you made me feel like the one

(Dakota - Stereophonics)

I got back from London tonight, met at the train station by The Husband and Millie, who was looking very happy see me bouncing around the front seat of the car. It is nice to be home, I got work done on the train, which I don't normally manage, and after a quiet hour catching up with blogs I am planning a run (after a few days break - wish me luck) and a few bits and bobs of jobs, mainly sorting out the recycling. Not the most glamorous of tasks, but I quite enjoy ten minutes of organising things into the containers, it feels quite nicely productive, and there's obviously that slight smugness that comes from having done something that feels environmentally friendly!

As I ate some dinner, The Husband kindly undertook the serious work of removing Millie's hair from my coat after her over-zealous cuddles in the car (thank goodness for our sticky roller gadget - bought when I was completely and unusually won over by one of those bizarre product demonstrations in the middle of a supermarket shop). I spotted this article about this collection of pictures by an artist called Puuung, entitled Love is in the Small Things. I don't want to reproduce them here, as they are obviously original work, but do go and look at them. To me they perfectly captured all those small moments that make up a loving relationship, sitting watching a film, having a silly dance around the kitchen, singing along to a song in unison (if not in tune), sharing the little things. The Husband handed me a cup of tea and we looked through them together, and I felt happy to be home, and lucky to be loved in all of the small ways.

UPDATE: lest I start to present an image on this blog that is verging on blissful domesticity please note the following - shortly after writing this I went to do the aforementioned recycling only to find one of the multiple containers required was missing. Undeterred, I took the proactive approach and went to request a new one on the local council website. At exactly the moment I realised, with much frustration, that the one webpage I needed was inexplicably unavailable, Millie took it upon herself to, without warning, wee on the floor (a habit we thought she had long ago left behind but has made a recurrence more than once in recent weeks). To add insult to injury she targeted not only the floor and the nearby blanket but also the charger for The Husband's laptop which promptly short circuited and tripped all of the fuses for the entire house. The blanket is in the wash, the floor is cleaned, the electricity is back on, the clocks have been reset and I am most proud of the fact that I even made it out for my run. The recycling bag is still not ordered, however, and Millie is most definitely in the dog house.