Monday again!

Horrible Monday morning rolled around again and work wasn't too bad. I had planned on going to the Weston Favell Centre when I finished at 4pm but I just couldn't face it so I went home. I still haven't bought anything for my Mum!

At home, I hoovered, tidied up and then prepared dinner. We had some mushroom sauce left so we'd decided to do a chicken and bacon pasta bake this evening. Keith cut up the chicken and we prepared everything to cook a little later.

Sophie was back at work today and feeling so much better. Even Keith's cough seemed to have calmed down a bit, thank goodness. I was glad I'd escaped the lurgy!

Dinner this evening was delicious. We cooked the pasta, pan-fried the chicken and then added the mushroom sauce from yesterday plus a jar of sauce we had in the cupboard. I mixed parmesan cheese with breadcrumbs and sprinkled that on the top and we baked it in the oven for about forty minutes. Sophie made garlic bread, which was lovely and crispy.

After we'd eaten, Keith and I caught up with I'm A Celebrity which has returned to Australia for the first time since 2019. The bunch of celebrities were OK, but I only recognised a handful of them! It will be interesting when our former Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock, joins the group! I think he will be given a fair few trials to complete!

Entertaining!

Sophie's friend, Laura, was coming for lunch today and I was very glad I woke up at 6.30am as I had lots of things to do. I made myself a coffee, wrote my blog and then prepared all the vegetables for the meal. We were having chicken schnitzel with roast potatoes, honey-roasted parsnips and carrots, Brussels sprouts cooked with bacon, mashed swede and mushroom sauce, which we'd never made before.

For some reason, I was nervous about the meal. Normally, when Laura comes over, we have an array of nibbles, but today we were cooking a meal and I wanted it to be good! After I'd prepared all the vegetables, I asked Keith to pop to Tesco to get some Prosecco, and Sophie and I cleaned the downstairs of the house and made sure the conservatory was looking its best. Outside, it had been very foggy and grey but I could see some occasional glimpses of blue sky and we didn't need to put any heating on to warm the room.

Mike contacted me this morning and dropped the bombshell news that he wouldn't be spending Christmas Day with us as he had been invited to Center Parcs with Abbie's family. I was a little upset but wanted him to be happy, so I suggested we meet up with them in Winchester on the 17th of December to visit the Christmas market there, have lunch and celebrate a week early.

When Keith returned from Tesco, I discovered we didn't have an onion so we sent him off again, poor thing! Sophie and I did as much preparation as we could and, at 1pm, Laura arrived with a dessert, more Prosecco and nibbles, as she thought that was what we were having! 

We girls sat at the island and chatted while Keith watched the football - we had inadvertently chosen to have lunch while Newcastle was playing... oops! I put the finishing touches to the Brussels and bacon dish and made the mushroom sauce, which was very easy. I needn't have worried!

Lunch was a great success and Laura cleared her plate, which Sophie said she hardly ever does! Praise indeed! While the girls chatted in the conservatory I washed up and cleared away, and then went upstairs to lie on the bed and watch Holiday Homes in the Sun. Outside it was dark and horrible and the girls retreated to the cosy kitchen and put the heating on.

Sophie called me down for pudding - a gooey sticky toffee pudding served with ice cream - and I sat in the living room with Keith and we put the fire on. I think I fell asleep for a little while... I did have an early start!

After Laura had gone, we reluctantly made a list for Keith to take shopping tomorrow, and then relaxed for the rest of the evening. I'm A Celebrity was back tonight but it was on until 10.45pm, way past my bedtime! We recorded it instead!

Turkish Delight.

Sophie and I had planned a trip to Olney today, and lunch in a Turkish restaurant called Capadocia. We drove over at about 11am under leaden, lumpy skies, so warm coats were definitely needed. We managed to park on the busy main road running through the town and visited a couple of shops before we ate.

I was on the lookout for presents for my Mum's birthday next week, but I hadn't a clue as to what to buy her. When I'd bought her clothes in the past, they'd either been too big or too small, so I wandered around looking for inspiration! Sophie bought four beautiful glasses in one of the vintage shops, which added to her gorgeous collection. We popped into both charity shops and expensive boutiques but I didn't see anything I liked for Mum. I'd bought her a scarf and a necklace in Spain, which ruled those choices out! 

At 1pm we walked to the restaurant, tucked away along a narrow alley. Another couple was already seated, and we were given a table next to a beautiful picture of the Cappadocia region itself, showing hot air balloons hovering over a gorgeous landscape. I've never really fancied visiting Turkey (I can't really count a day trip there with Keith when we were staying on the Greek island of Lesbos) but I have always wanted to go to this particular region.

We were given menus and we chose two glasses of Turkish wine to drink while we looked at all the choices. Sophie had been to a Turkish restaurant before so she chose the starters and we both opted for the same main course. Our choices were falafel on a bed of hummus and halloumi and sucuk combo - grilled cheese and beef sausages served with a side salad. For mains, we enjoyed "Yogurtlu Tavak Sis" - diced breast of chicken charcoal grilled on skewers and croutons topped with yoghurt, fresh tomato & butter sauce, served with rice. Accompanying the meal was delicious bread with two dips and we certainly got stuck into this as we were both hungry!

The food was delicious and it was wonderful to try something new for a change. The Turkish wine was also very good so that's two new wines we've tried in the past few months - Algerian and Turkish!

The restaurant gradually filled up and it was lovely and cosy inside as outside it was grey and rainy. We finished our meal with baklava and Turkish tea, and were suitably stuffed! The bill came to a rather high £92 and we left a tip, rounding the meal up to £100, more than we had expected to pay, but the food was excellent.

We had planned on doing some more shopping after lunch, and we did pop into one small shop selling vintage items, but the allure of home was too much! We waddled back to the car and drove home through Castle Ashby and Cogenhoe.

Back home we relaxed and digested our lunch! Tonight, we didn't play Scrabble but we watched a film called Toscana instead, and treated this evening as Wine Night! The film was lovely and set in Tuscany, with sumptuous shots of the beautiful landscape and the meals prepared by the main characters. After the film, I nibbled on some cheese and biscuits but neither of us was very hungry after our lunch!

Outside we heard the occasional bang of a firework - it was Bonfire Night after all!

Bang, bang!

Today has been lovely at work as there was just Kathy and I working, and no one else in the office! It was so quiet and peaceful! I managed to get a lot done before the phone lines opened, and I also cleared all the customer service emails as well, apart from a handful from parents who had written in to complain about cancelled swimming lessons again. As I had spoken to them on the phone and advised them to email us, I was hesitant about then replying to them in writing! I'll leave that for Sara to deal with on Monday!

At 4pm, I sped home to see Keith and Sophie, and my daughter was feeling much, much better. Obviously, a couple of days of rest had revived her spirits! We decided to go to the fireworks, and before we left we put some potatoes in the oven to bake and switched on our slow cooker to cook the chilli Keith had prepared earlier. He went to the pub for a drink with John and Sophie and I drove to Loddington.

I had mistakenly thought that, as the fireworks were being held at the cricket ground in the village, there'd be parking, but there wasn't. I managed to park on the road nearby and we walked into the ground after paying £5 each.

There were already a lot of people gathered and we treated ourselves to a polystyrene cup of mulled wine to warm ourselves up! It was a clear night and we could see the moon and stars overhead. Most of the children present had been given multi-coloured light sabres to wave about, and they were really excited about the whole evening, screaming and running about, brandishing the light sabres like mad, so watching them actually hurt our eyes! What happened to good old sparklers?

The fireworks started at about 7.15pm and were over pretty quickly. Unlike Old, there was no bonfire to gather around and the fireworks, although very good, were of the bang, bang, bang style with lots of pretty colours. We had enjoyed the display but we both felt like "outsiders" as it wasn't our village. Silly, I know, but we did miss our own display which was always a really good night, with a chance to meet up with friends and neighbours.

As soon as the display was over we hot-footed it back to the car and managed to get out of the village quite quickly. Back home, Keith was sitting in the kitchen waiting for us and after opening a bottle of red for Sophie and me to enjoy, we ate dinner.

After we'd eaten we watched the first episode of the second series of The White Lotus, this time set in Sicily. It was just as quirky and funny as the last series!

Twin bags!

I was looking forward to finishing work at 2pm and coming home to potter about, but Keith looked so fed up about going shopping that I offered to go with him... not my favourite thing to do!

We left Sophie in bed but she said she would get up as soon as we left and go to the gym, which I didn't think was a good idea. Keith and I drove to Moulton to pick up my car, and Keith took a spare key so he could sit in the car and wait until Glen arrived. I thought I was going to be late for work but I arrived dead on time at 8am and set the office up as Sara hadn't arrived. We are both noticing that the traffic is horrendous in the morning now, and it seems even busier than before the pandemic!

Work was good, and I handled all the customer service emails before leaving at 2pm. Sophie had gone to the gym, and then to work, but she still didn't feel good, so she'd been sent home again and told to take Friday off as well.

I returned home and quizzed Keith about my car and he said it was, as we had guessed, the wheel bearing, this time on the nearside. I really hope that that's it for a while now! We drove to Kettering and did the shopping, bickering all the way around the two supermarkets as I wanted to look at lots of things (I hardly ever go so it's good to see what's new). In Tesco, only a few checkouts were open and after going to a self-service till and having to wait even before we'd put anything through, we opted for a manned one. It appears that Tesco is cutting right back on their checkouts so I dread to think what it'll be like at Christmas! We waited, and chatted with the woman in front of us who had a Mercadona bag, just like us! How weird was that! She said her Mum lived in Tenerife so that would explain it, but I honestly thought we'd be the only shoppers with Mercadona and Carrefour bags! We're show-offs!

We arrived home and unloaded all the shopping, impeded by Monty who kept winding himself around our legs and wanting food. I swiftly chucked him out as I could see one of us falling over him! Sophie came downstairs and inspected all the shopping, and we sat and enjoyed a cup of tea once it had all been put away.

Dinner tonight was beef stroganoff and Keith had already prepared the meat and vegetables so all he had to do was cook everything. Sophie helped and the meal was delicious!

A depressing afternoon!

Sophie wasn't well at all today so she phoned in sick, something she hadn't done for ages! Keith and I took my car to the garage and had an awful journey to Moulton in the school-run traffic. Thank goodness we don't have to do that on a regular basis anymore!

Back home Keith made me breakfast of poached eggs on toast, and I spent the morning doing housework and catching up with jobs. Again, I managed to get a load of washing out on the line which was a bonus as it was dry and breezy. And it all dried! The weather forecast is for colder temperatures later in the week, but so far we haven't had to put the heating on, and our gas bill for October was about £30. If only it could stay that way!

Predictably, the garage rang just as I was going to collect my Mum and said the car was ready. I didn't want to drag Sophie and Keith out so we said we'd pick up the car in the morning.

I collected Mum and we drove to Kettering, as I'd booked her a hearing test at Specsavers. I parked in the large car park in the centre of the town and we battled the strong wind to walk the short distance to the Newlands Shopping Centre, the most soulless place I've ever had the misfortune to visit. In fact, the whole of Kettering town centre was depressing, with many shops up for let or just closed down all together. It reminded me strongly of Dartford when we used to go and visit my Nan.

Specsavers was right at the far end of the shopping centre and I'm glad my Mum had brought her little walker with her as it gave her a lot of support. We sat and waited in the busy shop, and were then called into a small room for the test. As soon as the man doing the test looked into Mum's ears he said that they were full of wax and he couldn't do any tests until they were clear. That might explain why she's having difficulty hearing us! He recommended oil drops so we popped into a nearby Boots and bought some. Hopefully, that might solve the problem!

We felt we deserved a cup of tea so we went to a little café in the middle of the shopping centre and enjoyed a hot drink and a slice of Victoria sponge. I hadn't had any lunch so I was a bit peckish so it was delicious but it wasn't cheap... almost £15 for two teas and two slices of cake! I really hope I don't have to come back here for a while!

Before I left Mum I went up to the room and put some drops in her ears. She will have to do it every day until they're clear and I hope it works! I sped off home, driving via Loddington so I could check the time of the fireworks on Friday. Sadly, our own village isn't having a display this year so this is the next best thing.

At home, I sat with Sophie in the kitchen and we had a cup of tea and a natter. She said she felt better and was going to go to the gym in the morning for a swim before work. She was also going to sit in the steam room and see if that helped!

Dinner tonight was the stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in ham and they were delicious. Sophie cooked so she must have felt a lot better!

The lurgy strikes!

Today has been as bad as yesterday was good! I couldn't open my flask of porridge this morning as it seemed to be welded shut, and when I did manage to get at it, the porridge was lukewarm. Yuk! This kind of set the tone for the day and although nothing majorly bad happened, it was a niggly day that I wanted to be over!

Sophie felt ill today so she left work early and went home. She must have been feeling ill to do that, poor thing! So far, I have managed to escape the lurgy, but I did have a dry throat and a slight headache today, so I hope it's not a sign of things to come. We have stopped testing now, as if it is covid, there's nothing stopping us from doing things and going out. We have one test left from the free ones we used to receive so we're keeping that for posterity!

Sophie didn't feel like cooking tonight (none of us did) so we ordered an Indian takeaway from Mawsley. Before it arrived, we watched an episode of Stanley Tucci's Italian foodie trip, which injected some colour and life into a chilly November evening. He was in Calabria and the places he visited looked stunning. How I would love to devote a few years of my life exploring Europe in all its beauty!