Friday Round Up

weekend eggs benedict & my new favourite cup - wilson enjoys the snow - new garage, scaffolding & snow

our new lounge - jessie gets cosy - beautiful snowy scenery

chicken chowing down on a burnt muffin - essie 'don't sweater it' - chicken creeping up on jessie

Thank goodness this week is over! I've got the first stage of a big project at work out of the way and can breathe a big sigh of relief now until the second part begins and the sleepless nights can start all over again. Oh joy!

Still, I've got lots to look forward to now. Bizarrely, and for the first time ever, I'm really looking forward to working on the new house this weekend. In the past I've tried to shirk away from it, find excuses not to go and I've begrudged the time spent there when I'd rather be doing something else. But recently I've turned a corner and feel completely differently about it. It's going to be a beautiful home and I'm so lucky to be able to live there. I'm lucky that we've designed it all ourselves to fit around our lives and needs and that we (well, Matt mostly) have been in it from the beginning. It won't just be a home, it's really going to have deep meaning for us and a history that we can build on together

We spent all of last weekend there, me painting the kitchen windows and whitewashing out the spare bedrooms and Matt latting the roof of the extension ready to insulate. We spent Saturday night at Matt's garage painting skirting boards - rock n roll eh?

I spent most of this week in my home office again, gazing out of the window and wondering if the snow and ice will ever thaw. I had to go to Milton Keynes yesterday for a meeting and I was so pleased to be back on the road, eating motorway service station junk food, drinking too much coffee and singing along to the Les Mis soundtrack all the way home (I only cried twice) The lowlights of the day were

* Getting locked out of the building in the 'VIP' car park which was actually underground and scared the bejesus out of me on the way in

* Getting lost in the building's service area on the way out. Telling Matt all about it later it sounded ridiculous but at the time, my heart was pounding - a long, grey corridor with numerous grey, locked doors - I totally lost my bearings and couldn't even find the door I'd come in through. Eventually a kind cleaner rescued me

* And in between those two embarrassing instances, I was tarting myself up in the mirror of the lift when it arrived at my floor and, unbeknown to me, the doors were glass. So the crowd of people waiting for the lift saw me hoicking up my tights and checking my teeth for lipstick. My face was flaming,  I can tell you! 

Tomorrow we're heading into town for an evening at my parent's with my sister, her fiance and my gorgeous little nephew Finley Joe. We're having another Mulligatawny Night, which I'm VERY excited about - my dad makes the best mulligatawny soup in the world, we eat it from bowls with extra rice and lots of 'mmmm, yummy' noises

Next week is my birthday so I'll be taking a couple of days off work to go to Eden Hall for my traditional day of pampering with my best pal and have a day in York. Sadly it's for a dentist appointment but I'll also fit in some shopping (I need some new glasses) and lunch at Betty's because it would be rude not to

Have a great weekend everyone!