Busy day!

Today was a day off for me as we were meeting friends for lunch at one of our favourite pubs. The children went off to school in the morning, Keith went off to Tesco and I was alone in the house, for the first time in ages! I made myself a delicious cup of coffee and savoured the peace and quiet by researching my family tree until Keith arrived home.

We had a very pleasant morning and then drove over to Sutton Bassett to the Queen's Head to meet Bruce and Hermione. I used to work with Bruce at Duncan's shop and we had a lovely lunch in the pub which was very quiet despite the gorgeous weather. Bruce and Hermione are really lovely people and we had a great chat about lots of things, including the time Bruce and I worked together in the wine shop.  As we said goodbye we arranged for them to come to our house for dinner with my parents, which will be great. The food was delicious and the portions huge so we virtually waddled out of the pub and drove home for a wee nap on the sofa!

In the evening I'd booked for Keith and I to go to see Milton Jones at Northampton's Derngate theatre which we'd been looking forward to for ages. Milton Jones is a comedian specialising in one liners who regularly appears on Mock The Week. We arrived in good time at the theatre, had a drink before the show and found our seats which were very good and, for me, brilliant as there was nobody sitting in front of me at all so I had a great view of the stage!

The show was enjoyable, but Keith and I didn't find it as funny as we'd anticipated. It was split into three parts, one of Milton Jones appearing as his grandfather, then he was followed by a young comedian called James Alcaster and then the second half was just the man himself. Unfortunately we sat next to a very strange couple who were determined that he was going to notice them one way or another, whether they made complete fools of themselves or not, and he did notice them! Well, he couldn't really fail to as they made a comment after nearly everything he said! I suppose MIlton Jones was used to coming up against people in the audience like that but I would have been mortified if my partner had behaved in that way!

After the show we headed home to relieve my mum of her baby-sitting duties. Normally the children would have been fine on their own, but I was more relaxed knowing that my mum was with them should anything go wrong. Sitting in a theatre full of people and a good thirty minutes from home made me a little anxious!

Coffee!

Our coffee machine has been broken for about two weeks now and a new one's been on order. Today it finally arrived which was great as I've really been missing my cafe latte! It's become so bad that I've been calling into the local petrol station on the way to work to pick up a latte, along with the van drivers who've been getting their fix as well! Not only that but after going to the bank I've been calling into Costa Coffee to buy one of their delicious lattes and, of course, I just have to treat myself to a chocolate twist as well, which is not good news for my waist line!

Hopefully, now we have our new machine installed, I'll be able to get my fix at work...for free!

Some photos...

 

Feeding the horses!

Tuesday 27 September - Return of Summer

Although this morning was very misty and damp the day soon cleared to brilliant sunshine, blue skies and warm temperatures. It's forecast to be an Indian Summer this week which is a mixed blessing for us at work. On one hand it means we don't have to put any heating on, but the warm and sunny weather means customers stay away!

After work Sophie and I went for our daily walk and it was truly beautiful with the sunlight glinting through the gorgeous colours of the trees and the smell of Autumn in the air. When we got home I felt a wee bit tired so it was nice to lounge about on the sofa and catch up with some recorded programmes before dinner!

Fire!

I forgot to say yesterday, that on the way to the coast we saw a very large fire raging near the village of Burton Latimer. We could see the smoke in the distance and at one point thought that the A14 may be closed, but the fire was right next to it, making for a very dramatic point in our journey!

Sophie took photos for me as I drove and the fire was still burning on our return journey. We learned that the fire was in a building storing recyclable materials and I heard on Radio 2 today that the road nearby was still closed!

Seal watching...

As everyone was fit and well this morning we drove over to the East Coast for a day by the sea. We stopped for a snack near Thetford, right next to a huge war memorial erected by two villages to honour their dead in the First and Second World wars.

The road over to Winterton is mostly dual carriageway so we arrived just before lunchtime and went for a very long walk on the beach! We knew there was a seal colony nearby and just as I was beginning to despair of ever seeing any, one popped up in the sea, very close to the beach. We saw several more after that and they seemed to enjoy popping their heads out of the water and watching us watching them!

The beach was beautiful - very quiet with just a few people walking their dogs as it was a bit too windy and rough to swim or sunbathe, even though it was warm.

We walked for about an hour and a half and then left the beach through a gap in the dunes and walked back to the car park and the cafe by a series of  sandy paths that meandered about behind the beach. It was very quiet and there was no wind away from the sea. It was a lovely walk but we were very glad to get back to the car and then have a sandwich in the cafe!

Saturday 24 September - Keith's Birthday!

We had a very lazy day today, totally different to the Saturday we'd planned! Mikey's had a cold over the last few days but on Friday night it became a lot worse and the poor boy looked really ill. Both Keith and I were up with him at 4am on Saturday morning so we decided that we'd postpone our plans to go to the coast, back to Winterton On Sea which we'd liked so much the last time we visited.

Keith opened his cards and presents and then we settled down for a day of doing very little! I did some research on my family tree and went for a walk with Sophie later in the afternoon, but it was lovely to just relax and stay at home today. We even ordered a Chinese take-away in the evening!

Mikey had a good rest as well and curled up on the sofa and fell asleep which was the best thing for him, to be honest. By the evening he was feeling much better so that was a relief!