Carrot and coriander soup

Delicious and made with coriander chopped by my big brother's fair hands. :-)

My lovely sister

With my sister's help, yet again, the bannisters are now complete.

We also stripped the wallpaper in the master bedroom, to find more dubious colours, and managed a first coat of white - after the man had sugar soaped the nicotine off the walls.

Finally, wallpaper stripping in the dining room has commenced. More hidden treasures, including tiny holes suggesting evidence of a dartboard once upon a time...

Thank you to my treasures for your invaluable help. I'm so very grateful.

Original colour underneath the wallpaper

First white coat

Second view of first white coat

Dining room beneath wallpaper

I did it!!

So, I did.

I drove on my own! It was only a short route, one I have cycled a few times before and driven once or twice with someone else, but I did it! There AND back (of course). I am extremely proud of myself. It wasn't even overly stressful, though my Braxton Hicks increased a little, so perhaps on some level, my body did find it slightly stressful. Still, I didn't have a panic attack or crash or do anything silly.

If I can do this, maybe I can give birth successfully after all. Now all I need to do is keep doing it...

:-)

Anniversary dinner

Lovely view and delicious food at Loch Fyne. :-)

Updates on the house

I've not been updating of late, partly due to broken phone, but partly due to tired me.

The guest room is complete, though will be changed round a little, as are the hallway, landing and bathroom. Thanks to some wonderful friends and my sister.

Baby bedroom has also been stripped of black and grey wallpaper, and had the horrid carpet removed. All of this thanks to brother and equally pregnant sister-in-law.

Guest room

Guest room (very comfy) sofa bed

Hallway complete with drying bay leaves (thanks to lovely friend)

Top of stairs, with new linen bin

Stripped baby room (equally unpleasant colours)

Bathroom

Instructions

This makes me ask myself, regardless of whether it's referring to the bag or its contents, what is the world coming to? :-(

Reminds me of Wonko the Sane and I wonder whether I might like to join him...

But the neighbours love us...

I spoke to our nextdoor neighbours yesterday (who already love us because we're not the old owners), to explain why my man was hoovering the grass. The polystyrene balls.

I remember our neighbours when I was small, hoovering the dead deciduous leaves that landed in their evergreens and dusting the cobwebs from the outer brickwork of their house, and I thought they were mad. I was worried our new neighbours would think the same of us.

It turns out no-one noticed. All they noticed was that we'd chopped the 10ft plus hedge down to about 6ft and so they already love us. Didn't realise it would be that easy.

What else will we find?

Our front garden is full of polystyrene balls, multiplying by the day. It appears the delightful people we bought the house from have left us with an attic full of loose balls that are now making their way out through our eaves. I'm not impressed!

Second room finished

...though to be fair, I just scrubbed the walls with strong cleaning fluids. The only room that was half decent to start with.

The only painting was the ceiling, doorframe and door...but still, it's nice to have another room 'done'.

Happy.

Kitchen

First room is painted, washing machine and fridge are connected and working - and the washing machine is so silent it plays a little song to tell you when it's finished.

All our stuff is also, finally, in our home. Last of house moving is complete. Just the nesting now! :-)