Barefoot and in the kitchen

I imagine some of you might be confused. What is Tim doing in the kitchen? Surely it must be too cold in Scotland for even the thickest soled person - even Tim! - to be barefoot? But Helen and Tim are living day-by-day from hand to mouth in someone else's flat they found on AirBnB; they don't have a kitchen to be barefoot in! I'm sure these are just some of the countless expressions of disbelief cascading through your minds as you read this very post. Well rest assured. You may all sleep comfortably (as I am unable to do at 23:00) in the knowledge that in a blow to global feminism it is not I but Helen who has been spending her time barefoot and in our own kitchen:

Heron Place
Granton
Edinburgh
EH5 1GG

That is the location of our new kitchen and here is the view from the kitchen:

Together with an open-plan kitchen we also have 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, 2 broom cupboards, a balcony and a bonnie Scottish lass called Robyn. This is what the flat looks like from the outside (we're actually around the right hand corner of the building):

So what has Helen been up to in the kitchen? Well, she's been baking awesome brownies, biscuits, muffins, cupcakes and rocky road.

We also found an awesome one pot cooking cook book which we've been working through. I must admit I've been pretty chuffed with the way things have been going. I work all day and I get to come home to new baked goodies and then Helen cooks dinner. I think it's really a good deal. Until I have to wash the dishes...

The more financially minded of you may be wondering how it is we're now able to fund renting a flat and all this baking and cooking. Well I got a job as a barista on weekends at cafe. The ad was simple - Barista needed, work starts next week. I was invited for an interview and it was only then that I realised it was for a children's play cafe. The whole place is designed to let parents of little ne'er-do-wrongs sit back and enjoy their (rather expertly prepared) skinny/soy half-shot latte without having to worry about what little Jonny is up to. There's a small plastic jungle gym and millions of toys for the little darlings to play with. This was obviously the goal at the end of my career rainbow and I signed up immediately - what luck!

This was just before we found the flat we're in now and also just after I submitted my CV to a software development company without much hope of a response. However, after starting as a barista on the wekeends, I had an interview with the software company and they offered me a contract during the week. It was all rather serendipitous and we were able to sign a lease for our current flat since this all happened within the same week. The cafe hired me because they were just too busy for their current staff and I felt bad about just dropping them suddenly so I worked there until the end of Feb (fyi: a 7 day working week is a bad idea).

As for Helen, she's still looking for work and spending my money as only a woman can. She is however spending it on sweet treats so I guess I can't complain too loudly. It is a small world though and a friend of Anne's who actually lived in Edinburgh for a while mentioned Helen to one of his old flatmates who runs a deli in Haymarket near the Murryfield stadium. The guy who runs the deli chatted to Helen and while he can't even give Helen part-time shifts he did say he'll let her know if one of his staff needs covering. Helen's already worked one shift there and she's got another tomorrow. Obviously this kind of casual work isn't ideal but at least it's something - if Helen spends too much time at home I'll be poor and fat. On the other hand, with my software contract we're getting by so any money Helen earns would just be a bonus and I think she could probably concentrate on her baking instead of getting a job as long as the cost of baking comes out of her pay :P