Crime scene!

I had a busy shift at work and concentrated on trying to complete the moan report to cross it off my list of things to do. I always feel a sense of relief when it's finished!

Keith collected me at 2pm and I decided to clean the conservatory as soon as we arrived home. There was a dead shrew in the middle of the floor, which was a lovely gift for us, and multiple dead flies! I put several of the cushion covers in the washing machine to freshen them up and sponged the sofa to get rid of any traces of the cats.

When I pulled the sofa away from the wall to clean behind it, I discovered a crime scene of dead things and dried-up bodily fluids. It was horrible! What on earth do the cats get up to? I ran some very hot water into a bucket, hoovered and then mopped the floor. I also cleaned the window sills (again) and by the time I'd finished, it was looking so much better and cleaner!

Once finished, I hoovered the living room and mopped the kitchen floor. I felt like I'd made good use of my Thursday afternoon off! There's nothing like having people around for dinner to focus the mind on giving the house a good clean. Well, for me anyway!

An expensive day!

We were up and out of the house by 7.45am this morning to take the Golf for a pre-holiday service. Sophie drove me and was in the tetchiest of moods. I am the world's worst passenger and put my foot down on a non-existent brake several times, much to her intense annoyance. After we'd dropped the Golf off at the garage, she threw a wobbler and made me drive her to work. I don't think she was happy about us having to use her car today!

We dropped her off and went home on the scenic route because of the traffic on the A45. Back home, it was time for a coffee, a couple of pastries that I baked and then threw away as they tasted strange, and a few chores before we went to Tesco.

We were shopping for our holiday this morning, as well as some bits for Saturday night and my head was all over the place trying to remember what we needed, even though I'd written a list! I bought some delicious nibbles, a bottle of Cava and a bottle of Porta 6 red wine as our friends have just returned from Portugal. I just about managed to remember to get us something for lunch!

As we came out of Tesco, the garage called to say the Golf was ready... and it would be £450 as it needed new brake discs and pads and had had a full service. It was a bit more than we'd expected, but at least we have peace of mind before we go away!

We returned home, dropped off the shopping and went to collect the car. I was glad it was ready early as I didn't want to use Sophie's car this afternoon for more errands! We had lunch and a cup of tea and I did some more chores before we ventured out again, this time to have a sneaky peek at the Highfields office, and to go to Jones's. Highfields finally got back to us with a quote for four new panes of glass for the conservatory roof and a new pane of glass with a catflap for the door. We've accepted it and the work will hopefully be completed after our holiday.

We drove to where we thought they were but the building was up for let. I'd had a feeling they'd moved and I was proved right when I Googled their new address, which was near Jones's. We tried unsuccessfully to find the office, just to put our minds at rest that they were still operating as before, but we gave up as the road they were situated on was full of cars and forklift trucks!

At Jones's, I ignored all the Christmas decorations and we bought a couple of items for Saturday night - new placemats, a new corkscrew and a salt and pepper pot! From Jones's, we drove through heavy traffic into town where I dropped one of my summer dresses off at a repair shop. They said they'd have it back to me late next week... I hope so!

Our last place to go before picking Sophie up from work was Dobbies garden centre where Keith picked out a new pair of shoes for the holiday at the Pavers outlet. Phew! We have spent a few pennies today! We drove back to Brackmills to collect Sophie and I was amazed at how heavy the traffic was!

Back home, we relaxed and indulged in a Tesco family lasagne, garlic bread and salad. I had a much-needed G&T - I think I deserved it after my busy day!

I give a pint.

I had another hectic day at work and helped out with calls when I could as Sheila managed to get my phone working again. As is usual for a Tuesday, the office was noisy and it was a relief to get out at 4pm and head to Moulton where I had an appointment to give blood.

Sophie also left at 4pm and said there'd been a serious accident on the A45 so she was forced to go another way home. Keith had driven me today, as he'd been shopping, so he had to sit and wait for me to give blood. I hadn't realised it had been three years since I'd last donated so I was subjected to a Spanish Inquisition when I sat down with one of the staff for my initial discussion. She was quite a scary woman and asked me to give her details of all the operations and procedures I'd had since I was a child... what? Why? The questions are becoming ever more intrusive and one of them in the booklet you're handed when you arrive was unbelievable! I won't repeat it here but if you had indulged in this with a partner, you weren't able to give blood for three months! My eyes nearly popped out of my head!

I managed to remember the very few operations I'd had, including my tonsils out when I was about eight, but why that was so important, I didn't dare ask. I then had to see a burly nurse because of this, and then I was actually free to give blood. Hooray! Every now and again, the blood service cries out for donations, but it's no wonder that they're short if they're so particular about who can give!

This evening was my 45th pint, but I know I've donated more than that as I started when I was 17, but stopped after I went to Nepal when I was 19. The nurse was skilful at inserting the needle in my arm so all went smoothly, thank goodness!

After a glass of water and a Club biscuit, I re-joined Keith and we sped home. Sophie was already there but it had taken her an hour to get home as the A45 was closed and she'd travelled home via Cogenhoe, Earls Barton and Sywell. 

We sat and chatted and ate a delicious beef curry that Keith had prepared earlier. He watched football after dinner while Sophie and I went upstairs and relaxed with just the one cat!

Get a life!

Sophie had another headache this morning, so missed the gym, and this is starting to worry me now, as these migraines are now affecting the way she lives her life. She has spoken about acupuncture and said she would call a clinic today when she's at work. They're hormonal and she gets them at the same time every month, but it's still worrying.

My day was busy answering all the emails and making a start on the moan report. It has now dawned on me that I have two weeks to get as much done as I can before I'm away for a week, so every minute is precious! I also realised that the next two weeks are busy every day with things I need to do for the holiday, so I will appreciate our break hugely when it arrives! I may go AWOL in Provence!

Sophie arrived home and said she'd had a dramatic afternoon at work as there had been a man standing outside her office building filming them. The building has other companies occupying the offices, so she went and spoke to the other people to let them know. One man went out and confronted him and it transpired that he was some kind of idiot who goes around filming offices for no clear reason. One of Sophie's colleagues spotted someone similar on YouTube called DJ Audit. I still have no idea why people do this and can only imagine it's because they thrive on confrontation and staff getting annoyed that they're being filmed without their permission. Get a life! 

Keith cooked the chicken and mushroom pie we should have had last night and then it was time for some brainpower with Only Connect and University Challenge!

Birthday celebrations!

We had a busy Sunday morning catching up with housework before getting ready to celebrate my friend Lynda's birthday at lunchtime. She had originally booked a table at the vineyard in Earls Barton, but they couldn't guarantee to seat us undercover, and she was worried about the weather. Instead, she'd booked The White Hart in Hackleton and had ordered nibbles and Prosecco.

Keith drove Sophie and me over to the pub, and we met Lynda and some friends she used to work with. I knew one woman who was at her 60th, ten years ago! The time has flown by!

Gradually, Lynda's other friends arrived, including Andrea and Fiona. There were about twelve of us and the noise level increased as we all started chatting and the fizz flowed! Food was brought out at about 2pm and we all tucked in, enjoying sausage rolls, breaded calamari, scotch eggs, chips, halloumi fingers and chicken goujons. 

I felt a bit guilty about Sophie coming with me, even though Lynda had invited her, as she was very much the youngest woman there! However, she chatted away and seemed to be enjoying herself! She loves to people watch and there were rich opportunities as all the different personalities made themselves known!

After the savoury food, we enjoyed mini desserts and Lynda gave us all a gift bag to take home. We were delighted to discover a pair of socks, a scented candle and body spray. It was a lovely thought and a complete surprise!

Keith collected us at 3.30pm and we arrived home in time for him to see Newcastle play Wolves. Sophie and I retired upstairs for a snooze and to catch up on yesterday's Saturday Morning Kitchen.

Our evening was relaxed and Sophie and Keith ate last night's Chinese for supper. I was content with a slice of fruit cake I'd bought at Farndon Fields, a measure of my favourite malt whisky and Michael Palin travelling from Pole to Pole. The definite highlight of my weekend!

Cats, cats everywhere, but not a one to cuddle!

Some time ago I'd bought tickets for a Cat Show taking place at the NEC in Birmingham today, so Sophie and I set off at 10.30am. I was allowed to drive Olive and we made good time on the A14 and M6. I'd pre-booked and paid for the parking and we took the shuttle bus to the arena. It was the second time of visiting for Sophie this week, and she pointed out the hotel where she stayed on Wednesday night.

Before we went to the show, we had a coffee and pastry in Starbucks and chatted about what we wanted to see. There was a talk on the hidden language of cats later in the day and I was keen to attend that. Sophie wanted to see and cuddle a Sphinx cat so we eagerly set off for the show with high expectations!

When we first entered the exhibition space we saw lots of stands selling cat food, cat scratching posts and different kinds of litter. However, it looked like you couldn't actually buy anything at the show except little key rings or trinkets. We wanted to buy some cat toys to take home for the boys but it seemed that most of the stands weren't selling anything directly. We had a look at a cat adoption stand and chatted to a woman who confirmed our belief that people do not want black cats... well, we do! But two is quite enough, thank you!

It was busy with crowds of people and some questionable smells wafting about. Hmmm! We made our way over to the cat village to look at the different breeds of cats, but the majority of them were in their cages sleeping. The ones who were awake were surrounded by a crush of people but they weren't really available to hold and cuddle, so that was a disappointment. Sophie did see a Sphinx cat and the owner said that the cat's skin felt like velvet, but she didn't offer us the chance to have a little stroke and find out for ourselves!

I'd definitely worn the wrong clothes today and I was hot and uncomfortable. We had to constantly dodge people and most of the stands were trying to sell different kinds of food, but we weren't able to buy any as I think we had to take out a subscription. Not with our fussy cats!

I'd been surprised to see people leaving the exhibition as we went in but I think I understood why - only half of the space had been taken up with the show and it was all a bit underwhelming! We decided to leave and drive to Farndon Fields near Market Harborough for lunch!

We arrived at about 2pm and we were seated immediately. Both of us chose salads - Sophie opted for the chicken and bacon salad with croutons, and I decided to have the grilled halloumi with pickled red onion, sundried tomatoes and a garlic and herb dressing. The food was good, but my salad was drowned in the dressing and I couldn't finish it. 

After we'd eaten, we wandered around and bought some treats. It was too early for the display of pumpkins but there were some Halloween sweets and chocolates for sale. We paid for our purchases and drove home through the beautiful countryside, enjoying the sunshine and blue skies.

Back home, Keith had gone to see Sileby so we threw open all the windows and I changed out of my uncomfortable top and jeans. Bliss! Why had we gone to see a Cat Show when we had our own lovely cats to enjoy?!

Our evening was relaxed and enjoyable and we found room for a Chinese takeaway later, which was delicious. We started watching The Pink Panther starring Steve Martin, but it was a bit too silly for us, so we switched over to The Last Night of the Proms instead, where they were playing... you guessed it... The Pink Panther!

A hectic Friday!

Sara and Sheila suggested to me today to move desks so I will be at the other end of the office, next to the window and away from the radiator. In the winter we have the battle of the radiator where I turn it down and someone else (normally Jo) turns it up. It also means I would be away from Jo (who has a loud voice) and this would make it easier for me to concentrate on writing emails, some of which can be quite sensitive and require delicate handling. I said I would think about it as I'm used to sitting at the far end of the office, usually in the dark!

Today's shift passed at a hectic pace - I put another load of films onto the system, taking us up until the second week in October, and I answered all the emails, dealing with a few that had been difficult to answer.

Back at home, I relaxed and Keith got ready to go to the pub for the first time in a couple of weeks. Sophie and I opened a bottle of Chenin Blanc that my daughter wasn't keen on. She said it tasted like vanilla, and I agreed, so she went back to an opened bottle of Pinot Grigio instead!

We watched the highlights of The Proms this evening, but we didn't have a repeat of last Friday night! We were in bed at a sensible hour with no hangovers looming!