Friday... again!

I dealt with the complaints about the removal of the gym equipment this morning and arranged for some customers to have refunds. Doing this just added to the workload, and we saw more and more emails flood in during the afternoon. We did have a thank you email from our MD, though, so he does know what we're going through at the moment.

It was bliss to escape at 4:00pm and drive home. When Sophie arrived, she came bearing snacks, and we settled down to watch the film, Serendipity. She'd had a bad day at work and wanted to watch something happy, and it was a lovely film starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. 

We had soup, sourdough bread and croutons for dinner and then watched the last half an hour of the film. I then suggested we see the second episode of Silent Witness, which rounded off the day well! Tomorrow, we're in London for the day, and we're both looking forward to a day of culture and good food!

I lose my head...

My shorter shift passed rapidly today, as I tried to deal with as many emails as I could. At 2pm, I drove home, briefly chatted with Keith, and went over to see my Mum. 

I found her wandering about in her room, clothes strewn everywhere, and most shockingly, their beautiful bronze statue of a man and woman was broken. The woman's head had been snapped off. How on earth she'd managed it, I'll never know. The television was also blaring out, and I couldn't turn down the volume as Mum had lost the remote. I felt like screaming and running out. 

I saw one of the carers and asked about the sculpture, but she didn't know it had been broken, so she couldn't help. Back in the room, I put the clothes away, tidied up, and sat with my Mum on the sofa, but I was very angry about the broken sculpture as I'd bought it in 2006 for their 40th Wedding Anniversary. It's extremely heavy, so I can't think how it was broken.

It wasn't the most successful of visits, and before I left, lugging the sculpture and the head with me so that Keith could glue it back, I asked how Mum was when I wasn't there. The carer assured me she was fine, so I'm starting to wonder whether her behaviour is just for my benefit... Last week, she was lovely, and we had a wonderful time looking at old photos, but today she was emotional and moody. Sometimes, I feel as if she's punishing me.

I returned home in the gloomiest of moods, and didn't feel like doing anything, and certainly not cooking liver, bacon and onions as we'd planned. I didn't even feel like making my porridge for tomorrow's breakfast at work! Keith managed to glue the woman's head back on, but there is a chip next to the head, so it will never be the same. 

Instead of liver for dinner, we had sausages, and Keith made a batter to make a toad in the hole. After we'd eaten, we watched the first episode of Silent Witness, and it was great, if a little dated!

A date with the garden

I set my alarm for 8:30am this morning  but snoozed on until 9:00am. I felt tired, and I'm beginning to wonder if giving blood now makes me feel weary the day afterwards.

Keith and I had a date with the garden today; he wanted to finish pruning the trees in the back border and I wanted to cut down one of the bushes that suffers from an insect attack, as all the leaves have been nibbled. I helped him with the pruning and a few of the branches fell into next door's garden... oops!

We then cut down the bush and piled up all the branches into a heap to be taken to the tip. I made a start on putting them into our big yellow bag for a booking at the tip this afternoon. I felt even more weary with the constant bending down, so after I'd filled the bag, I asked if we could gather up the rest of the cuttings at the weekend instead, when hopefully, I'd be feeling more energetic! It was also warm in the sun and we sat down a couple of times to enjoy the peace and quiet. I'm looking forward to buying a new bench for the garden in the summer, if we ever get the garden tidied up! I looked around me in despair; the garden looked such a mess!

I had also booked a doorstep collection of bits we no longer needed - it's a great service offered by our council and they collect books, CDs, DVDs, kitchen ware, clothes, shoes and bric-a-brac. I wanted to get rid of a large bag of DVDs that were taking up space in the garage, some CDs and glasses. I made sure they were all clean, boxed them up and attached a label for tomorrow's collection. I also picked a charity to benefit, so it's a win-win!

We went to the tip at 2:00pm and popped to Mawsley on the way home to get a newspaper and something for my lunch. I chose a tin of spaghetti with mini sausages, something I haven't eaten for years and served them on top of a couple of slices of toasted sourdough bread! I put the rest of the tin aside for my lunch at work tomorrow.

I spent the rest of the afternoon pottering about, hoovered downstairs and did the usual chores. We were supposed to have had soup for dinner tonight, but added some nachos to the beef and vegetables we'd had in tacos yesterday and made another dish instead. It was delicious!

Keith and I watched the last episode of Shetland tonight, and I felt a little emotional at the end. I knew I would! We have decided to start watching Silent Witness, right from episode 1 with Amanda Burton, first screened in 1996!

My 48th pint... roll on 50!

I faced another day of dealing with emails... It's a bit like Groundhog Day at the moment! I had a nice chat with our MD this morning when he came in to say hello, and he asked about how customers were reacting to the removal of the gym equipment from the centres. I had added them to a folder to deal with, but the reaction wasn't great! I said that with all that's going on in the world at the moment, perhaps our members need a little perspective! He agreed!

The rest of the day flew by, and I emerged into a beautifully sunny and mild day. Keith picked me up, and I went home to pootle about for an hour before going to Moulton to give my 47th pint of blood at 6:00pm. Sophie waved me off and said she would have dinner ready for when I got home. Lovely!

My blood donation was straightforward as usual, and my carer said I could probably get to my 50th donation this year! Fab! After a little chat with a fellow donor and a Kit Kat, I drove home and joined Keith and Sophie in the kitchen, where dinner was almost ready. Sophie had cooked beef tacos this evening, and the meal was delicious.

Keith and I watched the penultimate episode of series 7, and we won't know what to do with ourselves when we finish it! Look forward to series 11, I suppose, but it won't be the same without Douglas Henshall! We enjoyed the three series with Alison O'Donnell and Ashley Jensen, but I think Douglas was excellent!

A waste of time!

Sophie and I weren't looking forward to today as we had a dentist appointment in Kettering at 9:00am. We left home and arrived nice and early, even though we'd had to park a little way away. We sat and waited, and waited, and by 9:10am, we were both feeling annoyed. We knew we were the first appointments for our dentist, so why were we waiting? 

Sophie went to reception to ask how much longer we'd have to wait, and she was told it wouldn't be too long. Five minutes later, we learnt that our dentist was stuck in traffic and would be late. We simply didn't have time to wait any longer, so we cancelled the appointment, made another for June, and fled back to the car. Both of us were seriously annoyed at the time we'd wasted.

Sopihe dropped me off at work, and I started at 10:00am, so that was two hours wasted, when we have so much to do at the moment. I then discovered I was manning the phones from 2:00pm until 4:00pm,  but at least I was working until 5:00pm today, so I had an hour to try and catch up!

Sophie collected me at 5:00pm and looked traumatised when she got out of the car! She urged me to drive home and said she'd hated the pedestrians and crossings on the route through the hospital grounds! It's something I have now got used to!

Back home, it was lovely to relax, and I opened a bottle of Italian red to go with the beef stroganoff. I think we deserved it after our stressful day!

Celebrating Mums!

It was officially Mother's Day today, but yesterday had been very special with Sophie's afternoon tea and the walk to the pub. I tackled a load of laundry and tried to sort out what pillowcases and sheets we have. I think it's time for some new ones, to be honest!

Most of the morning was spent pottering about, and after lunch of leftovers from yesterday, Sophie and I went to Tesco as I needed to get Mum some things. I'd already bought her a card and chocolates, but I wanted to get her a bunch of flowers as well. Imagine my shock when every single tub was empty! Not one bunch to be had! In the end, I settled for two bunches of daffodils!

The previously good weather turned to rain, and it was lashing down when we drove to the care home. Predictably, it was busy, and I had a feeling my Mum was going to be in a bad mood today. It was just a premonition I had, and I was proved correct when we walked into her room. 

She seemed preoccupied with a woman whom she said had ignored her, and wouldn't stop talking about it for the whole time we were there. We tried to steer her away from the subject, but she was morose and not at all like she was last Thursday when I visited.

We stayed and chatted and opened a bottle of non-alcoholic Prosecco, and enjoyed some chocolate cakes we'd bought in Tesco. It wasn't the best of visits!

Back home, I relaxed in the living room, and the curse of Sunday Syndrome descended again... to chase it away, Sophie and I played Scrabble and opened a bottle of Rosé. It was an excellent game, and it was neck and neck right up to the last tile! I beat Sophie, and she was very gracious in defeat!

Our planned meal of beef stroganoff was postponed until tomorrow, and Keith and Sophie just had a snack. I had enjoyed a slice of Sophie's delicious Victoria sponge cake at lunchtime, and that did me for the rest of the day!

A perfect Saturday!

Earlier in the week, Mike had texted me to say he was moving to Nottingham to live with Abbie. It was a bit of a shock as he had always resisted giving up his greenkeeper's job and moving, but obviously, he had had a change of heart. He sent me a text this morning to ask if he could pop in on his way to collect some stuff and say goodbye.

Keith went shopping this morning, armed with a long list of things to get for Sophie, who was planning a special afternoon tea for later today. Mike arrived mid-morning and gave me a lovely hug, facing our barrage of questions with a grin on his face. He had given in his notice at work and was going to find a job in Nottingham (hopefully). He also told us about his travel plans, and I do hope he manages to get away and see some of the world.

He went and fetched his huge collection of lighters, which were contained in two boxes, and he showed us his prized ones, some of which were like little works of art! I then gave him one of my Dad's watches, which he was pleased about, so he went off to Nottingham in a very good mood! We said we'd visit him when he got settled in and take him and Abbie out for a meal. We're glad that Nottingham isn't as far as Southampton!

Sophie spent the morning preparing for the afternoon tea, making a Victoria sponge cake, and whipping up various fillings for sandwiches. What a treat to look forward to! She suggested a walk to the pub in the early afternoon, and Keith said he would come with us!

We all walked up just after lunchtime and parked Keith on a bench in the community field. Sophie and I had a squelchy walk around the perimeter of the meadow and then rejoined him to walk to the pub.

Perfect for a picnic in the summer!

It was a beautiful day, with fluffy white clouds scudding across the blue sky. At the pub, we ordered drinks and a bowl of chips to share and sat in the window to chat. The pub wasn't overly busy, and it was bliss to sit and relax for a couple of hours.

After our drinks, we ambled back home, and Sophie carried on with her preparations, bless her! Within an hour, she was calling us to the table for Champagne and a selection of goodies! We enjoyed a selection of sandwiches (coronation chicken, egg mayonnaise, cheese and ham with chutney and smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber), sausage rolls, Scotch eggs and quiche. 

After the savoury, we enjoyed scones with jam and clotted cream and cups of tea. We had no room whatsoever for Sophie's cake, so it had to wait for later!

It was time to relax, and we sat in the living room and watched Newcastle v Chelsea. Newcastle won, much to our delight! What a great end to a truly lovely day!