Storm Barney

It was back to normal for Sophie today and, again, I took both kids to school and uni while Keith stayed at home in the warm. He's no better at all today so I said I'd go out and buy him some medicine.

I called my Mum and she came out with me to Kettering. We went to B&M first as I was looking for candles and sherry for my forthcoming Come Dine With Me evening on Friday. It's been a bleak horrible day today with mist and rain. However, it's still very mild for this time of year, so that, at least, is some consolation!

I didn't see any candles in B&M, or Sherry, but I did buy a bottle of white wine to go in my onion soup and a much smaller bottle to use when I cook my Pasta Carbonara tomorrow. I also bought some medicine for Keith and two advent calendars for the kids.

From B&M we went to Aldi and I bought a few essentials before we headed to Tesco. Mum very kindly treated me to a Flat White in Costa before I did a little bit more shopping. Keith wanted some ham and Pease Pudding for lunch and I had a real job tracking the tinned stuff down!

Sophie called me to pick her up early from Uni which was good as the two children and I had a dentist appointment later in the afternoon. The earlier mist and rain had given way to clear skies and an increasingly strong wind - Storm Barney was sweeping in and we'd been given a weather warning for our part of the country for wind!

Of course, Mike was home later than usual from school so he had literally five minutes to get ready to go out again. Just enough time to eat one of the desserts I bought in Aldi! We braved the wind and half way on our journey something hit the car windscreen which gave us all a start. I think it may have been a twig or stone, but thankfully there was no damage. All along the road, though, we twigs and small branches brought down by the gales.

At the dentist, Mike was treated to a small filling while Sophie and I had a scale and polish...horrible! I could feel myself really tensing up even though the treatment was over in a matter of minutes! On the way back home the wind seemed even stronger and I wished heartily that Mike didn't have to go to Army Cadets later. It was the perfect night to draw the curtains, light a fire and shut the weather out!

Keith was supposed to have been going to the football tonight, but because of his cold, he didn't go. It didn't stop Sophie and I having a bit of a girls' night in, though, and after we'd eaten we watched some of the film Unknown until it was time for Keith and I to go and collect Mike. During the course of the evening, Sue and Paul's bin went crashing to the ground because of the wind so I ran out to put it back upright and try and shelter it. People who had put their recycling boxes out for collection the next day were a bit foolish as there were bottles and papers flying about all over the place. Phew!