Bringing home the bargains!

We had a great, relaxed start to the day with toast and coffee for breakfast while watching Saturday Morning Kitchen. The sun was shining outside, and it felt noticeably warmer than of late. Has spring finally arrived?

We had a table booked at Casa Nostra today, but Sophie moved the booking to 2pm from 12.30pm, as we had enjoyed a late breakfast and wanted to be properly hungry for our lunch! We left home at midday and made our way to Market Harborough, parking easily in the car park, where a group of people were gathered, dressed in their wedding finery. We'd seen an old red double-decker bus waiting to take people and everyone was beautifully dressed, including the bride who was all in white!

Sophie had a list of jobs today and, first of all, she wanted to get an old watch of mine mended so she could wear it again. I'd bought it years ago at an antique fair and it had been languishing in a pot so I looked forward to seeing it on her wrist. Denham's, the jewellers, weren't interested, so we took it to Timpson's and a very helpful man asked us to leave it with him for a few minutes while he tried to replace the little pin attaching the strap to the watch face itself.

We did some shopping and when we returned he was still working on it, but within a couple of minutes, it was fixed. he only charged Sophie £5! We then had an agreeable hour of shopping in the numerous charity shops in Market Harborough and Sophie treated herself to some lovely clothes at bargain prices. She always does so well! Her bag was bulging!

There was a small market taking place and a man was belting out Rod Stewart songs. When we rounded a corner and saw him, he looked like the singer as well! He was brilliant!

At 2pm, we arrived at Casa Nostra and took our seats. We chose chicken tenders and cheesy garlic bread to start, followed by a shared chicken pizza. We drank a glass each of Chardonnay and a large bottle of sparkling water. The restaurant had emptied out, but towards 3pm another wave of people came in to eat. 

Note the bulging bag beside Sophie!

The food was excellent as always and we passed on dessert as I promised Sophie a McFlurry later on! We paid the bill and visited two more shops before we went home. Sophie bought more clothes and I found two beautiful marble-effect candlesticks that will look great in the kitchen.

I'd promised I'd take my Mum some toiletries on the way home, so we took a different route from Market Harborough to Kettering. We popped in, saw Mum and Dad and had a chat, and then visited 

Mcdonald's where we ordered two McFlurrys. As it was still such a lovely day, we sat outside in the sun to enjoy them!

Back home, we pootled about and Sophie tried on her new clothes. She had found some real treasures today! We put them on a quick wash and hung them up in the sunny conservatory to dry. Keith returned from yet another Sileby match and we all sat in the living room watching football. I'm sure he's going to get withdrawal symptoms now the season has almost ended!

It was great to have a relaxing evening and not to have to think about cooking dinner. Keith looked after himself and we nibbled on some satay chicken and cheese later on. Keith had recorded a programme about the Eurovision Song Contest which kept us amused all evening!

Dining out

Today has not been enjoyable at work. I had to answer the phone as we had a member of staff on annual leave, and my first phone call was long and complicated! Not really what I needed! In between calls, I tried to answer the emails, so I was heartily glad when it was 4pm and I could go home. Unfortunately, I'm back in on Bank Holiday Monday answering calls, and we're one short on Tuesday as well...

Sophie and I went out this evening with Lynda and Andrea to The Royal Oak in Cogenhoe for a meal. We called for Lynda to give her a lift and admired her new kitchen. After seeing the house, we splashed our way to the pub (it had been pouring all day) where we met Andrea in the bar. The pub was busy with drinkers and we were shown through to the quiet dining room with our drinks.

We had heard that the pub had been taken over, and I was a little apprehensive that we were the only ones eating (another couple did come in). We had a good chat and a look at the menu, ordering breaded mushrooms (Sophie and I) and king prawns (Lynda and Andrea). When the hesitant waitress came to take our order, she said that the prawns might be off, and when she returned after enquiring, they were. Lynda and Andrea then ordered the halloumi starter, but this was not available either! We all ended up with breaded mushrooms with a garlic dip which was the strongest I've ever tasted!

I'd chosen the rump steak as a main course, but this wasn't available so I went for the 8oz sirloin served with chunky chips, mushrooms and peas. Both Lynda and Andrea opted for the lamb shank served with mashed potatoes and vegetables, while Sophie enjoyed vegetarian meatballs and pasta.

Our waitress was young and hesitant and obviously hadn't been told what the evening specials were. She didn't try and sell us bottled water, sides or sauces and just plonked our second bottle of wine on the table without any ceremony. I'm glad it was a screw top and not a cork!

We managed to find room for puds - chocolate layer cake for Sophie and me, cheesecake for Lynda and sticky toffee pudding for Andrea. The food had been acceptable, the portions reasonable, but the poor waitress needed some training! The bill came to £193. so not cheap! It had been a great evening and lovely to catch up with friends.

We took Lynda home and splashed through the sodden roads again. I was looking forward to a lie-in tomorrow morning!

I lose my blob...

I had a busy shift at work today - 70 emails were waiting for me to sort out, so the time flew by. At 2pm. I set out to collect Mum from the care home to take her to her nail appointment. I reached the A43 and saw a long line of stationary traffic in the distance...

I waited a little while, but the vehicles up ahead were moving slowly, so I made the decision to turn around and take the country road through the villages, eventually joining the A43 again at Mawlsey. I was late picking Mum up and hoped she'd be waiting for me in reception.

She wasn't. I had to go to the room where she was just getting up from the sofa. I lost my temper because I'd asked her to meet me in reception when she'd called yesterday, and it helps so much if she's ready to go. I hustled her back downstairs and out to the car,  but I knew we were going to be late, so I messaged Natalia to let her know.

Back on the A43, I drove like a maniac and we were only, in the end, two minutes late. On the way, though, I'd said I was getting a little fed up with being treated like a skivvy and said that Dad only sees me as someone to get him things. It seems like whenever I walk into their room, he asks for something, and there are never any questions about how we all are, and how the children are. I'm not proud of my outburst, but I was stressed because of the traffic and because on a Thursday afternoon, I'd really rather be doing something else than driving on the hectic A43 between Northampton and Kettering...three times!

So, it wasn't the most pleasant of journeys, but at least I could relax while Mum was having her nails seen to. I dropped her back off at about 4.30pm and gave her the bag of toiletries that I'd bought for them both yesterday. We'd made up on the way home, but things were still a little tense!

Back home, I pootled about and Sophie made us a delicious paella for dinner, enjoyed with a bottle of the Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon. A good end to a somewhat stressful day!

Getting things done!

I had an optician's appointment at 11am today, so after a little lie-in and a shower, we set off for the Weston Favell Centre, the first time we'd been in ages.

I managed a quick coffee before my appointment, and Keith went off to find a secondhand book to read while he waited. My appointment was done in half an hour and I was wearing varifocal lenses, allowing me to see long distances and read simultaneously! They were great!

Keith and I popped to Tesco to buy toiletries for Mum and Dad, Factor 50 sunscreen for Sophie (it's going to be hot in Marrakesh) and something for our lunch. We met Jeanette in Tesco, who used to work for us when we had the soft play business, so we chatted for a while. I couldn't believe we hadn't seen her since covid!

Back home, we had lunch and then I spent the afternoon busying myself with jobs that needed doing. I wrote a list and managed to tick them all off!

Dinner this evening was beef in a black bean sauce with rice, expertly cooked by Sophie, which was delicious with more than enough left for lunch tomorrow!

A few miles on the clock!

Work was a tad stressful this morning as Emma came back to work with us, and Sheila had difficulty logging her onto the new phone system, so I had to take calls until lunchtime. Luckily, I wasn't facing as many emails as yesterday, and by the end of the afternoon, I had cleared them all.

The temperature in the car was registering just over 23c when I drove home, but it cooled down a little throughout the journey. I looked down at my mileometer and realised I would reach 185,000 miles on the way! Wow! That's a lot of mileage! My Audi still drives well, but the electrics are playing up a bit at the moment and the radio kept turning itself off!

As the weather had been so much better today, Keith had mowed the lawn so that looked a lot neater. I pootled about and when Sophie came home we watched half of another episode of Masterchef before dinner. We also booked our Airbnb for December and we're staying in a lovely house right next to the Calvari steps in Pollenca. We started looking at restaurants but we'll have to find out what will be open nearer the time! I'm hoping that there will be a good selection in both the old town and the port to choose from. 

Keith wrapped himself up and went to see Sileby play, and Sophie and I binge-watched Masterchef, so that's it for this week. No more newbies and next week is Knock-out week, but I'll have to wait until Sophie returns from Marrakesh to see the next three episodes. Talking of which, she noted that the temperature there is set to 40c. Now, that is hot!

No newbies...

I didn't feel good this morning, and Sophie didn't go to the gym as she felt a little hungover as well. Aren't we silly! However, I took a couple of paracetamol, had two coffees and felt a little better! My shift was busy and I had over 70 emails to deal with! As soon as I  cleared a load, more arrived!

I was enormously pleased when I made it to 4pm and could head home! I pottered about and spent the evening trying to rehydrate myself by having a big mug of tea and tonic water with lemon instead of the demon drink!

Sophie and I settled down to watch Masterchef before dinner. I had breadcrumbed the pork fillets so all I needed to do was pop them in the oven, cook the veggies and fry some mushrooms. 

Instead of six newbies this evening, the contestants were previous entrants, which we both found a little strange. If they weren't good enough before, why were they being given a second chance? We felt a little cheated as we love seeing newbies!

Getting squiffy...

The weather today has been horrible with torrential rain and heavy, grey skies. Sophie and I went to Tesco at Kettering to do some shopping and the roads on the way over were flooded. When is this rain ever going to stop?

Before going home, we called to see Mum and Dad and tried to get Netflix up and running again. However, there was a long wait on the phone so we gave up and just had a chat. The next time I visit I'll have to try again. I'm so annoyed with myself for not remembering the email address I used and the password!

Back home, we had lunch and tackled some jobs. There's always so much to do! I hoovered and mopped the kitchen and conservatory floors, Sophie prepared our breakfasts and lunches for tomorrow, and Keith chopped up a load of vegetables for tonight's dinner and bashed some pork fillets ready to be breadcrumbed. I also made banana and chocolate muffins as we had four brown bananas languishing in the fruit bowl. 

Vikesh came over to see Sophie and, as the rain had stopped, they went out for a walk. I treated myself to a muffin and a small glass of Calvados, which started a bit of a drinking spree...

When they got back Sophie wanted a glass of Calvados with her muffin, and as the old bottle was finished, we opened another... I had to try it to compare, so I poured myself another glass...

I sat with Vikesh and Sophie in the kitchen and read the papers while they chatted. We had a laugh at some old photographs of Sophie and she made us a Bourbon cocktail, followed by another, they were so good! We declared we didn't want the dinner we'd planned so we munched on sesame breadsticks with hummus instead!

Vikesh went home and Sophie and I sat in the living room where we watched the final episode of the documentaries about Indian railways, and then I made her watch Little Buddha, one of my favourite films. She wasn't keen at all, so we switched off the film and watched some more Come Dine With Me episodes. We decided to have another drink each which, on reflection, wasn't a wise idea... 

By bedtime, we were both feeling more than a little squiffy and collapsing in laughter over silly things. This is all well and good but not on a Sunday night when we have to be up early for work the next day!