Loving this autumn weather - far better than the summer. We cycled to Kew along the river yesterday and sat having coffee in the sunshine while the kids ran amok in Climbers and Creepers. If only it could always be like this! I went into a panic about half term last night because I realised we are teetering on the brink of winter and that will be our last chance for a break before Christmas.

















Two dreadful mobile phone photos ( still haven't bought a new camera after the France disaster with our old one) of the new paint colour on the front gate and door. A man knocked on the door on Saturday afternoon and asked what colour it was- he said he'd bought three testers and still hadn't got it right. Which is funny because I had just been wondering whether to paint it all black again - but after a public endorsement I am newly convinced!

We are having a new sofa debate at the moment. Our ancient tweedy one in the big sitting room is actually threadbare, with the stuffing showing through, but my husband loves it because it's deep, huge and comfortable. Plus he has mild delusions of grandeur ( and looks at our bank account less often than me) so his idea of getting a new sofa would be to spend £3k at Designers Guild or SCP.I looked at re-covering the old one, but the quote was £1700 plus the fabric and VAT. I think we should spend £500 on something practical at at IKEA ( dark grey Karlstad, I've already earmarked it!) because the kids are still at the stage of leaping on the arms, tearing all the cushions off and wiping jammy fingers all over the sofas we do have.

The one snag is what to do with the old one. I think it's too tatty to give to a furniture project, which means getting the council to pick it up. That would be fine - except they charge £30 and expect you to leave it in your front garden for the duration of their ten-day pick-up window! That'll go down well with the neighbours!