Still a bit mopey...

I wasn't in the best of moods this morning because I was dreading a GP appointment this afternoon to see about a mole on my back, and I was facing a load of online training courses for my new job. I snapped at Keith, and then apologised, so it wasn't the best of mornings! 

I knuckled down and did as many courses as I could, so at least I've made inroads into them! Most of them were common sense, and the health and safety one was something I used to deal with when we ran our own business. I suppose the courses are aimed at young people starting work!

Keith offered to come to the surgery with me, which I appreciated. I was very anxious about the mole, and Sophie had wanted me to go after worrying about it for ages. I was seeing the lovely doctor I'd seen before, and he took a good look at the mole, which is on my left shoulder and under where my bra strap lies. He was able to put my mind at rest immediately, saying it was some kind of sebaceous wart (it would be, wouldn't it? So sexy...) and that it was common in people over 40. It was completely benign and nothing to worry about, but if it ever became a problem, one of the specialist doctors at the surgery could whip it off.

I felt a huge sense of relief, and then he went through the details of my abdominal scan on Saturday, which showed no problems at all with all my internal organs. Phew! This has been a year of poking, prodding and pricking, and I hope that I can stay away from the surgery for a while now, although I had to book a blood test in August to see how my liver is doing after my indulgences!

Keith suggested a drink at the village pub, and I readily agreed. I stuck to Guinness Zero, and we sat in the window and chatted. The pub was very quiet, and it was a lovely hour of relaxation. Maybe we should do this every Wednesday!

Back home, I pootled about, did another online course and tried to stay cool. The weather has been hot, dry and sunny again, but it's supposed to get a little cooler over the next few days.

Sophie cooked a delicious nachos and chicken dish, and Keith and I watched two episodes of Best Medicine after we'd eaten. In the second episode, Martin Clunes made an appearance as Doctor Best's father, with a silly American accent. I felt a bit confused, to be honest! Why wasn't he with Louisa?!

A bit mopey...

I took a box of chocolates and a box of biscuits into the office today as I would be saying goodbye to three of my colleagues. Yesterday, I froze two bottles of water and put them in a cool bag with the chocolate and biscuits, as our office has been so warm!

By 9:30am, I had run out of work to do, which was alarming. I had polished the moan report, sorted out the playscheme places and answered all the emails... if I wasn't leaving, how would I fill my time? I felt a bit emotional today, and it's started to dawn on me that next week I will be working for someone else. How could I have gone from being so busy at times that I didn't have a spare minute, to running out of things to do so early in the day?

Angela and Jo asked if our MD had said anything to me, and the answer was still no. I noticed that when he came into the office, he didn't make a beeline for the chocolates, as he normally would. I suppose taking one would have prompted him to say something!

At 4:00pm, I hugged Claire, Angela and Jo and said that we must try and stay in touch. I know it will take a while for me to shake off the loyalty I feel to my present company, especially when the soft play centres are such a personal issue for me.

I drove home feeling a bit mopey and pottered about until Sophie arrived. We all sat and watched a documentary about a foiled terror plot, which led to liquids being banned on flights. It was very interesting and terrifying to think what could have happened!

Dinner tonight was cold meats, frozen (it's a long story) salad and crispy potatoes. After dinner, we watched World War II with Tom Hanks, the D-Day Landings. It was terrible seeing so many young men going off to almost certain death.

I'm hoping tomorrow I will feel a bit more cheerful!

A challenging day...

Keith dropped me off at work today, and I was on my own in the office until Nicola came in at 9:00am. When Angela tried to log in, her computer started playing up, so she was forced to call IT to sort it out, leaving me to answer the phone.

We had more phone calls than I was expecting today, so the shift passed quickly. Unfortunately, Angela had another issue when she cashed up, which made me late leaving. Keith actually came looking for me!

We drove home, and the traffic was already bad on the A45. It was even worse when Sophie left, and she was held up by an accident. I started cooking the paella for tonight and did most of the preparations before Sophie took over. The meal was as lovely as always, with more than enough left for lunches!

The news is still full of the fires breaking out in France, with one of the worst near Bordeaux. I just hope the vineyards near the city haven't been affected... can you imagine? Apart from a tiny amount of rain here yesterday morning, which probably dried up the minute it hit the grass, there is no more for us in the forecast. And we have high temperatures forecast for Wednesday, when thankfully, I am not at work!

Badger tales!

I might have had enough excitement for one day last night, but Sophie obviously hadn't! When she woke up this morning, she was eager to tell me what happened yesterday evening when she went to get the cats in. Mooney was behaving strangely, and she heard a lot of rustling going on in the back garden. She took a look from the conservatory and was astonished to see a badger emerge from our bushes and then hoover up the cat biscuit we'd put down after Milo had been eating it yesterday morning. Sophie said he ambled about the garden, completely oblivious to her presence, snuffling about and making sure he had got every piece of cat biscuit on the lawn. He then shuffled off through the open gate, startling Mooney, who was wide-eyed with amazement!

We have seen badgers near the house before, and we now think this one was responsible for overturning our food bins the other week. We haven't seen any hedgehogs for ages, but we now seem to have a badger visit! We'll put some more cat biscuits down, plus water, and see what happens!

We did have some rain this morning, but it wasn't a lot, and certainly not enough to make any difference to our parched grass. Sophie and I sat in the garden with our coffees before having breakfast and making a start on our jobs. I had the Bolognese sauce to make, and Sophie blitzed her room. We were a busy household as I asked Keith to put up our "Place de L'Apero" plaque and I ordered some little hooks to display a couple of tiles that need fixing to the wall.

Although the sky clouded over at times, it was dry and breezy enough to get loads of laundry dry. We didn't see any rain at all. Sophie washed every single item on her bed, including the mattress protector and her throws. While this was going on, my Bolognese sauce simmered away on the hob.

We decided to eat a little earlier than normal, but watched the start of the Tour de France in Paris before I put the finishing touches to the meal. The Tour was doing three circuits of Montmartre, and we managed to see the hotel we stayed in!

Dinner was delicious (even I enjoyed it), and Sophie made a lovely batch of garlic bread to accompany the meal. After dinner, we relaxed and caught up with an episode of Best Medicine. It's Monday tomorrow, and my last week in my current job!

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?!