Sophie had to be up ridiculously early today as she was off to Shaftesbury in Dorset and had to be in Thrapston for 5am. Keith and I took her there and when we got home I went back to bed for an hour!
I took Mike to work this morning and the weather was a tad disappointing today as the sky was grey and we had drizzly rain. It stayed that way for most of the day and it was horrible! We're so used to blue skies and sunshine now!
Work was pleasant today as three of us were manning the phones so it was a lot easier. I started on some work for Sheila and caught up with Sara after her week off.
At 2pm I went home as I had my car and Keith and I went back to get Mike at 3pm. Sophie was leaving Shaftesbury at about 3.30pm and was very tired after such a long day. She arrived home at about 6.30pm so we were able to relax before dinner of tomato soup and garlic bread. I added some chilli flakes to the soup to give it some heat and our own garlic bread was delicious! I cut some part-baked rolls in half and spread them with garlic butter before sprinkling some parsley over them. I don't think we'll ever buy shop-bought garlic bread again!
Sophie has another early start tomorrow and has to be at Mum's (where her manager is picking her up) at 6am. Well, it's almost a lie-in actually!
Monday, 16 September 2019
Sunday, 15 September 2019
Pootling about!
We had a lovely, lazy start to the day as Sophie didn't go to the gym, and after Keith got back with the papers, we made a Spanish tortilla with the leftover veggies from last night.
It's been another gorgeous day with blue skies and sunshine and warm temperatures. We pootled about in the morning and at 2.30pm went to get Mum as we were going to Beckworth for a cup of tea.
It wasn't anywhere near as busy as I'd anticipated so we were seated immediately in the inside part of the restaurant. Mum splashed out and ordered herself a glass of Prosecco while Sophie and I stuck to hot drinks. I enjoyed a delicious slice of Victoria sponge while Sophie chose a slab of gooey chocolate cake! It looked yummy!
After we'd eaten we wandered around and looked at the plants but I'm loathe to put anything in at the moment when we're off next week. The summer bedding plants are still going strong and I'm hoping they'll continue to flourish after we get back.
We took Mum home and returned to loll about again. Keith had already put the dinner on so we didn't have to do anything and we caught up with some recorded programmes - just how I like Sunday evening to be!
Dinner was a beef casserole topped with cheesy potatoes and very good it was too!
It's been another gorgeous day with blue skies and sunshine and warm temperatures. We pootled about in the morning and at 2.30pm went to get Mum as we were going to Beckworth for a cup of tea.
It wasn't anywhere near as busy as I'd anticipated so we were seated immediately in the inside part of the restaurant. Mum splashed out and ordered herself a glass of Prosecco while Sophie and I stuck to hot drinks. I enjoyed a delicious slice of Victoria sponge while Sophie chose a slab of gooey chocolate cake! It looked yummy!
After we'd eaten we wandered around and looked at the plants but I'm loathe to put anything in at the moment when we're off next week. The summer bedding plants are still going strong and I'm hoping they'll continue to flourish after we get back.
We took Mum home and returned to loll about again. Keith had already put the dinner on so we didn't have to do anything and we caught up with some recorded programmes - just how I like Sunday evening to be!
Dinner was a beef casserole topped with cheesy potatoes and very good it was too!
Saturday, 14 September 2019
A late lie-in!
I didn't wake up this morning until about 9am, which was really annoying, especially as the weather has been absolutely gorgeous today!
Sophie and I had a hair appointment at about 11am so we showered and drove to Moulton. It was great to not worry about washing our hair! We had a little wait in the salon and I sat and read my Kindle and enjoyed a coffee. Sophie had her locks chopped first and then it was my turn.
Afterwards I dropped Sophie off at the gym and went to Waitrose where I bought some extra veggies for tonight, four bottles of beer for the men and a pack of vegan sausage rolls. They were OK, but a little dry.
When Sophie had finished her workout it was time to go home and enjoy the vegan pizza I'd bought the other day for lunch. We ate it with a tub of Mediterranean couscous I'd bought and very good it was, too!
We spent the rest of the day lolling about and relaxing. The weather continued to be gorgeous and Keith and Mike had been out in the garden trying to cut down the ivy and the Virginia creeper that have reached the eaves of the house, our satellite dish and the burglar alarm box. I really would like to do something with this area as we never use it and it's a dead space. It would be great to have doors opening out onto it and a seating area. One day, perhaps!
Dinner this evening was a barbecue but it was alarming how early it became dark! Gone are the long sunny evenings!
Sophie and I had a hair appointment at about 11am so we showered and drove to Moulton. It was great to not worry about washing our hair! We had a little wait in the salon and I sat and read my Kindle and enjoyed a coffee. Sophie had her locks chopped first and then it was my turn.
Afterwards I dropped Sophie off at the gym and went to Waitrose where I bought some extra veggies for tonight, four bottles of beer for the men and a pack of vegan sausage rolls. They were OK, but a little dry.
When Sophie had finished her workout it was time to go home and enjoy the vegan pizza I'd bought the other day for lunch. We ate it with a tub of Mediterranean couscous I'd bought and very good it was, too!
We spent the rest of the day lolling about and relaxing. The weather continued to be gorgeous and Keith and Mike had been out in the garden trying to cut down the ivy and the Virginia creeper that have reached the eaves of the house, our satellite dish and the burglar alarm box. I really would like to do something with this area as we never use it and it's a dead space. It would be great to have doors opening out onto it and a seating area. One day, perhaps!
Dinner this evening was a barbecue but it was alarming how early it became dark! Gone are the long sunny evenings!
Friday, 13 September 2019
A quiet end to the week!
Thursday and Friday have been equally quiet. Keith dropped Sophie off at my parents' house again while I took Mike to work. We have still been busy with swimming lesson enquiries and I think we're all getting a bit fed up with it now! The parents get into such a state about the lessons when I think there are far more important things to worry about!
Sophie brought home some lovely goodies from her show on Thursday - a bar of shampoo and one of soap, beeswax wrappers (to replace clingfilm), a metal straw and lots of pens and cloth bags. We are really getting into this recycling lark now and trying hard not to buy items that have excessive plastic with them. With the scheme we have entered into, we can recycle crisp and snack wrappers, biscuit and cake wrappers, coffee pods, pet food pouches and dental hygiene items - all things that can't go into the normal recycling bins.
On Friday it was bliss to get out of work at 2pm, pick Mike up and head home. The weather all this week has been dry and sunny and it's set to stay that way over the weekend. Perhaps this is the last push before Autumn starts in earnest!
Sophie brought home some lovely goodies from her show on Thursday - a bar of shampoo and one of soap, beeswax wrappers (to replace clingfilm), a metal straw and lots of pens and cloth bags. We are really getting into this recycling lark now and trying hard not to buy items that have excessive plastic with them. With the scheme we have entered into, we can recycle crisp and snack wrappers, biscuit and cake wrappers, coffee pods, pet food pouches and dental hygiene items - all things that can't go into the normal recycling bins.
On Friday it was bliss to get out of work at 2pm, pick Mike up and head home. The weather all this week has been dry and sunny and it's set to stay that way over the weekend. Perhaps this is the last push before Autumn starts in earnest!
Wednesday, 11 September 2019
Scary films!
On Wednesday I dropped Sophie off near where my parents live as she was off to the RWM show in Birmingham. This was all about recycling and waste management and she had a long day on her company's stand.
Keith and I spent the morning sorting our clothes out for Mallorca next week and making sure we had all of our adapters and insect repellents! We popped to Tesco where I bought dinner for Sophie and I tonight (Keith was having leftover fish pie) and then we went to Jones's where we splashed out on a new large suitcase. The one we have weighs 10kg empty but the new one is just over 2kg and is a lovely, cheery aquamarine colour. We'll easily be able to spot it on the carousel!
In the evening, after a lovely light meal of breaded halloumi and jalepeno fingers, we went to see Don't Look Now at the Northampton Filmhouse. It wasn't on until 8.45 and I was slightly worried about parking as there were other shows taking place at the theatre. However, we slipped into a great space right outside the door, which later I was very thankful for!
Before the film we had a glass of wine at John Franklin's and then took our place in the cinema. I'd seen Don't Look Now before but Sophie hadn't so it was great seeing it through her eyes. What an atmospheric film it is and so many splashes of red everywhere! At the end Sophie nearly jumped out of her seat!
We left the cinema and we were very glad we'd parked so near. Northampton is nothing like Venice, but I was still feeling creepy about the film! Keith had been to collect Mike from the train station at about 8pm and my son was out with a friend when we arrived home at 11pm!
Keith and I spent the morning sorting our clothes out for Mallorca next week and making sure we had all of our adapters and insect repellents! We popped to Tesco where I bought dinner for Sophie and I tonight (Keith was having leftover fish pie) and then we went to Jones's where we splashed out on a new large suitcase. The one we have weighs 10kg empty but the new one is just over 2kg and is a lovely, cheery aquamarine colour. We'll easily be able to spot it on the carousel!
In the evening, after a lovely light meal of breaded halloumi and jalepeno fingers, we went to see Don't Look Now at the Northampton Filmhouse. It wasn't on until 8.45 and I was slightly worried about parking as there were other shows taking place at the theatre. However, we slipped into a great space right outside the door, which later I was very thankful for!
Before the film we had a glass of wine at John Franklin's and then took our place in the cinema. I'd seen Don't Look Now before but Sophie hadn't so it was great seeing it through her eyes. What an atmospheric film it is and so many splashes of red everywhere! At the end Sophie nearly jumped out of her seat!
We left the cinema and we were very glad we'd parked so near. Northampton is nothing like Venice, but I was still feeling creepy about the film! Keith had been to collect Mike from the train station at about 8pm and my son was out with a friend when we arrived home at 11pm!
Tuesday, 10 September 2019
A quiet start to the week...
Monday and Tuesday have been very quiet with not much going on in our household, so pointless to write an individual post about the start of the week! We did have a visit from Radio Northampton on Tuesday, though, as the new Facebook group we have set up has reached local news! I had been asked to appear on the show from 6am until 9am but I was at work. I did stop by on my way out to cheer on my fellow recyclers and we listened in the car to the radio show, which was brilliant!
Mike stayed with Abbie over the weekend and for the first three days and sent us regular updates about what he was doing - having a whale of a time by the sounds of it! They'd been to the Science Museum and the Greenwich Observatory so we were glad he was having such a fun time!
Mike stayed with Abbie over the weekend and for the first three days and sent us regular updates about what he was doing - having a whale of a time by the sounds of it! They'd been to the Science Museum and the Greenwich Observatory so we were glad he was having such a fun time!
Sunday, 8 September 2019
The warmth of the sun!
We awoke to blue skies and sunshine today and it's been gorgeous. I was awake quite early so I was pleased as I really didn't want to waste a minute today. When Sophie woke up she said she was going to the gym so we dropped her off and went to put some petrol in her car before going down to the Costa on Riverside. It was bliss to sit by the window and have a coffee in the sunshine!
On the way home we called to see my parents and we had another coffee. Back home I pottered about in the garden and watered the plants, some of which were quite dry. I removed some compost from my bin and planted up a rose that my parents had given me. As soon as we return home from Mallorca I'm going to buy some winter flowering pansies and plant them in my compost (which still has some egg shells intact!).
I decided to change our bed and I did mounds of washing and also chatted outside to Lynn who had given us a couple of wheelbarrows of top soil from the new neighbours across the road. She said they were going to move in tomorrow so even though we've hardly spoken to them, we've had mounds of their lovely topsoil!
Sophie and I took Monty for a walk and dropped off some recycling before going to see the horses who wolfed down our carrots. The boss horse chased away two of the others and let me pat and stroke her (I think she's a she). Monty came with us but then ran off when he saw a man walking two big dogs. We carried on around the estate and relished the warmth of the sun on our faces. Bliss!
Back home I dug all the top soil into our garden and Sophie came to sit out with me, bringing me a G&T. I swept up all the leaves as well so I felt quite satisfied by the time I'd finished!
Dinner tonight was roast chicken and as there were only three of us, we had quite a lot left over. So, it's bubble and squeak tomorrow, then!
On the way home we called to see my parents and we had another coffee. Back home I pottered about in the garden and watered the plants, some of which were quite dry. I removed some compost from my bin and planted up a rose that my parents had given me. As soon as we return home from Mallorca I'm going to buy some winter flowering pansies and plant them in my compost (which still has some egg shells intact!).
I decided to change our bed and I did mounds of washing and also chatted outside to Lynn who had given us a couple of wheelbarrows of top soil from the new neighbours across the road. She said they were going to move in tomorrow so even though we've hardly spoken to them, we've had mounds of their lovely topsoil!
Sophie and I took Monty for a walk and dropped off some recycling before going to see the horses who wolfed down our carrots. The boss horse chased away two of the others and let me pat and stroke her (I think she's a she). Monty came with us but then ran off when he saw a man walking two big dogs. We carried on around the estate and relished the warmth of the sun on our faces. Bliss!
Back home I dug all the top soil into our garden and Sophie came to sit out with me, bringing me a G&T. I swept up all the leaves as well so I felt quite satisfied by the time I'd finished!
Dinner tonight was roast chicken and as there were only three of us, we had quite a lot left over. So, it's bubble and squeak tomorrow, then!
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