[SC blasts in powered by strong winds and driving rain, riding a huge rustic besom 
and crash-lands in to thread trailing mud and straw behind her] 
] Hope haven't brought too- many agricultural smells with me as well-- 
Greetings you lovely lot! Hope everyone ok! Sorry to come to March thread so late!
Thank you so much for running it Toostressy when I couldn't, especially having run Feb's thread too 
. Your links are so incredibly detailed; you are doing a fantabulously conscientious job!!
(For general info - we hope to be getting land line and wi-fi within a couple of months's time!)
And [double take] is that Castle I see? Yay! Lovely to have you back!! Many, many congratulations on the birth of dd2!! It only seems a moment since dd1's birth was immiment! How's the horse btw?
And hello to Whoknows (and other oldies) and all "currents", and newcomers!!
Whoknows huge sympathies re:hwk nagging - it is totally soul destroying!
And hope everyone is surviving the stress of school allocations (I remember it well!)
Haven't caught up with thread (just diving in and out) but just back from our first full week in the the country (half-term) and wanted to say "hello". Feeling surprisingly energetic today bearing in mind this constant travelling back and forth lark (not to mention (literally) shed-loads of work required at both ends - have "to do" lists as long as my arms !!) is quite demanding - but definitely worth it! Didn't want to come home! And we are getting better at the food planning/tidying up before leaving and minimal packing etc!
Unfortunately weather was atrocious (didn't stop us from appreciating the lovely scenery though) but quite how all of our shoes and trousers and coats ended up covered in mud (despite keeping two pairs back for house use only) I don't quite know!
Only set-back - it was the first time dd and I had stayed there overnight without dh or another male adult (bil or db or plumber!) and I have to say, despite my best efforts to keep everything calm and relaxed, the atmosphere is definitely a bit, er, well, creepy "atmospheric" and "heavy" so have arranged for a priest to come and bless all the rooms! Obviously didn't say anything to dd for fear of upsetting her, but she was independently scared (ifysim) and we did not sleep well and tbh (although it sounds ridiculous) I felt totally petrified at one point, not helped by the inpenetrable darkness, freezing, damp walls and floors, dripping rooves, creaking wood, strong winds, driving rain, banging barn doors and having to pick one's way down a dark pitch black corridor with a torch, stepping over pipes and cabling to reach the lav at night, all the while feeling one is being watched!!! Mwah, mwah, mwah ... 
Anyway, happily, none of that could dampen general delight at being amongst budding trees, tiny lambs, swathes of snowdrops etc etc And we met some of the neighbours who have turned out to be incredibly friendly - particularly one slightly batty lady sheep farmer in her eighties who very kindly gave us two bottles of her home pressed apple juice. (Going to bake her some ginger cake in return.)
Anyway, having attended office "event" this morning (for which dh and I were in the office until after midnight yesterday printing and compiling hand books), I had better get tackling our humungously tall washing pile, most of which seems to comprise of dog blankets covered in mud!!
Apologies for such a "me" "me" post, but hope to be back intermittently before leaving again on Fri morning and will catch up with everyone then!
In meantime, hope you are feeling better as day goes on Purple
Tally-ho one and all!