Despite now having access to a shiny, appropriate usage dictionary, I still have a couple of phrasing questions:
1) exalt : they'd had a ceremony in which they'd:
a) exalted their relationship
b) exalted in their relationship ?
I'm pretty sure it's (a), but all of the examples given are of things considerably more tangible than a relationship: exalting a throne, a victorious admiral, dramatic poetry and a nation. So I want to check.
2) I want some alternative phrasings for opening and closing eyes. He moaned faintly, and closed his eyes to collect his thoughts. ... Opening his eyes again to look at his husband, he began to list the points. The first sentence isn't too bad, though not perfect. The second one is downright clumsy, but I'm struggling to improve it.
3) Kitchens! Argh! In British English, we talk about "buying a new kitchen" to mean buying a new set of kitchen units and appliances. I'm not sure there's another way of saying this? But I want to make it clear that I mean buying a new set of kitchen units and appliances without having to use that whole long phrase. How about "kitchen suite"? If that's completely weird, is there any way I can make it more specific?
4) What does "ashen" mean? Is it "very pale" or "covered in ash", or could it be both? If both meanings exist, I've made a sort of pun.
That's it for now. I actually managed to fix all my other problems myself. Hooray! Going to bed now. Yay, bed.
