The day we invaded France!

4th December 2011 


It was a très bonne day


Today was.....amazing, one small word that can sum up the most fantastic of days.


Today we went to Veyrier, thanks to our lovely new friend at work Mr. M.


Hopped on a bus, having no idea where we were going other than it was the right numbered bus.   Thanks to Wikipedia Steve, called that for obvious reasons i.e. he pretty much does know EVERYTHING, we did manage to a) get the bus on time, b) get to where we needed to go and c) didnt get lost! A blinding result me thinks.


So we're off the bus over the border and there we are in France, to be honest I was expecting more of the boarder crossing i.e. there actually being someone there but I guess its Sunday and as I have mentioned before NOBODY seems to do anything on a Sunday if they are a native!


Mr. M came to pick us up from the very unassuming car park we had arranged to meet in and the adventure began! 


His chalet, is exactly that a chalet, sat at the bottom of the mountain in the most quaint little village ever seen, it is exactly how you would imagine it to be.


Two furry friends greeted us, with slight suspicion at first which is understandable, they let us know who was boss, but in no time at all firm friends were made!

Mimi (front) & Tatoo (rear)

So greetings out of the way we got down to the serious business of the day, going to the market nearby to buy Brunch.   OMG seriously markets are not normally my thing but I will get on a bus every Sunday, change francs to euros to go and shop here!! 


First stop.....breakfast, french style

Oysters - huge they were! Mickyboy would have loved them!

Arh living the dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Oysters, check, did i mention wine at half 10 in the morning????

Oysters and Mustcadet

So fully refreshed and fed, we set off to buy cheese, bread, cold meats and potatoes for Hash :)

Chorizo, Cured Pork, Parma Ham, Serrano Ham - fill your boots!

We pretty much bought a bit of everything on the stall pictured above!


So Chalet bound once again, we set off in the Mini, it really is suprising how many grown adults you can get in a Mini a) if you really try and b) when you've had a few glasses of Muscadet!


Back at the ranch, my amazing potato chopping skills came into place and thanks to Mrs D's tip on the spoon in the mouth (I think it was Mrs D, it sounds like the useful info she would share!) I also managed to chop the onions without tears!


Mr. M made an amazing Hash and eggs, followed by cheese, cured meats, Walnut bread, which was out of this world, full fat butter and a fair few bottles of red wine!


What more could anyone ask for on a Sunday??????


Fast forward a couple of hours and off up the mountain we treked with our new furry friends, they seems to enjoy it a little more than we did though as the weather was not kind!

Grumpus surprised herself and Mr H as although it was damp, foggy and very very windy, not a moan escaped her lips :)


Back down the mountain to finish the cheese, meat and wine, well it would be rude not to wouldnt it!!!!!!


So its half 7, were back from our adventure, chilling on the sofa with another bottle of red, living the dream peeps, living the dream!!!


au revoir mon ami!!!!!


Grumpus x

Back from the wilderness

28th November 2011

I AM BACK!

Quick disclaimer to any parents reading, there will be lots of swearing which to be honest I think is acceptable considering the last couple of weeks and the trauma I have been through to be able to bring the latest news from the crazy ass part of the world which is Switzerland!

Right, where to start......

The positives (lol) Grumpus's Mum and Dad came to the shores of lake Geneva (which actually has a proper name, which isn't Lake Geneva at all, go figure!)

Much crying at the airport when they landed, much crying when they got to the apartment as Mummy Grumpus clearly thought we would be living in a crack den, although after moving the prostitute on one of the flat viewing, she wouldn't have been far off the mark.

Lots of sightseeing and drinking done, so Mr. H was kept reasonably happy and Grumpus's Daddy was kept content by doing the David Bailey thing and snapping pics of literally EVERYTHING!

So a lovely weekend had by all, and minimum crying on the day of their departure by Grumpus ( I bottled it and let them make their own way to the airport Monday morning, which was agreed was the best idea!)

So now down to what you have all be waiting for the MOANING!

The internet and phone company over here are wank**s you cant just set up internet and away you go, you have to basically pay a small fortune for something that you do not want in order to get what you do want!

80 CHF a month for the bleeding internet, so I hope you bloody enjoy these posts!   I pay 50 quid back home for Sky and fecking internet I don't use and now I am being abused for internet over here!   The lovely half English speaking woman did point out that I was entitled to free calls ANYWHERE in Switzerland, fecking amazing!!!! I DONT KNOW ANYBODY TO CALL IN SWITZERLAND so how is that a frigging bonus!

Anyho so it has taken this long to sort the internet and if Mr H hadn't done something to the router that we "borrowed" we would have had to have WIRED internet, you remember that guys and gals, were you plugged the laptop into the router, I shit you not wired internet for 80 CHF a month.

Had I of chose to be robbed some more I could have paid 200 CHF for the WIFI router, I actually asked her if she was joking when she told me the price, I fully expected Jeremy to jump out and tell me I had "been framed"

Anyway enough of that as it is giving me a headache thinking about the stress it has caused and I believe I have grey hairs and wrinkles over this shit!

The other fantastic news what we managed to get someone to come and fit light bulbs (do not ask the electrics are shit over here), wire the cooker into the mains, as they don't seem to plug shit in over here, and do the same with the washer.   Found a fantastic ex pat company that came out on the Tuesday and the work was promised to be done on the Wednesday.

True to their word it was done, the original quote was 600CHF but we NEEDED lights and a cooker and a washer and to be honest I was past caring how much it was gonna cost.

I tootle home to an invoice for 1070 CHF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I nearly died, I had to have a fag and a drink to get over the shock, the increase in the bill apparently was due to the light in the bathroom not working.

Now if we rewind to the weekend of us moving in Mr H and friends had, had their hands inside and out of this light fitting trying to fix it, as men do.

Fast forward back to the invoice.   The sparky's boss (who spoke English thankfully as the sparky didn't) left a lovely note on the invoice saying it had taken three hours alone to fix the bathroom light and the problem was it needed rewiring as there was no EARTH!  

I shit you not, no EARTH, Mr H has no life insurance people and he is no good to me dead!    I swear on my life if I could speak French I would have been sharing my "distaste" with the regie.....I think they dodged a bullet!

So a fortnight after the workman came out and my Washer still does not work properly.....it will not drain as some brainbox decided to run the drainage pipe along the floor (cue lots of tutting and sighing from Mr H, muttering of not being able to get the staff and all that crap), even Grumpus knows that, that was never going to work!

Anyway true to form for workman, they still haven't fixed it yet, they still haven't given me my two invoices as requested a fortnight ago, so I can ram one down the regie's neck and they do not seem to be in any hurry to come and fix it!

I am having to use the communal washer, yes the communal washer, I feel violated every time I it.   I use the term "I" loosely its in a dark basement which is more like a bomb shelter so clearly Mr H has to go and put the washing in as I crap myself every time I go down there.

There is a drawing of a rat and the sign for poison on the door ......like frig I am going in there on my own.

Right that me done for tonight it is exhausting trying to remember all this crap just to give you guys a laugh (and I know you will ALL be laughing) and I am started to get wound up just thinking about it!

Catch you on the other side peeps

Ciao

Grumpus

There is a hole in your radiator, dear Grumpus, dear Grumpus

Wednesday 9th November

Bonjour!

You will be pleased to know carrying on from the last blog, that Grumpus won the battle with the first of the sofa covers, it was a tight squeeze literally getting the cover back on, but only time will tell if I actually win the war!

Today I feel a little like liza, who had a hole in her bucket, but change the bucket to a radiator and not where we are living but our des res back home in the UK! 

Mr V broke the news by posting a picture of said radiator on facebook, with water pissing out.....that was my cue to FREAK out, with Mr H having to literally crowbar me off the ceiling!

Anyway thankfully we have found an AMAZING maintenance man "Jack of all trades" who from 10.30pm UK time last night up to 8.30pm UK time tonight, went to the house, looked at the radiator, priced the job up and said he would come back tomorrow to sort if we were happy to go ahead.....finally a tradesman who you can rely on!

I don't think anybody has let him into the "trade secret" which is he could turn up days late, charge extortionate prices and people would still be grateful!

So that is every radiator in the house changed within the last 4 years.....clearly radiators and our house just don't mix!

Started packing in anticipation for the big move, hopefully picking up the keys on Friday so keep your fingers crossed please!

I had a small triumph at work today.....printer that is that big and expensive, I would expect it to fecking cook a three course meal for me decided not to play any more yesterday, I bravely rang the printer company...not a big deal I hear you mutter...wrong!   Again major communication problems but got off the phone hopeful that we had agreed she would send me a waste container cartridge today.....tadar!   This afternoon, what should arrive but two waste container cartridges!!!  I was happy with that, twice as much but hell at least something a) arrived and b) was the right thing....think that smug feeling may return briefly!

Short and sweet tonight peeps as I am bushed, I have a hot date with..........my bed!

Ciao

Grumpus 

And the saga of the apartment rolls on!

7th November 2011

Bonjour! Is the french thing getting boring yet????   Answers on a postcard please :0)

So the weekend seemed to fly by, we had every good intention of venturing out for food on Sunday to celebrate but actually didn't get out of bed, other for toast in the morning and to put a few loads of washing on....yes I am that sad that I worried we wouldn't have anything to wear today!

We nearly starved as I refused to cook and Mr. H decided that as he had cooked breakfast he was now on strike.....he actually had the nerve to say that he wasn't my slave, as you can imagine Grumpus was not impressed.   I pointed out that is what happens when you create a monster lol, put me on a pedestal by all means, but then don't change your mind 6 years in and expect me to actually start doing something!

Anyway the top and bottom of it was we both starved to prove a point.........seriously two grown adults sat in two separate rooms sulking!  

Anyho, all friends again today, I may have apologised but I clearly wouldn't put that in black and white would I?!

So the paperwork has been sent to the powers that be to approve, big thank you to UPS, paid for midday delivery today and it ended up being delivered at 3.30pm UK time......chuffed to bits NOT!

Called UPS to bo**ock them and their excuse was the normal driver was off sick and the replacement driver didn't realise it had priority.....the big sticker saying PRIORITY didn't give it away then, jesus wept where do they find these people!

Why the hell would you send documents UPS unless they were urgent, I give up I really do, between them and my letting agent back home, I am beginning to think that the world is being taken over by monkeys resembling humans, its the only way to explain the bloody stupidity of some people.

I seriously am being to think that people enjoy getting me stressed, it the only logical reason, for such a great country everything seems to take sooooooooooooooooooooooo long and there is just no need for it.   I spent three hours the other day trying to reason with a French woman as to why it was quicker to email a lease to me rather than post it!!!!

But what can I expect from a country who thinks it is perfectly acceptable to have their supermarkets shut at 7pm on an evening, that is right, that wasn't a TYPO 7pm in the evening, late night "whoop whoop" is a Thursday were they stay open till half seven, I am seriously considering going to Asda when I get home at two in the morning, just because I f**king can!

So to recap, you don't have a large freezer like back home, so you have to shop weekly, but you work till gone seven every night (that's right folks living the dream!) so the only night you can shop is Thursday and have to tear round the supermarket like you have a tribe of loonies chasing you, you couldn't make it up!!

Anyway rant over for tonight, I am getting a sweat on writing about it, you have something special to look forward to on the next blog, Grumpus's V's washing the sofa covers.......if that doesn't wet your appetite I don't know what will!

Ciao

Grumpus x

Joyeux Anniversaire Matt

6th November 2011

Ciao, Hallo, Bonjour, that's hello in the three major languages covered!

Happy Anniversary to Mr. H who has managed to put up with me for six long years, for a few weeks we thought it was seven, but after referring to friends and family and various weddings we have been to, we finally worked out that it was only six, phew!   Lets leave the 7 year inch till next year......its one more thing for me to look forward to worrying about!

We have received the lease for the apartment so things are finally moving forward, I have started to clean things in this apartment, in anticipation for the move, such as curtains, sofa coverings etc, as to be honest they are just rank!

RANK actually as in that bad they deserve capital letters, I class myself as being fairly relaxed on the cleaning front, but all I want to do in this gaff, is scrub, scrub the bath, the toilet, the cooker, the list goes on......I find myself turning into Aggie and Mr. H was already Kim, grime-busters extrodinare!

Your lucky I am updating as I have a date with the bath.......one of us will lose, knowing the state of this place it will be me, but I love a challenge.

Our house guest has flown the nest already, and before you ask I didn't scare him off!   He got offered a fab little Studio in Plainpalis for a couple of months so quite rightly jumped at the chance.

We helped him move, along with Mike who kindly offered to drive us all so we didn't get wet!   It was the quickest move ever having said that, he did only have a few suitcases lol!

Have to report that there were no fireworks in Geneva last night, none that we heard anyway :(   May have to buy some when we get home and have a honorary 5th of Nov but in December!

As it is our Anniversary.....have I mentioned this yet lol!  We may venture out tonight for a meal, there looks to be a lovely little bar and restaurant round the corner who does Fondue, when in Rome and all that jazz!

Right best get back to the date with the Bath........ speak soon love Grumpus x

Good news at last (well hopefully!)

1st November 2011

White rabbits my lovely little Anglophiles :)

I come with good news, we have been accepted for an apartment!   A lovely 2 bed gaff just round the corner from where we are now on Rue de Lyon, on a street called Aire!

Phew, not homeless just yet then, big thanks to Mrs. B for the offer of the ski chalet, I will hold you to that once I become all outdoorsy and want to trot off and do a spot of apres-ski, I am reliably informed this is the best kind of skiing!

So that has put a smile on my face, for all of 5 minutes admittedly but it's a start.

We have a guest at the moment, a lovely chap who has just started with our company so we did the nice thing at the weekend, met him from the airport, offered him a bed, took him to get a bus pass, showed him where the local supermarket is and gave him a brief tour of Geneva, I say brief as obviously we hardly ever know were the hell we are, never mind give anyone a proper tour!

He seems chuffed and our original smugness came back for a while as for a few hours we felt like old hands!

Mr. H is still doing well at work, I am still stressed but there is nothing new there!    I tried to explain to my boss today that I worry about worrying, he just didn't get it, I didn't get why he didn't get it and started worrying that maybe I worry too much!

Just as a crazy side note, we are helping our guest find accommodation and went to see a Studio with him today, the sign on the shared laundry room (yes your read that right, people have to share washing machines, amazing isn't it, I cant think of anything more gross!) the sign on the door once we tracked it down was washing can only be done from 9 till 5.30 Monday to Friday......I shit you not, so not only do you run the risk of seeing some freak man-handling his wangers, but your screwed if you work!   Either that or you hog the machine for the day and run the risk of some spiteful person (a little like Grumpus herself) pinching your smalls as payback for hogging it!

What sort of country have I moved to were they have a rule about when you can do your washing.......that takes being anally retentive to a WHOLE new level, it is apparently so that the whole apartment block can enjoy the peace and quiet....shame that nobody has explained that to the tw**s above us that moved in last week, if the baby isn't crying it sounds like somebody is using the floor above as a bouncy castle, seriously SHUT UP!!!!

The Swiss seem to be very fond of rules and regulations, every other billboard you walk past is saying NO! to something, Mr. H described it as the country version of Grumpus, moan, moan, moan, fitting I thought!

But with lots of red tape, regulations and rules, come an amazingly safe city, rated one of the top ten cities in the world to live in so I guess they must be doing something right!

Mr. H has just pointed out that it will be our Anniversary this weekend, obviously I had remembered this, whilst trying to find us a new home, run a office and genuinely try not to have a massive meltdown due to all of the above and homesickness on top!

GUTTED that we cant go to the Fireworks at Lakeside, really hope that Mr & Mrs. C and Mr & Mrs. H.W actually manage to get there on time this year if they end up going,.....no excuses, don't miss the bloody thing if you end up going and plenty of pictures please!

Cant imagine the Swiss go in for fireworks, if a washing machine after 5pm or on a weekend is too loud but watch this space.

That's all for tonight folks

Grumpus x

Cant remember its been a while and i am a little drunk lol!

Friday 28th October 

Ok I admit its never a good time to update when you have had a few beers, but what the hell, as Micky boy would say I'm intrepid and fearless (its a bower thing!).  

FIRSTLY joyeux anniversaire!! Mr Bernard, Secondly I am so impressed that I was worst for wear last night and remembered that I promised to say happy birthday!

Mr Bernard hope you had a good night!!!!!!!!!

There is also a special young man that I want to say belated "Joyeux anniversaire" to, Kyle I am so sorry that I am slack and didn't get you a card, yes I am rubbish but you know that I am thinking of you and I hope you enjoyed your trip to the US for your birthday!  There will be a belated birthday box when I get home!

So I have to share with you the bizzare thing that is our local, the bizzare thing being you have to fight to pay your bill!!! It great, firstly they forget to give you the bill for the round, so you end up feeling bad and pointing out you haven't been charged for your round, but the greatest thing is once you have racked up a few rounds they give you one on the house for "the road" its amazing, I highly recommend it to the Park, they would get loads more custom!

So another day, another apartment viewing, we have been saved from being homeless but the hunt for the elusive "two bedroomed" des res is still on!

We have furniture........we have the bond.....we have the power, but not quite the REGIE (equivalent of the letting agent in the UK but with far more power) has "the power!" 

We have now seen over 20 apartments, as have in-between 70 to 100 other couple on each viewing....I shit you not!   They queue down stairwells, in the lifts and everything, its a whole new brave world my friends of group viewing, where NOBODY understands English!!

As you can imagine I am a) more that stressed and b) pissed off that nobody speaks english, hell didn't we have an empire at one point lol!

Me and Mr H bid you farwell at this as we are making the most of having the apartment to ourselves, this evening *wink wink*, as of tomorrow we have a guest via work, for a couple of weeks!

Lots of drunken love, hugs and maybe kisses Ms G & Mr H xxxx

Week Four (it feels like a lifetime!)

Wednesday 26th October

Today was the day that Grumpus had her first major meltdown.....of decent proportion anyway.

Cabin fever has set in, not of the apartment, not of living 24/7 with Mr. H but being in a city where nothing seems to make sense.   40% of the city's occupant's are ex pats, but yet nobody I have met other than Mike (from the bar) seems to speak English!!!   How is that possible? I thought English was the universal language of Finance and we live in one of THE biggest cities finance wise, go figure!

Then we have the rental system, I can't begin to explain how stressed I am about the fact that come the 13th November, Mr H and I will be homeless!   Not only will we be homeless but we will have a boat load of frigging furniture and no place to go!

Regies (as the letting agents are called) are as fecking helpful as the clap!   Not interested in anything you have to say should you not speak French, advertise properties that seemingly are filled in minutes and generally are just twats.

STRESSED doesn't begin to cover it, there were wobbles at work, but the full blown meltdown erupted once we got home!

Mr. H as usual dealt with it in a calm and reassuring manner (only once I started crying) I should farm him out to war torn countries, so he could go and solve all their problems too!

The UN have nothing on him and luckily, hugs were given, tears were dried and laughter resumed....for the time being!

Although even this problem is one H man can't fix, if a regie doesn't take pity on us soon, we will be camping out in the office boardroom, I'm not joking, nobody could afford the bloody hotel prices round here!

So that was the meltdown day, that and I now realise that I have left my i phone at bloody work, so now starting to feel like I have lost a body part, all in all my friends, A VERY DARK DAY!

The silver lining in the shittiestdaysofar.com was we have had a beaut curry, rice that was blinding if I do say so myself (I cooked it!) and something described as a rosti, it was rosti as in potato but you cooked it almost like a fat pancake, in a frying pan with a lid on top, whatever it is it did the trick :)

So I'll leave you on that note, and hope for my sanity and H's that tomorrow will be a better day :)

Grumpus and Hx 

End of Week Three

Sunday 23rd October 2011

Again apologises for the sporadic posts, but in-between apartment viewing, working and eating there doesn't seem to be many hours left in a day!

I wont bore you with most of the apartments seen this week, apart from the one of the ones on Friday, boy this one was special!   The actual apartment was fine, kitchen was basically a box but other than that, the space it's self was spot on.

The special part of this apartment was the night-life surrounding it, now I class myself as a reasonably broad minded individual, live and let live and all that but living next door to one of the most graphic sex shop widow displays I have EVER seen is even too much for me.   If that wasn't bad enough, there was more........the prostitute loitering in the doorway of the apartment really gave the game away as to where we were!

Now I am sure your all wondering how we came across this gem of a des-res! 

Well Mr. H found it in the "classified" section of an expat website......he seriously must think I was born yesterday, although in his defence he did actually look as horrified as I did at the scene surrounding the apartment, at least in Amsterdam the Red Light district has pretty buildings and decent looking women, this was just nasty!

Mr. H was actually quite offended that it was allowed to be called the Red Light district it clearly wasn't up to the high standards he had become used to in Dam!

Just as a side note, how do ppl live in Studio apartments, seriously, ONE room my friends to live, sleep and eat.....the only other room is the loo!!!   How bad is that, you need to go and have a moment and the place is that small, you both have to hum.....?

Seriously I love Mr H dearly but I really do not want to live somewhere where I can here him carrying out his ablutions, its bad enough that I have to witness him sticking his head under the covers of a morning, to see how good his fart smelt, anything more could be a deal breaker on the relationships stakes.

When I signed up for this amazing trip sharing ONE room 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week was DEFINITELY not on the cards, but for some reason the Swiss think this is a perfectly respectable way to live!!!

So its back to the drawing board, another viewing lined up Monday......I just can't wait!   It really is exciting to see what hole we're contemplating living in next, kind of a lucky dip of small hovels available for renting!   

I miss my home, my garden, my cat and all I ask is that for the best part of £1400 pm is a little bit of space, a separate bedroom, living room and kitchen is NOT a lot to ask for in life me thinks!

So after the appalling evening of apartment hunting we decided to call for a nightcap, a "celebration" of getting through the viewings without throwing ourselves under a bus/tram/train/bike/motorbike - whatever would have been closest, or Grumpus being kidnapped by a Swiss pimp.

Paradiso (the bar downstairs - after three weeks we finally have learnt it's name) had Karaoke on and Dahlia the owner set about me with gusto to ask (replace ask with press-gang!) me to sing.

Now I have been known to belt out a few tunes on Lips, when very very drunk and in the privacy of my own home, only around people I know well (i.e. can bribe should they start taking pictures or videos) but singing in a packed bar in front of a load of strangers that don't even speak English is not my idea of a good time....or so I though!

Mr. H did NOTHING to stop the press-ganging so my name was down on the list before I knew what was happening, he found this extremely amusing.

What did we learn that evening????? I do a blinding Tina rendition, which everyone seemed to enjoy - well they clapped so I take it they enjoyed it, I don't do a blinding Cher.......it was bad, very bad and I do a decent R Kelly Duet with the owners brother, who clearly thinks he is the next Robbie Williams!

Mr. H decided to call it a night, did Grumpus?  Oh no, she carried on for another hour and a half, belting them out with varying degrees of success, at one point I believe they had to wrestle the microphone off me to let someone else have a turn!

So you can guess how this evening ended, Grumpus woke up the next morning DYING, after hitting 30, my body now just seems to be outraged that I dare even attempt to drink as much as I used to and does everything in its power to  dissuade me from trying again......somebody aught to tell my body I am not good at doing as I am told lol!

Mr. H did his good deed for the day yesterday whilst I was "tired and emotional" and set off for the adventure that has become the weekly shop.

He has asked me to summarise his trip as follows (this is because he cant be arsed to type himself!)

20 minute walk to the shopping centre, carrying an extremely feminine purple shopping trolley, that her indoors has actually f**king named!

Arrive at supermarket, to find it full of what appeared to be a day trip from the local old peoples home, this included "Doris".   Now Doris as nice as she was, took it upon herself to make my shopping trip as difficult as possible.   Doris decided to stalk me all round the supermarket and appeared to want everything that I wanted, but rather that do her own thing in a civilised manner, this crazy old b**ch thought it was ok, to walk down the isles backwards!!!!   Seriously......giving old people shopping trolleys is debatable to start with, but when they insist on driving them backward, I say enough!   Someone needs to lay down some ground rules!!!!

So I find myself in a foreign supermarket not understanding any of the labels, when it suddenly dawns on me, I am doing the good thing, offering to do the shopping whilst her indoors, lies dying in bed, not "tired and emotional" just PLAIN hungover!   Maybe this will earn me some brownie points for "later".   But wait hang on, I know we need bleach and washing up liquid, but what the f**k else do I buy to feed us?????

So I begin to walk round and realise that I really fancy some cheese.   I decided that it would be quite funny to see how many food items I could buy that had cheese in them.   This turned out to be a rather fun game and easier than one might think!   I succeeded in getting:

Frozen mash with cheese

Croissant with cheese in them ( Grumpus was outraged!) 

Potato Croquettes with cheese in them 

Ravioli with cheese in it

Chicken Kiev with cheese in them

Potato Rossi with cheese in them

Ham & Cheese savoury strudel (Grumpus isn't sure that she wants to eat a SAVOURY strudel but needs must!)

Now I could go on here, but I am sure you get the jist, pretty much everything I bought to eat had cheese in it.   MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

So now I find myself with a dilemma.......I have got the food, but the f**king purple shopping trolley now has no more room for beer and wine, what is a man to do????

So I have to walk the 20 minutes back unload all the shopping only to have to turn round and walk back to get my beer (Grumpus would like to interject at this point before you all start feeling sorry for Mr. H.... he does have a bloody bus pass he could have used rather than walking!!!!)

So that is EXACTLY what I did!

Grumpus is now patiently waiting for the barrage of comments from you all about how mean I am to Mr. H and how wonderful he is to me.......remember folks he loves it!!   He gets very confused when I try and be nice :0)

So that's all for now, although its quarter past twelve in the afternoon, I might grumble off for a kip because I can!

Love Grumpus & Mr. H xxx

Week Three

Wednesday 19th October

Jesus wept its Wednesday already, am beginning to feel a little like a hamster, all be it a Swiss Hamster maybe?   The days are just flying by!

Well the apartment on Monday was beautiful, I have tried to bribe, cajole, plead, even tried flirting in Frenglish to get the place, but so far no cigar, the deadline for applications is Friday, were waiting for paperwork and the suspense is bloody killing me.   Trying to be adult about it but if one more person tells Grumpus that "what will be will be" Grumpus WILL punch them!

In the meantime we need to continue looking and just cross our fingers.   Normally I laugh at the "power of pray" malarkey but serious peeps fingers, knickers, toes, etc. I expect you all back home to keep all of them crossed!

Putting some long hours in a work, so hence the rather sporadic updates at the moment, apologises but "you gotta do what you gotta do"

Mr. H feels like he is living with a OAP, one minute we are having a conversation, he leaves the room to get a beer, comes back and I am snoring! I actually fell asleep the other night WHILST he was talking to me!

Not really a lot else has happened, all I seem to be doing is working and sleeping, so same old shit different day.   

Been quite an emotional day, today.  A colleague, no scrap that... a friend who happens to work for the same company as me was in our office today, I was caught really off guard as to how upset I was when she left, it was a shame we were both so busy that we didn't get chance for a catch up, I had a tear or two in the lift back up after saying bye.

For the most part, the homesickness is bearable, we're here together, for a reason so it is easy to try and bury it and just get on with it, but when you see a friend, face to face or on Skype, that is when it really hits home.   Your hundreds of miles away from the people you love and care for and you start to falter in the belief that its the right thing to do.

I wonder if friendships can last over long distance, seriously who hasn't had a long distance love affair that you knew was doomed from the start??   I really really hope that all mine & Mr H's friendships can last where ever we are in the world, but the thought does tend to sneak up and bite you on the proverbial arse when you least expect it!

WOW bit deep there peeps but I did say it was a warts and all blog and hell it wouldn't be Grumpus's blog without a bit of moaning going on!

Starting to stress about my laptop, sent it back to Dell today (who I must point out are rather more helpful in Geneva, than they were back in the UK!), praying that they manage to restore it, but it isn't looking hopeful :(   Having said that if they get the bugger working again, I a) will not be as mardy and grumpy, b) will be able to get back to the addiction which is FB games & c) Mr. H will be a happy bunny as we will no longer have to work to a "rota" for his laptop.

If the truth be told I am rather gutted that I got the smaller Laptop and Mr H got the larger one, getting quite used to his huge.......screen!   Maybe I will insist that he has the smaller one, once fixed and I have this one instead!

Right think that's about all folks for tonight, off for, you guessed it, a cheeky glass of vino (cue the telling off from my mother again for turning into an alcoholic and blogging about it :0) )

Stay safe and don't do anything me and Mr. H wouldn't do!

Grumpus & Mr. H xxxx

End of Week Two

Firstly congratulations to our friends Rose and Coz, on the birth of their beautiful baby boy, Corey John.

I am gutted that I am not there for cuddles!!

Right now down to the updates, after getting done for no posts over the weekend, here they are as requested!

Saturday 15th October

Up bright and early, well bright and early for me on a weekend, 10am sharp, Mike & Cora were waiting outside for us, ready to give us the tour of "Manor" supermarket.

To be honest it was lovely but more Marks and Sparks than Asda smart price!

Stocked up on spices etc as we had promised to return the favour and cook for Mike and his gang and Mr. H had his heart set on making a curry from scratch.

Had a coffee after shopping, in Switzerland, there seems to be a lot of coffee drinking after doing things, so much so if your not careful, you would never get more than one or two things done in one day!  

A quick nosey round the electronics department and then home james.

The afternoon was spent chopping and cooking with the end result being a beautiful curry.

The evening went to plan, everyone seemed to enjoy their food, the guests brought some cracking wine and a decent night was had by all!

Sunday 16th October

Grumpus for the first time in a very long time was up reasonably early for a Sunday, 9am bright eyed and bushy tailed, same I can't say the say for Mr. H, for the first time in a long time, Mr. H had a visit from his long lost friend "The Hangover", the last time Mr. Hangover visited was Prague Nov 10!

I thought I would do my good deed for the day and hopped off to "PAM" to get Croissants for Mr. H & I.   Off I tootled, sustenance bought and back in one piece after wrestling with the shrapnel which is Swiss currency, feeling quite pleased with myself.   Kettle on, coffee made, Croissant and Coffee brought to Mr. H's bedside.

There was a growl, which I translated to be, he didn't like Croissant.......   Now this disturbs me on many many levels, after being with Mr. H nearly 7 years, how has this major issue past me by I ask myself.   He is trying to convince me that I knew of this before, but no, no my friends, this is MAJOR I would have remembered this discussion.  How can someone NOT like the noble Croissant?, this was the holy grail of my holiday as a child, Dad legging it to the bakery and bring them back still warm, a reminder of being abroad and I am led to believe the staple breakfast diet in quite a few European countries (they also put cheese in them and have them for lunch, but the less we talk about that, the better....its well plain bloody WRONG!).   The Croissant was France's answer to American style fast food, you wouldn't get a Maccy D breakfast looking this elegant!

So, I am horrified that Mr. H isn't participating with the Croissant munching and a little miffed that I didn't get a medal as big as a dustbin lid, for being so thoughtful, but then, the realisation hits me.   More for me, yum!

So Mr. H finally drags himself out of bed whilst I Skype Ma & Pa, their dog is crazy I actually felt like I was starting to have a conversation with her and could pretty much understand the jist of the barks etc......I know I definitely need help!

Mr. H had offered his services to assist Mike with his computer, so off we trekked the five minute walk, to what would be the best Sunday Dinner either of us have had in a while!

I did bugger all apart from watch UK telly whilst Matt sorted the computer and laptop out.

We were rewarded with THE biggest pork joint I have ever seen!   Crackling was top notch, this man knew how to pull together a Sunday roast, veg still with a bit of bite, decent roasties and blinding gravy :)

Obviously not as good as either Mum's but hell he nearly there!

So as it is Monday when I am writing this I will not be able to update till tomorrow now as off to see another "Apartment"

Keep trekking my friends, if you cant be good be careful!!

Love Grumpus & Mr. H 

Yup you've guessed it more Week Two

Howdy folks!

Right fully recovered from last nights shananagins and raring to go!

So what to tell you about first, Mr. H's blond-ism? The Apartment hunting (I constantly refer to it as Flat Hunting and constantly get corrected by Mr H....they should be referred to as Rabbit hutches, in fact the hutches my Granddad used to keep Rabbits in were bigger, but I digress)!

Just a side note, I am seriously worried at how dumb am I, I never realised Granddad had two d's!!!!

Back to the story, we bounced off the bus at the usual stop and raced to the local to meet Mike, who kindly offered to come to the viewing with us, jolly decent of him as:

a) We don't speak any of the languages 99% of the population speak!

b) We didnt know what the hell we were doing or what was expected of us!

Unfortunately Mike wasn't too well so off we trotted to see what we were convinced would be the apartment of our dreams!

I have to say the Swiss need taking to one side and explained to what the concept of a bedroom is..i.e. actually being able to fit a bed and a wardrobe into the room, rather than just crowbarring the mattress into the room and then just throwing yourself on it!

Needless to say, the apartment of our dreams, soon became our reality.   The apartments everywhere in Geneva, are small, the same thing happened today, had a viewing, lovely part of town, was fully furnished, but had a curtain for a door, I guess this is what it is like when you find Uni digs, although at Uni, your 18, not 31 and have a few less expectations in life!   Especially for CHF2000 per month.   I guess we should be lucky that includes the Utilities!

Anyway the scariest thing is we are seriously giving this place some consideration, after all we have to be out of the apartment we are in now by the end of the month, scary stuff!

So that is the joy that is finding a new home, I knew it would be hard but seriously????

Now I hope you can understand the need for the early bar to drown our sorrows :0)

Really cant think of anything else witty and/or amusing to say at the moment guys and gals so me and Mr. H bid you goodnight xx