This week we are all about preparing for the builders who start on our living room / dining room knock-down on Monday at 8AM sharp. We’ve done most of the prep, but there is still a lot to be done before they turn up. We stripped down almost all of the wallpaper in the living room last weekend, we have had our radiators delivered, we confirmed dimensions of the wall opening and the only big thing still outstanding is choosing the living room paint.

Yup, I am still undecided and the more I look at so called ‘inspiration’ the more confused I become. Duncan was right, he knows me by now, ideally I would like to take another month deciding, although in reality I know that that doesn’t mean that I would be any closer to a resolution in a month from now.

I am almost certain I am going to go for some sort of blue, green or blue-green as they are both my and Duncan’s favourite colours but anyone who has ever been down this rabbit hole before knows how many various shades of each colour there are available from each paint brand and how very different they look in different light conditions… My current state of mind is seriously overwhelmed. Tomorrow, I plan to schlep it to a paint store across town, which specialises in paints suitable for Victorian properties to get some samples and my aim is not to spend the entire painting budget on little sample pots.

Recipe-wise, I have a quick midweek dinner idea for you today – vegan pumpkin alfredo – that, if you have leftover pumpkin or use pumpkin puree, can be on your table in 20 minutes flat. I used oven-roasted pumpkin*, which I then blended smooth with other sauce ingredients simply because pumpkin puree isn’t a thing here, in the UK, but it will certainly work if you are after a shortcut. If using roasted pumpkin, you don’t have to bother with a blender, simply use a fork to mash your pumpkin and then a spatula and add a little pasta cooking water to incorporate the remaining ingredients into the sauce. Enjoy!