A quiet sort of working day today. We did decide that we must get curtains of some sort for the living room which has huge south-facing windows that warm up the place nicely in the winter, but the intensity of the direct sunlight makes it hard to work. After an afternoon coffee we popped by […]
Furniture shopping
We went furniture shopping and it was a surprisingly pleasant experience, though we didn’t actually find anything we urgently need (a small dining table, a bed, a fold-out bed, a wardrobe, a comfortable chair). We were going to a warehousey sort of place that does up old furniture and provides to film and TV sets, […]
Mardan
Yesterday, the driver arrived at around 10. We’d planned to go to Taxila, see some sights, return, but one of our hosts proposed a different plan which I immediately leapt at. This was to go to Mardan, about 2 hours from Islamabad, there to visit the remains of a Gandharan Buddhist monastery at Takht-e-Bahi, and […]
Faded grandeur
In my distinguished role as eldest sibling of the bride, I am arranging for the jewellery to be presented to her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. I am also a complete incompetent at such things (though I know and like nice jewellery when I see it) so we asked an aunt to take us to a jeweller […]
Epic
A really epic day. When the GF rose we had a quick lunch and then walked down to the pier to take the ferry to Uskudar, from where to take the metro over to Ikea. Only to find that the ferries were not running due to races, so the only part of the day we […]
Tap dance
So the GF went to buy the right tap and the mirror while I stayed in and worked. They will actually be delivered on Monday. It’s now getting uncomfortably close to our moving date. Tomorrow we’ll go to Ikea to order our kitchen cabinets and sofa though I am not confident that anything will be […]
Justified
It turns out my fury yesterday was justified after all, as the architect wrote to say that actually the taps would look more beautiful on the counter, don’t you think? I lay on my face for a while, possessed with rage, much to the GF’s obvious distress, but there is not much to be done […]
A sort of savings
A better work day than yesterday, partly because I sent off the text I’d written to the person I’d written it for, and he was very pleased with it. So that started the morning off well, and the next task went rather more smoothly. In the afternoon, the GF and I returned to the paint […]
Lights, lights, lights
Today we went and ordered most (though not all) of the lights for the flat. The place the GF had discovered seemed to have good quality and was certainly a slick operation, very helpful folks. So we have ordered single and double spots for the side lights, rod-shaped hallway lights, pendants for the kitchen, and […]
Bad order
I placed a poor order from the supermarket today. The only good thing in it was the yoghurt and a few sticks of lemongrass which I hope to grow. Other than that, there was a handful of unpromising raspberries, a funny knobbly fruit that cost 20 lira, a half-rotten bok choi, laundry detergent and a […]