Exploring

We've had light rain showers this morning, but certainly not enough to make any difference to our extremely dry gardens. I spent the morning working on one of my old travel diaries again, this time from 1981 when we drove to Italy and I had a holiday romance!

At lunchtime, Sophie and I drove to Bicester, and although the plan had been to have a picnic at Graven Hill, we ended up in a McDonald's after doing a tour of the town itself in search of a Subway! The restaurant was busy with people, and we started talking to a poor woman who'd had an accident on the way home from her holiday and had written off her car... Sophie was suspicious at first that she'd ask us for a lift home, two hundred miles away, but I think she was just upset by what had happened and wanted to share her experience with someone!

After we'd eaten we drove the short distance to Graven Hill, parked the car and had a good look around. The rain had stopped and it felt warm and humid. There was hardly anybody about so we walked around taking some photos of the houses:

When the roads are finished off and the communal areas tidied up, I should think it will be a lovely place to live. We talked to a woman who was picking seed cases in one of the front gardens and she said that she thought some of the houses were weird, and we had to agree! There's such a hotchpotch of different styles, some very traditional and some really "out there" but at least the place isn't boring! It was great to chat with her (her son and daughter-in-law were building a house) and get a little insight into what it's like to live here!

As we walked around it became warmer so we returned to the car, drove around for one last time and went home. The traffic on the M40 was heavy with queues going onto the A43 and I think there was nearly an accident behind us when all the traffic stopped suddenly!

Back at home we relaxed, played two games of Scrabble (one each) and enjoyed cold meats and salad for dinner. It was warm and humid and the temperature in the kitchen was 80f. Phew!

Pootling!

Sophie went to the gym this morning to take part in a yoga class, and I managed to complete some jobs on my to-do list, which was enormously satisfying. I bought travel insurance for our holiday and booked Duxford next Sunday as a treat for my parents. I called the museum and reserved a mobility scooter for my Dad, so that should make it easier for us to get around. I enjoyed coffee and pastries for breakfast, and Sophie returned at about lunchtime after enjoying her class and having a run.  

I didn't leave the house at all today and it was blissfully quiet - wonderful! I think a lot of our neighbours are on holiday at the moment, so peace reigned. It was lovely to pootle about and I sat and read the papers while Sophie prepared dinner, a chicken and pasta dish that smelt wonderful.

We played Scrabble in the evening and Sophie beat me twice! She finished off the meal, which was lovely and used the small orzo pasta that makes it more like a risotto.

After we'd eaten Keith and I watched an old Bond film starring Timothy Dalton. What a shame he wasn't the most successful Bond!

Saying goodbye...

As you can imagine, I was mightily glad it was Friday, and amazingly, we're almost at the end of another month!

I was working with Jo today, instead of Kathy who was on annual leave, and it was just the two of us. Sara said she would help out, but she didn't, so it was a bit full-on, and there was no real let-up. I had some very strange calls, as usual, and I could hardly hear one woman on the phone who started to get very rude as if it was my fault the line was bad! Thank goodness it's nearly the weekend!

Keith didn't go to the pub this evening, and Sophie and I sipped a lovely glass of Picpoul de Pinet and watched a great film starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta Jones called Intolerable Cruelty. It was funny and very quirky! I honestly think that George Clooney is the new Cary Grant... swoon!

Dinner was pizza, crispy potatoes and salad, and after we'd eaten, we watched the rest of the film before catching up with the last ever episode of Neighbours. It was a double-bill, and a lot of the old faces appeared, including Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan. I suspect, though, that the scene they were in was filmed separately as they didn't have anything to do with the rest of the cast, and Kylie never uttered a word!

I stopped watching Neighbours when they killed off the character of Sonya in March 2019, and I haven't seen an episode since, but I wanted to watch the last instalment, which I found quite emotional. I used to be a huge fan - one year we even watched in Mallorca on holiday - so it was a bit sad saying goodbye. It will be interesting to see what the cast get up to in the future!

Frying tonight...

I was back in at work this morning and grappling with the box office returns. Our area manager wanted me to deduct any "no shows" which meant a lot of extra work for me, as we need to report how many members attend, so it was a fiddly task. Consequently, a half-hour job took me double the time, which I think annoyed Sara, as she wanted me to work on some of the customer service emails.

We were short-staffed today so I had to answer the phones but the shift passed very quickly. I sped home at 2pm, and had a quick catch-up with Keith, who had been shopping and had managed to get my Dad's car washed successfully! The only problem was that it had stopped working halfway through the wash and he had to sound his horn to get someone to help! I was just glad that the voucher I paid for yesterday was still valid!

I went to collect my Mum, and we drove to Tesco where we bought a few things in the supermarket. I bought a bottle of English sparkling wine to try this evening, as our sparklers are supposed to be very good, and I wanted to do a blind tasting to see what Sophie thought of it.

After the shopping, we headed home to have a cup of tea and some cake, and I showed Mum the photos I'd found of our holidays years ago. She was delighted to see them and we had a great reminisce about the old days!

Sophie and I tried the wine and she guessed pretty quickly that it was English! It was lovely and bubbly with a sweetish taste, but was it worth £15? (I paid £11 as I had a Tesco Clubcard). I think, in the future, we'll stick to Cava or Prosecco - or some Loire sparklers - instead!

Keith barbecued steaks this evening while I fried some real potato chips. I'd looked up a recipe and it recommended frying the potatoes at 130c for ten minutes, then heating up the oil and finishing them at 190c for about five minutes. We have a thermometer so we tried this method and they turned out really well - lovely, crisp and golden brown. The barbecued steak was tender and delicious as well. What a success!

Rain!

After a lazy start to the day, I cleaned the house, catching up with some jobs that needed doing badly! I had noticed that the windowsill in our bedroom was covered in dust and the tiny little black flies that arrive at this time of the year. With the windows open all the time, and the dry wind we've had recently, the sill needed a good clean!

I was all finished by 1pm and having a shower before Sophie arrived home. We'd decided to pay a visit to the new community shop in Walgrave that had just opened. They had a coffee machine and outdoor seating, so I suggested we go and see what it was like.

Before heading to the village we popped to Brixworth to take a parcel, and the small cafe opposite the row of shops was doing a roaring trade! I keep forgetting (I have no idea how) that it's the school holidays! On the way to Walgrave, we drove over Pitsford and I thought the water level would be really low because of the lack of rain, but it was looking lovely and full. Let's hope we don't have any hosepipe bans here!

The new shop looked lovely and the staff were delighted to see us and very friendly. We bought a bag of new potatoes, but there was a family installed on the bench seat outside having drinks and ice-creams so we left. It's a great asset to the village and as it's a community shop run by volunteers we all hoped it would do really well and be successful.

From the village, we drove to Kettering and popped into Costa and enjoyed a sandwich and coffee. I am noticing the price of things creeping up now - Keith and I shared an M&S sausage roll and it was £3.15! Altogether, our snacks came to almost £19! Hmmm!

In Tesco, we bought some things (Aperol for me, very important) and then I wanted to get my Dad's car washed. I bought a voucher in the garage shop, and we queued for ages, annoying Sophie who had taken precious time off from work to go out with us. I don't think it was the kind of afternoon she'd envisaged!

After waiting patiently for ages, Keith scanned the code and we moved forward into the carwash. Only nothing happened... we sat and waited, but it became obvious that it wasn't going to work, so we had to drive out, feeling a little bit silly! There was a queue waiting, so we gave up and went home!

This evening the sky turned really dark and we had rain! Hooray! Sophie and I played Scrabble and she cooked one of our favourite meals, the chicken and ham tangle pie. It was delicious as always and there was enough left over for her lunch tomorrow.

It was lovely to sit and watch the rain fall this evening, but I fear we may need a few more days of this to make any difference to the gardens!

Rain?

I was dreading going into work this morning, after yesterday's craziness, but it wasn't as bad as I feared thank goodness. It was busy - it's the summer holidays after all - but we did have some lulls in phone calls when we could get other work done. It was lovely to leave at 4pm and know that I had tomorrow off, with no actual plans, other than Sophie coming home from work early, which was a bonus!

Back home I mooched about and gazed at our desert of a garden. It's now been ages since we had any decent rainfall, and there are mutterings in some parts of the country about hosepipe bans and comparisons with 1976... Our grass is dry and crinkly and I have no desire whatsoever to go out there and tidy up. And cutting the grass is out of the question!

Sophie cooked a delicious dinner tonight of chicken stuffed with garlicky cheese and wrapped in Parma ham. It reminded me of when we had to isolate after our short break in Mallorca, until we received our  PCR results, and we made this dish from things we found in the fridge! Ah! Happy days!

A stressful day!

Today has been very stressful as the phone calls have been non-stop and at the end of my shift, I felt utterly drained with all the questions I'd had to answer. We lost about 70 calls and when the phones opened at 10am we had twenty calls waiting in the queue! By 4pm, I was mightily fed up with saying the same thing every time someone phoned up to book swimming! I felt like screaming!

Bizarrely, Sara had to look after her 7-month-old grandson for nearly two hours this morning while her daughter went for a beauty treatment. I honestly don't think our office is a place for babies and, in the end, she had to take him out as he became quite grizzly. She had already admitted to being snowed under with work (there were over twenty email cancellations needing to be done, let alone all the normal emails) so why didn't she just say no?

When I got home I tripped over the leg of one of the barstools and, sitting on the loo, Monty appeared and literally screamed at me for food! I think it was the last straw! I had had enough of everyone wanting a piece of me! Then my Aunt called and I ended up being on the phone with her for over half an hour, as she wanted to visit my parents at the weekend. A lovely gesture, but I'd had enough of phone calls!

It was bliss to sit in the quiet with a drink and chat with Sophie and Keith. I made a start on finding someone to look after Monty-cat while we're away, and I'm hoping Paul will call in every other day. Sophie looked up automatic cat feeders on Amazon - apparently, you can programme them for up to 15 days! She wants to take him to Spain with us, but the red tape and vaccinations he'd need would probably be the end of him!

After a delicious dinner of cottage pie (the green beans made a comeback along with carrots, broccoli and cauliflower!) Sophie and I watched a couple of episodes of My Dream Lottery Home. How I'd love to win the lottery at the moment and disappear!

Turning back time...

Keith and I popped to Tesco this morning to get some shopping, and take some things over to Mum. It felt warm and muggy, and I couldn't wait to get home and feel a bit cooler!

Because we've booked a holiday in the Costa Brava I dug out some of my old holiday diaries and had a good read of the account of our holiday to Tossa de Mar in August 1980, as well as looking at some photographs. My 12-year-old self wasn't the best at describing each day of the holiday, and the entries were very short, but it was fascinating to read what we got up to as a family. We ate a lot of meals in our apartment, rather than go out for dinner! And, we went to a bullfight! Certainly not popular these days!

If you want a quick read (the photos are lovely) have a look here:

Janie's Jottings: 1980 (janiesjottings.blogspot.com)

I was obsessive about writing down mileage and how much everything cost! It's amazing we could get a full tank of petrol for 100 francs (about £10?).

I also have diaries from more years (1981-1986) and at least the writing gets a bit better! I will add them over the next few weeks to preserve them, as some of the notebooks are falling apart - they are over 40 years old! I might get them made into a book and give a copy to my parents to read.

In the afternoon Sophie and I enjoyed a face pack and watched A Place in the Sun. It was then time for Scrabble and a glass of wine. Keith barbecued this evening and the food was delicious, as always. After dinner, I wished vehemently that it was Friday evening again and not Sunday. I am not looking forward to the next five weeks at work! 

Shopping and sandwiches

Sophie wanted to go to a yoga class this morning and asked us if we wouldn't mind taking her, putting some petrol in her car, and then collecting her from the gym. We dropped her off and went to Morrison's to fill her tank and, as a surprise, I put her little Hyundai through the carwash as it badly needed a good scrub!

It looked a lot better when I finished but I still had to go over it with a cloth to remove the stubborn stains. I didn't have to do that when I took mine to Waves at Tesco! Before picking her up, we made another attempt to have a coffee from the drive-thru at Tim Horton's. This time we weren't held up, and while we waited for Sophie, we sipped our coffees and read the papers.

In the afternoon we drove over to Market Harborough for lunch at Miller's cafe. We managed to get the last table inside and ordered toasted sandwiches and cold drinks. My tummy felt a bit queasy today and I was a little worried I might need to dash to the loo! Our lunch was much more expensive than it was last time... a shade under £20 for two sandwiches and drinks. Mine was tasteless (it was chicken, tomato, mozzarella and pesto) and I'm not sure how I managed to eat it. It was like munching on cardboard!

Sophie had a look in her favourite shop, The Attic, and bought a lovely satiny skirt and a 70s-style dress. I sat outside as I felt even more queasy than I did earlier! After looking in a second shop for some very colourful summer clothes, and not seeing anything she liked, Sophie was happy to return home. 

The weather was grey and cloudy with a brisk breeze and it was heaven to get home and lie on the bed watching To Catch a Thief starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. I felt a lot better and later in the afternoon we played two games of Scrabble, winning a game each.

Dinner tonight was a Chinese takeaway and I had been a bit worried about eating it with my tummy gripes, but all was well, and it was as delicious as ever! After we'd eaten Keith and I watched an enjoyable comedy called How To Please a Woman, which was hilarious, and a lot of fun!

Some good news!

As always, I was glad it was Friday. By the end of the week, I feel a bit weary and definitely ready for the weekend!

Work was OK but the school holidays start from Monday, and I know we will be manically busy with swimming bookings for the five and a half weeks. I'm not even going to think about it! I find it annoying at times that we were affected by the school holidays when we had the business, and nothing has changed!

I sped home at 4pm and Sophie texted me to say she was going to take a covid test on her return as she had a sore throat. I had also felt a bit under the weather today, and the virus seems to be rife at the moment (Laura, one of the last people standing, now has it!) so I took one, too. Both of them were, thankfully, negative, and another piece of good news was that my mammogram was clear. Reason to celebrate! Sophie remembered after she'd taken the test, that the sore throat was caused by a rough piece of pizza she'd had for lunch!

Keith didn't go to the pub tonight and prepared a delicious chilli for dinner. Sophie and I watched a film called The Women (not a single man was featured in the whole film!) which was very enjoyable, and then I started watching Jaws. It's a great film, but as it was on ITV4 it had multiple adverts. Time to record and watch another day!

Dashing about!

I spent my shift at work researching prices that other leisure centres charge, and negotiating some of the websites was hard work! We often get complaints about our own website, but a couple were far worse and very confusing! And wouldn't reveal the prices unless you registered!

I managed to complete the spreadsheet before 2pm, and I dashed off home to pick up some cash that Keith had drawn out for me while he was shopping this morning. I sped off to collect my Mum and took her back to Northampton where she had an appointment for her nails again. 

It was very relaxing sitting and waiting and when she was all done, and sporting very pretty pale pink nails, I took her back to the care home. It was so much cooler today - what a relief! I have a feeling temperatures are set to rise again over the weekend but not to the highs we experienced earlier this week!

Dinner tonight was a simple affair of breaded chicken, mashed potato and cauliflower cheese - comfort food!

Cool for cats!

Last night was horrible - I was so hot I nearly had a cold shower at midnight! The only thing that kept me sane was knowing that it was going to cool down today!

And talking of hot, yesterday probably ranks as number 2 on the all-time hottest times we've endured! Number 1 firmly belongs to a holiday we had in Mallorca when the heat was intense, and sitting outside at a restaurant having an evening meal was pure torture, with sweat running off us in rivers!

Number 2 was yesterday, and number 3 was Berlin in August when the city was as hot as a furnace. Number 4 was Key West in August when our hire car registered 100f and we tried to walk around the town using every bit of shade we could find! Number 5 was a holiday Keith and I took in the Gorges du Verdon in France one year (in July) and walking around one of the towns was actually painful!

This morning felt a lot cooler though, and the skies were cloudy. We had a weather warning out for thunderstorms (oh yes, please!) but they didn't materialise, which was a shame. The gardens are desperately dry and it's no wonder so many fires have started, both here and abroad.

We took Sophie to work this morning, had breakfast and coffee at Cafe900 and then called at the launderette on the way home so I could get our super-king duvet washed. I'd been meaning to do it for weeks so it was great to finally be able to tick this particular job off the list!

Back home Keith and I pottered about, doing some jobs and relishing how much cooler it was. Monty was loving it, too and was more active and a lot happier!

We went to collect the duvet and, as we had an hour to kill before picking up Sophie, decided to visit Costa on Brackmills. I had a delicious ruby chocolate frappe. Perfect for today!

Sophie cooked paella this evening (we'd prepared all the vegetables and meat) and after dinner, Sophie and I booked an Airbnb for our return journey in the gorgeous town of Amboise. It was a lovely little house and is perfect for one night. We are all looking forward to the holiday now, and making plans. We're hoping to get the train to Barcelona one day, and also visit Girona.

I put the clean and sweet-smelling duvet back on my bed this evening - heaven!

Tropical heat!

We awoke to no internet this morning, something Keith told me the minute I walked into the kitchen at 6am. I was in a grumpy mood, anyway because of the heat, but that made me worse! I thought it was because our router had become too hot, but I later found out, thanks to Facebook, that the broadband was down in all of the surrounding villages due to some idiots stealing the copper wire in the cables. Phew! I had had visions of calling BT and trying to sort out the problem!

Driving to work at 7.30am, my car was registering 27c so I knew we had a very hot day ahead. Thankfully, our office was cool and we didn't have as many people milling about like we did yesterday. We had another busy day, and one of our pools was completely booked up before we even started taking calls!

When I emerged at 4pm, the temperature in the car said 44c, and I later found out that we had beaten the record today for the hottest ever, with 40.3c recorded in Lincolnshire. The heat had caused mayhem - travel restrictions because of train tracks buckling, roads melting and, worst of all, several house fires in the London area. Watching the news later in the day was like watching the end of the world as flames engulfed people's houses. It was apocalyptic!

When I arrived home, Monty was nowhere to be seen, and Keith said that he'd gone out. He'd tried to get him back in, but he was still missing. I called and called, shaking his tub of treats, but he didn't appear. The heat reminded me of when you step off a plane somewhere tropical (Florida) and the heat hits you in the face.

I went to the back door again and this time he was waiting for me, a mass of leaves and twigs attached to the fur of his belly. He looked in a bad way and was panting and breathing rapidly. I fetched a wet tea towel and tried to wrap it around his body, but he was having none of it, so we trained two fans onto him when he lay down on the carpet.

I honestly thought he was going to die as I've never seen him breathing so rapidly and pant so much. I gave him some milk watered down with an ice cube as he wouldn't drink anything else, and he gradually became a lot better, but he was still panting when Sophie arrived home from work. We left him in peace but there can't have been that much wrong with him as he was begging for chicken later in the evening!

After dinner, Keith and I watched a new TV drama called Murder in Provence, but I was far too interested in watching the weather to really get into the story. Outside, it had grown dark and the wind got up, making all the dead leaves whirl about in a frenzy. We did have some spots of rain, and then I saw Mammatus-ish clouds, which can herald a storm:

The breeze coming through the window was lovely but it was still very warm and continued that way all night. Upstairs, it was stiflingly hot - not ideal for a good night's sleep!

 

Heat and noise!

We had an unprecedented red warning of heat today, never seen before in this country, and I was not looking forward to going to work! However, our office was cool and remained that way all day, which was a relief!

As imagined, we were hectically busy with swimming bookings, taking calls from a lot of members of the public who just couldn't understand that we didn't have continuous swim sessions all day. By the end of my shift, I could have screamed at the phone! Obviously, all the sessions we did have available were fully booked by midday so we had to repeat the same thing over and over again!

Sara and Sheila were training all day, and it was Sheila's birthday, so she had brought in a load of homemade scones which were devoured by the other managers on the course, causing a lot of noise and mayhem as we tried to answer calls! 

Normally, I would say it was a relief to get home but the temperature in my car was registering 41.5c (not true), and it was 84f (28c) in our kitchen! As the evening wore on, it gradually became warmer but we didn't break the record today for the hottest day ever. I think that will happen tomorrow! 

Before bed, I had a cold shower and stood under it for about ten minutes. Heaven!

Temperatures rise!

Today dawned beautiful and sunny - the heatwave had begun! We (as well as most of England) had an amber warning for heat today, with temperatures expected to get up to about 31c, and it has been hot and dry with plenty of sunshine.

We spent the day happily pottering about and trying to keep cool. I moved the computer into the kitchen as our conservatory can be ferociously hot even on a typical sunny, summer's day! I positioned it on the worktop by the window, where it should be shaded and it took up less space than I'd imagined. If these heatwaves continue, as the experts say they will, then we will have to think of a permanent solution!

One of the things we wanted to do today was to try and see if we could book a holiday for September. Sophie and I looked at Airbnb houses in Pollenca and found one that was beautiful, tucked away down a side street in the old town with its own small pool. Next up were flights, and this is where I had a problem as I was worried that, by booking our accommodation separately, we wouldn't be covered if things went wrong.

I needn't have worried as the flights were mostly unsuitable and expensive, and in some cases, we would have had to stay over in Palma when we arrived as they were landing at about midnight! I certainly didn't want to drive up to Pollenca so late! We trawled through different websites and a fair few came out with Ryanair as the carrier (ugh!) on the way out, and EasyJet on the way back. We also looked at Jet2 from East Midlands airport but the price of taking two cases with us was ridiculous!

With car hire expensive as well - about £600-£700 for a decent car we could all fit into with our luggage - we were getting nowhere fast! This started off a spate of bickering, not helped much by the heat! I resorted back to my original plan of driving down to Spain, so we looked at Airbnbs on the Costa Brava, and I found a lovely five-bedroom villa in L'Escala, near Girona. It had fantastic reviews, had its own pool and was close to shops, bars and restaurants. I showed Sophie who looked less than impressed, but both Keith and I liked the look of the house.

We still had a £98 voucher with P&O after our aborted trip to France back in 2020, so we looked at ferry crossings. However, we couldn't use the voucher if we booked a return trip coming back on the 8th of October, as it expired on the 30th of September, so we had to do two single journeys. Hmmm! It was very fiddly, but in the end, we booked the ferries and the Airbnb... we're all set to go on holiday! I also provisionally booked a hotel in Auxerre for the night, to break the journey through France as I didn't want to drive the whole 950 miles in one go!

Unfortunately, Sophie wasn't very happy that we'd booked so quickly without doing any research on the town of L'Escala, so she made her feelings clear! We went upstairs and applied a face pack while watching a film and trying to stay cool, and carried on arguing... not really what I had in mind for a hot Sunday afternoon!

However, when she came back downstairs later, and when we were playing Scrabble and enjoying a glass of wine, she changed her mind as there were some lovely restaurants and cocktail bars in the town! I had also found two videos on YouTube earlier, and the place looked lovely! Plus, it will be great to try somewhere new for a change!

Our evening was rounded off with an easy supper of cold meats and salad, and then it was time to try and relax in the heat. I wasn't looking forward to bedtime!

Celebrating!

It was lovely to have nowhere to go this morning and nothing to do. The last four Saturdays have either been taken up with trips out or work, so it was heavenly to wake up and ease slowly into the weekend.

I baked some pastries for breakfast, which Sophie and I enjoyed, and we actually watched Saturday Kitchen Live this morning! We both showered at midday and drove to Tesco in Kettering to buy some gifts for my Mum and Dad's anniversary today.

I had decided to make them a little hamper of treats, and Sophie gave me a gorgeous box to put everything in. Tesco was heaving with people, and we soon bought all the items we needed and fled! Sophie wanted to wash her car but the automatic one in the garage was closed, and the one at Morrison's was just a jet wash, so we gave up on that idea!

At the care home, Mum and Dad were still having lunch so we sat in their living room and waited for them. They came along accompanied by a huge bouquet of flowers, balloons, two bottles of Prosecco and cards. These were all from the care home! What a lovely surprise!

Photo courtesy of the care home

They were delighted with our gifts and cards, and we sat and chatted to them for over an hour, making a decision to go to Duxford for a combined wedding anniversary/80th birthday celebration in August.

Dad did say he wanted to go up in a helicopter, but we might have to forget that idea, bless him!

Back home it was time to do not a lot and I had a nap on my bed. The temperatures haven't been that bad today, hovering around 27c, which was bearable. At 5.30pm Sophie and I played Scrabble and I thrashed Sophie completely this evening, scoring way over 400 points. It's about time I did that! 

She cooked a delicious dinner this evening using orzo pasta with chicken and vegetables, which we've never had before. It was very much like risotto rice and the meal itself was like a creamy risotto. With slices of garlic bread and a couple of glasses of a lovely Portuguese white, it was gorgeous!

After dinner, we watched a fascinating documentary about the Ganges river in India and, to cap the night off, we sat outside with Monty cat to capture the cool night breeze and listen to the music from Walgrave's Groove on the Green. We could hear all the songs very clearly so the music must have been loud! Paul and Sharon came along with the doggies and we had a chat about the heat... it's arriving tomorrow!

Red alert!

I watched the BBC news this morning as I was getting ready for work and couldn't believe the weather forecast for early next week...

We were warned about heatwaves, and how they're going to be hotter and longer than we're used to, and it looks like the experts were right. On Sunday night we're going to move our computer out of the conservatory as it's just too hot for it in there with these high temperatures. The fan starts whirring if it gets too warm, so we'll put it somewhere else temporarily. It's crazy as Tuesday is set to be about 36-38c but Wednesday is 23c! Mad!

Work was very pleasant today and I managed to get a lot done in between phone calls. I managed to put the crash courses on for the third week in the summer holidays and just need to add the prices. It makes such a difference when the phones are quieter, but we did, predictably, have a lot of swimming bookings!

At home, in the evening, the news was full of the hot weather and we now have an unprecedented red weather warning for next Monday and Tuesday. I have never seen this before in our area of the UK. I dread to think what it will be like at work as our building is hot on a normal summer's day!

For dinner, we decided to have fish and chips from the van rather than the jacket potatoes we'd had planned. There is a festival going on in Walgrave this weekend and the van was very busy in the village as people took advantage of it before going to the Comedy Night.

Our viewing choice this evening was lovely - How To Steal A Million with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. It was a great film and hugely enjoyable!

A brief respite...

It was much cooler this morning but this is a brief period of respite before the heat returns at the weekend! I don't think we'll be doing a lot on Saturday and Sunday! I'll be draped in cold, wet, towels and lying on the bed with the fan on full blast. Unfortunately, the two hottest days are next Monday and Tuesday when I'm at work...

It was great to put my lunch into the new fridge in our office to keep it cold. Our office felt stiflingly hot so I'd turned all the fans on to try and make it a bit cooler! 

We were one person down today so I answered a couple of calls, but finished the monthly "moan" report for Sara and sorted out some orders, as well as dealing with emails. As usual, the time flew by!

At 2pm I drove home and helped Keith with renewing his driving licence, which was a very simple process. I then pottered about doing some housework and preparing the vegetables for dinner. Sophie wanted to cook beef fajitas so Keith had cut up the meat into thin strips, and I chopped up some old tomatoes we had lying about in the fridge along with an onion, a pepper and mushrooms.

When Sophie arrived home we had a good natter sitting at the island with a drink. It was lovely and cool and our kitchen thermometer was registering 74f, so 10 degrees cooler than the other day. It's not going to last though!

Dinner was delicious and afterwards, we relaxed with another couple of episodes of My Lottery Dream Home!

Getting scanned...

I had a mammogram booked for this morning at 10am, so I drove to Guilsborough where the breast screening van was parked in the car park. I was exactly on time and was barked at to use hand sanitiser before taking my seat. Where I sat wasn't right, though, and I was ordered to sit at the far end of the bench seat as they were practising social distancing. The receptionist did a good job of making an already stressful experience worse, which was good of her. Why these people are doing jobs working with people when they clearly hate them is beyond me... She was even rude to the nurse carrying out the mammogram!

The experience was over in about ten minutes and I'll get the results in two weeks. I drove home and enjoyed coffee and pastries sitting at the island, catching the breeze. Bliss! That was until both Keith and I heard the ball banging next door... my one day when I thought I could sit and enjoy the silence!

I was taking Mum out this afternoon so I pootled about doing the shopping list and trying to come up with some meals we could enjoy in the hot weather. Not an easy task! I looked at the salad section in one of the cookbooks and was met with a deadly stare from Keith... oh dear!

Mum and I went over to Tesco and I decided to treat my poor dusty car to a thorough, professional clean. It cost me £30 but it was so worth it to have it gleaming inside and out. What a difference! Mum and I did our shopping and then we had a coffee until it was time to collect the car. 

I dropped her back at the care home, popped to Broughton to return my Tassimo pods and headed home. It has felt cooler today, thank goodness, and there was a delicious breeze wafting about. Sophie texted me when I was at home saying there's going to be another rail strike this month and the day? Wednesday the 27th, when we are due to go down to London to see Dr Bawa and have lunch at the British Museum... typical! When Sophie arrived home she re-arranged her medical appointment, and I postponed the lunch at the museum until the following Wednesday. 

Dinner tonight was pizza and salad, and I used up the leftover chicken from yesterday's barbecue and added it to one of the pizzas along with some onions we hadn't eaten. It was delicious!

Keeping chilled

We had a fridge installed in the office today, so we could keep our lunches there, and bottles of water. It came from our old bar area upstairs and is quite big so enough room for everyone to store their food and drinks! It's right behind where I sit so that's a bonus!

Despite our new fridge, today was a tad stressful with some complicated queries and a lot of noise in the office. It hasn't felt as warm today but the car was still hot inside when I went home at 4pm! We even saw some spots of rain in the late afternoon but certainly not enough to give the plants a good water! It would have been lovely if we'd had a thunderstorm!

Once at home, I sat at the kitchen island to catch the breeze from the window and the half-open door and it was definitely more comfortable than yesterday!

Keith barbecued this evening and we enjoyed burgers and chicken with salad. After dinner, Sophie and I went upstairs to watch My Lottery Dream Home and we saw three episodes! I think we like the programme!

Hot, hot, hot!

Today was supposed to be the hottest of the year so far with temperatures expected to reach 31-32c. Next weekend is set to be even hotter with a rare, amber warning out for Sunday and Monday. I know it sounds perverse, but I really prefer Spring and Autumn to Summer... I'm not a fan of the sultry heat we always seem to get in this country, and how our homes and places of work aren't really geared up for hot weather.

At work, Nicola went to a meeting and came back with bottles of water and ice lollies for us. It was a nice touch, and she also asked Sheila to order us a fridge for our office so we could keep bottles of water and food in there to keep cold.

When I got into my car it was awful! Driving home the temperature registered 35c at one point and I was glad I had air-conditioning! The house was warm so I opened up more windows and tried to keep the rooms cool. Our kitchen temperature was showing 84f, about 28c!

We sat and discussed meals for the next few days but what do you cook in this hot weather? It gets to the point where we're fed up with barbecues and salads!

After dinner (leftovers from yesterday's buffet lunch) Sophie and I went upstairs to watch My Dream Lottery Home. What I would do for a pool right now!

Tennis, anyone?

I found out last night that next door is for sale, and I have to admit to being a bit nosy and looking at the photos of the house. I was a bit shocked by what I saw - I think being rented out for the last few years has taken its toll on the house, and it was sad to think how beautiful it was when Sarah and Liam lived there. We had so many good times in the house and I just hope that we get good, permanent neighbours!

Sophie and I had a busy morning cleaning the downstairs of the house and preparing a coconut and pineapple cake for this afternoon's Men's Singles Final celebrations. Keith went over to Tesco to get a few more bits that we needed, and by 12pm we were all ready. It was very warm again and temperatures were set to get up to about 30c today! Phew!

Laura arrived, and Sophie served glasses of Pimm's decorated with strawberries, orange and cucumber. They went to sit in the conservatory to have a chat while I finished off the rest of the food, making sandwiches and cooking a garlic flatbread.

We ate at about 1pm and then went into the living room to watch the tennis. Sophie was overjoyed that Kyrgios was in the final with Djokovic and we were hoping for a really good match between them! Things were calm at first, and as I predicted Kyrgios took the first set. However, in the second, things became a bit more heated with Kyrgios shouting and swearing at his own support team, and a woman in the audience who he described as "having about 700 drinks"! He was hilarious and it was very interesting to note how different the two players were. Djokovic was cool, calm and collected, and entirely focused on the game, while Kyrgios was bouncing about like a spoilt toddler. And talking of children Prince George was sitting in the Royal Box and I'm sure his parents didn't appreciate the language!

The outcome was Djokovic winning three sets to one and winning Wimbledon for the seventh time. The pair of them did look very friendly when it was all over, though!

After the match, I went and had a cool shower and relaxed on the bed for a while. Laura went home at about 7pm and we sat and relaxed for the rest of the evening, trying our best to keep cool!

Superbloom!

Sophie and I had bought our train tickets last night and chosen a 9.25am train down to Euston. I was just very glad that there were no train strikes today. What would we have done? 

Keith dropped us at the station early and we managed to get a seat on an earlier train. There were lots of people travelling down to London, and some of the outfits people had chosen to wear were mind-boggling, including one girl who was just wearing a skimpy bikini and a tiny skirt. Sophie said it's the new fashion, apparently!

At Euston, we had a coffee and a muffin and then took the tube to Tower Hill. We had toyed with the idea of getting an Uber but the charge would have been over £20 so we decided to use the underground instead. Sophie was wearing a lovely little dress and as she walked down the steps to the platform, the wind nearly caused a mischief!

A "flooded" moat...

Thankfully, the train on the Circle line was air-conditioned so it was lovely and cool. We emerged into the sunlight and walked the short distance to the Tower of London, already thronged with crowds of people. This area of London is hugely popular with tourists, it's right by the river and has fantastic views of Tower Bridge and the Shard opposite.

My own beautiful flower

We were a little early for our timed entry but that didn't matter and we were soon inside the moat. At first, I wasn't impressed - the flowers that we saw are the kinds we see at home in the fields and hedgerows, and everything did look a tiny bit scruffy!

We kept hearing screams and realised that there was a slide nearby and people were going down it and making a right din! It reminded me too much of the slide we used to have at our soft play centre, so we decided not to join in!

As we moved around the moat, the flowers became more colourful and things improved. There were some pretty flowers and we had a little booklet telling us what some of them were. It was wonderful to see so many pollinators buzzing about in the heart of a big city!

By now it was very warm and there were lots of people around. There are benches to sit on alongside the walls of the moat but there was very little shade. It was lovely to wander about, though, and admire the gorgeous flowers. We saw some russet-coloured sunflowers that I'd never seen before. I thought they were all yellow!

Along the way were various sculptures - a woven willow structure that must have taken ages to construct, an archway and beautiful little metallic dragonflies.

We noticed a viewing walkway above and you can go and see the moat for free. However, it was lovely to be in amongst all the flowers and take photos. 

We hadn't bought tickets to the Tower of London itself, so once we'd completed the circuit of the moat, that was it. We joined the throngs of people walking along the river and popped into one of the gift shops to have a look. There was nothing we liked so we carried on and spotted a van selling cocktails! All along this stretch were trucks catering for every kind of food and beverage, so Sophie treated us both to an Aperol Spritz. The drinks were £10 each and although delicious, we do them far better at home... and they're stronger! It was heavenly to sit on a bench gazing at the Shard, though and do a spot of people watching!

A cruise along the river...

We had made a lunch booking at Coppa Club for 2pm but we had over an hour to kill, so we decided, on a moment of impulse, to take a boat cruise to Greenwich... The boat was leaving at about 1pm and took half an hour to make the trip to Greenwich. With the half-hour return journey, we thought it would fill the time beautifully...

Amazingly, the company running the cruises was the same as the one we went on in San Francisco - Hornblower!

We queued up on the gangplank and waited for people to file off the boat. We decided to sit inside by an open window to catch the breeze and get out of the sun for a while. Inside, I have to say the boat was scruffy but the views were gorgeous.

A huge seagull sat on the glass roof for a while before flying off! We had a running commentary by the captain (I think that's what he was!) along the route, which was very interesting. Unfortunately, we were next to a table of rowdy teenagers who showed no interest whatsoever in the river and were playing cards and screaming and shouting.

Luckily, they disembarked at Greenwich so peace reigned. There was one slight problem, though, the boat wasn't going back immediately... we had to wait twenty minutes, which meant we would be late for our lunch booking...

Sophie called Coppa Club and after an age, someone answered. She said we couldn't move the booking to 2.30pm as they were full but would make a note that we would be late. If we cancelled we'd incur a £40 charge!

This wasn't good news at all. We willed the boat to leave on time, which it did, and as we neared Tower Bridge Sophie and I stood by the gangplank gate so we could get off first! We did enjoy the boat cruise, though, and it was wonderful to see London from the river. If we hadn't booked a table we could have gone up to Westminster, so it was good value.

Once the boat stopped, Sophie and I hared off to the restaurant which was right next to the river. There was a short queue of people waiting to go in and we could see lots of empty tables. The girl who was showing people to their tables didn't look as if she cared one bit that we were late and we were shown to a table outside under a huge umbrella.

Lunch by the river

There was a huge feeling of relief when we were seated, and I asked Sophie to order me a stiff cocktail! We had to order everything on Sophie's phone but I did see other people being given proper menus. We ordered two cocktails, parmesan croquettes, zucchini fritti and fried squid as starters, followed by chicken thighs with a mushroom sauce for me, and a small portion of carbonara for Sophie.

As we waited for our food and drinks, we had a good look at the people arriving. One couple arrived and I think the woman had modelled herself on Kim Kardashian. They spent a good ten minutes taking photos of each other in one of the glass igloos, but then decided it was too hot for them, so made a huge fuss about finding another table.

One of the glass "igloos"

As I looked around, it seemed that everyone was on their phones and the number of selfies being taken was staggering! When did everyone get so self-obsessed? We saw two hen parties which made for even more photos in the poor igloo, even though they weren't sitting there! The people who were looked very hot and were constantly fanning themselves!

Our cocktails arrived and mine was delicious, even though there was far too much ice which diluted it a bit! The food was very good and there was plenty of it, but with the heat, we couldn't manage as much as we would have liked.

The bill came to £85 - you're paying for the stupendous views, and I dread to think how much their rates are! - and we made our way back to the tube station. We'd looked at booking an Uber but it was £28 so we decided against that!

The tube going back was cool and quiet and when we arrived at Euston we bought some water and then managed to catch the 16.49 train which only stopped at Watford Junction and Milton Keynes.

Keith came to meet us and we drove home with the air conditioning on full blast! Bliss! Both Sophie and I had cold showers and then it was time to relax! What a lovely day we'd had!

A warm one!

We've had another busy day at work, and I discovered that Sara isn't back until Tuesday... there are just not enough hours in the day!

It's been warm today, and it was lovely to go home and sit in the kitchen, catching the breeze from the open window and the stable door. Keith looked hot as well and went to have a bath before going to the pub. Sophie and I opened a bottle of wine and watched 90 Day Fiance. All the couples do is argue with each other! 

We had decided to have another simple meal this evening - pate and wholegrain bread with salad. The fish and chip van arrived at about 6.45pm and was on our estate for about ten minutes but they didn't tempt us tonight! Keith returned from the pub and said that there was a 40th birthday party going on for the new landlord of the pub, with everyone dressed in Hawaiian shirts! He'd been invited, along with John, but they both declined. I don't think it would be their sort of thing!

Frantically busy!

I was at work from 8am until 2pm today and I have never known time go so fast. I dealt with as many emails as I could and several orders that needed processing. Poor Sue tried to talk to me a couple of times but I just didn't have any spare minutes to chat, that's how busy I was!

At 2pm I sped home and Keith and I went shopping again. Sophie had given us a list of what she wanted us to get for Sunday, including a bottle of Champagne, and lots of nibbles. Aldi came up trumps with a lot of what we needed, and I treated myself to a bottle of Aperol in Tesco. It's delicious with Fevertree tonic as a long drink, served with ice and slices of orange.

Luckily, this evening's meal was a simple affair - chicken Kiev (or Kyiv?) Parmentier potatoes, sweetcorn, broccoli and peas. Sophie very kindly cooked and Keith and I had a couple of games of cards while she bustled about.

It's started to feel hot and the weekend is looking particularly warm. We're in London on Saturday, visiting Superbloom and the temperatures are expected to get up to about 28c. Phew!

Tidying up!

As planned, we've spent a lot of time in the garden today, mowing the lawn and tidying everything up. The ground is parched at the moment, so there wasn't much point in me trying to hoe the soil. I just raked it of weeds and leaves!

Keith disappeared down to the gravel garden and asked for some help as one of our roses had fallen over. It had rooted itself into the soil so we had difficulty standing it upright. I suggested moving it to the back garden and we re-potted it and gave it a good water. I'm not sure it will survive as we had to cut the root but time will tell.

Not sure if our rose will survive.

Someone came out to help

In between the bouts of gardening, we sat and enjoyed the peace and quiet. The skies were cloudy today and it was warm so it was perfect for gardening. A couple of blackbirds, both male and female, were brave enough to come and get some food as we sat there. They even came down when Monty was around. He looked at them but it was obviously far too much effort to do anything except prick his ears. He's too old to go chasing birds now!

After I'd finished the back garden and watered all the plants, I moved around to the front. I haven't done anything with the verge or the border for ages, and it was looking very scruffy. Again, it didn't help that the soil was so dry. I pulled up all the old daffodils, removed some weeds, and raked over the grass to make it look a bit neater. I then swept everything up, and although not looking at its best, it did look a lot better!

By now I was hot and dirty so I went and had a lovely shower. I had suggested to Keith we go and get my car washed but in the end, we stayed at home, I hoovered downstairs and then relaxed. I was so glad I ventured out! The weather is due to get hotter and drier over the next few days so we'll have to water every night!

A decision made!

Today, thankfully, hasn't been as busy as yesterday, but the time still flew by. Our office was pretty quiet today until one of the marketing managers turned up and there was a cackle-fest in Nicola's office! I was just glad the phones weren't too mad!

I decided this afternoon, when I got home, to tackle the garden tomorrow. I was supposed to be taking Mum to Rushden Lakes but she cancelled on me as she had a medical appointment, so I resolved to spend all day tidying up the gardens, both front and back. Our lawn is a source of nectar for pollinators as we have clover, daisies, buttercups and a little mauve plant that I can't identify. But some of the grass has started to grow very long and it just looks a total mess. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

We watched tennis this evening and made plans for the final on Sunday. Sophie loves to celebrate by having some nibbles with Champagne and we've invited her friend Laura over to watch the Men's final with us. I have no idea who will be in the final but I'm hoping for a Djokovic-Nadal battle! Sophie obviously wants Kyrgios!

Busy again!

Today has been frantically busy at work, and I sometimes felt like I was drowning in emails! Sara is off all week, but I had assumed that one of my colleagues would be looking after the customer service emails today like she always does. However, she had decided to cut her hours to just two days a week so wasn't in today! This meant I had to deal with 73 emails in the regular inbox and another 20+ in the cancellation category! Oh, and answer calls as well! Plus share some of the orders with Jo, and do the box office returns!

To make things worse, we had a call in the afternoon to say several swimming lessons had been cancelled because the instructor was sick, and could we call round and let the parents know? I'm glad Sheila thought better of asking me, otherwise there would have been an explosion!

It was a relief to finish at 4pm, pop to the post office with some parcels and head home! Phew! What a day! Keith barbecued again tonight, this time with some lovely Bratwurst sausages, and we enjoyed them in buns with lots of onions and ketchup, accompanied by a salad. After dinner, Sophie and I went upstairs and watched My Lottery Dream Home. One woman had won $5 million but was looking for a house for only about $200,00!

A busy day!

Today has certainly not been a lazy Sunday! Because we were out all day yesterday, we had to catch up with lots of things today. I did mounds of washing - we hadn't put a load on since Thursday, so our laundry bin was overflowing, but it was very satisfying seeing the heaps of crumpled clothes turn into freshly laundered, sweet-smelling garments blowing in the breeze on the line! Sophie changed her bed and added to the piles in the kitchen!

Sophie made a chocolate ice-cream cake as Mum was coming over this afternoon, and we all pottered about doing jobs that had to be done today. I looked out at the garden knowing it needed mowing, and my car was also badly in need of a wash but that would have to wait!

In the afternoon I went to get Mum and we popped to Tesco first to get her some shopping. I also needed some things (forgotten on Thursday) and then we drove home. Sophie was putting the finishing touches to her cake and it was delicious served with cream. Monty was going mad in the kitchen when she was preparing the cream - he really is an addict when it comes to dairy!

We sat in the conservatory and chatted and reminisced about our trips to San Francisco. One of the saddest things for me about my parents is that they're unlikely to ever travel again. Just the thought of trying to get my Dad onto a plane in a wheelchair makes me break out in a cold sweat. Having said that, both of them have had some fantastic holidays over the years, and when my Dad was very young he did a round-the-world cruise when he worked in the Merchant Navy. At the moment, with the way things are in the US, I'm reluctant to go there again so I think we'll stick to Europe for the foreseeable future!

Sophie and I took Mum home, returned via the scenic route and played Scrabble with a glass of wine. Dinner tonight was a barbecue and I'd suggested chicken kebabs. I'd already marinated the chicken in a spicy marinade made from soy sauce, ketchup, sugar and honey, and I'd threaded the meat onto skewers with peppers, courgettes, leeks (in retrospect, not a good idea) and mushrooms.

Keith wasn't keen on barbecuing them and was very grumpy about it so I made him take them off the grill and we put them in the oven instead. I served the kebabs with couscous, which he also moaned about and insisted on cooking some new potatoes! Oh well! The kebabs were lovely, though, but I won't use leeks again. They hadn't really cooked through and were a bit dry!

A trip down south.

We were all up early and leaving the house by 9am. On the way, we called at the post office in Moulton to take some parcels, and then it was back on the busy roads, heading south.

The British Grand Prix is on at Silverstone this weekend so after Towcester, the A43 was closed to through traffic, meaning we couldn't go our normal way down the M40 and the A34, so we were forced onto the horrible M1 and nasty M25. 

The traffic was heavy and you wouldn't think that we were experiencing the highest fuel prices ever! There is still work ongoing on the M1 to turn it into a "smart" motorway and almost until Milton Keynes the speed limit was 60mph. I am surprised the government hasn't actually reduced the limit to 60mph as there were very few sections when we could travel at the dizzying height of 70mph!

We turned onto the even busier M25 and headed towards Heathrow. Our satnav kept telling us there were problems ahead, and we crawled all around the motorway, only making progress once we reached the M3. This was a funny little motorway, and after a while as three lanes, we were all funnelled down to two. We had to stop for ten minutes to use the facilities at the services, which was crammed with people! Where's everyone going? It's not even the start of the holiday season yet!

We arrived at Southampton at 12pm, so a three-hour journey in total, and not a pleasant one at that. I said to Keith that I wasn't prepared to go home that way so we'd better find an alternative route! Mike had a couple of jobs for Keith to do, so he did that and then we left for the village of Romsey and The Old House at Home pub.

The little market town was a twenty-minute drive, and we parked with ease in their car park. Keith and Mike enjoyed a beer called HSB from the Fullers brewery (which sounded like a bank to me) and was delicious. Sophie wasn't drinking so we each had a non-alcoholic Peroni, but I liked Keith's beer so much I had a half!

We sat at a lovely table by the window and had a good chat while looking at the menu. Keith chose fish and chips (naturally!) while I had a chicken burger, Mike and Abbie had beefburgers, and Sophie chose a starter of mushrooms on toast accompanied by chips. The food was OK, but not outstanding. Sophie and I had dessert - a Knickerbocker Glory for me, and a chocolate brownie for Sophie which were expensive at almost £8...

After our meal, we had a walk around the lovely little town and went into some shops. We were almost caught out by a shower of rain but it passed quickly. It was a bit like being back in Chichester again, with the narrow streets and pretty houses.

By now it was 4pm so we headed back to the flat, had a quick cuddle with Hugo and Trixie, Abbie and Mike's beautiful cats, and headed home. I was determined to avoid the hellhole that is the M25, and there were hold-ups of 55 minutes, so we went our usual route, up the quiet A34 and then onto the M40. Instead of coming off the M40 at the A43 junction we carried on and came off at the Banbury turn, and headed towards Daventry. It was a bit of a trek but we did the journey in a shade over two hours which wasn't bad at all!

Back home, we were entertained by the Kyrgios v Tsitsipas tennis match which was very bad-tempered! It went on until almost 10pm with Kyrgios finally winning. Sophie thinks he's great so she was enthralled!

Spicy Friday!

I was kept very busy at work today - I was in charge of all the customer service emails, and the orders, and I had some films to put on. We are showing Minions in July and it reminded me of the ride at Universal... happy days!

The phones were busy as well, so the time flew by. Back at home I hoovered and tidied up and when Sophie arrived home it was time to relax and have a glass of wine. We chose The Ned Pinot Gris tonight, which was delicious and a real treat.

For another treat, we'd decided on Tesco curries and accompaniments, something we haven't had for ages. It was so easy bunging everything in the oven for a change and the meals were delicious. I wouldn't want them every week but every now and again is fine. We saw the Fish and Chip van go past and he was a lot earlier than normal... is demand waning a bit?

After dinner, we watched the rest of an episode of 90 Day Fiance and then it was time for bed. We're trying for an early start tomorrow, to beat the traffic!