Bagged another National Trust house at the weekend, Mottisfont Abbey, near Romsey. It has the most amazing rose garden, which is smelling and looking at its peak these next couple of weeks. If you go, tell them I sent you and they may give me a free picnic bag. Although judging by D's review, they are less than worthless, and only make you stand out at Glastonbury or similar festivals, as the oddball person with the NT picnic bag.

Another feature of the place is a 'Trompe l'oeil' room, painted by Rex Whistler in the 1930s. After much discussion of the pronunciation, we discovered the incredible detailing and fabulous effect of said decorating technique. I was so taken by it, I am just now taking a break from decorating our bedroom in a 'trompe l'oeil' style. I think it is french for 'tricks the eye', so I am hoping that the beige walls will trick your eyes well. I was really chuffed with B and Q, you know those rare trips when they have what you want AND it is on half price offer? Yipee!

H and one of her friends were 'helping' me decorate earlier. It went ok, they have a shorter attention span than my patience, which is the best way round for everyone. The expression 'patience of a saint' is very real to me today, clearly I am far from being canonised by the church of Rome as I can't wait for radishes to grow and would make tea with lukewarm water if I thought it would work.

I ate some of my home grown lettuce yesterday, which tasted good. It has been raining enough to start measuring up for an ark around here, so I am hoping the potatoes will be ready to dig up tomorrow. Will try to take a photo with my 'macro' feature to show off their size. On my recent trip to Mottisfont I showed off my macro abilities to the people we were with, and they all found their own macro settings and took flower pictures too. Hey! I AM AN ACCOMPLISHED PHOTOGRAPHER WHO TEACHES OTHER PEOPLE THINGS. And all from 5 weeks at evening classes.

Yesterday I did Pilates at Chamberlayne as usual, and on Friday I made it to yoga at Bitterne for the first time in a while. Ached on Saturday. H misheard me saying I was going to yoga and thought I was going to 'ogre'. Which I do from time to time, so I can see where she was coming from, as she ran to take cover under the pillow.

We have been having a post housegroup financial clean up, as we are talking about 'where is your treasure' at church at the moment, and how much we rely on material possessions rather than on God. Rob has been battering away at the spreadsheet, and I have found an energy supplier who is hopefully green without being incredibly more expensive than everyone else. We shall see. Don't have the capital to invest in solar panels, but would love to. Maybe we should save up...