The grass is always greener...

The second stage of sorting out the Courtyard. The artificial grass has now arrived and I trimmed the edges today.

A nice little area for Ellen to play in...and me to relaaaax in!

And this is where we will drink our evening tea!

DIY

It's not everyone who can build two bookcases and one filing cabinet in under 2 hours.
But I can! Shame I haven't got energy left to fill them with books now...

Watering cans

Our little oasis

I popped over to the Garden Centre yesterday and grabbed a few little pots and plants. This is how lovely it now looks. This area was full of enormous weeds last week, but between me and our lovely gardener, we've made it look pretty nice eh!?

Ignore the satellite dish in the background...I should have Photoshopped it out...! :)

This is where I will be spending my lazy afternoons, while Ellen splashes round in the little pool

And I love my little "Pegs" tin, that hangs on my washing line. Now I just need some pretty pegs!

Home cooking

I decided to give Ellen a proper lunch today, so I dug out my Annabel Karmel recipe book and wizzed together a Spagetti Bolognaise. It has celery and carrots in it, and its actually super super nice. I wish I'd made more now, so that I could have some.
For desert she's having Peaches and Amaretti biscuits...not sure what she'll think of that, but again....I liked it!


Here is my very homely looking kitchen! I felt like such a good mum doing all this!
Let's just see how it goes when she's eating it. I may just end up on the floor...still...Its made me feel good!

I love my sister

Just had a long conversation with my sister (god I hope Ellen gets a sister in September, so that she can have what I have!).
She keeps me grounded. The sound of her voice makes me feel at home and makes me feel real.

Talking to her somehow takes me back 20 years to when we were ten and life was simple and no problems existed. So by talking to her about my problems/disturbancies in life, I see the answers/solutions so much more clearer. I make decicions with my real head on, not the head I so very often feel I should think with.

So decision made and I feel much happier for it. Phew. Relief.

Live the life you want to live, not the life you feel you should live.
Be true to yourself.

I wish I had...

...the guts to wear my hair like this!

Hen night

Picnic & friends

Its been a lovely weekend with the perfect weather.
Yesterday my friends Emma & Sofie came down from London to spend the day. We had a little picnic at the top of our garden, consisting of fruitsallad with icecream, biscuits and lemonade. Ellen was busy running around the picnic blanket trying to get the dogs to wear her sunhat. When she succeded in putting the hat on one of them, she couldn't stop laughing.
We then headed back to our house and sat in the courtyard in sunloungers and just chilled. For once I could relax as well, as Ellen was busy getting in and out of her little splash-pool having a wonderful time getting soaked.
Lovely to see E & S and good to catch up!

Last night we had dinner in the pub next door and then did the pub-quiz. Came second. Food was great, had a Grilled Chicken Scewer with Piri-Piri sauce and potato wedges. Super duper. I also had a sneaky half-pint of Strongbow as the weather demanded it. I love a cold cider on a sunny evening.

Having a house clearout today. Ellen has been helping in her own "helpful" way...moving things around...putting little bits into keyholes...scattering my tiny decorative pebbles all over the floor...playing with straws (again aaaall over the floor). I am not sure I am making any progress...
But right now I am off out to the courtyard to clear our some junk and then I'm doin the bathroom.

Poor Steve was called out at 2am to go driving a bus, covering for c2c I believe. He was not too pleased. I don't know how he does it.

Anyway, black binbags await and I've got 1,5 hours before my little gnome wakes up from her nap.