On my own!

I was on my own at work today as Sheila was on a day's annual leave and was visiting Skegness with a friend. I was a little nervous about working on my own, but I had a very productive day! I managed to do lots of training and worked out how to do a couple of jobs that Sheila had asked me to do. My manager, Dan, was in and out, so I wasn't completely alone. It was an enjoyable day!

Back home, it was great to look forward to my Wednesday off. It hasn't been too hot today, but the temperatures are set to climb tomorrow and on Thursday, in particular. We have an Amber heat warning coming into effect on Thursday morning, with temperatures set to rise to about 35-36c. 

Sophie and I sat and watched a very interesting documentary we'd recorded on Sky this evening before we had dinner. It was about a Norwegian woman who was trying to beat the record for climbing the fourteen highest peaks in under six months. They were all over 800 metres, and situated in Nepal, Pakistan and Tibet. It was quite a sad story, to be honest. I won't reveal what happened, but I will say one thing: perhaps humans aren't meant to be scaling these huge peaks. 

We had pate and toast for dinner; it's becoming a real chore finding meals that don't make us hot or use too much heat!

Happy times

Today would have been my Dad's 84th birthday. Here's a lovely photo of him celebrating his 70th with my Mum at the Wavendon Arms in 2012:

Happy Birthday, Dad xxx

Big fires everywhere...

I didn't have the best night's sleep, and I had no idea why. I woke up feeling a bit mopey and wished it was Saturday morning again! Sophie didn't go to the gym, so we both sat with a coffee and watched most of an episode of the second series of Stanley Tucci in Italy. It was great that I could ease into the day like I used to!

On the way to work, I called into a Tesco fuel station shop and bought milk for our fridge so I could enjoy my Tassimo coffee. The office was hot today, and it was bliss to escape and turn on the air conditioning in the car. As I neared home, I could see a plume of smoke in the distance, and it looked like it was near Walgrave. However, appearances can be deceptive, and I learnt when I arrived home that there was a fire near Corby at a recycling plant.

I then learnt that Mike's old place of work, Kingsthorpe Golf Club, was on fire as well!

Photo from the Chronicle & Echo website

This is getting serious now, and with another heatwave this week, we have been warned that there could be more fires breaking out.

It did feel a little cooler this evening, and Sophie decided to keep the cats in overnight. We had burgers for dinner and watched an episode of Celebrity Hunted. I don't know when it was filmed, but the countryside looked as dry as it is now!

Feeling the heat!

Sophie woke me from a vivid dream this morning in which an old neighbour was taking us to an Airbnb before we went on holiday. I realised I had no luggage with me, just a big bag of stir-fried vegetables. Perhaps the heat is finally getting to me! It took a while to shake off the dream; it was so real!

Sophie and I went to see my Mum at 11:00am, and I bought her a box of chocolates. When we arrived, she was lying in bed, and I found it difficult to wake her. She then didn't seem to realise it was us, which was a bit worrying. Eventually she came to fully, and we chatted, but she didn't seem right. I said I would take her for a drive and an ice-cream on Wednesday, and then popped into the lounge to speak to one of the carers about Mum. She assured me that yesterday, at the Fun Day, she'd been fine, but sometimes in the morning, she didn't want to get up.

Sophie and I said goodbye to my Mum and gave her a hug. Her room was hot, so maybe she was a bit dehydrated. We drove home, with the air conditioning full on as it was another warm day. I am fed up with this heat now and the terrible dryness affecting us in this part of the country.

Back at home, Sophie spent ages preparing tonight's dinner of Hainanese chicken and Basmati rice. She had so much to do, bless her! I helped out with what I could, and then we did some housework before having lunch of fish finger sandwiches and the last dregs of a bottle of white wine that had been languishing in the fridge.

The afternoon was spent relaxing after the housework, and I had enormous trouble submitting the first five hundred words of a novel I'd like to write to a competition. Our home PC is on its way out, and I needed to access Microsoft Word on it. In the end, Keith finally got it going for me!

Sophie and I played Scrabble in the early evening, and after a promising start, Sophie overtook me and won! We drank some more dregs of wine - a sweet Vouvray - before opening a bottle of sparkling wine from the same village. Sophie put the finishing touches to the meal, which was delicious! Her hot chilli sauce certainly made its presence felt!

After dinner, we watched a new French crime comedy called Carpe Diem, which is on Channel 4 on a Friday night. It was funny, and the setting of Nice was especially good. It's a worthy successor to Panda!

Changing plans

Sophie went to Daventry this morning to do a 5K run with her work buddy, Becky, and I had a relaxed start to the weekend. She achieved her fastest run yet, but had a disappointing breakfast afterwards, which made her feel queasy all day.

I pootled about, did a load of laundry and caught up with some jobs, and at 2:00pm we drove to The Tollemache (or Tolly) Arms in Harrington. The plan was to go and see my Mum first as I hadn't visited last week, but then I realised it was the care home's family fun day and we didn't fancy joining the hordes!

We sat inside the pub, in a little nook, and I kept getting told off by Sophie for people watching! There were so many staff that they were almost falling over each other! We had two drinks - I stuck with Guinness Zero - and had a good chat. At about 4:00pm, we left and drove via the A14 to the care home, but the family fun day was still in full swing with loads of people milling about, so we decided to visit my Mum tomorrow instead, when it would be quieter!

At home, we relaxed and then decided to watch Single White Female at 6:00pm. This is now becoming an enjoyable tradition! Sophie was adamant she hadn't seen the film before, but then realised a quarter of the way through that she had... we still enjoyed it, though, even though it was a bit far-fetched!

As Sophie still felt queasy, she didn't fancy dinner of beefburgers, so we made do with some tortilla chips and dip and then toast. Keith was equally happy not to eat and made himself some boiled eggs and toast.

After the film, we watched, in its entirety, Quantum of Solace, one of the most confusing Bond films I have ever seen. I read the plot but still didn't have a clue what was happening, and this was perhaps the third time I had seen it! However, it was nice to sit and watch Daniel Craig for over two hours!

Coffee? Sorted!

I was delighted to use a Tassimo coffee machine in the kitchen at work today! What a bonus! While Sheila made herself a cup of strong tea, I used the disc I'd taken in with me to make a coffee. This is more like it!

We had a very interesting and varied day today, tackling things like block bookings, invoicing, and contracts of employment. The job is certainly more interesting and varied than what I used to do, so I feel a lot happier.

We left just before 4:00pm, and I was home way before 4:30pm. It feels like I have some of my life back, as I'm not leaving until 7:30am in the morning. When Sophie arrived home, we cracked open a bottle of French white wine from near Carcassonne and indulged in some tortilla chips with a dip. We watched a very interesting episode of Fake or Fortune, which was about fifteen Lucian Freud etchings discovered in the garage of a printworks. There was no real conclusive answer, but each etching was still worth about £6,000-£8,000!

After Fake or Fortune, we watched the last Scandinavia programme with Simon Reeves. It was another eye-opener!

Feeling better!

Keith dropped me off at work this morning, and I had a much better day. We tidied up the timesheets and tackled the sickness spreadsheet, so that was all done. By mid-afternoon, we had submitted everything, which was a relief. Starting when I did, right at the beginning of the month, I was thrown in at the deep end, excuse the pun! I felt a lot happier, thank goodness!

It's a novelty getting home before 4:30pm, but that may change when the large school next to us resumes in September. I remember it took me a while to get out onto the main road, but it will be better than where I used to work!

Dinner tonight was a delicious cottage pie, and I was grateful that it felt a little cooler today. However, this is short-lived, as we are due yet another heatwave next week, with temperatures set to be in the mid-30s on Wednesday and Thursday. This is turning out to be one scorcher of a summer, and outdoor attractions must be loving it! It's not so good for indoor play places or the cinema!