Decorating

Mr E and I have just finished painting our hallway.

Our flat was a new build when we bought it three years ago, and this is the first time we have painted since we moved in. The old paint was, shall we say "cheap" and somewhat reminiscent of that classroom shade of magnolia - not a look we were keen to hold on to.

It all started last weekend at B&Q. After spending the best part of half an hour considering dozens of colours, all of which could be described as "beige", we finally agreed on "almost oyster" in a silk finish.

Our, shall we say, "bijou" hallway didn't take very long to paint - I knew there were benefits to be had from such a small flat!

Here is the finished result, with photos we took in New York (a first wedding anniversary present to ourselves) hanging up:

I Wish We had One of Those in Cardiff (Part I)

Just back from a couple of days in London. The hotel was ok (although it claimed to be 4* but felt more like a 3, and was supposed to be in South Kensington, but was definitely Earls Court). More importantly, the Event for which I was there went very well.

Mr E and I found ourselves with a day to kill on Friday, before getting the train back to Cardiff in the afternoon. We had decided the day before to go to Tate Modern to ride the slides (erm, sorry, to appreciate the art). Unfortunately neither of us managed to remember to set our alarms on Thursday night so, come Friday morning, I was in a mood with Mr E for not setting his alarm, he was in a mood with me for being in a mood with him and...well, you get the picture. We stormed onto the tube , me defiant that the queues would be impossibly long and him defiant that we were going to go anyway.

By the time we got to London Bridge, we were at that stage in the argument where each of us wanted to be at least ten metres away from the other. Cue, me sitting outside Tate Modern twenty minutes later, with Mr E nowhere in sight. I went inside to establish that, yes, the queues were too long, at which point Mr E arrived outside Tate Modern, with me nowhere to be seen.

Several narky phone calls later and Mr E and I finally found each other beside the Golden Hind in Southwark. Mr E announced that he had seen a "nice looking farmer's market type place" and wanted some breakfast. I was beyond arguing any more so followed him around the corner.

The market in question was actually Borough Market http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/
It was also possibly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Rainbows of the freshest, brightest fruit and vegetables stretching as far as the eye could see (many of which I had never seen before). Bakers' stalls piled with stacks of baguettes, bloomers and ciabattas. Cheese stalls which smelled like french delicatessens. Fish counters, shining silver in the dim light. Even as a vegetarian I was captivated by the vibrant braces of pheasants hanging merrily next to a headless deer.

There is very little you cannot get at Borough Market. For a moment I felt a pang of jealousy towards the city workers just over the river who had all of this within such easy reach. I imagined what it must be like pitch up and do all your shopping there each week. Then I remembered that those city workers probably had barely enough time to order their shopping online from Waitrose every week.

I came away with a loaf of rye bread, an avocado which was just the right side of overripe and some award-winning haggis sausages for Mr E. Call it a peace offering.