An early start!

Sophie and I were up very early this morning as she was off to an exhibition in Birmingham, and I was taking her and a work friend to the train station. I got up at 6am and made myself a coffee, and we left at 6.30am, going to her workplace first to pick up Luca. We had given ourselves plenty of time to get to the station, and arrived just after 7am, so at least they were able to have a coffee before they travelled. She was staying overnight in a hotel and helping at a Gala Dinner, so a busy day lay ahead for her! I didn't mind getting up early as the morning was stunning - mist hung over the fields, and the sun was an orange orb in the sky. So beautiful!

Back home I had another coffee and did some jobs. As today is my only free day this week, I was determined to get a lot of things done. Keith and I went over to Kettering first thing, and he treated me to breakfast in Costa. I then went to Next to get presents for his birthday, which is on Friday. The early mist had cleared, giving way to an absolutely gorgeous day, with plenty of gentle Autumnal sunshine, and the trees were beginning to change colour. It was glorious. 

Next had nothing, so we drove to Tesco instead where I stocked up on things Keith needed. I had also, first thing this morning, ordered another gift online and designed two birthday cards for him from Moonpig. I think he will be spoiled on Friday!

From Tesco, we drove to Beckworth Emporium to see if they had any turkeys yet. They didn't but the butcher said he hoped they'd be on sale in October. There are some alarming reports in the news about empty shelves and difficulty getting food transported at the moment, due to the shortage of drivers, so we were hoping they'd have some. We will be back in October! 

Keith was astounded at the changes in the restaurant and was amazed that we'd been told about the 45-minute wait on Sunday, bearing in mind how big the place was. It was probably because of staff shortages! We wandered about and looked at the garden tools, but in the end, we didn't buy anything. I wanted to get home as I still had more jobs to complete, and I was picking Mum and Dad up this afternoon to take them to Avery Park again.

At home, I did a lateral flow test and wrapped Keith's presents. At 2pm I collected Mum and Dad and we drove to Avery Park. We had to do another test (a fact that made me very annoyed) and then we were shown around. My Dad asked loads of questions, which was great, and we discussed fees. If they have a companion room it will be slightly cheaper than the home they're in now.

Dad wanted a CD player for a CD I'd ordered for him (despite saying he had something to play it on) so I popped into Asda and bought him a portable player and some batteries. Back at the care home I also managed to call Nationwide to try and sort out their joint account, so by the time we were finished it was well past 5pm and I was beginning to flag a bit!

It was a huge relief to get home, enjoy a drink and sit at the island with the daily crossword, one of my favourite things to do at the moment. Keith sat with me and we did the shopping list and discussed meals. There wasn't much discussion as we are out on Friday night to celebrate, and on Saturday we're off to the races again!