What a row!

This morning came around far too fast, and I could have done with another day off! Just after I arrived, a painter and decorator arrived to paint the walls outside the office and brought his radio with him, which he switched on loudly! It was a bloody good thing that it wasn't payroll week; if it had been, I would have had a few words to say! Liam came into the office this morning, and I steeled myself for more pen clicking, but he didn't make a sound, thank goodness. He did have a few loud meetings, though, and by the time I left at 4:00pm, I was yearning for peace and quiet!

Back home, I vacuumed again and then caught up with writing this! There's always something to do! Sophie came home and made a start on the beef stroganoff after packing up two more parcels again. She had posted a couple more on her way home, and we decided to end the current listings for the time being.

After a delicious and spicy dinner, Sophie and I went upstairs to watch a new drama on Sky, called War. It starred Samuel West and Sienna Miller. It looks very promising indeed!

Busy Sunday!

We have managed to cram a lot into today, and it's been busier than a normal laid-back Sunday! Last night, we sold a few bits and pieces on eBay, and Sophie packed them up so we could post them today. 

We went to Milton Keynes because Sophie needed to go to M&S for a new sports bra, and I wanted to visit The Perfume Shop to recycle a whole bag of empty perfume bottles I'd been collecting and couldn't bear to throw out. It was the first time I'd taken Celine onto the motorway, and she drove beautifully, something I couldn't say about some of the other drivers who thought it was acceptable to sit in one lane and stay there, oblivious to all around them. I turned on the hybrid part on the first part of the journey, but switched to electric when we turned off the M1.

Parking outside M&S was difficult, so we headed to the multi-storey and parked on the very top level where there were loads of spaces. It must be about six years since we visited, and definitely not since covid, so I was interested to see what changes had taken place. 

Well, Debenhams had gone, and H&M had moved, and some other shops had also changed locations, including Levi's. We headed for M&S first and had difficulty finding the sports clothes. When we eventually located them, Sophie picked out a lovely T-shirt to wear, and then we returned to the first floor to get her a sports bra, which she tried on, just in case. She was pleased with her choice and jumped about a bit in the changing room to make sure nothing jiggled about!

Being in M&S brought back a flood of memories: shopping in there for the children's clothes when they were small, meeting friends for coffee, Christmas shopping and enjoying lunches in the café. I also loved shopping in the Food Hall, especially choosing items for Christmas hampers for the grandmothers. Perhaps we'll go over a bit more often!

We decided to walk to John Lewis and have lunch, depositing the perfume bottles on the way. It was busy, but not uncomfortably so, and it didn't take us long to get to John Lewis, stopping briefly in the Bath and Body Shop on the way to see if I could get a replacement car air freshener.

John Lewis was stuffed with a huge choice of clothes, homeware, shoes, handbags and cosmetics. It really was a shopping-lover's dream, and we marvelled at the items on offer, including special tableware for Halloween and Christmas. We saw Christmas trees on the ground floor, and it won't be long before the festive season is really making its presence felt!

We took the escalator up to the top floor, where the café is situated, and made a beeline for the soup stand as we had fond memories of their Moroccan chicken soup. Sadly, they had changed it to a creamy, coconutty chicken laksa soup, accompanied by a crusty bread roll and butter.

The café wasn't busy at all, and there were lots of free tables. I chatted to Sophie about how we used to visit to buy school uniform for her and Mike, which was near the café, but they don't seem to be selling uniform anymore. I think the standards have slipped a little; there were no napkins, the cutlery was grubby, and trolleys full of dirty trays stood waiting to be emptied. The soup was delicious, though, and filled us up! When we finished, we walked back to the car, visiting a busy Waterstones on the way. It was a good trip, and I enjoyed visiting again after such a long absence. We'll definitely have to go again!

We headed back to Northampton and made a detour to Moulton to send off our parcels, which was very easy. We even managed to get rid of a parcel with Royal Mail as they had a locker, too. From Moulton, we drove to Kettering to see my Mum and stayed with her for a chat. I feel a bit guilty that I haven't spent much time with her lately, but I've been so busy with work and life! It's her birthday next month, so I will try to spoil her then.

Back home, it was time to relax, and Sophie asked if we could have breaded chicken for dinner with salad rather than the planned beef stroganoff. I readily agreed! It had been a busy day!

An indulgent day!

We all had a lazy start to the weekend and enjoyed a couple of coffees first thing. Keith put our new vacuum cleaner together, and I gave it a whizz around the house! It certainly brought up the pile of the carpet, and I was impressed! It doesn't take a lot to please me!

Mid-morning, Sophie and I drove to Market Harborough in Celine. Sophie was able to pair her phone with the car so we could listen to our playlists, very important for when we go to France next week! After parking, we headed straight for Just So Italian and as it was almost lunchtime, I chose a sausage roll with my coffee, while Sophie settled for an almond croissant.

When my sausage roll arrived, it was accompanied by a huge pile of rocket salad and some crisps. I wasn't expecting that! It was delicious, though, and filled me up! From the café, we went to Denham's to ask for their advice about one of my rings and a Tiffany necklace that Sophie wanted to sell. The two women were offhand and dismissive, and sneered when we asked if they bought Tiffany's jewellery. We left and went across the road to Steffan's, where the shop was packed, and the staff were much friendlier! Sophie left her necklace with them, and they said they would verify it and get back to her.

We then spent a happy hour browsing in the array of charity shops on the High Street and looking at books in Waterstones. I spotted a copy of David McCloskey's latest novel, which had been signed by him, and Sophie couldn't resist buying it. I also treated myself to two new books. I haven't read a novel on my Kindle for a while now, and I've gone back to reading proper books, as encouraged by my daughter!

When we were all shopped out (Sophie bought two lovely dresses), we headed for The Wine Shed and managed to get a cosy table inside. We ordered a glass of wine each; I chose a white Rioja while Sophie opted for a Riesling. We also ordered a platter of nibbles and paté and bread.

It was lovely to sit and chat and enjoy the food and wine. A fair few other people had the same idea, and the place was busy and buzzing with locals having a pleasant afternoon. We didn't want to leave, so we ordered a cake apiece - a cornflake cake for Sophie, and a frangipani concoction for me, which we ended up swapping!

A group of women had come in, and I'm guessing it was some kind of hen party, as the noise levels rose a bit, which propelled us out of our comfortable seats and back into the Autumn afternoon.

We had a lovely drive home, and before relaxing, Sophie took Mooney for a walk around the estate. He loved squirming about in the fallen leaves on the green!

Owl face

When Sophie returned, we started watching Anora, starring Mikey Madison and Yura Borisov, who was in Compartment No. 6 the other night. It was a fabulous film, a bit sweary and sexy, but very funny, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I was particularly pleased that real Russian actors played the parts of Russians, not people pretending to be Russian! 

We had a late, light supper of fish finger sandwiches and watched BBC2 and hits from 1976. What memories came flooding back!

A good ending to the week!

Liam came waltzing into the office this morning, and my heart sank. He's a lovely lad, but the pen clicking the other day drove me crazy. I had vowed that if he started again, I would say something, and I did... he was absolutely fine about it and said he didn't realise he was doing it! He also asked for another pen to use, so all was good!

I struggled with the cinema at first, but then, miraculously, it all fell into place. I replayed the meeting that I'd recorded the other morning and managed to get Digger, Verity, Tad the Magic Lamp, and Heart of the Beast onto our system, with the resized images on the website. I was so relieved and proud that I had persevered and done it! Hooray! I spent the whole day on the cinema admin and sent off the figures to the various companies, as our contact at the Independent Cinema Office had asked where they were! This was another aspect I had to figure out for myself and decide which report to use!

It was great to escape at 4:00pm and go home to relax. Keith went to the pub, and Sophie and I opened a bottle of Chardonnay and watched Compartment No. 6. As I predicted, Sophie loved the film but not, sadly, the wine, and switched to a Viognier instead!

Sophie and I stayed up late this evening to watch Graham Norton as Alexander Skarsgård was on the show with Olivia Colman to promote their new film, Wicker, which looks a bit quirky!

Early morning frustrations!

I hit a new low this morning when I went to work and discovered that Sheila had ignored the list of things I'd asked her to do and had concentrated on the payroll instead, something I was planning to do today. I was furious, as what's the point of asking her to do things I need help with? She had printed off the corrections sheets, which I wasn't planning to do (there's absolutely no need) and had even queried what I'd done! I felt utterly despondent. She called me mid-morning, and I was quite short with her, which then made me feel guilty!

As the day wore on, I felt a bit better and managed to get a lot done. I am going to concentrate on the cinema admin tomorrow, as I have to master how to put films onto the system! Before going at 4:00pm, I submitted the corrections sheets even though there were no corrections to be made! I just hope I've done everything correctly!

Sophie went out for a meal with her friends Daisy and Laura in the evening, and Keith and I had a lacklustre dinner. He ate one of the ready meals he'd bought, while I settled for cheese on toast. After eating, I soaked in the bath as it's been colder today and we had the heating on for the first time since last winter. Brrrr!

Sophie arrived home at about 10:45 pm, and we had a chat before going to bed. I'm so glad it's Friday tomorrow!

Splashing out!

Keith and I were determined to sort out the en-suite today, and choose the shower, sink and loo, as well as the tiles. Sophie woke me just before she went to work, and I had a coffee before getting ready to go to Wickes.

We drove to Riverside in pouring rain; it was a horrible day and was chilly and wet with heavy grey cloud. We had a look at the tiles first, and Keith was amused that I was carrying a beautiful bottle around with me, my inspiration for the en-suite colour scheme! Upstairs in Wickes, where various bathrooms were set out, I found a lovely shower enclosure that was bigger than the one we have now. This set off a slight bickerfest about the space we have available, but I loved the roomier shower and made a note of the make.

We wandered around some more and spotted a loo/sink combination, but on reflection, I think the sink is too tiny!

Too small? And the cabinet in green.

And I loved these tiles for the walls:

I'm going for a green theme, carried over from the bedroom, which is teal/greeny blue.

Jamie wasn't in, so we left a message with one of his colleagues and asked if he could call us to make another appointment. We have abandoned the idea of a pocket door and moving the radiator to simplify the plan.

Before going home, we went to depression central, the Weston Favell Centre. I avoid going here as much as I can, but I needed to go to the post office to pay in a cheque for the unused car tax on the VW, for the grand sum of £8.75!

We decided to have a coffee and something to eat in Greggs, and we both chose a corned beef pasty. This was a big mistake, as it was so hot that we could barely eat it, and I burnt my mouth. I won't have that again!

After popping to the post office, we bought a few bits in Tesco, and I treated Sophie and me to a bottle of white Burgundy as an antidote to the misery that's the Weston Favell Centre! We sloshed our way home, where I did some housework and tidied up. Jamie called us in the afternoon, and we arranged to go and see him again on the 21st of October. I'm hoping we can get the en-suite plans finalised and everything ordered. I would love to be able to use my en-suite again!

Later in the afternoon, I hoovered, but there is something wrong with our vacuum cleaner now! The brush wasn't turning properly, and the lights were going on and off. Keith suggested we get a new one from Amazon, so we did! We chose a Vacmaster vacuum with a pet attachment, due to be delivered on Friday. Hooray! Our old Shark vacuum hasn't worked properly for ages and makes hoovering an even bigger chore!

We watched the last two episodes of The Little Drummer Girl this evening, and the ending was most satisfactory, even though we are sad it's now finished. I don't think we watched the series in its entirety last time, as I didn't remember much beyond episode three! We now need to find a good alternative!

White Burgundy and the en-suite inspiration bottle!

Frustrations!

I decided to concentrate on the cinema admin today and arranged a meeting with one of the staff from our support hub to go through how to input the films again. I asked if I could record the meeting, so I had it for reference later, but I still struggled, especially with resizing the film stills that had to be uploaded to our website. In my old job, our marketing manager did this, and I have had no training on this aspect at all!

It was extremely frustrating, and I hated that I didn't know what I was doing. I've had no training on Teams either, which I loathe - seeing myself on the screen is a form of torture - and the young man who I had the meeting with must have thought I was a complete idiot as he sent me stuff via the portal, which I then couldn't find. I went through exactly what he told me to do with resizing the images on Adobe Express, but it wouldn't work. I even enlisted the help of two of our younger staff, but they were perplexed as well!

I had a long, hard think about this job on the drive home; I gave up my old position in which I knew how to do almost everything, to go through the ordeal of not having a clue most of the time what I'm doing, and having nobody with me to help. Dan is off sick still, and will be for the next month at least, so I don't have him as a sounding board.

Back at home, I relaxed on the sofa with Sophie, who had a headache and then fell asleep. We left Keith to cook dinner tonight and afterwards went upstairs to watch episode six of The Little Drummer Girl. It was riveting!