What we've been up to...

• I had an unexpected day off work on Tuesday so we headed over to Godstone Farm with the Grandparents. It was a nice place to visit but you probably needed to have a half day there and bring a picnic rather than whizz around in an hour or so as we tried to do. Lots of animals to see and also to pet. There were pens that you could get into and stroke the goats, sheep, rabbits, guinea pigs etc. I felt a little sorry for the animals as there was a constant stream of over-excited children inflicting attention on them. Monkey was quite taken with the goat bridge (see photo above). It was quite reasonably priced at £3.50 per adult and just £1.50 for the Monkey. They've got a soft play area which we didn't use as I can't stand the things
• House-wise things are dragging on interminably. Apparently (and this according to their own solicitors) we are attempting to buy a house from the laziest people on earth. We don't know whether there is a reason for them dragging their heels or if they are just a bit useless, but the latest date mooted for completion is w/c 7 September, which will be 5 months since our offer was accepted. I just hope our buyers aren't getting impatient, as we could end up living with my parents if they can't wait that long.
• There have been a couple of bloggy posts recently about fertility and baby-spacing, and this is something that has been on my mind too. A good friend has announced that she is expecting baby number two, just 8 months after her gorgeous little boy was born, and now two of my NCT group have announced their second pregnancies. I am feeling broody! I was always intending to have about a 2.5- 3 year gap between pregnancies but I'm beginning to wonder if I can wait that long. My main worry is about declining fertility. We got pregnant with the Monkey in our third month of trying, which was wonderful (and a relief considering the rather obsessive manner in which I went about trying to get pregnant) but I am not assuming that the next time will be so easy. There has been a lot of press recently about the rapid decline in fertility post-35, and I was 35 earlier this year. I think if someone could guarantee me that I could wait another year and then get pregnant I would wait, but there are no guarantees and rather than risk an extended fertility journey in a year or so I wonder if we should jut be cracking on with it, IYSWIM?! My plan for now is to concentrate on losing a little weight and getting fitter (yes, the perennial problem, and so perhaps we will start trying in the New Year once we get settled in the house. Getting pregnant in the first half of next year will actually be pretty near to the gap that I was intending... fingers crossed(but not legs, ha ha).
• You might have noticed that I haven't been blogging much about baking or cooking recently (and my food blog has fallen by the wayside). The reason for this has been that I'm back on the Slimming World plan. I just couldn't control my weight by trying to eat well outside of a plan, and SW is the one that I've got on best with in the past. For some reason this time the weight doesn't seem to be coming off as quickly, possibly because I am not breastfeeding as frequently? I've had a couple of social events for which I've gone 'off-plan', but I've been pretty good otherwise so the lack of weight loss is a bit depressing. I'm going to try adding a bit of exercise and will hopefully soon get the bike seat fitted so that Monkey and I can do some cycling. But for now the diet (hate that word) means that I haven't been baking much because I can only eat a very little bread and the very, very occasional cake or treat.