Alessi - 11 months

She's almost a year old. Woah.

This has been the month where she got her first real illness. Nursery has been a bitter-sweet addition to her life. On the one hand, she's flourishing there. She's so sociable with everyone, much more relaxed and less shy than she was and she's learning new things from copying the other babies too. 

On the other hand however, as it the way with new babies and nurseries, she's been collecting all the colds and viruses going. The low point was when she caught a viral infection and conjunctivitis or as I like to call it, the oh-my-god-your-eyes-are-gross virus. 

I missed work to look after her, then I came down with it and Dan had to miss work to look after the both of us. We were a grim house then let me tell you. 

All we've had since are mild colds and coughs which I can deal with - fingers crossed it stays that way.

She's taken her first steps and the other day when I turned around to face her she was standing in front of me by herself with a big  proud smile on her face. I was so shocked and I can't believe that even though I was sat just two feet away from her, I still managed to miss it. Oh and she can climb stairs and other things too. 

Basically, it won't be long before nothing in the house is safe from her and I'll be running around again with the "no Alessi" and the "don't touch Alessi" and the "where the bloody hell have you gone Alessi?"

She also had her first trip to the dentist today. She wouldn't show him her teeth for love nor money, but absolutely loved watching me get mine checked. Toad.

And that's it pretty much. The changes have been few this month and yet they've been biggies. 

These children, they grow up so fast.

It's not much, but it's mine

For the last few days the weather here has been absolutely beautiful. 

After our recent bout of lurgy I'm feeling a bit cabin feverish so I quite literally jumped at the chance to spend some time in this room. This poor neglected, mucky room. 

It's our conservatory (read, ramshackle lean to) and of all the rooms, it's the eccentric old lady of the house. 

In the height of summer it often gets too hot to sit in, even with the door wide open and in the coldest part of winter, it becomes a fridge. But in spring and autumn, it's my happy place.

I drink my morning coffee in this room. When it rains I listen to the raindrops hitting the roof - it's so relaxing. When Pip was very little we would sit in here with her while it rained. Something that was almost guaranteed to soothe her to sleep.

It also doubles as a fantastic green house and as well as my grapevines I also grow peppers and other veggies in there. Last year I also added some wisteria which I'm hoping I can train along the ceiling to create a green canopy. I did the same with the grapevines a couple of years back and it was so gorgeous. Unfortunately half of my vines died off in last years frosts so I've had to bulk out the gaps with the wisteria. Time will tell if it works. 

But before I can really start to enjoy myself in here again, some major cleaning and fixing needs to be done. This room needs a fair amount of TLC to keep from falling down (did I mention it was the granny of the house?) and last year I completely neglected it due to the whole new baby thing. 

The last couple of days have been spent washing the windows and window frames whilst at the same time trying to stop Pip from eating bits of muck or stray bits of chicken feed off the floor. There's still loads to do, but just making a start on a gloriously sunny day like today has done me the world of good. Pip certainly enjoyed playing in a new room for the first time. 

I can't wait until it's ready. Ready for me to start growing things in it again. Ready to be relaxed in again. And this year, ready to be played in. 

This is our happy place.

7 Things I Love To Hate

So in case you hadn't noticed (ha!) it's Valentine's Day. And as my way to mark the occasion, here's my Valentine's Day post.

7 Things I Love To Hate 

1) Seasonal bugs and viruses
I get it Winter. You're cold and germy, you've made your point. Now please be a good little season and calm down a bit please?

2) Putting the chickens away at night and letting them out again in the morning
It's dark. It's cold. And more often than not, it's wet. I don't like it.

3) Cleaning out the chicken coop in the cold and wet
This is my least favourite job anyway, but when you're getting rained on to boot, the last thing you want to do is faff around with chicken poo.

4) Going off chocolate
This is linked to number 1. After our last bug, I've completely lost the taste for it. And as sitting down each afternoon with a cup of tea and a piece of something chocolaty was my top happy moment, this has peeved me no end.

5) Learning to cook
I'm learning to cook. I can't cook. My efforts taste awful. It's annoying.

6) People who park on the pavement without leaving enough space for a buggy to pass
If I'm brutally honest, this isn't something I ever noticed before having Pip, but now I see it a lot and it drives me mental. Especially if there is no way around the car without walking in to a busy main road meaning I have to turn around and find a safe place to cross. Bastards.

7) Being told I'll need to start dying my hair soon.
I feel the same way about this as I did when Kate Middleton was in the news because some silly beggar said that she ought to cut her hair now that she had turned 30. Aghast, pissed off and a bit depressed that we hold such limited views on what is considered beautiful.
The reason I was advised to start dying my hair was because I'd recently found a grey strand on my head. Considering I'm 34, I think that's pretty normal and if I do say so, kind of cool. Apparently though, it means my hair is condemned. Is it offensive to have grey hair under the age of 70? Don't get me wrong, I will dye my hair at some point because I like playing with hair colours (although I won't be trying blue again any time soon). But I don't like being told that I should dye my hair. It just makes my inner 16 year old get all rebellious and stompy.

In my mind's eye I've always thought that by the time I'm sixty, I will look something like this..

..although in all honesty I will probably look more like this.

So there you have it. A small selection of things that are currently making me go RAWR! I hope you enjoyed them. Happy Valentine's Day kids.

X

What we've been up to..

At the start of the month I celebrated my 34th birthday, which was absolutely lovely.
We had tea, a full English breakfast and I got spoilt rotten with some wonderful gifts which included a Kenwood Chef, some vintage apple crates and a subscription to Mollie Makes magazine. I was a very happy Kim.

Unfortunately by the evening Pip's temperature started to rise and she became pretty poorly. We took her to see a Doctor who confirmed that she had a viral infection and conjunctivitis. Since then we've both been ill and Pip has done a lot of sleeping in between the crying, coughing, sneezing and vomiting.

I can't wait for this infection to run it's course. We're on day nine now so it won't be much longer and while she's still not 100% better, she's much more herself. 

And while we wait for it to pass, there will always be the sofa, a blanket and endless cuddles.