Strange Monday!

I awoke this morning after a series of bizarre dreams, which included stealing onions and hiding them in the bodice of my dress (I think I was dreaming of a past age!) and living in a house on the banks of a river which then disintegrated and fell into the water!

It took me several minutes to bring myself back into the real world and remember that it was Monday again and time for work! Our cleaner had taken the day off today so that meant we had to spend most of the day cleaning which wasn't a pleasant prospect!

A strange thing happened today - we heard a bang on one of our Fire Exit doors and when we went to investigate we found a dead pigeon lying next to the door. We can only think it was chased by other birds as I can't imagine why a pigeon would suddenly decide to commit suicide! The poor thing was still warm and it was quite heartbreaking to see it lying there so perfect yet so lifeless.

After work it was off to the gym and my daughter worked very hard for a change! I manged to sneak in four lengths of swimming but the pool was packed and very choppy! It was like swimming in the sea!

Driving through green tunnels...

Today has been spent driving around the gorgeous Kent countryside with my Mum and it's been very indulgent, I have to admit!

We left Northampton at around 9.30am and made it to Kent in two hours - very good considering there were still roadworks on the M25! We stopped for coffee before setting Gladys to direct us to the village of Brenchley near Sevenoaks, about 30 minutes drive away.

Gladys took us back onto the M25 and then onto the A21 and very soon we were driving through some beautiful countryside, passing through the lovely village of Matfield, with its green and duckpond, on the way.

I managed to park near the church and we had a wander around the huge graveyard...it was quite creepy, if I'm honest and reminded me of a miniature Highgate Cemetery!

Brenchley church

The village of Brenchley is stunning. My 5x Great Grandmother was born here around 1776 and lots of my relatives called it home. I could have stayed all day!

Brenchley Post Office

A converted Oast House

Mum told me that when she was living at home her parents would take her deep into the Kent countryside for hop-picking holidays. Imagine that today! Telling the children their main holiday would be a working one! She said they used to have a lot of fun, though but I can't quite see my two having the same feelings!

From Brenchly we re-traced our steps back up the A21 towards the village of Cudham. Gladys delighted in taking us along some extremely narrow roads, where the trees formed green tunnels. At Cudham we parked near the Blacksmiths Arms where we had a sandwich for lunch, sitting in the pretty flower-filled garden and enjoying the lovely warmth and sunshine!

We didn't linger for very long in Cudham (birthplace in 1806 of my 4x Great Grandfather) as the roads were all very narrow indeed and time was getting on. We headed towards Keston, which was really the outskirts of Bromley and had a look at the church there.

My 4x Great Grandfather moved from Cudham to Keston and spent the rest of his life there, as an Agricultural Labourer. At the village hall at the back of the church a lot of people were enjoying their Harvest Festival Supper so we discreetly wandered around the graveyard looking for familiar names and, of course, finding none!

From Keston we somehow became entangled with Greater London and the traffic was very busy so we headed quickly for our last stop of the day - Wrotham, pronounced "Rootum". Again, Gladys took us along the narrowest of country roads through dense green forest with some spectacular views of the Weald of Kent. I dreaded meeting another car but thankfully the traffic was non-existent!

At Wrotham (birthplace of my 3x Great Grandmother in 1816) we parked the car and managed to get into the beautiful church, which to our astonishment, wasn't locked!

We wandered around for a little while but as the time was really getting on we reluctantly decided to head for home. It felt very strange being in Kent and not going to see my Grandmother and both of us said that we missed the journey down to Kent as we'd been going down on a regular basis for 40 years!

We took the Blackwall Tunnel on the way home and drove up the M11 for a change. It had been a great day and I'm looking forward to going back again and maybe stopping off at the library in Maidstone to look at some Parish Records that haven't made it on to the internet yet!

New bed!

With Mikey's bed due to arrive at any minute Keith and I wasted no time in clearing out his bedroom to make space. I hoovered the floor and gradually we made order out of chaos! At around 10am I received a call to say that the delivery would be with us in an hour so we were wise to have started so early! I didn't just clean Mikey's room, though, as I had our bed to change and the rest of the house to hoover and clean!

Of course, the bed wasn't delivered until 12.30pm, just as I was about to take Sophie into town to have her nails done! I told Keith to leave making it until I got home and we left five minutes after the delivery men left which was a good thing as their van was blocking the driveway!

Sophie's nails took an hour so I left her in the salon, went and filled the car up with diesel and then took it to Westbridge where a team of very helpful men gave it a complete valet. At the end my car looked fabulous! And all for just £10 which I thought was a bargain!

I arrived back at the salon just as Sophie came out and we headed for home where I made up Mikey's bed and grabbed a quick bite for a late lunch. Sophie tried to persuade me to take her down to Riverside to go to the Costa Coffee but I resisted and spent the rest of the late afternoon planning my route in Kent tomorrow. Mum and I are off for the day to look at some of the villages where my ancestors were born and brought up so I needed to sort out where we were going otherwise it would be an aimless wander!

After a naughty Chinese takeaway, we watched the film "Argo" which I thought was very good indeed. No wonder it won so many Oscars!

The aroma of fresh paint

Mikey's bed is due to be delivered tomorrow so Keith has been busy decorating his room in readiness. We arrived home from work today to the lovely smell of fresh paint and his room looks wonderful. We chose Malt Chocolate from Dulux and the walls look great against the clean whiteness of the skirting boards and door. Mikey seems to like it as well which is a good thing as we made the choice for him!

It's been a busy day today and I have a busy weekend ahead so it was great to get home, lounge about in the bath for a while and relax!

Tears before bedtime...

After work today Sophie had an appointment at the Orthodontist and she was really hoping that her braces would be removed. However, when she was prone in the chair, the Orthodontist proceeded to tighten them up rather than remove them. He then told us to make another appointment for 7-8 weeks, which as you can imagine, did not go down well with my daughter.

On the way back to the car she was so frustrated and upset that she resorted to a few tears and I said that she should have asked him to remove them. I did say that he was just doing his job and that he must have thought she needed them otherwise he wouldn't have tightened them even further.

I did think she would use this an excuse to wimp out of the gym, but no, she didn't say a thing until we got up to the changing rooms and she realised she'd forgotten her trainers...

I was undeterred, though, and spent a good hour doing all my weights and exercises and I felt great afterwards. I found out from Sophie that she'd fallen asleep on one of the loungers in the spa so her teeth can't have hurt that much!

It's started...

Walking through Tesco's today I noticed the insidious creep of Christmas stuff. It wasn't really blatant, just the odd display here and there, but it was there nonetheless and we're barely into October! There is just no way I can even begin to think about Christmas yet...let's get Halloween and Bonfire Night out of the way first!

Tonight I was looking forward to going to the gym for a good workout, but my daughter wimped out on me, saying she didn't feel well. I agreed to go home on the condition that tomorrow we were going to have a good session, no matter what!

Strike!

A lot of schools were closed throughout Northamptonshire today because of teachers striking, which meant we were busier than normal at work. At the moment any extra business is very much needed!

Mikey was off school because of the industrial action but Sophie went in even though she had no lessons. However, mid-morning I called her to ask her to work over lunchtime as we really needed her help! She was not at all happy but she did agree to come in (reluctantly) and by 1.30pm she was back at school and enjoying a pizza delivery with all her friends!

We spent the evening discussing universities and we've booked another Open Day at De Montfort in November and one at the University of Lincoln. Sophie is very undecided about what she wants to do, which I think is normal. Planning the rest of your life is a huge decision to make and I've told her she has all the time in the world!