Score!

I usually leave the bin bags to my beau, they have to go to the basement into a big binstore and I don't particularly like being in the basement, plus he's a lot more vigilant about the recycling and sorting than I am. But one day recently I decided to join him, and boy was I glad that I did! This is what I found...

Soggy bottom boys apartment

I moved into a new apartment almost 4 years ago and I love it. It's only small (44sq.m.) but it's my little haven and I have filled it to capacity (or maybe a little over!) with all my stuff. Initially I kept the walls white and used textiles to bring in colour. My mam sewed cushion covers for me from the 70's curtains they had in the first house I lived in, they are so cool...I'd had my eye on them for a while, they have green camels on them!!! Totally rad ;p
But then, disaster struck...I had a massive flood last summer. The apartment above me had a burst pipe and because no-one was home it was left to flood my apartment for hours, filling it with water and as a result destroying everything. It has been a long road trying to get the place habitable again, I had to move out for 4 months and then move in with builders still working on the place. But, the upside was I got the opportunity to redecorate as I wanted (I hadn't chosen the kitchen or built in units and I was glad to have the excuse to change them)and to try out living in a cute house in another part of Dublin city.
So, coming home from New York I was looking forward to getting some more storage units and getting my stuff organised...you can imagine my horror when I walked into the apartment and saw a massive water stain on my ceiling!!! But I didn't panic, I rang the management company and hoped they would sort it out. Two weeks later, I come home again on a Sunday and find the stain has spread down my wall and behind my new cabinets!!! I am so tired of water, I have been dreaming of waking up and having a swimming pool in my kitchen and not in a good way! Hopefully this will all get sorted over the next while, but as a result I now think everytime I leave the apartment that all my belongings will have been destroyed when I come home...

Fatty cushion

Looking through my blog links I ended up at Pickles today.
I'm in search of some new cushion ideas for my apartment and I thought this one looks perfect...

Naaasty times two!

I'm in two minds about putting anything negative on here. I was hoping to keep it for the more sunny positive side of life or even some of the dull things in life, but what happened on Friday night upset me so much that I think I will rant about it here....although on second thoughts maybe I won't! Lets just say that I had a run in with my neighbours who were terribly rude, threatening and racist to boot! All this from people who are currently studying to become doctors...definitely not the kind of doctor I would like to have at my bedside.

On another note and also home related...I recently bought the Women's Institute Book of the Home in a sale of library stock. It is a wealth of information and I feel like I will be using it as a written word Google for my home woes. I was having some problems unblocking a drain in the bathroom so I sourced an eco friendly and less scary than caustic soda solution in the above mentioned book. Here are the instructions for anyone out there with blocked drain problems...
Pour ½ cup of bicarbonate of soda down the offending drain;
Follow this with a cup of white vinegar;
Leave for 15 minutes;
Pour a kettle of boiled water down the drain and watch your drain become unclogged.

It is one of those gross but very satisfying tasks that make me so happy! I love when I get these things done and know everything is clean and hygienic again! I loved it so much that I repeated the process just for the craic! I also scrubbed the bath, sink and toilet just to put an extra shine on my happiness! Strange but true :)