Down to Kent.

It was time to go and see Nan again today and to be honest it was good to get a break from work. After taking her out to lunch we went on the hunt for recliner chairs so she can enjoy the lovely gardens she has. We trekked around Homebase and B&Q and finally went to a local garden centre that was charging astronomical prices, although I did see a lovely outside bar - a snip at £1250!

By now Nan was pretty tired, so we returned to the flat for a much-needed cup of tea. The weather in Kent was sultry and stormy but we heard it'd been raining back in Northampton. The gardens certainly need it!

We managed to avoid the rain completely but the journey home was hard work, with some drivers behaving dangerously by "undertaking" and dodging in and out of the heavy traffic, making other drivers brake sharply. Then to cap it all, just ten miles from home, a Polish driver nearly wiped us out by pulling over into the lane I was in, with no indication or reason why! Grrrrr!

Tyred out!

I realised in the shower this morning that I didn't write the blog yesterday! However, as Tuesday was very quiet and uneventful, there is not much missed!

Today, Keith and I went in search of four new tyres for my car. He came to work with me and after a fairly stressful couple of hours doing the wages, we set off for a local tyre fitter. However, when we pulled into the garage, it was obvious we were in for a very long wait so we made a hasty exit! The next place we tried had to order them in so we ended up at Kwik-fit and I'm glad the first two places were bad as we had a very good experience with them. They phoned another branch and brought over the two tyres they didn't have in stock while Keith and I repaired to the local pub for lunch, which was extremely pleasant indeed and made all the stress disappear! We went to the Malt Shovel in Northampton which is situated right outside the Carlsberg brewery. The Malt Shovel specialise in real ales and Keith tried a local beer, Frog Island Natterjack which was delicious. I munched on a gorgeous roast beef and onion baguette while we waited for the car to be fixed so the day turned out to be better than expected after all!

http://www.maltshoveltavern.com/

Upsetting the children...

We are bad parents. I went to pick Keith up from the pub this evening and was invited in for a drink, which has happened before (I've blogged about it!). Dinner was barely cooked when I left but when we returned at just past 8pm, we were greeted with angry words from Sophie who had imagined one or both of us dead in a ditch. She had been phoning us (no reception at the pub) and my mum was on her way...I thought it was very endearing but I did apologise and I felt very guilty for putting them through the worry. Now they know what it feels like!

Today has been hard work. We cleaned three of the tube slides and I had to go up a stepladder very high which I dislike. I was terrified of leaning over too far and falling off! The great thing was how clean and shiny they looked afterwards, but it won't last! In a couple of weeks we have a company coming in to clean our balls and do a high-level clean of the equipment...I'm just glad it's not going to be me up there!

Weekend photos.

Hadrian's Wall

I treated Keith to some beer from a local brewery - I hope he shares some with me!

 Big church in Hexham

 St Mary's Lighthouse, Whitley Bay

 Spanish City, Whitley Bay. The dome has been refurbished but the rest of the building is being demolished.

From New York to Toronto...in one weekend (Part 2!)

Thankfully we all had a better night's sleep and we were up and out by 8.30am. As we were eating our main meal at lunchtime, we passed on breakfast at the Premier Inn (which was fab) and took the children to MacDonald's. Keith and I had a coffee and then we had a leisurely drive around his old haunts, taking in Durham on the way. We also passed the village of Toronto which made us all smile! The children can't say we don't take them to places, now can they?

The weather brightened up a bit and by 11am we were at his brother's house. He had lots of things he wanted to give to Michael who enjoyed seeing his old coins and family memorabilia. Our lunchtime meal was at the Joiner's Arms in Hunwick, a small traditional pub where I managed to get three good books for a couple of pounds and which pleased me no end! They have a shelf with secondhand books and ask for a small donation which I was more than happy to give.

Our meal was OK, but I still think Keith cooks the best Sunday lunch. They did serve homemade mushy peas which were delicious and I've asked Keith to make me some as well, which as part of his heritage, he's more than happy to do!

Before we escaped, we visited Keith's sister who lives on her own. She was pleased to see us and Michael explored her beautiful large garden, managing to throw a discus he found onto her roof...By 4pm, both children had had enough of being polite so we bundled them into the car, turned our noses south and off we went.

We had a good journey through some pretty heavy April showers and were home by 7.30pm, which was a bonus. I think it'll be a while before we take the kids away again, unless it's somewhere like Alton Towers which they would enjoy.  The hotel was lovely, the weather was great, the company??? Hmmm!

From New York to Toronto...in one weekend!

Well, we are back home and sadly I can't say that it was one of our most successful weekends! I think we came to the painful realisation that the children are no longer interested in the things we think they'll like and that they'd much rather be with their friends, watching TV or on the computer. It's natural (I'd be a bit worried if they'd been rapturous about a pile of old stones) but it will make us think twice about where we go in future and whether all four of us can realistically share a hotel room...

Friday 23 April

The journey up to Bishop Auckland was not the best journey we've ever had, but it was Friday night and I suppose the person who turned their car over on the M1 didn't do it on purpose to hold us up! However, we were checking into the Premier Inn at 7.30 and in the bar a short time later, so I'm not going to complain. We had a pleasant meal and the pub emptied out completely by 10pm. As we were tired, we had an early night...which turned out to be a good thing!

Saturday 24 April

Although it was cloudy this morning, the sun soon came out and it was a beautiful day. None of us had slept well but we had a hearty breakfast and then headed over to Northumberland to see Hadrian's Wall. The scenery on the way was amazing and I could only guess at what sort of winter they had up on the high moors. We found a section of the wall in a field and parked the car in a very narrow lane. The children had great fun climbing over the wall but weren't that impressed. I think they imagined it would be like the Berlin Wall...very high and covered in graffitti!

We carried on in the car and saw the beautiful Sycamore Gap where Robin Hood Prince of Thieves was filmed. By now the children were hot and bored so we headed for Hexham where they were celebrating St George's Day in a big way with a Farmers' Market, stalls, face painting and Morris Dancing. We wandered around the pretty town for an hour (photos to follow) and treated the offspring to an ice-cream. The place was very busy with a great atmosphere and I wasn't disappointed - I've always had a hankering to go to Hexham!

As it was such a beautiful day we headed over to the coast as I thought the children would enjoy Spanish City in Whitley Bay. We were amazed to see signs for New York on the outskirts of the town and I told Sophie that at least she could say, very truthfully, that she'd now been to New York!

All the way, Keith and I sang the lines from Dire Straits' Tunnel of Love...


"And girl it looks so pretty to me, just like it always did
Like the Spanish City to me, when we were kids"

The last time we were there was ages ago so we were a bit shocked to see that parts of it had been pulled down for refurbishment. So...no amusement rides there then!

Whitley Bay is a very sad place - lots of the seafront buildings were run down or boarded up but people were enjoying themselves walking and cycling along the promenade and the children went down to the beach to collect some pebbles for the seaside bit in our gravel garden. There was a stiff breeze from the sea and the tide was coming in with lots of crashing waves.

Although I had the idea of walking to Cullercoats (more lines from the song) we drove along the front in the end and made it to Tynemouth which looked a lot more prosperous. The beach looked lovely (with surfers, sws!) and a ruined priory on the headland. The children didn't seem keen on exploring so drove to the outskirts of Newcastle, intending to take the Tyne Tunnel, but we completely lost our way and ended up driving through the city and over the Tyne Bridge which was a bonus. The city is wonderful and I only wish now we'd stopped and explored a bit more.

Our route took us straight past the Angel of the North and I just had to stop and take photos. The children weren't interested so Keith and I wandered around it and read the information on the board that told us it was the largest sculpture in Britain, if not Europe and was situated on top of old mine workings. I actually find it rather eerie and it was certainly imposing as I stood underneath it.

Before returning to the hotel, we stopped off at the Bay Horse in Middridge where Keith used to live. We'd hoped to eat there in the evening but they were fully booked. Undeterred, we drove over to the Park Head hotel where Keith and I stayed 15 years ago (I was pregnant with Sophie) but that looked run down and Keith refused to even have a pint there! The highlight for Michael (of the whole weekend, no doubt) was the sheep in the next field who he fed with handfuls of grass...

We made another stop at The Thinford Inn, a pub that Keith and I used to go to whenever we were in the area, but Michael developed an instant dislike to the place and refused to go back (I had to agree with him) so we were running out of ideas.

Back at the hotel, we had a wee snooze, then showers and baths and headed out to the Bay Horse for a drink. Nothing had changed. We were offered a table straightaway but we declined as it was too early to eat. Michael stated that unless we ate at the hotel he would refuse to eat, which was like a red rag to a bull. Needless to say, Keith became very angry and we left shortly afterwards. One last try was the pretty village of Heighington but both pubs (who did real ale) were full.

So it was a bit of a subdued evening and by 9pm we were back in our room.Not an ideal Saturday night out!

Off to the north!

This weekend we're going oop north to see Keith's family. His brother has invited us out for lunch on Sunday which is lovely and it'll be great to see him and Keith's sister as we don't get a chance to see them very often.

The weather forecast looks great and we're planning on driving to Northumberland to see Hadrian's Wall. It'll be a long drive this afternoon after work but hopefully by 8pm we'll be at the hotel and in the bar with a drink! I'm still not sure whether I'm going to take the laptop but if I do, I'll write an entry tomorrow!

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the Spring weather!

Driving!

Today I have been mostly driving around the countryside, either picking people up or dropping them off. Maybe I should get a new job as a taxi driver!

First up was dad and we took him over to Rushden to his flying field where he meets his other cronies and flies his model aeroplanes. He still can't drive at the moment which is annoying for him because of his shoulder. After dropping him off we went to the bank and someone actually helped us by showing us how to use the machine to deposit money and cheques...for once we were pleased with our visit! Mum and I had lunch at the shopping centre and then we went back to work for all of 20 minutes before we drove out to pick Keith up from home and take him to the hospital for his treadmill test. We then went from there to Rushden again to pick up Dad and while I was filling up with diesel (grrr!) Keith phoned to say he was ready to be picked up!

Keith said his treadmill test hadn't gone brilliantly - they had to stop it after 6 minutes as the ECG was showing a problem so it looks like he's going to be having further treatment, something we didn't think would be happening.

I then drove back to work, dropped mum and dad off and then went to pick Mikey up from school, before going back to work to wait for Sophie and Susie who were walking and enjoying the gorgeous afternoon sunshine...phew!


Today is Earth Day and I don't think I've been helping the environment with all the miles I've driven today!

Our new little visitor who comes to see us for food and petting.

Hair cuts all round!

Keith came into work with me today and while I was in the bank and Tesco buying a chicken for dinner tonight, he went and had his hair cut in the new barber shop that's opened in the shopping centre. When I went to find him he was having a good chat with the woman cutting his hair who was in the middle of telling him her life story. So, it's not just me then!

In the afternoon we had a look at what used to be the gym next door. We rented out surplus space 10 years ago to a gymnastics club but they have recently moved out after finding other premises in the town, so Keith and I wandered around and tried to think of what we could do with the space. It's currently being advertised to rent out, but it would make a great place to do something different in...it's just what! It has a lovely kitchen and lots of space and I would love to turn it into something that would be an extra to the play area. Watch this space! (And we still haven't signed our lease...so we're still squatters!)

After work it was my turn and Sophie and I went over to Mawsley, a new village nearby, to a hairdressing salon that's just opened. Mawsley is extremely handy as it has a convenience shop that we make full use of, a rarity out here where we have to trek miles for a loaf of bread and a newspaper. We had a very pleasant experience as we were the only customers and I had a young man cut my hair! That hasn't happened for years! 

Back at home, we sat in the conservatory and drank some wine...a nice end to a busy day!

Tummy troubles

This morning my normal routine was interrupted by Sophie calling me at work to tell me she felt sick and could I pick her up from school. I went haring off to pick her up and became embroiled in the terrible traffic that surrounds her school at 8.30am. After I eventually found her (a lack of communication) I took her back to work and then home where she wrapped herself in my dressing gown and lay on the sofa covered by her quilt. Telling Keith to keep an eye on her, I went back to work hoping that it wasn't serious.

Which it wasn't! The next time I phoned her at home she was eating a jam sandwich and when I got home she was absolutely fine, just a little pale. After declaring she didn't want any dinner, she managed to eat a good plateful so it's back to school for her tomorrow!

Keith and I put the new plants in the garden so it looks a little better.

I put the lupins in next to the wall so hopefully we should have a show of colour soon.

After dinner, we watched Blitz Street that I recorded from last night. I suggested to Sophie that she watch it to tie in with what she's doing at school, but she was more interested in reading her new book from Amazon that arrived today - minutes after I drove her home!

Monday again!

Monday always comes around too quickly! Keith had an appointment at the hospital this morning to see the heart surgeon so I was on bus stop duty and I had an extra one, Grace, who is really sweet. Her mum had had a bad night with her other daughter who was poorly so we collected Grace and took her to the bus stop. There were a few tales of people stuck abroad, including, as I found out later, two teachers at my son's school. It was a pretty widespread story and the volcano erupting couldn't have happened at a worse time, coinciding as it did with the end of the school Easter holidays.

Our Nursery Manager didn't make it either and is stuck out in Goa so I really don't expect her back this week. However, tonight it looks a bit more optimistic as flights are due to operate again out of southern UK airports by tomorrow evening.

It certainly has been an interesting start to the year, nature-wise! What with the prolonged and freezing winter and now the volcano, Nature certainly has shown who is boss!

Girlies and gardening.

Well, we survived the night with the girlies! I really didn't hear them very much, except for the shrieks and laughter when we all watched Britain's Got Talent together. It just made me wonder what it must be like to have four children...!

Today has been another beautiful day and I went to Podington Garden Centre with mum and Sophie in the afternoon to buy a few plants for the front garden. There were so many plants to choose from but I bought some lupins for under the window and a very attractive plant that flowers from now until the Autumn (forget the name!) so it should fill the empty spaces a bit more!

Silence of the skies

It was lovely sitting in the garden this afternoon and listening to the sound of silence from the skies. We normally get a lot of planes overhead - at times there can be two or three flying over, but all planes have been grounded until at least tomorrow so it's a real novelty to look up and just see blue sky with no vapour trails.

It has been truly beautiful today - sunny and 18 degrees according to the temperature displayed in the car. We sat on the new seat and it was hot! Because of the warmer weather a lot of the plants have really flourished with lots of new green leaves and the beginning of blossom on the apple tree.

Susie and Vicky arrived and I ferried them all over to the Odeon in Kettering where they saw Dear John. When I went to pick them up the verdict was not good...a weak ending and some very sad moments. They also told me they were told to be quiet in the cinema so it sounds like the squealing and laughing have begun already...wish me luck tonight!

Drinkies with Sue...

 ...Who I know is reading this!!

What a lovely end to the week - spending it with a good friend and a big jug of Pimms! Oh, and some delicious crisps and a dip...which were too hard to resist!

This week Friday has come around very quickly, probably because I had a short week. It's been another beautiful day and after work I went out into the garden to hang up a new wind chime I bought today. The skies were eerily silent because all flights have been grounded due to the volcanic ash which has covered the UK. Again, I really feel for the poor people who have had holidays planned and have to either cancel them or cut them short. The thing is, it's nobody's fault, which I think makes it somehow worse.

So, the weekend is upon us and tomorrow Sophie has two friends over for a sleepover to celebrate her birthday (even though it was ages ago!). She hasn't seen them since she broke up from school for the Easter holidays so I think there will be a lot of squealing and laughing echoing around the house tomorrow!

Mother Nature

I awoke this morning to the news about the volcanic ash cloud that is set to spread over the UK and has grounded hundreds of flights that were due to take off today. I really feel for people who were due to fly out on holiday today or even tomorrow and who were looking forward to getting away and having a break.

Mother Nature has a way of stopping all of us in our tracks and making us see that, as much as we like to think we're in charge of the planet, we have no control whatsoever when it comes to natural events such as hurricanes, volcanoes or just bad weather. I understand that the way we live has implications for the planet, but I also believe it will adapt and change to whatever we throw at it.

Today has been pretty uneventful but we did manage to get a lot done before the children arrived at work! Most of it was to do with finances so it was good that we had a period of peace and quiet!

Back to work...

It was really hard getting up this morning, especially as everyone else was still in bed when I left...

Within a couple of hours I was back into the swing of things though and Sophie was roped into help. She did a great job, as usual, while I caught up with things and solved a problem that had been niggling at me since last week.

The weather turned sunnier in the afternoon but the wind has still been cold and plans to wash the car after work were shelved in favour of a game of cards in the warm conservatory!

A terrific night!

Well, last night was terrific. We had a good run down to London, despite the roadworks on the M11 and an accident near Stansted that had been cleared before we'd got there. It was typical as we'd decided to go that route to avoid all the roadworks on the M1 and M25! We arrived at about 4pm, parked easily and were just bowled over by the O2 and all the places inside that were open for eats and drinks, plus the Vue cinema. The place is huge and already there was a great atmosphere with people wearing (in the main) John Cena tee-shirts and huge gold belts flung over their shoulders that Keith and I did giggle about a bit!

There were so many places to eat, we were spolit for choice! We walked to where our entrance door was and then ambled back looking at menus - it was a bit like being on holiday! We looked at Nandos, Frankie and Benny's, Las Iguanas, Pizza Express and Garfunkels, before deciding on Jimmy Monaco's who specialised in burgers. The food was very good - lovely juicy burgers served with lots of salad and french fries and a really delicious Rose wine. We were early but by the time we left, the place had filled up and there were queues for most of the restaurants.

 The back view of Keith and Mikey in the entrance

Next stop, of course, was the merchandise, and whoever says there's a recession on is lying! The queues were ten deep with most people buying tee-shirts at £25 each. Sophie wanted a John Cena teeshirt while Mikey went for a Shawn Michaels "Heartbreak Kid" top even though he had just retired from wrestling, but it was what he wanted...

We still had a while to go, so we took some things back to the car and then watched a group of children enjoy the Aqua-globes, something I think would go down well at work. They were big bubbles of air with the children inside which floated on the water and looked really good fun!

The whole area is being developed with lots of offices to lease and a lovely skyline of Canary Wharf to gaze at. I didn't take my camera as I didn't think I'd be allowed to take it into the arena (I wasn't) but I wish I'd taken some photos of the Dome. I took a couple on Sophie's phone, but haven't yet managed to download them to the laptop!

The O2 was now filling up so we had a couple of drinks in a bar before making our way to the entrance gate which was heaving with people. This was the only worrying moment as the people at the back could quite easily have pushed us forward and into the glass wall that marked the barrier to the arena itself. My bag was searched, our tickets scanned and then we were in! I had been worried about the tickets as we'd bought them from an online ticket service and I was terrified they would turn out to be fake, but they were fine and were very good seats! We had a fantastic view of the ring and the atmosphere was electric. The arena is huge and I wouldn't have wanted to be on the top tier as it was very high up indeed.

The show started at 7.30pm prompt and I won't go into all the details as I'm not really into wrestling! The main event was the live WWE Raw event, hosted by David Hasselhoff and of course, the children didn't remember him in Knight Rider or Baywatch, but he had the KITT car with him, plus the Baywatch babes! (But not Pamela Anderson!)

The childrens' favourites all appeared, including John Cena and Randy Orton and their screams and shouts just mingled with all the other screams and shouts from the immense crowd. It was a bit like Mad Max meets the Roman Gladiators as the crowd booed, chanted, screamed and shouted their heroes' names! The event was filmed live so we had pauses in the action for where the adverts would be and we filled in the time with Mexican waves and more action on the huge screen. It was tremendous and even though I've been to music concerts in the past, nothing comes close to the atmosphere I experienced. It was amazing.

It was all over at 10.30pm with a fantastic finale starring John Cena, much to Sophie's delight. He took a little boy out of the crowd which was lovely and brought home to me how much of a family entertainment this is as there were hundreds of children there all having a lovely time.

 Not my photo...sadly!!

We had one last drink (well, Keith did!) before returning to the car and it was a good move as most people had gone and we were out of the car park in minutes and through the Blackwall tunnel. Ironically, going home via the M25 and the M1 we had...yes! Roadworks and an accident between Junctions 14 and 15! Luckily the accident had gone long before  we reached it and we were home just before 1am.

Today has been quiet! Of course, first thing, we watched the wrestling which was on last night at 2am. It was really strange seeing it all again on the television and catching things we weren't able to see in the arena. It'll definitely be one to keep! As the weather has been so lovely today we had a walk into the village, a quick pint at the pub and a lazy afternoon. After all the excitement, we certainly needed it!

Off to the O2!

A quick blog today as we're just about to set off to London to see the wrestling - the childrens' Birthday treat.  We're going to have a leisurely drive down and then have something to eat before the show starts at 7.30pm. I have no idea what time we'll be back as I've heard that getting out of the car park can be a nightmare!

Just pottering.

Today has been spent pottering. I asked Keith to move one of the mirrors in the garden to the gravel garden which he did and it looks a lot better than it did stuck on the fence. We've also taken down the other one as it wasn't really working. I spent the morning tidying up the gravel garden and removing all the dead leaves which has made it look a lot better. We're just waiting for everything to burst into life now but sitting on the love seat, the top of the garden looks a lot more balanced than it did last year when the bush by the double doors dominated everything. We also moved the "leek" into the gravel garden but we're a bit worried about it as the new leaves look a bit mouldy. I do hope the frost hasn't got to it over the winter.

We decided to shelve the trip to Sudborough as neither of us really wanted to go and it meant we'd be spending out money on lunch just for the sake of it. I was more than happy to sit in the conservatory with a cup of tea and the Sunday papers and then carry on pottering all afternoon.It's been sunny today but the wind has  been on the chilly side and I think it was a mistake to venture out into the front garden and try and sweep up the dead leaves that were left over from the winter!

Whenever I ventured out today, both cats would accompany me. Monty is the strangest cat. He hates being cuddled or picked up but loves being near us and he would quite happily follow me around the garden miaowing and keeping me company.

It's been a lovely weekend and I'm so pleased that I've got everything done that I wanted to do. Tomorrow will be taken up with travellling to London and the O2 Arena for the wrestling which the children are getting very excited about. We've decided not to go into London after all, as it'll be a long day and there's always the worry of something happening on the tube and not being able to get back to the East End!! I don't think the children would be too happy if they missed seeing their heroes!!

Spring cleaning!

I feel very smug as I've achieved everything I wanted to get done today and the weather has been gorgeous. We had a leisurely breakfast in the sunny conservatory while picking our runners for the Grand National, then Keith put a bet on at Ladbroke's.

We tackled the garage first and what a mess it was. I actually cut my arm on the lawnmower as I went to put some washing out, so it was a case of having to do it as I'm sure if we hadn't someone would have tripped over something and maybe had a bad accident.

We made three trips to the tip and it was very busy! Obviously everyone else had the same idea! The good thing was that most of our stuff could be recycled so I didn't feel too guilty throwing it away, but I did have a pang of disappointment when I left Mikey's Dareway that I bought him for Christmas and which he has used maybe once or twice...

Keith put together a love-seat ensemble that has been gathering dust so we now have another seat to put somewhere in the garden. The only problem is that it shows up our very weathered garden table and chairs, but they looked a little better after I gave them a good wash and put the cushions on. While Keith was busy assembling, I sorted out the mess behind the garage - old chairs, two old barbecues and millions of plastic plant pots that I can recycle at a local garden centre. I had heard from neighbours that they'd seen a rat in their garden so I was very careful as I gingerly removed things! There had been some digging but that could have been the cats, and I was worried about disturbing a bird's nest as some robins had made their home there a few years back, but luckily all I found was snails and spiders! Phew!

Last thing, I took Keith's car through the car wash as I could stand it no longer and then it was home for a hot shower before mum and dad came around for a glass of wine. Dad was in pain and dreaded the thought of his arm in a sling for six weeks, but he's hoping that the pain he had will go away and he can use his arm more freely when he's recovered.

So, it's been a great day today and tomorrow we plan to tackle the gravel garden and tidy it up a bit. I'm just hoping that the weather will be kind again!

Phew! The end of the week!

I have that Friday evening feeling and I'm hoping that the weekend will be fine so we can get some long overdue jobs done in the garage and garden.

My dad went into hospital this morning for an operation to his shoulder and everything went well. He'll be home tonight but will have to wear a sling for six weeks so will be mostly out of action when it comes to anything physical at work.

Talking of work, the fine weather has meant we were quiet but it was good to catch up on some more jobs even though both children were in with me. Mikey lost his mobile phone in one of the ballponds and I was furious with him as I was having to use it as mine is still playing up and phoning random numbers and making  a nuisance of itself. Thinking that some older boys had found it and kept it (I'm so suspicious!) I immediately phoned Vodafone and barred anyone from using it and then five minutes later someone found it! Now, I'm not saying the two are connected but it now means I have to wait 72 hours to get it unbarred to keep the same number (or something like that!). I'm just glad it's found, as although not an expensive phone, it was pretty annoying!

Anyway...bring on four days off!

First cut of the year.

Thankfully, today was quieter at work and I managed to get a lot of work completed, most of it in the two hours before we opened! The weather was beautiful - sunny and warm and as soon as I could, I was off home and into the garden. I persuaded Keith to mow the lawn and we had a really good look at the plants, a couple of which, on closer inspection, haven't survived the winter.

This weekend, if the weather is still good, we're planning on clearing out our garage which is full of "stuff", dealing with some old garden furniture that is hanging about behind the garage, giving the gravel garden a good tidy and even washing the cars! Phew!! I think a trip to the Vane Arms at Sudborough on Sunday afternoon (where I'm taking on the mantle of Black Owl again) will definitely be on the cards!

 Another photo of last night's beautiful sunset.

Monty admiring the tubs

Noise!

I love getting into work early and having an hour or so in complete quiet! Today the noise got to me in a big way, so much so that I couldn't concentrate on anything. As well as the sounds of children enjoying themselves (which is what we want, but it's still loud) I had Mikey and his two mates continually popping into the office at every opportunity. It's a madhouse in the school holidays and the Easter break often coincides with the end of year payroll that I was still grappling with today. I dread making a mistake with someone's wages so it's a fraught time!

Back at home and in relative peace, we all had a game of cards in the conservatory and it was lovely to have the children join in. After dinner we had a stroll around the garden to inspect the plants and see if anything was budding, which a lot of it was, including the poor pruned apple tree that is looking very good. Maybe there's hope after all!

 Interesting skies again tonight - it looked like there was something big on fire as all the clouds were a smoky, peachy colour. Very pretty!

Not a bad day - just a bad start!

I had a feeling today was going to be "difficult" when mum phoned me at 7.30am this morning to say we'd been burgled at work. It's been a while, so I suppose we've been lucky and they didn't do a lot of damage - just broke into a couple of machines and damaged one of the doors to get in.

I was unnerved by a couple of things just before I went to work...someone had called my mobile at 4am and
there was a car parked outside the house which made it difficult for me to reverse out of the drive. He then followed me for a good way as I drove into work. So I was very jittery! As it turned out, the mobile call was from the security firm as the alarm must have gone off again after mum and dad left. Because of the damage, they had difficulty turning the alarm on, and then found out that their phone was off the hook at home! I never heard my mobile otherwise I'd have been going in as well!

The day did get better! Work was pleasantly busy and I managed to get a lot of the end of year payroll done. The weather has been lovely and when I got home from work I dragged Keith out for a walk which we badly needed. We admired all the daffodils on the banks of the stream and the wind blew the cobwebs out of our heads!

Whiel we were out, Keith decided to take us to the pub for a meal (two for one, remember!!) which was lovely. We had a delicious meal - I had cod which was perfectly cooked.

So, all in all, not a bad day after all!

Birthday Girl, Part 2

I can't believe Sophie is 14 years old today! The years have gone by so quickly! She had a good day and did everything she wanted to do, from breakfast at MacDonald's this morning to chicken fajitas for dinner tonight. We also went to Weedon this afternoon so she could have a look in the jewellery shop there and spend her birthday money. Whilst there we had a look at the wallpaper in a small interior design shop and I nearly fainted at the cost of a roll of flock wallpaper - £97! For one wall we'd need two rolls so we will certainly be looking at other options! I can remember the days when flock wallpaper was completely naff!

Of course, all day I kept thinking it was Sunday! That was until I took Keith to the pub at 6pm and now it feels much more like a Monday. It's back to work for a short week tomorrow but next week will be even shorter as I'm off Monday and Tuesday for the wrestling...

The morning after the night before...

Despite only having about five hours sleep (not good, for me!) I feel OK today. I got to bed at 2am and was wide awake by 7.30 this morning, probably because of the wine which has a tendency to keep me awake.

Last night was very successful and we all had an enjoyable evening. There were ten of us in total and we tasted nine wines. I put foil over the bottles so nobody would know what they were and asked everyone to rate them out of ten. Although I had a good idea of everyone's tastes it was interesting to see what scores were given and what people liked and didn't like. It was also interesting to see how tastes had changed. My dad used to be a fan of Gewurztraminer, but last night he hated it! I gave the couple who brought the winning wine a little box of chocolates and the runners up a creme egg each which added to the fun! The wine I put in, the Gewurztraminer, came last...oh well!

So, today has been very lazy which has been great. I managed to get control of the television and watched Bringing Up Baby with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It was absolutely mad, a classic "screwball" comedy and although I enjoyed it, the film was just slightly too over the top for me to call it a favourite.The rest of the day was spent eating some chocolate and having a nap. Our planned walk just didn't happen, mainly because Keith and I felt a little tired after a busy few days. If the fine weather continues we'll get out into the fresh air tomorrow.

Happy Easter everyone!

 Archie enjoying the spring sunshine.

Entertaining

I dropped Sophie off at work today as she's going to help out with mum and dad. I felt so guilty as I drove away but there's no way I could spend all day working and then come home to get the house ready for tonight.

It's been better weather than forecast today with lots of sunshine and, as yet, no showers. I made a quick trip to Tesco and it was manic! I'm so glad I only had a few things to get. I bought Sophie a cake for Monday and a book that I'm hoping she'll like. She knows that she's got the wrestling to go to next week in lieu of a big party and lots of presents.

Good news with the complaint to Beckworth Emporium, though! A very nice man called David apologised and sent me a £5 voucher which arrived today! I'll have fun spending it!

Stressed? Me?

Today has not been enjoyable. In the past I've always taken Good Friday off but this year I knew the weather was going to be grotty and our cleaner at work was on holiday so I had no choice but to go in. Going home early (the other option) was out of the question as we had no staff at all coming in to help and it was the start of the Easter school holidays!

Although we were busy, it was not too bad and luckily Sophie helped out by serving in the kitchen and even looked after the Birthday Party that was booked in! She's growing in confidence and I think that it will do her good to do the odd bit of work here and there to earn her own pocket money and give her an idea of what real life's like! Plus the experience of dealing with the public and handling money will be most beneficial when she gets older.

I took a few quiet minutes to plan my Wine Tasting evening tomorrow and I feel much happier now I've decided what we'll be doing and how I'm going to organise it. I just hope I can fit 11 people around our table!

The wet weather gave way to a sunnier late afternoon but I don't think it'll last. It would be nice to get out for a walk on Sunday and burn some of the Easter egg calories off!

April Fool's Day

I hated not posting a blog yesterday. As I said this morning, it wasn't until I was in bed that I suddenly remembered I hadn't written my blog, and of course, by then, my laptop was turned off and I just didn't have the energy to go back downstairs, turn it back on and write a blog that was probably not that interesting!

I can't believe that it's the start of yet another month. Time is certainly passing by very quickly but writing this is very good at letting me remember just what I did with my life while the time was whizzing by!

Today has been OK...we've been doing the cleaning at work over the last few days as our cleaner is off on hols. It's such a pointless task, but has to be done. Tomorrow is the last day and then I'm off until next Tuesday, although poor mum and dad will have to go in on Saturday as we're busy and we're short of staff as one of our weekend workers has just got married (in Jamaica) and is having her party on Saturday night. Needless to say a lot of our other staff will be going to the do and just have to have the day off to get ready...

It goes without saying that we're now officially squatting in our premises as we have no formal lease...everyone is now off until well after Easter but are we worried? Nah!

An old work colleague visited us this morning with her two children. It's been 16 years since I saw her - we worked at Levi's and although we were in different departments, we had a big thing in common as we were married within a few months of each other. She's now on her second marriage and has three children (one was at school) but it was lovely to catch up and find out what she was doing since I saw her last.

The weather which started off so beautifully, turned this afternoon and when I went to get diesel (and beer for Keith) I got soaked. Where has our lovely Easter gone?

Ooops!

It wasn't until I was tucked up in bed last night that I realised I hadn't written this!

To make up, I'll write another today! Yesterday was pretty quiet and uneventful so not much has been missed. It was a day of April showers and "interesting" skies but thankfully, no snow. I felt so sorry for the parents of the young girl killed in Scotland when the school bus had an accident on the treacherous roads. It made me think of Sophie and the trips she's been on with school. It's every parent's nightmare.

Anyway...I must go off to work. I will be back later!