberating! The recruitment officer is going to find out more details from the interview panel and get back to me. So, fingers' crossed, it may not be out of my sights yet! I really hope I have a chance at this job as I think I would really enjoy the role - it's a publishing administrator role for a scientific publication.

Gareth and I have decided to reintroduce items back into our room very gradually. As our clothes are being checked and washed for bugs we're going to put some back into our drawers so we can actually find clean socks and pants without having a mini game of 'Deal-or-no-Deal' with all the black bags!

The shower has also been fixed by the landlord whilst we were away, and boy, does it make a difference being able to just jump into the shower rather than wait an hour for the boost for hot water, spend 20 mins running the bath then feeling that you should spend at least 30mins soaking to make it worth all the effort!

Change of name!

My parents have renamed RJ. He is now called Jack, it does suit him much better and is less of a mouthful. He will probably find it easier to say than RJ too!

1st year anniversary!

It was Gareth and mine's first year wedding anniversary a couple of days ago. Gareth travelled down to Plymouth the night before so we could spend it together - we refused to let the bed bug issue ruin our anniversary!
We had a fairly lazy morning until we realised the dogs had no food. After we got back from the pet shop, we let the parrots out for a while before heading into town to see Harry Potter 6. We had a couple of Mojito's in the adjoining bar before the film started. It was the first time I'd had a Mojito and was impressed! Very refreshing!
I enjoyed the film, as it kept the same dark feel as the book had, but I think they tried to fit too much into one film considering the size of the book. It's worth a watch though! Afterwards, we had intended to watch the fireworks but decided to grab something to eat instead. Considering the amount of popcorn we'd eaten we weren't up for anything huge, so after a couple of drinks in another pub (you can probably sense a theme here!) we went to La Tasca for tapas.
Ironically, having decided against the fireworks, we still got caught up in the crowds heading home! I'm sure it is more popular than it has been in previous years! We decided that getting the bus would probably be equated to a living hell due to the size of the crowds at the stop so got a cab back. We watched some grotty TV whilst the dogs had their food and digested a bit before heading to bed. In short, a fantastic 1st anniversary!

Despite how crappy the year has been for us, having my loving husband has made it so much more bearable!

don't ditch the car!

The interview went ok. Despite all the rushing to get my documents from the house, they didn't ask for them. Oh well, at least I was prepared if they were required!
I don't think I answered some of the questions as well as I could of though. The question part of the interview was an hour long, so to be honest I was getting a little bored by that point! I then had a practical test to perform was consisted of a typing speed test and answering some scenario questions. I actually quite enjoyed that, but whether my answers were what they were looking for I still don't know. They want whoever is successful to start on Monday, and as it's Friday I'm not too keen on my chances! I will still contact the company and ask for feedback on my performance.
The journey back was a bit of a nightmare. I missed my booked train by one minute through a combination of poor city signing and a bad sense of direction. The next train was an hour later but that was running 45 minutes late. I eventually got into Plymouth at 19:40 and was able to make it to the bus stop in time to see the bus drive past (despite my running toward it in an obvious 'wait for me' fashion). I'm incredibly reluctant to spend money on taxis, so I started to walk part of the way back home until the next bus (also an hour later) was due. I got home at 21:30 so the day was pretty tiring!

I doubt people will be leaving their cars home in favour of public transport until it becomes much more reliable.

On the need for organisation

The day before an interview is not the best time to realise you need ID when you are in a different city to said interview. D'oh! I'll have to get a cab to the house from the train station, pick up my documents then get a cab to the interview. I've also realised I've lost the job description. It's probably double-bagged somewhere.

Facelift

I've decided to trial a different template for my blog as I think the black background with white writing was a little harsh and hard to read at times. Let me know what you think!

RJ

The time in Plymouth is helping me unwind a bit regarding the bed bug situation. I'm not jumping quite so often everytime I see a bit of black lint now. I'm still not too keen on returning to our bug-ridden home, but I think I will be more level-headed with regard to any decisions we have to make (there is a tendency to be a little paranoid and OTT when you are lacking sleep and stressed to the eyeballs)!

My parents bought a 12 week old African Grey parrot today. They used to own one a few years back but he died inexplicably aged 5 years. They hadn't planned on ever getting another one, but just bonded with him in the shop! They have named him RJ and he is pretty needy at the moment. He adores attention and sulks if he isn't hugged! He's currently settling in as he has had a lot to cope with recently - he only arrived in the shop three days ago. Again, I will upload some photo's asap.

Second pest control visit

The second application of pesticide was applied to the house today. This time the spare room, dining room and front room were done for the first time. Because of the extent of the pesticide use this time, I'm back in Plymouth for a week to make sure the dogs are safe from any of the pesticide the pest control people used. They said that they would be ok after a couple of hours, but as the dogs are relatively small and we'd rather not take the risk I'm staying at my parents.
It took some preparation as I had to bath the dogs just in case they were stowing any unwanted passengers, check all the items I was bringing down with me for eggs or bugs and double bag the lot. Gareth and I also bought a spare set of clothes which had remained in the car away from the house to change into when we arrived.

We are getting pretty fed up with the bugs to say the least. I even found one crawling on my trousers when I was sat on the floor in the front room. It must have been pretty desparate for blood though as it is very unusual to find bed bugs questing in the light when their host is still awake! It makes you feel quite grotty to think of all these bugs everywhere. Especially as we have to run baths at the moment because the shower doesn't work and hasn't done since we moved in. We are getting to the limit of how much we are prepared to put up with.

We have had to double bag everything we didn't want to get ruined by the liquid pesticide. As the dining room was the worst room we decided not to take any chances of transferring any out of there so went through the room stark naked except for black sacks tied around our feet which we threw away after. Despite the stress this whole escapade has been, I can't help but see the funny side at times!

However, I'm hoping our luck may be changing as I have passed a stage of interview for a job and am waiting for the second stage, and also have another job interview on Monday. Good news, but a bit of a pain as I will have to travel back to Bristol for it and back to Plymouth again for the dogs. Still, I'd rather go through all that and possibly get a job!

Busy!

It's in my nature to research to the point of obsession. So, the onset of our bedbugs has resulted in my devouring as much information as I can on them. Unfortunately, it is difficult separating the actually useful information from the downright paranoid. I have read how bedbugs will live in everything from your keyboards, TVs, PCs and books and refuse to die, and conversely, how sealing off your mattress and dealing out a couple of doses of professionally applied pesticide will shift them eventually. I even read somewhere that bedbugs will climb the walls and ceilings, position themselves over your bed and drop onto to you to get around some of the anti-bug measures used on bed legs. I'm not sure how widespread this last one is, but it certainly makes you think.

Today we continued double-bagging all our possessions after declaring them bug-free. I was rather upset to find that they had had the audacity to lay eggs in two of my soft toys (only the sentimental no-way-to-replace-them ones, so not too big a deal) and despite neither of us have been bitten for about a week and the eggs were cases so not live, I've still decided to freeze them all for two weeks just in case. I feel this is a good compromise between just throwing out everything in a paranoid state of mind, and being too complacent about it.
I also soaked some back packs in nigh-on boiling water that were too big to fit in the washing machine and a couple of dead adults floated out. I think the pesticide from the original pest control visit is probably what killed them though. These little bastards can survive a surprising amount of heat, but I tried going for shock tactics and plunged the bags in so they had no chance of gradually getting used to the heat.

The battle continues. It's still too early to see who is winning. We are still in the cautiously circling each other stage, carefully sizing each other up.

More on bedbugs

I'ved posted some photo's of bed bugs in case anyone is wondering what they look like. They can be incredibly hard to spot as they are photophobic and scarper at the first sign of movement. It took us a while before we found one to identify (we used double-sided tape stuck around our bed and any cracks in the skirting board). I don't have any of our own photo's of them yet as the camera is currently in quarrantine! I doubt the images would come out that well anyway as the adults are only 5mm.

Adult bedbugs. Image from http://www.bed-bugs.info/

Bed bugs in situ. Image from http://www.youdoitpestcontrol.com/ (Incidently, got the image from the above site, but I wouldn't recommend treating bed bugs yourself - get in the professionals! )

Bugged

Turns out the bed bug problem is a lot worse than we thought. The pest control guy sprayed half of our room where the bed is (I thought it odd that they don't do the whole room). A week later I was in the dining room where we have been storing all the things we didn't want to be riddled in bugs and couldn't treat (i.e. silk kimono's, expensive waterproofs and feather jackets, sentimental stuff including photo's and my wedding bouquet) when I espyed something suspicious dangling from a cob web (this place is seriously grotty!). On closer inspection, it was revealed to be an adult live bed bug. This then prompted me to scan the skirting boards where I found literally heaps of cast skins, dead bugs and their assciated waste. To make things worse, one of the jackets we put there for safety had one on it. We have now frozen the jackets at -4oC for 2weeks as that should kill any eggs. The silk items I will probably try freezing and see what happens - there's nothing to lose by trying.
The dining room must have been the original nest source and it confirms our suspicions that the previous tenents were sub-letting and using the living room and dining room as bedrooms. It certainly confirms that we did not bring them to the house due to the sheer number and state of decay of the dead ones.
Oh yes, the washing machine is leaking water too, and as I have to wash absolutely everything we own on as high a temperature as the garment/backpack etc. can cope with, this is not welcome news.
We also found out that our letting agent instructed pest control to do the whole house, what we got was half a ruddy room. He isn't impressed either!

Grrrr!!!!

Checking in. Again.

I haven't fallen off the planet again!
I'm just very busy with helping tidy and clean the house - there is a decent amount of mould growing in the bathroom; there are some stains I'd rather not think about cemented to the bottom of the toilet bowl (seriously, did the last tennents do any housework?)

We have also found out we have bedbugs which must have been in the curtains/carpets before we moved in as our bed and mattress is brand new, and we can't think of any other way we could have brought them in. So, the fumigators are arriving on Tuesday and we'll be recommencing the cleaning on Wednesday! Grr! I apprieciate moving house is stressful, but come on!

Change of plans?

Depending on whether the car needs to stay in the garage, and whether the back door by some stroke of amazing intervention magically opens, I may be travelling to Bristol tonight after work. I'll know by the afternoon, but I am already packed!

5 days!

In five days time I will be back living with Gareth on our own! As it's been about 10 months, we are a little excited about having our own space again. We have really appreiciated my mother-in-law and her husband putting us up (and putting up with us!) for so long.
I'm very excited about moving, although I am a little worried about the job situation - i.e. I won't have one. However, as this has been a tough time and I haven't had a break for what seems like an age I've still decided to take a couple of weeks off before starting to look for work again.

In theory, we should have internet access sorted by the end of the month. However, knowing what some telephone providers can be like I'm not sure when I will be able to blog again.

Saltram Park 5km

Image from: www.panoramio.com

I entered this race before I knew we were moving, so I hadn't really had time to train properly for it. I had also done an 18hr day the day before as we went to Bristol early to get the keys to the house before I started my shift at 17:15. I'd also not really eaten properly the day of the race so I didn't have a lot of expectation for my performance. However, I was quite surprised to find that I took about 4 minutes off my old PB!

Moving!

Well, the removals arrived yesterday and all our stuff was packed within an hour. Gareth headed up early to make sure someone was there when they arrived - he was concerned about getting lost so wanted a head-start!
I've since moved back into my parents whilst I work my notice at work. I'll be heading up to Bristol in about two and a half weeks. It gives me time to get the dogs rules back a bit as they have got away with rather a lot more than they do with us!

Maelstrom!

Well, after whinging that things were taking a while to sort out, we found out we can get the keys tomorrow! We are driving up in the morning to collect them and pop round the house to sort a few bits out (i.e. make lists of stuff we'll need to get, get the electric connected etc.) then will head back so I can get to work in the evening. It'll be a long day as we'll need to be on the road at 7am and I don't finish work till 9:15pm, then I have a 5km race on Saturday evening. You'd think I'd learn not to complain about nothing happening really, wouldn't you?!
The removal company is arriving on Monday and then my Mum can have her sewing room back which she sacrificed for storing out stuff!

On the move... eventually

Once again, I've been very busy! But at least this time it is with a goal in sight. Gareth has been accepted onto a Masters at Bristol so we have been sorting out a move to there. We have found a house to rent but as the company the letting agent use to check details etc. crashed a couple of days ago, our move in date has been delayed. We should have had the keys this Monday, but it's looking more likely to be next Monday now. I've been pretty busy collecting all our belongings into one place and packing them (so very bored with that now!) and dealing with all the frustration that brings. We are still not sure whether to use a removal company or hire a van for our relatives to drive (we've only had our licences less than a year, so can't hire the van ourselves yet).
I'll be heading up about three weeks after Gareth whilst I work my notice, then I'll come up with the dogs. That way they won't have to cope with unpacking etc. as well as a new environment to get used to.

At least life seems to be shifting out of this rut and moving forward finally!

Hello?

...anyone there? :s

Sad news

My Grandad died on Wednesday. Although he had been ill for a long time, his death came as a shock to us all. I'm in the process of finding some photos to post here of him.
Still seems a little unreal right now.

Update!

After a few weeks of being incredibly preoccupied, I've finally got around to updating my blog!

I passed my driving test this week with 3 minors. I was surprised I passed as I had ballsed up one of my manouvers (ironically the one I was most confident about). I had slipped out of gear and hadn't realised so the car wasn't reversing when I needed it to etc., so, thinking I had already failed, I stopped being nervous and just drove. Needless to say I thought I misheard when my examiner said I had passed! I was incredibly relieved as the cost of learning to drive is ridiculous, and you do get a little fed up of relying on everyone for lifts - as I am sure they got fed up with my reliance on lifts!

Aside from that, I have taken some off from the job hunt as it's getting really soul-destroying with constant rejections. I didn't get the ATO job I had an interview for either, as, despite asking for A'Level standards, I didn't have enough experience with my degree. Humph. You just can't win anymore! All having a degree has done has got me a rather large student loan to pay back and but no better prospects with work. Grrr!

We have been taking the dogs out to loads of places, so they have been having a great time of it - I think it is preferrably to be a dog in the recession!

Glyn & Willow basking in Belliver Forest

Taking a rest at Plym Bridge woods

Willow collapsing after her run!

Quick! Photos (finally)

I'm gradually finding where we have put everything since moving down, so I recently discovered some photo's I hadn't blogged yet:

A bunch of flowers Gareth bought for me.

I love lilies - especially stargazer lilies.

This is the 'Towel Cake' my sister

constructed for part of our wedding

present - cool isn't it!?

Molly and Glyn looking unimpressed at being

kept downstairs.

Testing times

I have now provisionally booked my driving test for about 7 weeks time. I feel fairly nervous, but it's still a long time between now and then so I should be more confident nearer the time. I'll be glad to finally get my license (assuming I pass this time) and then I can think about entering some Obedience shows beyond Plymouth! It will also help with job applications.

Once again, sorry about the irregular postings, I have been incredibly tired recently. I think this is because since Gareth passed his driving test we have been out a lot more with the dogs and generally out and about! This does mean that there should be more photo's soon as I actually have something to show!

Extraction

Gareth had the rest of wisdom teeth removed at hospital yesterday. I was able to sit with him whilst he had it done and, wow, does it look sore! The scapel looked bad enough, but when you saw the force with which the doctor pulled the rather large molar out it made me wonder if there is really a strong enough anaethestic (Gareth has all this done under local). Currently Gareth is able to eat really soft food, and his jaw still looks painfully swollen.

I drove to work yesterday under the guidance of Gareth's Mum's husband. I was particualry nervous as I hadn't driven in a city for over 5 years, but it was fine. I think I am concerned about my driving now as I remember when I was driving a lot better, but with practise I should get back to where I was - and pass this time!

Princetown - Nun's cross

Today we took the dogs to Nun's Cross in Princetown for a long walk (6 miles). It was surprising warm for February so it was quite pleasant. The dogs all had a pretty good time, although I don't think they were quite expecting the long distance (compared to their normal distances anyway where they also get the frisbee thrown). Willow was merrily finding and trapsing through every bog she could find so she probably weighed an extra 1kg in peat by the time we got back to the car. Meanwhile Glyn was running ahead then sprinting about before realising that was a bit of a tiring game before skidding chest-first through some conviently springy peat bog. Molly, surprising, turned out to the more sensible of the dogs and spent the majority of her time sniffing and leisurely exploring with periodic bursts of sprinting.
The walk took us about 1.5hrs and Gareth and I shared a portion of chips at Princetown Police Station Cafe before handing the mud-magnets back to Mum and Dad.

Gareth is certainly spoiling me with all these walks with the dogs and outings!

Once again, this in another photo-less post as the batteries in my camera completely died after taking one photo of Gareth which I don't even know it took as the camera died before I could preview it. My blog is destined to a bland, vacuous block of text for eternity!

Cheddar Gorge

As Gareth passed his driving test last week, he wanted to get some experience on the motorway. We also thought it would be nice to use it as an excuse to spend a day out together (our last date bar a meal last week was 6 months ago at our own wedding!). So, we headed for Cribbs Causeway as that is just off the motorway and easy to find. Gareth handled the motorway fantastically, and we only made one stop (incidentally, Little Chef's 'Famous Pancakes' are probably famous for their overpricing - two thin pretty ordinary looking pancakes drowned in a syruppy mess for £3.99!)
We arrived at Cribb's Causeway (Mall) in good time and meandered around a bit. Those that know us probably know that we are not exactly reknowned for our love of shopping. So after grabbing some lunch we picked somewhere more up our street to go to - Cheddar Gorge!

The drive there was a little convoluted but well signposted.
Instead of exploring the caves for a cost of £16 each, yes EACH! We decided to do the three mile trek above ground around the caves. this still cost £4.50 each, but this was for a season pass.
It was a really nice walk, and quite gruelling in places as it was mostly uphill. Unfortunately I don't have any photo's as this was a rather spontaneous trip, and I didn't see the point in bringing the camera to a Mall!
Cheddar Gorge is also home to some wild goats which frankly didn't look too unlike domestic goats, if a little more scraggy and stocky!

Plod

My second driving lesson in 5 years went well today. I was inexplicably nervous at first though, but thankfully that soon passed.
I've been shown how to do manouevers in a lot more simpler way than I was orginally taught which should make life so much easier! Although I am finding it a bit confusing remembering the new methods simultaneously! Still, with practise I'm sure I will be fine.

I have finally been given a date for my contract to start with Royal Mail, so I look forward to more money coming in soon. It's still not really enough to move us out of my Mother-in-law's, but once Gareth has find work we should hopefully be back living with our dogs in no time. Gareth has also got two weeks work experience at a local accounts firm soon, so that should help with finding a job too. Likewise, he has a driving test next week which will help his employability too.

In the meantime, life is progressing at its usual pace and I'm spending most of my time cross-stitching a birth sampler for sister's third child (due in July). It's not quite as impressive as the ones I've sewn for her first two, and if they have four it may be reduced a keyring-fob sized design!

Driving

My driving lesson went really well! I was surprised how much I remembered once I was in the car. I had worries the night before that I had even forgotten which pedal did what, but once I was there it was fine. I didn't stall at all which I was pleased with, and the worse I did was mount a curb when I steered to late on a right turn. Still, considering I hadn't driven for years and I wasn't used to that particular car I think I did ok. My instructor is nice too and explains things in a really straight-forward way.

Update

After failing my first driving test 5 years ago, I am about to start learning to drive again. I have my first lesson this afternoon and I'm a little nervous. I'm worried about what I have remembered or forgotten more than actually driving (which I always used to enjoy). Fortunately the snow has melted so I don't have the added complication of ice on the road to contend with!

I have also found out that my Dad is allergic to Glyn. He comes up in a rash and generally feeling like crap after touching him. I think Dad is probably allergic to Willow too, but as their fur is so different (Glyn has coarse, thick fur and Willow has fine fur. Molly, being a Yorkie has hair not fur). So the necessity to get better jobs and find somewhere to live is certainly increasing.

On the job front, still no news as to when and if my job will be made permanent, so I'm currently stuck on part-time hours at a lower wage than my contract counter-parts. I have sent off some applications for laboratory assistant work and one for a library assistant post and am waiting to hear back from them. Unfortunately, now is not the best time to be looking for work with the current economic climate being less than depressed.

Christmas II update

Christmas II was very enjoyable. It was good catching up with my sister and her family and getting to spend a decent amount of time with them.
Willow and Glyn have very different approaches to dealing with toddlers. Willow tries to pretend they don't exist unless they are carrying either food or toys, whereas Glyn (who we are fostering for a bit longer) seems to be very intrigued by them! I think the different behaviour and noises that children make interests him. He is very patient and allows Lily (my niece who is 2 1/2) to grab his tail or ears without objection. I am quite amazed as he is also alot more gentle around them, and as he is a very engertic 2yr old dog normally, the difference is notable. Willow is far less tolerant, which is probably a combination of her age (9 in February) and general natural grumpiness!

Christmas II

I'm quite excited as I get to see my sister and her family tomorrow. They are coming down for Christmas II as they weren't able to make it down for the actual Christmas. So, tomorrow we are going round to my Mum's for roast chicken and some calm festivities. It's especially nice to see them as my sister is expecting her third child and we don't meet up that often.

Moment of insanity

I must be missing my pets; I rushed out of the house earlier to make a fuss over a cat that was outside. And I'm not a cat person at all!

Rant

AAAAARRRRGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had written a reasonably long post which between writing and publishing has just been wiped!!!
And I really can't be arsed to write it again. You can assume it was as witty and well-written as always.

Running

After four weeks off from running due to horrendous hours at work, I finally got round to going for a quick blast this morning. I simultaneouly remembered why I'd put it off for so long too. It wasn't any lost fitness (I was actually surprised to find I hadn't lost any), but the freezing temperature! It was a good incentive to run faster, but I still had a Reynauld's attack that lasted the duration. So, now I'm considering indoor sports to take up over the winter period. As I work evenings I'm restricted to daytimes and Sunday. I will probably join the Wing Chung class if I get the MDEC job permanently, but any other suggestions would be welcomed!

Glyn

As a start to 2009, Glyn had to be taken to the vets as had severe diaorhhea (sp?) which had blood in it. Although he wasn't exactly listless, he wasn't his usual border-line hyperactive self either. We had thought he may have eaten one too many dog toys and got something blocked. Luckily (sort of) it is most probably a virus as the vet said there is a lot of this going around. So, after some rather expensive anti-biotics and other medical paraphrenalia he appears to be himself again. He's quite happy as he has a 'bland diet' of rice and chicken for a couple of days!

Well, I really can't believe it's been so long since I last posted! I have been pretty busy of late as I got a temporary job as a data entry clerk at the Plymouth MDEC, and I was working some pretty ludicrous hours (10.5hr shifts aren't good for blogging motivation!). As such, I haven't had a lot of time to do anything worth blogging.

Christmas was good, my husband and I spent the morning with his parents and grandparetns and we headed over to my parents in the afternoon. It was very chilled and just what we needed!
Gareth and I spent New Year's Eve together on our own as we haven't had much time together recently so it was nice just relaxing together watching grot TV! Although I paid for it the next day was a rather horrendous hangover. I woke up yesterday at 2pm feeling somewhat delicate and spent the day making sure I was never more than 8' away from a bathroom. Still, it was all self-induced so I wasn't too sympathetic with myself - except by 10pm when I was pretty miserable and felt that I would have the hangover forever! Today, however I feel absolutely fine and have once again sworn never to drink that much again!

I'm hoping 2009 will be a good year for us. I've been kept on with my temp job for another month, although I'm losing hope that it will become permanent (interviews are next Wed, Thur and Fri and I've yet to hear anything). I've decided to trial being more optimistic this year.

Happy New Year to you all!