With a full fortnight of work behind you, the hunger and need for your customary Saturday morning coffee and pastry at a favourite local cafe seem more pressing than usual.

But best of all, having the days of your weekend free opens up precious time to play.  I’m quickly becoming an expert at express Duplo assembly.  And together, Toddler SSG and I have put out quite a few imaginary Duploland fires in the loungeroom this weekend.  You’ll be happy to know that there’s a large kettle and a comfy bed at the station and that’s where we leave our fire crew each night before bed.

Toddler SSG and I also managed a collective personal best in the weekend television stakes.  We lasted a whole 2 hours on Sunday morning before I ‘had’ to turn on Peppa so that I could run off and have a shower.  As you can see from the photo above, it did see me pull out the big guns in toddler entertainment.  We were eating ‘toast and butter and strawberry jam’ paper cut outs while mummy drank her ‘very hot cup of tea’.

Gardening experts, if it’s not true that fresh lawn clippings act as a mulch and natural weed repellant on a lawn, I don’t want to know…

I bet this is a photo you’d never thought you’d see on my blog.  A lawnmower propelled by yours truly.  But it’s happened.  My lawn at SSG Manor 2.0 is so tiny that I don’t see many gardeners being terribly keen to add me to their books.  So I picked up Aldi’s (naturally) manual lawn mower the other week with mum and so far, we’ve managed to give the lawn a going over once a week.

If I’d known how easy they are to use, I’d have bought a trimmer ages ago and gone DIY on my lawn well before now.  Better late than never, I suppose.

While we were outdoors, Todder SSG and I bedazzled our council bins with metallic number labels.  I could only find five at the hardware store this time which means I have to go back in a few weeks to get another four for the sides of the bin currently missing their sticker.

With everything unpacked and in its place at SSG Manor 2.0, spare moments during the day have been put to uses more pleasurable than the tidying, storing and fixing.  One of life’s simpler joys has got to be looking out the your bedroom window and onto the calm leafyness of the street you can now finally call (and feel as if it is) home.

Other spare moments of the weekend went to making my first bulk batch of bolognese in my new kitchen.  Toddler SSG was on hand to stir the cold liquids together and also to precisely measure out the two cups of peas he felt the sauce needed but that he was also definitely knew he wasn’t going to eat.  As the sauce simmered away in the slow cooker, we were treated to giggles and toothless grins from my Sydney nephew who visited with my brother and sister in law.

With the hard work of the day done and portions of my bolognese and fried rice packed away for the drive home in my sister in law’s car, it was time to go up the road for a bit of a relax in the afternoon sun.  Our days of a cheeky Sunday afternoon beverage well behind us, we shared a round of coffees and freshly squeezed orange juice as watchful eyes gazed over the baby and the toddler.

Here’s to those special moments with special people that just happen spontaneously.