Amaranta's Profile

OK, sorry for being gloomy. But not everyone is focused on the 'holidays'. For many people, it is a lonely and depressing time. Just a thought....

The British monarchy DOESN'T cost the taxpayer. (This is a common misapprehension). The royal family pay enormous taxes and their existence is one of the prime motivations for tourism to Britain.

Regarding the royal nursery, William and Catherine are extremely conscious about being restrained in their spending (remember the horrible royal wedding website?) so I fully expect the nursery to be budget and low-key.

I can't believe that there are people who DON'T make the bed and DON'T do the dishes.

I've never understood why cooking a basic meal like a roast turkey and a few sides could be considered as 'stressful'.

@KBella Well said. The media is making the most of this and being completely crazy. It's nothing that many of us haven't experienced many times.

I have a much easier method, I think. My sink is rectangular and I have a rectangular plastic bin thing that fits in half of it. It's a small plastic storage bin and the lid lives down the side of the fridge. I fill the bin with warm soapy water. Once a utensil, plate, cup, bowl, whatever is used it goes into the soapy water. Once I can't fit anything else in, I half fill the sink with cold water. Because the stuff has been soaking, it only needs minor washing. Then rinse in the cold water and drain. It takes about three minutes, if that. If ever I need to hide the dirty dishes, I just put the lid on the bin.

I hate pink too and of course, it's up to the owners to decide what to do. But in our 1949 apartment building we have more or less the same thing but in pale yellow and my neighbour just spent a LOT of money buying original sink, toilet and tub so that he can restore his bathroom from its current blah-looks-like-a-hotel bathroom.

I hated our bathroom when we first moved here (I'm not very fond of yellow either) and wanted to completely remodel but I'm not going to. I will:
1. Replace the current nasty 1980s vanity with the original sink which the previous owner happily saved.
2. Have the tub resurfaced.
3. Have the floor tiled in either black or white (I'm not sure yet)
4. Paint the walls black and have several plain mirrors. (Our bathroom is about a millionth of the size of the pink one)
5. Add black and white photographs in black frames.

I can picture it perfectly and it will be lovely.

@spikele When I was reading all the comments, that's what I was thinking. I was also thinking 'I don't have those' and 'I don't have that'. So I guess I'm not grown up. I must tell my granddaughter that.

Insomnia and I have been old friends for many years. I found out that there's no point in lying there trying to get to sleep - that never works. So I get up and DO something. I'm awake so why not? My theory is that if my body needed sleep then it would.

I'm actually grateful for the 3am times during which I've built websites or written books or articles. Or go and gaze at the moon through the window. I don't fight insomnia - I enjoy it. After half an hour, an hour, whatever, my body tells me it needs to sleep. How awful - lying there trying to sleep. Use the time productively. Be happy that you're enjoying the time.

There's plenty of time to sleep when you're dead, as they say :)

Oh I hate seeing apartments that are the same size as ours but seem twice as big! So gorgeous.