Merry As A March Hare

I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to today.

It’s been so gloomy through the winter here at the House of Hall and suddenly March has arrived with all its prospects of a fresh start. The mornings and evenings are brighter and so is my mood.

With Kevin now looking as though his recovery is just round the corner, it’s the first time in over eighteen months that I’ve really felt positive and like I’m getting back to my old self.

Suddenly anything feels possible again.

I leave you with my uncle's favourite spring couplet, with apologies to Ogden Nash...

'Spring is here, the grass is riz - I wonder where my lawnmower is?'

Meet My Merino!

Nothing that my family does can really be considered ‘normal’, which is why I’ve only recently swapped Christmas presents with Mother.

Here’s what I got:

A DeLonghi coffee maker that produces the tastiest, freshest morning wake up I could hope for and I get the added pleasure of pretending to be a barista while I froth the milk to perfection.

A Marmot jacket with a faux fur hood that just begs to be nuzzled into on the chilly mornings that we don’t seem to be able to shake off, even though the Spring buds are doing their best to break through.

And finally...

What seemed like rather an uninteresting Icebreaker black merino top to add extra warmth to the Marmot jacket. It wasn’t until I looked at the label, that I fell completely in love with it.

You see, it has a Baacode on the label, which allows me to go online and meet the fleecy friend who sacrificed a bit of coat to keep me warm.

I think I'll call him Ram-say

A present definitely worth the wait!

Decorating dilemma

I’ve decided that decorating is rather like plastic surgery...

You get one thing done to perfection and it just shows up the flaws in something else.

So, while I’m thrilled to bits with the new carpets, they’re just highlighting all sorts of other interior issues which I fear could spark a shopping frenzy.

We’ve already had to buy a new vacuum (marvellous Miele) to cope with the blonde dog / dark carpet dilemma and yesterday’s delivery of the latest White Company catalogue has done nothing to calm my inner Martha Stewart.

I’m suddenly seeing the appeal of living in a cave.

I wonder if the taupe cushions would go best with the stone walls...

All Slog & No Blog

Two weeks and not a word typed!!

Between my poorly partner having another set back in his recovery and my foolish decision to have the entire flat carpeted in one day (where the hell will all the furniture go?), it’s been all slog and no blog.

I’ve spent the last fourteen days desperately trying to clear out as much clutter as possible before the fitters arrive tomorrow and despite numerous trips to the bin shed / charity shop / council tip, there appears to be more stuff than ever before.

If nothing else, it has – yet again – flagged up just how much we own versus how much we need.

Having so many possessions is exhausting! It’s stressful and a horrible reminder of all the things you’ve bought, never used and then stuffed in a box, only to uncover them a couple of times a year so you can feel guilty about them all over again.

Perhaps this is the starting point of turning my dream of clutter free, minimalist living into a reality.

If only I could remember where I put the dog...

Shop Yourself Slim

Usually when I read surveys, I skim over them with a disinterested air and an urge to get onto some more constructive reading – such as what shoulder pad size we should all be sporting this season.

So I was knocked sideways when I saw a survey that thrilled me so much, I read it twice!

The basis of this revelatory read was that shopping can make your slim- oh yes! Apparently, during the course of a year, the average woman takes a trot round the shops over 130 times and that can result in 48,000 calories being burnt off over the twelve months.

Clearly if that's based on an 'average woman', then a shopaholic is going to be shedding a lot more pounds and ounces in her quest for the perfect purchase!

Yes, I know, there is a flaw.

For people like me who really shouldn’t be shopping, this is simply a case of shedding more pounds from my wallet than my waist.

But I have a solution…

If the shopping alone burns all those calories, just think how many more you’ll burn when you return all those goodies for a refund.