I did it!

I spent the whole day quite sure that I would be heading this post 'thwarted'.

All I have wanted since about June was to come home from work on a Friday afternoon, and enjoy a nice glass of wine before the sun went down.

There's something special about that hour, the moment of transition between day and night. And there's something special about those first two glasses of wine, and the gentle buzz and happy feeling that result. It's a tiny slice of heaven when the two combine.

Easy enough you say, just waltz in, ignore children, head to fridge, grab glass, uncap wine and drink away, BUT no....

It has to be PERFECT you see. There can't be laundry hanging around, waiting to be hung, folded or put away. Dinner must be prepared, the room tidied. Then I can relax and enjoy the moment. So, too many times I've rushed home from work, then spent the next hour, or even two, trying to catch up and clear things away before I can truly feel I am in that 'now I can sit down and relax' space. So I've managed to fail every week, sometimes because it was too hot outside, with too many mosquitoes, sometimes because it was raining, sometimes because we got home too late, sometimes because I was finishing up laundry or taking too long cooking something.

And when the sun clouded over as I drove towards home today, I was so sure I would be adding today to the long list of thwarted Friday afternoon sunshine wines, but NO! I did it!

A tiny sliver of sun shone into the yard for just long enough to light up one glass of champagne.

(Grudgingly, I have to be thankful to the gardeners who trimmed that big tree in the corner. I usually despise them for promising me they'd just 'cut a little' then butchering the whole tree).