Sunday, May 17, 2015

project 365: week 20



130. Millie's second birthday involved party hats, a new bone and a trip to a dog show.




131. Lots of seeds for planting in our new vegetable patch.




132. Millie helping me recover from a run. She didn't come with me on this one but looked exhausted in sympathy.




133. Dark chocolate with sea salt is one of my favourite treats.




134. Not my fastest pace, but the first time in as long as I can remember that I ran for 10 minutes without stopping (twice). I keep getting despondent about my slow pace, and wasn't going to use this picture but then I realised what a key milestone it was and decided to see the positive!




135. Beautiful two-tone tulips.




136. Think Millie was entering into competition with the panda Easter egg for who could pull the funniest face.

Friday, May 15, 2015

word of the week #20


This week has flown by, I have been working away for a few days but even so I'm sure that last time I checked Sunday was only yesterday. Anyway this week has been focussed on our developing garden. Last weekend we bought a whole range of goodies to plant in our newly built vegetable beds. There are beans and peas, tomatoes and strawberries, onions and cabbages, and aubergines and sweet potato. 

I am loving my daily visits to see their progress and The Husband sent me photographic updates while I was away, partly to prove he was doing his watering duty. There was a trip to ikea to buy multiple herb pots and soon they will be planted and it will be finished. I am very excited and hoping for some dry weather over the weekend.

The Husband had a day off work today and spent some of it pruning and weeding and neatening up the flower beds. It was lovely to get home from a few days away and see all of the progress.  It seems hopeful that soon our garden will be all spruced up, and then all we need is a lovely summer to enjoy it!

Sunday, May 10, 2015

project 365: week 19



123.  Sunday cheeseboard as a treat for The Husband and I.




124. Cheerful tulips to end the Bank Holiday weekend.




125. Me and my running partner recovering in the kitchen.




126. Lamplight in the study after an evening spent working late.




127. Couldn't resist joining in with #dogsatpollingstations on our trip to vote. 




128. Wonderful sight to get home on a Friday night to a tidy kitchen and freshly made beds after our topsy-turvy week. I was so grateful that The Husband had got things straight when he got in from work.




129. Our first hill climb with my step-dad was spent mostly in cloud but they very kindly started to lift as we reached the top.

Friday, May 08, 2015

word of the week #19


That is supposed to say backward, you know, backwards. I apologise, it worked better in my head. I am regretting increasing my picture size, having been inspired by the photos over on Sarah's beautiful blog.

Ah this week, I am glad it is Friday. It has been a niggly sort of week. The long Bank Holiday weekend went by in a haze of fence painting, and suddenly it was Tuesday. The fence panels look brilliant and I am so glad we did it (except our neighbours have just said they are thinking of extending some fencing and I have visions of our newly painted panels getting replaced imminently!), and I also can't wait to show you pictures of our newly built raised beds once they are planted up, they were a great success.

Since the weekend though, things have not gone quite to plan. My wonderful early starts have not continued, and my wake up time is getting later and later all over again. My hopes of blogging daily also fell by the wayside. Millie's house training has definitely gone backwards, and she has weed on our bed for the second time in less than a month, despite us being right there with her and her only having just been let out (more fool us for letting her back up there I realise) So it was back to the dry cleaners with the duvet, thanks to my wonderful step-dad for taking it on both occasions. We have been topsy-turvy ever since, sleeping in the spare room, lots of washing and drying going on, and so I was very grateful to get home from work tonight and find The Husband had remade beds and tidied up and life was starting to look back to normal. I also managed to do a run tonight that was my slowest in weeks, though I am trying very hard to think positively, and tell myself I was going faster than everyone on the sofa, and similar such platitudes, but I do feel a little that my early-rising, faster-running, slightly smug sounding self from last weekend has been put back in her place! 

I also managed to wipe all of the messages from my mum off my phone by accident, and in a bid to restore them went backwards in time, albeit only by 36 hours as I restored my phone from its backup. Luckily it worked and I only lost a few messages, but it was a bit of a faff, and I hadn't realised until tonight's run that I had also lost all of music that was on there, so I am partially blaming my slower pace on the fact that I was trudging along in silence.

Some of the backwards have been more positive, though. The number of things on my list is gradually going backwards, with voting for the first time ticked off, and a hill climb with my step-dad planned for tomorrow (albeit a warm-up for a bigger walk later in the year). We are part way to planting a veg patch, and I have got my list of classic films ready to start watching. Another backwards has also been the numbers on the scales, with a more concerted effort to improve my diet this week, coupled with the more regular running, and plenty of support from my wonderful mum. It is a small start but it is going in the right direction. And we also looked back thirteen years this week, to our first date, as sixteen year olds at the cinema. I don't think we ever could have imagined that night that 13 years later we would be married, in a home just round the corner from my parents, or that we would spend the evening stripping our bed and cursing our mischievous but much-loved Millie.

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

flowers for you


There was to be my year in books post tonight but I'm afraid I lost half of it. It has been a bit like that today. Instead I offer some tulips and a promise to try again tomorrow. 

Monday, May 04, 2015

painting by numbers



Bank Holiday weekends: 1

Litres of dark oak fence paint: 24

People: 2 (plus Grandad re-laying a paved pathway)

Fence panels painted: 22

Sheds painted: 1

Gates painted: 1.5

Newly built raised bed for vegetables painted: 1 

Paint brushes used: 5

Times Millie had to be hosed down to prevent her being permanently stained dark oak: 1

Muscles that are now aching: all of them

Panels requiring a re-coat despite the "one coat" promise on the tin: 12 (and the shed and the gate)

Years until re-painting needed (according to tin): 2

Actual years until re-painting done: indefinite


Sunday, May 03, 2015

project 365: week 18



116. Walking through the city, after breakfast with friends, this caught my eye. We had a lovely weekend away, including breakfast at the place we came to last time, the subject of one of the first ever posts on this blog.




117. Not very inspired, but I thought the detail on this coving was interesting when I was working in London.




118. Home at last, and after our escapades with Millie, these delicate roses brought a sense of calm as I headed to bed.




119. Every shade of turquoise on the bedside table it seems, and the results of our search for classic films. Following the comment from Tess on that post, I may put the list up here, additions (and subtractions!) would be welcome!




120. An afternoon snack of scones with butter and jam. No cream, unfortunately, but they were warm and very enjoyable.




121. Discarded on the bedside table after a lovely evening out with Mum.




122. A coffee break in the kitchen in the midst of our first day of gardening. The rain has hampered progress quite a lot, but we are hoping for a dryer Monday. In the meantime, cuddles in the warm with Millie make for a lovely Saturday afternoon.

Linking up with The Boy and Me