trips and bathrooms

bathroom is coming along but not quite ready yet...door missing mainly. so after returning from our travels with doctor we couldn't return straight home. instead we stayed in a hotel, then went to get some clothes from home, switched luggage to backpacks and headed off to Bournemouth to see a friend. then airbnb near home. now home for a week, we came as soon as there was a functional toilet altho the flat was still a mess and we had to shower at the gym. which i actually combined with a gym visit, pretty adventurous for me. this has testing my patience but what can you do. 

the flat being like a construction site was/is anxiety inducing. that type of stuff always is. someone making a mess in my home, dust everywhere. seeing the insides of the bathroom made me feel unsettled. then a tool scratches the wall, a tape has pulled of some paint off another wall, the contractor lost our keys for a while and i felt beyond unsettled.now most of the stuff is gone and a cleaning lady came to help with the cleanup, as the works are almost finished and no more dusty work expected. but we will need another good clean or two after all this regardless. we're also getting the guest room wall repainted after a sound insulation pad mishap that ruined it, so that adds to everything. 

 

 

it feels bigger now with the bathtub gone. that was the goal. im pretty happy with the tiles and other choices too. and underfloor heating to make it toasty! plenty of shower niche space for al the shampoos, even at a low height since i shower sitting on the floor. theres also a cute niche for toilet paper and phone next to the toilet. and the tiled niche above toilet just... for looks i guess. not sure yet. we kept the same lighting, its adjustable in brightness and temp, so i can set it to warm and dim when needed.  

 

while we were living "in exile" after returning from abroad but now able to go back home yet we did some london exploration as well. this included the Brand Museum which was a delight and we ran into the founder as well. he was a lovely older gentleman who was keen on hearing how we experienced his museum. we also went to see Odyssey which was a solid 8.5/10 if not more.

i took on another foster cat. Figaro is 8-10 weeks and is recovering from rectal prolapse surgery. his tummy being upset doesnt help. but he is this really loving little baby that just wants to be in your lap all the time. to the point where its hard to get anything else done. poor thing just wants lots of love and attention. and food. 

im also getting some new rugs. seems like the bathroom project initiated a bigger home update process in me.  

im back to work and not entirely back in my old flow yet. my holiday period was long, over 4 weeks. it involved a lot of travel, maybe too much. especially flight wise. i made a note to myself to curb it next year. first miss R came here and we traveled to Dubrovnik together. took over 24h longer than expected as landing failed on the first go due to storm. we even had a little tarmac visit to Bari, then tried again - rough touch down and straight back up.... and over to Rome - it was so late it was the nearest airport open and with hotel capacity to take a planefull of ppl. that was a rough day. but Dubrovnik was ok, very picturesque and we had a chill trip. food was mediocre and overpriced but the museum of war photography was very memorable. 

we then returned to London, where the bathroom strip had started. meanwhile dr had been in amsterdam to see his friends. then me and doctor took off to Tbilisi, Georgia. i had zero expectations and didnt do any research beforehand. i was really pleasantly surprised, i enjoyed the city a lot. the soviet architecture, language, history, food... all of it. we even did a cooking class with some local grandmothers to learn how to make khinkali and khachapuri. 

 

from Georgia we flew to south of turkey and went to Side for a beach holiday. really enjoyed that too although on several days it was just too hot (37-39c). the hotel was lovely, the pool was perfect temp (around 29c i think) and food great as well. i was managing the bathroom reno from the poolside and it was stressful at times but i am aware that im priviledged to be laying on a sunbed while getting a new bathroom done. 
Side.

 

here is Figaro, our latest foster. and possibly last, or so i feel now. he is a really lovely cute fluffy baby but with health issues that cause me stress. he needs food & meds every couple hours, has ongoing diarrhea (which is what the meds are for), has separation anxiety and is very vocal - maybe in part due to those things. he is such a sweet lap cat but the screechy meowing sometimes grates me. the fact that he gets messy with his dirrhea and has some toilet training issues too in the beginning meant that ive had to do some extra laundry and cover the sofa with plastic. these are the things that come with fosters, of course, i know that. but maybe im just currently a little woo weary for it. we will nurse Figaro as best we can, but i think im making a mental note to not jump back into it anytime soon. we are also getting new rugs and i can only imagine how frustrated id be be if a cat had an accident on my brand new rug. sounds very superficial, yes, so be it. one of the rugs is wool and hard wearing, the other is soft and fluffy - very do-not-wee-on-me kind of material. 

im proud of this toothbrush holder too.