Tag: Misericordia Mansions

The World According to Pinterest

18 September, 2015 / Katy / 2 Comments

Like about 97.3% of the people I know, I spend a lot of time on Pinterest.

It ranges from a useful source of ideas to a weirdly fascinating glimpse into other people’s interests and obsessions (from fingernails to family preparedness plans).

When we were planning our bathroom I found a lot of good ideas, but it rapidly became apparent that a lot of people were operating on a completely different plain than we were.

For instance, our classic Edinburgh bathroom is, in its entirety, the size of a small American walk-in shower. Even British bathroom fixtures have to be carefully selected to ensure there’s room for the bather to open the door without having to climb on the toilet seat.

I noticed that a fellow Edinburgh crafter was pinning some remarkably familiar images to her own bathroom board and thought I’d offer to help. She suggested I take a photo of (oh horrors) my bathroom to share and I’ve decided to be brave and do it.

In keeping with the latest gentrification chic aesthetic, I’ve left everything pretty much as it would be should you pop in for a cuppa (with the exception of a few toothpaste splatters on the mirror).

While I had the tripod out and levelled, I thought I would also show you what happens when someone vacillates between wanting to live in a Pinterest-worthy house and being unable to file their post or compost dead flowers. For the purposes of research, you understand.

Are we nearly there yet?

1 May, 2015 / Katy / 0 Comments

I like to think of myself as adaptable, open to change and unflappable.

But I’m really not.

I absolutely appreciate the fact that we can use the in law’s flat as a bolthole while we have work done (and the amount of grime on even the parts of the flat as far away from the bathroom as possible is truly stunning), but I want to go home!

I’ve got some exciting news coming up in the next week or so, but in the meantime I’m trying to maintain my good humour with the aid of a gorgeous view over the Meadows and the odd tea party.

In A Sunshine State

24 April, 2015 / Katy / 0 Comments

At the risk of alienating any of you who aren’t enjoying similar weather, I have to tell you that we’re having one of those perfect weeks in Edinburgh.

A photo posted by Katy Bromberg (@mymisericordia) on Apr 22, 2015 at 3:07am PDT

We’ve been eating outside at all possible opportunities, I’ve made iced tea that will probably be unnecessary before it’s cold enough to properly be called iced and our ice cream consumption has shot up!

The only slight hitch was that we didn’t quite pack enough warm weather clothing, and when we popped back to Misericordia Mansions to get some, we discovered the all the bits of the new bathroom were carefully ranged along the hallway, blocking all our rooms! So we’re sporting the rolled up sleeves and trouser leg look.

What with sitting outside all the time I haven’t got much embroidery done, despite my best intentions. Maybe when it clouds over…

Last Vestiges

17 April, 2015 / Katy / 2 Comments

This is going to be strange…

…for me, more than you (with the possible exception of the four or so of my readers who have inside knowledge).

Misericordia Mansions started out as the Lovely Young Man’s student flat, lo this 15 or so years ago. It was distinctly upmarket for a student flat (the boy has standards), but there were still idiosyncratic touches such as orange radiators throughout, unusual paint combinations, and a cork in the cornicing.

Found it yet?

Over the years, we’ve been upgrading in bits and pieces, but since we’ve moved back, there has been a more concerted plan (and budget).

Next week they start ripping out the bathroom, which is the last big project before our flat looks like a house where grown ups live. (But for Heaven’s sake, don’t tell those grown ups, we quite like it here!)

The only thing that was worrying me was Kipling. Every six months or so, a new generation of mice forget to heed the warnings of their elders and squeeze through a gap between the bathroom wall and floor where they meet this charmer…briefly.

I probably don’t need to fret, in a Victorian tenement another mouse dispenser is bound to appear, but I thought it was a fitting farewell when we heard the unmistakeable sounds of mouse-crunching in the middle of the night.

We’re decamping while works are underway, but I’ll be confecting a little something with these which I can share later in the summer.

Little Lion – in the wild

3 April, 2015 / Katy / 4 Comments

[whispered, in the style of David Attenborough]

Little Lion

Here we can see the most juvenile member of the Misericordia Mansions Menagerie. This young female appears to prize physical contact above all other stimuli and will frequently spend hours in the same position in a more senior Menagerist’s arms. At only two weeks old, she will eventually open her eyes and start to interact with other members of the group, especially the junior male.

nappy change

To demonstrate his new position in the Menagerie, the junior male brings gifts and watches the mid-ranking male and female as they care for the new arrival.

Small scuffles have been observed between the most senior female Menagerists, but these rarely lead to violence and are probably part of a complex ritual to demonstrate their joint status in the hierarchy.