A week of contrasts

Been off work all week with a dodgy back, some even dodgier painkillers that make my dreams go a hazy shade of purple and a sense of impending crisis after we realised our new house would have required an astonishing £30k of work before we could even get round to sorting out the carpets. Deal subsequently pulled, we have spent most of this week back on the home trail. And am happy to report - today - some success. And a better house than the one we just lost! Funny the way the cards are dealt at times, innit? Now we can look forward to Autumn barbecues in the garden on the right, a choice of outbuildings, and a two-minute walk to this park on the left!

Listening: Noah Georgeson; The Zombies - Into The Afterlife; new Rilo Kiley stuff

Watching: Have been hooked into Heroes, if just for the Japanese time traveller's amazingly manic off-kilter laugh and pirouettes

Loving: The sunshine, even while on my back

Overheard in chemists: "Mam, I'm dyeing my hair red" "Why?" "I've got to dye it red before I can get it brown"