Morning Tanka

Rain pounds on rooftops.
Snuggle duvet closer round.
When bed is cosy
with dreams of sun-baked beaches,
why begin a day like this?

Sunset Drama

I'm feeling tired and uninspired this afternoon. So I'll just give you this picture of an amazing evening sky taken from a bedroom window in my previous home.

Wordless Wednesday: on the Canal near Bath

The Bedroom

(Château de Versailles Queen's bed - Picture taken by deror avi on June 2005)


Catching up with The Writing Nag today, I took note of the prompt to write about “Bedrooms You have Known”. I’m not sure if I’ll end up doing that but it did get me thinking about the current bedroom that I share with my hubby.

When we moved here last summer, the first thing we did was put up some orange curtains we brought with us from the last house. They were about the only ones wide enough to fit the current bedroom window and give us some privacy, and they served their immediate purpose.

The trouble is they are still hanging there. And they aren’t a good match for my bed linen. I’m starting to feel uncomfortable about it. My bedroom is definitely not the relaxing space it should be.

Since we moved, we’ve had several lots of overnight visitors. So the priority was to spend the necessary time and money on getting the two spare bedrooms looking good and comfortable. Now the time and money is running short and we haven’t yet found the energy to finish off our own bedroom. I think I’ve decided it has to be done this month.

Thank you, Writing Nag.

Money Matters

This week has been busy and expensive. I had to renew both my home insurance and my car insurance, but I also had reams of work with deadlines to meet.

Today I also could have been writing because other deadlines loom, but I decided to take some time to do some admin and try and get my finances sorted. There were three months of bank statements I hadn't even looked at, so when I did I wasted loads of time scrabbling around trying to make sense of some of the amounts on them.

Then I got around to checking the insurance renewals and decided to get some more quotes. That all takes so much time, but it was worth it for I've saved myself about £150, which is nearly as much as I've earned meeting those deadlines.

The morals of this little tale are: check your bank statements as soon as you get them, and make time to shop around and save money on insurance.

The picture is for some light relief. It is not of my house but is of my neighbourhood. And if you look closely you'll see that it includes the types of things I've had to insure.

Now I'd better get back to work.

Scenic?

Do you recognise this picture? I found it in a sub-folder labelled Scenic under My Pictures on my computer, and I'm assuming it's one of those that came bundled with the PC when it was new. Since I inherited the computer, I can't be sure.

But I do like the photo. And I'd love to know where it is. Can you help?

Magical Real Estate in Arizona

About a year ago I posted about dream homes available in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Now my attention has been directed to more gorgeous houses available in the state and I can’t resist writing about these at Troon North houses for sale near Scottsdale, by the same agency, The Holm Group. Do click on that link to see what I mean about them being just beautiful homes. I could pass an hour or two just looking.

If you are a regular reader here you’ll know that I’ve recently moved to my own dream home and have achieved my goal of living by the sea. Still if I had the wherewithal for a second home like this, I don’t think I’d hesitate. These homes are like film sets, but they really are available for anyone who has between $300,000 and several million at their fingertips.

Sporty types would be really at home (excuse the pun). Some of these houses are located within or beside the area’s two award winning golf courses. Some have their own tennis courts but you can also find them at the Community Park - basketball courts as well. Of course they generally have their own pools. I certainly wouldn’t look at one without.

They have desert and mountain views, and the night-time pictures on the site are magical. If only……..