In other news...

I've had a few lurgy-free weeks but now I have a cough. I'm acting like this is a mystery illness but one of my friends at work pointed out that even if I don't feel it right this second I'm probably quite stressed. She's probably referring to the just moved house, wedding in less than four weeks, working an extra shift a week state of my life. Or maybe there's something else I haven't noticed :P

A and I are trying to keep life as close to normal as we can. I have had a lovely weekend of relaxing, but also being productive. It started on Friday when I made the sensible decision that another day of writing reports in the (open plan) office would not be productive - or good for my mental health. So I didn't go in. I'm making that sound all rebel-rebel when it really isn't as work owe me enough hours for nearly three days off.

So instead of a stuffy day in a cloying open plan office I went out for a lovely countryside lunch with my folks and then took the dog for a walk around Pennington flash, which is a nature reserve just a few miles up the road from where we live.

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Then home for tea with A when he got in from work. I made an incredibly yummy spring risotto and everyone seemed to enjoy it (asparagus, pea and leek - aparapeek!).

On Saturday A and I went into town to open a joint bank account. It makes me feel incredibly grown up, but also like a child playing make believe who is about to be found out.What if one day the rest of the world realises that some days I really am still a teenager inside, one who simply wears a fairly effective grown-up-costume most days?

In fact Saturday had already started for me before the trip to the bank. I had got up at a reasonable hour, put a wash on, done some gentle yoga type exercise and tidied the living room (the grown-up costume in action). After the bank we got the shopping from the market and then took the wedding decorations to the florists and finalised all that with her. Then in the evening A's folks came over, and fell in love with the Wii fit. They really did seem very impressed, though I think his mum may have been happier without an audience. They're going to borrow it whilst A and I are away next month, and I worry we may have trouble getting it back!

A lazy start to Sunday was rudely interrupted when I realised there's a chunk missing from one of my back teeth :( I haven't had much luck with my teeth over the last few years, despite regular brushing and generally pretty good dental care, so this was another blow to be honest. I feel cheated, that somehow my tooth-caring efforts are not being rewarded. I have an appointment at the dentists' on Tuesday, presumably to have another filling packed into what's left of the tooth.

The rest of Sunday went according to plan. A and I had decided to try out a local park/nature reserve we'd found out about.

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Sankey Valley park is a long linear park, along a disused and partly infilled canal. Some parts of it are really beautiful, and it runs pretty much alongside the local river as well. We took our (much neglected) bikes along about half of it (and back - it's *very* important to remember you need to get home again) and really enjoyed exploring. We've spotted some elder trees and embankments of berries that we have our eye on for the autumn. We'll just need to beat the kids and the birds to them.

It's a shame that we didn't know about this park sooner, as one of the access points is only a few minutes ride from our house. I guess it says something about our motivation, but also that perhaps the local council could be a little bolder in advertising what they have. It really was a gorgeous surprise to ride down through an industrial estate, and not to turn the corner onto a scubby towpath, along a rubbsh strewn old canal as I was expecting. To instead find myself riding across a rustic wooden lock, along a beautifully kept now walking/cycle path, past fishermen who actually had a hope of catching something other than a bike wheel (really big fish - honestly, it.was.this.big. - I saw them), seeing new wildlife every couple of minutes was stunningly refreshing. Maybe that's why the council keep quiet about it, to keep it safe.

Sunday evening was quiet, with only a hint of that Sunday evening depression that knowing there is work again in the morning brings. It seems I missed some excitement though. Whilst I was chilling out in the back garden, catching up on the news papers, sorting out my summer clothes and generally being domestic one of the factories by the motorway (a mile or so from us) was exploding. Apparently there was a very large fire at a paint factory, and lots of it exploded. Our houses are the last before the motorway and A's cousin (who lives down the road) watched the whole thing - it was huge, you couldn't miss it, etc. Somehow, despite being in the front bedroom, with a clear view of all these explosions, with the window open to hear the sirens, I did.

I feel that takes a particular skill. I must really have been focused on sorting out that wardrobe (it does look pretty amazing).

Hopefully I'll be here again with another proper update soon x