I’m glad households can mix at Christmas but I'm also worried | Cheryl Gibbs

But is it a good enough reason to outweigh the potential damage it might cause to the coronavirus numbers spiking once again?

We all have our reasons for wanting to be together over the holidays and I am desperate to have some kind of normal Christmas day as it’s our first with Harley.

It’s such a difficult one and I’m not sure there’s a right or a wrong way of feeling about it. I just hope as a nation we can all be sensible, but time will tell and I just pray that some don’t pay the ultimate price for our actions…

It’s not fun to have a leaky roof in rainy November

It doesn’t rain, it pours – literally!

We bought our beautiful bungalow in Clanfield (well, Catherington if you want to be pedantic about it) because we love the view across the fields and we still love that view .

On Tuesday I was talking to my sister when all of a sudden I spotted three deer prancing in the fields and I felt so lucky to live here (despite the fact they’re converting the farm/barn opposite into farm houses which naturally I’m gutted about, but hey ho, moving on).

However because we live opposite these fields and we’re in a valley, the rain and wind hits the front of our bungalow hard.

It rushes down the hill a bit and bashes the front of our bungalow which happens to be our bedroom.

So as I said, it doesn’t rain it pours, and it was quite literally doing that inside.

I exaggerate a little.

But we noticed we started getting an awful damp smell in our bedroom and that black mould was creeping along the ceiling.

Matt went up on the roof and noticed a big hole up there.

Brilliant.

I mean, we haven’t had all summer to fix a problem like this, but let’s attempt to fix a leaky roof in the pouring rain!

We asked Matt’s brother, Luke, who owns Glaze UK in Denmead, to give us a hand and between them they managed to sort it – another skip and over one hundred tiles later.

Still on the plus side because of said mould problems, we decided now would be a good time to give our bedroom a bit of a spruce up so I’ve gone and ordered a new bedspread and curtains.

The latter, I had no choice in the matter because I attempted to put our curtains in the washing machine, causing them to stick together like glue and they came out of the machine in one big ball.

I also asked my mum if she could wash our clothes in our cupboards for us as we just don’t have the space or the time to do so.

Needless to say she wasn’t overly impressed when we turned up at hers with six bin liners full of mouldy-smelling clothes.

A few choice words were sent my way!

Sorry mum…

I do everything I can but I cannot even lose one pound

It doesn’t escape me that I often sound like a broken record.

Those who have been following my life for a fair few years will know that my weight goes up and down more times than a yo yo. I know I’ve had a baby and I knew it would take time, but seriously, I cannot lose a pound.

I have a running machine in our garage which I use at least three times a week doing three miles a time and I really do watch what I eat, but I cannot shift one pound and trust me, I have more than a pound to shift. If anyone’s out there and has some kind of remedy or plan that can help me lose a few pounds before Christmas when I will inevitably put it all back on again, please do share.