Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish.

That pretty much sums up my blogging attempts recently, as well as my diet!

But am doing OK on the house front at least, decluttered everything when we moved out and have kept on top of it since moving in. Had a funny story with a sofa that I ordered back in January; no sign of it 2 months later and the store discovered that the courier had lost it so refunded our money. How on earth does a sofa get lost?

So I duly ordered a different one from another store (and got £100 off when they reduced the price the following week), only to receive a message from the original courier the next day - to arrange delivery of the lost sofa! Needless to say it arrived and was promptly eBayed, another wedge of cash that we will spend at Legoland next weekend, but that's a tale for another day.

But karma came to haunt me! I felt a tad guilty about not 'fessing up about the sofa so decided to donate to charity a load of old furniture that I was going to eBay. And of course got less for the brand new sofa than I probably would have got for the rest, so haven't really benefited. Oh well, at least I can sleep at night!

Had a few manic months entertaining recently, making up for 6 months living in the van. Culminated in a big party last week to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Have been experimenting with pulled pork recently and nailed it on the night! 12 hours in a low oven, covered in a smoked paprika rub and apple juice, accompanied by homemade coleslaw with apple and fennel seeds. Oh, and a ridiculously hot chipotle sauce which was lush!

Dipping my toe back in...

Yikes, been far too long so need to wean myself back into blogging slowly! Just in case anyone is wondering, yes we are fully moved into the house - although its far from finished and still throwing problems at us every week. But I have a kitchen and the kids are happy, plus we can finally entertain regularly which is fab!

So, will kick off with a rough menu plan for this week.

Monday - bacon and asparagus salad with a creme fraiche, fresh lemon and pesto dressing.
Tuesday - Cajun blackened pork shoulder steaks with courgettes.
Wednesday - tuna steaks, new potatoes and peas.
Thursday - goats cheese salad.
Friday - Italian sausages, mash and carrot salad.
Saturday - out for a pub lunch to celebrate the 50th anniversary of my mum moving to England, so will probably have cheese on toast in the evening. Lunch is at the fabulous http://www.mitreinn.co.uk, need to take Cheryl the landlady some of my chilli plants as she uses them in the food.
Sunday - roast of some sort, although Mr Moo is angling for this weeks lidl special of snails!

Have a great week folks! Will leave you with a pic of the stunning view from our kitchen window, never fails to amaze me!

Wood, wood and more wood.

Yep, the whole house finally has flooring in! Not hardwood unfortunately as the quote came in at 8 grand, but we really love this veneer from Howdens, a lovely warm colour that suits the different uses for each room.

Actually I lied, the downstairs shower room hasn't been done yet and the living room will get carpet next year when we've saved enough money!

Spent today doing minor jobs like cleaning door handles, fitting a chain to the front door and taking more rubbish to the tip. Wish I'd dine before and after photos of the back door handle, the difference is huge!

1920's bling.

I hope anyway! We have tried to retrain the original character of our house wherever possible, it was built in the Art Deco era which is a period I love. Our bedroom seemed to be the obvious choice for a 1920's look, and the starting point was an animal print chaise longue so we decided on a silver, black and grey theme with some added bling. The fireplace and picture rails are original, and the silver vases on the mantelpiece were my grandmother's from the 1920's. Other than that, we have picked up some repro bits and bargains from Matalan and Argos of all places!

Another weeks work...

Kitchen is taking shape rapidly, appliances are largely in and The Husband was delighted to wash up last night in a full size sink! Its all still under an inch of dust with more boarding and cutting flooring to come so we can't really use it properly, but we can at last see what our home will become - and its enormous!

Its the weekend peeps, wine o'clock and we finally have the confidence to start planning for Christmas. Happy days!

Leaps and bounds!

Wow, what a difference a week makes! Half the kitchen is in, the utility room is complete and has pictures hung and the hall/stairs/landing is decorated and lit. The kids spent the weekend at their grandparents so we could clean and clean and clean (and obviously sneak in a meal out!) and upstairs is totally done bar the wonky carpet being refitted next week. And clean windows makes an enormous difference!

Random photos from this week.

The hall, utility room, kitchen and dining room in various states...and Martin the decorator trying to fix The Husbands shoe!