16 Years Later

 Himself Lord Malarkey and I celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary today. The weather is hot. It was hot sixteen years ago, too. Boiling, especially if one is carting around a full on meringue wedding dress or a full on frock coat ‘n’ waistcoat combo. But it was a fab day nonetheless. We took ourselves out for lunch at a little bistro place in town (today, not sixteen years ago. Sixteen years ago it was full on hot and cold buffet in a massive marquee overlooking the Kent countryside with a jazz band playing and games on the lawn) to celebrate our wax anniversary (Andy bought me a candle making kit so that’s my next foray into the world of ‘Crafts I Have Not Tried Before) and then we came home and melted. Appropriate for it to be the wax anniversary, then.

I did manage a bit of gardening before deciding a retreat to the shade would be sensible. And a bit of housework, too, because tomorrow, Dearest Daughter and Son-in-Law are arriving for a few days of holiday, provided their cat ceases its production of hair balls. Don’t ask. I haven’t seen Dearest Daughter in person since before Christmas last year. And the week after next, the Dearest Son and Daughter-in-Law, and the Darling, Darling Granddaughters are arriving for a visit. And I haven’t seen them in person since this time last year. All too long ago. So I am glad the weather looks set to perk up a bit.

This week I ordered online for delivery (I am avoiding shops, I’m afraid, because of the whole suffocating and panicking behind a face covering thing) a couple of new tops and a new skirt to accommodate the ever- shrinking me. Almost 23lbs down now and still plodding onwards. I am tantalisingly close to the next stone bracket and the weight I was when I was 18! It’s keeping me powering on. Andy has decided to revamp his diet, too, and has chosen the Mediterranean approach, which involves nuts. He declares all nuts to taste of sawdust but is determined to eat the recommended three portions a week because they are ‘good for me.’ He has opted for the hazelnut as his nut of choice because he reckons he is going to track down some hazel trees in the wilds and wrangle squirrels for their spoils. Seriously, that’s what he said this morning as he was knocking back the shop bought variety (nuts, not squirrels) with swigs of coffee chasers and pulling the face of someone who is being forced to ingest sawdust. 

It’s all good fun! I also bought a new rug as a starting point for redecorating the back bedroom which should, by rights and according to my start of 2020 plans, be completed by now, ready to receive visitors in style. But it isn’t, and as the carpet is old and revolting the rug is a temporary measure to jazz things up a bit until I can set about the renovation properly. Flora and Bambino are already doing their best to wreck the rug. Bloody cats.

I’ll leave you with some wedding photos. I had a nostalgic roam through the albums. Happy memories!