Are you ready for the long Diamond Jubilee weekend? I think we could all do with a few days off.
I love seeing all the flags and bunting appearing in the shops. And the fact that councils and others are busy tidying the whole country, ready for the Jubilee. And I particularly love this free printable Rob Ryan bunting, which I found on the Stylist website. I’ve already got more bunting than I know what to do with, but perhaps I can print some of this to brighten up my office…
We went shopping to buy a new kettle last weekend (ours have a history of leaking, making dangerous electrical noises, and generally giving up the ghost).
We didn’t buy a kettle. But I didn’t come home empty-handed: I bought a small glass house to go in the bathroom. One of those things you don’t know you need until you see it. It was a bit of a worry bringing it home on the bus, but it made it here intact, thankfully.
The we decided it needed tiny plants to go inside it, so it was good timing that there was a plant sale in our little town this weekend. We found a couple of stalls selling alpine plants and cacti, and the cactus man was very helpful. So we bought these three, and now we’ve got to try to keep them alive. (Like kettles, house plants don’t do well in our home. Other than orchids, which are much hardier than they appear.)
He says they like the sun, so that means we have to keep moving them into the sun every day. In their fragile little glass house. Very carefully.
You can see the little house here – we got it from Debenhams, should you be in the mood for making such a frivolous purchase…
I’m still here, just very quiet.
It’s been an odd month (and a bit), with a few ups and downs that have kept us busy. When we got home from our trip to Lincoln, we found out that a friend of ours had passed away. It was not entirely unexpected, but it was still a shock. It was several weeks before a funeral could take place, while various family members returned from their travels, and so it wasn’t until the week before last that we finally got to say a proper goodbye. We’re looking after our friend’s cats until such time as her family can take them on, so that has been keeping us busy too.
More stress came in the form of me starting a new job. It’s a very anxious feeling, preparing to start a new job – wondering if you’ve done the right thing, whether your new colleagues will be as nice as the old ones. Luckily for me, it became clear quite quickly that it’s going to be OK – the people are friendly, and the organisation I’m working for seems to be a positive place. Sigh of relief.
Thanks to the vagaries of part-time work, I’ve not actually left my old job yet, so for the past month I’ve been trying to keep track of two jobs. I’ve only got a couple more weeks of that though, which I’m glad about. Another sigh of relief.
Finally, we’ve been looking forward to a short holiday in Switzerland with my mother in June. But the airline we’d booked with back in January is going out of business, and has cancelled all of its flights. There were a few tears on hearing that news, but we’ve rallied round and booked a new holiday for the same dates, so there’s no excuse for us to be upset about that now. Our plan B holiday is to London, a place I’ve never actually been on holiday to. Of course I’ve visited lots of times, ever since I was a little girl, but never had an actual holiday there. The cost had always been a bit of a factor, but given that we’d all saved up for a trip to outrageously expensive Switzerland, our budget will cover it. We’ve got quite a list of places to go and things to eat, but if you’ve any suggestions, I’d love to hear them. Restaurant recommendations near Kensington/Notting Hill would be very welcome, since we’re staying in that area.
