Family, friends and a whole lot of cake!

I've had a lovely week toing and froing, celebrating various momentous occasions. First off was last Friday when we went to a surprise party for Mike's cousin, who's turning 40. He had a great time, we had a great time and got to know some of the friends that we've heard Graham talk about but never met. The birthday boy managed to get up close and personal with a chocolate fountain whilst trying to cut his cake and I'm not sure if his Tshirt will recover! He should look at it as a lasting momento of a good night....

Then we had the family meal for the same 40th birthday. It was a really lovely evening and the boys, as usual, kept all entertained. Graham bravely suggested that they sit either side of him to eat and so it took him a while to eat his own dinner, in between cutting up meat and catching drinks. All good practice for when he becomes a daddy in a couple of months.

Then today we've been down to Hertford to celebrate the baptism of the little boy of some of our closest and oldest friends. Catching up is such a good thing to do and it's always so easy to slot straight back in to how it used to be when we all shared a house at college. Plus 6 kids and one bump, obviously. My 6 year old explained it best when he was talking about them - he reckoned that "they're kind of our cousins, aren't they?" and that's how it feels. Not family in fact but definitely family in feeling.

Bring me sunshine!

Today feels like the first real day of spring! It's absolutely glorious outside and even a bit warmer than it has been. It's one of those days when you feel completely glad to be alive. Gorgeous.

I love this time of year - when all the leaves are starting to bud on the trees and everything feels like it's waking up again. The boys are pretty hardy and play in the garden whatever the weather but, by this time of year, they start to simply use the garden as an extension of the house as they don't have to wrap up too warm so it's not a big deal to go out. I love watching them and this weekend has been lovely as it's marked this year's beginning of the use of the garden as another room.

The oldest has set up a police station in the new workshop (a use we hadn't thought of originally) and has been doing house to house enquiries most of the weekend. This has mostly consisted of him knocking on the back door, shed door and workshop door and telling the baddies to come out!

Spring has definitely sprung and I can't wait for a few more days like this!

The 2 year (old) itch

It was bound to happen. We only narrowly escaped it last year. Number 2 has chicken pox. And, as it happens, one of about 6 off from his room in nursery!

He's being very stoic, generally, although he's obviously seriously itchy, mainly because he's one big spot. He can't stand still at the best of times and he's even worse at the moment. So much so that he wriggled and fell into the corner of the doctor's desk on Thursday when we went to the GPs to get it confirmed. Think she was more shocked and perturbed than he was!

He is nothing if not a trouper and we feel very proud of him - I don't know if I could smile like this if I was in the pickle he's found himself.

And his face isn't as bad as the rest of him......

From here to Utility - The End!

Tom finished on Saturday afternoon and we now have moved most things in to the new utility/workshop that are going to live there. There's still a few bits left to do but only minor things like putting blinds up etc.

It's very exciting to have such an amazing space, where once there was only breeze blocks and old toilets, and I think that it's going to take some getting used to. Don't mind getting used to it, though!

The "after" pictures (for before you need to look back a few weeks!):

The extra window at the end makes all the difference.


The utility end

The workshop end. As you can see, this is already in use....

So I reckon we're all done in terms of renovations (well, for the moment, anyway). Thanks to Tom, it's all been a lot less hassle than we thought it might but I think we're good to go for a while now. Time to spend some thought and effort on the garden, as the weather gets better!

Town Hall debut

Been meaning to post about this for the last week but events have overtaken somewhat.

One of the great treats I get in my musician guise is to be able to appear in the same performances as Mike. I guess that it shouldn't be a surprise, as we met through musical things, but it is a lovely thing to be able to do. It's made even more special these days as it's such a rare occurrence, because one of us is generally babysitting.

However, last Saturday was one such occasion and a great experience to share. WMP Brass Band played in a Coppers for Kids concert at the recently re-opened Birmingham Town Hall and I was asked to sing a "number" with them. The Town Hall is absolutely amazing and one of the more intimidating places I've sung in as the balcony seats just feel like they rise up right in front of you and keep going up.

The Hall has been very beautifully finished. The ceiling is glorious but, to improve the acoustics, they have had to put sound "buffers" (not sure of their real name) in. However, they haven't lost the beauty of the ceiling as the buffers are simply made out of clear stuff (technical term is quite beyond me, sorry) so you can see straight through them to the intricate work underneath.

This isn't the ceiling - obviously it's the organ....

All in all a great treat. The band played well, I got to sing in an amazing venue, the choirs we joined were very good and the good folk of Birmingham were treated to the sight of the drum corps, bagpipes and fanfare team practising outside the stage door in Chamberlain Square. Let's just say that they've had more private rehearsals.....

From here to Utility, part 4

Tom has been building away and working really hard, as he aims to finish the utility/workshop by the end of this week. Mike is beyond excited at this prospect. I get the impression that I will be redirecting his post to the workshop after a while.

Although all is very clearly under control, there still seems a lot left to do to the untrained eye, especially as the supposed-to-be-pre-assembled cupboards came as a flat pack. That'll double your work, especially as the main use of this space is for storage - ie a lot of cupboards! However, nothing if not inventive, Tom has been getting help where he can. The plasterer found new flat pack assembly skills he didn't know he had yesterday and a similar fate awaits the electrician tomorrow....

Who knows - by the weekend, I may well have gained a utility room and lost a husband.

The difference from those before pictures a few weeks back is quite striking, though! No longer a dingy out-building!

Work takes over....

Haven't posted for a few days. This is mainly due to working every minute I can to get what has to be done finished in time for the next Awards ceremony. I like my work (managing awards schemes) and love the bits where I get to go and visit schools, colleges, learning centres etc.

However, the ceremonies are fun when you get there but getting there can be a pretty painful and time-consuming process.

This Wednesday's is in London, at the Science Museum. I'm looking forward to it in lots of ways but just wish that it wouldn't involve so many hours in the run up.

I'm really looking forward to Thursday night when I can just flop into PJs, curl up in front of the telly and enjoy not having a deadline for a day or so!