Stray kitten - 1, us - 0

Let me start by telling you that I don't really like cats. In fact, the only cats I like, are unable to spell and captioned by strangers on a popular time-killer website.

Baby cats do tend to endear me, but so do baby cows, baby goats and any baby animal for that matter. The only problem is they grow up and I have been told pets are forever, not just for Christmas. This is why the endearment lasts 3 seconds and I am ready to move on.

This Friday night, however, I was faced with a tiny black kitten drowning in a puddle (it had been raining excessively for a few days), looking sick and miserable and helpless. My kind nature, of course, couldn't walk past without feeling sorry for the poor creature.

Now my other half, who has been wanting a kitten for a really long time now, was ready to walk away in the rain (pointing at the dog in his hand!) but I was convinced my conscious will not let me sleep if I leave this kitten in distress.

So after we walked the dog (my friend's Jack Russell terrier who has been hanging out with us recently), we took the rabbit's pet carrier, G.'s diving gloves and a towel, ready to rescue all the stray suffering kittens of Gibraltar. Not after phoning the local SPCA who I now deem utterly useless. Listen to this: they only prevent animal cruelty for home pets and don't give a damn about stray animals, in my opinion, way likelier to become victims of cruelty!

To our great surprise, the kitten had no intention of being rescued. It shamelessly bit Gareth's finger and ran away. At this point, soaked and tired of being a good person, I was already reasonable enough to simply walk away and leave everyone to their own faith.

That same night, after a quick visit to the local Accidents and Emergency Unit at the hospital for G.'s bitten finger, my conscious had no objections to me sleeping well. So how was your Friday night?

The aftermath of a failure

I am nowhere close to being a good chef but normally cooking in our house involves little to no drama.

Until you invite the in-laws over and plan a simple meal.

Then you are just asking for trouble.

Because you end up with:

-- A very painful and sensitive to anything dental filling as soon as the anaesthetic wears off (just when you are cooking)

-- Chicken soup ALL OVER the kitchen

-- Second degree burns caused by the chicken soup explosion of the beloved blender

-- A little nervous breakdown in the middle of the whole fiasco

-- A nagging feeling your guests are eating quietly and pretending to like the food because they are afraid there are knives and other sharp objects near you


So, happy fall to you too!

On the little joys in life

Here is what makes me happy every day...

... G.'s face in the morning. Some people are not morning people around our house!

... Franz, our little Jack Russel house guest, welcoming me home. Boy, the excitement on his people returning!

... This Salad-To-Go tupperware!

.. The sunsets (Do you like dusk? It is my personal favorite time of the day!

... Green tea. I have become addicted to it, it seems.

... Power walking. Or power talking like they call it here, always done with a partner in crime ;)

... Cupcakes. Full stop.

... And other things. Too many to list all, I reckon.

What makes you happy? 


P.S. I am not yet perfectly awesome but mastering it currently. Stay tuned...

The Promised Land... of Bloggers

I have managed to catch up on my blog reading the last few days and I cannot help but think: I want to be this blogger or that one or this other one!

Maybe this is just my imagination playing up but they all seem to always enjoy life, only have fun, be surrounded by the loveliest people ever and not have a single worry in their pretty heads. How is this even possible?

Some of them seem to take long bike rides in San Francisco, others go sailing on the Hudson river, or have picnics or parties at the raddest beaches in the world, have a blast in the kitchen while cooking, be able to turn any item into a piece of art, always look amazing in pictures - the list is endless.

I, on the other hand, seem to be the total opposite - the highlight of my week is a night spent on the sofa with my boyfriend, the house rabbit and a glass of wine. I am clumsy in the kitchen and as much as I like to cook and bake, there is still a lot to be asked from my food presentation. I like crafting but lack ideas - this normally results in a bin full of (unsuccessful) tries and a very frustrated me. I look like a douche in nearly all pictures taken of me - especially the unexpected shots that other people seem to be so good at.

So I am off to master awesomeness. See you later!


P.S. I meant: Joanna from a Cup Of Jo, Deb from Smitten Kitchen, Jordan from Oh Happy Day!,  Sorry-I-Don't-Know-Her-Name from sho & tell, Sarah from a house in the hills. There is probably more but let's not waste time - pure awesomeness awaits.  

The Big Cashew Nuts Drama of 2012

Although stealing nuts and other snacks happens daily in Gib, this is normally a monkey's thing and is never done by people. Well, listen to this story...

It is Thursday morning in my company's headquarters. We are enjoying our breakfast when a delivery guy brings a couple of bags of cashews, pistachios and peanuts. Mmm, we think - that would be a nice snack for tea later!

 My colleague however, goes to a kitchen staff member. Conversation goes as follows:

Colleague: I'd like some nuts.
Kitchen Staff Member: I am sorry but the nuts will be served at 3pm for everyone.
Colleague: But I want the nuts now, not at 3 o'clock.
Kitchen Staff Member: Unfortunately, like I said, you cannot have any now.

 At this point, she is already walking out of the kitchen with a kilo pack of cashews. 2 kitchen staff members are chasing her down the stairs to our floor to take the nuts back. Many people have left their workstations to observe the happenings, attracted by the noise.

 Some time later, the nuts have been recovered and the peace somehow restored after this big cashew drama, it turns out they actually have thought that this is a real theft and not a joke. This is cleared out and we carry on working as normal.

 Rumor has it, this might as well be the theft of the century in our otherwise peaceful chunk of land at the end of the world.

 And since in the chaos I forgot to film, here is a Gib monkey stealing:

End of January on the beach!

This is why I love living here, in this tiny spot at the end of the world: because at the end of January it is so hot that the chocolate melts in the car, because you can sit in the sun and feel the incredible warmth touching your skin and because you can take long walks on the beach. Only wearing a cardigan. Oh yeah, life is good.

Sorry, I cannot blog anymore - I got a life now!

Just kidding, of course, and no offence meant to any blogger on the Net: I still admire you and your blogs and secretly wish to be like you when I grow up ;)

But it has just become difficult to find the right balance in life so I can actually find the time to sit comfortably with a cuppa and be able to write in peace. Especially now that our little family has grown with a little furry member (our pet dwarf rabbit Buttons, who by the way is growing fast so he won't be a dwarf soon), free time is really scarce. Do not get me wrong - I am loving every minute of it, work and Scouts and home time and all. But I do sometimes miss having too much me-time on my hands!Even as I write this, I am sitting on a window sill in our Scouts headquarters, waiting for Mr G. to finish his Explorer Scouts meeting!

There is one funny thing to mention here. When I first started dating Mr G., I was the Internet and laptop freak. I would get an anxiety attack if being offline for more than 12 hours. He would have a real life and maybe check his Facebook / e-mail once a week, sometimes not even that. He would not think of using Google but would phone and ask his friends / someone who might know. I would be online all the time, even blogging occasionally but with zero interest in page views, average time spent etc. whatsoever.

Nearly a year and a half later, we seem to have swapped roles. While I cook or am busy with my Beaver Scouts or am outside having a real life, he would be blogging and checking the traffic sources and the page views and worrying if his blog didn't get enough hits.

Am I contageous or has someone secretly swapped our minds?

Sharing is caring

Ok, I admit I am pretty shit at regular blogging, or so it seems - this time I have no excuse though so let's get to the point.

It has been a little over a week now that me and Prince Charming have been living together and I just wanted to share with everyone how wonderful it has been so far!

It's the little things that matter most now: Him being home when I come back from work. A cup of coffee in bed on a lazy weekend. Having him around to tuck me in bed when I'm not feeling well and kissing me despite my efforts to keep my flu-germs to myself ('Sharing is caring', philosophically says he and still kisses me!). Me and him sitting back to back (in our spare bedroom slash storage room slash office) while I'm working and he is playing computer games (the game is apparently Star Wars, not WALL·E, DUH! Big deal, if you ask me). Even now I find it cute that he is dying of curiousity and trying to sneak behind me after being warned he cannot read until the post is ready. The list can go on but just in case you are already bored with our little everyday things, I will cut it short here.

I am happy - it's a pure bliss with him.

Girl next door

Or in our case, the pigglet next door!

Today, a colleague of mine at work went down to the garage for his morning cigarette and spotted this little cutie on the other side of the fence:



When I first saw it (first on photos, then in person), I couldn't stop thinking: something like this can only happen in Gibraltar, where the main road to the continent crosses a runway, where stray dogs are replaced by stray monkeys, where it is cloudy on one side of the street and sunny on the other one.

Anyways, back to our little neighbour. Not long after we discovered the pig, pork recipes started circulating in the office, together with the occasional: Awwwww! Me, being most concerned about his well-being, soon figured he is a pig and since pigs are always hungry, he is hungry. He seemed to agree and eagerly ate all the bread I gave him. He left with a full tummy and a happy Oink! and I left with a new little friend. Yay!

The house is new, so the fun is new too!

We finally moved to the new flat in Gib and are still settling down. Though moving itself is no fun, living with Robert and Andra seems to be quite funny ;) And living in Gib is indeed a great relief for us all!

I will not bore you with more moving details but will share just a few dialogues ;)

Me: Robert, what are you heating in the microwave?
Robert: Ice cream.
Me: What?
Robert: It's too cold.
Me: *facepalm*

Robert: Why is the microwave not working? It was working last night!
Me: We unplugged it from the power socket since we needed the UK to EU converter.
Robert: I'll fix it with a spoon. (Here he takes a metal spoon from one of the drawers and tries to shove it in the electrical plug. At this point I'm already in full dismay and leave the scene.)



Fun fun fun! :D