HAVING A LOVELY WEEK

This week Mr M and I are supposed to be having a romantic sojourn a deux in Venice - but, for the second year running, for one reason or another, we haven't got round to it. NEXT year we are DEFINITELY going to Venice, in the spring, to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.

So this week, we are holidaying chez nous. The Minors are still at school (Mr M has to take his annual leave entitlement by the end of the week) so we are having some lovely grown up days out, doing what WE like without our grumpy moaning minnies turning us in to a family more dysfunctional than The Simpsons.

So far we have spent happy days at Bridgemere Garden Centre and at Trentham Gardens with a fabulous three course lunch at their Italian restaurant, Terrazzo Del Giardino - not quite Venice but mmmmm deliziosa.

Later today we're off to John Lewis in Cheadle, our favourite haunt for interior decor. I'm looking for a statement piece of something in red to go on our rather large coffee table in the living room. It has to be a particular shade of dark red, not crimson, not carmine, not maroon, not any colour I can find a name for but red with a hint of - well - black, I suppose.

I thought I'd cracked it a few weeks ago on a trip to the shopping metropolis that is Telford with The BGF, strolling past Debenhams window I saw a thing of great beauty which was:

• big (necessary)
• red (essential)
• modern (desirable)
• reasonably priced (surprising)

It was a John Rocha enamelled bowl - actually - they say a picture is worth a thousand words ...

"I've got to buy that - it's perfect". Thankfully, The BGF and I are like minded when it comes to retail therapy, the more - the happier, so we did a sharp about face and headed down to the home department. Of course we got side tracked by their gorgeous cupcake range ...

Good enough to eat eh? It's not airtight so useless for cookies, I'm thinking storage for ribbon, flock, blooms... sidetracked by cupcakes - again (oh so easily done!)

Anyway, on closer inspection, although absolutely gorgeous and perfect in every other way it was too - well - orangey, more scarlet, or vermilion, or tomato and not the very particular shade I can't find a name for but I'm definitely after. So I'm hoping that John Lewis has got a reddish/blackish/biggish/modernish thing that we'll both agree on.

I'll keep you posted (groan - no pun intended).