Wonderful Wednesday 26

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So sorry for the lack of a post last week. Things got so busy at work - was running around all day on Tuesday, then there were problems on the tube in the evening so I couldn't get home until late (wasn't all bad - we decided to have a meal out while waiting for the issues to be fixed!) and so by the time I got home, there just simply wasn't time to sit down and write.

How is it already the end of November though?! This year has been stampeding by at quite a pace and now there are only a few weeks left!

Without further ado, here are a few happy snippets from last week (and slightly earlier, seeing as I missed last week's post).

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♥ Catch-ups with old friends... I feel like I haven't done this in a long time as I've been working so late but one of my oldest friends phoned for a chat on Monday evening as I was on the train home. I have a long enough journey for a really satisfying chat and it was lovely, like no time at all had passed since we last spoke...as is always the way with the closest of friends.

In fact, this last week has involved lots of long-overdue catch ups over food (the best kind of catch up!) - pizza with some friends on Friday night and then some other friends came over to us for dinner on Saturday night. It was the perfect evening of good food, wine and conversation, when suddenly it's midnight and you've no idea how that came around so quickly. We've resolved not to leave it so long next time. This year has really run away with itself.

♥ Flowers from my mister... Look at these gorgeous roses, aren't they splendid?! Getting flowers from my B never fails to put a smile on my face...even when they're by way of an apology for beard hairs in the sink ;D

♥ Mother-daughter Saturday... I spent the whole day with my Mum the Saturday before last, most of it at the V&A actually and it was all kinds of super. We met at South Kensington station, which at 11am was already crowded with people, and went for coffee before heading to the V&A. Mum's a member and there were a few exhibitions we wanted to see - Undressed: a Brief History of Underwear and Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery. Now don't get me wrong, an underwear exhibition sounds like a particularly odd choice of exhibition to visit with your mother but it was more Victorian corsets than kinky nightmares. Such a fascinating exhibition and you wouldn't believe how eye-wateringly painful some of those corsets looked. My particular favourite item was a rather large pair of lace French knickers dating from the 1930s called, if I remember correctly, the 'riding knickers' as they were decorated with some intricate little horsemen in lace. They were my favourites because of the story behind them - the lady for whom they were made wore them in Baghdad when she was living there for a few years in the 1940s. She was with a group of ladies with whom she didn't share any common language and, in order to break the ice, she decided to whip up her skirts and show them her pants! Apparently it worked a treat, they all got on very well after that and showed her what they were wearing too. Good times all round.

So after a couple of hours in the exhibition, we popped to the members' room for lunch (members' privileges, very fancy!) before heading over to check out the medieval embroidery, which was just incredible. They are beautiful enough on their own, that's before you even stop to take in just how old they are. It's incredible how well they've survived.

We rounded off the day with some more tea and cake, and lots of chatting. She told me stories I'd never heard before, about Christmas with my grandparents when she was small. It's a day I'll look back on and treasure, a truly wonderful Saturday.

♥ Saturday Kitchen... For me, a Saturday morning o'dreams includes a leisurely breakfast (usually catching up with Wonderful Wednesdays) in front of Saturday Kitchen, then pottering around the kitchen and cleaning while it continues playing in the background - I find it very comforting. I was slightly bereft when James Martin left, particularly as some of the guest presenters haven't been great, but they seem to be opting for Matt Tebbutt more regularly and I think he's a great presenter - doesn't read off the autocue like a stilted robot, cooks mouth-wateringly good food and is able to do it while chatting to the guests, again in a non robot-like fashion. It was particularly necessary this week as Alan Davies tried to run roughshod over everyone in the studio - he was massively aggravating (stop talking over everyone!) but one good thing that came out of it (apart from a wonderful does of Jose Pizarro, who I adore) - there's going to be a Jonathan Creek Christmas special, and apparently a particularly spooky one at that! I love love love Jonathan Creek and I cannot wait to see it.

♥ Cosy Sundays... After a late night entertaining, a lovely lie-in was just what we both needed on Sunday morning, made extra special because I'd put freshly laundered bed sheets on the day before. I then curled up on the sofa for the best part of the morning in my PJs, with copious mugs of tea and my new issue of the Simple Things - that magazine seems to be perfectly timed to arrive during stressful periods each month, so needed! We then headed into town to look at the Christmas decorations before going to watch 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', which I absolutely adored. It made me so nostalgic for the world of Harry Potter and I really need to make plans to go and visit the studio tour at some point soon, I can't believe I haven't done that yet!

Hope you're all having wonderful weeks so far - let me know what you've been up to!

♥ 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, Kerri, Laura, Sarah, Peta, El, Laura, Sarah, Mimmi, Jasmin and Martina - and then join me in counting down the days until the weekend. It's in sight! ♥