WTTW: Yes, hello I use power tools now
A weekly hello and welcome to the week :)
Hello! Happy Monday!
You’re looking at the words of a woman who hung her own curtains this week. Not only did I use a POWER TOOL to drill holes into the wall, I battled the beast that is the pencil pleat. How come no one tells you about this stuff? Do you know what a pencil pleat curtain entails? If not, allow me to enlighten you - the pleats are not already pleated, you have to do the pleating! It was a sweat-inducing task and involved a little swearing and a couple of close shaves falling off the step ladder and out the third-floor window (it needed to be open on account of the sweating, you see) but I did it and now feel rather smug every time I draw those voluminous beauties closed (gingerly, I know the tradeswoman behind them), and inspired to give the next ‘blue job’ a go myself. In other news, we went to London at the weekend, all three of us on the train for a birthday, and it was lovely to see our pals and be in the big bad city but you know what, it’s starting to happen, I am starting to feel like more of a country mouse than a city rat. More than once I, firstly noticed the noise, busyness and general in-your-face-ness of it all, and secondly, thought about how nice it would be to be walking down the town path later that evening, back to the greenery and slower pace. Some of this was fuelled by the fact my now fully converted country dog refused to wee all day because there was no grass available to him. A little bit stressful. On the topic, an update of this post, a full year after we made the leap from London to Salisbury (or Slowsbury as I’ve seen some locals call it LOL), is in the works for anyone interested in the pros and cons of doing something similar. FYI, like the first one, it’ll be for paid subscribers only, so there’s never been a better time to upgrade.
This week is supposed to be relatively rain-free (finally!!! I was actually too warm for my jacket on this morning’s jaunt!), so I’ll mostly be in my garden doing garden things, and also taking my dad for a tasty birthday lunch (happy birthday Papa! x). I hope you all have a good one, whatever you’re up to :)
Meet Norman, a golden rescued from the meat trade in South Korea, who’s favourite snack is a big ol’ head of lettuce. The cronch is too good
I’m really enjoying Lottie Dryan’s new series where she overrides the Trinny and Susannah in her head (if you grew up in the 90s, you’ll be familiar with some of their bullshit) and styles clothes to feel good rather than because they are ‘flattering’. She also does ‘Same Dress, Different Body’ with Laura Adlington of Bake Off fame
Did you know you can grow your own roses from the single stems you get in a bunch from the supermarket? The next time you get given a bouquet or buy yourself some discount blooms with the big shop, consider turning them into something bigger and lovelier for your garden, for cheap. How satisfying is that? I am in my propagating era, guys, join me!
A restaurant recommendation! I know a lot of my readers are based in the city and finding an eatery in central that’s polished but casual, not stupidly expensive and child and dog-friendly is quite tricky. Enter The Italian Greyhound. The food is delicious, you can tell they’re using the very best ingredients - the plate of tomatoes I had, simply dressed in olive oil was incredible! - and as our lunch arrived, so did actual lunch, a full plate of biscuits, for Hugh
Propagation era! 🌱 happy birthday Papa P