Storm Clodagh

I was awake at 3am this morning and doing a lot of coughing so I got up as Keith was having (at last) a good night's sleep. Downstairs I watched half an hour of a silly Christmas film called Jingle All the Way 2 before taking some cough medicine and going back to bed.

I woke up again, with a shock, at 9.40am and had to have a quick cup of coffee as I was meeting Lynda, Fiona and Andrea at Jones's after dropping Sophie off at work! Again, I could really have stayed at home and curled up on the sofa but I didn't want to let my friends down as I had a card for the wholesaler's and I hoped that after a shower and the coffee, I'd feel better.

The day started off with a hint of sunshine and maybe the slightest glimpse of blue skies and I really hoped that it would stay dry and mild. When I arrived at Jones's the car parks were packed with people trying to park and I could see it was going to be very busy. Even Jones's had jumped on the "Black Friday" bandwagon and were advertising discounts on various items!

The girls were waiting for me outside and I explained that I had a horrible cough and cold so they were very sympathetic. Lynda then produced a card of her own that she'd had for ages so that certainly took the pressure off me to stay with them to get them through the checkouts with the card. I said I was going to get a few bits for myself and then go home and they completely understood. I grabbed a hair colour and some moisturiser and then beat a hasty retreat!

Back home I cocooned myself into the warmth and cosiness of the conservatory (with Archie on the sofa) and stayed there for the remainder of the day! I did the crosswords in the paper, caught up with stuff on the internet and listened to the wind blowing outside. We now have Storm Clodagh passing over the British Isles and we have weather warnings out for today and tomorrow for wind. I then noticed that a trellis with our Jasmine growing over it had collapsed and fallen forward so Keith and I spent a very blustery ten minutes sorting that out!

Mum and Dad popped around later in the afternoon after going to see the new owners of their house. They met in the pub for coffee and said they got on with them really well. They still have some stuff to pick up but with the weather so bad today they'll have to leave it until another day. I really didn't fancy going out in the wind and rain and helping them load stuff into my car!