Lazy Sunday!

Today has been lazy, with a capital L and I didn't care one bit! Everyone needs a lazy Sunday now and again!

Having said, that, Sophie and I did go for a walk this morning and went around "our" field, across the sheep field and into the village. We were lucky with the weather, and managed to get around before it rained!

Wildflowers growing along the verge

Our field

Lovely mowed tracks to walk on

We had booked a table for lunch at the pub in the village, and arrived at about 1 pm, all of us feeling hungry and ready for something to eat!

Sophie and I had starters of chicken strips and calamari, followed by roast chicken, and its accompaniments, while Keith chose beef. We enjoyed a bottle of Chenin Blanc with our meal and passed on dessert as we were stuffed. Keith said the beef was delicious but he was a little disappointed with the roast potatoes which were definitely not up to my standards!

Our "new" neighbours (Sarah and Liam's house) came in and Pete (who we call Baldie Bill) said hello. He seems quite pleasant, but I am still not a fan of his partner! 

We returned home and continued the lazy theme, lying on the bed and watching Come Dine With Me. Mooney came upstairs, scoffed a cat yoghurt, but disappeared back outside! Hmmm! 

As we had eaten at lunchtime, the rest of the evening was spent doing very little. Keith and I started watching a film about the Kray twins called Legend, but it wasn't to my taste, and was violent and sweary! I'll leave it to him to watch when he does the ironing!

Little treasures

We had a relaxed start to the last weekend of summer, pootling about, drinking coffee, eating toast, and doing Wordle. Keith prepared Pan Haggerty (corned beef, potatoes, and onions) for tonight's dinner and made himself a Stilton and celery soup. The kitchen took on a feety smell, so we lit a couple of incense sticks.

After leftover pizza and quiche, Sophie and I drove to Weedon Bec, taking the country route via Brixworth, Spratton, Ravensthorpe, and Long Buckby. The earlier blue sky gave way to menacing grey clouds, and I felt sorry for my colleague Angela, whose son was getting married this afternoon. 

At Weedon Bec, we had a cup of tea and a slice of gorgeous chocolate cake before having a good look at the books. There were so many that they had been stacked on the floor and it was all a bit overwhelming!

Neither of us bought anything, and we went downstairs to the similarly crammed antique emporium where I spotted a Chinese-style vase that took my fancy. I have this theory that hidden away in the mass of tat is something valuable, and although I didn't for one minute think I had stumbled upon a rare piece of pottery, I quite liked it, and it didn't have "Made in China" stamped on it!

It didn't have a price tag on it, so I went over to the cash desk and asked how much. The woman on the till asked me where I had taken it from, and I realised that each section is run by a different person. I initially told the woman the wrong section, so she called the wrong person! When she finally located the right dealer, the price was £28, so I bought it. While I was standing there, the world and his wife had arrived to pay for their purchases, and I managed to get in everyone's way!

We then went next door to the vintage emporium, and Sophie found a pair of Levi's for £25 and a tee-shirt, so she had success as well! What a bargain the jeans were! I spotted a small oil painting, in the style of Bob Ross, by an A.Dakin for £30. I Googled the name and discovered that, if it was the same man, he was American, and the painting did look like a log cabin in the mountains. Maybe next time, if it's still there, I'll buy it.

We returned home and relaxed until it was time for a game of Scrabble. Keith watched Newcastle play Leeds, and there was a lot of swearing and shouting at the television screen. I thrashed Sophie tonight, both at Scrabble and at cards, so she was grumpy! It's not often I do that!

Tonight's dinner was enjoyable and perfect for the Autumnal feel that was in the air today. The leaves seem to have been falling much earlier than usual, probably due to the drought conditions. After dinner, the rain started and came down heavily, along with a strong wind.

We watched a disturbing documentary about the 7/7 bombings in July 2005, and I said I remembered where I was when the news came through. I was standing at our reception desk in our soft play business with Polly when she said there'd been a terrorist attack in London. Maybe this wasn't the best thing to watch when we're off to London next Thursday! Now I know why I hate travelling on the London Underground!

Friday at last!

Sophie texted me at work from the gym this morning to say she was going to call in sick at work, as she had a wound on her thigh that was causing her a lot of pain. She thinks the wax she had last week had caused the area to become sensitive and the skin was raw and inflamed. She only had tight trousers to wear, so she returned home.

I had a busy day at work, dealing with all the emails, putting more films onto the system (up until October!) and finishing the moan report. Next week, I will have to make a start on the August report! 

At 4pm, I drove home and Sophie joined me downstairs. She had been resting all day and putting Germolene cream onto the sore area of her leg. She applied a large plaster and said it felt a lot better. We had an early start on Wine Night and opened a bottle of Austrian wine to drink with the final of Destination X, which was brilliant. The amazing thing was that the clues to the final destination had been displayed right at the start of the programme! 

Keith wasn't at the pub this evening but he helped with our very simple supper of pizza, salad, quiche and spicy wedges. 

After dinner, as we were sitting relaxing, we heard a volley of loud bangs. A neighbour was celebrating his daughter's birthday and had warned us on our Facebook page that he would be letting off fireworks this evening. The cacophony made Sophie jump up and try and get the cats in. Eventually, she spotted Mooney running down the road crying, so he was scooped up and brought inside. We later managed to get Gomez in as well, which was great. I sometimes remember how we used to let Monty and Archie out all night, something we would never do with our two now!

I'm forgotten!

Sophie didn't go to the gym this morning, and we sat with a coffee and watched most of Destination X. It's the final tonight and I have to say we've thoroughly enjoyed this show and loved Rob Brydon's part in it. I think he's so funny. We both hope there'll be a second series!

My first hour at work was spent moving two classes at one of our centres, from one side of the sports hall to another. This should have been done at least a week ago, as bookings had opened and we were lucky that nobody had reserved the courts for badminton! It sounds a simple job, but it wasn't and Sheila had to help me. I am always terrified I'm going to wipe out bookings for the rest of the year as the system is quite sensitive!

After this job, I had to write a difficult email to a customer but get Georgie, who is our Operations Director, to check it first. It's at times like this that I need the office to be quiet so I can concentrate, and luckily I managed to write the email before the phone lines opened!

At 2pm, I went out to the car park to meet Keith, but he was nowhere to be seen. Thinking he had become caught up in traffic, I waited a while before calling him. When he answered, he sounded surprised... he'd forgotten me and thought I had driven today! In that case, how did he get home from Tesco?

I had no choice but to go back to the office and confess that I'd been forgotten! It meant I was late getting home, and late going over to see Mum and Dad. We sat and chatted for a while and then I returned home to spend the rest of the afternoon doing the usual jobs.

When Sophie arrived home, we watched the last twenty minutes of Destination X and bade farewell to London cabbie, Daren. We both thought it was a miracle he had survived so long, bless him!

Sophie cooked paella for dinner, using the spices we'd bought in L'Escala, and the meal was delicious. Even Keith agreed and it's one of his least favourite dishes! Tonight, on Masterchef, we saw the first ever chocolate fondant of the series! It oozed beautifully!

We watched the first half of Destination X, but we've left the rest to watch tomorrow with a glass of wine!

Seeing double!

I was back in at work this morning and helping Sheila again with the childcare payments. It soon became clear, though, that the bank statements hadn't been sent over as we wanted, so I could match the payments that were due. Luckily, an hour was taken up with talking to one of our centre managers about an email I needed to send out. I said to Diane, the manager, that she reminded me strongly of our old nursery manager, Jean, in terms of her hair, nails, figure and accent. They were like two peas from the same pod!

I toiled away, sent out some emails about payments and left at 2pm. I'm not doing this job for a couple of weeks so hopefully, when I return to it, there'll be more to do! We are now in the last week of the school holidays (hooray!) so things will naturally wind down anyway.

Back home, I caught up with a lot of jobs and pootled about doing housework. It was great to just come home and not have to go anywhere else for a change!

Keith and I played cards before dinner, a very simple, but delicious chicken traybake. There was enough leftover vegetables to add to the paella we're planning to have tomorrow.

After dinner, it was another batch of newbies on Masterchef and more terms to add to our list!

An English duo

Ugh! It was hard waking up this morning at 6am, but at least it's a shorter week! Sophie went to the gym, I revived with a coffee, and Keith dropped me off at work.

I hadn't a clue what day it was today, but when Jo and Angela walked in, that grounded me. I had completed a Cyber Security training course before they came in, to take advantage of the peace and quiet!

The day continued to be busy, and I helped out with calls over lunch. The calls ramped up in the afternoon as we informed the parents of their new swimming lesson times. We will be moving a lot of children to different lessons at other pools, ones that we will still be running next April. I fully understand the reasons behind the decision (and we were warned we'd be seeing a lot of changes in the next few months), but some of the parents were in uproar about the new timings! I am expecting a flood of emails as well!

It was bliss to escape the noisy office at 4pm and head home, where I pottered about. Keith was going to see Sileby play tonight, and Sophie and I decided to open a bottle of the Ortega Dry wine from Biddenden and have a few cubes of the cheese we bought yesterday before dinner. 

Sophie and I watched Fake or Fortune, which featured a painting by the Canadian artist, Helen McNicoll, and was first shown last year. David Taylor had bought the painting for about £2,500, and when they established it was definitely by her, the value rose to £300,000, according to Philip Mould. A keen collector had flown over from Canada to look at it and had made an offer, which David Taylor had turned down.

Tonight was a catch-up episode, and we learnt that Taylor had decided to auction the painting at Sotheby's, where, I suppose, he was hoping to get a higher price for the artwork. We saw the painting sell for about £150,000 to a mystery buyer, and I just knew it was the collector from Canada! I said to Sophie that he probably offered less than the valuation and gambled on Taylor turning down the offer so he would be forced to sell it at the auction. The Canadian would then be able to pick it up for less than he had originally offered.

Well, I was partly right! But the Canadian collector had offered the full valuation price of £300,000 and had therefore saved himself £150,000! He acted with integrity, which I admired, but we both thought that David Taylor was greedy. We were speechless at the end! Fiona Bruce tried to turn it into a positive by saying he had still made a profit, but the programme made Taylor look like a money-grasping idiot!

The loveliest thing is that eventually, all the artwork that the Canadian had collected would be gifted to the people of Canada to enjoy. What a great man and a true philanthropist!

Sophie and I had a lovely evening, enjoying our little cubes of cheese, the delicious wine and a chicken Kyiv each, served with peas and sweetcorn. Keith came home at about 10pm, looking nicely chilled, but was disappointed that Sileby had lost. Never mind!

Our dreaming spires

Sophie and I set off for Oxford this morning at about 9:30 a.m., taking Olive as she was fully charged from yesterday. Our journey was a bit stop-start, especially on the M40, and the traffic was heavy. We parked easily at the Pear Tree Park and Ride and managed to get on a bus straight away.

As we alighted, we were shocked to see that Waterstones was no more... how on earth can that happen in a university city like Oxford? We were upset, to be honest, as we'd planned on having a good look at the books, and coffee and cake at the third-floor café.

We decided to head for The Ashmolean Museum, and on the way, discovered a lovely little bookshop selling brand new books for ridiculously low prices. Sophie bought two, and I could have bought loads, but the thought of carting them about for the rest of the day put me off!

We decided to have a coffee at a small outdoor stand right by the entrance to the museum. The woman serving was a bit ditzy, and Sophie had to repeat our order three times. She then managed to forget my flat white! I took a seat at a table shaded by an umbrella as it was now very warm in the sunshine.

We enjoyed our coffee and brownies, chatting and people watching at the same time. Once finished, we made our way straight up to the third floor to look at the paintings. It's one of my favourite things to do: wander around gazing at gorgeous art! I particularly liked Pissarro's work, and we saw one by Van Gogh, which I looked at closely. It was amazing to see his individual brush strokes on the canvas!

Pissarro

We wandered about, and Sophie saw the two paintings she loves. One was from about 1510 and showed a man holding a skull. She's fascinated by it!

We were really only interested in the art, so after seeing what we wanted, we crossed the road to The Randolph Hotel and sank into comfortable seats in the Morse Bar. After a great deal of deliberation, I chose a Detective Lewis cocktail while Sophie went for The Riddle. Both drinks were delicious, and Sophie's was spicy with chilli!

We ordered a bowl of nuts and olives to go with our drinks and settled back to chat and watch the various comings and goings of the hotel. There were some slightly odd people about today, and the bar was just starting to get busy when we left to walk to the restaurant.

Before eating, we called into the Jericho Cheese Company opposite and asked for a taste of a Cheshire cheese. It was delicious and milder than a Cheddar, which we both liked. A man and his son were already in the shop, and the father was pontificating about all the cheeses he loved, no doubt boring the poor woman who was serving! We bought a chunk of the cheese and a box of Irish crackers and fled!

So many cheeses!

No.1 Ship Street was quiet, and we took our seats right next to racks of wine bottles. I deliberated over what to have, tempted by the mussels as a main course, and grateful that the waiter had informed us which fish was served on the bone!

After mulling over the options, we both decided to choose the set lunch menu, with the chicken, bacon and tarragon terrine to start, followed by pappardelle with pine nuts, basil and confit tomato for Sophie and fish and chips for me. We made a mistake by ordering bread, but we gamely worked our way through the starters, and I gave a few mouthfuls of the terrine to Sophie. 

I was dreading a huge fish as a main course, but my fish was beautifully crispy and small, served with about six chunky chips and tartar sauce. Sophie's pasta looked like it was swimming in oil, and she didn't finish her meal. She said it was tasteless.

We'd ordered a carafe of Rosé and a bottle of sparkling water, and the service was friendly and attentive. The table opposite us was occupied by an older couple, and we both got the impression they were on an early date. The woman looked like Liza Tarbuck, and I was fascinated by their conversation, which we couldn't help overhearing!

We had room for the lemon posset dessert, and it was so sharp we made a face as we first tasted it. I'm not sure we're going to be going back to No.1 Ship Street again, as Sophie was so disappointed with the meal. On our previous visits, we've been in quieter months, so maybe the chef was a bit weary from the summer rush!

The meal had made Sophie feel a bit queasy, so we paid the bill and made our way back to the bus stop, narrowly missing one going to the Pear Tree Park and Ride! We waited for the next one, and before long, we were back in quiet, cool Olive and heading home.

We had another stop/start journey on the M40 and around Towcester, but made it home just after 5pm. I bustled about tidying the kitchen, making porridge for breakfast tomorrow and my lunch before relaxing. There was no mention of dinner for us, and Keith had had a fruitless journey trying to get fish and chips for his own lunch today. When I told him about my crispy fish, he was very jealous!

Super Sunday

Our house was a whirlwind of activity this morning as we ticked off the chores that needed to be done. Keith prepared an onion, celery, a pepper and carrots for the Bolognese sauce, Sophie cut my hair for me, and then I dusted and hoovered the living room, displacing several cobwebs that were hanging from the ceiling. I do sometimes wonder how long it would be before the house resembled Miss Haversham's mansion in Great Expectations! Not long, probably! 

We had a very early lunch of smoked cheese and meat that we'd bought in Waitrose yesterday, and served the platter with salad and wholemeal bread. Sophie and I sneaked a glass of wine in as well! Outside, the weather was gorgeous, and it's set to be hot tomorrow with temperatures in the high 20s. One last burst of heat and sun before Autumn starts next Sunday?

After lunch, I cooked the Bolognese sauce and let it simmer all afternoon, filling the kitchen with lovely aromas. Sophie and I disappeared upstairs and both of us applied a colour to our hair. The en-suite bathroom was awash with brown hair dye... thank goodness we don't become redheads, otherwise it would look like a murder scene! My lovely daughter then painted my toenails for me, so I felt suitably pampered! It was great to lie on the bed and watch A Place in the Sun, something we haven't done for ages!

Back downstairs, we relaxed at the kitchen island and Sophie made us a cocktail to enjoy before dinner. My daughter kept begging me to serve dinner earlier, but I just wasn't hungry. Being with the sauce for a while this afternoon had made me feel "full", something an Italian woman said on Stanley Tucci's cooking show we watched. I know just how she felt!

At about 6pm, I opened a bottle of the Italian red I'd bought in Waitrose yesterday...

It cost £10 but I wasn't that impressed, to be honest. We don't drink a lot of Italian reds, and we're not fans of Chianti. I do like the Amarone della Valpolicella, though, but that's a different category entirely!

I relented with dinner, and we ate at just past 7pm, and I had a small portion. Sophie had made delicious crusty garlic bread, and there was more than enough left for her lunches over the next few days.

After we'd eaten, Keith wanted to watch The Warriors, a cult film from 1979 about a gang trying to get back home to Coney Island. Keith realised that the advert on television for the New York Tennis Open had a reference to the film (with the woman talking into the microphone) and wanted to see it. Even though we've all seen it before, it was great to watch again!

Ladies who breakfast

Sophie and I ventured out for breakfast this morning and went to Wythmails Café in Orlingbury. Our first visit was in November 2019, and we hadn't been that impressed, so we didn't go back. To be honest, I was surprised it was still in business as the prices six years ago were high and they were competing with Beckworth and Manvell Farm in Walgrave. 

We drove over and parked in the car park of The Queen's Arms, a pub Keith and I used to frequent years ago. Both of us thought we would be turned away as there were several tables taken in the seating area outside, but there were seats free inside. It looked like a popular place!

We sat as far away as we could from a very young child in a highchair (who had let out a high-pitched scream as we waited to be seated) and had a good look at the breakfast and brunch menu. Inside, it was cheerful and bright with lovely decorations on the walls. It reminded me a little of an American diner. We chose our breakfasts: a full English for me (this is becoming a habit!) and a breakfast burger for Sophie. I decided to test their flat white coffee, and Sophie chose a pot of tea.

Sophie ordered at the counter and was told there would be a half-hour wait for the food, but that was fine. We were in no hurry, and it was lovely to sit and chat. Outside, it was sunny, but we were wary of sharing our meals with flies!

My flat white was very good and almost on a par with Costa Coffee. Our breakfasts arrived, and Sophie gasped when she saw hers!

All photos courtesy of Sophie

The photograph doesn't really do the burger justice, but let's just say it was stuffed full of delicious foods! My breakfast was delicious, and there was not a hint of grease anywhere on the plate.

We steadily worked our way through our meals, confident that we wouldn't be eating again until the evening! I sometimes think this is the best way to eat: a good, filling (and healthy) breakfast, followed by a light supper in the evening.

After we'd eaten, I had a mug of tea and Sophie enjoyed a cappuccino. The inside of the café had emptied out and I suggested we come back again, maybe in the Autumn for a cosy cup of tea and cake.

From Orlingbury, we drove to Kettering and visited the Food Bank to take a large quantity of meal replacement drinks that a colleague had donated to Sophie. The colleague knew of someone who had throat cancer and had been given the drinks as an alternative to solid food. Sophie had called the Food Bank to check if they would accept them, and they said they'd be delighted to offer them to people in need. We were able to park right outside, and when Sophie opened her boot, I gasped in surprise at how many she had. The man had sadly died, but hopefully, the drinks will benefit people who need quick and filling nutrition. We left them on a bench outside the Food Bank so people could help themselves.

Once that was done, we drove to Waitrose in Kingsthorpe to buy some nibbles for tonight and to get the ingredients for the Khao Soi dish Sophie wanted to cook. We weren't going to prepare it today, but I said we'd get the ingredients and maybe make it later in the week.

We bought nibbles for tonight, and I chose an Italian red for our tagliatelle Bolognese tomorrow. Sophie said she didn't want to hunt for the ingredients, so we made our way to the checkouts. Ahead of us was a woman who had a face like a slapped bum. Sophie reckoned she was on her way to a barbecue, had been asked to take a pasta salad and had forgotten, as she had several large pasta salad tubs on the conveyor belt, and strawberries. It looked like it was a last-minute shop, because she was dressed beautifully in a long, flowing summer dress, and her make-up and hair were perfect. Behind us was a woman with two items: bananas and a carton of milk, so Sophie said she could go in front of us. The woman looked at us as if we'd suggested a kinky threesome in the middle of the supermarket, and went ahead without a word of thanks. Is it us? Are we weird? Even the checkout man was zombie-like, not even telling us how much the bill came to and staring at us with a vacant expression on his face!

We left Waitrose and drove to Kingsley Beauty salon, where Sophie had a wax. When she came out, she told me a tale that left me traumatised for the rest of the day. I won't recount it here, but let's just say it involved a man and what is known as a Manzilian...

We drove home, deposited the nibbles in the fridge and tried to persuade Keith to come to the pub with us, rather than go and see Sileby play. He refused, but gave us his credit card to treat ourselves to a drink, so off we went. The pub was quiet and we ordered two 200ml bottles of Prosecco and sat in the window, watching cars and several tractors rumble past.

The two bottles of Prosecco came to £19, which I thought was quite expensive, so we had just the one drink and left to relax at home. After tidying the kitchen and sweeping the floor, I settled down in the living room to watch a DVD I'd bought in a charity shop a while ago, Nights in Rodanthe starring the delectable Richard Gere. I'd seen the second half of it ages ago and had been hunting for it ever since, so I was delighted to spot the DVD in the shop. However, after watching it, I knew why it had been given away... it was heartily depressing! That's an hour and a half of my life I'll never get back!

Sophie had had a much more enjoyable time in the conservatory with Moon Bums:

Keith arrived home from the football and said he was delighted they'd won 4-0 in a cup match. Sophie and I played two games of Scrabble and opened one of our Cap de Creus whites from Emporda. We each won a game, with some different words used this time!

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing, watching the end of Anoushka Shankar at the Proms and then a new crime series on Netflix set in Poland, which was very dark. Sophie and I eventually felt hungry and feasted on arancini balls and garlic bread. Delicious!

A busy Friday

I had a manic morning at work, taking children off one of our playschemes because it was cancelled, and putting them on another. It meant calling the parents to let them know, but they didn't care as long as the children were still being looked after, so they could go to work! 

I also put on our children's activities right up until March next year. Looking at our calendar from the 1st of April 2026 was alarming, as at three of our current sites, there were no bookings at all. Our contract is due to end on the 31st of March for these sites, and a new company will take over, which is going to be a huge upheaval for all of us. 

The rest of the day was spent dealing with emails, and it was great to escape at 4pm and go home to relax. Keith was off to the pub tonight to see John, and Sophie and I opened a bottle of Austrian wine and settled down to watch Masterchef on iPlayer and Destination X. We were both perplexed about the destination, until one of the contestants saw a postcard of a woman looking as if she was holding up something. It dawned on me that it was Pisa! People love to take photos where they appear to be holding up the Leaning Tower!

Keith had left us to take care of the curry he'd made, and after we'd eaten, Sophie opened the bottle of white Sablet we'd bought in Morrisons. We didn't want to drink it with the spicy curry, so it was great to sip after the meal and watch The Stepford Wives on DVD. I'd ordered the original (and the best) version on Amazon from 1975 after reading the book by Ira Levin, which I couldn't put down! The wine was delicious and we'll definitely go back to buy more!

Sophie's date tomorrow has fizzled out as her new beau has a cold, but there's another old flame on the scene! Watch this space!

Time marches on!

It's definitely getting darker in the mornings, now and before we know it, I'll be waving Sophie off to the gym in the dark. As I keep saying, this year is flying past; how long before the Christmas adverts start on television?!

Work kept me busy, and my colleague, Sue, fed me, as is usual on a Thursday! She delights in giving out crackers with paté or other nibbles from the huge coolbag of food she brings in to snack on during the day, bless her! Keith picked me up at 2pm and we drove to Riverside, as there were a couple of things I needed to get in Boots. The place was mayhem, with cars everywhere and a group of people and dogs right by the entrance to the store. 

I bought what I needed quickly, and we returned home. It was lovely having an afternoon free, and I managed to get a lot of jobs done before Sophie arrived home. 

Keith had already prepared the vegetables for dinner, and we sat and played cards. I thrashed him so badly that he refused to play anymore, so we made a start on dinner. Tonight's meal was toad in the hole, and Keith poured the batter into a very hot pan, making one large Yorkshire pudding. It was delicious served with Cumberland sausages and a load of veg.

Sophie told me tonight that she's going on a tentative date on Saturday with a man she's been talking to for a while. She had previously been out with him in 2019, and he had popped up again for a chat when he saw one of her posts on Instagram. He's now a policeman, which amuses me slightly, seeing as Sophie is not a fan of our police force, unfortunately! 

Our gamble pays off!

Sophie texted me early this morning to say that the host city for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest will be... Vienna! Our gamble paid off! We said we'd look at flights this evening and pay for the hotel, as I would hate for them to cancel on us! 

I had an enjoyable shift at work, reconciling the childcare payments against those listed on our bank statements. It was satisfying to work my way through the spreadsheet and see that the payments had been made properly. The work certainly kept me engrossed for the six hours I was in the office!

At 2pm, I drove to Kettering to see Mum and Dad. We had an enjoyable hour chatting and eating some chocolates I'd bought for them. They were pleased about the new soft play area and proud that the name was continuing.

Back home, I tidied up and then sat with Keith to watch the last episode of The Assassin, which had a satisfying ending. I wonder if there'll be a second series, because there were still a few things to tie up... what was Chantaines, for example?

Once we'd watched the show, I dashed about doing the chores, printing off more shopping lists, hoovering and tidying up.  Rather than play cards tonight, Sophie and I looked at flights to Vienna and found they had gone up since the last time we'd looked. It would have been madness to have booked them at the beginning of August without knowing either the host city or the date, but we both agreed we wanted to go, even if we don't manage to get tickets to the actual final on the 16th of May. We also paid for the hotel, and I printed off the receipt. I think that hotel rooms will be rarer than hen's teeth by next year!

Sophie also put an interest in for tickets to the opera on the Friday night. Our hotel is right next door to the Opera House, so this would be wonderful. We aren't guaranteed tickets, like last time, but we're keeping everything crossed. The opera is Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss and sounds like something we would enjoy!

Keith bustled about cooking a very simple supper of breaded fish, and then we settled down to watch Masterchef. We resisted Destination X afterwards, as it was time for a read and then bed!

Good news!

Today dawned grey and breezy, and a lot cooler. Is that it for summer now? Sophie didn't go to the gym this morning, and we watched last night's Fake or Fortune. Keith took me to work again, and he was very nervous due to facing the dentist this morning for a hygienist visit. He was dreading it! I felt for him after the horrific visit I had in June!

All the staff received a lovely email this morning from our MD to let us know about the acquisition of our fourth soft pay centre, which went through last week. Tomorrow marks ten years since the company bought our business, so I felt quite emotional, especially as the name we gave the business will live on. Our MD is now on the lookout for the fifth play area, so I'm looking forward to hearing about that when we find one! It made me feel so proud!

Keith collected me at 4pm, and he was relieved that his ordeal was over without any agony or torture! It was home to do the usual chores, play cards and cook dinner. Need I say what we watched after we'd eaten?

I'm working tomorrow before seeing my parents in the afternoon, but we plan on watching the last episode when I get home as a treat!

Feeling Autumnal

The weekend went by so quickly, and it was back to work this morning. Our office was very busy, and in the afternoon we had so many people in that we almost ran out of desks! I was surprised we didn't double up and have people on our laps!

I managed to deal with all the emails and do some work on the moan report. At home, Keith had an appointment for a plumber to come out and service the boiler. I had warned Keith to take out the cat food and fruit, as the last time there was dust everywhere. I really didn't want to come home to that this evening!

He picked me up at 4pm and said there hadn't been much mess at all, so that was a relief! We drove home under heavy grey skies, and it felt very Autumnal. Because of the prolonged drought, the leaves on the trees are already changing colour, especially the Horse Chestnut trees, which look very brown and dry. 

I was busy when I got home anyway, as Keith and I prepared an apple crumble with apples that Sheila had given me. Keith cut up the fruit while I made the crumble topping, and we popped the dessert into the oven to cook and then keep warm. 

We had a light supper of vegetable soup for dinner, followed by the apple crumble and custard. Our evening's viewing was The Assassin again!

A spot of gardening

We woke up to blue skies and sunshine again today. Why couldn't it have been like this yesterday? The day started in a relaxed way, and Sophie and I sat in the garden with a coffee and a pastry for breakfast. I was shocked at how bad the garden looked, so when we'd finished our breakfast, I made a start by raking up loads of dead leaves and some disgusting slices of bread that had gone mouldy. Once that was done, it looked better already! While I was working away in the garden, Sophie concentrated on the inside of the house, sorting out the porridge for tomorrow, and making walnut and choc chip muffins. 

The wasps were still buzzing about, so I avoided that area, but once the wasps have died in the colder weather, I'm going to cut down the two bushes affected by the caterpillars and do away with the compost bin that we don't use, and which has harboured a rat's nest as well as the wasps.

I cut back some plants affected by the drought, and Keith and I took all the cuttings to the tip. Once back, I strimmed the grass as it wasn't worth getting the lawnmower out to cut back a few wispy bits! The soil was so dry that there were cracks in the lawn, and we badly need a long session of rainfall to bring it back. While I was working away, a little robin appeared, but no cats kept me company today.

When I'd finished, I hoovered the conservatory and downstairs while Sophie took care of upstairs. We enjoyed a muffin with a cup of tea, and I wrote my blog. It was then time to relax with a green face pack (I looked delightful), and a nap followed by a hot shower. I felt a little weary after our busy day yesterday and my toil in the garden!

Keith had made a chilli for dinner, so it was great to relax beforehand and chat in the kitchen. After we'd eaten, Keith and I watched another episode of The Assassin which is quickly becoming addictive!

An English vineyard

We were up, showered, dressed and on the road to Kent by 8am this morning, taking the A14 and the M11 to get to the busy M25. I was very wary of speed cameras and asked Sophie to put Jeeves on so he could warn me of where they were!

Once over the bridge, we turned off onto the A2, but Jeeves directed me off this once we had passed Rochester and onto country roads until we reached the M20, which was slightly strange... why didn't we take the M20 after the M25?

By now, I was more than ready for a coffee, so we stopped at Maidstone services and treated ourselves to a McDonald’s breakfast, which we ate in the car, fascinated by the number of people using the drive-thru. Suitably refreshed, we headed towards the village of Biddenden, firstly on the busy A20 and then on a much smaller rural road, which could barely fit two cars. Luckily, I was following someone, so I was pre-warned when I saw them brake! The countryside was stunning, and once off this narrow road, we travelled through pretty villages, interspersed with green tunnels of trees. 

Unfortunately, the weather was disappointing, with the sky shrouded in grey cloud, and there was a light drizzle every now and again. We eventually arrived at the village of Biddenden, and the vineyard was signposted along a narrow lane.

We used the umbrella as it was raining quite hard, and walked the short distance to the small shop where we asked if we could just try some wines without the tour of the vineyard. The woman serving was a bit offhand and brushed aside my reference to the bad weather, saying she thought it was lovely... hmmm!

We were given a card each with the wines made at the vineyard and told to choose three each. I paid £36 for the privilege, and we took our cards and obediently sat down at one of the tables, making a note of our name and the table number.

I chose:

The Ortega Chapter 55 13% £17 a bottle

The Riesling 2024 9.5% £17 a bottle

The White Pinot Noir 2024 12% and also £17 a bottle.

Sophie chose: 

The Ortega Dry 2023 11.5% £15.40 a bottle

The Huxelrube 2024 £17.20 a bottle

The White Pinot Noir (same as me)

Keith chose:

The Ortega White 2023 12% £15.40 a bottle

The Baccus 2022, 11.5% £16.70 a bottle

The Dornfelder 2023 (red) 12% £16.70 a bottle.

Sophie took our cards back to the counter, and a woman then brought out a jug of water, three glasses and some water biscuits. The woman who had originally served us brought out three glasses for each of us, balanced on a wooden board, with a small sample of each.

We had a taste of the surprisingly good wines! I'm not a huge fan of English wines, if I'm honest, but we liked all of the ones we had chosen, including the real surprise, the Dornfelder, a red grape variety which does well in the UK because of the similar climate to Germany, its true home. I liked the Ortega Chapter 55, the Bacchus (similar to a Sauvignon Blanc) and the Ortega white. It was good to share them and taste the range on offer.

Sophie then suggested trying a sparkling wine, and I chose a Rosé to try. Both were delicious, so we decided to buy five wines, but separately, so we could each get £5 off! I think they did very well out of us today, and Sophie also bought two branded wine glasses.

We took the wines back to the car, Keith settled down with the newspaper, and Sophie and I went for a quick walk in the vineyard. They have about 25 acres of vines, and small plaques let you know which grape variety is growing in the neat rows.

I'd never seen grapes cultivated as they were at Biddenden, with the fruit hanging low on the bush and all the foliage above. It may be down to the limited amount of sunshine we get here in the UK, and trying to get the grapes to have the maximum light. One area was given over to sunflowers and other plants, but quite a few of the vines had been planted years ago, with the oldest in 1969.

We meandered around for a little while, but Keith was anxious to get to Rye, where we had a table booked for lunch at 2.30pm. We set off along some of the worst potholed roads I've ever had the misfortune to drive on! I thought Kent and Sussex were affluent counties!

Out in the wilds, the 5G was patchy, and we kept losing Jeeves, so we had to rely on Trish and the good old-fashioned map that Keith was looking at. We eventually arrived and found the town to be very busy indeed. I headed for a car park, but it was quite a way from the restaurant, so we drove towards one that the restaurant had recommended. It seemed that the whole of the south of England had the same idea, as we had a real job finding a space, eventually deciding to try our luck in a small car park opposite. We sat and waited, and a couple with a baby arrived. I'm sure they saw us waiting, but they both spent ages cooing over their sprog until Sophie couldn't stand it any longer and jumped out of the car, loudly asking if they were leaving! This prompted them into action, so I was able to reverse into a space. People seem to be so ignorant these days!

Keith fancied a beer before lunch, so we found a pub nearby called The Cinque Ports, a reference to five ports in the south, originally formed for military or trade purposes, and which are Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich.

We entered the noisy pub and Keith ordered mineral water for Sophie and me, and a lager. We took a seat, and I immediately noticed a strong smell of urine and stale smoke... wonderful! Behind where Sophie was sitting was a man filling a Pringles vending machine, and the loud clacks and bangs as he put in the tubes made Sophie look daggers at him! Before this, she had actually asked for my Loops to wear because of the noise!

We begged Keith to drink his lager, and he drained his glass and went to the loo. Then, to make the experience even better, a weird man approached our table, muttered hello, and started touching himself before disappearing into the toilets. I don't think I've ever seen Sophie move so fast! We certainly won't be going back there again!

It was a short walk to the restaurant on pavements so narrow that we were in danger of falling into the road. We spotted a lovely pub with people spilling out onto tables set up in front, and it looked like a much better place! Why hadn't we gone there instead?

We arrived at Webbe's and had to wait while the front-of-house woman finished a telephone call. All of us got the impression she didn't like us, and we had no idea why! We sat by the window and noticed the hushed atmosphere of the restaurant. It was a little weird!

We chose our meals and waited a while for our orders to be taken. Sophie and I both chose mussels to start, followed by a fillet of hake with chorizo potatoes and spring vegetables. Keith chose grilled mackerel, followed by fried haddock, chips and mushy peas.

We ordered a bottle of Chardonnay to accompany the meal and chatted. Everyone else seemed quiet and were finishing their meals; we realised that we were the last to arrive! After the slightly dodgy start, we had a wonderful meal, and the food was very good. Keith loved his mackerel starter, and even though the batter on his fish wasn't as crispy as he would have liked, he said the meal was delicious.

Sophie and I enjoyed our mussels and the hake, but we both agreed that the strong flavour of the chorizo overpowered the delicate fish a little.

By the time we reached the dessert stage, the restaurant had emptied out completely. Another of the waitresses had been lovely and friendly, asking us what we were doing and amazed that we had visited in one day. Yes, we are a little strange like that!

Keith ordered an Irish coffee, while Sophie and I treated ourselves to a crème brûlée and a coconut panna cotta. Again, the food was delicious.

After paying the bill, we walked back to the car and headed, briefly, for Winchelsea, a short distance away on the coast. I was hoping for a quaint little village and pretty shops, while Sophie wanted to dip her toes in the sea. The reality was somewhat different; endless caravan parks with twee names and a pebbly beach that shelved deeply into the sea, and which gave me the heebie-jeebies. In the distance, I'm sure we could see Dungeness Power Station and banks of wind turbines. They looked like they were out at sea, because the land is so low-lying. It was definitely time to go home, and the sun still hadn't made an appearance!

We headed for Ashford as Keith refused to go back the way we had driven this morning. The land was flat, and we could see rank upon rank of wind turbines stretching away into the distance next to electricity pylons. Every now and again, we crossed a railway track and I thought back to when I'd visited Rye as a teenager with my friend Jane for a French residential week, and we'd travelled by train.

It was a relief to get onto the M20 and make good time home. My suggestion of going through the Blackwall Tunnel and London was firmly quashed, and we made it home by 7.30pm. In Northamptonshire, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. Typical!

We spent the evening relaxing after our busy day, listening to Anoushka Shankar at the Proms, which was sublime!

Celebrating 33 years!

It was our 33rd wedding anniversary today, but I was at work as normal. At least we're going to Kent and Sussex tomorrow to have a day out!

Work was uneventful, and I managed to get some more of the moan report completed before I grew fed up with the complaints! I trundled home at 4pm and felt hot again. Yesterday had been cooler, but the temperature has ramped up again today, and it was about 28c. I am longing for Autumn and cooler days!

Keith stayed home this evening, and Sophie and I opened the expensive bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape we'd bought in Leamington Spa last week. I enjoyed it, but Sophie wasn't convinced. Was it worth £30? I would say no to that, and Sophie did muse on whether any whites were worth paying a lot for? Maybe a white Burgundy, perhaps!

Keeping us in suspense!

Sophie and I watched Destination X before work this morning, and for the first time, I was unsure of the destination, guessing it might have been Trieste in Italy. We couldn't see the end as we ran out of time and had to get ready for work!

I had a pleasant shift, and since Sara and Sheila were both on annual leave today, I managed to get all the messy box office return paperwork sorted out, scanned and put into online folders. It was a job I'd been meaning to do for ages, so that was a real bonus!

At 2pm, Keith picked me up and we went home to pootle about doing chores. I hoovered and cleaned the conservatory, which was a terrible mess with dead flies and cobwebs everywhere. I tidied up the throws on the sofa, and when Sophie arrived home, we both sat out there for a while to chat. It looked so much better!

We watched the last fifteen minutes of Destination X and discovered the programme ended without revealing the city where they were! We had to wait until 9pm to see it!

After dinner, we watched Masterchef, and we've added a few more terms to the list:

• Showing off about travels
• A bonbon
• An ingredient cooked "three ways"
• Scissor-cut noodles
• Contestants crying - this featured heavily last year!

We liked the look of one recipe called chicken Khao Soi which we might attempt next weekend!

At 9pm, we tuned into Destination X and learned I was wrong. It was Venice, not Trieste. Ah well!

Not the day I was hoping for!

I'd been looking forward to a day off today and had a couple of things planned with Keith as a little treat. Sophie didn't go to the gym today because of her office move, and we said we'd call in and see her. We sat downstairs with a coffee, and neither cat made an appearance this morning after being out on the tiles all night!

Keith and I showered, dressed and left earlier than we'd planned, at just after 9am. We were forced to go to the post office in Brixworth to send the old BT equipment back, and then I planned on driving down the new relief road that had finally opened. Except, it hadn't. It was still closed by Church Brampton, which annoyed me!

We continued on to Northampton, and I realised neither of us had eaten breakfast, so I suggested we stop for something while we were out. Nearing Sixfields, we went to the pub we visited last time, The Walter Tull, but it was boarded up. What is happening with our town at the moment? Reluctantly, we went to The Sixfelds Tavern, which was open and ordered a cooked breakfast each. Two breakfasts, extra toast and a mug of tea and coffee came to just under £17! If nothing else, it was good value! I managed to drip egg yolk down one of my favourite tops, which was another annoying niggle!

On the way out of Sixfields, we also noticed that the restaurant chain, TGI Fridays, was also closed, with the site looking almost derelict! I was beginning to feel a little depressed! We headed for Morrisons, purely because they were selling bottles of white Sablet we'd seen advertised in the weekend You magazine. We didn't know Sablet made white wine! The plan was to buy some things we needed and then head next door to The Malt Shovel for a lunchtime drink.

We made straight for the wine section and picked up two bottles of the white, priced at £10 each. Keith took three bottles of beer off the shelf, but then realised that, like Tesco, the lower price was for loyalty club holders only. We also wanted a bottle of vodka, but these were actually locked away in cabinets and were cheaper if you had a loyalty card, which we didn't have. 

I threw a hissy fit, and we decided to leave with just the two bottles of wine, a box of Fevertree lemonade that Tesco don't stock, and the newspaper. Outside, it was humid and hot, and I had the devil of a job returning the trolley and getting my little token back, which made me even more irritable!

Keith and I walked over to the pub, only to find we were forty minutes early and it didn't open until 12pm. We had a feeling that was the case, and I said we'd left home too early this morning! We texted Sophie and drove to Brackmills to see her and how the office move was going. She was in with three other members of staff, and the moving men were busy dismantling the desks and carting them upstairs in the lift.

The new offices were lovely, cool and air-conditioned! I wish I could have stayed all afternoon!

As they are now on the first floor, there were lovely views over the treetops from the huge windows that wrapped around the office. We stayed for a little while, chatted to Sophie's coworkers and then headed for another dreaded destination, the wonderful Weston Favell Centre...

Whilst shopping, we met two old acquaintances and stood chatting with them for a while, which was lovely. I was convinced I would see someone from work as the third person! It was a relief to get in the car, switch the aircon right up and enjoy a little coolness on the way home!

The afternoon was spent catching up with some chores, and I managed a nap for half an hour. I had been awake before 6am this morning, so that was my excuse! By the time Sophie came home, we'd almost completed the shopping list and had installed the fan in the kitchen to cool us down before dinner. Our breakfast had kept us going all day, and we had a light supper of paté and toast. It was uncomfortably hot in the evening, and I was just glad we had a fan alleviating the muggy air!

We sat and enjoyed Masterchef (one of the contestants had been edited out!) and took a box of mochi out of the freezer to keep us cool!

Feeling the heat

Last night was hot and muggy, and we had some rain, which did refresh things a little. This morning, Sophie was up early and had put several boxes out for a collection I'd arranged with our local council, who take the stuff away and recycle it. They take books, CDs, DVDS, bedding, towels, small electrical appliances and clothes, so we had quite a bit to be collected after having a clearout both at home and at Sophie's office, which was preparing for a move to new premises on another floor this week.

We sat and enjoyed a coffee with a rare Gomez appearance, and he loved cuddling with us and having his tummy stroked. What a lovely start to the day!

The office, typical for a Tuesday, was hot and noisy, but I managed to get everything done and made a start on the Moan Report! It was bliss to escape at 4pm and whack the aircon up in the car! I think it's time to seriously think of getting it for some of the rooms in the house.

Keith and I played cards tonight while Sophie indulged in a fantasy about going to Blackpool for the weekend and seeing the Illuminations! I definitely wouldn't have considered that to be the sort of place she wanted to go! 

New systems

We had a visit scheduled from Openreach today about changing our phone system to the new "Digital Voice" service (I really don't know what it's about, to be honest), so Keith had to stay at home. One of the things we had to do yesterday was hoover behind the sofa where the phone socket is, in case it was decorated with cobwebs, but it was surprisingly clean with no dead animals lurking there! That's always a bonus!

I took myself off to work and worked steadily until 4pm, clearing all the emails, putting more films onto the system and updating the spreadsheet. Tomorrow, I'm planning to do the final week of the swim camps! Hooray!

At 4pm, I went home and spent an hour setting up all of our devices on the new system, because we had a new password for the router. It's surprising how much stuff is connected: our computer, my laptop, the television (upstairs and downstairs), our phones, Alexa and the printer. Phew! I'm just glad we don't have these new internet-connected kitchen devices as well!

My Dad called this evening and we had a chat, and I wished him a happy birthday. He's 83! 

We had the chicken stroganoff for dinner this evening, and it was delicious served with rice and garlic bread. Afterwards, we watched our usual Monday night programmes, Only Connect and University Challenge. We let the cats stay out tonight as it was too hot in the house to keep them in. Sophie certainly missed her furry cuddles before bed!

So low!

Sophie and I started watching Saturday Morning Kitchen with a coffee first thing, but there was too much weighing on my mind to sit and relax, so we sat at the island and tackled our "To Do" list. One of the things we needed to do was book next month's shuttle to Calais and decide on a suitable departure time. After a lot of debate, we decided on an 8.30am crossing, but it still means we'll have to leave home at about 4.30am!

Sophie helped me change my bed, and then we popped to Tesco to get some things for my Dad, and some shopping. I bought a new lightweight jumper and trousers for my Dad from Mum, dinner ingredients for tomorrow night and a salad for lunch. 

When we arrived at the care home, there was a physiotherapist in the room, and she said she was concerned about my Mum's blood pressure, which was dangerously low. She tried to take the reading with Mum standing up, but decided to call for an ambulance as she was so worried.

This threw us into a quandary, but we decided to let Dad open his gifts from us, leaving his cards until tomorrow, his actual birthday. The physio said the ambulance would be about four hours, so after sitting with them for a while and having a chat, Sophie and I left to go home. This news plunged me back into a bad mood; I really didn't want to think about Mum going into hospital as she was so miserable before, and I was convinced another stint would finish her off.

At home, Sophie and I had lunch of a leftover jacket potato, cheese, salad and nibbly bits from our little buffet last night. I received a call from the care home to say that Mum had been taken back to the hospital by ambulance, which was the worst news.

The afternoon was spent cleaning the house, preparing tonight's dinner of chicken stroganoff and feeling grumpy. It was hot, and I refused to go into the conservatory, which was like dead fly city. I can't wait for the cooler weather to arrive. It's supposed to get hotter again next week... And don't get me started on the garden, which is looking like a parched desert. It's horrible.

At about 4pm, I called the hospital and was told my Mum had been discharged back to the care home, which was brilliant news! I immediately felt happier! Sophie and I played Scrabble, and she beat me by about 150 points! We decided to skip dinner tonight because of our large lunch and have the chicken stroganoff tomorrow instead.

We spent a very pleasant hour reminiscing about the holidays and enjoying a drink. Keith cooked himself some chicken thighs, and Sophie and I had a fishfinger sandwich. Perfect!