the good, the bad and the ugly

... or another post with assorted random ramblings, accompanied by a few equally random photos*.

Lets start with the good.

:: On Monday, my old yoga teacher was back from his one month long holiday. I started back with yoga just as he left for his holidays, such is my luck. It made me immensely happy when Tom remembered me, after a nearly four year break. He was pleased to hear that it was only live getting in the way of regular yoga practice and not serious disease or any other disastrous circumstances. It was a great class, just as I remembered it.

:: On Monday, we also had our first interim meeting with both builder and architect. Both are pleased with the progress of the extension work so far and we appear to be on schedule despite the horrendous weather last week. Foundations are poured and 'we' should be out of the ground by the end of this week (whatever this may mean). Looking out the back, suddenly I can see things happening.

:: The weather has been amazing. It is crisp but not cold, sunny and bright. My mood is splendid. After last week's downpours, the dry sunny spell is very welcome. We have much fewer muddy paw print trails in the house, an added bonus.

:: It is one week and one day until we go on holiday!!!!! I am not a big fan of the exclamation mark but I do think the excessive use thereof is in order here.

Moving on to the bad (ok, not terribly bad)

:: We received a quotation for our kitchen. It was breathtakingly high but according to the Which magazine well below average for a semi detached kitchen (have they surveyed only the wealthy kitchen buyer??). We may have to send the children busking, or we could opt for cardboard flooring instead of solid wood. Alternatively we could take up a loan. I managed to get get the quote down a little by choosing standard drawers instead of upgrade drawers. Having had a good look and fiddle in the showroom, the only difference seems to be the price. We don't want to compromise on the kitchen too much as we use it all the time and intensely so. In particular, I finally want a good oven. I'll let you know when the kids are singing so you can drop a penny in their hat.

:: Jack has been exceptionally naughty lately. He has been making a dash for freedom at every opportunity he gets. It is easy just now, our garden is completely open. He does that cheeky thing, turning around and giving me a quick glance before he disappears through a hedge. Also, Richard has been away quite a lot lately and Jack doesn't like it one bit, it disturbs his sleep routine and as a consequence mine. Getting up at 5:30 when you are not used to it is not fun. In summary, Jack causes more tiredness and work than the children together.

:: It is now official, I am getting old. I need to wear reading glasses for knitting or sewing, and in particular to make out things on my phone screen. It does make a difference. I now can see my typos when I text. It makes no difference to making the typos in the first place unfortunately.

On to the uglies.

:: There aren't any to report, all is operating within normal parameters

That's it for now, just a load of trivia really but such is my life. Wishing you all a lovely day. Thank you for all your comments lately, I really love to hear from you.

* I rather like the photos my phone takes now that I discovered it can be used for more than taking pictures of a recipe. I particularly like the square format. Thanks for your tip Kristie, you were spot on with our guess.