May on the move
They say that death, divorce and moving house are the three most stressful life events – and this month I’ve been in the midst of the latter.
We’ve bought a house nearer London, just 40 minutes drive from the centre of town. It’s on a gated community, which is just a teensy bit like Wisteria Lane, so I have neighbours again for the first time in 13 years. I’d better keep the hi-fi at a reasonable level!
We’ve lived surrounded by fields for well over a decade, so it’s all a bit new for me.
I spend so much time travelling nowadays, so I’m going to enjoy not having to worry about hedge cutters and taking care of the land. It’ll be an easier lifestyle.
I spend so much time travelling nowadays, so I’m going to enjoy not having to worry about hedge cutters and taking care of the land. It’ll be an easier lifestyle.
At the moment my horse is still in a stable where we used to live, but I’ll be bringing him over here. The cats have settled in although we had a scare with Martin… for four days he was on the missing list. Via email I had all my new neighbours looking for him and on Easter Monday, like the second coming he walked into the house, ate some food and went to sleep in the dog’s bed as if nothing had happened. Buddy has taken the move in his stride and is very happy in his new home. As long as he’s got a bed and a doorstep to put his paw over then he’s chilled. The picture of him was taken on our last day at Sundown. All he had to move was his bed and his brother, sadly in a box.
When it comes to getting a new house in order I’m like a woman possessed. If it wasn’t for my family I don’t think I’d have eaten or slept until every last thing was unpacked. At the moment I’m trying to organise storage solutions, as new houses tend to be lacking in built-in wardrobes and cupboards. For the time being I have a make-shift wardrobe comprising of dress rails, plastic crates and boxes.
It’s marvellous being so close to the capital. After all the moving my nails were in desperate need of a manicure and my hair needed a cut, and yesterday I was able to get to my hairdressers in record time and in my world all roads lead to Lino at Daniel Galvins in George St, London. My stepdaughter Amelia came with me and had her hair done as a treat for all her hard work during the move.
I’m going back to Canada at the end of next month to start filming the third series of Dinner Party Wars. I was over there recently to film a crisp advert with my co-presenter, Corbin.
I must admit that I ate a lot of crisps that week, it was just so tempting. They’re a rare treat for me, and I think I’d forgotten quite how much wheat and gluten there is in them. By the time we’d finished filming and I got on the plane to come home I felt well and truly bloated!
Grant celebrated his 50th birthday recently, and the girls and I had a marvellous time putting together a photo book for him. We used mypublisher.com and literally spent weeks organising and artfully arranging around 600 photos, ranging from when he was a baby to now. We had to do it all when he was out of the house, so a lot of time was spent sneakily scanning old pictures and uploading digital ones.
Peter Powell, my ex-husband, celebrated his 60th birthday this month, and Grant and I went to a beautiful lunch at his home in London. Philip Schofield was there, but it was very much for close friends rather than celebrities. Philip and I were two of the very first artistes taken care of by James Grant Management, which is run by Peter. Peter and myself are good friends, and Grant and I were happy to be part of his celebration. A lot of reminiscing went on that day.
I haven’t had much time to watch the television recently, due to the move, but I’ve been glued to Candy Cabs – a BBC comedy starring my friend Claire Sweeney. She’s a brilliant actress and I’ve really loved the show. It’s a feel-good watch.