An unexpected treat!

I wasn't looking forward to today, to be honest and had a feeling that we'd be busy at work booking children onto the summer holiday courses that we provide. I took my own car into work as Sophie and Keith were going to do a test drive to Rushden Lakes as Sophie was going there for a meal this evening with friends and taking Danni.

Work was actually very pleasant and although we did get a fair few calls, they were nicely spaced out! The time went past very quickly! I drove home at 2pm and had a chat with Sophie about jobs. She'd driven to Rushden Lakes and was fine with the journey.

At After-School Club we just had a handful of children and after playing outside for a while we went into the library and I suggested making papier mache heads. One of the older girls went and fetched balloons, glue and newspapers and we set about making them, but not before I'd had a silly moment and blew the balloons up before letting them go so they made rude noises! I did say that all the children should have made a papier mache head and then we could have given them to Lisa as a leaving present!

Back home I discovered that Sophie's friend had let her down and was going to drive herself so I suggested Keith and I take Sophie, and my husband then asked if I'd like to go for a meal while Sophie was out with friends? Most definitely! We tried to get in touch with Mike who was out and asked if he'd like to come as well, but in the end we had to leave him a note to say we'd gone out.

It was a gorgeous evening and we drove over to Rushden and dropped Sophie off at Pizza Express. Her friends were waiting outside so we waved goodbye and headed into Higham Ferrers as I'd found a pub called The Griffin which served food on Monday night and looked lovely. It was only five minutes from Rushden Lakes and we spotted what we thought was the pub in the main street and parked nearby. As we approached, though, we realised this pub was The Green Dragon, a pub we'd been into ages ago with some friends!

I used Google maps and we found it hidden behind a row of leafy trees a bit further down the main road. We'd completely missed it when we'd driven past! It was very quiet inside with just a handful of customers and we took a seat on a comfortable sofa and armchair near the conservatory and enjoyed our drinks. It was still very warm and after an initial pint of beer, Keith switched to lager!

We had a look at the menu and decided on the very reasonable Pub Classics choices. We both chose prawn cocktails to start and then I went for mussels for a main while Keith had fish and chips. We sat in the light and airy conservatory and the waitress provided two fans to keep us cool. A few people were eating outside in the courtyard garden.

The food was lovely and the bread in particular was delicious. We had a great meal and it was nice to relax and have a good chat. The bill - £44 - was another bonus! It's normally three times that! We left and headed back to Rushden Lakes with the intention of sitting by the lake until Sophie was finished but she texted me on the way to ask us to pick her up. We sat outside and marvelled at all the shops that, although closed, were brightly lit up. It did make me wonder how much their electricity bill is!

A feast of sport!

We went over to Tesco first thing this morning as Sophie wanted to get presents for her lecturers and we needed some shopping. It's also my Mum and Dad's Wedding Anniversary tomorrow so I bought them a bottle of Champagne and a Next voucher as they love shopping in there!

We called to see them on the way home and helped them move their heavy office chair out of the room to make way for the new one that had been delivered. My Dad had fallen over on Friday so that was a bit worrying and I said that he really needed to use a walking stick now whenever he goes out if the paths are uneven. The last thing he needs is another broken leg!

We went home and made a start on a "Reverse Trifle" we'd seen in a Co-op magazine. This was our dish for Sunday this week! We had to slice Swiss rolls, melt white chocolate and make a fruity jelly and then let everything set in the fridge until we were ready to make it.

Sophie also prepared our lunch of cold meats, new potatoes and salad and I hoovered. By 2pm we were ready to sit down and enjoy the tennis with a glass of Champagne! As Kevin Anderson had beaten Federer we were hoping for a really good game but he was very lacklustre in the first two sets. He came back a bit in the third, but Djokovic beat him in a tie-break so it was all over.

Keith went upstairs to watch the final of the World Cup and Sophie and I put the finishing touches to the trifle. It was enormous! I enjoyed it but I found it very sweet!

The strawberries are from our garden

We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing about with the fan on as it's been yet another warm and sultry day and I'm sure it became hotter as the day wore on. I went outside to water our plants and couldn't help giving our poor parched lawn a sprinkling. I could almost sense the relief as I sprayed the yellow grass with water!

Freshening up!

Keith was up early this morning and made a start on painting the porch over our front door. I was trying to watch The Affair but gave up as I felt guilty sitting there while he worked! It was really hot already and Keith was getting the full glare of the sun!

Sophie went off to work and I washed the back door in preparation to paint that as well. We then went to the tip with our old pillows and loads of plastic bottles from Mike's room. Our recycling bin is almost full and it was only emptied last Friday! I just hope it does all go to be recycled and not incinerated as I've been reading in the paper!

When we got home I made a start on the door as Keith had finished the porch but we were plagued with little black thunder flies. They made a beeline for the fresh paint and became stuck in it. Not a good look! However, I had no choice but to carry on and I did both sides of the door which now looks a lot better!

I then cleaned the guttering and soffit over the driveway so the front of the house looks a lot cleaner. At 1pm we watched the hangover of the Men's Wimbledon Semi-Finals from yesterday with Nadal and Djokovic battling it out. I was surprised to see Djokovic win so now he faces a very tall Kevin Anderson in the Final tomorrow. I'm hoping for a good match!

I took Mike to Brixworth and came home to have a shower. Needless to say it's been very hot again today and after my shower I lay on the bed with the fan full on! Sophie came home from work all hot and sweaty as well and after a shower she ordered a Chinese takeaway for us. It's a real treat to have it delivered here as we can hardly get anyone to come out - I sometimes wonder what it must be like to live in a town and have everything on the doorstep!

At about 10.30pm we had a stroll up and down the road outside the house and we were amazed at the noise! I think the pub was having some kind of function as we could hear a live band and a little further down our road, there was a party going on. It was a beautiful still night so the sounds really carried!

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

Once again, Thursday and Friday have sort of blended into one with the days spent at work and the sun has continued to shine down, although it has been a bit cloudy first thing.

We watched an excellent new series on Thursday night called Keeping Faith, which is set in Wales. Sophie and I had tried to get into Picnic at Hanging Rock but after half an hour we'd given up, but after just five minutes of the Welsh drama we were hooked! We are also fans of the new Sharp Objects starring Amy Adams.

At work we've been taking lots of Funzone bookings as people organise their childcare for the school holidays. The girl I worked with on Thursday took a payment for over £1000! It's expensive business!

Both afternoons at After-School Club were spent in the playground as usual and I really won't be sorry when we break up next Friday. I've put myself down to work some extra shifts over the summer holidays but I will still have some days off and it'll be great to finish at 2pm and not have to go out again!

Keith and Sophie walked up to meet me on Friday evening and we sat outside the pub for five minutes before I headed home with my daughter for our glass of wine. We ate fishcakes for dinner, but my appetite was spoiled by the number of flies and wasps in the conservatory. Because we'd had the windows and doors open all day they had all flocked in and were hanging out and annoying us while we ate! Not an enjoyable experience!

Waiting about...

My Mum was seeing her Parkinsons nurse this morning at 11am so I said that I would be there to give her some support as she's been having some real problems with her medication lately. Sophie and I were meant to be seeing Gill for coffee but I postponed, and she understood completely. As she is looking forward to doing so many things over the next few weeks, we've arranged to meet up in August.

We went to Mum's house for 11am and waited and waited. While we were there we helped my parents fill in an Attendance Allowance form so that they can get help towards things like housework, as my Mum is finding it increasingly difficult to do some jobs around the house.

When it got to 12pm and we'd heard the nurse had been delayed we couldn't wait any longer as we needed to go to Tesco and I was hoping my car would be ready before I went to work. We reluctantly left and Sophie drove us over to Tesco where we bought some extras for dinner tonight (the big match!) and I put £25 worth of petrol in her car as we've had to use it while mine is being repaired.

When we got home and started lunch (leftover new potatoes fried and served with crusty bread and butter) the phone rang and it was the garage. Typical! We put the potatoes in the oven and Keith and I went to collect the car which looked fantastic! What a difference! They had done an amazing job on the horrible scratches so I was really pleased.

Back home we hurriedly ate lunch, then Keith went to get Mike in my car while I set off, half an hour later, in Sophie's car for the school. This evening the school was holding its end of term disco but we still had two little boys left at almost 6pm. We were all itching to get home to see England play Croatia in the World Cup semi-final!

We had a cold meats and salad dinner and paused the game while we ate. England had scored one goal before we sat down to eat but sadly, lost the game after extra time 2-1. Still, they did well and it was great that they reached the semi-finals. The final, on Sunday, will now be between France and Croatia.

Sophie and I did watch some of the match but we also went over and watered Sue and Paul's garden. It's been yet another warm and sunny day with no end to this drought in sight!

The Bickerings on tour...

It definitely felt cooler this morning but the heat is due to return again on Thursday. There is still no sign of any rain on the horizon, not even a cooling thunderstorm!

We took my car into Northampton this morning, to have the scratches on the two front bumpers repaired, and after we'd dropped it off we went on to Riverside to visit Sports Direct and Curry's. Sophie was looking for a pair of cycling shorts to wear with a big tee-shirt and we were also on the lookout for a new extractor hood for our oven as ours has almost disintegrated! Everything in our house is starting to fall apart! We had a quote yesterday to replace two panes of glass in the conservatory and the man gave us a price of £280! I'm sure that was inflated!

After looking at some beautiful American fridges in Curry's and wishing we had the space for one, we wandered back over to Costa and had a coffee and something to eat. We've all been a bit bad-tempered with each other this morning and the three of us had a little bicker which lasted most of the morning! However, the coffee in Costa put things right again so we drove off to the Weston Favell Centre, to visit the post office and to try and see my Mum and Dad who were there for an Opticians appointment. We came across them in Costa, had a brief chat and left to go to Jones's where we bought bird food (what else?) and other boring things such as drain cleaner and descaling liquid. Sometimes I really don't know how I can contain my excitement!

Back home I pottered about and noticed our strawberries were going a lovely shade of red. I just hope the birds don't get to them before we can eat them! Sophie took me to work (luckily Mike had managed to cadge a lift to Brixworth to see some friends) and we spent the afternoon in the playground where a lovely breeze cooled things down a little. It was quite nice sitting and gazing up at the sky dotted with fluffy white clouds and watching aeroplanes fly past. I just wished I was on one!

Sophie and Keith came to pick me up before 6pm and then it was home to get ready for the France-Belgium game. I couldn't decide who I wanted to win but France took the lead and held onto it for the rest of the match. We were going to barbecue but that's slightly difficult if, like us, you don't have one! We settled for grilling the burgers and cooking some sausages in the oven before enjoying them with new potatoes and salad!

A little cooler...

After a good night's sleep I felt a lot better and headed into work in the morning sunshine. Towards the end of my shift I had a meeting with Nicola and Sara and they explained they wanted us to be more active in securing members to boost income. I know this hasn't gone down that well with some of the other staff but I don't mind trying to enlist people to join. They can always say no!

At 2pm I sped home to see Sophie and enjoyed a slice of her banana and almond cake with some cold custard. Delicious! It felt too hot to walk to the park today and as we also had two little girls who do a French class until 4pm, it would have been too late anyway. We stuck to the shade and ensured the children who were playing in the sun had their hats on! By 5.30pm all the children had gone home so it was a lovely early night for us.

Sophie and I went over to water Sue and Paul's garden and we gazed out over the view. It felt a lot cooler in the evening and there was a lovely breeze blowing. What a relief!