Same old, same old...!

Monday and Tuesday have almost been identical this week!

Masses of emails at work ✔

Masses of phone calls at work ✔

Too much to do, too little time  ✔

Relaxing around the kitchen island after a busy day at work ✔

Watching episodes of Shetland and wondering whether I fancy Douglas Henshall or not? ✔

At least the weather was pleasant on Monday, although we had sunshine and showers! It's been bitterly cold, as well, but I'm now driving to work in the light and coming home in daylight, so that's a boost to the mood! It's school half-term in our area this week, so the roads have been quieter on both journeys. 

I had an interesting conversation with one of my colleagues on Tuesday afternoon about keeping up with the news, as a fair few of our customers still seem to be unaware of the imminent loss of three of our centres, which has been advertised on our website and in correspondence to customers. There has also been much said on Facebook, with several heated discussions taking place.

This colleague informed me she has no interest in social media whatsoever (OK, I'm fine with that) but never watches the news or reads a newspaper... She said she preferred to remain in a bubble without knowing what was going on. I was astounded! We always make a point of watching the headlines of the news at 6:00pm, and I would just have to know what's going on in the world and how it may affect me! Why bury your head in the sand! She's an adult, surely she needs to know what's going on in both the UK and the rest of the world? I'm not as informed as some people, but I have a working knowledge of what's happening, and I hope I can be able to comment on news items! 

The world is a bit of a frightening place at the moment, and we don't revel in upsetting news stories, but if we go away on holiday and don't have access to a British newspaper or news channel, I always worry I'm missing out!

I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow, and not having to answer any emails! Bring it on!

A lunchtime treat

Keith and I went over to see Mum this morning and stayed with her for a little while. She'd had another fall yesterday but seemed fine. I am having trouble contacting her on the phone lately, which is a shame, as at least we were able to speak every day. 

Back home, we got ready to go to the pub for Sunday roast, something we were all looking forward to, especially as the weather was horrible again! It has rained all morning, and the roads out towards Mawsley were starting to flood.

The pub was packed, and we sat and had a drink before our meal. The fire had been lit, and it was lovely and cosy to sit and natter! At 2:30pm, we were seated in the snug and chose our meals, with Sophie and me opting for the roast chicken, while Keith was brave and decided to have the trio of roasts - chicken, beef and gammon. We had starters as well - chicken wings for Keith and Sophie, and a goat's cheese and beetroot tart for me.

We were all pretty hungry by now, so as soon as the food arrived, we tucked in! The starters were delicious and set us up beautifully for the traditional main courses. Keith looked at his plate in amazement when it was served, as it was piled high with food, including a huge Yorkshire pudding and three mammoth roast potatoes! He genuinely struggled to eat everything! We certainly didn't have any room for pudding!

Just as we were finishing our meal, a party of people from our estate came in and sat behind us, so we said hello. We much prefer this pub to the one in Walgrave now, as the staff are always efficient and friendly, and the food is lovely. Sophie and I are looking forward to walking up in the summer and sitting in the garden with a drink!

Back home, it was time to relax and while away the cold and wet afternoon! We snoozed in the living room, and Keith and I caught up with a couple of episodes of Shetland in the evening. We are well and truly hooked!

At last! Some sun!

We had a relaxed start to the weekend, and it was great to see the sun shining. It was cold, though, and we had frosty patterns on the conservatory roof again.

At 11:00am, I drove Sophie to Daisy's house in Moulton, as they were going to Olney with Laura to have a mooch about the shops and eat lunch. I had forgotten it was Valentine's Day today, and the girls had renamed it "Galentine's Day"!

I haven't done a lot today, and I didn't feel guilty one bit! I pootled about the house, and in the afternoon, I researched houses in Normandy for my birthday in 2027! I picked out seven possible contenders to show to Sophie when she came home later. We want to stay closer to Deauville next year as we both love this stretch of the coast.

Keith went to see Sileby play, so I put the heating on and had a long, hot shower as I felt cold. Afterwards, I watched a couple of episodes of Ever Decreasing Circles and had a little nap. What a relaxed afternoon! Both cats have been in today, and I didn't blame them as it was so cold outside!

Keith came home at 5:00pm, chilled to the bone, and immediately switched on the England-Scotland rugby match he'd recorded. Sophie texted me to say she was on her way home, so after they'd dropped Laura off, I drove to Moulton to pick her up from Daisy's house.

On the way home, she told me about her day. She'd bought two of David McCloskey's books, some tulips for me, and a couple of items of clothing. Neither Laura nor Daisy bought anything, not even a book!

We sat and had a look at the houses I'd picked out with a small cocktail. Each house was lovely, but in the end we decided on a sweet bungalow in Houlgate, one of our favourite towns. It's where we collect shells on the beach, and the town is beautiful and very close to Deauville. We didn't even have to pay a deposit! The owner contacted us straightaway, so we were delighted. Another little trip to look forward to!

Sophie had eaten Italian today, so she didn't have dinner with Keith and me, which was prawn salad, served with wholemeal bread. I prepared it while Keith watched the Newcastle-Aston Villa game, and Sophie and I opened a bottle of Italian Pinot Grigio. 

After eating, we watched Alan and Amanda in Corfu, followed by an episode of Masterchef: The Professionals, as Matt Tebbutt is now a judge!

Yippee! It's the last day of the working week!

I was mightily glad it was Friday and the end of another week. I apologise if the blog has been a little lacklustre lately... this winter is dragging on and on, and the weather is getting to all of us. My painful cyst hasn't really healed, and the antibiotics that I've been prescribed aren't suiting me at all. I long for warmer, sunnier days, as we all do!

Sara had told me that she had asked Nicola if we could postpone the moan report for a while as we were so busy, but our MD had wanted us to carry on, so I finished December's report this afternoon. At least in May, I won't have so much to do! I also enrolled a number of people on a lifeguard course that's taking place next week, and tackled as many emails as I could.

Back home, I caught up with an episode of Ever Decreasing Circles, which never fails to make me smile and cheer me up. When Sophie arrived, we opened a bottle of "Orange" wine from Austria and watched the last hour and a half of Rebecca. I wasn't keen on the orange wine at first, but it grew on me!

With an easy dinner of fishcakes and mash for dinner, and the figure skating from the Winter Olympics on after we'd eaten, we had a lovely, relaxing evening!

Another week speeding by!

I was helping to cover our 10:00am to 4:00pm shift today, so I didn't have to go to work so early. I was able to have a little lie-in, and Keith and I left the house just after 9:00am.

Kathy had also volunteered to help, so she covered the phones until 2:00pm, and then I took over. Needless to say, we had lots of emails to deal with, and the calls and queries are ramping up after posts have appeared on Facebook about the changes taking place, with people criticising Everyone Active, West Northamptonshire Council and us. It's horrible reading some of the comments, and we're obviously not allowed to hit back at what people are saying.

It was a relief to leave at 4:00pm and head home. As there was so much pasta bake left last night, we decided to have it again tonight, with any remaining food left for Sophie's lunches. It was great not to have to cook tonight, and Keith and I played cards while Sophie read her latest book by Salman Rushdie. Rather her than me!

In search of lost items...

Both Keith and I had an appointment at the GP surgery for routine blood tests this morning, so once that was out of the way, we decided to go to Beckworth Emporium and have a look at the food side of the store. 

It was a wet, miserable day again, and the roads were awash with water. I don't think I've ever known such a prolonged period of rainfall for the country. I was expecting Beckworth to be quiet, but it was packed, so we made our purchases and fled home. Keith wasn't in the mood for looking around anyway, as he's not a fan of the place!

Back at home, I pootled about doing a few jobs and then went to see my Mum. She had lost the remote control for the television, so it was a difficult visit as she wasn't making a lot of sense, and I didn't even have a programme such as A Place in the Sun to alleviate the gloom! I searched and searched for the remote control, but I had no idea where it was, so when I left, I let one of the carers know, so at least Mum could watch some television. The thought of her sitting there staring into space didn't bear thinking about.

 

Back home, I did some more jobs, hoovered and lit the candles to make the house cosy. Sophie cooked a delicious beefy pasta bake for dinner, and it was lovely, accompanied by a fruity Malbec!

A manic Tuesday!

I started work at 7:30am this morning because I needed to leave early for my nurse appointment. As I predicted, we had over 150 emails to deal with, and although I did my best, there were still over 80 left to do when I finished at 3:30pm.

I followed the SatNav advice and arrived at the surgery just after 4:00pm. No sunshine to accompany me home tonight; it was grey and rainy! The nurse called me in, and I explained that I'd seen my GP in October, but that over the last couple of days, the cyst had become red and sore. I'd tried hot and cold compresses, but nothing had worked. She examined it and said she was going to prescribe me a course of penicillin, and she also took my temperature, which was fine.

As soon as I arrived home, I took a tablet, with another one planned for just before bed. I really want to get rid of this cyst as it's painful and horrible! When Sophie arrived home, she'd had a stressful day, so we had a drink while watching Rick Stein in the Languedoc-Roussillon area of France. How I wish we were there with him!