A day off!

It was lovely to have a bit of a lie-in this morning and not have to rush. I had plenty of coffee, cuddles with Archie and a breakfast of crumpets and jam!

At midday Sophie and I dropped Mikey off in Brixworth and then drove over to Market Harborough to have lunch and do some shopping. I can't remember the last time we did this, but it was a fair while ago!

We had something to eat and drink in Caffe Nero and then hit the shops. I saw a lovely book in Waterstones called "52 Weekends By The Sea" which I was tempted to buy. I have a thing about British seaside resorts (good and bad!) and have always wanted to drive around the entire coastline in one go and then write about all the places by the sea. Maybe one day!

We had a good mooch about the shops and then we went to see Duncan. He had a tasting of three Greek wines but I was after a bottle of Malt whisky as a post half-term treat. My whisky supplies have been seriously depleted of late and I think it's high time I build it up again! Duncan let me sniff a few bottles (!) but I chose a Speyside Malt called Benromach which I'd tasted a few months ago. It'll be perfect for sipping whenever we get back from taxiing Sophie about!

From Duncan's we headed home where we had a short while to relax before picking Mike up from seeing his mates. Keith and I went off to the pub again in the evening and enjoyed a couple of drinks in the busy pub.

Dinner tonight was Macaroni cheese, at Sophie's request, and then we settled down to watch a very good programme on BBC2 about the music and culture of the American South. It was very enjoyable!

Thank heavens it's Friday!

It's been a long week and the noise and mess have, as usual, got to me in a major way! It was great to know it was Friday and the end of the busiest week of our year!

Sophie and I went into work and while we were sorting out the tills, I had a call from Mum to say that they couldn't get all the shopping from Booker into their Astra! I could hardly believe that we'd had to get so much stuff as we'd had a large delivery on Wednesday, but I left Sophie to open up and sped down to help. I found Mum and Dad in the car park with boxes of chips and trays of drinks and managed to fit them into the back of my car with ease.

The weather today has been better than forecast with sunny spells, so we weren't as busy as I feared. By 4pm we headed home as Sophie was going out with her friends tonight for cocktails and a meal in an Italian restaurant.

It was bliss to get home and relax and although I had to ferry Sophie around in the evening, it was lovely to know that tomorrow I haven't got to take her into work and maybe we could all have a lie-in for a change!

Customers from hell!

As forecast, we had rain today which meant that we were hectically busy first thing as customers queued up to get in and ensure they had a table! I was feeling horrible this morning because of a niggling headache and I knew that the day would turn out to be extremely busy indeed.

Mum and I shot over to Tesco to get some stuff for work and while we were there Dad called in a panic to say we needed change from the bank! When we arrived back Polly had put a "Full" sign on the door and customers were leaving to go elsewhere.

As we'd put a stop on people coming in, we had a relatively easy lunchtime and I have to say it was much easier to have some control over the numbers of customers. I always feel slightly panicky about crowds of people converging on us so it was good to know we'd called a halt.

In the afternoon it became busier again as Polly relaxed the entrance rules and we had two women come in who were probably amongst the worst we'd ever encountered, and one of them used to work for us in the Nursery! They were angry that we wouldn't let a 12 year old in their group play and demanded to see a Manager. Sophie tried to deal with them at first (all credit to her!) but in the end Dad had to go out and tell them to leave as they were swearing and calling my daughter some really horrible names! We really are having our fair share of nasty female customers at the moment!

Sophie and I stayed until 5pm today and then went thankfully home. Keith and I picked Mikey up from Brixworth and then we retired to the pub for a quick drink before dinner. Whilst we were cooking pork chops, some of the electricity blew and we realised that the element in our cooker had broken. It meant we had to finish the chops off under the grill, so another problem will need to be solved!

Humpday Wednesday!

Today has been busy again but it was good to know that when Sophie and I finished at 5pm we only had two more days to go! We've had beautiful weather today, with blue skies and sunshine and it amazed me that we had so many customers in!

After work Sophie and I went off to the gym for a well-earned relaxation session in the spa, but we did manage a swim beforehand and I chatted to Liam, who was also in the pool, about his recent move. We swam for about half an hour and then it was into the sauna and the jacuzzi to relax after our busy day.

Back home Keith had put a bottle of wine in the fridge for us and we had delicious roast chicken for dinner. Bliss!

Busy days!

Today dawned sunny but cold and it was great to see blue skies again. Our cook was still off sick today but Ricky and Sophie coped admirably in the kitchen and we had a very busy day at work, despite it being dry.

I didn't move from the building all day so wasn't able to enjoy the winter sunshine. After work Sophie and I went off to give blood and by 5pm we were all finished. On the way home I took my car to be washed as I'd never seen it so filthy and every time I opened the boot I became covered in grime!

As soon as I got home I had a lovely soak in the bath and then after dropping Mike off at Army Cadets, Keith, Sophie and I went to The Brampton Halt pub for a meal. The place was pleasantly busy and we were soon seated and perusing the menu. I couldn't resist the Quail Scotch Egg with black pudding for a starter! Keith had whitebait and Sophie opted for slices of garlic bread. For mains Keith had his favourite - fish and chips - while Sophie chose Hunter's chicken and I had Pork and Leek sausages. The food was delicious and very good value as mine and Sophie's main courses were just £13.25 for the two!

After we'd eaten we called into the Co-op at Brixworth and bought an ice-cream dessert to enjoy when Mikey arrived home. As he'd been doing PE he didn't want to eat before he went so he enjoyed a curry when he got back!

The madness begins...

So, today was the first day of the busiest week of our year and our cook called in sick... It meant that Sophie and our assistant cook, Ricky, had to take over catering duties and very good at it they were, too! Mondays are normally the quietest day of a half-term as we are normally closed on this day and I think that customers assume we still close in the holidays.

The weather has been horrible today, to make matters worse. I went to Booker first thing and put one of our cones out to stop customers parking by the exit door, but when I returned in the pouring rain, someone had squeezed their car in as close as they could get and we were forced to unload in the middle of the car park. I was furious! Dad and I got soaked to the skin so that wasn't the best of starts! I heartily wished I was anywhere but at work!

Sophie and Ricky coped admirably with the orders and managed to get everything cooked and out without any delay. I spent most of the day clearing tables and doing some washing up but we had plenty of staff in, including one of the new girls, so we were OK.

After work Sophie and I went to the gym and managed a swim, which was lovely. It's been a long time since we were able to get into the pool in the slow lane, so we made the most of it and then went and relaxed in the sauna and the jacuzzi. Afterwards we had hot showers and then battled through the traffic and roadworks to get home.

Keith was there which was surprising. He said that his mate Dave was ill so he didn't go out...I wished he'd called me as we wouldn't have loitered so long at the gym!

A walk by the Thames

I woke with trepidation this morning in case I received a call from work saying that no staff had turned up! After 11am I relaxed a bit and we dropped Mikey in Brixworth before going to get some diesel and the Sunday papers.

We'd planned on driving down to the O2 and parking the car there before walking along the Thames. As we drove south the weather improved a bit, although there were some pockets of fog still hanging about. By the time we reached the O2, the sun was trying to come out and we could see patches of blue sky.

We had a quick coffee in Starbucks first (they got my name wrong)...

and then made our way to the Thames path. We walked around the back of the Dome and admired the views over the river towards Canary Wharf.

We saw lots of birds pecking away at something on a sandbank and discovered that lots of little crabs live on the water's edge as well as little fish called "fry". There were Black Cormorants drying their wings and we discovered that over the last 50 years the water quality has improved dramatically which meant that the Thames was home to a wide variety of fish and birds.

All along the river were new developments being built with a hotel and apartment complex going up next to the O2.

We could see remnants of the old wharves and docks all along the river. I would love to find out more about the history of this part of London. One of my ancestors was a "Lighterman" on the river, someone who ferried people across the Thames, very much like a water taxi.

We came across a sign saying we were on the Greenwich Meridian line...

Enhanced by Google+!!

We realised we could make it to the Cutty Sark and back if we quickened our pace. The weather by now was beautiful and the sun really warm.

As we neared Greenwich there were more and more people about and at one pub, The Cutty Sark, everyone was sitting outside enjoying a drink in the afternoon sunshine. We passed the Greenwich Hospital and then the Old Royal Naval College.

There were lots of tourists milling about in the sun and I just wished we had the time to stay longer. I looked into getting a boat back but was told there was a 45 minute wait!

The Cutty Sark - fastest tea clipper on the tea trade

We left Greenwich at about 3.15pm and really upped our pace going back to the O2. I still managed to take a few photos, though!

Sandy shore and discarded tyres

We could see the O2 in the near distance and decided to abandon the river path and head inland as we thought it would be quicker. However, we ended up on a path by the very busy A12 leading into the Blackwall Tunnel and we did wonder, at one point, whether we'd be going through it on foot! However, after walking through a deserted wasteland of old buildings, quarry-type areas and buildings works, we found our way to the Dome and shared a sandwich while waiting for Sophie and Laura.

They arrived a little late, weighed down by their bags and we made our way back to the car and the journey home. The M25 was busy as always but we kept going, which was a bonus with only one quick stop to use the facilities at South Mimms services. The setting sun looked beautiful as we drove along and I wished I'd been able to take a photo.

We dropped Laura off at her home and then went to pick Mikey up from Brixworth. Back home it was great to sit and relax and look forward to dinner!