Ready for the off!

I had a horrible journey to work again, and it was just Sara and me in the office until Jo and Angela came in a few minutes before 10am. Angela was stressed again about parking and had found a space a fair walk away. Our MD was also in and came to say hello as he always does (the rest of our senior management team don't bother), but that was it... where is everyone? There's supposed to be about thirteen of us in the offices, so it was like a ghost town!

Sara and I had a lot of emails to deal with, so we answered them and worked hard. We are starting to get a lot of customers calling about the end of March now, and what's happening. It's a question we find hard to answer at the moment!

The weather today has been grey and dismal, and it took me a depressingly long time to exit the hospital grounds. The traffic on the A45 and A43 was awful, so I need another route home!

When Sophie arrived home, we packed the car so it was all ready to go tomorrow! We then found time to relax before an early bed!

The Monday blues!

The weather turned mild overnight, so there was no frost this morning. It's set to stay like this all week, which is a relief as I didn't fancy driving to France on Wednesday in a snowstorm!

Keith took me to work this morning and agreed with me about how miserable the journey is. It's so dark I need the main beam on the country roads. What an awful time of year to change our place of work! He dropped me off, and I had a busy shift trying to get as much done as I could in the morning, as I was answering the phone in the afternoon with Kathy. I gave up with the emails as the phones were almost constant! It was not pleasant!

When he picked me up at 4pm, I was in a bad mood, and we queued for ages to leave the hospital grounds, which made me worse! I am not the only one unhappy with the arrangements; Sara now has to leave thirty minutes earlier in the morning and has set her alarm to go off at 6am, like me! And then there's always the worry of managing to find a space...

To cheer myself up at home, I sat and watched a couple of episodes of Ever Decreasing Circles until Sophie got home. She didn't seem that happy either, and I'm just glad we're away this week! I know that traditionally January is a bleak month (thanks Mum and Dad, for having me right in the middle!) and I will try and think ahead to Spring, which will be here soon!

Sophie cooked a delicious chicken stir-fry meal for dinner, and while she was cooking, Keith and I played cards, something we haven't done for a while!

Sunday syndrome...

The weather was cloudier today, but it still felt cold when the wind blew! We had a lazy start to the day and spent the morning catching up with some jobs. Because of the miserable weather, I think we all felt a bit glum, and Sophie and I suffered with a bit of "Sunday syndrome"! However, we both have just two days to work next week, so it could be worse!

Just after lunchtime, Sophie and I went to see Mum and sat with her for a while. I managed to sort out her television, and we popped to the nearby shop to buy her some chocolates. When we left, we took the scenic route and stopped at our usual layby to enjoy a wrap before driving home. The countryside was a symphony of greys, browns and muted greens, but it was nice to sit for five minutes and have a small picnic!

Back home, Sophie made mugs of tea, and we sat and chatted and indulged in some chocolate of our own.  There are some days when it's really needed! The cats have been in for most of the day; they seem to dislike this chilly, damp weather, and the house has been lovely and warm for them.

Supper this evening was the soup we should have had last night, and it was delicious! Sophie had pureéd the vegetables and added the frankfurters, and it was a really hearty meal. Luckily, there was enough left for our lunch tomorrow at work!

Photos of Mooney, courtesy of Sophie:

A taste of Germany

We awoke to clear skies and a frosty morning, with beautiful patterns etched in ice on the conservatory roof again. We have been putting the heating on all day at the moment, and I dread to think what our gas bill will be! The house is horrible when it's cold, though! Keith ventured out to get a newspaper, and we settled down to watch a little of Saturday Morning Kitchen.

Sophie and I spent the rest of the morning packing and sorting out things for Normandy. The weather is going to turn milder with rain forecast, so it won't be bitterly cold.

Sophie also bustled about peeling vegetables for tonight's supper of German soup - we decided to go the whole hog and have frikadellen and dark rye bread to start as well! It was lovely to stay at home and keep warm and not go anywhere. I caught up with a lot of jobs and by mid-afternoon, we had time to indulge in a face pack while watching television. First thing this morning, I started watching The Roses starring Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch, so I finished watching the film this afternoon. It was enjoyable, and I didn't realise it was a remake of The War of the Roses starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas from 1989.

Before dinner, I sat and watched a couple of episodes of Ever Decreasing Circles, and Sophie finished her latest book. She then prepared our starter of Frikadellen and bread, served with mustard and cornichons. In the background, on the computer, she played a YouTube video of a walk in Berlin in the snow, filmed shortly after we were there. It was wonderful to see, and the walk went from Alexanderplatz to halfway down Unter Den Linden. It was fantastic to see the Nikolai Quarter in the snow and Museum Island, which we haven't really explored much. It was like being back there!

The starter was so filling that we decided to postpone the soup until tomorrow, and we continued watching Berlin videos all evening! 

Snow gone!

The snow had stopped last night, and overnight, the roads turned slushy. Sophie was able to work from home, and we sat and watched a documentary about a train journey in Norway with a coffee. I forgot I had to leave earlier and went screaming up the stairs to shower at about 6.45am! I was still able to leave on time with Keith, though, who needed the car to go shopping. He dropped me off, and I told him to go to the same place to pick me up at 4pm. It was a better journey today, with both of us in the car!

My shift passed pleasantly, and I seem to be getting used to the bright overhead lights and the mediocre view from the windows! One of our soft play centres was forced to close because of the storm overnight, but that was the only casualty for us.

I managed to clear all the emails and put on the February playscheme places at just one of our centres (one we're keeping hold of). The prices had been reduced and early and late pick-up times introduced to encourage parents to use it, so we made the decision to revert to the old system. I wish we had known earlier!

Keith was waiting for me at 4pm, and we trundled home, managing to arrive at 4.30pm, which was a bonus! I have quickly learnt to get out at 4pm exactly to avoid a queue! Sophie went upstairs to have a quick shower when she finished work, and I caught up with a programme on Discovery + about twin sisters who tackled unsellable houses in Seattle and made them look beautiful. How many programmes deal with this, though? I remember a similar format in the late 80s/early 90s when an American woman called The House Doctor did the same thing!

Keith went to the pub while Sophie and I watched a disturbing Netflix documentary about a female influencer in Utah who had such a hold over another mother that she committed terrible child abuse on two of her children. Both have been jailed, and I hope they're never released.

Dinner tonight was an old favourite: chopped tomatoes, bacon and crusty bread. Afterwards, Keith and I finally enjoyed the Christmas pudding we'd bought in Lidl ages ago. It was delicious with Brandy cream!

Sophie and I stayed up late to watch Graham Norton, which I enjoy, but I always find it a bit "luvvie", with a lot of self-congratulation and showing off!

Storm Goretti

Sophie went to the gym as usual this morning, and I left the house again at 7.10am, managing to park easily and walk in. My short shift passed uneventfully, but I said goodbye to Sue, who won't be working with us after today. She has taken on more shifts at one of our other centres, which will be operated by Everyone Active from April 1st.

The weather until 2pm was grey and cold, and when I left, I decided to go home first to see Keith before visiting my Mum. I briefly spoke to Vince and Sue from next door, who were getting ready to see their daughter and granddaughters back to Australia. They had been visiting since mid-December, and Vince and Sue looked a bit worn out!

I popped over to Kettering to see Mum, who wasn't with it today, and we had a long chat with one of the senior carers. I tried to sort out her TV set as she wasn't receiving some channels, but failed. It was turning out to be one of those days!

When I left, it had started raining, and the weather was awful! The storm was approaching! I had messaged my friend Sue, who was now living in Cornwall, as the region had a Red warning for wind! I told her to stay safe!

I was heartily relieved when Sophie arrived home, as the rain turned to sleet, and then big, fat flakes of snow, carpeting the roads and paths outside. If it had continued all night, we would definitely have had a snow day tomorrow!

Mundane tasks completed...

Sophie worked from home today, which made things a lot easier as Keith and I had booked the VW in for a service and MOT ahead of our trip to Normandy next week. We drove to Moulton in heavy traffic at 8am,  dropped off the car and headed home.

We then decided to go shopping straightaway and get it over with! It's been bitterly cold today, and we have a French storm, called Goretti, forecast for tomorrow, which is set to be disruptive for the western half of the country. We're supposed to be having snow ourselves on Thursday night, and we have an Amber warning in place. Let's see!

We drove to Kettering and visited Aldi first. Once the shopping had been done, I popped to the nearby Next store and treated myself to a selection of three perfumes. The previous ones I'd bought had all run out at the same time!

Keith and I then went to Tesco before heading home to put the shopping away and have a late lunch of beans on toast. Sophie was working away in the kitchen, as it would have been too cold in the conservatory!

In the afternoon, Keith and I went to see Lloyd at Jack Warwick Funeral Directors to arrange a pre-paid plan for my Mum. I did away with the notices in the papers, and a limousine for us, which brought the price down slightly. He sent me all the information by email, which will make for pleasant reading!

As the VW was ready to be collected, we headed back to Moulton and picked it up. On the way, we witnessed a minor accident between two cars, but neither of them stopped! I was amazed as I thought it was the law to stop? It was horrible seeing bits of the car and the taillight flying through the air!

At the garage, the VW had needed three new tyres, but Keith was relieved as he was worried about us having problems with the tyres in France. We had been getting warnings about the tyre pressure, so that was now dealt with.

Back home, I sat with Sophie in the kitchen until she finished work at 5pm. I tasted some more of my whiskies so I now have four left. The Advent calendar has lasted a long time!