Fish!

Well it's been a few months! Settled into the new flat, settled into the new job. Got new friends, new hobbies, new haunts, and finally mu fish tank is almost all set up!  There's been a few casualties along the way - a Sea Hare, a Fire Shrimp, and a Turbo Snail.  But now I finally have the Clownfish I always wanted, a pair of Chromis, one Turbo Snail, a Cleaner Shrimp, two Hermit Crabs, a Peanut Worm, two Mini Brittle Starfish, and in a week I'll have an Anemone for the clowns :) It's really helping to have something living in the flat with me, and I already love all these little guys to bits.

I am insuranced!

See? I have remember the difference! :-D

Before and not-quite-after

So here I go with my first blog entry in my new place!  Isn't that exciting?  I'm excited.  Are you excited?  No?  Well you should be - I was going to buy you cake.  But now I'm not because you didn't get excited, and it's no one's fault but your own.

*ahem*

Anyways, this is my third night in my new home, but I've only just got connected to the internet, which is why I've only just gotten around to blogging.  The upside of this is that I've had lots of time to get myself settled and all of my things shelved/stashed/arranged as I'd like them.  I've just spent the last couple of hours running through all of my necessary address changes so am feeling a bit knackered, so this is just going to be a short entry with a few photos.

The reason this post is entitled "...not-quite-after" is because I'm not completely moved in yet.  I still have another car-load of stuff to bring up from my parents' house, but still I've got some shots from before I started unpacking and some from afterwards, so you can see the place starting to take shape.  On Sunday evening I should have everything settled and will be posting a proper 'after' photo :)

 So here is my kitchen.  It's not a massive kitchen, but for one person it doesn't really need to be.  The basics are there and there's just enough room to store enough food/cutlery to keep me alive between shopping trips!

Behold the living room!  It's a good size for me, with a pair of two-seater sofas and a helluvva lot of shelf space for my ridiculous collection of dvds/games/books/comics.  The floor does slant a little bit though, so it could be tricky if I've had a few to drink.

So here's the kitchen, post-tidying.  There's not much different since this photo, just the addition of a draining rack and a couple of fridge magnets! 

And this is the breakfast bar.  It's tidier than this at the moment.  The top is entirely clear except for my cookbooks which I've decided to store on here. 

 Here's a pretty drastic difference for you - the post-tidy living room!  Since this photo was taken I've added a glass display cabinet and my fish tank/table.  I've just got to get my coffee table up now, and the picture on the back wall is going to be replaced with my Clint Eastwood picture.

And here's the bedroom.  I use the term "room" very loosely, because it's really just a sleeping area of the upper floor in general.  It may only be room enough for the bed itself and a couple of wardrobes, but once again it's all I need.  Unlike at my parents' house I won't be spending most of my free time sat in bed, so all I really need it for is a place to sleep.

So that's where I'm now living (yes there's a bathroom, but I didn't think it was exciting enough to justify photos).  Like I said, I'll post a fresh living room photo on Sunday when the rest of my things are in, and hopefully I'll be able to get some photos of my furry neighbours before long as well!

For now though, be excellent to eachother.  And party on, dudes.

Farewell to an old life

Well I'm typing this blog entry from the comfort of my rickety old bed, and I'm just about to turn in for the night for the final time in my room.  This time tomorrow I'll be curled up in a different bed, in a different city, in my own apartment for the first time in my life... I'm feeling quite excited :)

It's a bit of a sad state in here at the moment.  It still feels like my room, but that's more a case of me being used to it as my room.  But everything that made it my personal living space has been stripped bare.  At the moment I'd actually say there's a feeling of sadness which is just overriding the excitement, but I think that once everything is unpacked in my new place and it feels like home then I'll be feeling pretty awesome.

I shall miss the cats though :( I need to visit the cats lots.

So tomorrow I shall be finishing work at about 13:00, driving to the estate agents to fill out paperwork and pick up keys, heading to my new place to measure it up a little, and then making trips there and back with my belongings.  And then going food shopping.  If I've got any energy left after all of that then I'll put some photos up, but I can't guarantee anything!



10 days to go...

As the song goes, "All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..."

Well okay, not quite all of my bags are packed.  And most of my stuff is in boxes.  And I'm most definitely not leaving on a jet plane.  But at least the bit about being ready to go is true.  With ten days to go until I uproot from Sutton and finally make a home for myself in Lichfield, I am well and truly ready for the move.  All forms of entertainment are packed, aside from one or two things in each category;

All of my Xbox games are packed except for Dead Island, which I'm currently playing.  All of my dvds are packed, except for Underworld and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, which I only bought this evening.  All of my comics are packed, except for Marvel's Civil War, which I'm reading.  And all of my books are packed, except for Gav Thorpe's Deliverance Lost, which I started reading this afternoon.

My spare Magic cards are packed, as are allof my Fluxx decks and my Zombies!!! board game.  Most of my clothes are packed...  I really am now at a point where I have nothing more to do until the big day.

It's going to be a bit sad to leave - you can't live in the same place for 30 years without getting attached, but frankly I can't wait to get this move started.

It's official!

I can now officially say I'm moving out! :)  The estate agent called today to confirm that my credit checks and references have all come back fine, and so I can go in to pick up the keys and put down the deposit on February 1st.  Now that all doubt has well and truly been put out of my mind I can bring some boxes home from work and start packing my assorted bits and pieces.  The priority (aside from the fish tank, obviously, and essentials such as clothes etc) has to be my books, dvd's and Xbox games.  Once I've got those in then it's just a case of taking over what I can until I have a comfortable living space which isn't cluttered.

So while I'm settling into my new place my Friday Night Magic attendance will be taking a dip, and my cosplay efforts will be put on the back burner, but once I'm settled I can get back to my weekly FNM reports and my quest for the perfect Prefect :)

Pop back at the beginning of February to see some photos of my new home!

A home within a home

Behold, my wonderous marine aquarium!!!

Pretty impressive huh?  Oh fine then, that's not my wonderous marine aquarium.  It is, in fact, the photo off the front of the box.  This is my aquarium as it currently stands...

So not quite so scenic at the moment, but the important thing is that the initial expense has been paid and my fish-to-be have a home!  I had a good chat with the assistant at Aquatic Pets & Gardens in Stonall, and he was really helpful.  I ended up getting a package which included everything I need for starting up a reef tank, even including the pre-mixed salt water.  Once I've moved in I just need to head back to pick up my water and some living rock, then after running the tank for a week or two I can start adding livestock - probably starting with the Hermit Crabs :)  He recommended I don't go with the Humbugs as they can be a bit aggressive, so I'm probably going to go with Yellowtail Damsels instead.

I'm rather excited, it had to be said.

And another little treat for me today...

As a housewarming gift my sister bought me a little indoor water feature :)  There's a definite aquatic theme to my new apartment!