Weepy Wednesday!

Keith let me drive myself into town this morning and it was lovely to be back behind the wheel of my car! However, there seems to be something wrong with the back windscreen wiper as it suddenly starts going without warning, which is a bit alarming! As it also makes a loud noise, it's very irritating. If it carries on I may have to take it into Audi to get it sorted!

My session at the Citizens Advice Bureau was OK today, but we had a number of weepy women come in which was a bit sad. Frank was back but he seemed to be in a bad mood for most of the day. I think my days at CAB are numbered now as I will need to work more hours in September and if I'm honest, I'm not enjoying it as much as I used to. My year's commitment will be up in July and I may hand my notice in this week and work my last day on the 26 July.

It's been a beautiful day today and it was bliss to get home and relax. We went to pick Mike up from Brixworth at 6pm and I called into the library to pick up a parcel - a couple of bras I'd ordered online. It's amazing where you can collect parcels these days!

Sophie finished work at 6.30pm so it was home to play cards in the conservatory and drink wine...lovely!

Another health worry!

I woke up with a migraine this morning, which was a bit worrying. I awoke early and decided to read for ten minutes and I could only see part of the words on my Kindle. After I'd made myself a coffee, I watched the BBC news and all of a sudden I kept getting zig zags and flashes of light in my left eye. It was all very unnerving! As soon as it had started, it stopped, but I didn't really develop a headache. All very strange!

I went for another blood test this morning before I started work and Sophie insisted on accompanying me into the treatment room, bless her! As we were a bit early, we stopped at the garage in Kingsthorpe and I treated myself to a coffee and a pastry and then Keith dropped me off at work before going on to take Soph to work as well.

We had a fairly quiet day but there was a lot of carrying of wine boxes and slotting them into the displays. The regional manager visited in the afternoon and we had a chat about future prospects...he seemed to think there may be a job for me, but we'll see! I'm not counting my chickens!

Keith collected me at 4pm and it was home to sit in the garden for a little while with Monty before going to pick up Sophie from work. It's been a muggy, overcast day today but it brightened up in the evening with blue skies and sunshine. Lovely!

Return of the grey...

It must have rained quite heavily during the night as we awoke to grey skies and puddles on the roads. I didn't hear any thunderstorms, though, which was a shame!

Keith went off for a walk on his own this morning and while he was gone Sophie and I showered and got ready to go out. We needed to pop to Tesco (this is becoming a Bank Holiday Monday habit!) and we also had to go to Jones's to stock up on bird food and some other bits and bobs.

From Tesco (which was busy by the way, and not at all a pleasant experience) we drove to another packed place - Riverside - where Sophie visited Next. She was looking for a swimsuit and found a lovely green one as well as a beach cover-up. We looked for hearts as we haven't yet found one for April and very soon May will be over as well!

At Jones's we bought some new secateurs as I'd mislaid our old ones on one of my gardening stints with Sue. I bought a huge tub of fat snax, some seed and two trays of fat blocks and I just hope the food will last longer than a few days. It doesn't help that we have bigger birds such as magpies, rooky and jackdaws visiting our garden, as well as a huge flock of starlings who seem to devour everything we put down within minutes. The birds are feeding their young at the moment and we've seen a couple of sparrow babies following their parents around and begging for food, but no fat babies this year so far.

The grey and overcast weather has stayed with us all day making it gloomy and chilly. What a difference to yesterday and the beautiful sunshine we enjoyed!

A spot of alpaca whispering...

I was awake at 6.30am this morning and it looked set to be a glorious day, despite the ominous warnings about thunder and heavy rain later this afternoon.

Keith and Sophie were planning a two hour walk so I went with them, and I really enjoyed myself! We went over the fields behind our house, down to the nature reserve and up to the bridleway that crosses one of our country roads. From there we dropped down into the village and called to see a small herd of alpacas before heading home. It was just over five miles and it was wonderful to be out and enjoying the countryside as I hadn't been for a good walk for ages.

The sky was a clear blue at first but it did cloud over towards the middle of our walk.

We tried to get the alpacas to come over to us and although they did get very close, they kept a distance, despite Sophie handing them some grass! She obviously hasn't the same power over alpacas as she does over cows! They were such a strange sight to see in the English countryside - a weird mix of goat/sheep and black giraffe!

Back home we all had showers and then popped to Mum and Dad's to take them the Sunday newspaper. We were treated to a coffee and chocolate biscuits and then it was home to sit in the garden and soak up the sun, that had made a reappearance!

Someone else enjoys the sun but likes it a bit shady too!

A lazy day...

Today has been quite lazy and although I've been itching to get out into the garden and do some work, I've stopped myself because I don't want that horrible tummy pain to return!

We dropped Sophie off at work as normal and came home to have breakfast. I took advantage of the lovely weather and sat in the garden with Monty and when Keith came out we had a good look at all the plants. The clematis in the gravel garden is looking lovely at the moment and I said that we don't spend enough time down there anymore. We used to sit on our "love seat" and have a drink in the evenings, but this has stopped now, for some reason!

I put a colour on my hair in the afternoon and made a batch of chocolate and pear muffins, before it was time to go and pick up Mike from work. On the way to collect Sophie I called into the Co-op and bought some Tassimo Cafe Latte for a treat, as well as a couple of bottles of San Miguel to go with the Paella we have planned for dinner for tomorrow.

We have weather warnings out for Sunday and Monday for heavy rain and thunderstorms - the heat we're experiencing at the moment is quite humid so a break in this hot spell will be welcome!

A happier day at work...

I have to confess I wasn't looking forward to today but my shift was busy and enjoyable! James, the manager, wasn't in and I arrived early after popping into the surgery with my sample and then visiting the post office. We were so early that Keith and I were able to have a coffee in Waitrose!

Jonathan went off to do a morning's worth of deliveries while Shereen and I held the fort and at one point it was very busy indeed, with people coming in and collecting glasses for parties and buying beer and wine for the Bank Holiday weekend. Today has been gorgeous, with clear blue skies, warm temperatures and sunshine so it was lovely to have the air conditioning on in the shop.

As we were a bit busy we had a member of staff from another branch come to help out in the afternoon and it was great to chat to him while we had some lunch. My parents also popped in during the afternoon as my Dad needed to buy some wine for raffle prizes, so it was lovely to see them again.

Keith and Sophie picked me up at 4pm and we went home to relax in the warm weather. We might get some thunderstorms over the weekend and I am off now until Tuesday, so that's a bonus!

I get scanned...

I had a day off work today which was good as I was booked in for an ultra-sound scan at the hospital in the afternoon. Keith and I took the kids to college and work (Sophie is helping out during the week to earn some extra cash) and then we returned home where he dropped me off before going to do the shopping on his own again.

My tummy was feeling a lot better but I didn't fancy heaving big shopping bags about, so I stayed at home and cleaned the fridge out. Sarah popped by to collect the keys to her house as her new tenants are moving in today. We sat and had a chat until the woman called her to say she was at the house.

I also called our local primary school as there is a part-time job available from September which would suit me perfectly! Keith came home, unpacked the shopping and had lunch while I showered. No lunch for me...I had to have an empty stomach for the scan!

I was a bit nervous about going in as the last ultra-sound I had was when I was pregnant with Mike! However, the woman who did the scan was very friendly and put me at my ease. She gave my abdomen a thorough going over and said everything looked fine, which was a huge relief! The doctor did think I might have gallstones, but there was none there at all and my kidneys, liver and spleen also looked fine.

We left the hospital and called into work to have a cup of tea before we went to get Mike. In the evening the phone rang and it was the doctor calling about the results of my scan and blood tests. She confirmed that the scan was fine and then went on to say that most of my blood tests were fine (diabetes, cholesterol, white cell count etc) but that there were some inflammatory markers that were much higher than they should have been. She wanted me to do a urine sample and to book another blood test for next week, which I will do. I wasn't that worried, more intrigued about what the inflammation was down to!

Days filled with sunshine.

Sophie and I went to do our session at the Citizens Advice Bureau today and we had a much better day this week. Keith dropped us off outside the Guildhall so it was lovely to just walk in, and we were right on time as well!

It was a quiet day and I was determined to get away at 3pm as Keith and Mike were waiting outside for us. It's been another beautiful day with temperatures in the mid twenties. From town we drove to the Weston Favell Centre where we transferred some money into Mike's new bank account and did some shopping in Tesco for dinner.

Before going home we had to pop to Mike's place of work as he had to see one of the managers, so we made the most of the situation and had a quick drink. The pub was very quiet but I think a lot of people were taking advantage of the good weather and sitting in the garden.

As we were leaving we spotted a very slow moving steam engine on our road and I guessed it was arriving for the large fair due to take place at the nearby stately home over the Bank Holiday weekend. It had created a huge back-up of traffic but luckily Keith was able to overtake and we sped past. Why they thought it was a good idea to move it in the rush hour traffic I'll never know!

Back home we sat in the garden with Monty for a little while and then I caught up with writing this blog until it was time to prepare dinner. As I was writing I saw Monty stalking Cheryl...he very nearly caught her!

Feeling fed-up...

On my way to work this morning I called into the surgery for a blood test and was told the results would be available at the end of the week. From Brixworth we drove to Kingsthorpe where I treated myself to a coffee and a pastry as I hadn't eaten a thing so far this morning.

The weather had clouded over a bit and was quite humid, which was a bit disappointing! Shereen was back in today and told me about her visit to the International Wine Fair yesterday - I remember going years ago and it was a lot of fun!

The wine promotion I'd worked on yesterday had been removed so I had to go and do it all over again. Getting the boxes of wines out of the displays is very difficult and I am terrified I'm going to send a whole stack of bottles crashing to the floor! It meant clearing away all the wines in the vicinity to gingerly take out a couple of boxes and it's a real pain! Why they can't have normal shelving and keep the extra boxes in the storage area or underneath the shelves, I'll never know!

Today I felt a bit fed up as I kept getting things wrong even though nobody had bothered to tell me the right way to do things. It feels like no-one cares what I do as I'm just temporary and it's not worth spending any time showing me the ropes properly. In one instance, a couple came in who wanted to buy 24 bottles of wine as a gift to their friends and I couldn't find the relevant wine box. I was told it was a "flat box down there somewhere" but there was no way of knowing which one as it didn't have the name of the wine on the side facing the aisle. I felt a complete fool in front of the customer, but he did mutter to me that it was impossible to find, so I think I had a bit of an ally there!

It was a huge relief when I saw Keith and Sophie in the car on the approach road and I left a little early...a good thing seeing as I'd been in early every day! By now the sun had come out and it was a gorgeous afternoon so we sat in the garden with Monty for a while before enjoying a hot curry for dinner!

A wasted effort...

I was back at work today and arrived very early as I had to call into the post office on the way. Keith drove again and is adamant he will do so this week, at least. Sophie had a driving lesson this morning and went out for two hours in an automatic learner car. I couldn't wait to hear how she had got on!

Part of my duties today was taking down our old promotion in the centre of the shop and getting ready for putting out new wines that we're trying to sell this month. It's a summery theme and James, the assistant manager, thought we could pick our own wines to feature. I spent a good three hours putting away all last month's promotional wines and lugging all the different boxes over to the central area and displaying them as attractively as I could. Although I worked for Duncan for two years, we never really had big nationwide promotions and he would pick a weekly theme and do an attractive window display. I don't have much experience with these sorts of things but I was pleased with how it looked when I was finished!

However, just before I was due to leave he found all the promotional literature and posters and realised there were a set range of wines that had to be featured... five of them were different to what he had chosen. All the work I'd done was a complete waste of time...

I felt a bit annoyed and hoped that before I came back in the morning the other two members of staff would at least take the wines away and put them back where they belonged in the shop!

Sophie had had a good lesson and had found driving an automatic much easier than a manual car. We picked her up at 4.30pm and the weather was glorious - beautiful blue skies and sunshine and it's set to continue this way all week and into the Bank Holiday weekend!

A day off!

It was lovely to wake up this morning and pootle about with nothing important to do. However, we did decide to tackle next door's garden as there are new tenants moving in next week and Sarah has asked if we can just tidy it up and cut the grass again.

I quickly hoovered and tidied downstairs and then at 10.30am Keith, Sophie and I trooped around next door to make a start. Mike was getting ready for work and I wanted to have it all done by the time he had to leave.

Sophie and I weeded and swept the front drive while Keith mowed the lawn and then we went around to the back and repeated the process there. At least this time we didn't have to deal with a dead squirrel!

Keith took Mike to work and then it was an afternoon of doing very little. Of course, as soon as we'd finished the garden, the sun disappeared behind the clouds so we didn't sit outside. I had a warm bath and a snooze and I was very dismayed to find the pain in my tummy had made a return...

It must be the gardening and all the bending down and kneeling that that involves. There was no way I could have ever carried on with Sue! Keith went to collect Mike from work and we had roast chicken for dinner, not my favourite meal at all.

I'm back to work tomorrow...those carefree Mondays seem a distant memory!

Weekend working...

Keith has decided to drive me around now for the next few days to see if it makes any difference to my tummy pain. It is a lot better now so I'm hoping that if it is muscular, it's healing. He dropped me off at 9am and then went to take Sophie into work. He seems to be doing a lot of driving at the moment!

Today, despite being a Saturday, was very quiet but I didn't feel as bored as I did last week. It certainly helps that Sophie and Mike are also working today! My favourite part of the job is welcoming customers and having a chat about what wines they like. This is when the time speeds up a bit!

It was lovely to see Keith arrive at 5pm and we headed to Aldi to buy...guess what? Wine and beer!! We then went to collect Mike from his job and had a quick drink in the bar while we were waiting...this is becoming a bit of a habit! I drank a very refreshing cloudy apple cider, perfect for the warmer weather we've had today.

When Mike was finished we went to collect Sophie and then it was finally home to a delicious casserole and a relaxing evening!

Feeling a little better!

Luckily this morning I felt a lot better than I did yesterday and worked at the wine shop from 10am until 4pm. I had much more of an appetite and the horrible nauseous feeling had gone away. I'm wondering whether I had a tummy bug? Shereen went out and bought lunch again and I helped her prepare chicken and salad with some brown bread.

Mum and Dad popped into the shop today and I helped them buy six bottles of wine. They tasted a delicious Chilean Merlot and it was lovely to see them. I'm still feeling a little bit emotional and I'm worried about the impending tests...I hate being fiddled about with!

Keith arrived to pick me up with Mike and we headed home where I emailed Keith's surgeon's secretary with a copy of his referral letter. I just had time to do this and then it was time to go and collect Sophie from work while Keith headed to the pub. When we arrived home we had a little comparison tasting of two New Zealand Pinot Gris and declared them both very good even though the one from the wine shop was double the price of the one we buy from Aldi!

It was bliss to relax in the evening but I have work again tomorrow!

Not the best of days!

I woke up feeling really horrible this morning and I was just glad I wasn't at work or had anywhere important to go. Keith told me to stay in bed and he would call the doctor as soon as it was 8am. I went back to sleep and the next thing I knew he was telling the kids to hurry up and get ready as he had booked me an appointment at just past 9am.

He disappeared to do the school run while I  had a shower but I felt achy all over and a bit sick. Had I eaten something dodgy? I really wanted Keith to get back before I went to the GP's surgery, and luckily he did so he drove me there. I didn't have to wait very long and when I went in to see her, I explained about the pain, how long I'd had it and how it kept appearing and disappearing. She seemd to think it was muscular, especially as it didn't hurt when I was lying or sitting still.

She gave my tummy an examination and has arranged for blood tests and an ultra sound scan which will probably take place in the next few weeks. I went home and Keith suggested I go and sit with Mum while he went and did the shopping, which was a good idea as I felt a bit weepy!

It was lovely to sit and relax with Mum and Dad but I did worry about Keith going and doing the shopping on his own although he was just doing a quick shop for the rest of the week and the weekend.

He called for me on the way home and I helped him put the shopping away before trying to relax in the afternoon and rest. I was due at the wine shop in the evening for the wine tasting, which I really wasn't looking forward to!

Keith took me at 3.30pm and dropped me off where I helped set up the tables and organise the wines we were going to be offering to our customers. Just before we started we had a tasting of all the wines and as I hadn't eaten that much through the day I did feel a little woozy! I was posted at the welcome barrel and my job was to hand out tasting sheets and a small sample of Champagne for people to try.

The tasting wasn't as manic as I imagined and by 8pm it was all over. We gathered up all the dirty glasses and put the first wash on and cleared everything away. Keith and Sophie came to pick me up and a couple of the staff waited with me until they arrived, which was very good of them!

Company at the CAB!

Sophie came into the CAB with me today as she is thinking of volunteering and wanted to get a feel for what happens at the session. She was quite excited about coming with me and it was lovely to have her company.

We called into the main office first as she needed to sign a confidentiality agreement. Once that was done, we went over to the One Stop Shop and set up the laptops ready for the advisers. Gill had already been told that Sophie was coming in with me and we had a lovely chat before we opened. Sophie spent the day observing Gill and said that some of the cases were really sad. She didn't think she would get so emotionally involved.

We were late leaving as Jon saw the last client at 3pm so we didn't get home until well past 4pm. The weather today has been dreadful - non-stop rain all day, some of it very heavy. My stomach has been giving me some pain today so tomorrow I'm going to make an appointment with the doctor. I can't put it off any more!

A better day.

Yesterday was a bit miserable so I was determined to have a better day today! Keith and I had a very early appointment at the doctor's at 7.15am because it turns out that he has an incisional hernia where the scar from his kidney removal is. He has had enough of it now and doesn't want to go to Florida and worry about it so he has decided to pay for private treatment to have it sorted out. He needed to get a referral from his doctor who agreed about the operation and promised the letter for the next day.

When we got home we made an appointment at The Three Shires hospital in town for next Tuesday and after calling we decided to go for a walk around Ravensthorpe reservoir, which takes about forty minutes. As we were driving there, we received a phone call from the consultant's secretary who said she could fit Keith in this afternoon...that was quick! We agreed to go as we still had plenty of time to do the walk and go for an ice-cream afterwards.

The weather was a bit better than yesterday but still overcast. There were a lot of men fishing out on the water and we had a very pleasant walk.

Mike didn't accompany us as he'd been at a friends all night and was a bit tired! It did drizzle a bit while we were walking around, but it didn't spoil our enjoyment at all.

When we finished our walk we drove to Kingsthorpe and enjoyed ice-cream sundaes at the Gallone's parlour. They were delicious!

Keith and I got ready to go to the hospital when we arrived back home and were a little early for our appointment. We saw a Mr Guy Finch who was very friendly and said that he could easily sort out Keith's hernia. He's booked in for the 12 June which will give him ample time to recover before we go on holiday. We had to fill in a lot of forms and Keith will have to go back for a pre-operative assessment before his operation.

We sloshed home in the rain (it has been raining all afternoon) and told the children what was happening. I think we'll all be pleased to see "lump" disappear!

What a difference a day makes!

I had a bad night's sleep last night as my stomach has started hurting again. I think it was when I swung my legs into my car yesterday as we went to get Mike from work, but every time I turned over in bed it really hurt.

It also didn't help that today the weather has been horrible with constant rain in the morning and overcast, grey skies. I crawled out of bed and made myself a coffee but all thoughts of going for a walk, which is what we intended to do, have been put on hold.

Mike wanted a pair of new jeans as he had a real panic yesterday when he realised that his work jeans were merrily spinning around in the washing machine. Luckily we managed to get them out and (almost) dried before he started, so today we went down to Next and Keith bought him two more pairs. The ripped pair were £10 more than the normal pair...how can that be?

From Next we went to the Weston Favell Centre and sorted out a new current account for him. Hopefully, within a few days he will get a debit card and won't have to keep asking us to draw money out for him! All he needs now is some money to go into his account!

It's been a dreary, miserable day today and one that I won't look back on with any affection!

Sitting in the sun!

It was bliss to wake up this morning and know that we hadn't got to go anywhere and that I could relax and enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee. Keith and Sophie went for a walk while I did some ironing and generally tidied up. It was also lovely that my stomach didn't hurt at all! The beautiful sunny weather was also a huge bonus!

We took Mike to work and then called to get the Sunday newspapers before going to see Mum and Dad. Dad was watching the Grand Prix from Barcelona and we stayed to watch all the cars start, which Keith says is the most interesting part of the race!

Back home Sophie put two small pizzas in the oven to cook and we ate them sitting in the garden with Monty who was delighted that we were sitting outside with him. The pizzas were lovely and we had a glass of wine to accompany them! The sun was out and there was a real Florida sky going on...that was until it started to rain and we had to run indoors!

It wasn't a long spell of rain, though, and it came out sunny again. We spent the afternoon pottering about and at 5pm went for a drink at the pub where Mike is working. I had visions of us sitting out in the garden sipping our drinks, but it was a bit windy so we retreated indoors where we took a window seat and watched our son dash about. He looked quite happy to be working, which was a relief!

For dinner in the evening we had the free lamb I'd collected from M&S and it was delicious served with saute potatoes, green beans, broccoli and asparagus. Yum!

Bored stiff...

If I'm brutally honest I wasn't that happy about working on a Saturday but I figured that Sophie was at work all day and Mike was working in the afternoon so I would just get on and do it. I was hoping it would be busy, but how wrong was I...

There was a big Food and Drink Fair going on in Northampton and that could have been the reason we were quieter than a normal Saturday. I arrived early and had a taste of Champagne as it was on special offer over the weekend and I needed to know how it tasted (delicious!).

Although we had customers in and some of them spent a lot of money, it was very quiet and I was bored for most of the day, unfortunately. If there is one thing I can't stand it's being bored and clock watching! I have done this in past jobs and the time goes so slowly. I tried to stop thinking of all the things I could be doing at home instead and just concentrated on getting through the day and going home to a delicious dinner, the Eurovision Song Contest and a glass of wine.

I did try and see if there was anything I could do and walked up and down the aisles familiarising myself with all the different wines on offer. I even dusted some of the bottles of spirits behind the counter! On the plus side I did have some great chats with customers who were obviously enjoying their experience although a couple of people did look like they were about to have their teeth pulled out. If I was spending a small fortune on wine I'd be looking deliriously happy!

I finished just after 5pm as, predictably, we had a rush of customers come in. I didn't mind as I was going to go and wait for Sophie to finish anyway as there was no point in going all the way home to leave again half an hour later. I had a welcome cup of tea and chatted to Maureen whilst waiting for Sophie to finish her shift at 6.30pm.

We then drove home, poured some wine from a bottle I'd bought and enjoyed a delicious beef stroganoff for dinner. Afterwards, it was the Eurovision Song Contest and for once we weren't disgraced!

Watching the dodgies!

I was due in at work at 10am this morning but Keith and I took Mike in first and then I came home. Going to Starbucks every morning and drinking expensive coffee is not really an option!

James the manager was off for the weekend so I met Shereen who is a graduate trainee. She was lovely and very friendly and we both had a quick tasting of some wines "to make sure they weren't corked." We tried a Merlot and a gorgeous Californian Zinfandel so that was very pleasant.

Today has been quite busy and I managed to put through quite a few transactions on the till. I really loved welcoming customers to the shop and chatting to them about wine, which is my favourite part of the job. At lunchtime Shereen went to get some bread and chicken as on a Friday each employee gets £4 towards lunch. Jonathan was out delivering wine to customers and we had a few dodgy characters wandering about outside...it was a bit unnerving!

I finished at 4.30pm and sped home to see the family. Keith wasn't going to the pub tonight, but Mike was off to Moulton to stay over with a friend so we dropped him off and then came home to relax and drink wine!

I'm back in work tomorrow, which will be a shock to the system!

A bit of stress!

Today has been a little bit stressful as I was due to do my first day at the wine shop and Sophie had an exam she'd been dreading for months. I took her to uni and then dropped Mike off at college before driving down to the St James retail park and having a coffee and a cookie in Starbucks. There was no point in dropping Mike off, going all the way home and then driving back into town again.

Keith went to do the shopping on his own (a prospect he was pleased about!) and I have to confess to missing our boring Thursday routine! I was early at work and arrived at the same time as my new colleagues. I was told to move my car as they wanted to leave some room for customers (in hindsight the car park was never full!) and then I was introduced to James who was the assistant manager and Jonathan who was a trainee manager.

We covered a lot of health and safety throughout the morning and I never confessed to James the manager that I'd been responsible for all the health and safety when I ran my business! I didn't say anything and read through all the information on their laptop and completed the quizzes afterwards. It was important that I had to do it and prove I'd read it, but a lot of it was common sense, as always.

There is a lot to learn and the tills were quite complicated but I think I did OK and after a tour of the shop and a couple of transactions I left at 2.30pm. James had neglected to tell me I needed to bring my passport in with me, so they wanted me to go home and scan a copy to the shop so that I would get paid on time this month.

I sped home and ate the sandwich I'd taken with Sophie and then it was time to go and pick Mike up from college, as per our normal routine! I'd enjoyed my day but when I returned from picking up Mike the payroll department had emailed me a load of paperwork about contracts and staff handbooks, which was a bit daunting. They also emailed me a P46 and I have to confess to feeling a bit wistful as these were the forms I used to hand out whenever we had a new starter who didn't supply a P45...

My contract stated that my last day with the company was the 1st July...so no career progression for me then!

I get the lamb!

I was on my own at CAB today as Frank is away but I had a good run in after dropping Mike off at college. I even had time to buy a bacon roll and a coffee from Greggs!

Soon after I arrived Gill came over and we had a good chat about her holiday. She looked very tanned and relaxed and seemed delighted when I told her about my new job. We had a quiet day today with not much of any interest and I was locking up and leaving at just after 3pm. I walked to M&S where I wanted to get the half leg of lamb and was told by the woman on the Click and Collect desk that the Daily Mail had sent out the emails a week early. However, she let me have a joint which was priced at £16.00! That's Sunday's dinner sorted then!

I returned home to find everyone in a grumpy mood, for some unknown reason. Keith and I decided to head off to the pub to escape and we enjoyed a couple of drinks sitting in the window and watching the heavy traffic negotiate the T-junction. I'm sure there were far more cars than usual!

We only stayed for an hour and we were home by 6pm to find our son and daughter in a slightly better mood. It's a stressful time at the moment...Mike has assignments due in, Sophie has an exam tomorrow and I start a new job...arrggghhh!

I hear news!

This morning, Sophie and Keith did one of their long walks, only I thought they were just going for an hour...a breakdown in communication, I think, as they said they'd discussed it last night in the pub!

While they were gone I changed our bedding and did a pile of ironing and when they returned I made breakfast - cheese on toast for Sophie and Beans on toast for Keith and I. My stomach feels a lot better today, thank goodness!

We pottered about the house until the early afternoon and then went to see Mum and Dad, but as they were on their way to the bank, we didn't stay for long. Before going home we popped to Tesco to buy dinner for tonight and Wednesday and I bought a pack of chocolate doughnuts as a treat to go with a cup of tea.

Although it's been grey and cloudy today we still haven't had any substantial rain and there's talk of it being an official drought. Our garden is really dry and the front verge is like a dust bowl!

In the early evening I received a telephone call from the wine shop to ask if I could start work with them on Thursday! Yippee!

Dining out on the proceeds!

This morning my stomach really hurt so I called the doctor to be told there were no appointments this week and to call back tomorrow at 8am to see if I could get in as an emergency. I took some painkillers and showered and felt a little better.

Sophie had an exam today so we dropped her off at uni mid-morning and then went over to the Weston Favell Centre to post a parcel and do some shopping. I bought a bottle of peppermint oil tablets in Holland and Barrett as I'd heard they were good for the digestion.

Keith and I had a quick breakfast in the Tesco cafe (sausage baps - very good!) and then returned home where I took two of the tablets with water. As we didn't have to pick Sophie up until 5pm I cleaned all of downstairs and tidied up the conservatory. We'd taken the stuff we hadn't sold to the charity shop this morning and it was lovely to get the room back to how it should be - a place for relaxing not a dumping ground for stuff we didn't want!

My stomach seemed much better and doing the housework and all that that involves didn't seem to make it worse, which was good news. Mike went to Brixworth in the early afternoon and just as I got into the bath later in the day, the phone rang and it was my parents to say they'd picked up their new car and could they come around and show it to us?

I hurriedly finished my bath and dressed and they arrived in their 2016 registered Nissan Qashqai which was a lovely dark grey colour. They were both very pleased with it and it looked a lovely car. Mum had been having difficulty with the phone so we said we'd pop over tomorrow and try and sort it out for them.

Once they had gone Keith and I hurriedly got ready as we were picking the kids up and then heading into Northampton for a drink and a meal with the proceeds of the sale yesterday. We parked opposite The Princess Alexandra which was very quiet...but then it was only 5.30pm!

Sophie treated us all to a drink and I had half a pint of a delicious stout while the men had bitter and Sophie enjoyed a Pilsner. We had a couple of drinks at The Princess Alexandra and then walked the short distance to The Lamplighter for dinner. This pub was also very quiet and we took a table by the window overlooking the beer garden. Unfortunately today has seen a return to the grey, chilly weather so I feel we were very lucky yesterday with the sunshine and blue skies!

We had a lovely meal as always (beefburger, steak and ale pie, nachos and a chicken burger) followed by chocolate brownie with ice-cream for dessert. And all paid for by our garage sale!

A little sale!

Today dawned a bit grey and overcast but at least it was dry. The forecast had said we might get some light rain showers in the morning...I hoped it was wrong!

Over the road Sue was already out preparing her tables for the garage sale. We were a bit slower to get started but by 8.30am we were nearly set up. As usual, we had a few traders come around very early and one man bought our entire collection of knights and horses, which gave us a very good start!

As the morning wore on it became very busy with cars coming past and slowing down to see what we had to sell. Sue had an enormous amount of people turn up at her house to help as she was running a pop-up cafe on our front green in aid of a local charity and was also doing songs with younger children. It was manic! The sun had come out as well, which was great and added to the fete-like atmosphere!

We had a steady morning and I took Mike to work at midday. He suddenly produced some shirts he wanted to sell as well as his guitar which sold later in the day to a neighbour! The village was also abuzz with people and I'm sure the pub was doing a roaring trade!

Things slowed down a little in the afternoon and Mum and Dad popped over to see how we were getting on. My Mum took a liking to one of my large ornamental plates and two pictures and bought them!

By 2.30pm it was all over and we had made over £100 - enough to go out for a meal tomorrow night to celebrate! As I had my meeting at the wine shop at 3.30pm I went to get ready and left at 3pm. However I was dismayed to find that the road leading into town was closed! Damn! Luckily I had kept the phone number of the man I was meeting so I called him and told him what had happened and that I was on my way but might be a little late.

I arrived two minutes after our agreed time and we had a very informal chat over a cup of tea. He gave me some forms to fill in and said that as soon as they had been sent over he would give me a start date. I was delighted!

Back at home I discovered that Keith had bought a bottle of Cava to celebrate and we all played a couple of games of cards in the conservatory before dinner. A lovely end to a busy and fruitful day!

Fade to grey...

The weather today has been truly horrible with heavy grey skies and an annoying drizzle. I do hope it won't be like this tomorrow!

We took Sophie to work and picked Mike up from the house where he'd been at a party. He was groggy and tired but he had work in two hours! We returned home to drop him off so he could have a shower and then went to Mum's to pick up the clothes she wanted us to sell and her clothes rack where we would display them.

As we were taking Mike to work his phone rang and it was Sophie asking to be picked up. Her back and ankle were hurting and she wanted to come home...

We sped into town to collect her and then it was back home to spend the rest of the dreary day pottering about and not really doing a lot!

A nice surprise!

I had understood I was doing some ironing for a neighbour starting today but the bag of laundry I was anticipating never materialised. I was a bit disappointed and wondered what had happened...perhaps I should have called to see her, but I had thought it was all arranged.

Unfortunately we had another disappointment when we went to get our half leg of lamb from M&S. I collect points with the Daily Mail every day and had spent 3000 on a free joint of lamb which could be collected today. We drove into town (never my favourite place to go) and did some shopping in Boots before heading to M&S. We looked everywhere for the lamb but couldn't see any so we asked a staff member at the collection desk who informed us that they hadn't got any yet and we would have to come back...not very good! What would we do for dinner now on Sunday?

We called into McDonald's as Sophie fancied some chicken strips and she treated me to a McFlurry. Keith didn't want anything so we sat and ate our treats on a bench overlooking the large church in the middle of the town. For once, it was pleasantly warm and sunny!

We called to get Mike on the way home and when we returned I checked the answerphone and discovered that I'd received a message from a major wine retailer in Northampton. I'd seen a job vacancy this morning and after tweaking my CV a bit, I'd sent it off to them. They had already seen it and wanted me to call them back! I did so and after a chat I arranged to go into the shop on Sunday to find out more! I was delighted! The job is a temporary contract for eight weeks so that fits perfectly with our holiday plans.

We took Mike to Moulton in the late afternoon as he was going to a party and headed home to relax with a glass of wine, our first of the week. Keith drove to the pub (he is off alcohol again at the moment) so Sophie and I could indulge. The first sip was like nectar!

We were just settling down to watch an old episode of Masterchef when the doorbell rang and it was Paul asking if Sue could have a bath at our house. They must still be having problems with their heating and hot water. Sue came over with her toiletries and a towel and was very quick, unlike me when I languish in the bath for ages reading a book!

Casting our votes!

I could hardly believe that another Thursday has rolled around again - the weeks are whizzing by! Mike was at college so we dropped him off and returned to draw up a list for shopping. Sophie came with us this morning so we had plenty of help with packing and loading all the bags into the car. Somehow we managed to come up with a list of meals for the next few days!

Today has been windy and cold but sunny - will we ever get any warm temperatures again? We returned home, calling to see Mum and Dad on the way for a very quick coffee, and then unpacked all the bags before having a quick lunch.

Today is voting day for the local council elections but somehow we'd run out of time to go before picking Mike up so we collected him, dropped him off at the entrance to the estate and then went and did our duty. Sophie was agonising about who she was going to vote for and I told her that all the candidates would have made their manifestos available online for her to read before she voted!

No sooner had we got home than it was time to go out yet again, this time to Mike's Parent's evening at college. We had to wait a fair while to see his tutor but she told us he was doing very well and had picked his socks up after a slight dip late last year. Amazingly, he will be finished on the 7 June if he manages to get all his assignments in and marked, which was news to us! We really should have booked our holiday for late June rather than August!

A steady day...

I took Mike to college today as Keith was waiting in for the tyre fitter to come. After I'd dropped him off I seemed to get every red light on the way to the car park so I arrived just after Frank. We set the offices up and made everything ready but we had a quiet day today and left on the dot of 3pm.

Keith had let me know that the tyre fitter was all done by 9am which was good news and meant that he could pick up Mike from college and take him to Brixworth. I drove home and curled up on the sofa with the remote control because I still felt a little ropey with my tummy ache. I have made the decision to go to the doctor next week if it's no better.

Sophie and I aren't having a drink in the week but to be honest, I'm not missing it at all and once dinner is under way I don't think about having a glass of wine. We went to pick Mike up at about 6.30pm and returned home for a dinner of sweet and sour chicken served with prawn crackers. We are still having problems choosing meals for the week and we should have sat down this evening and
made our list, but we just couldn't be bothered!

To the rescue...again!

I was just about to disappear into the shower when I heard a loud banging on our front door and the bell was rung a couple of times. Sue was standing there looking frantic and said could Keith and I go to her house as she'd had a flood again.

We both rushed over and discovered that there'd been a leak in her airing cupboard and all the carpet was soaked through. This had led to a leak into their living room and she was desperately trying to turn the water off. Keith managed to get it turned off by talking to the builder who'd done a lot of work for them but we had to leave her to it as we were taking Sophie for a doctor's appointment at midday.

Unfortunately, the doctor was running very late indeed and it got to 12.45pm and we had to leave as Sophie was meeting her friends at uni to work on a promotional video for students going to New York next year. We dropped her off and went to Jones's where I bought some more bird food (I can't keep up with them at the moment!) and a few other bits and pieces.

It's been a gorgeous day today but it's still very cold with a nasty wind that seems to go right through you! We returned to pick Sophie up but before we went I took some photos of Sue's ruined towels and sheets so she could put an insurance claim in.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, thank goodness!

Blow out!

My tummy really hurt this morning, so much so that I Googled appendicitis but thankfully, it doesn't sound like I have that! I took some more Ibuprofen and sat on the sofa for a while until the pain eased.

Keith wanted to go to Tesco as we were due to have sweet and sour chicken for dinner and he said that he just couldn't face any more chicken served with rice. He said he was sprouting feathers and starting to cluck!

I felt a bit better so we both went and bought food for tonight and Wednesday night. The supermarket was packed with people - not really the way I wanted to spend a Bank Holiday Monday! We returned home and I just lazed about which made me feel guilty but I was determined to take it easy today.

The weather hasn't been brilliant but we have had the occasional sunny spell and Sophie and I managed to sit in the garden for ten minutes with Monty. The robin is constantly about at the moment and flying backwards and forwards feeding his babies, I presume. I think his nest is on the other side of the fence. It's lovely first thing in the morning when I go to take the food out and we have a little chat. He stares at me and turns his head this way and that as if he's really listening!

Mike wanted to go to Brixworth later in the afternoon so Keith took him (I've been banned from driving while my stomach hurts) and I went and had a long soak in the bath followed by a nap on our bed.

Mike called at about 6.30pm for us to pick him up and Keith went on his own. About twenty minutes after he'd gone Sophie took a call from Mike to say that they'd had a puncture...just what we didn't need today! As Keith had gone to collect Mike in a pair of shorts, he'd asked that we meet them in Scaldwell with some warmer clothes.

Sophie and I sped off and found both of them about to change the wheel. Luckily it was one of the front tyres, which was due to be replaced anyway. Keith put on the spare tyre while Mike un-jacked the car and we all returned home to make a late start on our dinner of beefburgers and salad.

After dinner we arranged for e-tyres to come out and fit two new tyres on Wednesday...giving us a nice bill of £200! Not a great start to the month!