Picnic in the Park

Today was spent at Woburn Safari Park and we had a great time!

I really wanted to go somewhere for the day as Sophie wasn't working but it was difficult to find an attraction that we would all enjoy, wasn't too far away and didn't involve a lot of walking (Keith's hip operation can't come soon enough) so Woburn fitted the bill exactly.

I bought some picnic foods the day before and was up early making sandwiches and packing our coolbox. We decided to take the Passat as the monkeys at Woburn can be a bit naughty and I didn't fancy having the windscreen wipers ripped off my new car!

We did a safari tour first and it was very busy with lots of cars driving slowly through the different park areas. We saw rhinos, tigers, bears and wolves before moving into the lion enclosure and trying to work out if a couple of the lions were young males. This could have been the reason why a magnificent lion was caged all alone as we exited this part of the park - fighting perhaps?

Next came the monkeys and the children were delighted when one of them jumped up onto the bonnet and went for a short ride with us! Luckily he wasn't in a destrcutive mood! From the monkeys we moved into the larger part of the park and spotted giraffes, zebras and camels.

As it was now lunchtime, we parked the car in a quiet part of the picnic area and enjoyed our lunch which was delicious. I have no idea why people would pay through the nose for food in these parks when you can take your own picnic and a big flask of tea!

After lunch we spent a couple of hours wandering around the foot safari seeing marmosets, penguins, pigs and goats and the children took one of the Swan pedalo boats out onto the lake. We were all really enjoying ourselves but we couldn't help comparing Woburn to the Orlando theme parks (unfair, I know, but bear with me). It wasn't cheap for us to go for the day, about £64 for the four of us, and the park was very busy. What annoyed me was that in lots of places it was shabby and worn and it wouldn't take much to give the place a lick of paint and to keep the grass trimmed.  The penguin area in particular was dirty with flaking paint on the walls, scruffy vegetation and dirty water in the pool. The road through the car safari was full of potholes which could have been patched up and it just looked generally tired.

Some of the signs giving the public information on the animals were worn and faded and the indoor play area was alarming - in several places there was padding missing and it looked grubby and very tired indeed. In Orlando, the theme parks were spotlessly clean with staff going around and picking up litter and the places were beautifully maintained.

I just felt like the place needed a good shake-up...I have no idea of their overheads but surely as we go into Spring and Summer the owners could smarten the place up a bit?

Anyway, we still had a very good day and the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves looking at all the animals and taking photos. On our second drive through the safari area a big black bear came walking towards us which made me stop the car pretty quickly! He ambled off to the side of the road but it was great to see him so close!

Back at home we watched the Grand National and I was pleased to see that my horse, Cappa Bleu, came fourth so Keith won a bit of his money back!

Yippeee! It's Friday!

I really missed my little girl at work today as she was having some time off after working most of the week. We had a very grey and foggy start to the day so we were busy yet again - and there was me hoping for a quiet end to the week!

In the evening Sue came over for a glass of wine and a good gossip. We shared some nibbles and caught up with lots of things which made for a relaxing end to the week. This Easter has been a very good one for us at work, completely different to last year when the weather was hot and sunny. I'm just hoping that the weekend will be sunny and dry as we're off to Woburn Safari Park tomorrow!

Mostly grumpy...

My day didn't start off too well when I couldn't find any socks this morning... I bought myself seven pairs a while ago and not one was to be found in my underwear drawer this morning! As it's not a good time of the month for me, my mood just worsened and I had a rant at Keith about socks which didn't go down too well!

Driving into work I discovered a tractor in front of me so I decided that rather than sit behind him all the way out of the village (not many overtaking opportunities) I'd go another way, deciding that a change is as good as a rest! Imagine my extreme annoyance when I managed to catch up with him a little way down the road where my new route met my old! Gritting my teeth I took another different route along the main road and lo and behold came upon another tractor! Would you believe it!

The final straw came when I drove into our car park to find a soiled nappy sitting on the ground...what sort of customers do we have, I wonder??

The day did improve slightly (well it had to didn't it?) and I managed to get all the payroll done and dusted in accordance with our beloved Revenue and Customs. We were busy at work today and after doing all the paperwork I went and helped out in the kitchen, relieved to get away from the computer for a short while!

Mum and I escaped again in the afternoon and Mrs Grumpy reared her ugly head once again... We went over to the bank and as I was pulling out of the parking space I noticed a young woman pulling out as well, a mobile phone firmly clamped to her ear. She followed me for quite a distance, ten minutes at least, and all the time the phone was still attached to her ear, despite us passing a police car! At one point she nearly hit a bus and swerved at the last minute and I was furious that she could drive like that and put other people at risk! Grrrrr!

It was quite a relief to get home in the evening and relax with a glass of wine, well away from other people!

A quieter day!

Well, after the busy day yesterday it was back to quiet times today with the weather sunny and dry. It gave me an opportunity to start the end of year Payroll that has to be done this month and although I dread it every year it's actually quite easy to do so I don't know why I worry about it!

I did manage to escape the office in the afternoon to go over to the bank and it was wonderful to get out into the fresh air, even if it was just for a short while. Sophie and I haven't been for a walk in ages so that's something we must get back into next week when the children start back to school and things return to normal!

Busy, busy!

Today has been a busy day, both at work and at home. We were all in early at work getting ready for the day and doing the cleaning, although mum and dad had been in the day before (on a Bank Holiday!) to do most of it. The weather was dry and sunny but we were still busy which was good and very unexpected! My day was mostly taken up with office work and catching up with things after my short break so I was confined to the office which was no bad thing!

After work I dashed home with Sophie and then went to give blood at her school. This time I had to drink a whole pint of water before I gave blood, something to do with us not feeling as faint!

When I got home I noticed one of our conifers looking very sorry for itself and when I went to investigate I met Sarah taking out her bins. We had a long chat, with the emphasis on Prom dresses and how stressy our teenage girls are at the moment! Roll on the Summer holidays!

In the evening Mum and I went to a local small cinema to see the film "The Woman in the Fifth" based on Douglas Kennedy's book. It was ages since we'd been to this small cinema and it was a real treat to not have people chomping on popcorn or rustling sweet bags all the way through it! The film was great, a bit obscure in places but it varied a bit from the book. Why does this happen?!

Bank Holiday washout!

Well, today has been awful. Unrelenting rain and grey skies which means we would probably have been very busy indeed at work had we opened, but as we close all Bank Holidays there was nothing we could do about it!

I spent the morning scanning all my old photos and in the afternoon Keith, Sophie and I went back to Market Harborough to take the DVDs back. We took a detour on the way back passing through some very pretty villages, but the weather remained terrible and it was chilly as well...yuk!

In the evening Keith and I ventured out in the torrential downpour to the White Horse pub in Old but we made a swift exit after one of the locals, a bit worse for wear, cornered us at the bar and wouldn't stop talking! We drove off to our lovely local, The Royal Oak, and had a very pleasant hour in there where the clientele were not as inebriated!

Rifling through Nan's drawers!

Mum and I made the trip down to Kent today to see Nan as it was Easter Sunday and although a lot of places were closed, the roads were still very busy.

We spent a very pleasant day looking through lots of old photos and ransacking her cupboards and drawers trying to find more old documents that would help with my family tree research. I borrowed some wonderful old pictures from her and she didn't mind at all as we put it all back very neatly! It wasn't the sort of day to be out and about as it was grey and dismal again so it was the perfect time to stay in the warm and be cosy!

My Nan and Grandad - probably the 60s.

My Great Grandmother (left) a very young mum and my Nan (right)

My Nan's wedding day in March 1940

Keith and I - some years ago!