What I Have Learned About Home Improvements #1, Wood Oil is Terrifying

When it comes to home improvements, DIY, homemaking, decorating, even gardening, I am the first to admit that I am a novice.  I have zero experience in the field, but I am learning.  Very gradually, I am learning. I have now been in my new house for seven months.  I set myself a target of…

Why Co-Sleeping is Right for Me

As I write, Piglet is asleep next to me while I tap away at the laptop in the blue light that I fear will one day be the new tobacco, slowly killing us all by interfering with our natural rhythms, in our new house, in the king size bed that my mother fears is going to…

Decorating Piglet’s Room With Arty Apple

You might have heard that I recently moved house. I think everyone has heard about the Terribly Long House Move; the move that has taken half a year or more with all the hanging about waiting for this chain and that chain, and oh-my-God-isn’t-buying-a-house-the-longest-thing-ever.  People I have never spoken to at work keep making enquiries…

Homeowning Dream Turns Into Crack in Ceiling Horror

My mother is livid. “YOU DON’T NEED A KING SIZE BED,” she thunders.  “NO ONE NEEDS A KING SIZED BED!” I calmly point out, quite tactfully I think, that king sized beds might have been considered wildly hedonistic luxuries back in the 1970s, the sort of thing that Rod Stewart might have had in his gold penthouse,…

#Single Mum Reviews: Mathmos Lava Lamp

Many months ago, I embarked on the tedious process of buying a house. My stipulations were basic: The property needed to be in or around the Bristol area, and it needed to have more than one bedroom.  The purpose of the latter was clear; Piglet and I had been roomies since his birth.  There was…

What I Have Learned in One Week of House Hunting

As the old adage goes, it’s better to have the worst house in a good street, than the best house in a bad street. Your garden might be full of what the council terms “bulky waste,” and your doors may be falling off their hinges, but you’ll have the best schools, the best parks, the best…

Is it Christmas yet?

Typical, my first day with Piglet in a week and I am ill. I think it’s time to Slow. Right. Down. The past two weeks have been manic. I get up each morning at 6, place Piglet in Granny’s bed, and then go off to work each day until nearly 7pm. Then last week I…

Can I interest anyone in a flat? Anyone?

Well the plan to “spend some quality time with Piglet” over half term appears to have fallen flat. Piglet is currently out with Granny, socialising with her friends as usual, while I do boring things like try to sell my flat and shell out dizzying sums of money for the privilege.  In fact, much of…