A relaxed lunch

We set the alarm for 7.30am this morning but I was awake and sitting downstairs with a coffee at 6am. The cats went straight out into the dark morning, and I was glad that there was nothing nasty lurking like there was yesterday when Mooney had brought in a baby rat. I don't think he had managed to catch and kill it within a few minutes, so I had assumed it was already dead, a little worrying in case it had been poisoned.

Over a coffee, I booked the Le Troubadour Hotel in Rocamadour for next June, when we drive to Spain. I looked at driving straight there from Calais but it was almost nine hours, so we'll probably stop in the Loire again. France is such a big country!

Sophie took me to work and I had a busy shift with Shirley. Some of the calls I took were quite complicated, and I signed up two new members, as well as dealing with the emails and sorting out the box office returns.

At 2pm, Sophie came to get me and we drove to Olney for lunch. We decided to eat at The Courtyard Brasserie and I was surprised at how good value the food was. They were offering steak and chips for £13! We chose a Caesar salad and fish finger ciabatta with a small glass of wine apiece and settled back to enjoy our late lunch. The restaurant had emptied out with only a few people still lingering, including a trio of ladies opposite who were having a great time chatting and laughing.

We chatted about Halloween and decided we'd give out sweets this year to any children who came trick or treating. Sophie also wanted to make spooky cocktails so that will be something to look forward to next week!

Outside, it had started to rain so we asked for a slice of apple pie each, served with custard, and stayed for another half an hour until it stopped. By now we were the only customers, and it was lovely and cosy.

After paying the bill, we mooched about and visited a couple of charity shops, but it was now almost 4.30pm and the shops were closing. Sophie and I bought a couple of books and returned to the car for the drive home.

Autumn was showing her most beautiful colours on the way home and it was great to see the trees and bushes displaying reds and oranges. We arrived home and spent the rest of the evening curled up in the living room reading while Keith watched football.

We watched the Halloween Strictly Come Dancing, the only one I will watch, and then switched over to BBC2 to see their hour-long "Sad Songs" programme. The clocks went forward this evening so we stayed up a bit later and watched a recorded show with The Smiths, and then YouTube for The Psychedelic Furs and The Blue Nile (all my era of the 1980s!). I have signed up to get news about The Psychedelic Furs tours as tonight they were playing in Denver, Colorado! I'd love to see them in the UK!