Hard work

The week I went back to work after four years probably wasn't the best one to choose for reviving a blog. Good points - the tube starts from Richmond, so I always get a seat, and as any mother of small children will know, 30 minutes with a coffee and the paper is pretty much worth going to work for all by itself. Bad points - er, the actual work. But leaving that aside...

The new sofa bed arrived today, delivered with admirable efficiency and politeness. If you've not tried IKEA's online delivery service yet I'd give it ago - I've been really pleasantly surprised with how well it all works. You can choose your delivery day and they give you a 4 hour slot, then ring you an hour before they arrive (so you can get on with your day rather than mooching around looking wistfully out of the window.) Quite pricey though - you need to have a good big order to make it worth it.

Anyway, my husband is away at the moment, and to be honest he's not much use with an Allen key anyway, so my lovely friend and neighbour rolled up her sleeves on his behalf. We put it together in just over an hour, much of which was spent telling our four children between us to stop picking up all the nuts and bolts and making off with vital pieces of chipboard. But it is looking pretty good - although no-one has slept on it yet! My parents in law will have the joy of testing it out next week, as they're coming to look after the children at half term while I go out and earn a crust.