Memories from 76 St. David's Crescent

I've been toying the idea of doing a post of all the positive and negative memories we've had together while living at 76 St David's Crescent. As I handed in my 4 week notice this week there's no better time to start than now.

We moved in August 2006 we were so pleased that we had found a place in the countryside instead of an inner town shit hole. It's no secret that Wigan is, the arsehole of the North West. My husband detests the place and has never settled, I think it's rubbed off on me...

Positives
The first few weeks involved countless numbers of hot air balloon spotting.

We got the first of our three pets, Milkshake a ten week old all black kitten from the cat's protection league that August.

We got Mitzy that November.


All the times we got high.


Our Bonfire night where we torched a coffee table that we used as a BBQ surface. (Don't have access to them pics except the one below)

All the times I'd beg Phil to help me write my essays.

Our first Christmas together, it was also Phil's first ever Christmas and I was a little... Upset because he wouldn't eat turkey so I had to get a beef and a turkey joint. I'm incredible in the kitchen and I'm convinced he'd love my turkey. after 3 christmasses, he finally succumbed to my garlic turkey and he LOVED it.

The week we spent brushing my dreadlocks out -

and the day I got my second set of locks.



When I turned 21, I got a Wii and a Disney Princess cake because apparently, I'm a Spoiltprincess.




When we got married on September 8th 2007. Best day of my life.



When I gained 3stone thanks to takeout nightly then lost two.

All the times we laughed at each other


The day I was an audience member on the Germy Kyle Show

When I got my first tattoo


The UFO's we see monthly-ish which I will miss terribly and hope to shoot them before we leave click this link for more http://tokyobutterfly.deviantart.com/art/UFO-152687015




When we went to York for my 22nd birthday....


...Where I also recieved a camera:



When we got our beautiful dog Shadow




When I started as a hobbyist photographer when I was 22


When I graduated


Learning to cook for a fussy eater on a tiny budget.
Possibly one of my proudest achievements of my adult life, learning to cook on a budget. I've always been able to cook but never felt inclined to opting for takeout or restaurants. When Phil lost his job it was AWFUL! We tried living off Tesco ready meals (we wrongly assumed "fresh" produce would be dearer than meals), but the £1 meals tasted nasty.
Once we had to do a weekly shop at a freezer shop where all the dregs shop, I was put off when a pack of bacon I opened smelled like pickled onions and had a snot-green hue to the fat. So we opted to make things from scratch. I've learnt to cook so much from my own pasta sauces to an awesome veggie con carne. Fussy eaters love it, I may even do a few recipe posts one day.

Snow!

Negatives

The flat was an absolute tip when we moved in. They ripped everything out and attempted (I use that term lightly) to cover them up. Half the wall paper was ripped away, there was no flooring, just tiles to hide the foundations. The tiles were all smashed up, there was sillicone all over the walls like some guy had just jizzed all over the place.

We spent the first week freezing our asses off because we didn't know how to turn the heating on.

We spent the first 3 months sleeping on a single bed. It wasn't fun at all.

We have killed more household plants than I care to mention



Phil losing his job was really hard for us. We lived off my uni loan and since I graduated we've been living off savings. But it taught us a valuable lesson in money management and I don't think we'll ever be as frivolous with money again (This could also be a positive).

The great Flea infestation of 2007... or 08.
I don't know how we got them but overnight we were infested. Constantly getting bitten we looked like we had scabies! The vet gave us this spray for all the nooks and crannies of the house and the little buggers never came back.

Turning on the gas fire and thousands of flying ants came out! May have been the 1st summer we were there in '06.
Sea of black, oh god it was nasty.

Black mould on the walls.
Absolutely vile, keeps coming back, I am not going to be charged for the repairs.

Having the worst neighbours in the world (we were warned; we didn't listen.)
We had a crazy upstairs neighbour called Ken who would run up and down his flat screaming at the top of his voice all the time. We we're told he was dropped as a baby. He used to sing "AND THE BELLS ARE RINGIN' OWT!" to the Pogues.

He died a few months later and was replaced by the worst EVER neighbour who also had mental issues, she cut our tree down in our garden without asking. She will only date men will red sports cars and shags them 5 minutes after meeting them. Her current boyfriend just bought her an upgrade from her 1983 shit mobile.

The other neighbours "Blob n Large" Bob n Marge(aka clay face), a very ill, very overweight couple in their seventies who for two years constantly knocked on our door Everytelling us to fix this and fix that and "why won't you take pride in your garden" Large used to sit by the window waiting for me to come home with the dog and she'd run out as fast as she could "Cluuuuurrrreeee" (because that's how Wiganers say my name)

"Can yooooou pick up your mess? It smelllllllls" until I told her to fuck off one day. They haven't talked to us since RESULT! We were hoping they'd both die by now, we pray every time we see the ambulance outside her door.

We got our first dog A white German Shepherd, sadly a few months later he bit someone so we had to give him up. He's a security dog now.



We have a water supply similar to that of a third world country. It comes out white and tastes like shite. I have been drinking Evian for the whole time we've been here. I expect the water in Devon is of a significantly higher quality.
I can't think of anymore memories. I hope we have a better experience in Devon.