Hello. Time for a proper update. I’ve got an hour before I need to start packing and sorting things out before I get the kids and we drive to London for the night. At school each week we get a weekly newsletter which I really like – just with what’s been going on and a bit of news and announcements.

So I’m going to do that once a month. Not a post about something, but just the news.

The weather
This week we’ve had loads of gorgeous pink sunrises and it feels as though it’s getting warmer. There is hope, Spring will come! We had one minute of snow on Tuesday but the rest of the week the sun has been out.

Football
Astrid played football yesterday lunchtime and now she’s in the school lunch club! I’ve enrolled her for a mid-term football course as well.

Ballet
Astrid had her first ballet exam on the weekend – she did so well and we got very retro photos taken. She gets her medal and certificate after mid term. Edith is loving her ballet class and her teacher – Edith now says she would like to live in a tree house next to Mrs Price.

Horseriding
Astrid’s a natural at horseriding – she can rise to the trot already, straight away! And Edith just can’t stop smiling when she’s out riding. It’s taken me four weeks of lessons and I can now stay up off the saddle using my knees for the count of ten. Hooray! More on Sunday. I love it. I’m slowly getting over my lack of understanding of horses. More to follow – I might see if I can take my camera on Sunday.

Shopping Saving
We are on a house-saving mission! Full stop. The Burleigh loot was a leftover from last month’s budget. But that’s it now. I am only going to buy seeds for the garden this year. We are baking our own bread every second day. Coffee is now only made at home. I have the heating off during the day and I light fires in the evenings. And I’ve re-instated Abel and Cole and Ocado. I am much better with online shopping and managing a tight budget.

House goal
Saving saving saving, our aim is to buy a house in two years (possibly 18 months). I’ve got a picture on my wall of the house I love that we will be able to afford. It’s a mission, but we’re sticking to our guns and not going to sell our place in Dalston, so our next house might not be that flash but we just need to be consistent and persistent and we’ll get there.

Book-writing
I’ve done my content plan this week so I now have a full list of every single chapter intro and every single recipe that needs to be photographed. I’ve written most of it already – which I suppose is a fairly reasonable assumption as I put so much work into it from September to January. Still aiming for a June 1st release.

Plans for A+B blog
Yes, I do have plans to work on this a lot, alongside the book-writing and looking after the girls. I am going to actively approach sponsors and I am also going to accept some advertorial work – on the condition it is marked clearly as advertorial and it will always be written by me. The good thing about doing this is it does force me to write posts I wouldn’t usually write – and it gives me a deadline. You’ll see I did one today. I worked in magazines, design and advertising for nigh on twenty years and I actually stopped because I wasn’t in charge. I could say it was because I was spending my days helping people market stuff I didn’t believe in – but if truth be told it was because I wanted to be the boss. And I am now. But more on this later, I know it’s a contentious subject.

There’s also a fairly major redesign afoot, I am working on that in a development site so I won’t be taking the blog down at all. Hopefully that will all be done and tested before the month is out.

Press / blogger outreach
I’m also doing press work, going to blogger events and writing them up. Most recently at the Laura Ashley Christmas event, and tonight I’m heading to Camden to the Proud Galleries for a Kenco-sponsored event where Danielle Proud is launching her homewares range, including quite a gorgeous coffee keep-cup.

Garden
Last but not least the arrival of our orchard! On the back of a tractor. It’s planted now. I’m going to make some bunting to string across the trees in Spring. And ordering seeds from eBay. I’ve found 6,000 Ox Daisy seeds for 99p – yay!

Haircut
This has to be worth a mention. I’m off for my annual haircut with my wonderful hairdresser Nadia at John Frieda Mayfair, who’s been cutting my hair now for the past fourteen years. I can only afford to go once a year but it’s worth every penny and my hair looks great for at least ten months a year!