- Waking up full of cold.
- Feeling a little sorry for myself.
- Self-medicating with endless cups of tea and cuddles on the sofa.
- Devouring scrambled eggs on toast.
- Flying into a panic as a courier phoned to say he was minutes away from the house. I was just out of the shower and half naked at the time.
- Frantically pulling my favourite winter dress on.
- Sending Mr. LA to the cash point {because I’d also forgotten to withdraw the cash to pay the aforementioned courier. Ooops.}
- Taking delivery of a beautiful mid-century cabinet, nabbed for £60 on eBay.
- Making small talk.
- Finally paying the man.
- Feeling excited at the prospect of being able to unpack a few boxes.
- Feeling less excited at the prospect of trying to rid the unit of its distinct eau de cigarette. Bleugh.
- Greeting a carpenter at the door.
- Talking through our plans for built-in cupboards and shelves in the living room.
- Wishing we didn’t have to wait until February to see our storage dreams realised.
- Donning my rubber gloves, mixing up some bicarbonate of soda with a little hot water and scrubbing away at our new vintage treasure. It was pretty grim, and the smell got worse before it got better, but it did the trick.
- Eating toasted crumpets with marmite and drinking tea.
- Pottering.
- Warming leek and potato soup for lunch.
- Bundling up and heading out into the beautiful autumn sunshine.
- Walking the ten minutes to Troopers Hill.
- Revelling in the natural beauty of the place.
- Admiring the incredible view.
- Watching the children clamber into the hollow opening of the old chimney.
- Careering down the hill and following the path into the woods.
- Pausing so the children could climb trees.
- Mentally planning endless summers spent exploring this stretch of land.
- Listening to Izzy dream out loud about picnics, den building, elaborate games of hide and seek and the opportunity to run bare foot among the grass.
- Making our way back along the main road towards home.
- Fixing the children tiny mugs of hot chocolate.
- Lounging on the sofa until dinner time.
- Preparing pie and veg for supper.
- Eating too much.
- Putting the children to bed.
- Wondering if Izzy could possibly be stroppier as a teenager than she is now.
- Sipping wine and watching a disappointing movie.
- Making everything better with a few episodes of Modern Family. Best. Thing. Ever.
- Climbing into bed and falling swiftly to sleep.
- Sleeping in.
- Eventually dragging myself downstairs.
- Moping on the sofa while Mr. LA made breakfast.
- Perking up a little.
- Worrying about Jesse. He’s also full of cold, but his asthma has flared up too which is always a source of great anxiety.
- Filling the slow cooker with a much modified version of this. I lost the sausages, added sweet potatoes, reduced the liquid a little, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. It was delicious.
- Touching up some of the paintwork in the dining room.
- Cooking and eating orzotto with peas and olives. Because pasta makes everything better.
- Waving off Izzy and Mr. LA as they headed into town for her drama class.
- Failing at relaxation.
- Catching up on chores.
- Listing winter coats and pretty dresses on eBay.
- Doing everything I could think of to make Jesse feel better.
- Baking lemon drizzle cake.
- Smiling as Jesse licked batter from the spoon, the bowl and the Kitchen Aid.
- Delivering diner to the table just as Izzy and her father returned.
- Giving the children a quick shower, reading The Hungry Caterpillar and tucking Jesse into bed.
- Helping Izzy with her homework.
- Giving goodnight kisses.
- Panicking about next week’s rather epic ‘to do’ list.
- Craving a mug of hot chocolate and an early night.
Love Audrey xxx
PS. There’s a few additional glimpses of our weekend over on Instagram.
