Monday News Flash

:: We had a lovely time on Saturday celebrating John's birthday. When asked what he wanted to do, he said he just wanted to chill, so that is what we did. 

We pottered around the house, went for a walk, ate ice creams, and went out for dinner to a burger place in Portsmouth, 7 Bone. 

We came home for the birthday cake, a stack of peppermint Oreo chocolate brownies.

:: Decorating the downstairs spare room/Bella's new bedroom has ground to a temporary halt but that's ok. The worst, the dustiest, jobs are done and all that we need to do is paint. We are just waiting for an electrician to come round and move a light switch for us, then we can start. 

 :: I've barely touched the garden this year but it's looking surprisingly alright. Ok, the borders are a little untidy, and we really need some rain, but it's all ticking over quite nicely out there. Finally the borders, which have only been there since we moved in four years ago, are starting to fill out a little and look more established.

 :: It looks like we'll have a decent amount of redcurrants and blackcurrants this year, if I can beat the birds to them.

 :: The succulent planter on the outside table is looking good and I've done absolutely nothing to it. Perhaps they really do thrive on neglect.

:: I made my first sourdough loaf on Sunday, following this excellent tutorial. I began the starter mixture the week before, dutifully discarding and feeding every day, watching the bubbles begin to pop on the surface. So satisfying. I have so much to learn, but a big appetite for both eating sourdough (it's our favourite bread in this house, we can eat a loaf in a day easily) and learning how to make it better. This loaf was with white flour, and I put way too much on top, so it's very pale looking, but I want to add wholemeal and rye flour, to darken both the colour and flavour.

:: We have become a little obsessed with this Anna Jones pasta recipe over recent weeks, cooking it at least once a week. I've never tried cooking pasta this way, all in with the vegetables, water and oil. but it's a revelation. Even the children ate it. 

:: It was back to work today, and that was OK. I like my job, I like that I don't dread going to work. My colleagues are so nice, it makes the biggest difference. 

:: After not thinking we could afford it this year, we are now very tentatively thinking about booking a break during the six week summer holidays, and are torn between finding a bargain now, or booking something at the very last minute. I like the idea of leaving it until the last moment, but then that takes away the thing that - for me, anyway - is the best part of going on holiday: the anticipation. The looking forward to going, counting down the days, researching the local area, planning what you'll do when you're there. Are you going anywhere this summer, and if so, where? Any ideas of inspiration, in the UK or Europe, are much appreciated. 

Half Term

We've worked so hard since Saturday, especially John and my Dad, and I'm really pleased with the progress we've made on the house this week.

We began by emptying the spare room and office of furniture, no small task because, as you can see, they are a bit of a dumping ground.

On Sunday we pulled up the laminate and carpet, removed the old skirting boards, and took it all to the tip.

John spent bank holiday Monday building a frame to box in the horrible upvc window panel in the office. It took him most of the day but I can already see what a difference it makes, helping the room look more finished and less like a utility room.

On Tuesday and Wednesday John and my Dad laid the new flooring, the same as we had in the living room and hall. We had a lot left over so only needed to buy a few more boxes.

And today they fitted the skirting boards.

Tomorrow involves lots of filling and sanding so that we can start decorating the room, which will be Bella's bedroom (I'll go into that more later - it's musical bedrooms here!) But that's where we are for now. 

While John was laying floors, my Mum and I were busy in IKEA, choosing a wardrobe and bookcase for Bella's room among lots of other things, and Bella chose some new things for her room.

She has a great eye, and there is a theme emerging of blush pink, mustard and lots of plants. (I am very proud.)

I also treated myself to a few things for the house, including this gorgeous mat which holds together really nicely the bits I like to keep on the kitchen table.

A new mustard velvet cushion came home with me....

and this plant and basket.

I remembered that I needed a new apron, and was delighted to find one that had those two apron essentials: a front pocket and long ties so that you can knot the apron at the front, not awkwardly behind you. I also bought new tea towels. I love buying tea towels.

On a whim, I tried these curtains in our bedroom that had previously been hanging in the spare room downstairs. I had to let them down a little, but they look so much better than the navy ones which were there before, and feel like I got a brand new pair of curtains for nothing! We bought this pair ten years ago for our house in Leeds and I had gone off them a bit, but hung onto them because they were really good quality (most of out curtains are cheap as chips from IKEA). The navy ones I took down will go in Bella's new bedroom so nothing is wasted here.

Yesterday it rained all day and I indulged in an afternoon of solid baking. I made tea loaf, chocolate covered flapjacks and tried a new recipe, red velvet brownies from a Hummingbird Bakery recipe book. (I can't find the exact recipe online but if you search you will find lots of similar recipes.) They aren't really chocolately enough to be called brownies, but they are delicious, a bit like a red velvet cheesecake tray bake.

Today we got out into the fresh air for a walk, and everything was so green. May is always the greenest month, with all the leaves so vibrant and bright before they start to slowly fade, and the woods were glorious today.

The cow parsley is as frothily beautiful as ever.

So, that's half term. One more day of working on the room plus all the usual housework, then Saturday is John's birthday so we'll have a day off then and do something nice, if the weather is cooperative. Fingers crossed.

Hedgerows in May

Finally, it's half term. The last week has been relentlessly busy and I am so looking forward to the next week off. I have just cleaned the house and filled the fridge, the dog has been walked, children fed, and I am now I'm done. Off duty. John has booked the half term week off too, because we are doing some work on the house. I am really hoping that in amongst the ripping up of old flooring, decorating, trips to IKEA and general chaos, there is a little time to relax and potter.

The cow parsley is spectacular at the moment. Last Saturday started out as a bit of a typical Saturday - errands, shopping, housework, washing - but a spontaneous afternoon walk with my sister and nieces, plus a stop for tea and cake/ ice cream, made the day unexpectedly wonderful. 

I haven't given the garden as much time and attention as I usually do at this time of year. It's looking a bit rough around the edges but it's green, the borders are full, there are currants on the bushes and lots of things in flower, even if they are all purple. 

The sweet peas, however, have been a massive fail. I don't know why. Well, actually, I do have a few suggestions: I planted them much too late, the plants were from the bargain corner in the garden centre and a bit past it before they sat out unwatered for five days before I had time to plant them...oh, and Ziggy keeps burying his bone in the planter. 

What can I plant here instead? What can I plant in late May which will have height (need to hide the awful fence) and colour and interest? And not cost a fortune? Please help me out you lovely lot, with your gardening knowledge. 

In the mean time, I have bought supermarket sweet peas (the shame!) instead.

I cleared everything - plants, cards, flowers, ornaments - from the wooden mantel and put just a few lovely pieces back. All the colour and clutter was annoying me. I like the calmer look and, a week later, it's still looking tidy.

Don't worry, I found a place for the clutter.

I finally got around to buying a new alarm clock, after the cheap one I'd had for about ten years finally packed up. I love it. I really like to know what the time is when I wake up during the night. I've noticed that people seem quite divided about whether they have an alarm clock, or use their mobile phone as one. Personally, I like to leave my phone charging downstairs, I always have done, and I forget to switch my phone to Do Not Disturb mode and get annoyed by the pings during the night. My alarm clock is pretty, is has a low light mode so when the stupid, noisy fox barking in the road wakes me at 2am, it doesn't hurt my eyes.

 Ziggy, at almost two, is finally showing signs of calming down and is now displaying classic whippet lounging behaviour, disturbed only by the sight of a bird/cat/squirrel or the sound of someone possibly opening a packet of something in the kitchen, in which case he's on Full Alert. 

Thank you for your birthday wishes for Angus. The Lego building is still going strong. 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. I'll be back soon with, hopefully, some progress photos of our DIY, or maybe just some photos of dusty, half filled rooms and me sobbing into my gin, out of shot. We'll see.