Wonderful Wednesday 19

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Is it actually getting cooler, folks?! I don't know why I'm making such a big deal about it, it's not as if we've had three months of blazing sunshine but I do get a little more excited when it gets darker, the breeze picks up and the leaves start to turn red and fall. I'm starting to sniff out Autumn - scarves, woolly hats and boots, ahoy! I may be a summer baby but I do not cope well with warmth. I'm a lover of cosy things and while this does mean it's more difficult to get out of bed in the morning when the sky is still dark outside, I will gladly take this season over the summer heat.

So without further ado and before I start waxing lyrical about how Autumn means Christmas isn't too far away (!!), here are my highlights from the last week...

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♥ Visiting the dentist... Aha yes, an odd one to start the week. It had been a long time since my last visit and I had been putting it off and off but finally booked a visit this week - Saturday morning, what a treat. I shouldn't have worried, my teeth were absolutely a-ok and surprisingly, despite my exceedingly sweet tooth, I still don't have any fillings! *beams* (To be fair, this probably wouldn't have made my list of wonderful if I had needed a filling...)

♥ Cooler weather... As mentioned above, I am so happy that the weather is slightly cooler again! (Particularly on days when it's not damp and humid - what is up with that awful combination, weather? My hair has reached new heights of frizz.) We've celebrated this week by re-introducing some wintery dinner treats - on Monday night, the mister cooked pork chops with mash and gravy. Mmm mmm. Last Thursday's storm also makes it into this week's highlights - nothing beats a crashing storm when you're curled up in bed safe and warm.

♥ Some much-needed parents time... Doctor's appointment on Friday afternoon and dentist on Saturday morning, both close to my parents so I decided to stay over there on Friday night (also giving the mister a night out pass - win win!) It was a lovely peaceful evening, we opened a bottle of wine and I cooked a paella. We then all curled up to watch Joanna Lumley exclaim about Japan for an hour. It was wonderful. To ramp up the cosy, I went to the library with my mum on the Saturday morning and while she browsed for more books, I curled up in their magazine corner and read Good Housekeeping. I don't think I've felt so relaxed in weeks (and very necessary at the moment).

♥ London exploring... On Sunday, the mister and I decided to pop into London for some lunch and a mooch around the shops. Excitingly, I needed some new black trousers. It was also the Open House London weekend, which somehow we manage to miss every year. This is an event where some of London's most fantastic buildings, which are usually closed to the general public, are opened up with information about the architecture, design etc. Some of the most splendid buildings are ticketed but there are so many where you can just turn up and have a good nose around. (One of my most favourite things!) We decided to go to Freemasons' Hall on Great Queen Street, which is an impressive building just from the outside but inside, wow it was quite incredible. Stained glass windows with images representing the Freemasons' ideology, beautiful Art Deco architecture and light fittings and the Grand Temple inside? The murals on the ceiling could rival some of the most impressive churches I've visited in Europe. It was fantastic and has spurred us on to see more of the buildings next year - perhaps even plan a whole day's worth! Crikey. One peeve though - a ticketed event called 'Fashion Scout' was also being held in part of the Hall, showcasing emerging and established fashion design talent. The stylish young thing who walked in ahead of us was asked if she was there for Fashion Scout or the Open House. The mister and I? "You're here for the Open House, right?" OUTRAGEOUS PRESUMPTION! Ahem, yes we are.

♥ Plumdog... This is something I discovered during my Sunday wanderings with the mister. We decided to pop into Gosh, which is one of our favourite comic shops - we could both happily spend a good long time browsing that shop, in very different sections mind. This Sunday I happened upon a book called Plumdog, which is an illustrated diary of the days in the life of the author's dog, Plum. The book blurb reads as follows:

Hello. My name is Plum and I'm a whoosell - that's whippet mixed with Jack Russell and poodle. I especially like swimming, leaping, catching, and croissants, and my favourite fragrance is fox poo. I live with Emma, an illustrator, and Rupert. My sister, Liffey, lives nearby.

Over the last year I've been keeping a diary. Emma has helped with the pictures but the words are all mine.

A diary?! From the perspective of a dog? I'm in. It was hard enough to stop me devouring the entire book there and then. If you're still not convinced, JUST LOOK AT PLUM!

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You can check out Plum's adventures on Emma's blog here. My vicarious dog ownership continues...

♥ First Aiding... I went on a first aid course on Monday - emergency first aid at work. As much as I hope I will never have to use it, I really enjoyed the day's course and am now able to (hopefully!) dress a wound, put someone in the recovery position and do CPR. I was also the only person in the room to make the CPR dummy produce a strange farting noise from its nose - win?!

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you're all having great weeks so far.

♥ Do let me know what's made your week a little rosier by leaving me a comment below (I do love comments!) or dropping me a tweet (I'm @happygoluckycat) or better yet, why not join the fabulous bunch of #WonderfulWednesday bloggers? Pop over to their blogs for a dose of mid-week happiness - Sally, Michelle, Helen, Kate, Jo, Emma, Samantha and Kerri and the lovely Wonderful Wednesday newbies Laura, Sarah, Peta and El (I thiiink that's everyone - do let me know if I've missed anyone!) - and then join me in counting down the days until the weekend. It's in sight! ♥