A bit under the weather...

I had an atrocious night's sleep and woke this morning with a tummy ache... I think the indulgences over the weekend caught up with me! I am going to have to stop drinking Gin on a work night as it keeps me awake!

Keith was also under the weather and said he felt sick. I had taken the remainder of my steak home on Saturday night and he'd had it in a sandwich on Sunday, so I wonder if that had caused him to feel ill? I went back to bed and texted Sheila to say I would be in at 10am rather than 8am as I felt so bleary. Not a great start to the week!

When I woke later I felt a bit better and had a bowl of porridge before showering. Keith still looked pale and I advised him to stay at home and not move from the sofa! I went to work where I felt a bit fragile, but I wish now I hadn't gone in as Tracie was in to replace Jo (on holiday) and in the afternoon, after speaking to Sara, Sheila took me off the phones as the calls were hard work!

Back home (I was so glad to finish my shift) Keith was feeling slightly better but he hadn't been shopping. Sophie offered to get something for dinner on the way home, but we said we'd order a takeaway from the fish shop in Broughton. Maybe this was a mistake, as I felt quite queasy afterwards... perhaps I should have just had a boiled egg!

34 years together!

After the excesses of yesterday, today was quiet, but it also marked 34 years of Keith and I being together! We had debated about going somewhere, but in the end, decided to just spend the day at home.

We had a lazyish day but I did do some laundry, and I sorted all the recycling in the garage, ready to be taken to Tesco the next time that Keith visits. Sophie hoovered throughout and in the afternoon we popped to the care home with some jumpers that I'd washed for Mum. Before going home we took a bagful of Tassimo discs to the local drop-off point where they're collected and recycled, so we have been quite good!

In the late afternoon, I had a long hot bath, and Sophie and I had a chocolate face pack while we relaxed on the bed. Bliss! We hadn't been able to play Scrabble yesterday so we made up for it tonight with two games and a drink apiece.

Dinner tonight was just cheese, biscuits, pate and toast and Keith and I indulged in a glass of Port with the cheese. Delicious!

A foodie day!

After a lie-in and a lazy morning, Sophie and I went to Market Harborough at midday. We'd booked a table at Pizza Express for lunch, so today was going to be very indulgent food-wise, as I was also going out this evening for a meal with Linda, Fiona and Andrea to celebrate Fiona's 60th birthday!

Before heading to the restaurant we popped into The Attic where Sophie bought a lovely skirt. It was a mixture of metallic colours and will look fabulous teamed with black tights and a top. She always manages to find some great bargains!

We were among the first at Pizza Express and took a table by the window.

The restaurant gradually filled up and became quite lively. We ordered our usual dishes of doppio doughballs, breaded halloumi bites, a large pizza to share and a couple of glasses of wine. We even ordered a dessert today, to round off the meal!

After we'd eaten we went into the jeweller's opposite where I asked about getting my rings re-sized. My fingers have indeed become bigger (it has been 30 years!), and we selected the right ring size and I handed mine over. Hopefully, I will get an estimate in a couple of weeks! We had a good look around the town and Sophie bought two more tops in a charity shop so she was very pleased. That's her work outfits sorted!

We decided to call it a day, but before going home we called into the Co-op at Brixworth to buy a bottle of Gin for Fiona. It was then home to relax and get ready for my evening out with the girls.

Fiona had booked a table at Miller and Carter but she'd asked us to go to her house first for a glass of fizz. Keith dropped me off while Sophie took care of the dinner at home. It was pouring with rain and cold, so not the best of nights to be out and about! Andrea was already there, and once Lynda had arrived we all went upstairs to Fiona's beautiful sitting room where there was a log fire burning. Fiona opened a bottle of Champagne and we sat around chatting. I managed to spill half my glass all over me and the carpet after missing the edge of the table (in my defence, it did slope downwards!).

Fiona's husband kindly gave us a lift to the restaurant and we passed through her new kitchen to get to the garage. Her kitchen looked beautiful and they'd had double doors and windows put into the very end so it was like a conservatory.

The restaurant was very busy and we were led to a table straight away. Fiona had received an email offering a glass of fizz to each of us, but at first, the waiter said we couldn't use it as it had expired the day before... another hopeless case of bad customer service! The girls ordered Porn Star Martinis while I stuck to a glass of wine!

Andrea and cocktail!

Fiona and Lynda

The withdrawal of the offer of fizz had annoyed us all, so when the waiter reappeared, Lynda asked him to re-consider as the meal this evening was not going to be cheap! The management obliged so we all received a glass of Prosecco after our aperitifs!

It took us a little while to choose our meals - I started with the Chipotle chicken and then had a black Aberdeen Sirloin steak for my main course.

We all chose steaks and even found room for a mini-pud afterwards with cocktails! I had a panna cotta served with a Strawberry Daiquiri. With the drinks beforehand, the meals, desserts and a bottle of Malbec, the bill was a hefty £267, but Fiona paid £100 towards her meal and the drinks as it was her birthday treat. This was more expensive than last time!

Keith and Sophie arrived to take me home and we sat with Lynda for a couple of minutes until her taxi arrived. When we got home we relaxed for a short while before bed! What an indulgent day!

Disturbing news...

As usual, I was glad it was Friday and the last morning for getting up early! The news this morning was full of how Russia had decided it would be a good idea to hit the largest nuclear power plant in Europe... wonderful! As if we had learned nothing from Chernobyl!

Work was ok today, but we were very busy for the first hour on the phones, and our MD was lurking in the office all day. I managed to answer a lot of the customer service emails in between calls and process several orders, so the time sped by! At five minutes to 4pm, we still had five calls waiting and Kathy gamely carried on while I finished some jobs I had to do. I think people now try and call us before 4pm as the calls ratchet right up at about 3.30pm!

It was heaven to go home and relax. Keith didn't go to the pub tonight and cooked dinner, which was a bonus. After watching the news headlines (Russia have taken control of the nuclear power plant) Sophie and I decided to put on Runaway Bride, which was fine with me. Richard Gere is the most gorgeous man!

Hooray! It's the weekend!

Another one bites the dust!

Today was my first day covering the customer service emails properly, by which I mean I had to deal with them all, although Sara was on hand for anything particularly tricky! It was lovely to be off the phones for the day, but they were pretty quiet, so not much consolation! I think if it had been extremely busy I would have felt guilty!

The time sped by and I managed to get a lot of emails sorted. Sara was coughing and sneezing a lot today, and later, when I got home, she messaged to say she had tested positive for Covid, even though for the past week when she was sniffly, the tests had been negative. I  really wasn't surprised, to be honest. The common cold at the moment has seemed to transform itself into Covid!

I spent the afternoon catching up with small jobs and before I knew it, Sophie was home. We watched the news for a bit and then turned it off as it's so upsetting. How Putin can sit by and watch this tragedy unfold, with children being killed and made homeless, is beyond me. How I wish someone would do away with him!

A bit of shopping...

I had to take Mum to her GP surgery today for blood tests and an ECG. The weather has been truly horrible all day with lashing rain and a cold wind. What a difference from last weekend!

I had to park near Lidl and we dashed over in the rain to the surgery. We were all done and out by 11am so we drove to Tesco to return some clothes that she'd bought, and then enjoyed a coffee in Costa. After a little bit of shopping, I dropped her back and returned home where Keith was waiting for me. This afternoon, we'd decided to go and buy a mattress for the spare bed, and I was hoping we'd get it without any fuss!

We drove to the St James retail park and popped into an empty Dreams store. One of the salesmen approached and after a bit of information about the different mattresses available, and trying them out, we bought one! It will be delivered next Tuesday which I thought was great, as sometimes there's a delay in actually getting it as they never seem to have anything in stock. 

From Dreams, we crossed the road and popped into B&Q to get some white matt paint for the kitchen. I had noticed that it had flaked off on the corner of the wall so I bought a tester pot to touch it up. I wasn't going to spend a fortune on a big tin when I only needed a tiny bit!

On the way home I fantasised about going to the chip shop and buying a bag of hot, salty chips, but we sensibly went home and I had the paella from yesterday's meal for lunch. A much better choice, but one Wednesday I'm going to call and get them!

The afternoon was spent cleaning downstairs and then I had a short nap. Sophie had woken me a bit later this morning as she was starting work at 10am but I still felt sleepy! I really feel like I could lay around a pool and sleep for two weeks solid, at the moment!

Sophie was late home tonight and I warned about a monster pothole that's on the side of the road leading from the A43 down to Holcot. It was so bad it had even made it to our neighbourhood Facebook page and I reported it this morning before I took Mum out. When Keith and I returned home this afternoon there was a car having its tyre changed just past the pothole, and Sophie told me she saw three cars by the side of the road. It's lethal! 

First day of spring

So, the winter is over and it's the first day of meteorological spring! We've managed to get through another winter! Although I'm not complacent, as I've seen some truly awful weather in March and April!

As is usual on a Tuesday, work was noisy but it was soon over and I was heading home, looking forward to a day off tomorrow. It's a lovely feeling knowing I can do what I want on a Wednesday! Sophie cooked paella this evening and it was delicious. There was more than enough left over for lunches tomorrow.

Keith watched the football this evening downstairs, and I went upstairs with Sophie to watch a new drama called The Holiday. I have read the book and it has a very dramatic ending, but I don't remember that much about it, which is good as I enjoyed the first episode. It's set in Malta and I read in the newspaper at the weekend that it was filmed in April and the actors were frozen! No wonder they were all wearing woollies, but it was lovely to see the landscape of the country, and I'm sure I spotted a hotel that Keith and I stayed in years ago, before we had the children!