Threesmallapples mans up. Almost.

When Threesmallapples HQ was moved to N16 2 years ago, I was pretty excited!

Not only is N16 a hotbed for cute cafes, nice pubs (‘nice’ makes them sound crap, but they’re not. They’re not overly trendy, overpriced or over stylised, they’re just bloody…nice!), new bars, and quirky shops, it also has one of the best Turkish restaurants in town.

What I wasn’t quite so excited about was the cemetery. Which is why I couldn’t understand why people kept saying to me (ME! Of all people!) “you HAVE to check out the cemetery”. But, I did check out the cemetery, and it turns out, it’s not just a cemetery, it’s an arboretum. Which basically means it’s extra spooky.

Opened in 1840, 196,843 people have been buried in Abney Park Cemetery.  Erm.. hello? Can anyone say “ghosts”?

But they were right, it really is something worth seeing. So worth it, that I decided to have a wander on a sunny day, take some pictures, and then get too spooked to look at them for 2 years.

Uhhh… hi!?

The path to…?

I don’t think there are any ghosts in these pictures, but I haven’t really looked. And I can’t watch Three Men and a Baby either…

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Cherry Blossom girl

Now, it’s no secret that I’m not a fan of a tan.  I can’t think of anything worse than having a patchy colour, peeling bits, looking ashen with face powder… and don’t get me started on tan lines. Eurgh!!!

So when it comes to ideas for a honeymoon, quite a few of the traditional ones have been knocked off the list. A week on a beach somewhere would surely be beautiful and relaxing, but there is only so much lounging on a beach you can do when you’re constantly dragging your sun lounger around trying to stay under an umbrella.

Instead, we’ve had a couple of other ideas, and one of the favourites? Japan next spring in time for cherry blossom season.  The sight of cherry blossoms on the trees after a long winter is always a treat as well as a reminder that spring is on the way (or perhaps not this year, considering they were in bloom after a mild January, and there’s been barely a hint of summer so far) so added to some striking Japanese temples, a Tokyo culture shock, and wall to wall Hello Kitty, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be the once in a lifetime holiday of my dreams!

The only problem? I’ve got to wait until 6 months after the ‘big day’ before we can go on the big trip…

I’ll have to make do with the prettiest bath and shower gel (EVER) in the meantime.

L’Occitane Cherry Blossom Bath and Shower Gel (a late birthday present from H. Who doesn’t love a late birthday present? It’s like a present for no reason!)

It’s almost too gorgeous to use!

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Foxy boxes

After almost 2 years in Threesmallapples HQ, the unbelievable has finally happened! No, the cds haven’t been unpacked from their dusty boxes (or Music Magpie-d. Average price paid for my shockingly bad cds? 30p. Still, it all adds up…) nor have we changed the dead lightbulbs in the hall.  Instead, the ‘Holding Pen’ has stopped being a holding pen and has actually become… a dining room!

No more trays on laps or boxes of unpacked rubbish (the cds are under the bed), nosireeee.  Instead, we’ve got a proper dining area to entertain guests and fight off scavenging kittens. Result!

Now, I still haven’t managed to re-cover the dining room chairs (now that I’ve finally found a fabric, Mr Threesmallapples wants to buy new chairs…(!)), but I have managed (ok, I helped. Slightly) to open up the dining room but getting rid of a couple of oversized and underused black IKEA shelves and replacing them with wall mounted box shelves.

Hurrah! Small progress but progress nonetheless.

And one day soon, I might actually get the chairs done!

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Flower power

*gasp*

It might not be fancy, exciting looking or particularly colourful (in fact, it looks pretty much like a bog standard daisy) but this little beauty has survived the winter in the Threesmallapples plant death trap and has actually flowered!!

P’raps I’m getting the hang of this whole ‘gardening’ malarky?

 

 

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