Storm Christoph

Day 16 

Today has been a much quieter day, but the weather has been rainy and windy. Not as bad as we had been led to expect, but certainly not pleasant!

Keith and I took my car over to Kettering at 8.30am, and I was very pleased I remembered the way to the garage in the maze of back streets. We dropped the car off and luckily Rob said it would only take the day to do it. Another bill!

The morning was spent mooching about, sitting with Sophie in the conservatory and keeping warm. It was too wet and windy for a walk, and at 2pm I logged onto the computer to watch my Aunt Pat's funeral taking place in Norfolk.

It was desperately sad as only my two cousins and their partners were there, so just four people. I felt very emotional watching it and felt that she deserved better than that. This awful pandemic is affecting so many lives and, although Kim mentioned in his eulogy a get-together in the future to remember her life, I'm sure it's not the send-off her family would have wanted. It was good to be able to watch it live, though, and I will send the link to the care home so my parents can also see it. At the moment they are confined to their rooms because of a number of staff and residents have tested positive.

At 4pm Keith and I went and picked up my car. The bill was about £160 so it could have been worse! I gave my car a stern talking to and said that was enough now!

Sophie made a delicious sausage pasta dish for dinner, and outside the weather became worse, with torrential rain and strong winds. I think we were feeling the full force of Christoph's wrath now!

Money matters!

 Day 15

I woke very early this morning, and eventually decided to get up for an hour. Outside it was calmer than I had expected despite weather warnings out for Storm Christoph.

I did go back to bed for an hour, and didn't surface until 8.30am! After showering and dressing, Keith wanted to take Sophie's car and my Dad's car out for a drive as they had both been standing for about three weeks. We collected the newspaper from a neighbour (how lovely to have it delivered to the estate now!) and decided to go and get some petrol for Sophie's car as it was low on fuel.

The morning was then taken up with money matters and as I still hadn't had any luck with receiving a debit card from NatWest for my parents' account, we drove over to the Weston Favell Centre to go into the branch. Luckily, the shopping mall was quiet and there was no queue for the bank, which was a huge bonus! I saw one of the bank tellers that we used to deal with when we had the business, and she was able to change the address on the account and order me a  new card. Success!

On the drive back home I realised that there was something wrong with my car. It was making a grinding noise and there was a horrible smell. As soon as we were home Keith called Rob Price and we've booked it in for tomorrow. He suspects that one of the brakes has seized up.

Sophie and I went for a walk around the estate and then it was lunchtime. I was more than ready for something to eat after the busy morning we'd had!

In the afternoon We popped over to the Co-op at Brixworth and I paid the £50 that Keith had given me for Christmas 2019 into my bank account. I was saving it for a beauty treatment but that looks very unlikely in the near future!

We also sorted Keith out with a debit card for one of his bank accounts, so today has been taken up with financial problems, that have all been solved. Hooray!

Mrs Grumpy!

Day 14

Keith and I were awake early this morning to go shopping, but we are getting a bit later at going. Aldi won't let you put anything through the checkout until 8am, and we had to go in there to get cat food - Vitacat is the only brand Monty will eat!

Keith went in on his own (the rule of one person only has been re-introduced) while I waited in the car. He was in there far longer than I had anticipated, so it was nearly 8.30am by the time I ventured into Tesco by myself.

I will readily admit to hating shopping by myself. For some reason, I get very confused, can't find anything, and constantly backtrack, thereby getting in people's way who are following the normal route in the supermarket! Twice I nearly barged into two elderly gentlemen who looked at me as if I'd just dropped out of a dog's bottom...

Luckily, my friend Sue was working in Tesco so she directed me to the suet which we needed for dumplings! I must have walked straight past it! Therefore, after deciding to use the self-service checkouts, and constantly being told off by the automated voice, I was in a foul mood when I emerged from the store. It was then that I realised I had forgotten the sausages...

I took out my annoyance on poor Keith, and he drove us to the nearby Co-op where I bought two packs of sausages. Oh well! My bad mood was probably caused by missing my normal early morning coffee, so as soon as we were home and everything had been unpacked and put away, I settled down with my mug and read the newspaper in the conservatory with Sophie.

Sophie and I went for a walk at lunchtime, into the village, and up to the "triangle". After a delicious lunch of oxtail soup and crusty bread, I put the hoover around and re-potted our little family of cacti, as they were looking a bit thin. It's amazing how they bulk up when I water them! I made a complete mess in the kitchen, but I was pleased I'd re-potted them as the roots were poking through the bottom of the plant pot. Laura bought the cacti as a present for Sophie about eight years ago, and I'm glad we've kept them going!

Dinner tonight was a simple quiche, new potatoes and salad, and then it was time to settle down and watch University Challenge! Now I know it's Monday!

A sodden walk

Day 13

The forecast for today was set to be sunny and dry, so I had planned on venturing out into the garden for a while. I donned my walking boots as the grass was wet and muddy, and looked in despair at the state of our garden! Underneath one of the bird feeders, the fallen bits of fat snax had gathered in a greasy clump so I raked the grass over, picking up a horrible sludge on the end of the rake, which went into the gardening bin. Horrible!

Some of the summer bedding plants hadn't made it through the winter, so they went into the bin as well, but a lot were looking OK if a little bedraggled! The grass was too wet to spend time walking on, and after tidying up the Hydrangea, I called it a day and went back inside. I know that as the weather improves and spring arrives it will look a lot better, but it was very disheartening to see the garden looking so messy!

Sophie and I had our weekly facemask before joining Keith for lunch in the conservatory. We ate the leftover Indian from Friday night, so that was good. I would have hated to see it go to waste!

In the afternoon we popped over to see my parents from outside the home, but Mum didn't answer the phone, so it was a bit of a wasted trip. We did call and get the Sunday newspapers though, as I had missed reading them last week. Hopefully, from next week they'll be delivered to a box on our estate!

Sophie and I went for a walk when we got home. I had originally planned on parking at the top of the track that leads down to the nature reserve, but I had forgotten my boots so we walked from home. Sophie suggested walking through the fields, but we were unprepared for how wet and muddy the paths were. We met Dannii the dog walker - with her own dogs for once - and stood and chatted to her for a while. There were lots of other people out and about as well, so we had to use a fair amount of avoidance tactics!

The track leading to the sheep field was underwater, so we back-tracked up to the road, and then carried on down the stony path to the nature reserve. We were a bit early for sunset, and after standing at the gate for a while, and admiring the views, we returned home.

Sophie made us Spiced Rum cocktails, and we played Scrabble as night fell outside. I beat Sophie at Scrabble so we played cards... and she beat me!

Dinner tonight was a delicious beef pie with shortcrust pastry, as a change. Another weekend is over!

An afternoon treat!

Day 12

I was awake at about 4am this morning for some reason, and at 5am I decided to get up for an hour. Outside, as forecast, snow was falling, but by the time I went back to bed at 6am, it was turning to rain. I slept until 8.30am and the light covering of snow that I'd seen earlier, had almost completely gone. So much for the weather warning of heavy snow today!

Sophie made a lovely coffee and walnut cake this morning, and at midday, we went over to the care home with some Ibuprofen for my Mum who has sciatica and was in a lot of pain. Sophie and I then drove over to Farndon Fields to pick up three afternoon teas that we had ordered to celebrate my birthday! The roads were threatening to flood again, and I took it slowly through the puddles!

Back home Sophie laid the table and arranged our afternoon tea on the dining room table. It looked fantastic!

The tea filled us up, and we enjoyed it with a bottle of Prosecco that Mum and Dad had given me for my birthday. We had to leave a good hour before having a slice of Sophie's delicious cake and a cup of tea! We sat in the conservatory and I had a nap as it was so lovely and cosy in there.

Today, I think we were all a bit fed up with being stuck inside. I know some people are having it a lot worse, especially those on their own, but the weekends seem to be the hardest. Next week I'm determined to start doing things in the house so at least I feel I can earn some relaxation at the end of the day!

We spent the evening watching television and obviously didn't have any dinner. We were all too full up!

A lockdown birthday!

Day 11

I never for one moment thought that I would be joining the Lockdown Birthday Club, but here I am! I have a strong feeling that Mike will join me as well!

I received beautiful cards, and lots of messages on Facebook to wish me a Happy Birthday, so that was lovely. Sophie had made me up a little bag of treats containing new gloves, a foot moisture mask, lavender oil to aid sleeping, and a scented candle. Keith had bought me a bottle of Blood Orange Gin and Champagne, and I received a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, some chocolates and Prosecco from my parents, so I did extremely well!

 I spent the morning doing very little, and at lunchtime, Sophie and I went for a half hour's walk in the winter sunshine. On the way back we decided to do a loop of the estate and met Ruth, who is a fellow member of our recycling group. She was a bit saddened that somebody had put a bag of dog poo in one of the recycling bins... there is a notice on the lid clearly stating that it's for recycling only, so it looks like we have a bit of a problem around here with people being incredibly thoughtless. We have any number of people wandering around our estate, sometimes with dogs, and we are having a bit of a "Poogate" at the moment!

So, today has been lovely, but I did miss not being able to go out for the day, as in previous years. At 6pm Sophie and I cracked open the bottle of Champagne and ordered a takeaway Indian from Mawsley. Last time we had a bad experience with them. but this evening the food had arrived by 7pm, so that was a bonus. Last time we had to wait for ages!

A bit of excitement!

Day 10

Keith and I got up early again and left to go to Aldi and Tesco. It made me think how bizarre this situation is when we're worried about something as normal as grocery shopping! And when you think of everything else going on, the police questioning where people are going, not being able to visit the next county, let along travel further afield, being confined to our homes and not able to see friends and family, it's genuinely nightmarish.

We didn't do so well with the shopping today. I split up from Keith in Tesco as I needed to get some things for my Mum, and we forgot to buy dinner for my birthday tomorrow! Never mind, we'll probably order a takeaway instead to celebrate!

The weather today has been absolutely awful. It's been foggy, grey and rainy, and the roads have started to flood again, where they were bad last month. There hasn't even been a glimpse of sun or blue sky today, so very miserable indeed.

When we returned home I used up some eggs, bacon and mushrooms and cooked breakfast. After we'd eaten we sloshed our way over to the care home and delivered Mum's shopping. I stopped outside their window and called her so at least we had a chat and she could see us, albeit very briefly! I didn't get out of the car today, it was so horrible!

Back home I mooched about and felt a bit bored and miserable, but really I shouldn't complain. I have a lot to be thankful for. However, things did liven up in the afternoon when we had three police cars drive around the estate! They then drove over the fields at the back of the estate and we think it was a police chase going on, which is so rare for us to see out here in the sticks! There was a buzz of excitement on our residents' Facebook page, and people who could see over the fields were posting photos!

It then became even more exciting as it started to snow! Sadly, it didn't last very long but it was lovely to see while it lasted! This evening, as it was my Birthday Eve, Sophie and I had a proper drink and watched Grand Designs while Keith cooked dinner. Perfect!