Lynn O’Rourke: ‘I have achieved a personal best on the shirking front’

I think I can be forgiven these past weeks for doing so very little on the home front. I’ve barely been able to make sure the kids are fed and watered, and as for decent bedtimes you can forget it. This drastic change in routine has nothing to do with the school holidays, it’s all down to the Olympics and me being glued to the TV screen at every opportunity.

I don’t need a great deal of encouragement to shirk DIY tasks or domestic duties at the best of times, but appear to have achieved a personal best on the shirking front lately. Never has so much sports coverage been recorded, consumed and replayed in our household as it has these past days. From the opening ceremony onwards I have been hooked. And I don’t only watch the action once, I catch all the highlights again on the round-up shows. Which doesn’t leave a great deal of time for anything else.

Aside from all the time I need to devote to my screen habit, I don’t have the energy to do anything else. I feel physically drained after all the emotion of willing our sporting heroes on. Generally all I can manage is a wee lie down on the settee before scoffing a quick energy bar to pick me up before the next event kicks off.

Still, the end is in sight with the closing ceremony on the horizon. If I can just persuade someone to move the takeaway boxes out of my way and plump up my sofa cushions, I can finally sit back and relax.

This week we hear why one family decided to completely rethink a perfectly acceptable home in the capital on page 4. Having invested in land around Inverness, Freda Newton could not resist building a house that would make the most of the surrounding views in the spectacular setting and you can see the striking results on page 8. Textile designer Lynsey Jean Henderson takes a personal stand against beige in her Edinburgh flat on page 12. k