M's parents came up for a visit to the Lords, at Chris and Gunny's invitation. M met them in the morning and they went to the Tate and Westminster Abbey, then I left work early to meet up with them and G & C for tea and a tour. Our visit to the chamber was well-timed as an amendment was being debated and we saw the division take place, and then C showed us around the rest of the House. There was time for the purchase of House of Lords golf accoutrements and a pizza before M's parents headed back to Kent.

At the weekend we decided that the time has truly come for the one remaining room in the flat - the library/office/second bedroom - to be redecorated. So Saturday was spent down in South Ealing choosing carpet and paint, then distributing four tall Billy bookcases and their contents all around the flat. On Sunday M did most of the prep and started painting the woodwork. Should all be painted by Thursday, when the mannie is coming to lay the carpet, and all ready for inspection by Saturday, when we have people over for a fireworks party.

Highlights of the past week have been Gunny coming over for dinner and R & O's engagement party in Lewisham. I took dozens of photos of Marc posing against stone walls and pillars, as he needs an author portrait for the book. After a bit of post-production tweaking, two of them were deemed suitable and have gone off to the publishers. Here's the one they probably won't choose as the background is a bit busy.
Lowlights have been the washing machine going on the blink ("it needs a whole new control unit" - but since it came from John Lewis it is still under guarantee, phew) and the Ocado man forgetting the gravy granules. And yes, I am aware that these lowlights are nugatory.

On Wed we had R over for a very Germanic dinner (sausages, rotkohl, beer). Otherwise M has been having more fun than me - on Friday he went off down to Kent to see his sister and dandle our niece N. He also had lunch with his agent and dinner with Ben, and enjoyed an afternoon screening of Superbad in between.
This weekend we've done nothing much; Japanese dinner with Picul and Jim up flathunting, and went to see Ratatouille (which was so-so, had funny moments but not nearly as good as The Incredibles).

Went to this interesting concert last Monday, at Westminster Abbey - a small choir of five performing music contemporary to Henry III, to round off M's conference. A pretty quiet weekend though, dinner with friends in Tufnell Park on Friday night and brunch at Marvins on Sunday with Ry and her husband, otherwise M was writing most of the time and my activities are chronicled elsewhere.
Ooh, I've just eaten a Wispa for the first time in years, thanks to the Facebook-inspired relaunch. Mmm, they were always my favourites. Not exactly a Proustian madeleine moment, but still very tasty.

This weekend we went to Oxford to visit Jim and family and then to the Merton gaudy. Haven't been to a black tie event in a while, so the purchase of spangly earrings and a bow tie respectively was required. I made M get the silk kind that you really have to tie, as we all know they're much handsomer. On Sunday and today M is occupied with a two-day Henry III conference, while I spent yesterday visiting Ry who was hit by a car while jogging across a zebra crossing, which broke her clavicle, leaving her in need of chicken soup, DVD-watching company and a multiway bra.