Needs must

A snowy, blowy Edinburgh day and I spent a very constructive morning - literally constructive - as I decided to put my Ikea Expedit shelving unit together.

As I'm sure many of you who've had the pleasure of Ikea furniture know, it's not always quite so simple as it looks. But I'm very pleased to say that I managed it all by myself, even the lifting it into place. The instructions say you should have a man or two to put it in place (at least that's what the pictures looked like - not a woman in sight), but needs must.

This reminded me of many years ago, when my sons were quite small and my ex-husband had just become my ex, and my current husband was at that point unmet. I had bought some bunks for them and decided to put them together myself. I remember being really proud of heaving one on top of the other without having to call for either help or an ambulance. Though when it came to selling them and having to take them apart I truly wondered how I'd managed.

Anyway, now I have a rather good looking unit where it should be, with only one minor scratch and a dent (that's the unit, not me) when I was slightly over-zealous with trying to get the wrapping off and then slightly losing it with a hammer, but you'd not know unless I showed you.

Oh yes, and my snow tyres? They're staying firmly put until I can be sure this winter is well and truly over.