A job offer

I had an interview at 10am this morning (or a chat really) with our Accountant who has offered me a job in his office. I'd had plenty of time to think about the offer and was 90% sure that I wasn't going to actually take it but I thought it wouldn't hurt to find out a bit more.

I had to drop Sophie off at work a bit early and I managed to squeeze a quick cup of coffee in before I left to drive to the office on Brackmills. I was a bit scared I would be late! However I arrived on time and was shown into a small conference room where I had a chat with Phil. He explained about the job and I said that I was in the middle of a counselling course as I wanted to be honest with him about what I was doing. After a chat I was introduced to his office manager, Carol, and we had another talk about the job and what it involved. She was hoping to retire soon as she was 62 and was finding the workload a bit heavy.

I knew before I left that I wouldn't be going to work there. Carol was very nice but I didn't feel I could work with her and I had the feeling that although she said she wanted to do less and eventually stop working, she would find it very hard passing all her knowledge and skills onto me. Also, working in an office wasn't what I wanted to do until I retired myself so I knew that I would be contacting them to say no.

I drove home and Keith and I popped over to my Mum's house to help her with the weeding of her front garden. When they bought the house the front bit had been landscaped and quite a few plants put in, but weeds had started to poke through the bark chip that had been put down and they needed pulling up! We managed to pull them all up and the wheelie bin was a third full when we finished! As we worked the sky had clouded over and on the way home we had torrential rain. It's more like April at the moment rather than June!

We collected Mike and took him to school as he had an afternoon exam. We then had time to pop into Tesco at Weston Favell to get some bits before going back to pick up Sophie from work. She had been really busy and was more than ready to go home and relax! Keith and I had a chat with Maureen while we were waiting for Sophie to finish and she seemed a bit fed up with all the work that had been foisted on her lately! I think she misses us being in charge!

A quiet day at home...

Some photos from yesterday - from one extreme to another!

Mike was out at friends last night as he didn't have any exams today so we had a very leisurely start to the day. The weather has been horrible - constant rain and grey skies with no sign of any sun at all. It's forecast to be like this all week, unfortunately.

I spent most of the day in the conservatory but I did do a pile of ironing and Sophie and I cleaned downstairs. It's been one of those days of doing very little!

Let us eat cake!

So, it's the Queens's 90th Birthday today and the whole of Britain seems to be in a frenzy about it! Personally, I will be glad when it's all over and we can go back to normal! Even driving back from taking Sophie to work it affected us, as I came across a very slow moving convoy of vintage tractors and an old police car all heading for some fete or other. The local church was decked out in bunting but true to form, with all the street parties planned and events taking place, the British weather let us down with almost steady rain all morning and early afternoon.

I had suggested to Mum that we go to the village and partake of the teas and cakes on offer so I picked her up at 2.30pm and we headed off. I didn't think I'd be able to get parked at the village hall, but I was wrong so that was a bonus. We didn't bother with the open gardens, we just lunged straight for the tea and cake and I noticed that my muffins were still waiting to be sold.

Having said that, there were a lot of cakes left so maybe the weather had put people off. As we were waiting to pay for our afternoon tea Richard and Michelle, our newish neighbours, arrived so we had a good chat with them. They had very kindly given Keith a "Get Well" card after his operation so I was able to update them with how he was. Next weekend we're all going to Sue and Paul's house for dinner and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them better.

Mum and I had a cup of tea and some cake - Mum chose coffee and walnut while I went for the traditional Victoria Sponge and very good it was too. Richard and Michelle joined us so we had a very pleasant chat for half an hour. They are such a lovely couple - very down-to-earth and normal and I know that they will become good friends.

After our tea we wandered over to the plant stall and I bought four pots of geraniums for £1 each. Bargain! There were slightly more people about as the rain had held off and the village was looking very festive indeed. I dropped Mum off at her house and then returned home to find that Keith had almost locked himself out this afternoon when he went to help out Tom next door and shut the front door, forgetting I'd locked the back door! Luckily we have a spare key available so he was able to get back to the football!

Poppy thief!

This morning I was up early and making muffins for the Open Gardens taking place in the village over the weekend. I made a batch of twelve but Keith said they looked a little too cooked so I made another lot which were much better!

Sophie went off with Hannah at 10am for breakfast at Buddies in Northampton. I took my muffins over to Sue and Paul's house and Paul happened to mention that the glorious display of poppies in our planter at the entrance to the estate had disappeared... I was mystified as to what had happened but when Keith and I went out a few minutes later we saw that he was right.

We went to Jones's to get some bird food as I had stopped feeding the birds for a while because of the huge amount of starlings that have been coming to our garden. We had this problem last year with the parents and the babies completely overwhelming our little blue tits, sparrows and robins. They pooh everywhere, fight and squabble and eat all the food and are a complete nuisance.

Over the last couple of days, it's been quiet so I decided to try again with the feeders. I miss seeing our blackbird family and also the robin that is constantly in our garden. I bought some fat snax and some seed so I just hope the starlings have given up and gone somewhere else.

When we arrived home I went to mow the front verge and whilst doing it I cut the electric cable in half...The bush in our front garden is now very overgrown and it had hidden the cable so I didn't see it. Luckily the RCD unit kicked in and shut off the electricity completely! Keith came out and was not at all happy with me! However, he managed to save the cable and attached a new plug to it, grumbling away at me all the time! I didn't do it on purpose!

I then mowed the back lawn and Sophie came home, so we sat in garden with a beer each and admired my hard work.

I cleaned the bird feeder and all the containers and put everything back. As soon as I'd put a fat snax on the lawn a female blackbird appeared and started eating it. Had she been watching me?

I wanted to go and investigate the case of the disappearing poppies myself so Sophie and I walked down to the planter to find that the entire plants had been uprooted. Compare the two:

Thursday

Saturday

I know that a couple of residents are really angry about it and it appears we have a plant thief about. I shared the photos on our Facebook page and also sent them to other Facebook sites connected with the village.

I cooked Chicken Kiev for dinner in the evening and before we ate we all sat and played cards in the conservatory. The weather today has been mostly overcast but it's been quite humid. A good thunderstorm would clear the air nicely! Keith went to watch the football in our bedroom after dinner while Sophie and I watched two episodes of The Good Wife on Netflix. We're becoming hooked!

A titanic baking session!

The other week when Sophie and I went shopping in Milton Keynes we'd seen a Titanic exhibition being set up outside John Lewis and I'd promised my daughter that we would go, and take Mum and Dad as well as we hadn't seen them properly for ages. We picked them both up at 11am and took the scenic route to the town before parking outside John Lewis.

We decided to look at the exhibition first and I have to say it was a bit of a disappointment. There were some huge photos of the ship being built and a lot of references to her sister ship, the Olympic. I'm not sure what I was expecting to be honest, as the furniture on display wasn't from the Titanic (how could it have been?) but there was a pocket watch in a glass case that a man had found on the deck as he was about to board one of the lifeboats. He'd asked if it belonged to anyone but no-one had claimed it so he'd kept it and handed it down to his son. It was incredible to think it had been on the ill-fated ship. There was also a board with all the crew and passengers listed - those in red had perished and those in white had survived. All of the restaurant staff (mostly Italian) had died. It made for sobering reading.

We had lunch at John Lewis and of course Sophie and I went for the Moroccan chicken soup, which was delicious as always. After lunch we meandered about and we saw some HUGE glasses which I took photos of!

The wine glass is bigger than my Dad!

Rather than walk all the way down to M&S we drove down and managed to park nearby. This part of the shopping mall was very busy with people sitting outside in the sun and having lunch. Sophie and I went to Debenhams to look at make-up and then River Island where my daughter bought a pair of jeans and a top. She then treated me to a McFlurry before we headed back to M&S with Mum and Dad.

We took the long route home via Newport Pagnell, Tryingham and Olney and then sat in garden for a while. It looked quite stormy and Keith said it had rained heavily while we were out. He decided to go to the pub tonight as I knew he would. It was a good idea for him to get out of the house and get back to normal.

After I'd driven him down to the pub, Sophie and I went to see Sue as she'd bought us a heart for the conservatory. Her kitchen was full of scones and cakes ready for the Open Gardens event at the weekend. I'd promised to make some muffins as well but her baking went well beyond expectations! I just hope her help is acknowledged!

Getting back to normal

Today has been a lovely day - very sunny and warm - which made it a shame that Sophie was at work for most of it. Next week she's not working as many hours so let's hope we have some sun then! Mike was also in at school for an exam but I warned him that Keith and I were going shopping mid-morning and he might not be able to get a lift home until later! He had told me he was going to stay every day and get the bus, but that soon stopped!

I had been quite happy to go shopping on my own but Keith insisted on coming with me, perhaps he didn't trust me! We were all done and finished by 1pm, though, and just as we were about to make lunch the phone rang and it was Mike. Could I go and pick him up?

He was a lot more cheerful than the other day and chatted happily to me about his exams. I think part of the reason for him being so cheerful was that he'd spoken to Heather for a little while. I'm just hoping that after the stress of the exams they'll get back together.

I went to pick Sophie up at 6.30pm. a bit later than I'd have liked and was surprised to find Jeanette in cleaning with her husband. We had a long chat while Sophie finished clearing up so that was good. It's great to be able to stay in touch with our old staff so in one way I hope that Sophie doesn't find another job!

We returned home to help Keith make the evening meal of chicken curry. Things are slowly returning to normal!

A short escape

After last night's storm this morning was really muggy but it soon brightened up to another beautiful day with temperatures of 25c.

Sophie had a nail appointment at 11am and I was fully prepared to sit and wait for her, even though she texted me to say that there was a wait in the salon. However, I managed to get hold of my parents who were en route to the Weston Favell Centre so I arranged to meet them for a coffee in BB's.

It was a much more pleasant experience than sitting in a warm car and we had a good chat for half an hour before I went back to collect Sophie. From there we drove to the nearby Abington Park as we'd decided to have lunch at the Abington Park cafe. As you can imagine, on a warm and sunny day, the cafe was busy and we chose to sit inside by an open window as most people were sitting outside.

We had a lovely lunch of sandwiches, crisps and salad and chatted about the menu for the coming week. Sophie managed to persuade me to cook Jerk Chicken Pasta one day! After lunch we drove home stopping at the garage so Sophie could buy herself a bottle of lager for the evening! She also treated me to an ice-cream so we've certainly indulged today!

Back home Keith was sitting in the garden soaking up the sun and he offered to go over to Tesco with us to buy us some of our favourite tipples as a thank you for looking after him since he got out of hospital. Of course, we agreed with alacrity and off we went. Here is the result!

We had a very pleasant evening playing cards (all four of us) and I cooked dinner of Coq au Vin. I'd prepared it all this morning so it was just a matter of popping the casserole into the oven and cooking the veggies. Voila!