Skip to main content

Mind the cards!



This weekend we have mainly been enjoying the fact that I had a whole 4 days off and we therefore managed to squeeze a trip to Somerset AND a trip to see Simon & Sharron in their (now not so new) house - perfect. We made good time back and settled down in front of the fire with SCD and a bit of Horseopoly, ably assisted by Freya!

Yesterday's whistle stop tour to Somerset was as lovely as ever. It was just Izzy and I and we managed to get down in good time for lunch before heading up to the Quantocks to blow out some cobwebs. We parked in Dead Women's Ditch and then went down towards Lady's Coombe and then back up to the top to make the most of the views. Izzy was fuelled on sugar for the first part but then wilted briefly when she realised I was being truthful when I said I hadn't brought the whole packet, just the ones she had in her pocket! She soon perked back up again and raced Ben up the hill to jump in the most enormous puddles together. This the same boy who didn't want to come and definitely didn't need his wellies because he definitely wasn't going to go in any puddles...! It's so nice to see them still larking around together.

We came back today on a packed motorway - seems the whole world was also travelling - to find 2 very happy dogs who'd clearly missed having neither us or Abi in the house. Abi is having a lovely time of course. Armed with a phone I've just had a far more satisfying text conversation with her than the brief phone call from earlier. she doesn't have the patience (or the reception to be fair) to talk on the phone, yet will talk by text for an hour. Admittedly a lot of it is asking about the dogs, but at least some of it is also asking how we are and telling me what she's up to. Despite there being a seemingly huge crowd of people there she's in her own room so its probably quite nice for her to be snuggled up chatting to me via text. This time we could plan ahead and sent her off with both a blanket AND a sleeping bag in case it got cold. Angie's is a normal equestrian set up - the wind whistles through the cottage windows and while the horses are snugly tucked up the people are freezing! She has to be up at 4:30am on Wednesday morning to go hunting and she can't wait - thank goodness she's an early bird.

So back to work for me tomorrow and just 4 days before a week off - woo hoo! The corporate world is a funny one and between recent events and general work uncertainty everywhere I look I'm very clear that now is the time not to rock the boat - I'm hunkering down and making the most of what I have. I bumped into yet another friend today who is having to either apply for their own job or find a new one - I'm grateful for the fact that mine seems relatively secure albeit pretty hard work 0 the grass is not greener anywhere for the time being.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Snow!

After a beautiful day of sunshine yesterday, today it snowed... but more of that in a minute. Yesterday actually felt like a day of much progress. Despite Covid we managed to arrange a visit to Taunton School to have a look around with the girls and to meet the Headmaster. This was a massive relief as I had got to the point of thinking we would have to accept a place without ever stepping foot inside the school. In the end we had a very comprehensive, if a little deserted, tour of the school and the kids loved it, as did we. There may even be a small chance they might squeeze us in if we are there by the summer term - that is of course if the kids are back into school by then. The other news was that I managed to speak to Mr &Mrs Tucker - the people buying our house - and we tentatively agreed that we will try and complete during the Easter holidays which could have us moving in the third week of April. This does require everyone to have got all of what they need done, and that of ...

Decluttering

Girls buying baby clothes - this could get addictive! It's Easter weekend already and we still haven't completed!! However we have made some progress, most importantly with the paperwork which has not been Steve the Builder's forte throughout this process. Stags finally got their act together and got in touch with the planning office and got an update from the Planning Officer. Apparently she is broadly happy with the application, and is prepared to pass it with only a few minor modifications which we are completely comfortable with. The Building Control Officer also came and did all of what he needed to, which means the final certificate should be issued which allows the warranty to also be issued. On our side we finally tracked down the paperwork (or more correctly got the BC Officer to come out again and do a second assessment) for the outstanding BCC on our windows (which went in 6 years ago but due to an admin error were never registered) - nothing is straightforward i...

Busy, busy, busy

Full English brunch for these two! Life is VERY busy and I don't feel like we have stopped for weeks (or is that months?) It seems like the 'to-do' list is endless and while I know we don't have to do it all at once, I have taken on the unenviable task of trying to get the Muppet to finish all the work he promised / we have paid for and that has been like pushing a mountain of water up a very steep hill. We've got to the point where I think we have got all of what we are likely to get and the rest we'd rather finish ourselves anyway. The electric gates are clearly a work of his imagination based on the gates / the electric cables he spec'd and the cheapo motor mechanism - there is no way they'll work so we have decided to not bother and source proper gates that do the job and look better as well. Knowing that we are almost at a point where we sever the ties feels very liberating. Looking back this last 6 months has been incredibly stressful and just didn...