Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

Blink and a year has passed already in our house, I guess we can no longer call it the 'new' house now. I've been madly trying to get all the last bits and pieces sorted but failed at the last hurdle. We are missing a piece of beading and a kick plate adjustment from Chris (may be a while) and we are now on our second attempt at kitchen splash backs after the first didn't quite make the grade. Jo and Matt came to fit them and as soon as they put them onto the wall Glenn started to look uncomfortable. When Jo asked what was up he pointed out the Union Jack design was painted upside down - oops. Mere mortals wouldn't have noticed but to him it's all wrong so down they are coming and the new ones are on order. It was another indicator for me that if nothing else the past year has instilled more patience in me. A year ago I'd have been very frustrated but I've learnt that these little things are first world problems and it will all come good in due course....

This weekend we have mainly been relaxing and taking it easy. The weeks are so busy that I'm reluctant to do much more than kick back and make the most of what has been a wonderfully mild October. We've started our annual leaf collecting marathon, as ever adopting different approaches. For me raking leaves is a peaceful, cathartic process where I can immediately see the impact of my efforts. It has the advantage of being active and allows me to make the most of the garden as it starts to bed down for winter. Glenn takes a more motorised approach (surprise surprise!). He starts up either the blower or the leaf pig and attacks the leaves with force and noise - not so relaxing! Saturday mornings for the girls are given over to riding. Abi can't wait and is up and ready way before we are due to leave. Izzy is torn between the chance to go on a horse and the opportunity to spend more time in her PJs, preferably watching something on her iPad or doing some colouring. Given th...

  We are at last after 6 months a skip free house - hooray! Goodness it feels like its taken an age to get here but its so good to finally feel like we are saying good bye to the various people, who seems ed to have been a permanent fixture in the house over the last months. The girls will miss them, part of the Sunday routine is to ask who will be in this week and whether they will be around after school so they can see them, but keep your kids occupied is a poor excuse for paying your builders to hang around for another few weeks so go they must! This week we have a new front door coming, the final bits and pieces of decorating and then I can safely say the interior of the house is finished, phew.  It's cost twice the original budget, but then we only originally set out to do less than half the house so that's not surprising. We've spent a huge amount but I can account for exactly where it's all gone and in retrospect we've been lucky that the only disaster...

Sometimes the girls just melt my heart they are so thoughtful.   We were all snuggled up on the sofa watching SCD when Tess Daly announces that the general public will be invited onto the dance floor to experience Strictly in all its glory.   All you have to do is nominate someone who has helped to make other people’s lives better. Izzy said “we should nominate you Mummy”, to which I laughed and said, “I haven’t done anything special”.   Abi looked at me and said “But you make our lives better every day Mummy!”     She then followed this up later as I was putting her to bed by saying “Night Mummy, love you – you make my life special!” Cue happy tears. The days are drawing shorter and although we’ve been blessed with a fantastic Indian summer, it is definitely beginning to feel autumnal. I have to reconcile myself to the fact that the mornings are now pitch black when I get up, and soon it will be dark before I get home as well.   My diary is c...

What a wonderful end to the summer. After a chilly August, September has been dry and mild, and today we've spent the whole day outside in shorts and t-shirts. We have had a few cold mornings but all in all no complaints on the weather front for once. Last weekend was the Royal Berkshire Show, a high spot in the girls calendar.  Even more so now that Abi is convinced she is to be a farmer and therefore needed to pick up some hints and tips before starting out in her grand enterprise! As ever we never see it all and this time we got stuck in one of the warm up paddocks watching the rustic show jumping and chatting to various people with horses. I tried on numerous occasions to get them to move on but they were in their element. As long as they are enjoying themselves I guess... We obviously had time to have the annual python photo - this time I was roped in - spot the slightly forced smile! Today was a proper family day - Kerrie and Tor came for S...

Poor Abi is full of flu and feeling very sorry for herself.   She spent yesterday wrapped up in a massive duvet, dressing gown, jumper and slippers feeling boiling hot to touch but shivering and complaining of the cold. I knew it had to be bad as she has lost her appetite - very unusual for her!   Of course this coincided with Glenn leaving very early to do an off-roading day so I was left trying to get everyone sorted so we could get Scooby out for a walk.   I could see we weren't going to make it far so decided to take him into the woods - all very well except he thought this was a game rather than a walk and didn't seem inclined to do anything! I gave up in the end and we all trudged back to the house, apart from the girls who drove back in their ride on tractor / ambulance. Abi then spent the day either under her duvet or snuggled up to Scooby - a perfect companion if you need a long cuddle!   Izzy took full advantage and settled down for a day on the i-pl...

  Blink and you'll miss it - there goes another week and the start of another school year.   A very happy Abi and Izzy got dressed on Thursday morning to go back to school with that lovely combination of anticipation and excitement that I can still recall 25 years later.   Also happy to see the return to school is Glenn who has had the task of amusing them over the past 2 weeks while the house has been a no-go zone - not easy.   Abi now goes into 'proper' Junior School.   This means she's now expected to be more responsible and think about her own organisation.   I don't think this will be a huge problem given she is mini-Glenn, particularly with the threat of penalty cards if she doesn't come up to expected standards, but we'll see,   It's not easy being organised at the moment when the contents of our kitchen, the hub of the house, are spread across every room it seems! Izzy is looking forward to Year 2 and all of what Abi exp...