Thursday 9 May 2024
I am so grumpy!
Wednesday 8 May 2024
What a busy day!
I was facing a busy day today with many errands and things to do. First up was a visit to Kingsley Beauty Salon for electrolysis on my upper lip. I DO NOT want to become one of those hairy women you see, so I had arranged an appointment to look at what needed to be done, and then do away with any rogue hairs that had surfaced.
The beautician carefully explained about hair growth and said that she could reduce any hairs significantly, but not obliterate them completely, as the little buggers have a habit of popping up in different places! She examined my upper lip area, said things were not as bad as I feared and spent fifteen minutes inserting an ultra-sharp needle into the follicles and zapping them away. It hurt, but luckily it was only momentary. However, when she zapped a couple near my nose, I nearly went through the roof! The things us wimmin have to do!
Keith had come along with me and was waiting for me in the car, so from the salon, we dropped our huge bedspread off to be cleaned at the launderette, and then went to the Weston Favell Centre. After my contact lens appointment last week, I had asked for a sample box of the new multi-focal lenses and they were ready for me to collect. I sat with one of the staff and changed my lenses over to the new ones, I was so impressed!
After the trauma (!) of the beauty appointment, I needed a coffee so we sat in Costa Coffee and relaxed for ten minutes before returning to the car. As Keith closed the passenger door of my car, the glass in the wing mirror fell out, smashing into smithereens on the ground! We had to try and collect as many bits as we could in case someone drove on them and punctured their tyre.
Next up was a visit to Jones's (I so miss Wilko for their homewares range and gardening stuff) where we spent a delightful hour buying loo brushes, laundry pegs, glue, cleaning cloths, drain cleaner and candles. What an exciting shop!
I was waiting for a text from Dunelm to tell me that the pillowcases I'd ordered at the weekend were ready to collect and it came through just as we were leaving Jones's. We went to get them and then popped into Curry's to look at fridges for the garage. We wanted one to store bottles of beer and other drinks now that the warmer weather has arrived, and we saw one that fitted the bill perfectly. It was an under-counter fridge and even had a small freezer. Luckily, it was in stock and a very helpful man carried it out to the car for us.
Our next port of call was B&Q to replace our barbecue gas but they no longer supply Calor Gas so we were told to go to Bell's instead. We popped into Aldi for bread and lager, and then drove to Bell's, somewhere we hadn't been for years as Keith had fallen out with someone there aeons ago. I was hugely impressed when we went in as I didn't realise they supply kitchens and bathrooms. I just thought they sold fireplaces!
The department selling Calor Gas and barbecues was right at the back of the shop so we moved the car around to the rear car park and exchanged our gas bottle very efficiently with another friendly man who remarked on Keith's northern accent! Keith said he was an extra in Vera, and yes he was the murderer!
By now, it was warming up and the temperature was about 24c. We headed home, more than ready for a sandwich and a cold lager. Keith emptied the car and as he shut the driver door, the glass in the wing mirror fell out, smashing into smithereens on the ground... no, I haven't repeated myself, this was now both wing mirrors out of use! I couldn't believe it!
After putting everything away, having lunch and drinking a much-needed cold glass of beer, I found a company online to order two more mirrors for £40...
The rest of the day was spent catching up with the normal Wednesday jobs and trying to write the shopping list, always such an enjoyable chore!
Tuesday 7 May 2024
More phone calls
Monday 6 May 2024
A short shift
Sunday 5 May 2024
Tackling the "To Do" list!
We gave Sophie a lift to the gym this morning and sat and waited for her while reading the Sunday papers. It was then home for hot cross buns and coffee and Wordle off! We try and set aside a few minutes for this every day and compete with one another!
I wanted to get lots of jobs done today and, as it was a sunny day and beautifully breezy, I was in the mood for cleaning and sorting things out. I tackled my "To Do" list and achieved quite a bit, which pleased me as some of the jobs were long overdue! Sophie washed her make-up brushes and did the rest of her packing ready for the off tomorrow. We indulged in a vodka and tonic in the afternoon, and pootled about feeling very relaxed. I was just a bit miffed I have to work tomorrow, but at least it's a short shift!
Keith barbecued in the evening while Sophie and I prepared the vegetables. It clouded over slightly, but it was still warmish. I think the whole of the next week is set to be dry and warm!
After dinner, we watched two episodes of Baby Reindeer, a show that everyone, and I mean everyone, is talking about! We'll have to catch up on the rest of the programmes when Sophie gets home!
Saturday 4 May 2024
Bringing home the bargains!
Note the bulging bag beside Sophie! |
Friday 3 May 2024
Dining out
Thursday 2 May 2024
I lose my blob...
Wednesday 1 May 2024
Getting things done!
Tuesday 30 April 2024
A few miles on the clock!
Monday 29 April 2024
No newbies...
Sunday 28 April 2024
Getting squiffy...
Saturday 27 April 2024
Two days in one...
Thursday 25 April 2024
Time flies!
Wednesday 24 April 2024
Little annoyances...
Tuesday 23 April 2024
A testosterone-fuelled evening...
Sileby in red and black, Moulton in blue |
Sophie's hot chocolate |
Monday 22 April 2024
The highs and the lows
Sunday 21 April 2024
If only dreams come true!
Saturday 20 April 2024
An indulgence or two!
Friday 19 April 2024
It's Friday!
This made me chuckle!
I stole this from a post on the Facebook group, Dull Men's Club, and it truly made me laugh out loud! It was a story by Douglas Adams who wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
"This actually did happen to a real person, and the real person is me. I had gone to catch a train. This was April 1976, in Cambridge, U.K. I was a bit early for the train. I’d gotten the time of the train wrong. I went to get myself a newspaper to do the crossword, and a cup of coffee and a packet of cookies. I went and sat at a table. I want you to picture the scene. It’s very important that you get this very clear in your mind. Here’s the table, newspaper, cup of coffee, packet of cookies. There’s a guy sitting opposite me, perfectly ordinary-looking guy wearing a business suit, carrying a briefcase. It didn’t look like he was going to do anything weird. What he did was this: he suddenly leaned across, picked up the packet of cookies, tore it open, took one out, and ate it.
Now this, I have to say, is the sort of thing the British are very bad at dealing with. There’s nothing in our background, upbringing, or education that teaches you how to deal with someone who in broad daylight has just stolen your cookies. You know what would happen if this had been South Central Los Angeles. There would have very quickly been gunfire, helicopters coming in, CNN, you know… But in the end, I did what any red-blooded Englishman would do: I ignored it. And I stared at the newspaper, took a sip of coffee, tried to do a clue in the newspaper, couldn’t do anything, and thought, What am I going to do?
In the end I thought Nothing for it, I’ll just have to go for it, and I tried very hard not to notice the fact that the packet was already mysteriously opened. I took out a cookie for myself. I thought, That settled him. But it hadn’t because a moment or two later he did it again. He took another cookie. Having not mentioned it the first time, it was somehow even harder to raise the subject the second time around. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but notice…” I mean, it doesn’t really work.
We went through the whole packet like this. When I say the whole packet, I mean there were only about eight cookies, but it felt like a lifetime. He took one, I took one, he took one, I took one. Finally, when we got to the end, he stood up and walked away. Well, we exchanged meaningful looks, then he walked away, and I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back.
A moment or two later the train was coming in, so I tossed back the rest of my coffee, stood up, picked up the newspaper, and underneath the newspaper were my cookies. The thing I like particularly about this story is the sensation that somewhere in England there has been wandering around for the last quarter-century a perfectly ordinary guy who’s had the same exact story, only he doesn’t have the punch line."
Hilarious!
Thursday 18 April 2024
Miscommunications...
Wednesday 17 April 2024
A sociable breakfast!
I'd arranged to meet my friend Lynda for coffee this morning, and we decided to visit Beckworth Emporium. I hadn't been for ages, put off the last time by the forty-minute wait for a table, so I was keen to go back.
As we arrived between breakfast and lunch, we were seated immediately, and we both ordered scrambled eggs on toast (getting our order in before breakfast finished at 11am!) and hot drinks. Sitting in the conservatory was pleasant, and the sun was warm on our faces as we chatted.
We both had a lot to catch up on, and we lingered over the late breakfast before having a look in the food shop and the homewares section. New buyers had taken over the business, and the prices were still extortionate! Most of it was stuff that people don't really need, and I resisted the urge to open my purse!
After saying goodbye to Lynda, I returned home, and Keith and I popped over to the care home with some things Mum and Dad needed. On the way home, we briefly flirted with the idea of going to the pub, but we were sensible and went home instead!
For some reason, the scrambled eggs had made me feel a little queasy and I spent the afternoon regretting choosing them! I had two small cans of Fevertree Ginger Ale and felt much better, thank goodness! Keith had prepared a carrot, swede and onion for me earlier, as I was making Mulligatawny soup for dinner, served with naan bread.
I fried the onion, swede, bacon, carrot and apple and then added curry powder, beef stock and tomato puree. I was astonished to discover we didn't have any mango chutney, a real staple in our household, so I added a couple of tablespoons of tamarind chutney I found in the cupboard instead. However, when I tasted the soup it didn't have the same mango chutney flavour so Keith and I had to trek over to Mawsley to buy a jar there.
Back home, I put a couple of good dollops into the soup and gave it a stir. It now tasted a lot better!
I needn't have worried about the soup as it was delicious, rich and spicy. I cooked rice, added it to the soup and cooked a couple of naan breads. Delicious and so simple. Luckily, there was enough left for lunch tomorrow for Sophie and me.
After dinner, we looked at Airbnb houses for Christmas. We had saved some to a favourites list and we went through them, picking out two that we particularly liked. With Keith's agreement, we picked one and sent a reservation request. Unfortunately, the host came back almost immediately and apologised that the house was showing as available in December; she'd forgotten to alter the dates! Sophie was furious but we contacted Francisco, who hosted a house we'd stayed at in Pollenca back in 2019, and we asked him if he was prepared to let us stay there over Christmas. Fingers crossed!
Tuesday 16 April 2024
A chaotic morning!
Monday 15 April 2024
Feeling humble...
Sunday 14 April 2024
A day of treats!
Saturday 13 April 2024
Dog meets cats...
Friday 12 April 2024
Thank goodness! It's Friday!
Thursday 11 April 2024
A little dreaming!
Wednesday 10 April 2024
Just pottering
Tuesday 9 April 2024
Feeling better
Monday 8 April 2024
Feeling a little off colour!
Sunday 7 April 2024
Yet more celebrations!
Saturday 6 April 2024
More birthday celebrations!
Friday 5 April 2024
A day of celebrations!
Sophie's favourite painting |
Thursday 4 April 2024
Flooded roads
Wednesday 3 April 2024
Cake hunting!
Tuesday 2 April 2024
A rare sighting...
Monday 1 April 2024
Fresh meat!
Sunday 31 March 2024
A day of the dismals...
I wish I could say I enjoyed the last day of March, but sadly, I can't. The weather, so gorgeous and Spring-like yesterday, was dull and horrible today. We had heavy grey skies and a chilly wind, which was depressing. I'm sure I would have felt differently if the sun had been shining!
I did housework in the morning and mooched about in the early afternoon, visiting my parents later for a chat. My Dad barely said a word, but lit up like a Christmas tree when one of the regular carers came in to say hello. Enough said!
Keith and I were supposed to have had a beef casserole for dinner, but neither of us felt like it, so we had tinned soup instead... really, we should have gone out for an Easter Sunday lunch this afternoon rather than venture out yesterday, so that put the topping on a dismal day!
I poured myself a glass of wine and watched Jimmy Doherty's cooking programme in Florida, which did cheer me up, though!