My Kingdom for a horse..............

It has been another glorious weekend here in the Cotswolds, the sun has been shining for days but it's still incredibly cold. I love it, this is my favourite weather.

Mum and I ventured to Stratford-on-Avon on Saturday for her 60th birthday treat. We bought her tickets for "Richard III" at the RSC Courtyard Theatre. It wasn't really Dad's cup of tea (ie. not involving a fishing rod) so I got to go with her - hee, hee! I was a bit unsure about watching a Shakespeare play having had no involvement with him since A Levels. I was a bit concerned that I may not understand it. I needn't have worried, it was fantastic! I'm well and truly hooked. It was the last of eight plays, a series called "The Histories". If you get a chance, get yourselves along there, it was a great experience, truly memorable. We spent the afternoon eating cakes, drinking tea and enjoying the atmosphere. It was lovely to spend time with Mum without any interruptions.

Sunday morning Mum had to go back up North, my sister is due to have her baby any day soon, I'm hoping she'll hang on until Wednesday when we'll be going to my parents for a few days.
Ian and I were supposed to tackle the basement rooms to clear them for the decorators, but after stamping around, shouting at the children and generally being bad tempered (me, that is) we decided "sod it" and went out to enjoy the sunshine instead. Before we went we all devoured the seafood platter Ian bought us as a treat. It was delicious and cost us a lot less than lunch out would have done. The remains are here for your delectation............attractive eh!


We came back and whilst Ian attempted to make some order out of the slum downstairs (before and after pics soon) I pretended to be busy upstairs. We put a bit of Neil Diamond on the ipod and had a good old dance in the kitchen. We (Ian not included) love a bit of Neil, particularly "Sweet Caroline" and some of Jack's dance moves have to be seen to be believed! My children will not dance in public but in the privacy of our kitchen they let rip. Jack must be the only eight year old who can identify Barry Manilow being played in a shop, what am I doing to them??

I'll finish with a couple of home shots again. Since I started the blog I notice things around the house a lot more than I used to. Helps me to ignore the general chaos which is around the place at the moment!

First, I love the colour of this soap and one of my car boot freebies, the saucer it sits on. After it's taken me ten minutes to turn the flipping shower off with the screwdriver (don't ask) it makes me smile to see a nice bit of our otherwise dilapidated bathroom..............

Kit's bedtime toys "put to bed" under the eiderdown on our bed. All around our house we find various creatures tucked in under blankets, tea towels, kitchen roll or whatever is to hand.......

My "granny grater" I bought in London from "Octopus". Isn't she cute? She cost me three times as much as my excellent and practical Ikea grater and she isn't half as efficient, but she's much better looking!.............

Have a great week if you're on half term or not. I'm getting a bit suspicious, my two have been together upstairs for an hour (hence the long post!) and it's ominously quiet! I'll probably go up and find Kit's been bound and gagged by her loving big bro'!