I've been lacking words this last week, so instead here are some pictures from what I've been up to. Highlights include a hen weekend where we got to stay on a working farm (with the lovely pair at the top of this post outside where we slept!), the first bulbs coming up in our garden, Mr C's birthday (which obviously required a home made chocolate cake), the completion of my raised bed, and today the first day of Spring proper. Somehow I also managed to squeeze in two books (Vanessa and Virginia and Deaf Sentence - reviews of both to follow), ... read more
Jemima lives again
Someone please tell me how I ever found the time and energy to have a full time job! I seem to be really struggling this week, despite my best efforts to make sure I achieve something every day. Still, one thing that I did manage this week was to finally finish Jemima! Sadly she's far from perfect, but I certainly learnt a huge amount about my sewing machine in the process. Next week's project should be to give her something to wear. Let's hope I can manage at least one of the outfits in a week. ... read more
Birds, cake, nappies and gardening
It's been one of those weekends where loads seems to have happened if you know what I mean. As it had seemed like such a long time since Mr C and I had had a day out anywhere we planed to make the most of the dry weather and lack of snow and headed up the A1 to the RSPB reserve at Sandy. We've been RSPB members for a while now, but often don't seem to make enough use of our membership and this trip was an attempt to turn that around. I was amazed at how large the reserve site was as it provided several different walking routes around through a mix of heathland, ... read more
Paintbrush in hand
That how I feel I've been for the last week or so. Paintbrush firmly in my hand - I was even dreaming about painting skirting boards the other night. The good news is that all the front room is now decorated, the new carpet is down and Mr C's dad has just arrived to help him return the sofa to where it should be! I'm looking forward to it no longer being on end n my kitchen!Funny how decorating just one room can disrupt things for a while. Normal service will be resumed very soon I hope. ... read more
Snow – how we used to cope
As today's the first day in a week that Mr C has made it into work in central London by train this film seemed like appropriate viewing. From the BFI National Archive it really does make you realise how much better we were back then at coping. I certainly can't see our local train company going to this sort of effort to get people to where they want to go.Enjoy the film - Snow (1963) - and thanks to Cornflower for making me aware of it in the first place. ... read more
A cold snap
There's no doubt about it, it's pretty damn cold out there right now. This is how the garden looked yesterday morning as the sun came up. It didn't look much different by the time the sun went down yesterday afternoon! A couple of bit of grass had ben in the sun and therefore returned to green, but come this morning and all is white again.We've not yet had more snow here, but I understand that this is highly likely to change in the next 24 hours. In fact, most of the country is likely to be white over by tomorrow morning. Even London is likely to be covered. Of course this has ... read more
An exciting year ahead
Take a look at the above photograph of my bedside cabinet. Notice anything strange about my bedtime reading? or more accurately where the books themselves are? This wonderful invisible bookshelf was a Christmas gift from the lovely Mr C. Pure genius and keeps me safe from the danger of a perilously high to-read pile right next to my head, which is how things have previously ended up!It felt slightly strange last night to welcome in the new year with only a half glass of champagne. I'm not one for going out and painting the town red, especially on New Year's Eve when everywhere is ... read more
End of the festive season and new beginnings
Our first real Chez C Christmas Tree As this year's festive season draws to a close things feel a little different to how they have done in previous years. Normally at this time there is the anti-climax of New Year's Eve to get through and then the dreaded return to work in January. This year it's all a little different. I resigned from my job at the end of September and today is my first day unemployed. A scary prospect for sure. I had planned to have another job lined up for the new year, but things don't also work out as you first plan them. Instead there is a new ... read more
Full days
It's very strange, but only a few days after finishing work I'm already starting to wonder how I ever managed to find time to actually go to work! Somehow I've got to change that before it becomes too simple to just stay at home and not find an alternative income stream. After several days snowed in at home (not completely, but with deep enough snow outside that going out became a hassle) I've found myself filling my days with lots of little things that I want and need to get done and yet things like the pile of paperwork on my desk remain untouched.I'm pleased to report ... read more
Snow in St Albans
At least 5 inches of snow overnight. Looking doubtful that I'll make it to London for my last day at work! ... read more