Time goes by!

Work passed in a blur of emails, and I also managed to put some playscheme places onto the system and a handful of new films. Friday flew!

Keith wasn't out this evening, so he was an honorary member of the Wine Night Club, but he wisely stayed out of the way as Sophie and I indulged in nibbles and glasses of wine. We watched a couple of episodes of Come Dine With Me and enjoyed a simple dinner of jacket potatoes, toppings and salad.

Sophie had managed to get tickets this morning to see Ben Howard in Berlin, as part of the 10th Anniversary tour. We had been to see him in 2014 so we couldn't let this opportunity slip by, could we? We'll book two nights at our usual hotel and flights with British Airways! Something to look forward to in November! The Christmas markets won't be up and running, but it'll be wonderful to go back to our favourite city! Keith is coming with us but he'll have to amuse himself when we go and see the concert.

We actually stayed up later than normal tonight - past 10pm! - and watched an episode of Top of the Pops, which brought back a lot of memories for me as it was from 1984!

A busy Thursday!

Today has been a busy one! I had a hectic shift at work from 8am until 2pm, and then I took my Mum to Natalia's to get her nails done. This time, Mum was waiting for me in the reception area (she didn't want a repeat of the last time I picked her up for her nail appointment!) and before we left I chatted with one of the carers about my parents' upcoming trip to the coast next Wednesday. I was happy to hear that they would be getting out of their room for a day and going to the seaside!

We drove to Northampton, and when we arrived at Natalia's house, her husband and a couple of other men were working on a huge yellow van in the small car park opposite. It looked like they were going to convert it into a camper van!

Mum chose a rich red colour for her nails and I took the opportunity to relax and read my book, which was much needed after such a hectic day!

Before dropping Mum back, I stopped to collect some clothes we had washed and ironed for her, and Keith came along on the journey to Kettering to keep me company.  It was heaven to finally get home, relax and play cards with Keith in the kitchen before dinner!

Sleepy head!

After seeing Sophie off to the gym this morning, I set my alarm for 8.30am and then slept through it! I woke at 9.15am wondering how I'd never heard it go off!

After doing some boring, but necessary, financial chores, Keith and I went to Jones's where we bought a few things, including more grass seed for the front garden. I wanted to go to a nearby garden centre to buy geraniums and compost so we headed there and had lunch in the busy restaurant first. I'd forgotten it was half-term so the place was packed with children and dogs!

I went to the counter to order our lunch and watched with amusement as a woman decided to ask the young girl serving loads of questions about the food and the choices there were. The woman in front of me looked my way, and we both exchanged looks!

With lunch over (and I'm afraid to say it wasn't memorable), I bought three packs of geraniums and a bag of compost. We drove home, but as the afternoon was chilly and grey, I decided to plant them at the weekend when the weather was supposed to be sunny and a bit warmer.

I pootled about doing the usual Wednesday chores - vacuuming downstairs, the porridge, my lunch and the list for shopping. All good fun!

After dinner tonight, we watched the last episode of Race Across The World and I was delighted to see the two young lads, Alfie and Owen win! They beat the mum-and-daughter team by about ten minutes! It had been a great series this year and some of the places they visited looked gorgeous!

What day is it?

It was back down to earth with a bump this morning as I faced a shift at work knowing it was the school holidays! I faced about 50 emails, so much less than I was expecting, to be honest! After three days away I thought there would have been more!

Jo and Angela were answering phones, but I had to step in now and again to help out. It's rained for most of today and that always makes the phones ring as people enquire about swimming sessions and cinema tickets.

Back home, Keith met me and drove straight to Tesco as he'd been waiting all day for a package to be collected. He sped off while I pootled about and he arrived home just in front of Sophie so we didn't have to move the cars about! He must have been supercharged on his visit to Tesco to get back so quickly!

We sat in the kitchen before dinner and played cards, chatting about our days and listening to music. It was lovely to know I was off again tomorrow as today has definitely felt like a Monday!

An outstanding meal

It was lovely to have a third lie-in this morning - I could get used to this! We were going to Leicester today with Vikesh and his parents, but Vikesh had very kindly offered to drive us. I'm not usually very good as a passenger, but was I looking forward to a day off driving!

He picked us up at about 11.30am and we set off in the sunshine for the city where we were going to have lunch and then do a little shopping on the "Golden Mile". Vikesh drove very well and we were soon parking off the main road. His parents arrived at the same time, so we walked to Bobby's restaurant, an unassuming, diner-style eaterie that was already starting to fill up with lunchtime diners.

We looked at the menus but relied on Vikesh and his parents to choose the food. They ordered so much, that Vikesh had to write it down on his phone! The food was vegetarian and I was quite prepared to have a soft drink with the meal, but they served Indian lager so we had to choose that.

The food kept on coming in waves when it was prepared and ready, so there was always something to nibble on. I have to say, the food was outstanding, especially the chaat sampler which was one of the most delicious dishes I've ever eaten! I can't write down all that we had but there was a lot, and it was fantastic! The taste, the textures and the spices were out of this world delicious! 

And this was just some of the food we enjoyed!

I know we had a lot of paneer (cheese), chilli chips, chapattis and puris, rice, cassava chips and one fabulous dish of tempura-battered okra which I could have kept on eating! By the end of the meal, we were stuffed to the gunnels! None of us missed having meat at all as the food was so good. The only sad thing was that Vikesh felt ill halfway through lunch so he wanted to go straight back home. Sophie and I had been looking forward to shopping in the brilliant cellar shop further along the road and exploring the wonderful supermarkets in the area. She wanted to take home a box of barfi and samosas for her lunch tomorrow.

It didn't take us long to get home and Vikesh left straightaway. I suggested to Sophie that we go and get her car washed and treat ourselves to an ice cream, which is what we did! Luckily, the rain held off and we returned home with a lovely shiny little Hyundai!

As we'd eaten at lunchtime, we paid a visit to the pub for a couple of drinks and sat in the window chatting. The pub was winding down after a busy Bank Holiday and people were lingering over drinks and the remains of meals. I felt like I'd had a proper Bank Holiday weekend, which was great!

A change in the weather.

Sophie and I went over to Tesco in Kettering this morning to buy toiletries for Mum and Dad, and while in there, we forgot about our own lunch! The place was packed and we couldn't wait to get out, to be honest! We filled her little car up with petrol and called into a Co-op on the way to the care home to buy something for lunch - thick bread, salad, cocktail sausages, little nibbly things and a pasta dish.

We popped in to see Mum and Dad, dropped off their things and had a chat with them before going home. The beautiful weather of yesterday had given way to grey skies and showers today, so I was glad I'd mowed the verge yesterday!

We ate lunch and enjoyed a glass of wine with our little meal before pootling about for the rest of the afternoon and doing lots of laundry. I'd brought some of Mum's clothes home to be washed and Sophie even stood and ironed, bless her! 

I helped Sophie put her fresh bedding back on and we relaxed by playing Scrabble before Sophie cooked our evening meal. It was delicious and there was enough leftover for my lunch on Tuesday when I'm back at work.

After dinner, we watched another very interesting Netflix documentary about a man who went missing in a remote Australian town called Larrimah. Some very strange people featured in the two-episode documentary and there were a lot of tensions bubbling under the surface of what seemed like a friendly town!

A new discovery!

We started the weekend with a relaxed morning, enjoying a light breakfast and coffee while watching Saturday Kitchen Live and playing Wordle. After that, Sophie got ready for a walk and lunch with Vikesh, while I prepared the chicken and vegetables for our dinner. It took me almost an hour to prepare the vegetables and meat for Mary Berry's Panang chicken and rice stir fry. How do the Masterchef contestants prepare and cook a three-course meal in a couple more hours?!

Sophie and Vikesh went for a walk and had lunch at a pub in Walgrave, while I mowed the verge and weeded the front garden, with Keith's help. The grass seed I'd put down a few weeks ago had thrived, which I was pleased about and the bare patches had filled out. We also rearranged some stones to make them visible and prevent people from driving over the corner of our garden. Delivery vans, in particular, always manage to cut the corner and there's a water meter plus BT equipment located there!

It looked so much better when we'd finished and I noticed a new plant growing around the stump of one of the conifers we cut down a while ago:

When I Googled it, I discovered it's a Stinking Iris and probably grew there after a seed was dropped (from a bird?). I hope it flourishes there!

Keith made me a fish finger sandwich for lunch with a cup of tea and I spent the rest of the afternoon pootling about and then relaxing on the bed with the Gomes, who had graced us with his presence!

Sophie and Vikesh arrived back and the men watched the FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Manchester United. Sophie made us cocktails - we had homemade Negronis and then cracked open the bottle of House Negroni from Bar Termini. Sophie's cocktails were just as good, if not better!

It was generally decided in the evening to leave tonight's meal until tomorrow, as Sophie had eaten a big lunch. Vikesh went home for his dinner, and we had a very relaxed evening eating cheese and walnut sausage again and looking forward to another two days off!

An end to the working week!

It was back to normal this morning, with Sophie at the gym, and for me, a nice ease into the day with a hot coffee. I had an easier journey to work this morning but I will be glad when the road from Holcot up to the A43 is back open!

I ended the week back on the phone and working with just Shirley today. It wasn't too busy and I managed to answer all the emails in between calls. It was a lovely feeling to go home at 4pm and look forward to three days off... I'm not working this Bank Holiday Monday!

Keith didn't go to the pub this evening and we had an easy dinner of Tesco curries and accompaniments. Sophie and I sipped wine and nibbled the cheese and sausage we bought in London on Wednesday. They were delicious - the cheese was lovely and salty while the sausage had chunks of walnut. Scrumptious!

Masterchef - the results.

Sophie didn't go to the gym this morning, so we sat and had a coffee and watched an episode of Come Dine With Me before we got ready for work.

My shift passed quickly and I managed to finish the Moan Report, which was a bonus. That's one less thing I have to worry about! At 2pm, I drove home and Keith told me that my Mum had called and wasn't feeling well so she didn't feel like going shopping this afternoon. We drove over and I dropped some items in that she needed and had a chat. She said she'd had an upset tummy, so I told her to drink plenty of water in case she became dehydrated.

Keith and I returned home where I relaxed. It had been a great day yesterday but very busy so it was lovely to relax this afternoon. I totted up the Masterchef results and it was obvious that some terms and ways of cooking are still popular:

Mother/Father/Grandparent a huge influence on their cooking (normally said with a tear in their eye as they’ve passed away but is looking down and being proud): 18 points

Sob story: 5 points

Ethnic cooking: 22 points

Bon bons: 6 points

Fusion: 4 points

Vegan: 1 point (just one contestant)

Soufflé: 1 point

Fondant - either chocolate or  potato: 11 points

Poached pears: 1 point (fallen from popularity)

A "foam": 1 point

A "crumb": 18 points

Soil: 1 point

Meat (usually lamb or duck) is raw: 2 points

Black food: 5 points

De-constructed: 3 points

Home-made pasta, especially in the first round, (always a risk!): 17 points

Consommé: 0 points

Sous-vide: 3 points

Panna cotta: 8 points

A contestant crying: 14 points (and John cried in the final!)

Tuille: 9 points

Gel: 13 points

Emulsion: 1 point

Inspired by travel/number of countries visited: 14 points

Creme pat: A big fat nil

A crisp: 8 points

Velouté: 7 points

An oil: 23 points

Too much going on on the plate: 11 points

Not as popular this year (and some were new to us):

Granola: 2 points

A dust or powder: 1 point

Harissa: 2 points

Wasabi: 3 points

Unusual terms or words: compressed (as in tomatoes), snow (as in fennel), parmesan collar, a blanket (made of jellied beetroot), hogget (older lamb) Yuzu (set to be big for 2025) and Gochujang (a Korean red chilli paste).

Greg must have used the term "cookery" rather than just plain cooking, a million times, and it irrittated me every time he said it. Both presenters need to be reminded that they don't need to use the word "really" multiple times when describing the dishes or the way they've been cooked, because it's really, really unneccesary! Like James Martin and his use of the word "amazing", it just irritates and shows a lack of vocabulary! 

Sophie and I were amazed at Chris in particular, who was a returning contestant and managed to get to the final three. Some of his cooking belonged in the realms of fantasy and, at times, we had no idea what he was on about!

We might watch "Celebrity" Masterchef this year. As we don't know most of contestants, it'll be like watching the normal contestants all over again!

A very indulgent day in London!

Sophie and I had a little lie-in this morning as we'd booked train tickets to leave at about 10am. I took a different route to get to the station,but was forced to make a wide circuit around Northampton as the road I wanted was closed! There are so many road closures at the moment!

We still made it to the station in time, and enjoyed a coffee and pastry in the café before going down to the platform. The train was delayed slightly, but when it came in, we could see plenty of seats so we were able to relax for the hour's journey to Euston.

We decided to take a black cab to Marylebone High Street, and a kindly taxi driver picked us up as he was dropping off another customer. The taxi rank has moved elsewhere outside Euston, so it was great he saw us! He never stopped talking the whole way, and he was hilarious!

Unfortunately, the weather today has been abysmal with almost non-stop rain and heavy grey skies. We decided to have a coffee first in 31 Below and took a seat next to two loud men who name dropped like mad all the time we were there. Rishi Sunak featured a lot and they obviously worked in Government... maybe for the Labour Party, judging by their conversation, which we couldn't help overhearing!

We enjoyed our coffee, smoothie and sourdough toast and then popped across the road to Daunt Books where I encouraged Sophie to buy Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, a novel I thoroughly enjoyed (and which was made into a television drama). We had a great look around and then crossed back over the road to Bayley and Sage where we treated ourselves to a wedge of Schlossburger cheese, walnut saucisson, a box of parmesan biscuits and a bar of beautifully fragranced soap. Both of us could have spent a fortune in there!

Rounds of Comte cheese

After a quick look in one of the high street charity shops, where Sophie bought earrings, we made our way to Harley Street for Sophie's appointment at 12.30pm. It rained the whole way there, and I felt like a bedraggled rat when we arrived! Sophie had a couple of shots of Botox, and then Dr Bawa recommended another visit in three months.

We were back out again just before 1pm, so we had a glass of wine in the lovely old Victorian pub, Inn 1888, just off the High Street. We ordered two small glasses of Pinot Noir and sat in a quiet corner for a chat and for Sophie to listen to a voice note from Vikesh who'd had an appointment at the hospital.

It didn't take us long to walk to Le Relais de Venise: L'Entrecote and we didn't have to queue to get a table. As before, we were squished up close to the tables on either side and heard more conversations going on! We really couldn't help eavesdropping!

The food, as ever, was fantastic. We enjoyed a delicious green salad with a walnut dressing, two helpings of soft as-butter steak with crispy French fries, and puds. A praline ice cream and cream for me, and creme brulée for Sophie. With a bottle of the house red and a bottle of fizzy water, the bill came to just under £120 with service included. It's worth it though! The women serving never stopped, and the restaurant was packed to the gunnels, even on a Wednesday lunchtime. It's amazing to think that we had all chosen the restaurant and were prepared to eat the same thing! Not a vegetarian in sight!

After we'd eaten (we left hastily because of a screaming toddler) we took an Uber to Soho where we'd booked a table for cocktails. On the way, we passed Nessa restaurant which was featured on Masterchef! Our driver was not the best we'd ever had and he dropped us off a fair walk from the bar! That's not really the idea!

We were early for our booking, but we were able to take a small table in the corner of the tiny bar and watch the action! Most people were sitting with a small glass of red liquid in front of them, and everyone had a complimentary glass of water as well. There were only about 15 people in the bar and it wasn't how I imagined at all. Bar Termini is famous for the house Negronis and there were four to choose from: Classico, Robusto, Rosado and Superiore. However, we decided to try two of their other cocktails first, Death in Venice for me, and Marsala Martini for Sophie. What I liked the most about the bar was that there wasn't any pesky ice in the drinks, diluting the gorgeous flavours!

There was an intimate, cosy atmosphere and it felt like being in a private members' club. People arrived and were squeezed into the tables and everyone ordered the same thing, except a man sitting at the bar who chose an elaborate, layered coffee.

When our first drinks were finished we moved on to the Negronis and had three! The barman filled our glasses up so full that we had to bend down to sip them!

As you can see, from the photos, we had a good time, and I was pleased we'd eaten beforehand and all the alcohol was soaked up by the steak and chips!

We stayed for our allotted time, paid the bill (I won't say how much it was!) and I treated us to a house bottle of Negroni to take home. We walked up to the main thoroughfare and hailed a cab to take us back to the station.

Luckily, we were able to get a train leaving at 5.30pm and we had to do more squeezing in to get a seat opposite each other. It was extremely cosy! We arrived back at Northampton, where Keith was waiting for us, and sloshed our way home.

We hadn't seen Masterchef yesterday, so we caught up with the penultimate episode and then settled down to watch the final. I had predicted either Brin or Chris would win, and Brin took the title after cooking a fabulous dish. Chris's food was totally off-the-wall weird and I do wonder how different this competition will get in the future, with ingredients and terms we've never heard of!

Peugeot man strikes again!

The weather today has been wet and grey, and my commute to work via Moulton was not pleasant. Even though I'd left earlier than usual, I managed to encounter Peugeot Man, who drives at an average speed of 20 miles an hour. I followed him all the way to Moulton and through the village, so I was not happy!

It was Sara's first day back at work after being off and she came into a litany of staff woe, with one of the weekend staff leaving almost immediately. It was bedlam first thing! Kathy came in to help with some football queries we had and luckily, I was able to come off the phones and concentrate on admin work. We had numerous people in the office today so it was noisy and busy!

It rained all the way home and the road was still closed so I should imagine that's how it will stay until it re-opens on the 31st of May. Sophie and I booked our train tickets to London for tomorrow and we were both dismayed at how expensive they were travelling from Wellingborough. We opted in the end for a journey from Northampton to Euston and saved a great deal!

Traffic madness!

Unfortunately, I was answering the phone for most of today as Kathy had to take her husband to see his GP, who then sent him to the hospital. Jo was back from her holiday, so it was just the two of us manning the phones. I tried to do as many emails as I could but asked Jo if she could help me with some of the cancellation requests.

I was hugely relieved when it was 4pm and we could head home. To make my commute even worse than it already is, the road into Holcot from the A43 has been closed while they install a traffic calming system. I had no choice but to carry on along the A43 and turn left at the notorious, and very dangerous, Hannington crossroads, and I was amazed to see a long line of cars queuing from the village to turn onto the main road. Putting the diversion this way is total madness!

When Sophie told me she was leaving I hoped that the road would be open as I thought it would be open overnight, but this wasn't the case and the poor thing went down to Holcot to find the road firmly closed and other cars turning around as well.

She was in dire need of a drink when she got home, after a stressful first day back at work. She had faced multiple emails as well and it was great to sit and relax in the kitchen and all chat about our days.

We had a simple meal of fishcakes for dinner and then caught up with Masterchef. The four remaining contestants were in Singapore and some of the terms and ingredients they were using were mind-boggling! I had never heard of most of them, although one contestant did say he didn't think you could get kafir lime leaves in the UK... wrong! You certainly can!

Off to the tip we go!

The weather forecast was correct and we awoke to blue skies and sunshine. Hooray! We waited until about 10am to venture out into the garden, and Keith and I carried all the wood through from the gravel garden into the garage. The old "love seat" was rotten in places, very green and covered with nails, so we had to be careful!

Keith manoeuvred my car up the driveway and we loaded the wood into the boot. I'd put down some plastic sheeting to protect the carpet from the old wood. Vince and his family were also messing about with cars, so they were literally parked everywhere!

We took the load to the tip and managed to park right next to the wood skip to throw it all in. We returned home and this time Keith cut up a load of prunings from the two trees in the garden. Why we'd kept them, I'll never know!

While he was cutting them up I mowed some of the lawn and then helped him put the branches into the car along with some other rubbish that needed to be recycled. We drove back to the tip, and this time headed for the garden skip, which was the most popular, as people took advantage of the fine weather to get their gardens into shape.

While we were visiting the tip, Sophie had built a lovely little path across the gravel with bricks so the cats didn't have to walk on the stones, which they hate. It looked lovely! She was very pleased with herself and used up some bricks that had been lying around for ages.

I finished mowing the lawn and pottered about trimming the edges and clearing out rubbish behind the garage, so the garden bin could live there again. I also placed three patio slabs by the conservatory so we could put our garden chairs on them to sit and enjoy a cup of tea or a drink. Everything looked so much neater! We now just have to do a bit more weeding in the gravel garden and buy a table and chairs to put down at the end.

It was heaven to sit and have a cup of tea with Sophie and admire our hard work. Back inside, Sophie had made a Key Lime pie with a meringue topping for tonight's dessert. It looked gorgeous! She then cut my hair and painted my toenails and fingernails. What bliss to lie and relax and be pampered!

After a hot shower, it was time to snooze on the bed and relax. I felt tired but it was a nice feeling to know that we'd achieved some long-overdue jobs!

Dinner tonight was a simple cold meats, salad and new potatoes meal and we ate much earlier than usual as we were going to have dessert. We watched Race Across the World and sampled Soph's lovely pud!

A relaxed Saturday

I was up at about 7am this morning and decided to watch a film I'd recorded some time ago called The Two Faces of January starring Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen. It was set in Greece and Turkey and kept me entertained for the first couple of hours of the weekend.

The weather outside was a bit iffy, so we decided to leave the garden until tomorrow. It's supposed to be warm and sunny all day so perfect for taming the long grass and taking the unwanted bench seat to the tip!

Sophie and I did Wordle Off over coffee, and then we busied ourselves in the kitchen preparing a bolognese sauce for tonight's dinner and making banana and walnut muffins. Sophie did virtually everything herself, and the muffins smelt delicious cooking in the oven! I do love using up old bananas and making them into something delicious, whether it's muffins, porridge or even banana bread. I find it strange I love bananas when they're cooked but can't stand them raw!

It was lovely to pootle about, catch up with some jobs and take today at a lovely, slow pace. Vikesh came over at about 2pm to see Sophie, and we played Scrabble sitting at the island in the kitchen with a sneaky glass of wine and a muffin. He beat both of us and after one game I went to have a shower and change.

Vikesh wouldn't stay for dinner as his Mum was cooking for him, so we put the bolognese sauce on to heat up slowly while we relaxed before dinner. With pasta twists instead of spaghetti, and served with garlic bread, the meal was lovely!

After dinner, we opted to watch the last three episodes of Baby Reindeer on Netflix. I found it quite sad, to be honest, and wondered whether it was really a good idea for the writer to bare his soul like that!

Hooray! It's Friday!

Sophie initially felt she had to return to work at the end of the week, but decided to take today off. She was feeling better and had more energy but thought it wise to shake off this infection completely.

I had a busy shift at work. I cleared all the emails, added new films to the system, and made more progress with the moan report. Time flew by! After work, I had to go to the library in Brixworth to send off an unwanted work item. I asked Sophie if she wanted to come with me for a little break from the house, and she readily agreed. I collected her, and we drove over.

The countryside, after all the recent rain, looked beautiful with everything in bloom. Some fields were yellow with rapeseed, and cow parsley was flourishing in the hedgerows. It truly is a lovely time of year.

We sent off the parcel and then stopped at the ultra-busy Co-op to buy ice cream. I have no idea why the shop moved premises in the village, as the car parking is horrendous. Most people choose to dump their cars on the busy road outside the shop, making pulling out dangerous.

We bought some ice creams and a tub of Ben & Jerry's Fish Food and headed home. Sophie was looking forward to a glass of wine before dinner and some nibbles. We watched the last episode of our latest Come Dine With Me and then switched to Netflix for a riveting documentary about the online dating site, Ashley Madison, which had been hacked in 2015. As the people using the site were married and for people looking for extra-marital affairs, you can imagine the consequences! Sadly, the release of confidential information even led to suicides, but the dating site is still in business! Unbelievable!

We had a cooked roast chicken for dinner with roasted vegetables and savoury rice for dinner and then relaxed with the remainder of the episodes. The cats drifted in and out; they love the conservatory doors being open so they can come and go!

Money matters

I was back at work at 8am, facing just 70 emails today! I managed to work my way through them, and by 2pm, I had answered most of them, thank goodness!

I needed to go over to see my parents this afternoon as we'd received a letter about my Dad's pension, and they wouldn't talk to me without him being present. Sophie very kindly came with me, and we called his pension company. They naturally wanted to ask him some security questions, which was hard work, and in the end, both Sophie and I had to prompt him, which defeated the object. It was frustrating and sad that he found it so difficult as, in the past, he was really on top of his money matters. 

We stayed for a while and then sloshed home through the sodden countryside. We've had considerable rain today, and the roads were starting to flood.

Back home, Sophie and I relaxed while Keith prepared a delicious beef curry for dinner. It smelt so good while he was cooking it!

Pootling about...

It was great to have a little lie-in this morning and look forward to a day off. Sophie still didn't feel any better, so I advised her to take it easy. We all felt that she should take the week off to fully recover from what has been a nasty infection. I did wonder whether she has covid as there's a new variant doing the rounds, and we've become a bit complacent.

I spent the day pootling about, doing housework and catching up with jobs. We had the normal Wednesday chores to do but it was a relaxed day, and I managed to get some washing out on the line to dry. There was talk of going out in the afternoon to wash Sophie's car but in the end we decided not to! Sophie had a nap, which I think was much-needed!

In the afternoon it clouded over, but when Keith barbecued in the evening, it was dry, so that was a bonus! We enjoyed burgers and sausages but I have to confess I'm getting a little fed up of barbecues already, and it's not technically the summer yet!

We came up with a list of meals until Sunday, but it's still a chore trying to decide what to have every evening. If ever I won the lottery and was rich, I'd hire a private chef to take care of the cooking!

Mrs Forgetful!

I went back to work this morning, leaving Sophie in bed, and managed to forget my phone! I had to call Keith and ask him to bring it in, so not a great start to the day! The weather was horrible, with torrential rain and heavy grey skies, which really matched my mood!

There were 105 emails waiting for me to deal with, so that was a shock! I'd been in on Saturday so I'd only been away two days! I set to, and because Kathy and Shirley had covered Jo's annual leave, I was able to get them all answered by the time I left at 4pm.

When I got home, Sophie was still in bed and feeling dreadful. Her stomach hurt and I think the antibiotics were affecting her in other ways... the less said, the better! Gomey was curled up with her and had kept her company all day, bless him. 

Keith was going to the football this evening and we'd planned Jerk Chicken Pasta for dinner, but she asked if we could just have something simple, like fish fingers. She must have been ill to turn down one of her favourite meals!

I encouraged her to have a shower and that made her feel better. Keith went out for the third time today to have his Spring Covid booster at the surgery. He'd already been for a haircut and had been to the surgery to get his blood test results after complaining of a bit of stomach pain last month. Luckily, his results were fine, so that was a relief. 

Vikesh came over at 6.30pm and brought Sophie Teriyaki chicken and an air purifier! He sat with us for the evening and I fulfilled Sophie's wish for dinner - a fish finger sandwich!  We sat and watched old episodes of Come Dine With Me which were hilarious with some real characters taking part.

Halfway through the evening, Keith called me from the football saying he was coming home early and to put his chicken in the oven. He was watching two teams play in a cup match, but as neither of them were Sileby, I think he'd lost interest a bit!

Feeling poorly...

Unfortunately, Sophie didn't feel well in the night, and both of us were sitting downstairs at midnight. She felt wheezy and said it hurt to lie down as her chest felt so congested. I said we would call the surgery first thing in the morning and try and get a GP appointment. I was perplexed as to why she was feeling like this again after a trip away. The exact same thing happened after she returned from Istanbul in November of last year.

She came to bed with me and we had a somewhat disturbed night. I texted Sheila at 7.30am to ask if I could work 10am until 4pm, but after Sophie had called the surgery and been given an appointment at 2pm, I decided to use a day's annual leave and stay at home with my daughter.

I tackled some housework and Sophie tried to doze on the sofa but she felt wheezy. Keith did our shopping and brought back some Covonia Night Time which she hoped would knock her out in the evening! It's always worked for me!

Sophie didn't feel like eating much and just wanted to curl up and doze, so I knew she wasn't feeling right. At 2pm we headed over to the surgery and Sophie saw the nurse practitioner who said she had a chest infection and prescribed antibiotics. They were different to the ones she took back in November last year and we hoped they would start working soon.

For the rest of the day, we relaxed and both of us tried to have a nap as we felt so tired. We'd planned a roast chicken for dinner, with salad and new potatoes, but none of us felt like it all, so we ate cold meats, salad and crusty bread.

Sophie's homecoming certainly wasn't how I'd imagined it would be!

Catching up with jobs!

Although I didn't go to sleep until about 2am this morning, I was up at 8am and facing a day of laundry, which I love doing. Sophie surfaced at about 9am and she distributed presents to us - beautiful mugs and bowls, an egg cup and two wall tiles.

She told us more about the holiday and how she hated seeing the cats in such a poor state and treated almost as if they were vermin. I think she expected Marrakesh to be very similar to Istanbul, but it wasn't.

While I tackled her laundry she unpacked and we kept busy for most of the day. She was worried about her cold and said that her chest felt tight again, which was a worry. We debated about whether to have beef stroganoff for dinner this evening, as Sophie didn't feel up to cooking it, but I said I would do a lot, and Keith had prepared the meat and vegetables.

I made meringue for the Pavlova and pootled about in the afternoon, doing housework and hanging out all the washing to dry outside. I was so glad it was a beautiful, sunny day with a gorgeous warm breeze. Perfect for doing laundry!

We sat in the kitchen and chatted in the late afternoon, and at 5pm settled down to watch The Eurovision Song Contest. I opened a bottle of Champagne and we saw the first ten or so songs. I liked most of them but some were seriously weird, including Ireland's entry!

Halfway through, we cooked dinner and opened a bottle of Vacqueyras to accompany the meal. Once we'd eaten, cleared away and stacked the dishwasher, it was into the living room for the rest of the contest. As we'd recorded the programme, we were able to whizz through the boring bits and we finished watching at about 10pm. We were disappointed that the UK didn't receive one single public vote but we had already learnt that Switzerland had won, so it didn't come as a surprise! Maybe, next year, we'll try and go and see it live!

Missing a spectacle!

I woke up to the news that last night the Northern Lights were clearly visible - and spectacular - all over the UK. Neighbours had posted fantastic photos of the sky above us lit up with gorgeous colours. I, of course, had missed them... they had been seen at about 11.30pm, well after my bedtime! There was some hope they would appear again over the weekend so tonight, I'll be glued to the window!

Keith dropped me off at work and I had to change desks today due to some technical issue with our computers. Sheila was in and talking Sue through the process so at least we had some help! It was a quiet shift and I managed to get all the emails sorted and the Moan report started!

At 2pm, Keith and I returned home and I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, doing very little. Yesterday, we had changed Sophie's bedding and I'd put it all back so that was one job done. I did hoover and tidy up and we ordered a Chinese takeaway as a treat. We had originally talked about going out for a meal, but it was nicer to stay at home, have a drink and order something to eat.

The meal was delivered far quicker than we imagined, so we were all finished by 7.30pm. We chose a film to watch called In The Land of Saints and Sinners, starring Liam Neeson, and then we caught the end of Casino Royale.

Sophie still felt poorly and texted me to say they'd landed at Heathrow at about 10pm. At about 11pm I went out into the garden to check the sky, but saw nothing apart from some hazy stars. There must have been a Eurovision party going on somewhere and I heard some cheering! We had recorded the festival to watch tomorrow.

Sophie arrived home just after midnight, and before bed, we had a long chat about the holiday. She was glad to be home and hadn't enjoyed the holiday as much as she'd anticipated. The constant hassling whenever they left their hotel, and the neglected cats, were too much for her and she said she doubted whether she'd ever feel like going back to Africa again. She was stuffed up and was grateful to be back in her own bed!

 

A small feeling of relief!

Today has been a busy shift at work and catching up with everything that needed to be done, including making sure the swim camps and holiday activities were on the system ready for the May half-term. It felt great when they were all on!

After work, I drove over to Kettering, and within minutes, Mum and Dad were back on Netflix, much to their relief! I was also relieved and hoped that they could work out the remote control to switch back and forth between the streaming channel and normal television!

I dashed home and relaxed, watching more of the film Little Buddha while Keith was at the pub. Sophie Facetimed again and said she had a bad cold and a sore throat. This happened when she went to Istanbul last year, and she ended up with antibiotics, so that was one more worry to contend with! I'll be very glad when she's home tomorrow night!

I missed my wine buddy tonight but poured a glass for myself and prepared a very simple dinner. I felt shattered, so it was an early night. I'm working tomorrow!

I am so grumpy!

My busy, shorter, shift passed very quickly and at 2pm Keith came to pick me up in the VW and we went to collect the bedspread from the launderette.

Back home, I changed (it was warm again) and drove over to the care home to see if I could get Mum and Dad back onto Netflix. I resorted to calling their helpline, but after changing the email address and password, it still wouldn't work, so it was hugely frustrating. I had wasted an hour and still hadn't got anywhere!

I left them and walked back to the car, managing to rip off one of the straps on my sandal as I walked, so I had to drive back home barefoot... not really what I wanted! On the way, two vans on two separate occasions nearly wiped me out (one was our new neighbour who took a bend at such speed he was on two wheels), so by the time I arrived I was gibbering with annoyance and frustration. What made things worse was the arrival of the invoice from the council with the bill for my Mum's care home contribution. She had had to pay from last June, and we'd only just received the invoice for almost £8000. I dreaded to think how much my Dad's would be as he has to pay more!

I was in such a bad mood that nothing made me feel better. I Facetimed Sophie and even speaking to her didn't bring a smile to my face. As soon as she ended the call, I phoned Netflix again and this time, with another email address and password, I managed to sort it out. I'll go straight from work tomorrow and get them back onto the channel so they can enjoy it over the weekend.

Keith made me a G&T but nothing put me in a good mood! Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

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!

More phone calls

Work was stressful today because I had to help out with the phone calls all day, and try and tackle the emails. Luckily, I had managed to clear a lot yesterday, but I was still very busy and had a quick chat with Sara to ask for help with the orders. She returned today and was busy as well. We need more staff!

It was a huge relief to head home at 4pm, and I Facetimed Sophie, who had arrived in Marrakesh just after lunchtime. She sent me photos of her beautiful hotel - a Riad with only ten rooms - and we had a great chat. She was missing the cats, and her eyes filled up when she saw Mooney curled up on the sofa!

Keith went to a cup match at Sileby tonight, so I had a couple of hours on my own. I ate the leftover cottage pie from last night, drank the rest of the bottle of red, and watched some old sitcoms. Both cats were nowhere to be seen, so I didn't even have a cuddle!

Keith arrived home at about 10pm and sat with me with a cup of tea. I am so looking forward to a day off tomorrow!

A short shift

I began my shift at 9 am today, and since it's a Bank Holiday, we finished at 2 pm, making it a shorter day than normal. Denise and I handled 134 calls together, with the majority enquiring about our swimming session times and whether lessons were on today. Many of these enquiries could have been resolved by visiting our website, which made us feel like screaming at the callers by the end of our shift!

At 2pm, I sped home and had an hour with Sophie before she and Vikesh set off for Heathrow and their airport hotel for the night. I must confess, the afternoon was spent doing very little, but I did manage to finish my current book, which made for a very relaxing time.

I opened a bottle of red wine (Sophie was having a glass of red in the hotel restaurant) and Keith cooked cottage pie. We are not going to fall into the trap of "anything will do" this week and have planned our meals out properly. We might even go out for dinner!

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!

Bringing home the bargains!

We had a great, relaxed start to the day with toast and coffee for breakfast while watching Saturday Morning Kitchen. The sun was shining outside, and it felt noticeably warmer than of late. Has spring finally arrived?

We had a table booked at Casa Nostra today, but Sophie moved the booking to 2pm from 12.30pm, as we had enjoyed a late breakfast and wanted to be properly hungry for our lunch! We left home at midday and made our way to Market Harborough, parking easily in the car park, where a group of people were gathered, dressed in their wedding finery. We'd seen an old red double-decker bus waiting to take people and everyone was beautifully dressed, including the bride who was all in white!

Sophie had a list of jobs today and, first of all, she wanted to get an old watch of mine mended so she could wear it again. I'd bought it years ago at an antique fair and it had been languishing in a pot so I looked forward to seeing it on her wrist. Denham's, the jewellers, weren't interested, so we took it to Timpson's and a very helpful man asked us to leave it with him for a few minutes while he tried to replace the little pin attaching the strap to the watch face itself.

We did some shopping and when we returned he was still working on it, but within a couple of minutes, it was fixed. he only charged Sophie £5! We then had an agreeable hour of shopping in the numerous charity shops in Market Harborough and Sophie treated herself to some lovely clothes at bargain prices. She always does so well! Her bag was bulging!

There was a small market taking place and a man was belting out Rod Stewart songs. When we rounded a corner and saw him, he looked like the singer as well! He was brilliant!

At 2pm, we arrived at Casa Nostra and took our seats. We chose chicken tenders and cheesy garlic bread to start, followed by a shared chicken pizza. We drank a glass each of Chardonnay and a large bottle of sparkling water. The restaurant had emptied out, but towards 3pm another wave of people came in to eat. 

Note the bulging bag beside Sophie!

The food was excellent as always and we passed on dessert as I promised Sophie a McFlurry later on! We paid the bill and visited two more shops before we went home. Sophie bought more clothes and I found two beautiful marble-effect candlesticks that will look great in the kitchen.

I'd promised I'd take my Mum some toiletries on the way home, so we took a different route from Market Harborough to Kettering. We popped in, saw Mum and Dad and had a chat, and then visited 

Mcdonald's where we ordered two McFlurrys. As it was still such a lovely day, we sat outside in the sun to enjoy them!

Back home, we pootled about and Sophie tried on her new clothes. She had found some real treasures today! We put them on a quick wash and hung them up in the sunny conservatory to dry. Keith returned from yet another Sileby match and we all sat in the living room watching football. I'm sure he's going to get withdrawal symptoms now the season has almost ended!

It was great to have a relaxing evening and not to have to think about cooking dinner. Keith looked after himself and we nibbled on some satay chicken and cheese later on. Keith had recorded a programme about the Eurovision Song Contest which kept us amused all evening!

Dining out

Today has not been enjoyable at work. I had to answer the phone as we had a member of staff on annual leave, and my first phone call was long and complicated! Not really what I needed! In between calls, I tried to answer the emails, so I was heartily glad when it was 4pm and I could go home. Unfortunately, I'm back in on Bank Holiday Monday answering calls, and we're one short on Tuesday as well...

Sophie and I went out this evening with Lynda and Andrea to The Royal Oak in Cogenhoe for a meal. We called for Lynda to give her a lift and admired her new kitchen. After seeing the house, we splashed our way to the pub (it had been pouring all day) where we met Andrea in the bar. The pub was busy with drinkers and we were shown through to the quiet dining room with our drinks.

We had heard that the pub had been taken over, and I was a little apprehensive that we were the only ones eating (another couple did come in). We had a good chat and a look at the menu, ordering breaded mushrooms (Sophie and I) and king prawns (Lynda and Andrea). When the hesitant waitress came to take our order, she said that the prawns might be off, and when she returned after enquiring, they were. Lynda and Andrea then ordered the halloumi starter, but this was not available either! We all ended up with breaded mushrooms with a garlic dip which was the strongest I've ever tasted!

I'd chosen the rump steak as a main course, but this wasn't available so I went for the 8oz sirloin served with chunky chips, mushrooms and peas. Both Lynda and Andrea opted for the lamb shank served with mashed potatoes and vegetables, while Sophie enjoyed vegetarian meatballs and pasta.

Our waitress was young and hesitant and obviously hadn't been told what the evening specials were. She didn't try and sell us bottled water, sides or sauces and just plonked our second bottle of wine on the table without any ceremony. I'm glad it was a screw top and not a cork!

We managed to find room for puds - chocolate layer cake for Sophie and me, cheesecake for Lynda and sticky toffee pudding for Andrea. The food had been acceptable, the portions reasonable, but the poor waitress needed some training! The bill came to £193. so not cheap! It had been a great evening and lovely to catch up with friends.

We took Lynda home and splashed through the sodden roads again. I was looking forward to a lie-in tomorrow morning!

I lose my blob...

I had a busy shift at work today - 70 emails were waiting for me to sort out, so the time flew by. At 2pm. I set out to collect Mum from the care home to take her to her nail appointment. I reached the A43 and saw a long line of stationary traffic in the distance...

I waited a little while, but the vehicles up ahead were moving slowly, so I made the decision to turn around and take the country road through the villages, eventually joining the A43 again at Mawlsey. I was late picking Mum up and hoped she'd be waiting for me in reception.

She wasn't. I had to go to the room where she was just getting up from the sofa. I lost my temper because I'd asked her to meet me in reception when she'd called yesterday, and it helps so much if she's ready to go. I hustled her back downstairs and out to the car,  but I knew we were going to be late, so I messaged Natalia to let her know.

Back on the A43, I drove like a maniac and we were only, in the end, two minutes late. On the way, though, I'd said I was getting a little fed up with being treated like a skivvy and said that Dad only sees me as someone to get him things. It seems like whenever I walk into their room, he asks for something, and there are never any questions about how we all are, and how the children are. I'm not proud of my outburst, but I was stressed because of the traffic and because on a Thursday afternoon, I'd really rather be doing something else than driving on the hectic A43 between Northampton and Kettering...three times!

So, it wasn't the most pleasant of journeys, but at least I could relax while Mum was having her nails seen to. I dropped her back off at about 4.30pm and gave her the bag of toiletries that I'd bought for them both yesterday. We'd made up on the way home, but things were still a little tense!

Back home, I pootled about and Sophie made us a delicious paella for dinner, enjoyed with a bottle of the Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon. A good end to a somewhat stressful day!

Getting things done!

I had an optician's appointment at 11am today, so after a little lie-in and a shower, we set off for the Weston Favell Centre, the first time we'd been in ages.

I managed a quick coffee before my appointment, and Keith went off to find a secondhand book to read while he waited. My appointment was done in half an hour and I was wearing varifocal lenses, allowing me to see long distances and read simultaneously! They were great!

Keith and I popped to Tesco to buy toiletries for Mum and Dad, Factor 50 sunscreen for Sophie (it's going to be hot in Marrakesh) and something for our lunch. We met Jeanette in Tesco, who used to work for us when we had the soft play business, so we chatted for a while. I couldn't believe we hadn't seen her since covid!

Back home, we had lunch and then I spent the afternoon busying myself with jobs that needed doing. I wrote a list and managed to tick them all off!

Dinner this evening was beef in a black bean sauce with rice, expertly cooked by Sophie, which was delicious with more than enough left for lunch tomorrow!