Getting things done!

I had several items on my to-do list to tick off today, and most of them involved work on the outside of the house!

The day dawned cloudy and dull, but this was probably for the best as it wasn't too hot, and I was cleaning windows so I didn't want the sunlight streaming through and highlighting all the smears I'd no doubt made!

Keith and I started at 9am, and we worked right up until about 4pm so a full day of cleaning, gardening and getting long-overdue chores completed! After I'd cleaned the front windows, I washed all the soffits on the porch and then noticed a whole bunch of weeds in the front garden!

Keith trimmed the verge while I pulled up the weeds, hoed the soil and then swept up everything. Vince and Sue were also out in their garden so it was lovely to chat with them as well.

As well as cleaning and gardening we sorted out a collection from the council for some old furniture stored in our garage, did the weekly shopping list and meal plan, and I hoovered the garage which was in a real mess! While I was doing that, Wilby Tree arrived to look at the ivy that's growing on the side of the house and needs to be removed. It has reached the eaves of the house but more importantly, it's on the sidewall where our new window will be. We also spoke to him about the Silver Birch that is really tall, but he said cutting a lot off the top would badly affect the tree. As for the branches hanging over our side and affecting the light, that's down to us to sort out!

We had a brief respite from all the chores when we picked up Mike from work! He was out earlier than usual and the school traffic was still about, making it difficult to get through! Roll on July 20th when they break up for the summer holidays!

When we returned we cut the grass in the back garden and chopped down some of the offending branches. Everything looked so much better when we'd finished, and I was extremely pleased that we'd done as much as we could today.

When Sophie returned from work, I went and had a gorgeous deep and bubbly bath and then I prepared dinner of breaded pork escalopes. It was bliss to finally relax after we'd eaten, and watch Andy Murray play a German player in the second round at Wimbledon. There was a real danger he was going to lose halfway through - how ironic would that have been! - but he won in the end! Phew!

England win!!

Thankfully, work was quieter today with not as many phone calls, so I did make a late start on the holiday activities. I only did three, but it's a start!

Driving home at 4pm, the roads were busy as England were playing Germany this evening at Wembly, and I think people were trying to get home before kick-off at 5pm! We had opted for an easy evening meal of soup, crusty bread and fruit trifle but it was all over by7pm, and England beat our old rivals 2-0! What a fantastic result and the first time in a major competition that we had beat them since 1966!

Sophie and I played Scrabble while the game was on so I will adopt this habit for the future! It was far more enjoyable than watching the footie!

A manic shift!

I was hoping for a quiet day at work, as I had a lot of things to do other than answer calls! Unfortunately, apart from a couple of pauses, the phone calls were non-stop, and I estimate we took over 300 queries during the shift. It didn't help that the wallboard crashed at one point!

Halfway through the morning, I realised I had to complete the box office returns as our cinema had re-opened on Friday, showing Dream Horse. I had received an email from the company that keeps track of all the takings, and they wanted me to send the figures off as soon as possible! I had no choice but to come off the phones so I could get them done, but I also had invoices to sort out, so the time flew by in a blur!

It was heaven to get into the peace and quiet of my car and drive home! The weather hadn't improved all day, and it had stayed grey and relentlessly gloomy again! Keith and I then popped over to Mawsley to take an item we'd sold on eBay, so it was past 5pm by the time I eventually sat down and was able to relax!

Sophie and I watched another holiday home programme this evening before dinner, this time from our own dear Puerto Pollensa where a couple were buying a holiday home, lucky things! It was lovely to see the port and the old town and I would love to think we could go back soon. Pipe dreams!

Our after-dinner viewing was Andy Murray playing in the first round at Wimbledon! Keith went upstairs to watch France v Switzerland in the Euros, while Sophie and I stayed downstairs to see the tennis, which was very exciting! Andy Murray eventually won (thank goodness) but it was almost 10pm before they went off court, so it was a thrilling match. Upstairs the game was a 3-3 draw so it went to extra time and then penalties, with Switzerland eventually winning. Keith had had a bet with Sophie's boyfriend Zain and had taken France to win the tournament, so he was not happy!

NOT an enjoyable Sunday...

I woke up this morning at 9.02am, which shocked me. I hate waking up so late and feeling like I've wasted a good portion of the day. We had arranged to collect Mum and Dad from the care home at 11.30am, and take them to the flying field for a barbecue in honour of one of the very long-standing members who had sadly died earlier this year - in his 90s - so he hadn't done bad!

There was no time for a leisurely breakfast, and outside the weather was extremely gloomy, grey and miserable. Sophie and I left at about 11.15am and I was supremely grateful for my daughter accompanying me as I was sure it wasn't her kind of thing at all, and I was convinced she would far rather have been out with friends or simply stayed at home with the cat.

When we arrived at the T-junction to turn right to get to the A43, a black Mercedes in front of me stopped and put their hazard warning lights on. Next thing, a burly man in a hoody jumped out of the passenger side and shouted at me to go around his car. When he first got out I imagined the worst, but it soon became obvious he was having a blazing row with the woman in the driving seat. Not wanting to hang around I went left and drove to Mawsley where I turned around. When we arrived back at the junction the car had gone.

By now we were later than I wanted to be, and as we drove along I suddenly realised I hadn't taken a lateral flow test... This meant that I had to take one in the care home and wait half an hour for the result, which meant we were even later. My parents were in reception waiting for me and seemed bemused by all the rigmarole I had to go through. Seeing as we were all double-jabbed, and Sophie was also in the car (but had taken a test for work), it was all a bit pointless, in my opinion.

We were on our way by 12pm and made it in good time to the flying field where the grassed area was full of cars. People were milling about wearing thick coats as the wind was blowing strongly - not really the ideal weather for a summer barbecue!

We stood on the path running alongside the hut and various people came and said hello to my parents, and brought my Dad a coffee. There had been some flying, but this seemed to be over and a lot of men were surrounding the barbecue and grilling sausages and burgers.

We just stood about and my Dad seemed very quiet, while my Mum looked thoroughly miserable. Unfortunately, I overheard her telling some old friends that they hated where they were at the care home and they were bored stiff, which was not really what I wanted to hear!

My parents had something to eat, and when the men organising the barbecue were begging people to have a burger or sausage roll, Sophie and I relented and had one, too! The food was very good and the burgers thick and meaty! When the cooking was over, a beautiful wooden seat was unveiled with a plaque for the former member, and his family said a few words, which was lovely. 

By now we'd all had enough so we left to go home. It was very difficult getting my Dad back into the car and I think him sitting in the back was a mistake. We headed back to the care home, and unfortunately, Sophie and my Dad had a bit of an argument. He'd said we never see them which hurt Sophie as this was the second Sunday in a row we'd taken them out, and I don't think he realises how difficult it is for us to manoeuvre him into the car as we're both scared he's going to fall.

While we were driving, Mike called and asked us to pick him up from either Rugby station or Milton Keynes as the trains weren't stopping at Northampton - what a surprise! We said we'd go to Milton Keynes (again) and dropped Mum and Dad off at the care home. There had been a real sense of unhappiness in the car on the way back and I have no idea how I can solve it.

On the A43 we had another drama! This time, a car emerging from the Broughton turning didn't look like he was going to stop, and was halfway out into the road before he slammed his brakes on, making me and the two cars behind me, swerve out of his way! My nerves were now jangling and all I wanted to do was get home and have a cup of tea! This junction has seen two accidents in the last two weeks and I didn't want to be the third!

Keith stayed at home while Sophie and I hared off to Milton Keynes to get Mike. The road leading to the station was closed so we had to take a long, loopy diversion to get back to it, but we were still early, which was good. The station was extremely busy with people being picked up and dropped off and Mike emerged at about 4.30pm looking hot and bothered.

We drove home (no dramas!) and Sophie and I managed to relax with a drink and an episode of a new series on Netflix about beautiful holiday homes in Bali. How I wished I was there! Seeing as we can't travel much at the moment, watching series like these is all we can do!

Sitting in the sun!

I had deliberately cooked too many potatoes last night so we could have the leftovers fried for breakfast this morning with scrambled eggs. They were delicious! 

Sophie and I had decided to go to Milton Keynes at lunchtime with all the pet food pouches and Tassimo pods, and while my daughter was getting ready, I put all the bags in my car and sorted out the couple that Ruth had dropped off the other evening. I was so glad I'd done the bulk of the sorting earlier in the week!

The recycling filled the boot of my car, and it was a huge relief to drop them off at George's house. There were another two cars there, and one woman faffing about with bags who had been there for ages. We put all of our bags neatly behind the crate as there was no way they would fit inside!

From Milton Keynes, we drove to Olney but it was very busy and, as we passed Teapots, we could see the tables were full inside. There were no spaces in the car park so we decided to drive to Castle Ashby instead. We had to take the scenic route through the grounds of Castle Ashby itself as the road leading to the village was closed.

The previously grey and gloomy weather had given way to sunshine and a mix of blue skies and scudding clouds, and when we arrived at the courtyard shops, we took a table in the Buttery's outdoor area. By now we were both peckish so we chose the High Tea for two which consisted of a sandwich each, a piece of cake and a pot of tea. 

The lunch was lovely and the food soon demolished!

Cake...gone!

After paying the bill, we had a wander around the food shop but we were slightly alarmed by the prices. Several bottles of wine were selling for between £18 and £20 and even packets of crisps were priced way above what was reasonable! They seemed to be serving food as well, with people sitting outside in the sunshine. 

By now it was past 3pm and home was calling. When we returned, Sophie had a nap while I sat and caught up with the newspapers in the sunny conservatory. At 5pm it was Scrabble time and cocktails - what else on a Saturday evening?

Keity cooked a beautiful beef stroganoff for dinner, and after we'd eaten Keith and I watched an enjoyable film called The Ice Road starring Liam Neeson. It wasn't for Sophie so she went upstairs where she's now deep into Keeping Up With The Kardashians again. Thank goodness it's their last ever series!

So glad it's Friday!

Sophie had today off as she was meeting Zain at the station in Northampton, so I had a lie-in until 7.30am, when she left to go to the gym. Keith had been up much earlier with Mike and had dropped him at work at 5am. There was some kind of charity tournament happening today, but Mike said he would be finished early to compensate!

Highfields were due today at 8.30am to look at the dividing wall that was coming down in the kitchen and arrived as I was in the shower. I heard a lot of banging, and when I went downstairs, there was a hole in our kitchen ceiling!

Work was certainly not as pleasant as last Friday and was definitely more stressful! I had a couple of grumpy customers and problems with the cinema screenings, so I was extremely glad to leave at 4pm and head home! Sophie had collected Zain at 1pm and they had enjoyed a late lunch at a restaurant in Olney. She assured me that she would still be home in time for Wine Night!

When I arrived home our garage door was wide open but the house was like the Marie Celeste. Obviously, because of his early finish, Mike had caught an earlier train to London to see Abbie! Keith came home a short while later and got ready to go to the pub, but I have to confess to sitting in front of the television and vegging out! It was just lovely to sit there and empty my mind!

Sophie arrived home at about 6.30pm, saying she was extremely lucky as she'd got Zain to the station - with seconds to spare - for his 6pm train. Any later, and he would have had an hour's wait as the next few trains were cancelled, or even worse, she may have had to drive him to Milton Keynes to catch one there!

There was no way she was eating dinner with us, which was just cold meats, salad and potatoes anyway, because of her large lunch only a few hours before. We sat and chatted about her day and at 7.30pm I collected Keith from the pub. His friend, Dave, is really not that well but is having treatment, and his son gave him a lift home this evening.

After dinner we didn't feel like watching a film, so Keith and I watched another episode of Swamp People. Well, I say we watched it, but Keith fell asleep for most of the episode!

Nasty, crawly things!

Keith went to do the shopping this morning, while I busied myself with doing loads of laundry and catching up with some financial chores. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great for drying the washing, as it was overcast, grey and dreary! Nothing at all like yesterday!

I pootled about for the rest of the morning and decided to sort out all the pet food pouches that had been dropped off. Sophie and I are planning to go to Milton Keynes on Saturday and I didn't want to leave it until the weekend to package them up. I decided to sort everything on our dining room table, which soon proved to be a mistake... the majority were clean and dry, but then we hit on a bag of pouches that hadn't even been rinsed and maggots were crawling over them! Yuk!

I had no choice but to bin the whole lot as there was no way I was going to put them in my car and take them to George in Milton Keynes like that! If this carries on - and it really is just a small minority of people who are too lazy to wash them - then we're going to stop accepting them, which will be a huge shame as they'll go into landfill instead.

Keith had been helping me, but seeing the maggots had freaked us both out, and we kept scratching for the rest of the afternoon! We went to collect Mike who told us that he was going out in the evening with friends and wouldn't be joining us for dinner. He dashed upstairs to have a shower, and came back down smelling strongly of aftershave! We drove him to the outskirts of Northampton, where he was meeting a group of friends at The Lumbertubs pub, and hoped he wouldn't be too late home. It's an early start in the morning for him!

Back home, Keith and I had a lovely hot bath and felt a lot better! We enjoyed a delicious chilli con Carne for dinner and the vegetables that I'd hidden in the sauce earlier (so Mike didn't pick them out... how ironic!) added to the flavour! After dinner, just as I was starting the washing up with Sophie, Ruth dropped yet more pet food pouches off, and we had a conversation about the dirty ones. She agreed with me about stopping so we'll just hope that my message on the ROAR! Facebook page works!

Mike was indeed late home this evening - we went to bed at our usual time and he wasn't home, and I think I fell asleep and woke up at 11pm. He'd texted us at about 9pm to say he had to start tomorrow at 5am, an hour earlier than normal, and I knew it was a mistake to go out and have a few beers with his friends! By 11.30pm I was really quite worried, but he came home fifteen minutes later thank goodness! Phew!

Decisions, decisions!

We awoke to blue skies and sunshine today, which was a relief after all the grey gloom we've experienced lately! Keith and I headed out at about 10.30am (we caught the second Popmaster contestant on Ken Bruce's show who scored nul point, poor thing!) and popped to Waitrose in Kingsthorpe to get some new potatoes for tonight's meal, and some olive oil for my Mum who has a poorly ear.

Waitrose now has a new cafe called Waite & Rose, so we'll have to give that a try one day! It looked very swish and the seating area was hidden behind a screen! Perhaps next week we'll go!

From Waitrose, we drove to Benchmarx as we were determined to get the tile problem sorted today. We asked if we could borrow one of the cabinet doors from our kitchen range so we could match the colour of the tiles. They were only too happy to oblige, so we drove to Topps Tiles at Brackmills who were having a closing down sale. 

There we spotted a "mist" subway tile that went with the door and provided a contrast to the worktop which is a mixture of whites and greys. They had six boxes left and they were on offer. The only drawback was that it was a bit boring!

As Sophie was two minutes away by car we suggested meeting for lunch so we could show her the tile and door. We bought a sample and waited outside her building until 12.30pm. She emerged, looking a bit frazzled, as she'd been in a webinar for the last hour and was dying for something to eat.

We popped over the road again, to Cafe 900, and she tucked into a Caesar salad, Keith had a sandwich while I settled for a berry muffin as it hadn't been long since I'd had breakfast!

Sophie liked the tile but agreed with me that it was a bit boring. We dropped her back at work and headed over to Tile Giant next door to Benchmarx. There, I spotted some beautiful tiles, but the one I really liked wouldn't have gone with the worktop, but we thought we could insert them into the wall to break up the grey.

We bought one to take home, and ordered samples of some other square tiles as well before taking the door back to the kitchen showroom. Both of us had decided to buy the grey subway tile from Topps Tiles as the price was very good indeed, and we knew that the colour would be a match.

This time, the tile showroom was busy and the poor girl was running about trying to serve different people. While we were waiting I spotted some lovely tiles that I thought could be used to break up the grey.

There are four different patterns and reminded me of Spanish tiles!

They were also on offer so we snapped up a box! The cost of all the tiles was very good indeed, and we really think we got a bargain! We put them in the back of the car and headed to Jones's as I needed some bird food, and boxes.

Keith managed to "liberate" some cardboard boxes from a trolley, I bought loads of bird food, and we headed over to Kettering to collect Mike from work. He was late out, and on the way home, I dropped the olive oil into the care home for Mum.

Before being able to relax, I packaged up all the books we are sending to Ziffit and labelled them. Each one had to be individually wrapped, so it took a fair while! I couldn't believe it when I looked at the clock and it was past 5pm!

We changed our meal tonight as the weather was so beautiful and decided to barbecue instead. Keith had marinated some chicken, and we popped asparagus, baby sweetcorn and new potatoes into the oven to roast. Tonight, we were able to sit in the garden with Keith for a while as he cooked the chicken and chipolatas on the grill. It was lovely and relaxing, but the weather for the next few days is set to be more unsettled. Oh well!

Drama at work...

We had some drama at work this morning when we discovered that one of our staff had collapsed at a pool in town, and had to be revived with the defibrillator. She had fainted and fallen into the pool, but when she came around and stood up, she fell and hit her head, triggering her heart to go into spasms. Thankfully, she was conscious and talking when they took her to the hospital, and I later found out from Sara that she was back at home, so we were all very relieved. It just shows how important these machines are when it comes to saving lives.

Work was much quieter today and I put the rest of the films onto the system in case I'm busy on Friday and next week with the summer holiday activities. Outside we had cloud and occasional sunny spells, but it's set to improve from tomorrow, thank goodness!

Back home I hoovered the whole house and cleaned my en-suite, but on Thursday I'm going to do a deep clean. Keith and I really must get our heads into gear about the kitchen and choosing tiles! A builder is coming out on Friday to look at the wall we're taking down and I must find somewhere to store all the items in our cupboard and the books on the shelving unit!

After a delicious dinner, Keith watched the football while I retreated upstairs (after England's first and only goal) and watched The Great British Photography Challenge. Sophie joined me after having a bath and promptly fell asleep, bless her!

A chilly solstice!

Today was the day when restrictions should have been eased in England, but as we all know now, they have been extended until the 19 July. There has been a massive push to get all over 18s vaccinated and long queues were seen at vaccination centres over the weekend. Let's just hope that as many people as possible are vaccinated in the next few weeks!

I was back at work this morning and we had a pleasant shift for once, with not too many phone calls! Sheila brought over some details about the holiday activities and crash courses which need to be put on - my next task!

The weather today has been disappointing again, with overcast grey skies and heavy rain showers in the evening. It has also been chilly so not at all like the summer solstice should be! After today, the nights start drawing in... can you believe it!

After dinner, Keith and I indulged in our latest TV programme - Swamp People: Serpent Invasion! It's hilarious and is set in the Florida Everglades. The snakes are enormous!

Celebrating Dads!

The weather has been truly awful today with heavy, grey cloud and absolutely no sign of the sun at all. Horrible!

Mike was at work again this morning, and I think he started even earlier than yesterday! Poor Keith should have had a lie-in! We'd barely got home before I had to go and pick up my Mum and Dad from the care home, as I'd arranged to take them out with Sophie.

The plan was to go to Sywell Aerodrome and see if there were any planes about, but the little airport was very quiet. There's a museum there, and a few people were visiting, but there certainly weren't any planes flying today. My Dad opened his presents from me - a bottle of Bourbon and a tee-shirt, and we drove down to Northampton where my parents enjoyed a KFC takeaway sitting in the car.

Sophie and I fancied a chicken wrap so we drove the short distance to McDonald's but they had nothing available! We bought McFlurries for Mum and Dad and visited another fast-food outlet, Subway on Brackmills where we finally enjoyed some lunch - a chicken and salad wrap, which was delicious.

I hadn't been able to get my Dad's wheelchair into the back of his car so we were very limited as to what we could do today, but I promised I'd book a table at a local teashop for a wedding anniversary lunch next month, and I'm taking them back to the flying field next Sunday for a barbecue.

We took them back to the care home via a scenic route, but I did feel a bit guilty that we hadn't done more. The weather remained stubbornly gloomy and miserable, and Sophie and I headed home where we had a chocolate facemask and watched Four in a Bed. Mike had gone out with Abbie so he wanted a lift home, and at 5pm Sophie and I sat down to play Scrabble and enjoy a cocktail.

Keith cooked (yes, I know it's Father's Day, but he wanted to!) roast chicken for dinner, and then our weekend was over. The time has sped by again and it's Monday tomorrow! Another week looms!

A meal out!

Mike was at work this morning and both he and Keith left very early indeed. He phoned at 9am for us to go and collect him, and as soon as we arrived back, it was time to take Sophie to the station, where she was catching a train to London to meet Zain.

Back at home, Keith had made sausage sandwiches for breakfast and it was lovely to relax in the conservatory with a coffee. Unfortunately, the weather has been dull and overcast today with very little in the way of sunshine or blue skies.

Mike and Abbie went to have breakfast in Kettering so they were gone for a lot of the day as they popped to the shops afterwards. Mike bought two, very different, tee-shirts with somewhat edgy captions on the front!

I spent the day pootling about and sorting out all the stuff we had leftover from the garage sale last week. I made an appointment to drop it off at a local donation "station" but couldn't get a slot until early July!

Sophie phoned me to say she was coming home earlier than she'd thought, so I went and had a shower and then drove down to meet her. She'd had a fabulous day and had visited Covent Garden and Neal's Yard, where she and Zain had had plenty to eat and drink. She even went to a pop-up Fever-Tree bar!

Keith, Abbie and Mike went to the pub at about 6pm in Abbie's car. We'd booked a table for 7.30pm but Sophie and I stayed at home for an hour relaxing and chatting about her day. When we arrived at 7pm, the three of them were seated at a table in the restaurant - I keep forgetting it's only table service at the moment!

We had a lovely meal but the garlic bread we ordered for a starter was a bit of a disappointment! Normally it's very good, and I think the chef was doing us a favour as it wasn't technically on the menu (if you didn't count it as a side with the lasagne), but we received a thin slice of white bread with a smear of garlic butter spread on it!

At least the mains were much better - steaks for Keith and me, pork belly for Abbie, a pie for Mike and chicken and rice for Sophie. We were all finished after dessert at 9pm, and it was home to enjoy a last glass of wine and a wind-down before bed!

A little bicker!

We awoke to torrential rain this morning, and it carried on for most of the day, only stopping when I went home at 4pm.

Kathy and I had a very pleasant shift at work, and after the first rush of calls it was so quiet I was able to put the rest of the playscheme places onto the system, as well as some more films. Nicola was in a very chatty mood today, and even gave us a teabag each for a drink in the afternoon as well as a bar of chocolate! A great shift to end the week on!

I put the hoover around at home, cleaned the kitchen floor, and spruced up the bathroom as Abbie is staying over the weekend. Mike is working both days and has to go in extra early as there's a tournament taking place.

Sophie and I were looking forward to watching the film Sideways tonight, and I'd picked out a bottle of Californian Pinot Noir from Aldi to drink while we watched. The main character in the film is obsessed with the grape so I thought it would be good to drink along with the characters as they drove through the Southern California wine region.

However, Keith let slip that he'd done nothing with the planned curry for dinner, except cut up the chicken and marinate it. We thought that he'd cut up the veg and cooked the chicken before chilling it in the fridge, leaving us to just heat it up, but no... To say I was not amused was an understatement, and we exchanged a few sharp words. When I returned from giving him a lift to the pub, Sophie and I had to cut up the onions, mushrooms and peppers, and then cook the curry on the hob. We then bunged it all in the oven, and settled down with a glass of wine to watch at least forty-five minutes of the film!

After we'd eaten Keith did the right thing and went upstairs to watch the England-Scotland game. I might have been interested but we wanted to see the end of the film, and the rest of the bottle of wine was waiting! Sophie and I are hoping to go to the same area next year so it was lovely to see the fabulous scenery and dream!

Catching up!

The clear blue skies and sunshine were a distant memory when we awoke to rain and heavy grey skies this morning. We were taking Mum and Dad to his old flying field near Higham Ferrers and had arranged to pick them up at 10am.

I was slightly apprehensive about the whole thing as the weather was disappointing, and I was worried about getting Dad out of the car and into his wheelchair. However, the rain had at least stopped, and after stopping for a quick coffee nearby, we made it to the field by 10.30am.

The field is in the middle of nowhere, so it's perfect for flying model aeroplanes, some of which are huge! We saw two men out on the flying strip, but the rest were in the shed, having a coffee and chatting. They were very pleased to see my Dad, and we spent a pleasant hour chatting and catching up with what had been happening over the last eighteen months. I think it did my Dad a lot of good getting out and meeting his old mates again after such a long absence!

We dropped them back off at the care home at midday and sped home to have a bite to eat and sort out the shopping list. I tidied up and then we drove over to Aldi and Tesco where we did our shop in record time! Luckily, it was quiet!

We just had time back at home to put everything away (I grabbed something to eat this time) before getting Mike from work. He'd been bitten on his foot and ankle which is one of the hazards of his job. At least today there were no rabbits to be rescued!

Phew! It's been another busy day! It'll be good to go back to work tomorrow for a rest!

A somewhat eventful day!

The weather this morning, and into the early afternoon, has been utterly gorgeous. The sky was a wonderful clear blue; the word "pellucid" comes to mind, and it had a Mediterranean quality to it. Alas! It was not to last!

Keith and I pottered about in the morning and then went to meet Sophie for lunch at the cafe opposite where she works. On the way, we called into Aldi in Kingsthorpe to get some shopping and made it to Brackmills dead on time.

Sophie is extremely lucky to have such a wonderful eaterie opposite! The place is called Cafe 900 (it's number 900 on the road) and although it has some outdoor seating (no umbrellas, though) inside was delightful. The cafe is linked to offices behind, so there was a steady stream of workers visiting for their lunch, or a snack and coffee. The range of food was impressive - salads, sandwiches, hot dishes, pastries, cakes and a variety of hot and cold drinks.

Keith took a table in the large, airy and bright dining space while Sophie and I chose a pesto pasta salad each, and a BLT sandwich for Keith. I wasn't expecting such a large and airy room inside, and we spent an exceedingly pleasant hour enjoying our lunch and having a chat in the cool surroundings. I sampled a slice of flapjack after my salad, and it was divine! I don't think any of us wanted to leave, to be honest! We will definitely be back and perhaps make it a regular lunchtime arrangement! As a bonus, we met some of Sophie's co-workers, so at least we can put faces to names now!

Back at home, I made a start on preparations for tonight's meal - chicken and parmesan soup with pappardelle. I put a whole chicken to poach on the hob with onions and a head of garlic, and while it was simmering I chopped up celery, carrots, plum tomatoes and garlic. Sophie had ordered a gift for Keith for Father's Day and had originally said it was arriving between 3pm and 4pm but it was delivered early which meant I could go with Keith to collect Mike from work.

By now it was very warm, about 29c, and the sky was starting to cloud over slightly. We sat and waited for Mike who appeared at the car window and said he had a bit of a dilemma... he had found four baby rabbits almost buried in soil on the golf course, and couldn't see their mother. They'd been there for at least four hours (that he knew of) and the mother was nowhere in sight. He wanted to save them and bring them home...

He was obviously concerned, but Keith and I were worried about the fact that maybe they weren't abandoned, and also, what would we do with four baby rabbits? Especially if they weren't weaned? At the end of his shift, he texted me to say he was going to go and look for them, and Keith went off after him leaving me in a very hot car.

By 4pm I was getting a bit worried, but thankfully Mike texted me again and asked me to drive the car next to the shed where the men work from. I drove over, and Mike and Keith emerged from the bushes with a bucket containing three very tiny bunnies. Sadly, a fourth one hadn't made it so Mike was convinced the mother was either hurt or dead herself.

We drove home and put them in the garage where Mike and Keith tried to revive them a bit with water. I got onto the phone straight away and called the RSPCA, but I was number 15 in the queue, and the calls were taking about 40 minutes to answer.

Luckily, they had a list of wildlife shelters, one of which was at Wellingborough, so I called them and they asked us to bring them over. I honestly didn't think they would survive the journey, but after about half an hour, we arrived to find all three still breathing.

I was very thankful that the shelter was taking them in, and we drove home feeling very relieved. Whether they will survive or not, we won't know, but at least we felt like we did the right thing.

I hadn't factored a mercy ride to Wellingborough into my busy day, so when we eventually got home at almost 6pm I still had dinner to sort out. Keith and Mike disappeared off to the pub leaving Sophie and me to sort everything out and finish the dinner preparations. Mike had stripped his bed so that had to be washed and I put the hoover around because it badly needed it!

Before finishing the dinner I collapsed onto the sofa with Sophie and enjoyed a drink - with the heat and all the running about and stress, I felt shattered!

 

Two days in one...

Monday was a fairly uneventful day at work - we seem to be quietening down now, and after the first rush of calls, it does get easier. Sheila gave me the holiday playscheme places to put onto the system, so that should keep me busy all week!

Boris Johnson appeared this evening to give his announcement about the easing of restrictions and, as we expected, they have been delayed for a month, until the 19 July. As the news had already been leaked over the last week, there was no surprise at all. The Delta variant (Indian one) is now on the rampage and infections are rising, but deaths and hospitalisations are not.

The weather has been very warm today, but thunderstorms and rain are forecast for the middle and latter part of the week. The gardens do need some rain!

On Tuesday I managed to put lots more playscheme places onto the system and reached week six, so I was very pleased about that. I just hope that nothing happens to jeopardise them going ahead. It would be unthinkable!

Keith barbecued this evening, and we enjoyed marinated chicken, burgers and lovely meaty sausages. It was the perfect evening to barbecue - warm and sunny with clear blue skies. The fan is certainly coming in useful at the moment at night, as it's very sticky and uncomfortable!

Lazy Sunday

Today was forecast to be the hottest of the year so far, and it was probably accurate! We've had never-ending blue skies, small fluffy white clouds and perpetual sunshine all day!

After a lazy start to the morning, Keith and I cut the back lawn and strimmed the edges. It was too hot to do anything else so we sat on the garden seat and enjoyed the beautiful weather. The birds kept coming down for food and weren't put off by our presence at all. It did put the starlings off, though, which was a good thing as just lately, they have been fighting and squabbling on the fat snax feeders, and making a real racket! Sophie did a workout and joined us in the garden to eat an apple and a banana before getting ready for her lunch out with Laura and Daisy. It was lovely to sit and relax and soak up the sunshine. 

After Sophie had left with her friends, Keith and I drove to Mawsley to buy some lager for later in the day. It's been ages since we'd been to Mawsley, and I remembered last year when I seemed to be going multiple times every day!

Back home I pottered about and Keith watched England play in the Euros. I had a bath and wrapped myself in a huge towel I'd bought. It was enormous, and it was bliss to lie on my bed with the fan going and watch a film - The Professor and the Madman starring Sean Penn and a rugged, grizzled Mel Gibson.

Sophie arrived home at about 4pm, just before we left to pick up Mike from the train station. He was hot and frazzled from the journey, so we had the air-conditioning on full blast on the journey home. Outside it was saying the temperature was 29c, higher than it probably was, but hot enough!

Sophie was also hot and frazzled when we got home and said she felt like she hadn't had a restful weekend at all. I had to agree that yesterday, although enjoyable, was hard work and a lot of the stuff we wanted to sell was still in the conservatory! I told Keith I felt a bit "discombobulated" and said I should have done more today, but it was warm and I'm not good in the hot weather! Lying by a pool is fine, but that's about it!

Dinner this evening was another delicious barbecue - we're really getting the hang of this now!

In the heat of the day...

Today, we were taking part in the local garage sale, and looking forward to making a few pennies! It had been organised with the pre-school attached to our local primary and was a fund-raising event. Luckily, the weather was absolutely gorgeous with blue skies and lots of warm sunshine.

I wanted to get set up early, and was awake at about 6am after having a great night's sleep, so I felt a lot better than last night! Keith set up an ingenious solution for hanging Sophie's unwanted clothes - a step ladder with a broom pole attached which acted as a clothesline! Vince and Sue next door had gone out for the day and said we were more than welcome to use their drive, so we put Sophie's car there, giving us more room to display our wares!

By 9am, just after we'd finished setting up, people were already coming around to look at what we were selling. This happened last time so we weren't caught unawares! From 9am onwards we had a steady stream of people and it was lovely to chat with some of them, including a woman who used to look after Sophie when she was a baby!

The sale was on until 3pm, and Sophie did most of the work, bless her, while I pottered about in the background! By 2pm we felt it was all over and we'd made about £50! Not as much as last time, but well over the amount we needed to cover the price of having the garage sale, and above all it was fun. It was great to see some stuff go, as well, including towels that had been hanging around for years!

After we'd brought everything in, Sophie and I went down to Dobbies in Wootton and Sophie bought a birthday card, a gift bag and some treats for Laura who was celebrating her birthday last week. She is going out for lunch with Laura and Daisy tomorrow at Farndon Fields.

Back home I had a nap, and then it was cocktail time and a game of Scrabble! Keith joined us and helped Sophie, but I still won!

Dinner tonight was a barbecue and afterwards, we watched In The Heat of the Night, starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, which is one of my favourite films. Sophie was a bit uncomfortable with the language used in the film, but it was made in 1967, well before such terms were deemed completely unacceptable!

Toil and strife...

Things got off to a bad start this morning when I had a text from the bank to say that my parents' account had gone over the agreed limit. I was just about to get into the shower so I hared off downstairs to discover that the care home had taken their fees eight days early! As you can imagine, I was fuming and called the manager but she wasn't available. I have had nothing but problems with the fees, and the woman I spoke to said that the money was handled by their finance department, who are evidently not doing a very good job!

The bad luck continued at work, with niggling problems and difficult calls all morning. Today I felt weary and tired, and wanted to be anywhere but at work! It was a huge relief to leave at 4pm and head home where I called the care home again. They sent me an email with the dates of invoices and when the direct debits are taken, something I had never seen before! I didn't have the energy or inclination to deal with it this afternoon, so I'll write something over the weekend!

This evening I was supposed to have been going out with Lynda, Fiona and Andrea to The Four Pears in Little Houghton, but I didn't want to go... I had looked at the menu this morning and was dismayed by the prices, reckoning that it would cost me £60 for my share of the meal, with wine and drinks. To be honest, all I wanted to do after a busy week was come home, open a bottle of wine with Sophie and watch a good film... which is what we did! Fiona's sister was going tonight as an extra so the table would still be for four. I phoned Lynda and made my apologies, saying I had a bad headache, which was true!

Looking back, I did the right thing as I felt dizzy and light-headed when we sat down for dinner later in the evening. I have no idea why, and Sophie and I had only had half a bottle of wine each, but I was glad I wasn't at a pub for dinner!

I fell asleep on the sofa, and when I woke up at 9pm, Keith went off to watch the Euros upstairs (they're on now...ugh!), while Sophie and I watched the end of Pretty Woman, a pretty perfect film to watch this evening. I felt slightly better after my nap, and thought that a good night's sleep was just what I needed!

Busy, busy!

Mike was off to London today, to see Abbie, so Keith drove him down to the station at about 10am. From there he went to do our weekly shop, leaving me at home to sort out all the stuff we had gathered to sell at the garage sale on Saturday.

In a moment of madness, I had also decided to change our bed so I had all that to deal with! It's been overcast and muggy today, so not ideal conditions to be carting books and things around! I sorted out Sophie's clothes first and made sure they were clean. I then started the mammoth task of putting all of our books into some kind of order and brought another big box in from the garage. It's such a shame that secondhand books are worth so little these days. We have some gorgeous tomes that cost a fortune when they were new! I think I will be glad when Saturday is over, and what doesn't get sold is going to the charity shop!

Washing the sheet and pillowcases today was a lot easier than last week, and they were soon out on the line. Ruth popped around with some bags of pet food pouches, but I don't have a clue as to when we're going to Milton Keynes next! I've stored them in our already cluttered garage and we'll have to make the trip soon!

By late afternoon I had retired order to the house, and had also ironed Sophie's clothes that she was selling, had ironed our pillowcases, hand-washed two of my delicate tee-shirts and hoovered downstairs, as well as putting all of our fresh clean bedding back onto the bed. I felt shattered! I went and had a glorious shower before Keith and I played cards in the conservatory while Sophie chatted to us about her very stressful day! One of her colleagues thought she had Covid, so that was a bit of a worry, but thankfully she tested negative! 

Dinner tonight was very easy - cold meats with salad and crushed new potatoes. Just what we needed after such a busy day!

Helping out...

This morning I went to a neighbour's house to help with the recycling sort. I had messaged Ruth yesterday to say that, with the warm temperatures forecast, I'd prefer a spot in the shade to help as I don't do full sun... I am like a delicate flower, and very much prone to wilting... haha! 

She had set up a table under her shady arbour for me so I took a huge bag of recycling and made a start. Even though the group now has lots of members, there were only four of us helping so it was hot, hard work. We sort the recycling into various categories, including crisp/snack wrappers, biscuit/cake wrappers, pet food pouches (smelly), confectionery wrappers, cheese wrappers, make-up, toothpaste tubes, and even pens and ink cartridges. I set my alarm for 12pm, as I had to go home and do a test before seeing my Mum in the afternoon.

I walked home and had a quick bite to eat after doing my lateral flow test. Keith, amazingly, was washing my dad's car, something I haven't seen him do for ages! It looked beautiful and I decided to take it instead of my car which looked distinctly scruffy next to it!

After collecting Mum, we went to Next and took back two tee-shirts that she didn't want, as well as picking up another. There were some beautiful clothes in the shop, but Mum wanted to go to Tesco to have a look so we headed there.

After a coffee, we browsed the rails and Mum picked out some lovely tops and some underwear. I bought a tee-shirt and a bottle of whisky for my Dad, for Father's Day, which is on the 20 June. We headed to get Mike from work, and we spent a very enjoyable half hour chatting while waiting for him at the golf course. The greens are looking gorgeous and Mum was very impressed with where he works.

At home, I made Mum a cup of tea, and we sat in the conservatory with Monty for half an hour. It has been very warm today and is due to be the same for the rest of the week, becoming humid as we approach the weekend.

I dropped Mum back at the care home and headed back to make a start with the dinner preparations. Tonight, it was chicken ham filo pastry pie, so a fair amount of work to do! Tomorrow night we're doing something easy!

Planning ahead...

Work seems to be getting a little easier, thank goodness! After the initial rush at 10am it settles down, but we are still getting lots of calls about swimming. There is word that Boris won't ease all of the Covid restrictions on the 21 June as scheduled, because of the rise in infections due to the Delta (or Indian) variant, so any hopes of not having to book people in for swimming is rapidly disappearing!

With three of us answering calls, it does get a bit noisy, but it was great to finish at 4pm and head home, with two days off ahead of me!

When I arrived home Keith and Mike were still out. Mike had finished work late, and they were both partaking of a drink at the Clubhouse. This is starting to become a bit of a habit! I pootled about and tidied up, and when Sophie returned home we looked at hotels in Napa. Sophie had spotted one called The Inn on First that looked lovely, so we booked it on Booking.com! We don't have to pay until October 2022 and it was fun going onto Google Street View and "walking" the short distance to downtown Napa. For a few brief moments, it was like being transported to California!

Dinner tonight was a prawn and tomato pasta bake that we had never made before. It was simple and tasty! After we'd eaten, Sophie showed me a raft of emails she'd received from the hotel in Napa. They wanted to ask if we had any dietary requirements and said that breakfast would be served in our room... I do hope not! We are just hoping that they've sent us information that's relevant now, and won't be in the future! I can't imagine that Covid will still be as big a problem next October! I'm praying not!

Making plans!

Monday rolls around far too quickly, and the weekend has sped by! Keith was supposed to go to Tesco early this morning to get some shopping, but he came back to bed instead! I really don't blame him! At least he has a short week this week as Mike is off to London to see Abbie on Thursday.

Sophie had set her alarm for 6am this morning, and I heard her get up, but then it went quiet. Yesterday evening she said she felt she had no energy at all after her jab, and her arm was very sore, so this morning she had obviously decided not to go to the gym, which I think was a wise decision.

I stayed in bed until 7am listening to the cacophony of birdsong outside. Two wood pigeons seemed to be having a conversation, and then the sparrows and starlings started squabbling and chattering! Life in the countryside is not quiet!

As Keith hadn't gone to Tesco, and I had nothing for my lunch (unless I fancied stale bread), I popped into the Tesco garage to buy a sandwich before heading into work. It felt very humid after the rain yesterday and everything was damp. It did remind me a bit of a Florida morning after a storm!

Work was OK, busy at first and then it quietened down. The children are back at school this week and thoughts are turning to the next school holidays, the long summer break starting in July. I had several enquiries about the playscheme we put on, so that will be my next job!

Back at home I tidied up and put the hoover around. When Sophie returned home we sat in the conservatory, and Keith and I played cards while Sophie and I discussed our trip to California next year. We won't be doing Alcatraz, Muir Woods or the Winchester Mystery House again, but we want to do two wine tours (Napa and Sonoma), and we want to spend more time in Carmel and Monterey, and perhaps even do a whale-watching trip!

This evening's meal was stir-fried pork with noodles in a peanut sauce, and it wasn't too bad thank goodness!

Dinner disaster!

After a breakfast of banana porridge this morning, we were back to Weedon for Sophie's first Covid vaccination. I managed to park in the tiny car park and watched as people arrived and left. Most of them were the same age as Sophie, and I was so glad she was able to go and get her jab. She was a bit nervous, but emerged about twenty minutes later, elated that she had been vaccinated!

We returned home and made a start on tonight's dinner, a Hairy Biker's recipe for Moroccan Pastilla. We had decided to cook it as it looked interesting, but I was a bit worried that it wouldn't go down well with the men in the family as it was a mixture of sweet and savoury.

When I opened the packs of chicken thighs, they smelt a bit funky, and Sophie said they looked grey, which is never a good sign. I washed them (I know you're not supposed to) and we cut away the white gristly bits and then shallow-fried them. Once that was done we set them aside and fried onions, garlic, and spices including turmeric and ginger. Keith came into the kitchen and asked why he smelt fish! To be honest it did smell as if we'd added a Thai fish sauce to the pan!

We then put the chicken back into the pan, added stock and let it simmer for half an hour while we had leftovers from the barbecue for lunch. Outside it was very grey and stormy looking, a complete contrast to yesterday!

The next stage of the recipe was to remove the chicken from the stock and dice it finely. We had to reduce the liquid in the pan by half, and then add four eggs so the mixture resembled loose scrambled egg! After then adding dates, orange zest and ground almonds, we put the chicken back in and let it cool. The mixture looked horrible and didn't smell any better!

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing as all we'd seemed to do since we got back from Weedon was wash up! Outside we had a torrential downpour of rain and it turned very humid. I was pleased as I'm watering our neighbour's garden at the moment while they're away, so I had the evening off!

Sophie and I played Scrabble in the evening with cocktails, and I said to her that I really didn't fancy dinner at all. I felt bad that we'd spent so much time preparing it, and that it was a terrible waste of food, but it smelled horrible. Sophie agreed so we told Keith who was fine about it! He did say that the chicken had been stored in our fridge outside and that he'd noticed the door wasn't closing properly, so that might have had something to do with the unsavoury odour!

We decided to order an Indian takeaway from Mawsley instead, and Sophie and I shared a vegetable curry with mushroom rice. Not really what we'd been planning, but I think we'll give that particular recipe a miss in future!

After dinner Sophie and I made a huge decision - we have booked to go to California again in September/October 2022. We contacted the Airbnb we stayed at in San Francisco who have accepted our booking, so we were enormously excited! We are staying for two weeks, and spending longer in Napa and Monterey and we can't wait!

Lunchtime treats!

Mike had booked his second jab today, so this morning at 10am, we drove over to Weedon, to the medical centre there. I don't really know why our surgery has teamed up with Weedon when it's quite a way away, but we were glad he was able to have his second jab, and Sophie is going tomorrow!

The weather was absolutely beautiful with just the right temperature, blue skies, white fluffy clouds and sunshine. Before we left we'd had a pamphlet pushed through our letterbox about a train journey to Settle in Cumbria. You could enjoy a whole day's trip, with breakfast, afternoon tea, and dinner, and we were seriously considering it for Keith's 75th birthday in September. It looked wonderful!

Mike was in and out very quickly, and we returned home where I jumped onto the computer to see if I could find out more about the train journey! To my disappointment, it was fully booked, so why had we received the pamphlets in the first place?!

Sophie and I drove over to Olney at lunchtime where we'd booked a table at Teapots for 1pm. The traffic on the way over was busy, and we think it had something to do with a Ferrari show at Sywell Aerodrome. We were nearly late, but arrived 2 minutes after our booked time, thank goodness! We had telephoned ahead to say we might be late, and I was worried about parking in the busy town centre.

We had a delicious lunch followed by tea and cake! It has been a long time!

I chose a toasted cheese and onion sandwich while Sophie opted for the Club sandwich, and both were served with salad. We enjoyed raspberry lemonades with the sandwiches. but went for the traditional pot of tea with our cakes - lemon and yoghurt, and coffee and walnut. 

After we'd eaten we had a look in the shops, and Sophie found some gorgeous 1950s glasses etched with pretty leaves. Another addition to our collection! She also found a beautiful brand new dress and some trousers in a charity shop, so she did very well! It was a warm afternoon, and Olney was packed with people so after looking in a few shops we decided to head home. 

At 5pm Sophie and I played Scrabble in the conservatory and enjoyed a new cocktail made with Campari, white wine and tonic water. The first ones we served in our beautiful glasses we found in Olney last year...

Keith barbecued this evening and excelled himself. Mike didn't join us as he'd been out for lunch with a friend and had eaten a steak and a beefburger! No wonder he still felt full hours later!

Our film choice this evening was an older one - The Lincoln Lawyer starring the gorgeous Matthew McConaughey. It was riveting!

Sad news...

Work has been mostly uneventful today, and I think we're all glad that it's the last day of the half-term holiday. We had many, many calls about swimming sessions, so that hasn't changed! I really hope that we no longer have to book people onto sessions by the end of this month! It would make our lives so much easier!

I had to speed off to get Mike at 4pm as Keith was waiting in for the washing machine man to arrive. I drove over to Kettering, held up by an idiot driver who, even out of the 30mph zone, carried on driving like a snail, and holding up a long queue of motorists! At one point I was doing 25mph!

Mike was in the clubhouse waiting for me, and when we got home we discovered Keith sitting on the sofa with blood covering his leg. He'd fallen over when he'd helped carry our old washing machine into a van and had badly grazed his knee. I wiped away all the blood with sterile wipes and made him go and have a bath.

After two weeks of no-wine night, we were back on track this evening, but Sophie and I had to cook dinner, as Keith was at the pub. It was a very simple affair, though, and I left Sophie to put the finishing touches to the meal while I went to fetch Keith.

When he came out, Dave came with him and told us, shockingly, that he'd been diagnosed with brain cancer, and that it had spread to his lungs. Naturally, we were both shocked and upset and it was horrible to see Dave so heartbroken. He's going to have treatment, though, so we're hopeful that this will work.

Somewhat subdued, we returned home and ate dinner, all of us shocked by the news. It's certainly turning out to be a tumultuous start to the new decade, and not really the brave new world we'd been expecting!

Laundry day

Today, I have been mostly doing laundry and feeling like a 1950s housewife...

After a lie-in, Keith went shopping while I tackled the washing (our bedsheet and pillowcases) and cleared out the cupboard under the sink, ready for our new washing machine to be installed tomorrow.

Doing four loads of washing took nearly all day, but it was lovely to see the brilliant white pillowcases hanging on the line and knowing the laundry basket was empty! I also ironed some clothes for Mum and Dad, but it's been the perfect day for it, with oodles of sunshine, a gentle breeze and blue skies.

Before collecting Mike from work, we drove to Next in Kettering to pick up two tee shirts for my Mum, which we'd ordered last Sunday. We picked up Mike, dropped off all the clothes and returned home, where I had a much-needed shower! It's been warm today!

When Sophie returned home I put her gym clothes on to wash and that was it! Hopefully, tomorrow we can use a proper washing machine again!

The water carriers...

I had my second Covid jab booked for today and was extremely pleased to have been able to bring it forward by 11 days after originally booking it for the 13 June. The Indian variant is running rife at the moment, but this isn't translating (yet) into deaths or hospitalisations, thank goodness. There is some doubt, though, that the easing of all restrictions on the 21 June might happen.

Before we went to Moulton Park, our new twin tub washing machine arrived. We didn't have time to have a good look at it and said we'd read all the instructions when we returned.

As before, the vaccine process was very smooth and efficient, and I received my second jab right on time. The woman I spoke to said they were hoping to do about 2000 vaccinations today, which was impressive, seeing as the venue was only one of very many!

Before going home we popped into the Co-op to get something for lunch and then it was back to have a bite to eat before trying out our new washing machine!

We quickly realised that we wouldn't be able to use it in the kitchen as it needs to drain into a lower container. Putting it on the draining board meant we couldn't get to sort the washing out inside the machine unless we stood on steps, not a good idea!

Keith went into the garage to clear a space next to our tumble dryer, and we used an old plastic waste bin as the wastewater container. This meant, however, that we had to continuously carry heavy buckets of water backwards and forwards from the house to the garage.

The instructions were long and complicated and we soon simplified the process! Bascially, we had to fill the left reservoir two thirds full of hot soapy water, add the clothes and then set the timer. We set it to 15 minutes, but this can vary depending on how dirty the wash is. According to the instructions, after the wash is completed, you add the clothes to the spinner, but add extra water... why? We seemed to be forever carrying water to and fro (and emptying the bloomin' waste container), so we soon dispensed with this stage! We just spun them, then added fresh water to the left compartment, rinsed them, added more fresh water with fabric conditioner, spun them again and then hung them on the washing line. It was a bit of a faff, and to begin with, I felt despair about doing this several times a day, every day. Carrying heavy buckets of water, and then lifting them up so we could pour the water into the machine was not fun!

It soon dawned on me that there was no way I could wash our heavy super-king duvet cover as the machine really only takes about 3kg of clothes (or 8lb) and even less than that when you use the spin cycle.

I suggested to Keith that we contact Highlands to see whether we could take delivery of our new washing machine early. I emailed Anthony and within half an hour, he had replied to say this was no problem and it would be with us on Friday! Hooray!

We did manage to empty our laundry basket today, though, so I was pleased we'd done that, but by late afternoon I felt shattered. I'm not sure whether it was the jab, the heat (it was saying 29c in the car but that's always higher than it really is) or the constant backwards and forwards with water, but I felt deadbeat! Keith suggested we all go to the pub for a drink this evening and I agreed, but I still felt tired!

As it neared evening, the skies clouded over and it looked a bit stormy. We went to The White Horse and sat in the garden with two halves of Guinness (Soph and me) and two pints of San Miguel (the boys).

We spent a very pleasant and enjoyable hour talking and sipping our drinks. Just before we left, it started to rain, so we chose the right time to go!

Film time!

At work today I managed, at last, to put some films on the system, starting with Dream Horse showing on the 25 June, when we re-open. Work was busy first thing but then it went quieter, so it was an ideal time to do the job I'd been longing to do for ages!

At 4pm I sped home, looking forward to a couple of days off. Keith had ordered a new portable washing machine to use until our kitchen is sorted out. It's like an old-style twin tub so I'm hoping it will be OK and will be able to cope with the volume of washing that we do in our household! It cost just over £100, probably the same amount or less than if we'd had our machine fixed!

Sophie and I played cards in the conservatory, and we enjoyed a barbecue again for dinner. Keith had marinated thin strips of chicken and they were delicious! Let's hope that we have a "barbecue" summer this year when we can do some outdoor cooking!