We went to a family party at Dad's this weekend: HT, Dan, Daisy and I.  Sissy and lovely BIL were there with the nibling (and the new nibling is well under development... very exciting); favourite aunt and uncle with their two children + one fiancee (who is the PA to a famous British artist); other favourite aunt and uncle; Dad and stepmother.  It was a lovely day - we sat on the patio, eating, drinking and shooting the shit, all day.  It was lovely.  HT appears to have been a huge success - so much so that we're going back next weekend, for an overnight visit to the Grand Designs show.

Stepmother has taken an alarming deterioration.  She goes in for a hip replacement next week, but the concern is more to do with her apparent dementia.  Which apparently isn't.  Depends who you talk to.  It's hard to be so far away from Dad when all this is going on; I have the distinct impression he doesn't want to tell me the extent of it, so it's difficult to pry too closely.  He's such a proud man, and so patient and gentle with her.  It's heartbreaking, really.

This week is going to be so difficult; I have the AMBA re-accreditation visit towards the back end of the week, a major committee meeting on Monday.  I need to appoint a solicitor to handle the sale of the house (I accepted an offer on Friday), and somehow have to keep track of all that, and keep my sanity.  I'm giving HT a difficult time at the moment; struggling to retain objectivity and distance, and taking every slight criticism as a step backwards... I must be a nightmare to live with at the moment.  He hasn't had an offer on his place, yet, so family stress levels are running high.  I think by the end of the week I will be fit for nothing but dribbling into my wineglass!

We saw a cottage last week.  I don't think it's replaced the barn at the top of our list, but it's a very close second - 550 odd years old.  Original beams and stone flagged floors.  Open inglenook fireplaces.  Thatched roof.  Huge garden.  The downside?  Essentially, no kitchen and only 3 bedrooms, and we'd need to build an extension.  Oh, and it's right on the road.  A village road, and not terribly noisy, but the road nonetheless.  It would be odd to snuggle down in front of your bright, roaring fire and watch the very 21st century muslin curtains fluttering in the breeze, wouldn't it??  We think we could, if we wanted, get it cheaply enough to be able to afford to do the things that would need doing - we're just not sure (I'm just not sure) we can sacrifice our 21' barn kitchen (with some living accommodation attached!) for that big a commitment!