Storm Boelo

Sophie had a flu jab booked for this morning, and after she'd been vaccinated, we drove to Market Harborough. It had just started to rain, and we'd forgotten to take an umbrella with us! We parked as close to the town as we could, dropped off a parcel at the post office and grabbed two seats in the window at Just So Italian. The owner was back and made jokes with Sophie when she ordered our coffees and almond croissants!

It was lovely sitting in the warm café and watching the world go by. We had another coffee and split a chocolate twist before venturing out into the light wind and rain to go to Steffan's, where Sophie had sold one of her necklaces.

From the jewellers, we crossed the road to browse in Waterstones, where Sophie bought two books. As we emerged, we realised that the rain had become heavier, so we walked quickly to Duncan's, where we had a small tasting of two of his wines: a French white of a blend of grapes, including Sauvignon Blanc and an Italian red. We weren't keen on either, so we bought two bottles of Portuguese wine instead! It was lovely to chat with Duncan and Nick, and I popped a bag of Brittany crisps into the bag to munch on later at home. 

After a last visit to The Attic, we walked around the corner to The Wine Shed and asked for a table for a drink and some nibbles. I chose an Argentinian Malbec while Sophie had an Alsace Riesling. We ordered a plate of paté and bread as a light lunch and settled back to relax. The wine bar gradually filled up, but the service was a bit disappointing today. The normally attentive and lovely staff seemed to be preoccupied, and we just couldn't get their attention to order another drink. Sophie wanted a Negroni, but we gave up after twenty minutes of waiting, paid the bill at the bar and left. The drinks menus are never left on the table, which makes it difficult to order!

By now, it was raining hard, and we trundled back to Northamptonshire and headed for Kettering to see my Mum. We stayed and chatted, but she wasn't making a lot of sense today, as usual. It makes for quite an upsetting visit, as it's impossible to have a conversation with her, and the television didn't even work today. I have no idea what she does with it!

Back home, we decided to watch a film called The Substance early (it was a good job we did, as it was over two hours long) and postponed our planned meal for tonight. I don't think any of us fancied it! The film starred Demi Moore as an ageing fitness guru who's fired to make way for someone younger, and discovers a mysterious substance that splits her into two. The alter ego is young and beautiful, but not all goes to plan! It was one of the most gory films I've ever seen and definitely not for the faint-hearted! Sophie watched half of it behind her hands, and I couldn't bring myself to watch one of the violent scenes... Keith wondered what on earth we were watching! It'll certainly be one to remember!

Storm Austen

It's been a wild and woolly day today, with high winds and constant rain. Shiela popped in to say hello first thing, and then I got on with my work, trying to sort out some bookings and payroll issues. I was on my own in the office all day today, and at one point, when I looked out of the window, the rain was lashing down, and the wind was blowing leaves about like snow.

Keith picked me up, and we headed home to start the weekend. He'd been to the doctor's today about his cough and was given a course of antibiotics. It's been a while since he suffered from a cough and cold, but he's well and truly caught one this autumn!

He wasn't out with John this evening, and Sophie and I watched Atonement, starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. I had seen it before, a long time ago, and Sophie has just finished the book. I was disappointed to learn that none of the scenes was filmed in France, and the beach location was Redcar in Yorkshire! It was a tad depressing for a Friday night, but a good film nonetheless!

All by myself!

I drove myself to work this morning and enjoyed a Greggs breakfast as usual. I was in the office on my own for most of the day, and I had a telephone chat with my manager, Dan, who seemed to be on the mend. This was a huge relief, and I hope he'll return soon, but not until he's fully better. 

At 3:00pm, Liam came in, and my heart sank, but he only left his stuff in the office while he had a meeting, so I was spared the pen clicking! It was great to escape at 4:00pm and go home to relax. One more day and then it's the weekend, not that I'm wishing my life away, of course!

The UK is bracing itself for two storms over the coming days: Storm Austen tomorrow, which will affect mainly the south and south-west of the country, and Boelo from Saturday, hitting Northern Ireland, the north of England and Scotland. The storm season has begun with a bang!

Plans finalised!

Keith went to Tesco this morning to do a quick shop, and I waved Sophie off to work. While Keith was out, I made a start on the jobs I needed to get done today... and there were a few! We are still unpacking from the weekend! When he returned, we had a light breakfast and got ready to go to Riverside for an appointment with Jamie at Wickes.

The weather today has been atrocious, with constant rain and heavy, leaden skies. As we neared Riverside, it became busier, and there was a queue to get onto the retail park, which was unusual. As the stores came into sight, I saw a huge Percy Pig and my heart sank... today looked like it was the opening of the new M&S Foodhall. No wonder the traffic was so heavy! I doubted very much we'd get parked, but amazingly we did, and we sloshed our way across the car park to Wickes, a little early for our appointment, but determined to sort out the en-suite today!

We had a wander around the bathroom displays, and I spotted one I hadn't seen before, which I immediately liked the look of:

I liked the taps, and the handle on the loo was very similar to what we used to have in the house when we first moved in. When we saw Jamie, I showed him the sink and loo and said we had changed our minds about moving the door and had decided to have a smaller shower, but one that was still bigger than the one we have now.

We sat and thrashed out the design, and looked at tiles, picking a patterned tile for the floor and a plain white subway tile for the walls. We have even moved the sink to another place to give us more room for a slightly bigger shower.

I thought this would match the chrome accessories

New layout

I could then paint the upper areas of the walls in green matching the loo seat. Jamie showed me photos of two rooms in his house, and I was astounded! They were gorgeous! He certainly knew what he was talking about!

Keith looked very bored today, and I began to think it would have been better to do this with Sophie! We finally finished the plan, and I was very happy with the result. Hooray! Keith paid the 10% deposit, and we shook hands with Jamie. It was done!

We thought we only had three hours of parking on Riverside, but it was four, so we drove down to Halfords, and I bought two new number plates with my own person registration on them. I've had to retain the registration plate for the last two years since selling the Audi, so it was always the plan to put them on my next car. I was thrilled!

Before going home, we went to Costa for a cup of tea and something to eat as we hadn't had any lunch. I was so pleased with what we'd achieved today and relieved that we'd finally made a decision on the en-suite. If it gets done before Christmas, it'll be great, but it's not urgent.

Back at home, I vacuumed and lit our little battery-powered tea lights to make the house cosy. When Sophie came home, I explained our change of direction with the ensuite, as Sophie thought we were going to have green tiles on the wall. I'm just hoping she will like the end result!

Small annoyances!

I drove myself to work this morning and was back to my usual hours. Gina, who is covering for Dan, came in and spent all day in the office. Most of the time, she was taking phone calls, making phone calls or talking on Teams, giggling and simpering about one of the senior managers contacting her directly. I know I sound like a moaning minny, but it was quite annoying! 

I spent most of the day with the cinema admin, managing to get the films on until early December and sending off the figures from the weekend. Everything seems to be running smoothly now, as I knew it would!

It was bliss to leave at 4:00pm and drive home, where I tried to catch up with the blog. Tomorrow, Keith and I are going to Wickes to sort out the en-suite once and for all, and I have a hundred and one things to get done as well!

We are currently enjoying War on Sky with Dominic West and Sienna Miller, so it was great to sit and watch another episode after dinner!

The Monday morning blues...

It was truly horrible getting up this morning, even though it was an hour later than normal, as I'd decided to work from 9:00am until 5:00pm. Never again will we come back from a break or holiday and go to work the next day!

We still had loads of things to deal with, and I sorted out the laundry for Keith to do for us today. Other things would have to wait until Wednesday or the weekend! Sophie and I left at 8:15am and went a different way to avoid the heavy traffic.

I arrived well before 9:00am and had worried both Amanda and Sheila (who had been for a swim) as I was so late! I explained we'd been delayed the night before and I'd decided to work different hours. Sheila came up to the office for a short while, and I gave her the gifts I'd bought back from France for her.

Thankfully, the day passed swiftly, and it was great to get home and make a start on the weekend's blog! Keith had managed to get all the laundry sorted for us, but there were still some things that needed unpacking. It would have to wait until Wednesday, when I was off. Hooray!

Northern France, 16th - 18th of October 2026

Back to Ypres

Our plan was to get up reasonably early this morning and be out of the house by 9:00am, to drive into Belgium and visit Ypres. After a coffee, we packed, showered and made sure the house was left in a good state. I explored the garden while Sophie finished getting ready and took some photos of the stormy sky. I'm sure I heard thunder in the distance!

Sophie didn't appreciate me popping up at the window as she put on her make-up!

By 9:00am, I was gingerly reversing out of the driveway, helped by Sophie. We did the same little route as we did yesterday to get back to the front of the house, facing in the right direction, and then put directions in for Ypres, avoiding the motorway this time.

Our route took us past St Omer again, and through some pretty villages surrounded by farmland. We saw mounds of what we thought were swedes or turnips piled up in the fields, probably set aside for winter feed. I became stuck behind a large tractor and trailer, but spotted a garage and decided to fill up while we had the chance!

On the outskirts of Ypres, near the town of Poperinge, we stopped for coffee, and I called Keith to check that he was OK and to see if he was still suffering from his cold. We enjoyed our coffee and the rest of the pastries before setting off for Ypres, just a short distance away.

Sophie directed me to the main square in Ypres, and we found a parking space easily. The last time we were here was Easter Sunday, and it was a little busier today, but still lovely and quiet. We saw a few school groups milling about, and when we took our seats outside at a bar, a group of teachers sat behind us.

We ordered a local beer and sat and enjoyed the ambience. What a delightful way to spend a Sunday morning! 

While we sat, Sophie looked at several restaurants for lunch, but we couldn't resist going back to Vivaldi across the square. Before we went, we called into a chocolate shop and bought some treats to take home.

Vivaldi was very quiet when we arrived, and they invited us to choose our own table. We chose one next to a fire and had a good look at the menu even though both of us knew what we were going to choose! I opted for the chicken skewer served with curry mayonnaise, salad and French fries. Sophie couldn't resist the pork escalope, accompanied by apple sauce and French fries as well. We ordered two Wipers Times beers and sat back to look forward to a good lunch!

Before our main courses arrived, we were treated to a little amuse-bouche - a scoop of sausage meat served with mini silverskin pickled onions. Delicious!

The food was as good as ever, and as we ate, the restaurant gradually filled up, with a big family party sitting next to us. There was a lovely atmosphere, and we really didn't want to leave! I had noticed chocolate fondant on the menu, so we had to have it! It was gorgeous, served with vanilla ice cream.

I urged Sophie to enjoy a glass of Cointreau with her dessert, and she didn't hesitate! While we were eating, Sophie was messaging Michael, and after we'd paid the bill, we walked to another little shop to buy some beer and chocolates for him. The shop where we'd bought Keith's La Chouffe glass in April had closed down (what a shame). We picked out two beers, a lighter and a chocolate willy on a stick (I think the Cointreau had gone to Sophie's head!).

Gearing up for Halloween!

Train troubles!

We returned to the car, and Sophie suggested a rural route back to the motorway. I agreed, so we navigated the outskirts of Ypres and made our way into open countryside, passing through pretty, sleepy little villages, some of which, as we neared the French border, had two names. It was a delightful route and much better than going onto the motorway. There was no great fanfare when we drove back into France; just a change of language!

We turned onto the motorway, and it started to rain heavily. We arrived at the shuttle terminal earlier than our check-in time, but there was no offer of an earlier train, which was a disappointment. We were forced to sit in the car for ages due to the torrential rain, but in the end, Sophie ran into the terminal to use the facilities and buy a bottle of Cointreau to take home!

When we were called to board, we managed to get through passport control pretty quickly. However, it was obvious that we were going to miss our planned train, as it took ages to actually get onto it! We had just parked, turned off the engine and settled back to relax when we heard an announcement that we were to be taken off our train and put onto another due to a problem... great!

We sat and waited, and we chatted to the driver of the car behind us, who said he had been delayed twice over the summer and received compensation! Eventually, we drove off our train, up the platform slope, down to the next and along the platform again, this time right next to the train tracks below. It was a bit hairy!

The delay meant we didn't get back to the UK until 6:00 pm, and it was already almost dark with torrential rain falling. It was a most unpleasant journey on the M20, and I kept to the inside lane, not going above 60mph due to the weather conditions. Thankfully, as we turned onto the M25, the rain lessened a bit, but it was a long, slow journey home, and we didn't get back until 8:45pm. We then had to unpack the car, and Keith hadn't put the heating on, so the house was freezing!

We dumped as much stuff as we could to be dealt with over the coming days, and I relaxed on the sofa with Keith and told him all about our break while Sophie disappeared upstairs with the cats. We'd had a fantastic time after a wobbly start, but we weren't looking forward to going back to work tomorrow!