And... relax!

Sophie woke me at 7:00am this morning as she was off to do a 5k run at Brixworth Country Park, and I had to eat and drink something before 7:30am as I was having an abdominal ultrasound scan later in the day.

I waved her off and caught up with some jobs; it was lovely to potter about! Outside, the sun was shining, and it was breezy. We are due some rain tomorrow, but not much. This dry and sunny weather has been continuing for over three weeks now. I can't remember the last time we had any proper rain, and, of course, the situation is terrible in south-west France (near Bordeaux) and around Madrid with fires. We even have a fire in the Cairngorms, in Scotland.

Milo paid us a visit this morning! Keith heard what he thought was one of our cats eating biscuit in the conservatory, but it was Milo who had sneaked in through the open door! He then came right into the kitchen! He didn't seem at all worried about coming into the house and miaowed constantly! I don't think our two cats are keen, though!

Sophie arrived back home at 10:00am, looking a bit red and sweaty, but was pleased she'd done her run. We sat and chatted, and then we both got ready for my hospital appointment at 1:40pm. We parked outside my office and walked to the radiology department, where I was called in for the ultrasound soon after I'd sat down. The radiologist was lovely and did a thorough scan of my abdomen and liver. He said it was all fine, which was a relief!

Sophie and I bounded out of the hospital (I couldn't get out fast enough!), and we went up to my office so I could show Sophie where I sat three days a week! Sharon was just finishing her shift, so we said hello, paid for the parking, and went back to the car.

As a treat, we had decided to have a late lunch at Beckworth, and we were glad there was only a twenty-minute wait. While we waited for the buzzer to go off, we wandered around looking at all the stuff for sale; I know I've said this before, but I dread to think how much money is tied up in their stock, unless they have it on a sale or return basis!

We were both starving when we took our seats in the restaurant. I hadn't eaten since 7:30am, so we chose a pastrami and salad sandwich to share, an extra portion of chips and a small glass of wine each. There was a slight wait with the drinks, but when the food arrived, we fell on it like starving wolves!

As you can imagine, the food disappeared rapidly, and we ordered some more treats: a cream tea for Sophie and a slice of Victoria sponge cake for me, accompanied by a pot of tea. All the food was delicious!

My gorgeous slice of Victoria sponge!

It was heaven to relax after the hospital appointment and sit in the lovely restaurant. We hadn't been for a while, and we did miss going regularly, but the wait times have always been horrendous.

After we'd paid the bill, I bought a loaf of bread, some popcorn (for popping at home) and a packet of crisps from Jeremy Clarkson's farm. We were pleased to see that the plastic bag containing the crisps was compostable!

Back home, it was time to relax before Sophie and I played Scrabble with a G&T. The gin we bought on the ferry was delicious! No wonder John asked me to get it for him! I beat Sophie at Scrabble, and then we played cards, and I beat her again!

As soon as we sat down for our late lunch today, I knew we wouldn't be eating tonight! Sophie was going to cook paella, but we postponed this until Monday. My daughter asked if I would cook spaghetti Bolognese tomorrow, and I agreed even though it's not my favourite meal!

We all watched Argo tonight, a film that we all found thoroughly enjoyable, even though they stretched the truth a little. David McClosey and Gordon Corera had recorded a podcast about the Iranian hostages and how they were freed, and it was great to learn about what happened.

I was going to stay up and watch Gladiator, but decided against it! I'd had enough excitement for one day!

Car park shock!

I was shocked to arrive in my usual car park this morning and see there were no spaces at all... in the end, I luckily found one in the small car park opposite our office, and Sara said she hadn't been able to get one either and had to park opposite the Barrett Maternity department.

I had an uneventful shift, and it was just Kathy and me in the office in the afternoon. I officially ran out of work at 3:00pm. There were hardly any emails to answer, I had put everything into the system that I could, and the moan report was up to date. I think the signs are telling me to go!

Keith wasn't at the pub this evening, so he sat in the kitchen while Sophie and I watched last night's episode of Fake or Fortune. It was as entertaining as ever! How I wish we could find an undiscovered masterpiece in the loft!

Driven to drink...

As Olive had been kept at the garage all night, I took Sophie to work this morning. We were a little early, so she treated me to a flat white from Costa, and it was a lot better than yesterday!

As soon as I arrived home, Keith went to Kettering to do the shopping, and I quickly tidied the house as I was expecting a man from an air conditioning company to pop around. He had been recommended by Jo at work, and he was coming to have a look at the rooms we needed cooling down! 

He arrived at 10:00am, and we had a lovely chat while he measured two of the bedrooms and the living room. If this heat continues every year, I think all of us are going to have to adapt the way we live. Sleeping in the heat hasn't been fun, and if we can have air conditioning installed, we will.

After the man (Ian) had gone, I cleaned the conservatory ready for Kym's visit to see Keith this afternoon. I had cancelled two appointments today: an eye test at Boots and my visit from Kym, as I just didn't have the time!

After lunch, I drove to see Mum and took with me some shopping that Keith had bought for her. She was still sitting in the dining room when I arrived, and we went back to her room. She seemed a little more cheerful than last week, but was still a bit maudlin when I left.

Back home, I looked at the list of training courses that my new employer had sent me, which put me into a really bad mood. I calculated there was about eight hours' worth of training to be done; there is no way I can fit this in before I start! I haven't even started with them yet!

When Sophie came home, she pointed out that one of the training courses stated I had a year to complete it, so I calmed down a bit! We talked about the house we'd seen in St Valery-sur-Somme, as I'd found details of it on the internet. It was a mere £657,692, and looking at the inside, it needs a lot of work to update it. It was gorgeous, though, and I would want to keep the original character. I just need to win the lottery now!

Unusually, I had a vodka and tonic before dinner (I've been cutting out alcohol in the week) and we chatted before Sophie prepared a meal of chicken and vegetable bake with cous cous. After the meal, Keith and I watched an episode of World War II with Tom Hanks and one of Best Medicine. It's Friday again tomorrow! Where has this week gone?!

A little discombobulated!

Olive was booked in for an MOT today, so we dropped her off at an In and Out centre at 8:15 am and went to a nearby Costa for a coffee. Inside the café, it was warm, and the ceiling-mounted air conditioning units were clearly not working. Sophie and I both ordered a flat white each, and they were not good. No lovely velvety froth at all!

After dropping Sophie at work, we returned home, and Keith decided to tackle the bushes in the back garden. I had a list of things I had to get done, but I sat at the kitchen island so I could see him working. It was quite cool in the garden and perfect for getting the job done.

Once I'd finished my list of chores, I went out to help and held onto the stepladder for him. I then raked everything up, and we put it into a large Hippo bag to take to the tip. The bush that Keith had been pruning has long, sharp spikes, and his arms were covered in scratches! I made a booking for the tip, and then we managed to get the unwieldy bag into the boot of the car. I also had another box of garden rubbish that needed disposing of, so I lifted it onto the back seats, where the bottom of the box promptly disintegrated, spewing grass, soil and weeds everywhere. I was not happy! We managed to transfer everything to two smaller boxes, and I attempted to hoover everything up! This was becoming the theme of my week! 

At the appointed time, we drove to Brixworth and managed to heave the huge bag into the skip. Even if we had taken out the garden bin subscription, we still would have had to do this, as there was so much rubbish!

Back home, we both showered and drove to collect Sophie from work. Olive had failed her MOT because of a tyre, and Sophie hadn't managed to get back to the garage in time to authorise the work as she'd been in meetings all morning. Olive would have to stay overnight! Sophie finished at 4:00pm today, and we called into a Bewiched coffee at Billing for a matcha each, which was delicious. The café overlooked the lake at Billing and huge geese were wandering around the car park. For some strange reason, I had asked Keith to come with me (I was a bit confused!) even though we weren't bringing two cars home... It's all been a bit much for my little brain today! I had fifteen emails this morning from my new employer with training courses I have to complete before I start, so I was a bit discombobulated!

I had an appointment at the Back and Body clinic at 5:00pm, so Sophie came with me, and we had a great chat with Gabriel. The shock wave machine didn't work at first, and I thought I'd got away with it, but someone fixed it, so I had my final session. And, yes... it hurt!

Back home, Keith and I played cards, while Sophie finished the book I'd bought for her - The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. She had enjoyed it, which was great as it's always a risk buying a book for someone else!

Office cleaning!

By 8:30am, I had answered all the emails and completed a job that Sara asked me to do. I think the timing is right for me to change jobs! As we no longer have a regular cleaner, I volunteered to hoover the floor in our office. A pile of crumbs had been on the floor for weeks, and we haven't had Tilly come in and hoover them up!

One of the Duty Managers kindly brought the hoover up for me, as well as a stack of black bags so we could empty the bins. We really shouldn't be doing this! It didn't take me long to run the hoover around, but I had to do it in between phone calls!

I spent the rest of the shift occasionally helping out with calls (Angela had a computer problem) and writing the moan report. As the day wore on, it became warmer, and there is still no end in sight to this dry spell.

Back home, it was a very simple supper and then another episode of Best Medicine!

A quiet start to the week

Not much has happened of note today. Sophie's foot hurt, so she skipped a visit to the gym this morning. My shift passed pleasantly (Nicola was still on annual leave), and I did a handover with Sara. I managed to book the after-school and under-5 activities until next March, so that will be one thing Sara doesn't need to worry about, unless things change. Between us, we also added the October half-term playscheme places to the system. As I won't be working Wednesdays, I'm happy to pop in and help if needed.

Keith collected me from work, and we returned home to prepare dinner and relax. I managed to catch the end of a stage of the Tour de France, which ended in Chalon-sur-Saône. I'd hoped we might see some of the Burgundy vineyards, but it was mostly very dry fields!

After dinner, Keith and I tried again with Best Medicine and enjoyed it. A suitable alternative to our much-missed Panda?

Tidying up

Sophie was back at Woburn today, meeting her friend Laura and her dog, Wilbur. They were driving separately, and as we walked back to the car last night, we both realised it was the Sunday Food Market in Woburn today.

Sophie was worried about getting a parking space, so she left a little earlier. I had advised her to take the same route that we used yesterday, as the M1 with no hard shoulder makes me nervous. I really don't trust Olive at the moment!

Sophie texted me when she got to Woburn to say there were no spaces at all in the car park, and she was seething. She wished she'd postponed for another date, preferably when the market wasn't on! In the end, she suggested Woburn Sands, and she and Laura parked in a lay-by before walking back to Woburn itself. It had put Sophie in a bad mood, so I don't think she really enjoyed her day out.

Back at home, I decided to tackle the garden and try to tidy it up a bit. I cut back some plants that were clearly struggling with the hot, dry conditions, knowing they would bounce back when the weather changes. I'm just glad I didn't put down the grass seed I'd bought!

How dry the grass is!

When I finished, the garden looked slightly better, but there is still a lot to do! Maybe after a period of continuous rainfall!

I spent the afternoon pottering about and Sophie returned home at about 4:00pm. We sat and chatted in the kitchen, and she told me all about her day, which she hadn't really enjoyed. We opened a bottle of rosé before dinner (one we'd enjoyed in France), which was beefburgers, salad and potato wedges.

After dinner, we watched a new episode of Fake or Fortune, featuring a woman who was convinced she had a Fabergé flower. It was a real roller-coaster of an episode, and both Sophie and I thought the woman was a bit of a fantasist! It has been a very enjoyable weekend (for me anyway)! Back to the grind tomorrow!