Changes abound in the upstairs of the Considine house. Mr C starts a new job imminently and is likely to be working from home for at least part of the week. He briefly launched a takeover bid for my writing den, but could not secure agreeable terms ie to build and furnish a beautiful new writing den for me in the garden. So he has decided that one of the bedrooms will be repurposed, to house his new workspace. We have visited Ikea to look for desks and chairs, and apparently it is essential that he has a desk which converts from sitting height to a standing desk. I have visions inspired by Wallace and Gromit in The Wrong Trousers, with our dog Paddy pulling levers to catapult Mr C from bed to standing workstation in a matter of seconds. I'm not sure we are singing from the same hymn sheet.
L is absolutely delighted at the plans, as she is desperate to swap. Now that she is the only one left at home, I agree that she has waited long enough for the biggest bedroom in lieu of the smallest one, which she currently inhabits. Her big sister T is at University, and does not look after her bedroom when she is home. Having the largest room gives her a wider surface area over which to scatter her belongings.
L wants her room to be painted white, with some 'fresh grey and white bedding', and accessories from Primark. I think this means copper coat hangers bent into geometrical shapes and lots of Yucca plant graphics. T is sadly less than enthusiastic about the plans. But it will all be fine, and I will make sure her new room looks gorgeous for her in time for her homecoming at the beginning of April for the Easter break. Even if only momentarily, before she throws the contents of her suitcase at it. She is once again having to empty her room in Uni halls and bring it all home with her, which is such a pain. You would have thought that paying over £5000 for a single room would have been sufficient to secure it for the Christmas and Easter holidays, but sadly this is not the case.
Other projects which are also ongoing in the house revolve around storage, and I have been promised new shelving in the airing cupboard and the 'Chokey'- which is a coat cupboard next to the bathroom, where everyone currently throws their coats on the floor because the hook nearest the door is taken. I have spent hours on Pinterest planning it out, but I just don't have the eye. I recently visited my friend Mary Poppins. Her house is so beautiful. Everything is organised and stored away in customised storage and I am just so jealous. Apparently Mr Poppins is the brains of the outfit, but I am just too ashamed to invite him round to show him my current excuse for cupboards, even if it might mean that he could provide some storage solutions. So back to Pinterest it is....
It's been a fairly quiet week so far, with the planned renovations taking up most of our time and energies. Yesterday was a lovely day with visits from F and LC, stepdaughters and LC's boyfriend O. Mr C cooked a fabulous roast and I made a chocolate orange hot cross bun pudding - a real mouthful in more ways than one, with a Slimming World friendly version for me and Mr C. And after dinner, the kids all settled down to play games. They started with The Logo Game. My favourite player, when tasked with describing the branded goods on their card, said 'you eat this for breakfast'. The others made great suggestions such as Pop Tarts, Cornflakes etc and were frustrated that they could not come up with the goods. Until it was revealed that the answer was 'Jammy Dodgers'. L was affronted to find that Jammy Dodgers are actually a breakfast option, almost as much as when she discovered, (when begging to be allowed to have a double bed in her new room) that her cousin has one in her room, and she is only three. L feels very let down by her parents, and is now off to sweep the cinders from the fireplace.
The players then moved on to play The Fame Game, which was a Christmas gift from my brother two years ago. This is such a funny game, although I was glad to be a spectator rather than a player. Lots of humiliation involved, but it kept them all amused until it was time to go home. Mr C enjoyed an afternoon spent in the company of his girls, watching the rugby and trying to communicate with the referee. I have told him over and over that no matter how loudly he shouts, they still can't hear him. And yet still he persists. We were missing a few bods, and will have to wait until Easter until we have the pleasure of having them all home. Photographs of them all together are rare. This last one was taken in August 2013. But don't they all look gorgeous.
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