45 days!

Its 45 days until I get married. FORTY FIVE DAYS! I can remember just after getting engaged last summer, how the year leading up to the wedding stretched out before us – the actual event being so far away as to seem almost unreal. (Except when we had to start paying for stuff of course!) And now it’s only FORTY FIVE DAYS away! I’m very excited. We’ve done well. We’ve organised the wedding we want, within our budget and with all the frills but none of the fuss. And I thoroughly recommend this getting hitched malarkey because marrying someone you really, really, really love is very cool!

We have run into one minor issue of wedding etiquette and I sought counsel from a lovely friend of mine who got wed last year. Our gift cards (saying we have a gift voucher list at John Lewis if you would like to get us something) were not ready when we sent out the invites. Consequently we’re having to send them out now, which I did yesterday. But although the vast majority of people can make it, a few can’t and so we were left wondering, do you still send them a gift card? Now we’ve been told, just because someone can’t make the actual day doesn’t mean they wouldn’t want to contribute – they don’t suddenly become invisible just because they are not there at the wedding! And so yes, if they are good friends, then they would like to have the option of getting a gift voucher or not. Anyway, he recommended I blogged about it in case others had opinions. So if you do, drop me a line…

I will send cards to the few who sadly can’t be there and hope they know my partner and I well enough to know that really, their good thoughts are far more important than a gift voucher any day of the week.

I should probably change the subject entirely by telling you I’m a scab. Two unions have gone on strike and I had to cross the picket line this morning. It’s hardly like the miner’s strike but it still didn’t feel very nice. They have a point: low pay rise + high cost of living = unfair, but it does feel a little futile. I don’t think the council will offer more.

I only got three hours sleep last night and bless me, I do look a bit rough. It was hot and I had lots on my mind so I lay there hour after hour thinking quite the strangest thoughts (including remembering the day I left home!) Part of me thought I should get up and do something, but then another part of me thought if I lay there and tried to stay relaxed I would eventually drift off. I did. At 5.30am and my alarm went off at 7am!

My organic burgers and homemade sweetcorn relish was a big success last night. Unfortunately I made rather a lot and we have to have it again tonight!

Only one day left before we pick up Bess…!

'Andsome

Have you missed me?! I haven't posted since Dec 31st but I'm sure you've coped in my absence ;0)

Cornwall was, well, amazing. I wish we were still there. I might do a more in depth holiday dispatch later, but highlights include buying our wedding rings from an independant Cornish jeweller, spending time with friends, driving heavy horses, finding the league of gay gentlemen in Launceston, lots of lie-ins, the best fish and chips, visiting our wedding hotel again (and ordering the food and wine!) and finding a pub where we can all meet on the Friday before the wedding (right on the harbour in St Ives)...

For now though, I have to do some work, get through the laundry and do a tidy up. We unloaded the car last night and dumped everything in the front room!

Cornish dream

Back in the office, too much work to do and everything seems unorganised but there you go…

We had a magical weekend. Despite the bronchitis we did go to Cornwall. Our new tent is totally awesome! It’s absolutely massive, not that difficult to put up and really comfortable. When there was a little rain we sat inside with the porch open still able to watch the world go by and I can walk about in it without having to crouch and hurt my knees! I’m still on a mission to find a comfortable way to sleep whilst camping (2nd airbed with a slow puncture!) but we’ll get there, everything else was great anyway.

The Dulwich Ukulele Club (DUC) were tremendous... My soon to be brother-in-law is in the band and had got us two free tickets for the festival, so we were DUC groupies for the weekend and a lot of fun it was too... Their second gig especially, really got everyone going and people were dancing and having a whale of a time. In my opinion they are simply one of the best bands to see live; funny, musically very good, and incredibly original.

The festival was lovely, really gentle. I didn’t actually do much other than whoop and holler for the band at their gigs – I was trying to rest as much as possible. But there felt no need to rush, or see everything or even do anything. We had nice food, some beer, sat round the fire at night, laughed a lot and just enjoyed the atmosphere and the people. It was nice to see lots of kids running around, having a great time; perfectly safe and a just a little wild… like children should be! If you fancy a really eclectic festival Port Eliot is a fantastic choice. Not sure it’s happening next year, but we would definitely go again.

It had taken us 9 hours to get to Cornwall because the M4 had come to a virtual standstill. Newbury had suffered devastating flooding, roads had been washed out - basically it was pretty awful. Coming out of London the visibility had been down to one or two metres at times. I was genuinely scared and considered stopping the car and pulling over. I didn’t know how we were going to get to Cornwall that’s for sure. But we did, eventually. It did rain, but it was light rain that lasted only a short time. It seemed unreal that the rest of the country was suffering so much.

On the Sunday we had already decided to go a visit a wedding venue in Tintagel. It had been three years since I’d visited ‘Tagel and it was great to see it again in the hot Cornish sun. We checked out the venue, but decided for a variety of reasons that it wasn’t for us. We grabbed some fresh pasties and scones and hit the road, deciding to head down to St Ives where there was a hotel we were really quite interested in. We had originally thought we wouldn’t be able to go and visit this one; it was too far south and we had to head back to London. We were also mindful that flooding and rain may still be a problem and so we didn’t want to leave it too late before we headed home. But St Ives is only about an hour and half from Tintagel and to go home and then have to make another trip back to Cornwall so soon just seemed overwhelming.

St Ives is beautiful and I just had a funny feeling that this hotel was going to be the one for us. The wedding co-ordinator was off-duty but was happy to show us around. Her attitude (and that of her colleague whom we had spoken to on the phone) was fantastic. Nothing was too much trouble and the view of the golden sands and turquoise sea from the ceremony and reception rooms was stunning. The hotel has its own sub-tropical gardens, a private pool and direct access to the beach. We waited until we got back to the car before agreeing that we had found our venue! We’ve since booked the registrar (also super lovely) and the hotel and are having our invitations designed…

It’s such a relief to have the venue sorted. It felt that nothing could progress – and I suppose nothing could progress – before that was done. So on the 30 August next year I will be marrying my beloved surrounded by all the people I love. What a lovely thought!

The journey home did take forever, but we got home just after 11pm, safe and sound and to a very happy hound who had been staying with a friend all weekend.

Monday we did some wedding stuff but otherwise I stayed in bed reading the new Harry Potter. Bliss…

Work sucks slightly less... but is still generally quite sucky

I’m slightly less grumpy today which is a miracle really seeing as my commute took almost 3 hours! There was a suspicious package left at Hammersmith tube and they essentially closed Hammersmith whilst they did a controlled explosion. The traffic had nowhere to go (it couldn’t go through or round because of the cordon) and was backed up to Clapham Common.

We live in very crazy times and sadly, they keep getting crazier…

I spent the journey listening to Erasure and singing very loudly to myself which I think helped keep everything in perspective. Although I now want them to sing at the wedding but don’t think I have several thousand pounds in loose change hidden under the sofa cushions. Free accommodation and a good nosh just might not be enough to persuade them…

Anyway, I slept well last night (lavender oil – knocks me right out except that I had strange dreams about weddings, David Beckham, tractors and plastic photo frames). We also now have a dedicated wedding email and blog. Friends of ours who were getting married in India last year had a website and Phil had a blog for his nuptials. It’s a very efficient way of getting info to the right people. Although you don’t want too much information on there, just in case a lot of nut jobs turn up for a free party…

I’ve made a good start on the huge tower of work growing precariously and persistently from my in-tray rather like mushrooms on a damp wall. Still much to do, but this will be a short entry whilst I have a coffee and recharge. Sadly though I have already had a jam doughnut which proves once and for all what a weak willed individual I am when it comes to doughnuts and Danish pastries generally :0(