Friyay, yeah!

It was a lovely feeling this morning to know I hadn't got to go to work tomorrow like I did last week, and could enjoy the weekend!

My shift went pretty smoothly, even though at times, it was a bit like the blind leading the blind, as Shirley and Tracie were in, and they're still not that confident when it comes to certain queries. I had to come off the phones for most of the day as I had so much to do - the cash-ups, the holiday activities, and another load of films to input, and it was great to do as much as I could.

At 4pm I sped home and opened a bottle of red for our Wine Night this evening. It's been a lot cooler lately, and for dinner this evening we were having the leftover minced beef from the "stand and stuff" tacos of last night. There was so much leftover that it seemed silly to try and freeze it so the beef was a great accompaniment to our baked potatoes.

Keith went to the pub and Sophie and I sipped our delicious wine - a Cabernet Sauvignon - and watched Race Across The World. Dinner was delicious and the beef was even tastier than last night!

A mad cleaning binge!

I am so busy at work at the moment... Sheila is now off until next week so it's my job to do the daily cash-ups. Sara is off next week so I will be doing the customer service emails and the moan report. The summer school holidays are now about three weeks away, so all the swimming crash courses need to be input as well as the numerous holiday activities that we offer. It doesn't sound a lot but we offer about seven crash courses at four of our pools, and holiday activities at three of our centres.

Then, of course, there's another load of films to put on, as well as taking care of any Amazon orders that come in... phew! Oh, and did I mention I take calls as well?! 

I did as much as I could before the phone lines opened at 10am, and there was just Shirley and me taking calls in the office. Denise was helping out from home. When I left at 2pm I sped over to Brixworth library to send a pair of shoes back to Marisota that Mum didn't want, and then it was time to go home.

A mad cleaning binge seized me at home, and I took down our living room curtains that badly needed a wash. I put one half in the washing machine, and then removed the sofa cushions, hoovered underneath and cleaned down all the walls which were draped with dust and spiders' webs! I gave the living room a really good clean while Keith sorted out all the CDs in my car as he was looking for an old Dire Straits album. All this frenzy of activity must have been a reaction to the sloth of yesterday! I was amazed at the hidden dust and webs so I felt a lot better when it was all dusted and cleaned!

It made me think, though... I could clean this house all day, every day and it would still need more! We're certainly not a dirty family and we clean regularly but there's never an end to chores! The grass in the back garden needs cutting, the cars need washing and there are meals to be made every day and lists to be compiled! Bring on the holidays!

Robin talk

The weather today has been disappointing. We've had heavy grey clouds hanging about all day and it's been uncomfortably humid. I pootled about first thing, Keith made me eggs on toast for breakfast, and then I decided to venture out into the garden. 

Keith cleaned the barbecue and put it away, and I just wandered about, not really feeling the urge to do anything, to be honest. Everything was so dry and scruffy! I pruned our rose bush (the one I moved from the gravel garden) as it was looking straggly and unhealthy, and half-heartedly did some tidying up but I really wasn't in the mood!

The robin appeared so I put down some bird seed for him and he pecked at it, one eye on me constantly. I talked away to him and he kept putting his head on one side as if he was listening to me! I was very pleased to see so many butterflies, birds and bees in the garden, so although it's a bit scruffy, the wildlife obviously think we're doing something right!

I hadn't the energy to tackle the gravel garden today, so I went inside and tried to finish transcribing my 1985 diary. I wish I still looked like this:

Me, aged 17!

I am really hoping to get the diary finished by the end of this week. When I went to see my parents this afternoon I took all the photos with me so we could look at them and reminisce. It seems incredible that the photos were taken 38 years ago! Where have the years gone! I think I loved the 80s the most, to be honest!

I stayed with Mum and Dad for an hour and it was a bit stuffy and warm in their room. I briefly went into the lovely lounge at the end of the corridor to watch the building works going on, and I asked Mum why they didn't sit in there more often? It was lovely and airy and cool.

Back home I hoovered downstairs and made the porridges for the morning, while Keith started the shopping list... groan! Trying to think up meals to have is so bloomin' difficult! We decided to leave the meal plan until Sophie came home, and then she moaned at me for not taking it seriously!

A cool barbecue!

Sara was back today and not happy about the situation with Sue, especially as she was finding it very difficult to arrange cover... I said I would answer the phones on Thursday but really didn't want to extend my hours until 4pm. I love my Thursday afternoons off!

It was cool and cloudy today and of course, Keith had decided to barbecue! On Sunday there must have been a pall of barbecue smoke hanging over our estate but at least it stayed dry for him out in the garden this evening! We enjoyed meaty beefburgers, salad and crushed new potatoes and the meal was lovely and just perfect for a summer evening.

I'm looking forward to having tomorrow off and hoping, that with the cooler weather, we can maybe get back out into the garden again!

Staff shortages!

Work wasn't too bad today, and in between phone calls, I answered all of the customer service emails and sent off the box office returns. I was all alone until Jo and Angela came in at about 9.45am so I had a pleasant and quiet start to the day!

Just before we went home, Sheila said that Sue was going on long-term sick and she wanted us to try and cover her shifts on a Thursday and a Saturday. I have just worked two Saturdays, and I'm not prepared to cover any more at the moment, so it'll be interesting to see what happens... We have people on holiday at the moment as all of us try and avoid the school holidays so that means we don't have staff available!

It's been a lot cooler today, thank goodness, with the temperatures at a much more reasonable 21c!

Feeling the heat!

Today has been very hot, and I called my Mum to postpone our meeting this afternoon. I just wanted to lie low and try and keep cool! I used up three black bananas and made a lovely porridge, adding desiccated coconut and walnuts to give it some zing!

Sophie and I debated changing our meal choice this evening but in the end, we went ahead and prepared the Chicken Katsu curry.  Sophie prepared the spices and I ground down some Star Anise before flattening the chicken breasts and coating them with Panko breadcrumbs. When Sophie took out the ginger from the fridge, she noticed it was mouldy, so Keith and I popped to the Brixworth Co-op to get more. The shops were empty! Keith also bought some lager to enjoy at lunchtime - well, you just have to when it's hot! 

Once all the preparations were complete, we sat and chatted in the kitchen and sipped a cold lager. We also did the list of dinners for the next few days so that was one chore out of the way!

It was really too hot to do anything so the afternoon was spent relaxing. We did manage a game of Scrabble in the evening and I won for a change! Sophie cooked the curry and it was hot and spicy. It was delicious served with Jasmine rice!

A busy shift!

Keith dropped me off at work today and I was very glad he did as the car park was full. I was working with Tracie today and unfortunately, our wallboard wasn't working so we had no idea of how many calls were coming in. It was non-stop for an hour, so that was a shock! Maybe Sue is right about Saturdays, and I know this shift was far busier than others I've worked in the past!

Although the phones were busy, I did manage to clear the customer service emails and tackle the box office returns, so I was kept busy! At 2pm, Keith came to pick me up and we went home to relax. Sophie had gone to London with Vikesh, and his brother and sister-in-law, and they were having a foodie day visiting Borough Market and trying lots of food.

It's been another hot day today, but with a fair amount of cloud, so it's been humid and uncomfortable. I didn't do a great deal in the afternoon and we decided to order a Chinese takeaway from Broughton, but they weren't delivering this evening... Sophie had texted me to say she was on her way home and wanted something to eat as well, so we ordered from Brixworth instead, and the food was delivered as she arrived home, a lot earlier than we'd anticipated!

We put the food in the oven to keep warm, I poured my daughter a glass of wine and we sat and chatted before eating. She'd had a lovely day but was tired and hot. Tomorrow is set to be even warmer with temperatures of about 29c forecast! Phew!

Friday again!

I rounded the corner on my way out of the estate this morning to find a woman riding a horse in the middle of the road! I glared at her and wish now I'd wound the window down to ask her why she thought it was a good idea to visit at such an early hour?

I was working with Shirley today and was all alone until she came in at about 9.45am. It was blissfully quiet and I managed to get a lot done before the phone lines opened! Shirley was a good partner today, thank goodness, and had to tackle an angry phone call from a woman regarding a membership. She handled it very well, bless her! I didn't have that feeling of "Ahhh!" when I left this afternoon, as I'm back tomorrow and working with Tracie!

Keith went to the pub this evening, and Sophie and I sipped a mediocre Pinot Noir from Alsace as we were having meatballs and pasta for dinner. I actually chilled the wine for a little while, which is perfectly acceptable with lighter reds such as Pinot Noir and Gamay grapes!

We watched a little of Glastonbury after dinner and I said to Sophie this is how I like to watch it - from the comfort of my own sofa, with my own bed and a clean loo! I dread to think what it's like being there in this heat, but preferable to torrential rain, I suppose!

Feeling hot!

I was up at 6am this morning, and at 6.30am Sophie and I were on our way to the station in Northampton. Sophie was catching an early train and I dropped her off, then returned home to grab a quick cup of coffee before work.

My time at work flew by today, and I answered all the customer service emails for Sara and put some new films onto the system for the school holidays... which will be here before we know it!

At 2pm I went home, ate some leftover cold pizza (not nice), and Keith and I went to the care home and picked up the shoes that Mum didn't want. It was very warm again and it looks as if it's going to get hotter at the weekend. Sophie is going to London on Saturday and I don't envy her one bit!

Back home we pottered about and tried to keep cool. With all the doors and windows open we do get a lovely breeze blowing through, which helps! I have to say, though, that I'm fed up with feeling hot and sweaty all the time! 

Sophie texted me to say she was getting a train home at 4pm, which meant she'd be back at 5pm. Keith and I went down to get her and encountered torrential rain as we reached Northampton. The roads leading to the station were flooded!

Driving back, we saw towering storm clouds but the rain never reached us at home and everything was still as dry as a bone! I really wanted to have some rain to water the garden but it wasn't to be!

A spot of gardening

Keith and I decided to go out early this morning as we had to drop some stuff off for my Mum and pop to Tesco to get tonight's dinner. We enjoyed a coffee first, at the outlet by the A14, and sat outside in the sunshine. I fervently wished that we were stopping off on a journey somewhere, but no, we were just on our way to the shops! The little industrial estate that Costa is situated on has become very busy over the last few months, with various warehouses, a car dealership and a car rental office! It used to be a sprawling scrapyard years ago!

We dropped off some shoes for Mum, drove to Tesco and did our shopping. Keith really wanted to shop until the weekend but we had no list with us so I knew that would be a recipe for disaster! We'd end up forgetting everything!

Back home I caught up with some chores and then we both ventured out into our scruffy front garden to tidy up. The daffodils needed clearing away and the soil needed weeding so I did that as well as trim the front verge with the trimmer. Our Hypericum bush is huge and covers most of the grass verge but Keith refused to cut it back while it was flowering. He cut back an evergreen bush next to the driveway so that looked a lot neater!

It was very hot and both of us were soon sweaty! It was great that it all looked so much better and I was pleased to see that the bushes in the front were filling out the area nicely!

Luckily, dinner this evening was very easy - pizza, salad and crispy potatoes. We're rapidly running out of ideas for meals that are good for the hot weather!

A heavy downpour!

When Sophie left for the gym this morning, it was grey and humid. I opened the window in the kitchen and I could hear drops of rain falling on the leaves of the bushes, and this quickly became torrential!

It rained heavily on the way to work and carried on for a couple of hours. We certainly need some downpours for the dry gardens but it made the atmosphere so sultry and warm. Work was slightly better than yesterday but I was glad to leave at 4pm and look forward to a day off tomorrow!

Dinner this evening was one of our favourites, a pork stir-fry with peanuts, beansprouts and soy sauce. breaking open a packet of peanuts gives us an excuse to nibble a few with a drink!

Feeling weary!

I did not have a blissful night's sleep... I woke up at 12.30am to go to the loo and saw that the alarm clock was flashing again! We'd had yet another power cut!

I set it and went back to bed making sure the volume on my phone was set high so I wouldn't sleep through that one as well! When I got up, Keith was already in the kitchen, and we cobbled together some kind of shopping list for meals on Monday and Tuesday nights. It's becoming harder and harder to think up dishes that we will all enjoy and that work with the warm weather!

Work was tedious today; Sara didn't say a word to me until later in the morning so I wondered if I'd upset her? I definitely think it's time to look for something new as I am so unhappy there at the moment and answering the calls is getting me down. I have never known people to be so thoughtless, calling us while they're driving - why? - or having a huge amount of background noise going on, making it almost impossible to hear them. Some of the calls are difficult to understand, and it would be lovely to have a job where I didn't have to deal with people on the phone!

Sophie texted me to say she was on her way back, and when I arrived home, we had a great catch-up sitting at the kitchen island. She had been looking forward so much to her weekend but it didn't really live up to her expectations, so that was a shame. I think the heat had got to them both, and she sent me a photo of the drinks menu at the O2 - they were charging £15 for a 250ml glass of wine! 

Dinner this evening was very simple - breaded chicken with crispy potatoes and the remainder of Keith's salad from last night. After eating it was another episode of our favourite show!

Annoying niggles!

I woke up far later than I wanted to, at almost 9am, so it felt like I'd wasted some precious time! Sophie had a stressful morning getting ready for her trip to London to see Sza at the O2, and unfortunately spilt make-up on the tee-shirt she wanted to wear. I tried my best to get the stain out but made it worse. She had to choose something else to wear in the end and was annoyed about what had happened. It didn't help that it was warm and humid today, with showers of rain forecast for later in the day.

We took her to the train station in Northampton where she met Vikesh. They'd booked a train at 11.45am, as it was starting in Northampton, and not coming from Birmingham, but to her intense annoyance it was cancelled and they had to take another train instead. Of course, there were no seats so they had to stand all the way to Euston. What is going on at the moment with trains? Every time she's travelled down lately, she's had to stand!

Keith and I returned home and had lunch using some leftover new potatoes from last night and four out-of-date eggs that I scrambled.  One egg in our fridge dated from the 1st of June so that one was thrown out! We're not eating many eggs at the moment!

I showered and went to see my parents for a very dismal meeting at the care home. My Dad was asleep most of the time and seemed very unimpressed with my, gifts of a lovely tee-shirt, a bag of Jelly  Babies and toiletries. While I was there three staff came in with more gifts of a bottle of beer, socks and chocolate, which was lovely.

I left feeling utterly depressed and drove home to the accompaniment of booms of thunder. Our dinner this evening was a very simple prawn salad, and Keith had chopped up lettuce, tomatoes, celery, spring onions and red pepper. I sat down with a glass of Leffe and watched Doc Martin, happily interrupted by Mike face-timing us to wish Keith a Happy Father's Day!

While we were chatting with him, the power went off and when it came back on, one of our electric switches tripped. We sorted that out, had dinner and we were just watching another episode of Doc Martin when it went again...

This time it was off for longer, and updates on our residents' Facebook page said it would be back by 11pm! I decided to go to bed and read my Kindle, but it came back on again! It's such a pain as all the digital clocks have to be reset and I was relying on the bedside alarm to get me up for work in the morning! 

I set the clocks again and then tried to go to sleep but Sophie texted me to say they were leaving the  O2 to get the tube back to their hotel near the Tower of London, so I waited up until she was back! 

A lovely day!

Sophie went to the gym this morning while I tackled a load of bedding laundry and pootled about doing jobs. She caught me out by coming home early as she'd decided not to take part in her second yoga class!

We decided to pop into Tesco before lunch as both of us needed to buy gifts for Father's Day. Predictably, the supermarket was crammed with people shopping, so we dashed about as quickly as we could and left. We bought our presents, and also a delicious lunch of turkey and two different salads to enjoy back at home with a sneaky glass of wine!

It was a lovely feeling that we didn't have to go out again, and we had a relaxed afternoon pootling about. Sophie packed for her trip to London tomorrow, and I scanned some photos from 1985 onto the computer, ready to include in my blog account of our holiday in Spain. I also dried and folded all the washing, and tried to keep cool as it was warm again.

Dinner this evening was a barbecue and before we ate, Sophie and I sat in the living room and watched Married at First Sight Australia, which we're now addicted to! Neither of us felt like playing Scrabble as it was warm and we just fancied being entertained for a change! We drank a very good bottle of Sparkling Vouvray which I bought in France. I wish it was more readily available in the UK!

Keith sorted out the barbecue - gammon steaks for him and me, and a burger for Sophie. It was marred by Sophie discovering her burger bun had spots of mould on it, which put her off completely! It also put me off as well! Anything like that is horrible and the buns had only been bought on Thursday! Perhaps it was the heat and humidity!

At about 9pm, Sophie and I decided to sit out in the garden and watch for our hedgehog, but although we heard a rustling in the bushes, he didn't appear. Keith came to sit with us and we watched the bats wheel about in the dusky sky.

Before bed, we watched one more episode of Married At First Sight Australia while Keith caught up with the golf coming from California. The weather didn't look brilliant and it was cloudy!

Sophie wearing Keith's ugly new "Crocs"!

Another week done and dusted!

Today was certainly better than last Friday and I helped Sara with the emails, finished the moan report and put on some more films. The phones were quiet which helped enormously! Shirley was up to her tricks again, though, and came off the phones at about 3.45pm to make outbound calls... this is becoming a regular habit, now, and is most annoying.

Back home, it felt hot and stuffy, and we have more storms forecast for over the weekend. Keith decided to go to the pub even though his mate John was at Edgbaston (the Ashes are on... grrr!) so Sophie and I tried the new Pinot Gris we bought in Lidl on Wednesday and settled down to watch Race Across The World.

Dinner this evening was a simple chilli with rice but we finished off a bottle of Pinot Noir with the meal. Afterwards, Sophie and I sat outside the house for ten minutes and it was blissfully cool! 

A new recipe!

Work today was very pleasant and I noticed how few outgoing calls were being made, unlike Tuesday! I dealt with the customer service emails and just about finished the moan report. It was a lovely feeling that I hadn't anything planned for this afternoon and I could just go home and pootle about!

Dinner tonight was the coronation chicken and salad we should have had last night, so I cooked the chicken breasts, shredded them and put them in the fridge to cool. Keith had already prepared the salad ingredients so there wasn't much to do. Lovely!

Making the sauce was easy - I just used mayonnaise, hot curry powder, mango chutney and black pepper and missed them all together before coating the chicken. Served with a delicious salad, new potatoes and crusty bread it was a simple meal and perfect for a hot evening. I don't think I'll ever buy a prepared Coronation chicken again!

A double whammy!

Keith and I took Sophie to the station this morning for her 9.20am train to Euston. Once we'd dropped her off we trekked over to Harlestone to have breakfast at the garden centre. She had texted us to say that her train had been delayed due to "disruptive passengers"! I hoped that they'd be removed before she got on!

Breakfast was lovely and very good value, with two traditional meals for £12. With coffee and tea, and some more toast, we filled up for the rest of the day! After we'd eaten, we had a look around and I said to Keith that the place was more like a department store than a garden centre. There was even a Waitrose outlet!

We decided to head back towards Northampton as, on the way, we'd noticed that a huge building which used to be the Travis Perkins head office, had been torn down and a Lidl built in its place! Quite when this happened I have no idea, but my parents used to run a company that cleaned the offices there back in the 1980s, and the building held a lot of memories for me. I used to go every week to make sure everything was running smoothly, so I was astonished to see it no longer existed!

The Lidl was brand new and we wandered around looking at the wines and some very interesting foods from Europe. Keith bought Sophie and me a bottle of New Zealand Pinot Gris to try, and I bought some "Dutch-style" cheese biscuits. It felt like we were in a supermarket abroad!

Before heading home we took my Dad's car through the carwash and then it was back to catch up with jobs and try and stay cool! It's been another very warm day and Sophie texted me to say she was hot when she came out of the prison in Brixton. 

We'd decided to have a meal out this evening and we chose The Royal Oak as I hadn't been there since last April. Sophie said she'd be back in Northampton at about 5pm, so we went to collect her in heavy rush-hour traffic and returned home so she could get a shower. She said her whole day had been hot and uncomfortable at times!

At the pub, we ordered our drinks and then went to sit outside as it was such a gorgeous evening. There were new picnic benches outside the pub and inside, it looked brighter and fresher, with blinds at the windows rather than the heavy crimson curtains that were there before.

It was heavenly to sit outside with a glass of wine, chat to people we'd known for years and relax. At 7.30pm we went inside and sat by the fire, the table Keith and I sat at 34 years ago when we first visited the pub.

We sat and looked at the menu and Sophie and I went for exactly the same starter and main course - asparagus with crispy egg and Hollandaise sauce followed by supreme of chicken with dauphinoise potatoes and vegetables in a mushroom sauce. Keith chose the whitebait followed by a meat feast pizza (fish and chips weren't on the menu).

The food was delicious so we will definitely return again... and soon, I hope! Sophie and I found room for puds - chocolate torte for my daughter and a rhubarb custard tart for me. Yum!

A challenging day!

I had a somewhat trying day at work today and I seemed to be the only one answering calls which is usual for a Tuesday... both Jo and Angela made many, many outbound calls, leaving me to pick up the incoming ones, some of which were quite difficult. 

Halfway through the morning, I noticed a missed call so when I took my break I went to find out who it was. It was the finance department at the council trying to get hold of me but when I called the number the woman gave me, it went dead! It was a call I was dreading so I asked Sara if I could take ten minutes of time that was owed to me and try and sort it out. After ten minutes of being passed from pillar to post at the council, I gave up. The woman would just have to call me back.

It put me in an even worse mood, and Jo drove me mad with a call from a family who wanted to re-book a swimming session despite not being members. The kerfuffle and shouting arising from it was unbelievable! I have no idea why we have this unfair policy of not being able to book people in for alternative times if they can't make it (in this case a child was sick), if we can prove they have already paid! It just creates huge ill-feeling!

I finished at 4pm with a huge sigh of relief and sped home. The house felt warm and there's been no hint of rain today at all, just blue skies and sunshine. I emailed the care home manager to see if she had the correct contact number for the council finance woman and then tried to relax. I was so looking forward to a day off tomorrow! Keith and I are taking Sophie to the station at 9am as she's travelling to London to visit Brixton prison. Hmmm! I tried not to think about it!

After dinner this evening Sophie and I walked up to the post box, although I was waylaid by Lynn and Daphne again. Daphne was in an energetic mood and was running about like a mad thing! She's so sweet!

Daphne Dog

An almighty clap!

It was another hot day today and by the afternoon, the storm clouds had gathered overhead. We'd had a warning out for thunderstorms and the forecast was definitely right today!

It wasn't raining when I left at 4pm, but the heavens opened on the way home, making the new stretch of dual carriageway awash with water. I could hear thunder rumbling all around me, and it started in earnest when I arrived home, with torrential rain, lightning flashes and the odd boom of thunder. However, as Keith and I were sitting chatting in the kitchen, we heard the loudest clap of thunder we'd ever heard, and that includes the almighty Florida storms we witnessed! Keith actually ducked it was so loud and it brought me out in goosebumps! The awesome power of Nature! We heard more booms as the afternoon wore on but nothing as loud as the one earlier! It must have been right over our heads!

It was all over by the time Sophie returned from work and the air was fresher and cooler, thank goodness. The gardens have certainly benefitted!

Hot and sweaty!

I helped Sophie prepare the dinner this morning - she was cooking Vikesh's Mum's Chicken Biryani recipe so there was a lot of preparation involved!

Once this was done and the chicken was marinating in the fridge, I went out into the garden with Keith. He was trimming the bushes at the back and I helped pick up all the leaves and branches, before mowing the lawn. It was hot again and we were both soon sweaty and warm! However, by the time we'd finished, it was looking lovely and neat! It's amazing that cutting the lawn and trimming the edges makes everything look so much better!

I had a lovely cool shower before going with Sophie to an appointment she had booked at midday to take part in a research survey. The clinic was in the car park at Tesco which was handy, and she had to answer some questions and have a blood test for cholesterol, as well as being weighed, measured, and her blood pressure taken.

I went in with her and the clinic was blissfully cool! It was all over within half an hour and we ventured into Tesco to buy some nibbles in readiness for Vikesh coming over to see her in the afternoon to play Scrabble. Predictably, the supermarket was heaving and we rushed around getting what she needed before going home. 

I had some lunch and then ventured upstairs to the cool of our bedroom where I lay on the bed with the fan trained on me! Vikesh arrived and he and Sophie feasted on the treats she'd bought and played two games of Scrabble.

I looked at the weather and saw that a band of rain was moving our way so I went downstairs, gathered the washing in off the line and closed the roof vent in the conservatory. It was very cloudy and stormy-looking, but we didn't get any rain or thunder, unfortunately!

Vikesh returned home even though we'd said we'd love for him to stay for dinner, and Sophie put the finishing touches to the curry, It was delicious and smelled so authentic!

After we'd eaten we sampled some of the gorgeous cakes that Vikesh had bought for us when he went to Leicester yesterday. They were so moreish!

The heat is on!

Today has been quiet and, as it was a scorcher, we stayed inside and did very little. I felt tired even though we weren't late last night, but I think the heat made me a little weary! Sophie went to the gym as usual, and did two yoga sessions, before returning home and having some lunch.

It was forecast to reach 30c today, so the hottest day of the year so far. All plans to go out and do things in the garden were put on hold and we stayed inside to try and keep cool. I think all of our neighbours had the same idea as our estate was very quiet!

Mike had asked if we could drop over the bag they'd left behind last Saturday, so we said we'd meet them at Abbie's Dad's house in Abington. We tracked their flight from Bulgaria and we were astounded at how many planes were airborne over Europe!

At 4.30pm we left and drove into Northampton, taking their overnight bag and Mike's beer and chocolates as well. When we reached Abington Park it was busy with people out enjoying the weather and there were cars parked everywhere. For some reason, the Wellingborough Road was closed...

We met Mike and Abbie and chatted about the holiday before waving goodbye. Our plan was to call into The Lamplighter for a drink before going home and having dinner. However, all the roads were either closed or had just opened because of the carnival that had just taken place, and Northampton town centre was rammed with people and cars!

We hastily made the decision to go nearer home and stopped for a drink at The White Horse. There were already a few people sitting in the garden area at the back of the pub and we joined them with our drinks and sat and chatted for a pleasant hour.

Back home we pootled about and half-heartedly ate a meal of cold meats, salad and new potatoes. At the moment I am sick of new potatoes and salad! After dinner, Sophie and I went upstairs and I watched some of a programme featuring Barry Manilow. My Mum, and her friend Gloria, were huge fans and travelled regularly up to the NEC in Birmingham in the 80s to see him. His songs brought back some lovely memories, and made me feel quite emotional! He's 80 now and apparently still appearing live in Las Vegas!

A somewhat challenging day!

I received a shock this morning when the bank texted me to say that Mum and Dad's account had gone overdrawn. I had cancelled the care home direct debit and told the manager of the home, but as the care home had changed ownership, the new direct debit wasn't cancelled. I hadn't seen it when I went into the direct debits on the account so I had to use the app to stop the payment. It was a nasty shock and something I really didn't need this morning! If I'd paid it, we would never have got that money back and Mum and Dad are now at the stage where their savings are protected and the council will have to step in.

It set the tone for the day, and Sheila informed me as I walked in that she had a job for me, and I could go off the phones for "half a day." The job was very complicated and involved putting on new sessions, taking off existing classes and activities and moving some around to different areas. One of our centres is having a whole new programme of activities for our 50-plus members, and at the other end of the scale, our youngest littlies are able to enjoy sessions of soft play two mornings a week.

I helped answer the phones for the first half hour and then turned my attention to the new activities. I also had to use our "contracts" page to block off areas for setting up and down (to stop people booking courts for badminton), something I don't do every day so I had to concentrate very hard! There was no way I could have answered calls at the same time! Over the day I managed to get everything on until the end of the summer holidays so we can have a bit of a breather! I went back onto the phones for the last fifteen minutes, annoyed to see that Shirley was deliberately not answering the phone, as she did last week just before the shift ended!

I sped off at 2pm and did some more cleaning and hoovering, and then prepared all the food. Keith went to the pub, Sophie came home and had a shower, and by 6.30pm the house was looking lovely, with lots of candles lit and music playing. Sue arrived as we were putting the finishing touches to the food and came armed with a huge chocolate cake and some non-alcoholic Gin. Her mother-in-law is very ill at the moment so she didn't want to drink a lot.

Michelle arrived, we cracked open the Champagne that Sue had very kindly given me earlier in the week, and had a good catch-up! Keith returned home and devoured half a chicken we'd put in the oven for him, and then he helped himself to some cheese and biscuits.

At about 10pm, just as it was getting dark, our little hedgehog appeared and stuffed his (her?) face at the bowl of food we'd put out. We also saw bats wheeling about and I felt very lucky we have such lovely wildlife visit the garden!

Getting things done!

My shift passed very quickly today and I dealt with all the customer service emails and made a start on the "Moan report".

At 2pm I popped into Aldi on my way home to buy nibbles for Friday night, when Michelle and Sue are coming around. I filled up the trolley with salads, nibbly bits, pizza, cheese and biscuits and was amazed it came to just £27!

Back home I cleaned the conservatory inside and made sure the kitchen cupboards were looking lovely and clean. I even ventured outside and cleaned some more conservatory windows!

Sophie came home looking warm and dishevelled after her day working in the allotment, but was very scathing about her colleagues, some of whom preferred to sit and drink tea rather than do any weeding! She had worked hard for the three hours they were there, but some of the staff treated it like it was a day out!

She flew upstairs to get ready as she was going out with Vikesh for a meal. I took a drink and sat upstairs in her bedroom with her while she was getting ready and we chatted. The weather has been beautiful today and the grey skies and chilly wind are a distant memory. The view from Sophie's bedroom window was gorgeous with the rolling fields and trees in full leaf.

Keith and I had a very simple dinner tonight and watched two episodes of Doc Martin back to back... he is more into it than I am! After we'd eaten I had a soak in the bath and then waited up for Sophie to come home. She arrived at about 10.30pm and had enjoyed her meal at the Chinese in Billing, although she said it was a bit salty!

A family trip out!

Keith and I took my Mum and Dad to the Weston Favell Centre today to get their bank account sorted out, and to take them out for lunch. I wasn't looking forward to going one bit, but we managed to get the wheelchair in the back of the VW by putting down the middle armrest which helped enormously. My parents find it difficult to get into my car so this was ideal. My Dad was sporting a black eye from his latest fall out of bed, and it does bring it home to me how vulnerable they'd be if they still lived at home.

I was hoping to see a couple of my Mum and Dad's friends, but we ran into an ex-employee of the bank as we went into the shopping mall. She can talk the hind legs off a donkey and I made the mistake of asking her about her retirement.... well! She launched into an interminable monologue about what she was up to until we had to interrupt her as Keith and Dad were waiting for us! I didn't ever think she was going to stop!

We had a coffee first and then popped into the bank. I wanted to change Mum and Dad's current account to a normal one, not a "Reward" account as they were paying £20 a month needlessly. A very helpful member of staff showed me how to do it on my banking app! I wish I'd known that before!

From the bank, we went into Tesco so Mum and Dad could do some shopping, and then it was lunch at Burger King, as a treat for my Dad who loves burgers. Keith and I had chicken burgers and I nearly ended up wearing mine!

We drove them back and then it was home to catch up with the chores I hadn't done this morning! I was busy until Sophie came home at 5.30pm! I was determined to clean our new window in the kitchen, which had a long streak of bird poo running down it, and I was horrified at the state of the conservatory. Keith and I discussed spending a whole day in the garden at the weekend... what a great thing to look forward to! Not!

Sophie cooked a delicious chicken stir-fry this evening and there was just enough leftover for our lunches on Friday. Sophie is volunteering at a food bank allotment tomorrow, and lunch is provided, so she was looking forward to pizza and a lot of hard work!

Before bed, we walked up to the post box at the entrance to the estate and met Lynn and Daphne the dog (a lurcher rescued from China). Daphne was looking sleek and shiny and was obviously benefitting from Lynn's love and care. We had a lovely chat as the sun sank lower in the sky and it was lovely to get out for a little while and enjoy the cool evening air!

Nasty missives

Today has almost been a repeat of yesterday, except for one horrible email I received in response to one I sent to a customer. I won't go into details but I was told my reply had been "despicable"! It wasn't a great start to the day! Sometimes I think I definitely don't get paid enough to do this job!

At 4pm I sped off home to relax and we sat in the kitchen while Keith decided not to barbecue again - it was still grey and cold! We grilled our sausages and burgers instead! We do have some hot weather on the horizon, though! The weekend and early next week are set to be hot but humid, which makes it even worse!

Our viewing pleasure was Trauma Zone again this evening and just looking at the snowy, freezing scenes in Russia made me feel cold!

Thwarted plans

This morning, I really didn't feel as if I'd had a weekend so it was a bit of a wrench to go to work! Sara asked me to deal with the customer service emails and we had a couple of tricky ones. At least the phones had quietened down!

Yesterday's beautiful weather had well and truly disappeared to be replaced with grey skies and a chill wind again. It had been our plan to barbecue this evening, but it was too cold so we swapped meals and had Tuesday night's meal tonight. Keith certainly didn't fancy standing out in the garden and being frozen!

After dinner, Keith and I watched TraumaZone on BBC iPlayer again. There seems to be a trend of programmes looking back to the 70s and 80s at the moment, and as this was the period of time when I was growing up, I'm enjoying watching the shows! Trama Zone is fascinating, and as it's made up of varied, different clips, we don't get bored!

Second thoughts...

It was lovely to have a relaxed start to Sunday morning, and Sophie did a lot of preparation for this evening's meal of Malaysian coconut curry. The smells were intoxicating!

At midday, she dove over to Wellingborough to play table tennis at Vikesh's local leisure centre, followed by a Greek lunch. Keith went to the hospital for a routine ECG, but I couldn't go with him as I was taking my Mum to a nail appointment at 3pm. I spent a pleasant hour at home and then left to collect Mum at 2.30pm. The weather has been beautiful today with plenty of sunshine and blue skies.

I picked up Mum and we drove over to Northampton. I had never been to Natalia's house at the weekend and I wondered whether I'd have difficulty parking. Thankfully, there was a space outside her house and we could hear loud music blaring, which was surprising. The windows were open and the music was coming from her house! 

We rang the bell twice before she answered, and I was beginning to think I'd brought Mum on the wrong day! When she opened the gate she looked at us as if we'd dropped out of a dog's bottom (as usual) and we both went into her little studio.

Today, I seriously thought about finding somewhere else to go for Mum's nails. She's been going for years and Natalia never asks how she is or asks after my Dad who used to bring Mum and sit with her, as I do now. The neighbourhood is a hellhole, and today one of her dogs came running into the studio and nearly knocked everything over! I think maybe it's time to find somewhere professional!

Mum's nails do look beautiful when Natalia is finished but I was a bit fed up today with the noise and her blunt attitude. I took Mum back and headed home, closely followed by Sophie who'd had a great afternoon.

We played cards instead of Scrabble this evening as Sophie didn't want to be distracted! The meal was delicious! 

An early start

It wasn't pleasant waking up at 3am this morning, especially as we weren't the ones going on holiday! We left at 3.30am, surprised to see that it was getting light! On the way, we saw a little Muntjac deer in the hedgerow, and I slowed down in case it ran across the road.

The journey to Luton was fine but the M1 was busy with lorries. We made it for 4.30am and drove into the hectic drop-off zone which cost us £5 for up to ten minutes! We were amazed at how busy it was!

The M1 going home was a lot quieter for some reason, and we arrived back at 5.30am. It felt a lot later! I went back to bed until 7.30am when my alarm woke me so I could get ready for work. Not brilliant planning today!

As Sophie was going to the gym for her Yoga classes, she gave me a lift, which was a good thing as the car parks were full! I was working with Sue today and she fed me cheese and biscuits halfway through the shift. That was the reason I didn't take any lunch!

The phones were quite busy and I was flagging by the end as I was very tired. Sophie picked me up and we went home to have a delicious pasta salad that she'd made for lunch. I have to confess to having a nap in the afternoon, and at about 6pm we played Scrabble with a drink. Sophie beat me by about 100 points and Keith put the finishing touches to the chilli con carne he'd made.

Mike texted me to say they'd arrived and it looked like they were having a great time. He sent me a photo of the fish he'd had for dinner, but said they weren't that good! He's determined to try new foods in the new country!

Mike's fishy dinner!

We watched the end of the Anna Nicole Smith documentary (a sad story, to be honest) and then it was time for bed at just past 9pm. It was still light outside but all of us were shattered!

A tricky Friday!

I had a feeling today was going to be tricky early on, and I was proved right! Sara asked me to answer the customer service emails again and we had a couple that were difficult to deal with. One was very overdue, and I had a conversation with our Area Manager about it, finally putting something together to appease the customer! I'm not sure we have succeeded but as he's a serial complainer, we were adamant that we weren't going to offer anything again!

I was late leaving as I had to hurriedly do an order, and when I arrived home, Mike texted me to say that he and Abbie had left Southampton and were on their way back to Northampton. Tomorrow, we're taking them to Luton Airport for their flight to Bulgaria, and because of the early start, they're staying with us overnight.

Sophie and I settled down to watch a documentary on Anna Nicole Smith, and at 7pm Keith drove to Walgrave to pick up fish and chips for us all. Mike texted me to say they were ready to be picked up from Abbie's house, so Sophie and I left to get them, just as Keith arrived home armed with five portions of fishy delights!

The sun has finally shown its face and it was a gorgeous evening. There was a funfair at Abington Park so the whole area was full of parked cars, making it difficult for me to park outside of Abbie's Dad's house. We picked them up, they filled the boot with their luggage, and we set off home.

Unfortunately, the fish and chips were a bit soggy from being kept warm in the oven, but we all sat and chatted, and Mike had one of the beers from France, La Chouffe. I opened a bottle of wine that Sophie, Abbie and I drank with our meal.

We were delighted to see the arrival of one of our hedgehogs while we were eating but we hadn't put any food out yet! I went out and he scuttled off into the bushes while I filled the container, but he soon appeared again and stuffed his face!

It was an early night for Keith and I as we had to be up at 3am, but the young ones (Mike and Abbie) went to the pub!

The winner revealed!

Today has been mostly uneventful, so just a typical Thursday! I dealt with all the customer service emails today and did my monthly reports. I can't quite get my head around the fact that it's June! This year is going so fast!

I finished at 2pm and pootled about at home, catching up with jobs and preparing dinner. The weather has been stubbornly grey and chilly again even though today is the first day of meteorological summer!

Sophie and I watched the final of Masterchef after dinner and we were surprised by the winner. We both thought it was going to be another contestant, Anurag but Chariya won, and quite rightly so. I don't think she ever put one foot wrong in the whole competition!