Hey guys. I have had a lovely weekend so far, despite having a fairly stinky week at work. Done a fair few hours this week, can’t remember taking a lunchbreak at any point come to think of it, which means my lunchtime French lessons are suffering. I received a beginners French pack for Christmas, and basically it contains a lot of pre-printed post it notes, that you stick up wherever you like so you can learn them almost without realising and then file them away in little binders when you’re done. So I have them stuck all around my monitor at work and on the kitchen cupboards at home. My colleagues think I’m nuts but I haven’t known them very long. When they’ve known me for a little longer they’ll realise that nuts is entry level crazy for the kind of loon I really am….. It has amused me though that one of our sales managers now knows the words for watermelon and lollipop so that’ll come in handy. Pasteque and sucette in case you were wondering. You’re welcome!

Speaking of you’re welcome, we finally watched the Disney film Moana a couple of weeks ago. Got to say it’s absolutely the best animated Disney film of recent years (my favourite since the gigantic sob-a-thon that is Up) and it kicks Frozen’s ass! Never really understood what all the fuss was about there, but hey, the Pumpkin loves it! The one problem (awesome thing) with Moana, is the amazing musical score. It is the catchiest thing you will ever ever EVER hear. There are some excellent collaborations on there and for any musical theatre fans, some songs are written and performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame. Also as a huge fan of Flight of the Conchords, discovering Jermaine is the voice of the “Shiny” crab just makes a brilliant thing even more brilliant. The Rock’s song You’re Welcome will be in your head for years. Watch it, enjoy it, get the soundrack, you can’t arrive at work not in a better mood for having listened to this on the way in. Fact! Yes, I’m a disnerd, but it’s ruddy brilliant.

Also seen Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and it (plus Awesome Mix Volume 2) is so great. Two words for you – Trash Panda!

Spent today at my absolute favourite vintage/antiques fair, the Home and Salvage Fair at Ripley Castle near Harrogate. The quality of the exhibitors, and the varied selection of unique items was very special indeed today. Always have my eye out for things for France and we really need to be turning our attention towards “the big house”, particularly the kitchen. In my mind, I’d like a really unique kitchen island. An old haberdashery counter or something weather worn and buggered, but that looks like it would last a million years. No shortage of contenders today, we loved the tables/butchers blocks and wine racks that had started life as part of a John Deere engine chassis. There was a lovingly restored table with man-drawer of epic proportions acquired from a station yard in Crewe, a lovely long table that had apple crates suspended from the counter with chains, I could imagine our veg in those. Loads of inspiration but just not the right size, height, price for us just yet. We also fell in love with a pair of painted wooden panels showing scenes of arms and armour, with side panels decorated with crossed bones tied together with ribbons. The other showed Mitre hats, candles and religious items, with the same bone borders. Sounds macabre I know, but I love this stuff. It screamed quality and it screamed age and we weren’t wrong. The price was £3000 for the pair and they had originated in a basilica in Rome and dated back to the 1600s. It was either buy these, or put in a bathroom in France. I’d love to say I bought these and now we’re going to crap  in a trench in the garden, but old age and sensibility clearly had to prevail. They’ll have been bought by someone that wears overly shiny shoes with Cuban heels and has a much younger wife with no eyebrows that drives an orange Range-Rover and doesn’t deserve them. I deserve them!

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