Hello, poor neglected blog! I've thought of you a lot over these past few months and yet never found the time / energy to pop in and say hi... Late pregnancy this time round has been a total crusher of energy. Partly, I suppose, because I'm older, partly because I have two other little people … Continue reading Autumn days at Sissinghurst
Daily life
The big move: an update
Hello, hello! I write to you from the other side of endless box packing and unpacking and moving out of one house and (sort of) into two others… I was going to give you a blow-by-blow account of the hellish ins and outs of the two moves from last week and the week before, but … Continue reading The big move: an update
A featherdown week: camping in the Cotswolds
In something of a head-in-the-sand moment, we had a short break last week in the Cotswolds. A bit of time to unwind on a glorious glampsite (that's a word, now, right?), admire the sunsets, wander round beautiful gardens and deal with the kids' whinging as a parenting duo have a bit of quality family time … Continue reading A featherdown week: camping in the Cotswolds
Five on Friday: ups and downs
Yes, this week was, indeed, one of ups and downs. But let's start with the positives: Hurrah, we did exchange on our house purchase last Friday! At 4.55pm, five minutes before the deadline for the day, I got a call from the solicitor to say it had all gone through. Huge sighs of relief all … Continue reading Five on Friday: ups and downs
Peak bloom at Thames Barrier Park
Thames Barrier Park is one of those slightly random places in London that I tend to read about and never visit. Built in 2001, next to, you guessed it, the Thames Barrier, it's a really cutting edge bit of garden design and I've seen photos of it in magazines, online, and, frequently, in lectures at … Continue reading Peak bloom at Thames Barrier Park
Five on Friday
Well what a week! The big news is that we did get our mortgage valuation approved last week, so we're (theoretically) good to buy our new house. Hurrahs all round. On a slightly less exciting note, we're now involved in protracted wranglings with a six-person chain about a moving date. Five of the six have … Continue reading Five on Friday
Introducing Blanco, Ginger, Polka and Dot
Goodness, but it’s been a long time since we first got our chickens and I’ve been meaning to introduce them to you ever since. Turns out, though, that chickens are seriously hard to photograph. I guess it's all that pecking about. Getting them to stand still long enough for me to take a photo has … Continue reading Introducing Blanco, Ginger, Polka and Dot
Five on Friday
To the Thames, on Wednesday, for the sproglet’s fourth birthday. His favourite thing ever in London is the “big wheel” (aka the London Eye) – he is seriously excited whenever we spot it from the window of a train, or see it in a photo. So, as a birthday treat, we took him on a … Continue reading Five on Friday
Five on Friday
The photos above are from last weekend’s trip to Herefordshire. My friend’s family own a house there that is the very stuff of watery-eyed English nostalgia. A huge mansion, surrounded by formal gardens, giving way to fields of cows, sheep and hay bales as far as the eye can see. In the distance, a church … Continue reading Five on Friday
Five on Friday
Hello! Phew! Goodness, it's been a busy few weeks. I'll try and sum it all up in five salient points... It's been a fortnight of hospitals. Last week, the sproglet had his tonsils and adenoids removed, which meant a day at St Thomas's and then a whole week of quarantine at home. He was pretty … Continue reading Five on Friday
Wolves in London 