A relaxed Saturday

Sophie had a Reiki appointment this morning, and I went with her. We had decided to pop into Tesco straight afterwards to buy the Food Bank shopping, which Sophie organises every year. For once, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day! I sat and read while she had her treatment and when she came out, she said she needed to go home to get a coat she'd been given, so she could get it dry-cleaned.

Our plans changed and I suggested shopping for the Food Bank on Wednesday when we're both off work and we could deliver it afterwards. I imagined it would be quieter than today! Sophie agreed but still wanted to take her coat to be dry-cleaned at the Timpson outlet, so we decided to have a sneaky lunch at McDonald's, do a quick shop and spend the afternoon relaxing.

McDonald's was heaving with people so we placed our order and ate in the car. Strangely, Tesco was not busy, which surprised me, and I bought two presents for Secret Santa gifts, a bottle of Chambord for an afternoon cocktail and a pack of new knickers for the holiday! I'm going to start my packing tomorrow and I've been watching the weather forecast closely for how it's going to be while we're there. Hopefully, I can get away with teeshirts and jeans during the day, and warmer tops at night!

Back home, we said goodbye to Keith who was going to see Sileby play, and we relaxed. Sophie prepared tomorrow evening's curry and we both agreed to skip dinner tonight because of our McDonald's lunch! Sophie said she felt guilty, but as we'd last eaten from the restaurant back in September (in France) I didn't think there was anything to feel guilty about!

After Sophie had made all the preparations and marinated the chicken, we sat in the living room and she made us French martinis. I put on a screensaver on the television (a beautiful Alpine Christmas scene) and we sipped our cocktails.

The drinks were delicious and we had a lovely, relaxed afternoon reading and cuddling with the cats. Keith arrived home looking frozen to the bone and watched Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa. We gave him a couple of chicken tenders that we hadn't eaten, which he enjoyed with a spicy chilli dip.

After the football, we watched an interesting programme about The Grand Hotel in Gstaad, where the cheapest room was £1000 a night. We can only dream! The scenery was stunning, with snow-capped mountains and a beautiful town. We then caught a documentary about the Wham! hit, Last Christmas, which was great!

I've decided to take the stack of books by my bedside to Mallorca to read there. I struggled with Jane Austen's Persuasion after a busy day at work, and trying to cut through the flowery language she uses was hard work! We are so used to modern novels edited to be as concise as possible! 

Hopefully, away from a busy working day, I can read them all. I can hope!

Friday the 13th dropsies!

The last day of the working week didn't get off to a great start when I dropped a large tub of Greek yoghurt all over the floor. Some of my porridge went with it, so it looked like someone had been sick! I had to leave poor Keith to deal with it, and fled to work!

Our office was beautifully quiet today and I managed to finish the moan report, and answer all the emails (there was only one left when I left at 4pm), so I was pleased with myself. Next week I am hardly at work so it was great to get so much done today.

I received a lovely surprise when I arrived home and checked my emails. Our MD had sent us an Amazon voucher, which I thought was a lovely touch and much appreciated! My friend Lynda also popped over with presents for Mike and Sophie, and Christmas cards but I didn't hear her knock on the door and she'd hung the bag on the door handle. I have to admit to nodding off for five minutes while watching Michel Roux's programme set in Provence (the lack of sun here at the moment is awful) and Keith was upstairs in the bath! I sent her a message and she said she'd had to go to Kettering so it was probably just a fleeting visit anyway!

Sophie came home and was in a slightly better mood, but it took us a while to decide what to watch this evening. We cracked open a bottle of Austrian Riesling (the one Sophie bought in Olney) and it was delicious. In the end, I suggested Something Borrowed, a classic rom-com, and it was great!

When Keith arrived home from the pub, we gave Sophie the Newcastle United football shirt we'd been looking for on Wednesday. In the end, we'd had to order it from the official club shop and we'd had Joelinton printed on the back, her favourite player. To me, he sounds like he's the son of a County Durham miner, but he comes from Brazil and this is just his first name! She was delighted and whooped about the living room with it on. I don't think we'll be able to separate her from it when she's not at work!

Dinner tonight was pizza for Keith and Sophie and quiche for me, and I managed to drop a slice of pizza, face down on the floor... I certainly had the dropsies today, but if that was the worst that happened, it wasn't bad! All in all, it's been a lovely day!

Things are a little fraught!

While we were driving back from Kettering (the first time) yesterday, I took a call from My Heritage Ltd about the unexpected payment for another year's subscription. I argued my case, saying I hadn't been given enough notice, but the man I spoke to (with an American accent) stated that I'd set the subscription to renew automatically. Yes, maybe, but that was a year ago! A lot has happened since then! A reminder would have been most welcome.

He went off to speak to a supervisor, and to cut a long, slightly argumentative story short, he has given me a two-year subscription for the price I've paid, a third year at half price, and a free DNA test for Keith. I was mollified a little, but it's a lesson to learn! I will now ensure I set aside some time to do more research. Let's hope I find a link to William the Conqueror!

This morning, we were all out by 7:30am. It was so dark when we set out, darker than I have seen so far this winter, and not helped by the foggy, damp conditions. Keith and Sophie dropped me off and when she got to work Sophie called VW on Riverside. They told her she has a home recovery service so they arranged for someone to be at the house by 9am.

My shift at work passed pleasantly (what a difference to Tuesday) and Keith collected me at 2pm. He told me that the recovery man had to break the flap to get it open, and I expected to see it hanging apart when we arrived home, but it looked fine. VW will repair it properly on the 3rd of January, the day after we return from Mallorca!

I spent two hours pootling about doing jobs, and at 4:30 pm, we left to collect Sophie from work. The weather hadn't improved at all, and it was misty and drizzly. The traffic was horrendous; the dual carriageway down to Riverside had two long lanes of slow-moving traffic, so we resolved not to go back that way!

We collected Sophie and headed home in the gloom, an atmosphere that was inside the car as well. Sophie was stressed again from work, and when we arrived home and sat in the kitchen, we discussed the problem. Unfortunately, this resulted in an argument so it was not the best of evenings! I wasn't in the mood to try my whiskies so they'll have to wait until the weekend when things will have hopefully calmed down!

Car catastrophe!

There was no lazing about this morning, and Keith and I were up, showered and out by 9:30 am. I treated my husband to a cooked breakfast at Frankie and Benny's at Riverside, and it was a lovely start to the day. We were on the hunt for something, but I can't say what as Sophie reads this blog!

In the end, we had to admit defeat and we drove over to Kettering. I had an appointment for Mum in the afternoon at a small hospital in Kettering and wanted to check out the parking. Bad memories of trying to get parked at Northampton General Hospital once have made me wary! As I expected, there weren't many spaces, so I asked Keith to drive us.

Back home, we barely had time to pootle about and try and do some jobs before we had to leave again! I'd asked Mum to meet me in reception, but she was still in her room when I arrived, so I was glad Keith could just drop us off. We drove the short distance to St Mary's Hospital, and would you believe I drove straight into a space! Typical! 

We followed directions to the part of the building where she was having "Hand Therapy". I'd had no leaflets or letters about the therapy and neither of us knew what to expect... it's probably my mind but I thought it sounded vaguely smutty! Mum had been referred by the Parkinson's nurse as she struggles to hold her cutlery. We saw a lovely young occupational therapist who went through her medical history and gave her some exercises to carry out. She told us you can buy foam pads on Amazon to fit over pens and knives and forks to make them easier to grip. I never knew! Mum would also benefit from trying to pick up coins or paper clips to improve her dexterity, so I can sort that out before her next appointment in January.

As it was getting late, and I still had loads to do, we dropped Mum back and returned home. I did all the usual Wednesday chores, and Sophie arrived home slightly later than usual as she'd had to go via Brixworth again.

She went back outside to charge up Olive but the flap covering the charging point on her car wouldn't open. I went out and tried to help, but it wouldn't budge. She had 10% battery left so she had to get the flap open to charge it. There was no way she could have driven it to the gym and work tomorrow with it so low.

All efforts to open the flap failed so we started Googling solutions. One piece of advice was to repeatedly open the car while pushing the flap at the same time. That didn't work. We took Olive around the estate in the hope that when she turned off the engine, it would magically re-open. That didn't work. 

Then, Keith and I watched a YouTube video about prising open the flap with a credit card (they used a hotel card in the video) but that didn't work either. We couldn't contact anyone at VW in Northampton (I called Bristol Street Motors by mistake and earned a glare from my daughter), so we had no choice but to leave it. We did find a panel in the boot where you can release the charging cable but that wasn't much help in this situation!

We sat at the island in the kitchen, a family of glums. Sophie had had another stressful day at work, and this seemed to be the last straw. She will have to go in with us tomorrow and be at work from 8am, poor thing.

After dinner (I left a lot as it was a tasteless chicken escalope) I opened two more whiskies for us to share while we watched Never Mind The Buzzcocks. The two were:

December 10th: Black Bottle Captain's Cask Alchemy Series Blended Scotch Whisky at 46.3%. I found it a bit fiery and harsh at first but it softened with a drop of water. Sweetish, and honeyed, reminded me of Biscoff biscuits. 4/5

December 11th: Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt Scotch Whisky at 40.0%. This reminded both Sophie and me of cherries, almonds, marzipan and Bakewell Tart. Delicious! 5/5

Before going to bed, we watched the end of the Simple Minds concert. Earlier, I'd watched one of their old videos from the 1980s and I couldn't believe how young Jim Kerr looked then! Well, it was forty years ago! We all looked a lot younger!

A trying day!

To be honest, today has been a little trying. Our office was noisy, and I found it difficult to concentrate when writing emails and the moan report. I kept having to answer the phone as Sara took Jo and Angela off to brief them on new practices, and Angela also had to do a training course which lasted almost an hour. By mid-afternoon, I felt like screaming! I really want to get as much done as I can before I go away, and I had to put on the children's activities as a priority as it'll be far too late when I return! I nearly put on my headphones to try and block out some of the chatter! Arrggghh!

At 4pm, I checked my phone to find a voicemail from Keith saying he was delayed because of problems on the loathsome A43. It turned out to be roadworks, so we returned home via Brixworth, and we advised Sophie to do the same.

It was great to relax in the peace and quiet and we sat in the kitchen and chatted. I put on a gorgeous screensaver from YouTube showing a snowy scene with trams and little cafés, and Sophie played our music. She is also having a stressful time at work so it was lovely to sit and relax with a glass of red. We were having meatballs and pasta tonight, so no whisky tasting! We drank a 14.5% Cairanne, a village we drove through in October in the Cotes du Rhone, and which her ex-boss had given her. It was gorgeous!

Dinner was also very good and after we'd eaten I enjoyed watching a BBC4 Simple Minds concert at the Hackney Empire. It was an acoustic concert so the music was a bit softer than their usual hits from the 80s. They played several of my favourites: Don't You (Forget About Me), Promised You A Miracle and Waterfront. The music brought back happy memories of being a teenager in the 1980s!

A stiff drink!

When Sophie woke me this morning, I really didn't want to get up! I was cold and tired so took myself back off to bed until 7am when I jumped in the shower. After today, I have only one more Monday to get up. Yipeee!

I drove myself to work this morning and Keith was pleased he didn't have to go shopping! Sheila was on holiday today, so it was just Sara and me in the office until Kathy came in. I managed to scan over the cash-up sheets for Sheila, do the box office returns and make a start on the emails. Jo returned today and said she'd felt very ill with whatever it was that she had last week. She was left with a hacking cough, and at one point all three of my colleagues were coughing loudly. I made a swift exit at 4pm!

Back home, I scooted around and did the usual evening chores, and then it was time to relax in the kitchen. We had to write the shopping list but as soon as that was over, Keith and I played a game of cards while Sophie dipped into her book. After the first game, I opened my two whiskies to try:

December 8th: Redbreast Cask Strength - Batch B1/23 12-year-old Single Malt Pot Still Irish Whiskey at a whopping 57.2%! We were all astonished at the strength of this whiskey and it proved too much for me. Our first sip made us all cough and splutter! I detected sweetness when I smelt it but drinking it was like imbibing firewater! Far too strong! 2/5

December 9th: Talisker Storm Single Malt Scotch Whisky at 45.8%. Another smoky, peaty whisky which put me in a poetic mood... log fires on Skye and misty mountains... coming back from a day's tramping over the hills and warming up by the fire. Perfect. Sophie detected cream and vanilla. I could have drunk it all evening! 5/5

Relaxing on a Sunday

Today has been very relaxed and uneventful—a perfect Sunday! Both Sophie and I woke up late again, but we must have needed the extra hours of sleep. However, I felt like I'd wasted half the day, and the time whizzed past even more quickly!

After enjoying a coffee, we sent Keith out into the wind and rain to Tesco to buy some items we needed. I finished cleaning the oven, did several loads of laundry and wrote out my Christmas cards. It was great to potter about, catch up with jobs and enjoy being in the warm inside. Even going out to our recycling bin was an ordeal and it was cold and rainy, with the wind coming from the north. I really felt for anyone who was suffering in a cold house, or worse, was homeless. I couldn't imagine not being able to put on the heating or have something hot to eat. It just makes me realise how lucky we are.

We decided to eat at 4.30pm this evening and Keith had prepared a beef casserole earlier in the day. It had been slowly cooking in the oven and I made dumplings to pop on the top. I don't think that Sophie and I were really ready for dinner so early, though, and my appetite had disappeared. I didn't try my whiskies tonight because we had a bottle of red with our meal. I can then try a couple tomorrow night!

Our evening was relaxed and we sat in the living room. Keith fell asleep watching football so we sneakily turned over and saw the end of yesterday's Saturday Morning Kitchen. I wished that it was Saturday morning all over again!