11.11am, Out walking near Logan Rock. It was a beautiful morning and the sea at Pedney looked amazing! We hung there for a bit, then back home to do some jobs (including blogging), then off to the cinema to watch King Richard for our little mate Rafi's 10th birthday. A sunny Sunday of nice things.
11.11am, Picking up a pram. Today we are getting a bit organised as I realised I have less than 7 weeks until my due date, and only 3 until I am full term! We’ve had our heads in the sand a bit, but it’s starting to feel pretty real. We picked up a pram from a friend, then I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting clothes, nappies etc. People have been very generous! In the morn, I went for a walk with Pippa and then we had a coffee and a sausage sarnie, and it was so nice just to sit and catch up (I’m not so good at the walking bit these days as I get bigger and heaver and slower!).
Late afternoon, once most of the jobs were done, we went over to Marazion to see the murms and meet Ruth and her family on the beach. Then pizza and a film for the eve. I love Saturdays like this!
11.11am, At work. Today is quite a busy one but I arranged to meet my friend Eve at lunchtime. It was lovely and sunny and we walked along the prom with coffees and brownies and had a good old chat. She’s due to have a baby three days before me so there was a lot of preggo/baby chat!
11.11am, At Sarah’s house. Hers was one of the last places I went before the lockdowns happened in 2020, when her son Dylan and I (and Sar) had a fun day hanging out where she lives in London before I headed back to Penzance. Now, almost two years later, we did the same thing, but Dylly is so much bigger. He’s super cute and fun, and we had a good morning of playing then went for an early lunch, before I began the long journey back to Cornwall. Train snacks and TV got me through the eight hours of travel. Hope it’s not so long before I see them again!
11.11am, Getting my nails done. My sister is doing a half marathon today on the other side of London, but as I am meeting my uni friends for lunch, I didn’t have time to join them. So after having brekky together, they left this morning, and I had a chilled morning where I did an online workout with Emma, read my book for a bit, and then went to get my nails done!
I met the uni girls (all except Emma) in Victoria at lunchtime, and this began an absolute afternoon of dream. We all had brunch-style brekkies at Rail House Cafe, and then went to the pub for the afternoon. We opened Secret Santa pressies, at all the foods, drank all the drinks, and made up for the lost time of the past two years. It was really special, and I really really love them. It’s so nice to be in buzzing London again too! In the evening, Sarah, Catdog and I headed up to North London where I was staying with Cat, and we had such a nice few hours chatting on the sofa with her husband Tom (mainly about pregnancy and babies) and eating macarons.
11.11am, In Balham. I had the loveliest morning with my niece, nephew, sister and brother-in-law, having porridge for brekky and lots of snuggling and playing. Then Ella, Kate and I went to do the food shop (surprisingly fun!) while Jake and Jim went to rugby, then we all met back at home for bacon and avocado bagels.
In the afternoon we headed into ‘town’ to get Christmassy (my request!). We went to Somerset House, saw an exhibition and had a hot choc to recharge. Then we wandered through to Covent Garden and saw the Christmas lights, did some shopping and soaked up the atmosphere before we headed back to Balham. There we went for a delicious curry dinner and went home for a few drinks and lots of chats. I’ve really missed coming to visit the Reeses Pieces; they’re such warm, welcoming hosts and it’s just so lovely to be in London again after almost two years!
11.11pm, On my sister’s couch, chatting with her and Jim. I came up to London today (working on the train) for a fun-filled weekend before the baby comes in January, and I am so glad I did. It feels quite busy here compared with Cornwall, but in a lovely buzzy way, and it’s just so great to see normality happening again after so long of it not happening! Kate and Ella met me from the station and then we had dinner, watched Bake Off, and curled up together on the sofa being happy we could all in the same place!
PS empty tube carriages on a Friday at 6pm....what?!
11.11am, Talking about this blog. It's Remembrance Day so at 11am there's usually a minute's silence, and it's also our sis-in-law Bree's birthday. I can't wait until we can see her again (she lives in Oz)!
I was also discussing with Andy what to do about this At Eleven Eleven blog. It's now been more than 11 years since I started it (on 28 June 2010), and 11/11 seems like a good date to finish it on. However, like every time I think about finishing it, there's some big changes coming (our baby son due in January), which might mark a better end, or at least less time to be able to do it - but then also an interesting change in our life that I might want to blog about for posterity.
I want to finish it soon, but I am so so grateful when I look back at the past 11 years and have this to remember so many memories by, whether it's where we lived, people we met, what we did, what we ate, what we wore, why we made certain decisions, a pandemic, births, deaths, marriages (including our own). I am so glad I have kept this blog going, so I think I'll keep going a bit longer.,, maybe until the end of the year, maybe until our boy comes, maybe beyond that. Who knows?! But I am proud I have kept it going for so long:
-11 years, 4.5 months, and counting
-2955 blog posts, and counting
-173186 views, and counting
11.11am, At work, at Wed job. Tuesday arvos are always a bit busy because I finish at 5pm and get straight in the car to take the Walking Netball session. I love the ladies who come and join - tonight we did some fitness before playing the game, and they always give such a good amount of effort. I’ve been doing these again since April and I’ve really enjoyed it!
11.11pm, Back home from Laura and Dave’s. We invited ourselves for dinner as we’re trying to do a few more evening bits before they stop, Laurie and Dave’s season at the surf school/shop has finished, and we’ve never been to theirs. They happily obliged and we went over for an amazing chicken and gnocchi dinner, and lots of choc and drinks. Their home is so cosy and felt festive, and their kids are so gorgeous! What a fab evening.
PS I didn't take any pics so here's a pic of Laurie, Dave and Aven pinched from his Insta.
11.11am, Back home after a walk and doing some jobs in town. Most of today I sorted and cleaned stuff, then in the evening, Pip and Jo came over for dinner. We’ve never really had anyone over for dinner properly, and it kind of worked with the space, but was very relaxed (we ate on the couch!). They also brought over an amazing amount of cheese, bread, chutney etc, so we ate lots of that before the paella Andy made. It was lovely to hang with them as we don’t spend time with them independently very often!
11.11pm, Back home, tucked up in bed after an epic Bonfire Night. We went over to St Buryan for the fireworks, and most of our friends came too, so it turned into a properly sociable lovely evening. Andy and I got there first, and loaded up on sausages and hot choc, and it was super cold and super lovely!
11.11am, At work, making plans with the Muirs. We went to meet them at Lovetts for lunch, and it was a super lovely way to break up the day!
11.11am, Arranging a lunchtime walk with Mum. We wandered along the prom and then had a cuppa at the war memorial near Battery Rocks (you can always rely on Mum to bring a flask). I love living near here for some easy, breezy walks, even when it starts raining.
11.11am, In a meeting. I was trying to get as much work done as possible as this afternoon Andy and I had to go up to Treelike for a growth scan. All was good and not as massively big as thought (hooray!). I haven’t really mentioned much on here about being pregnant, but this photo probably does the talking for me!
11.11am, Walking with the PZNC crew. They were doing a sponsored walk from Mousehole to Marazion (there was actually about 30 of them), so I joined from Newlyn. It was a lovely walk with a fun crew, and a great chance to just chat as we walked. We ended with a pasty, and then I had a quiet afternoon (with a big nap!) and then over to Hayle for dinner with the Laitys. We went to the Secret Kitchen and had succchhh a good roast - honestly, the food was incredible. Company wasn’t bad either ;)
11.11am, Eating doughnuts and drinking coffee with so many loved ones! Andy had arranged a surprise for me for my birthday, and loads of our friends and family were down on Newlyn Green. We had a gorgeous hour in the sunshine, and then he whisked me off for a day of adventure and magic.
Next up was the Butterfly House in Goldsithney, which was honestly so amazing! They were such cool butterflies, and I totally loved it. After that we drove up to Newquay and had a little picnic on the beach, then on to the Bedruthan Hotel for an afternoon of pampering. We went to the spa and had an awesome Garden Experience, which involved hot tubs, amazing skin scrubs, general chilling, and drinking delicious orange team with out feet in coper foot baths next to a fire pit. It was amazing!! We both felt properly relaxed and gorgeous, then we headed home for a bit of chilled time, then dinner and drinks at 45 Queen St (who spoilt me with non-alc cocktails).
To top the day off, we ended with a horror film at the cinema (Halloween Kills, the newest Halloween remake). Andy knows me so well, and is so kind to me; today I felt like an absolute queen, so treated and spoilt and looked after and so happy. What a husband, what a birthday.
