A better day!

I woke up at 5:00am and was thinking about work, which was silly. I left early to get Sheila some flowers, chocolates and a card, as today was my last official day working with her.

Thankfully, I had a much better day, made even nicer by the scones, cream and jam that Sheila had made. There was a steady stream of people wishing her good luck in her retirement (even though she's working one day a week on a Wednesday) and tucking into the cakes!

We submitted the payroll sheets, and I tackled some of my emails and input a few contracts. I am going to have to get tough with the staff who continually make mistakes, as I won't have time to keep correcting them. They will soon learn! It was lovely to drive home and look forward to another three-day weekend. I am lucky, although I don't realise it at times!

We sat in the kitchen this evening, chatted, and enjoyed a very simple supper of pizza/quiche and roasted vegetables. The cats have been very good this week, as the weather has been changeable and there's been a lot more rain, so it's been easy to get them in! This makes Sophie's life so much better, and she loves getting them in early and taking them upstairs for a furry love-in!

Feeling overwhelmed!

Today has been another crazy day, and our regional manager came in to talk to us about the prospect of accepting cash payments at our sites in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure that today was the best day to talk about it, as both Sheila and I felt a little overwhelmed. One of the things that our manager hinted to me when Sheila was out of the office was that my colleague tends to overcomplicate things, and I agreed. Some of the processes can be more streamlined, and I was reminded that we were there to record the data, not investigate!

Keith came to pick me up, and I said that I wasn't sure if I'd made the right decision, as there was so much to do and Dan, our manager, had asked Sheila to do a last-minute job at 4:00pm. I don't mind staying later, but I will need to have notice, as I can't have Keith sitting and waiting for me for half an hour.

Keith was out tonight watching Sileby play, so Sophie and I had planned jerk chicken pasta for dinner. The chicken had been marinating since yesterday, and I prepared the rest of the ingredients when I got home from work.

We enjoyed a bottle of Chardonnay with the meal, which was a lovely balance of heat and creaminess. It was delicious! We watched two episodes of A Place in the Sun, followed by a deeply moving and saddening documentary about babies that were forcibly given away for adoption in the 60s and 70s.

Keith came home from the match, all bundled up in a coat and a scarf. Is summer finally over?

Back to reality!

After a lovely three-day Bank Holiday weekend, it was back down to earth with a bump today and payroll week! Sheila let me do everything by myself today, and I managed to get two lots of timesheets onto the system before we finished at 4:00pm. It had been very busy indeed, and the time had whizzed past!

It was lovely to go home and relax, but unusually, I'm back in tomorrow and having Friday off instead. 

As is the tradition, here are the 2026 storm names:

Austen

Boelo

Chloe

Dano

Evelyn

Finn

Gwendolyn

Heather

Ivy

Jade

Kilian

Laoise

Miriam

Nicola

Olaf

Phelim

Ruban

Shaun

Theo

Vesna

Wende

Apparently, according to the news, we're in for a stormy winter because of the Super El Niño. We shall see!

Bank Holiday freedom!

It felt lovely to not have to work today, as normally I used to go in on most of the Bank Holidays! We had talked about going on a mooch today, but in the end, Sophie and I decided to go over to Weedon, with Keith preferring to stay at home and watch the cricket.

Over a coffee, we booked our Eurostar to Brussels and Antwerp for November, and a ferry for Christmas in France. It's wonderful to have something to look forward to, and I just hope we'll be taking the VW with us! No doubt, I will hear about the repairs next week, and I'm praying the car won't be written off.

Sophie and I set off in Olive at about 11am, and Jeeves took us on a tortuous route to get to Weedon as one of the roads was closed. We ended up on a narrow road, full of potholes, and I was dreading damaging one of Olive's tyres. The accident last week has really shaken me up, and although I know it won't knock my confidence, I am driving a little more nervously, which isn't a good idea!

When we arrived at Weedon Bec, we were surprised to see so many cars parked. This hub of independent retail outlets has obviously become more popular! We parked a little distance from the antique and vintage shop and made for the bookshop and café on the first floor.

The place was busy, and there were stacks and piles of books everywhere! Sophie ordered us two teas, and we shared a Biscoff brownie. Even our table had a pile of books on it, and we could hardly move for the tomes everywhere!

I had the feeling that the shop had become very popular and the staff were unable to cope. Our cups of tea were almost forgotten, and the two young girls behind the counter looked a bit stressed! As we sat and enjoyed our drinks and the brownie, we suddenly smelt a horrible odour. I only hope it was the dog opposite and not the man sitting behind us, but it was awful. It then happened again, so we hurriedly finished our drinks and went to look at the books. 

Sophie and I are definitely in the minority at the moment in that we don't take a dog with us. Virtually everyone had some sort of mutt in tow, whether they were just browsing or having a drink and snack in the café. Can't these dogs be left alone for a couple of hours? I'm really not keen on having them everywhere we go!

We had a look at the books, but they were just piled up everywhere, haphazardly and without any organisation. I itched to put them in order!

I think maybe it's time to stop accepting donations and sell the books you have before taking on any more!

We felt so overwhelmed by the books that we left and went downstairs to look at the antiques. However, even here it was chaotic, and there was a horrible, suffocating smell in the shop. We've never experienced this before during our visits, and we've always had an enjoyable time. I don't think the vibes were right, and apologies for the moaning! It may be a while before we venture back!

From Weedon Bec, we drove to the Heart of the Shires shopping village and had a look around before our lunch booking at 1:30pm. We noticed a new garden centre, another little courtyard of shops and some changes to the existing retail outlets. Neither of us was tempted by anything, even though I was on the lookout for a new Gin class.

What had once been Darlington's and then The 1867 was now simply The Tea Room, and we were shown to a table off the main rooms. We chose a chicken, bacon and cheese toastie (me) and a Club Sandwich (Sophie) with a glass of white wine. At first, we didn't think we'd be served quickly, but that proved wrong, and we were soon tucking into our sandwiches and wine. Even the two tables in the small ante-room had dogs with them!

Outside, the previously good weather turned, and rain began to pelt down! We paid the bill (our wine was on the house as it had arrived after we started eating... we didn't argue!) and ran to the car, getting soaked in the process!

Before heading home, we called into an Asda Express shop to buy some wine for tonight. We have lots of bottles of red but none of white (well, ones that are suitable for weekday drinking!), so I bought a bottle of white Burgundy and my lunch for tomorrow.

Back home, it was time to relax and read before Sophie put the finishing touches to a Mulligatawny soup she'd made. I enjoyed a Russian film called Compartment No. 6, which was lovely and was a collaboration between Russia, Finland, Estonia and Europe. It was a moving and wonderful film, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Trying something new

Sophie drove to Daventry this morning to do a run with her work buddy, Becky, while I did some housework. On her way home, she called at The Workhouse in Brixworth to get a matcha and a pastry for us. We sat and chatted at the kitchen island and enjoyed our impromptu lunch!

First thing this morning, I had covered almost a pound of cherries with caster sugar and cherry liqueur as the first stage of making a cherry clafoutis. Once Sophie came home, we did the rest of the preparations together, making the batter and a buerre noisette (a brown butter). I was frightened it would burn, but it didn't, thank goodness! We added the cherries and juice to the batter mixture and popped the dessert into the oven to cook for about forty minutes.

Once it had cooked, we let it cool down a little before serving it with cream. I didn't want to have it after our curry tonight as we rarely eat dessert late in the evening, so it was an afternoon treat!

The afternoon was spent relaxing, and Sophie and I watched an episode of Escape to the Sun about a couple wanting to move to Costa Rica to live, even though they had never visited before. Predictably, they didn't buy anything, and when we Googled them, they're still living in the UK!

Before our dinner of Keith's curry, we played Scrabble and Sophie beat me. This is becoming the norm! Our meal was delicious, and we followed this up with an episode of Carpe Diem, which is rapidly becoming one of our favourites!

Art and music

Sophie and I caught a train to St Pancras this morning as we had tickets for a Frida Kahlo exhibition at Tate Modern. I was a little worried about getting a seat on the train as there is a rail workers' strike planned for tomorrow and Monday, but the train was almost empty, and we had a choice of seats.

Once at St Pancras, we went in search of a matcha, but the coffee outlet Sophie wanted to go to was busy with no seats available. We decided to get a taxi to Tate Modern and have something to drink there. Our spell of hot, dry weather had come to an end and today was cool and showery. We had a pleasant taxi ride to Tate Modern, and made straight for the Corner Café where we enjoyed a matcha latte and a free glass of water.

The bar in the Corner Café

Our booking was for 12pm, so we had plenty of time to explore the permanent exhibitions. It was lovely to pick a hall and have a wander around. I'm not a huge fan of modern art; most of it I don't get and think a lot is pretentious, and today my views remained unchanged. I was surprised to see a lot of very young children visiting with their parents and thought that some of the artwork was definitely not suited to them!

One exhibit featured a Guatemalan artist, Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa, whose work was in response to his life in Guatemala at a time when the country was undergoing a civil war. Three videos made up his work, all of them quite disturbing:

He made people lie down on paint-covered metal netted beds so the colour was then transported to their bodies... I thought it was ominous and sinister. In another, he was painting a model with blue paint, and in the third, he was standing in a part of Guatemala that housed the dead, and carrying a block of ice that slowly melted.

Tate Modern

There were other, more traditional pieces of art, and we were delighted to see a painting by Magritte:

And other works by Mark Rothko, Ben Nicholson, Piet Mondrian and Andy Warhol.

Piet Mondrian

Andy Warhol

Mark Rothko

We did our best to understand some of them (the Piet Mondrian squares represented the different sections of society...) and also tried to interpret some very strange art installations:

Apparently, this was about refugees fleeing their country

Large, weird installation where a big animal had defecated

One exhibit was sobering:

This was about the persecution, rape and murder of women in Indonesia. The artist appeared on a video banging a drum and chanting. This was definitely not suitable for children.

Another one not suitable for children

Henri Matisse The Snail

We tried to get into the Frida Kahlo exhibition a little early, but we were told it was busy, so we relaxed on a couple of chairs for ten minutes and watched the comings and goings of people visiting. Sophie had paid £25 each for the tickets, and we hoped it wouldn't be rammed with people.

At 12pm, we headed up the escalator to level 3, and we were admitted into the exhibition. Our fears about it being busy were realised, and there was a veritable scrum around the original Frida Kahlo paintings. I was hoping to see lots of her artwork, but it seemed to be more of a homage to the Mexican painter, with other artists represented as well. Her traditional Tehuana dresses were on display, as well as photographs, videos and personal effects.

Not sure how Mooney managed to appear in this self-portrait when she died in 1954...

One section warned of exhibits concerned with sexual violence and miscarriage, and I saw a little girl in the queue waiting to go in...

Unfortunately, we were both a little disappointed with the exhibition, and I had expected to see more of her artwork. Photography was allowed with some paintings, others not, but I think to see her famous artwork you would need to go to Mexico.

At the end of the exhibition, there was a shop, and Sophie bought a pack of playing cards, a postcard, and a coaster. We tried to get a table at the rooftop restaurant for a drink, but after waiting about twenty minutes, we gave up. The views here were fantastic, with St Paul's Cathedral directly opposite.

We decided to try the ground-floor café for a drink, but it was rammed, so we headed straight to Shake Shack, our choice for lunch. Outside, it was raining, but it wasn't cold.

We strolled over the Millennium Bridge, turned right and walked the short distance to the burger restaurant. Both of us were hungry, and I think our bellies ruled our heads as we ordered a triple Smoke burger each, with fries. Sophie's were covered in cheese and bacon. I was delighted to choose a glass of red with my meal, while Sophie opted for her favourite, a 50/50, which was iced tea and lemonade.

We sat at a table near the open kitchen, and I was fascinated by the amount of food being prepared and served!

The burgers were delicious, but they were huge! I ended up deconstructing mine just to be able to get it in my mouth! I dread to think how many calories there were, but it was a rare treat, and we hadn't planned on eating again today!

We had no plans to go anywhere else today, so we finished our meals, went outside and hailed a black cab to take us to The Renaissance Hotel. Our plan was to have a drink in The Booking Office and then catch an earlier train home.

Our taxi whisked us back, and we were able to bag a table in the gorgeous bar. It's definitely one of our truly favourite places to visit! Sophie ordered a Negroni, while I chose a Campari served with Fevertree Blood Orange Soda. The drink was scrumptious!

It was heaven to sit and sip our drinks and do some people watching. On a table to the right of us was a man and a woman who we thought were on a date. The man truly loved the sound of his own voice and droned on and on, hardly letting the woman speak! I would have made my excuses and left!

While we sat and relaxed, we chatted about next Saturday when we're back in London to see a podcast festival at the South Bank Centre with David McCloskey and Gordon Corera. We decided to go to London later in the day, see the show and then have dinner at The Booking Office before catching a train home.

We had another round of drinks (this time Sophie had a sparkling English wine) and then caught the next train, which left just before 4pm. It was a fast train stopping at Kettering and a couple of other stations before hurtling off to Nottingham. It was great, but the only thing that spoilt the journey was a family group who were very loud!

Keith picked us up, and we headed home to watch Newcastle, and then our much-anticipated Bond Night at The Proms, shown on BBC2. We had a couple of cocktails and enjoyed the fantastic music! It had been a brilliant, very arty day!

Frustrations!

I took the courtesy car to work, and it was fine to drive, if a little too responsive when I braked! Today has been quite frustrating because the contracts I uploaded to our payroll system the other day had been rejected. One document had been rejected twice! It was a little disheartening, especially as we all had no clue why!

We've had rain again today, but I didn't hear any thunder. Keith went to the pub as usual, and Sophie and I opened a delicious bottle of Italian Pinot Gris while watching a BBC documentary about the 9/11 terrorist attack. It was about the President's immediate response to the events and was very interesting. I didn't realise that George Bush was so handsome back in 2001!

Dinner tonight was a very easy meal of fish finger sandwiches, rather than the curry we had planned! An easy end to a difficult week!