Dinner, 31/5/14: Asparagus and Smoked Salmon Quiche

Homemade quiche, but the bread was made by someone else...

Floor!

So the floor is done in the little room, now. Then it's a matter of papering & painting, and then time for furniture, once we've ordered (and received) a bed...

Dinner, 30/5/14: Pork Mince with Kimchi

This was lovely - Geoff cooked while we were out - the kimchi flavour is really mild when it's cooked a while. Very nice!

Friends & Dinosaurs & Pirate Ships - oh my!

We met up with some friends who were down in London (from Yorkshire) for a few days, and had a trip to the Natural History Museum. I'd forgotten just how packed it gets in half-term, but it was a lovely time nonetheless, even with a slightly impatient toddler (is there any other kind?) in tow.  

Luckily, I had a couple of teenage girls with me, who helped entertain the other kids while my friend and I chatted.  Perfect!

It was really hot and stuffy in parts of the museum, especially in the hallway which connects the two halves of the museum, so we didn't spend very long looking at the remarkable collection of stuffed birds. 

Alex spent a lot of time on the floor with our littlest friend. I think he enjoyed having a surrogate younger sibling for a while.

My friend's boys were a little tired from spending yesterday trekking around the zoo, but I think they enjoyed the dinosaurs nonetheless...

...despite all the queueing...

Sarah even got sucked into having her photo taken!

I really enjoyed having a chance to look at all the interesting stonework - someday I'd like to have a look at some of the rest of it, in other parts of the museum. It's all remarkable. 

I had fun photographing the shadows as well. Luckily, we were moving very slowly, so there was plenty of opportunity to look at stonework and shadows!

And the kids all enjoyed the animatronic T-Rex at the end.

( a peek out the window)

We were all flagging a little by this point, I think - mainly because of the stuffiness...

So we headed out to Kensington gardens for a bit of fresh air, and a trip to the Diana Memorial Playground to climb some pirate ships. 

The crows' nest is at the top of that mast you can see...

Once again, the girls were brilliant, as they took over watching the little one, while my friend and I sat and drank coffee & tea.

And then a little trip on the top of a double decker bus before heading home.

Alex enjoyed the day, having found someone he could spend time talking about Minecraft to, in addition to everything else!

Dinner, 29/5/14: Broccoli and Cauliflower Canneloni

Rug time

And finally, a rug. The room is pretty much now sorted!  Sarah and I found some blinds for the dining room windows/doors yesterday, too, but they aren't up yet (unfortunately, it's not sunny enough to need them anyhow. sigh.).  One more photo when they are!

Dinner, 28/5/14: Homemade pizzas

Sarah had a friend sleeping over, so pizza seemed the easiest thing to plan. Many of Sarah's friends aren't that picky (especially this one) but we haven't had pizza in a while, and pretty much everyone likes it, so it's a safe bet...

Bye bye paper

And all the old paper is now gone - next task will be to smooth out the walls, fill where necessary, and put up new lining paper, as well as adding the coving mentioned yesterday. The floor is being done on Friday, so our builder will do as much possible tomorrow, and then Friday is set aside for the floor. It's a small room, and it won't need levelling compound, so it might not even take the whole day...

What's next!

Now that the downstairs is done, it's time to start on the upstairs. There are no major building works here, but the small room which was formerly my sewing room will get new wallpaper (and paint) and the rug will go to be replaced by wood flooring (same kind as downstairs, which is also what Geoff and I have in our bedroom). Our builder has also sourced some coving which was being thrown out, so it will get that around the ceiling - just makes a nicer finish...  

This is the room which will become Alex's room, and he's chosen a strong orange for one wall and a pale orange for the other walls. There won't be a lot of wall showing, actually, as we will get a nice high bed to help with the space issues, but as it's his room, it's his choice!

A few more bits and pieces

A trip to Ikea meant we finally got another chair - a nice, comfy armchair - for the room. And a few small tables for putting drinks and stuff on. 

I picked up the filing cabinet which we needed (which for some reason, wasn't available to order online - strange, but what can you do?)

And I picked up the correct hinges for the last cupboard door.

Alex had an excellent time playing inside the box for the chair (which is a little squished now because of lots of rain) - guess it goes to show that you are never too old to play in boxes...

Dinner, 26/5/14: Mexican salmon with potatoes and asparagus

This was a nice easy way to cook salmon (not that it's ever that hard) - you do the potatoes in the oven, and at the last 10 minutes, put the salmon on top and stick it back in the oven.  It was lovely. It had some spices on and a salsa to go on top (after it's cooked) - hence the "Mexican" in the title.  The asparagus was just because it's in season, so I like to eat as much as possible before it goes out of season...

Dinner, 26/5/14: Sausages, veg, etc

Got home from Scout Camp, and surprisingly, after helping with the catering for 100 people for 1.5 days, I didn't feel much like cooking - raided the freezer for some chipoloatas (there were some pork steaks and chops too) and did some easy veg. It'll do!

Dinner, 23/5/14: Sweet and Sour Chicken thighs, with carrots & potatoes