Manifesto update

Unhampered as I am by coalition talks, I've been able to get on with bringing my manifesto to life pretty much unhindered. It's going well. Aided by the fact that (other than yesterday, when I just overdid it and clearly needed to be punished) I haven't been sick or really felt sick for a week! I know - hurrah!

Thanks to lovely mummy the kitchen cupboards have been rejigged to make way for baby equipment and the oven has been cleaned to sparkly gloriousness - so much so that I don't really want to use it.

I have planted carrots, fennel and salad in the veg patch and strawberries in pots. These will soon be joined by courgettes, tomatoes and runner beans - once the weather looks reliably nice.

I have eaten breakfast outside in the sunshine.

Yesterday I spent a small fortune on bedding plants and prettied up some pots - until I ran out of compost. Photos to come of these once they look a little more filled out and pretty.

I spent yesterday afternoon on my hands and knees (which before you all start tutting is actually a good position for a pregnant person to adopt) scrubbing the hall floor - hopefully you can see the difference from the picturs. Before scrubbing is on the left - it's more impressive in real life.

Restoring Victorian Floors - a guide - by Mrs Jones

*Find yourself a lovely Victorian tiled floor (ours was hidden under a hideous 1970s carpet. This is what it looked like before I started 18 months ago.)



*Spend a whole day on your hands and knees scrubbing it to remove 135 years of ingrained dirt (probably less than that because I'm sure the original owners were very proud of their tiles and kept them pristine)

*Attempt to protect tiles with a sealant - which fails miserably and means you have to start all over again in 18 months time when your nesting instinct has well and truly kicked in.

*Arm yourself with marigolds, scouring sponges, HG Quick Porcelain Cleaner (this stuff is truly magical - it literally seems to dissolve dirt), a bright pink gardeners kneeling pad, and a bucket of hot water.

*Spend a couple of hours scrubbing - worrying all the while at just how much pleasure you're getting from cleaning a floor.

*Mop with fresh water and leave to dry before applying traffic wax with a paint brush and buffing the floor with a floor buffer. (Feel slightly disappointed that it's not marvellously sealed and shiny after the first coat - especially as you're too tired to do anymore today)

Please note - these pictures were taken with the new camera - though clearly I have a lot to learn because they still look rubbish!

On top of this I have also been making a quilt for the baby, listening to the hypnosis for birth cd and swallowing raspberry leaf tea capsules in huge quantities to encouarge Baby J out. My ribs are experiencing some welcome relief because Baby J has started his/her descent into my pelvis. My bladder is less happy about this, especially when it's being used as a punchbag.

For the first time I think I'm actually enjoying being pregnant - I feel somewhere nearing normal, other than the huge bump - of course. But that said, I'm not enjoying it so much that I wouldn't welcome the arrival of the little one anytime now. We're pretty much ready.