I like to look back on the year and pick out the best days. This year has been a little difficult, I must admit! We seem to have spent far too much of our time worrying about the business as it's probably been our worst year due to the extended summer and the weather that, even in the winter, has stayed dry and sunny. With that and the sale going through it's a year I won't look back on with affection.
There were, undoubtedly, some highlights, with our holiday in Florida being one of the best we've ever had, and the drive down to the Keys will stay with me for a long time. It's sad that we didn't get to enjoy the lovely summer at home as much as we should have done, but business was terrible because of it. Hopefully next year we'll be in a position to enjoy the warmer months to the full!
I predict a lot of changes happening in 2015 and I do wonder what the early days of the year will bring...I'm hoping and praying that the sale will finally go through and we get some time to think about what we're going to do next!
Here are the best days of 2014:
Wednesday 15 January - my Birthday!
Wednesday 26 February - an afternoon of indulgence where we had tea at Beckworth, followed by treats at home.
Sunday 9 March - a lovely Spring day spent pottering about in the garden and enjoying the early warmth!
Saturday 5 April - Sophie's birthday so a trip to Market Harborough and dinner out in the evening!
Friday 30 May - Day 1 of a weekend break in Wales and a lovely feeling to be free for the weekend!
Sunday 1 June - Our last day in Wales and a lovely walk!
Sunday 27 July - An afternoon drinks party with Champagne and caviar!
Tuesday 26 August - a fabulous trip down to Key West and a great meal to round off a lovely day!
Thursday 4 September - our last full day in Florida and a fantastic sunset on Anna Maria Island whilst enjoying dinner at The Sandbar restaurant.
Saturday 25 October - a day out in London with the girls and tea on the Thames!
Thursday 27 November - a flight to Berlin, a wander around a Christmas market and seeing Ben Howard in the evening!
Wednesday 24 December - a lovely start to Christmas with a frosty walk first thing and then a very pleasant shopping trip to Market Harborough.
I'm going to sign off early and wish everyone a happy, healthy and fantastic 2015!
Wednesday, 31 December 2014
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
A bit manic!
Today has been very busy at work, which has been a huge relief, especially as we did more than the comparable day last year. Phew!
Although we were busy we had plenty of staff in to help and Sophie and I managed to get away at 5pm and go home. I had a soak in the bath and then it was time for a wee dram and a sneaky watch of Desperate Housewives while Keith cooked dinner (and grumbled about it!).
It's been another gorgeous day with clear blue skies, lots of sunshine and a hard frost that's stayed around all day. I'm not very happy that the weather is due to change on Thursday, the only day I have off and when we try and get out to celebrate the New Year. Oh well!
Although we were busy we had plenty of staff in to help and Sophie and I managed to get away at 5pm and go home. I had a soak in the bath and then it was time for a wee dram and a sneaky watch of Desperate Housewives while Keith cooked dinner (and grumbled about it!).
It's been another gorgeous day with clear blue skies, lots of sunshine and a hard frost that's stayed around all day. I'm not very happy that the weather is due to change on Thursday, the only day I have off and when we try and get out to celebrate the New Year. Oh well!
Monday, 29 December 2014
Back to work!
I really wasn't looking forward to going back to work today, but I'd had five days off, so I couldn't complain!
However, when we arrived at work to find our gates still closed I suddenly remembered that our cleaner had booked this week off...that meant we had to do the cleaning this morning, which was a bit of a shock!
Mum and Dad arrived about fifteen minutes after us and we all pitched in to get everything done. Keith called in as well and helped out by putting the chairs back around the tables so by 9.30am we were all done. Not the best starts to the day, though!
We had a pleasantly busy day, which was a bonus. Sophie and I managed to get away at about 4.30pm and went home to relax. It's been a bitterly cold day today with frosty paths and roads that haven't melted at all. Tonight is due to be another cold night so it was lovely to curl up on the sofa with a blanket and watch Desperate Housewives!
However, when we arrived at work to find our gates still closed I suddenly remembered that our cleaner had booked this week off...that meant we had to do the cleaning this morning, which was a bit of a shock!
Mum and Dad arrived about fifteen minutes after us and we all pitched in to get everything done. Keith called in as well and helped out by putting the chairs back around the tables so by 9.30am we were all done. Not the best starts to the day, though!
We had a pleasantly busy day, which was a bonus. Sophie and I managed to get away at about 4.30pm and went home to relax. It's been a bitterly cold day today with frosty paths and roads that haven't melted at all. Tonight is due to be another cold night so it was lovely to curl up on the sofa with a blanket and watch Desperate Housewives!
Sunday, 28 December 2014
Out in Jazzy Jim...
First thing this morning I treated the children and Keith to a McDonald's breakfast (well, Keith just had tea) as I needed to get some diesel from the Tesco store in Kettering. Mikey stayed at home but I took him a bacon roll and after he'd eaten it we drove him to Brixworth in Keith's car, our little Honda Jazz.
The idea was to then drive down to a large industrial estate on the edge of Northampton so that Sophie could get some practice driving the car. She'd christened it "Jim" and it was the first time she'd driven it properly. Keith sat in the front with her while I put the "L" plates on the car and then climbed, very nervously, into the back. I'm a terrible passenger, even with experienced drivers, so I had no idea how I'd handle being in the car with Sophie as a learner driver!
We set off very gingerly and she was fine, if a little nervous on roundabouts. As it was a Sunday the roads were extremely quiet and we only saw the odd car and just one lorry. We drove around for about 45 minutes and then we called it a day, thinking it was a good idea to end the session on a high note rather than prolong the driving and have Sophie make a mistake!
After we got home, we all did very little for the rest of the day. Today has been gorgeous again with clear blue skies and lots of sunshine, but it's very cold and tonight is supposed to be the coldest night of the winter so far!
The idea was to then drive down to a large industrial estate on the edge of Northampton so that Sophie could get some practice driving the car. She'd christened it "Jim" and it was the first time she'd driven it properly. Keith sat in the front with her while I put the "L" plates on the car and then climbed, very nervously, into the back. I'm a terrible passenger, even with experienced drivers, so I had no idea how I'd handle being in the car with Sophie as a learner driver!
We set off very gingerly and she was fine, if a little nervous on roundabouts. As it was a Sunday the roads were extremely quiet and we only saw the odd car and just one lorry. We drove around for about 45 minutes and then we called it a day, thinking it was a good idea to end the session on a high note rather than prolong the driving and have Sophie make a mistake!
After we got home, we all did very little for the rest of the day. Today has been gorgeous again with clear blue skies and lots of sunshine, but it's very cold and tonight is supposed to be the coldest night of the winter so far!
Saturday, 27 December 2014
Is it Saturday...or Sunday?
I was determined to get out of the house today as although yesterday was lovely and very relaxing, I couldn't do it every day!
I asked Sophie to come up with somewhere to go because every suggestion I made was met with disapproval. In the end we decided to go to Beckworth Emporium for lunch, along with what seemed like hundreds of other people! We rarely have to leave the car in the overflow car park, but today we did which gave us a hint as to what the place would be like inside!
We queued for about twenty minutes to get a table in the restaurant and we had a great view of the ice-skating rink, with loads of people moving in perpetual circles, their breath clouding in the bitterly cold air. One young girl was obviously a pro as she glided effortlessly around on the ice, doing little twirls and skating backwards. Both of us secretly wanted her to fall flat on her face as she was showing off a bit in front of some hopelessly bad skaters and I asked Sophie what it was about us Brits that hated show-offs?!
Sophie had a chicken sandwich while I settled for some pate and toast and very good it was, too! After we'd eaten we avoided the Christmas section where the decorations were being offered at 50% off (huh!) and bought some food for the hungry birds.
I contemplated driving somewhere else but I was low on diesel so we went home and just as I was sitting relaxing, Mikey called to ask me to pick him up from Brixworth where he'd been all day.
In the evening Keith and I decided to return to Brixworth to go to The Coach and Horses pub, somewhere that had almost been our local over twenty years ago when we both lived in Northampton. When we moved to Walgrave, we never went back!
First impressions weren't good as there was an all pervasive smell of dirty bodies and fustiness and the place looked like it hadn't been decorated or changed in any way since we'd last been in (we'd had my 21st Birthday meal here, so you can imagine how long ago that was!). There were a group of youngsters at the bar who obviously had been there for a while and although they weren't rude, one of them was extremely drunk.
The lounge bar was empty apart from us and the party of young 'uns, and a television played to itself in the corner. Behind Keith a fruit machine flashed and dazzled us and I asked Keith if we could just have the one drink and go somewhere else. It had not been a good choice! The pub was tatty and down at heel and I wondered what on earth had happened? This used to be our favourite place to go!
We finished our drinks and went back to The White Horse, but we'd both forgotten that there was a special "12 Nights of Christmas" meal going on and the place was packed to the gunnels. Our neighbours, Sue and Paul, were sitting at the bar and we chatted to them for a while before moving to our seats in the window as I seemed to be in everyone's way!
After just the one drink we headed home, Keith and the children to have turkey curry while I had a prawn one (leftover from our Christmas Day starters!). After dinner we watched the first episode of Top Gear's adventure in Patagonia - the very controversial Christmas special!
I asked Sophie to come up with somewhere to go because every suggestion I made was met with disapproval. In the end we decided to go to Beckworth Emporium for lunch, along with what seemed like hundreds of other people! We rarely have to leave the car in the overflow car park, but today we did which gave us a hint as to what the place would be like inside!
We queued for about twenty minutes to get a table in the restaurant and we had a great view of the ice-skating rink, with loads of people moving in perpetual circles, their breath clouding in the bitterly cold air. One young girl was obviously a pro as she glided effortlessly around on the ice, doing little twirls and skating backwards. Both of us secretly wanted her to fall flat on her face as she was showing off a bit in front of some hopelessly bad skaters and I asked Sophie what it was about us Brits that hated show-offs?!
Sophie had a chicken sandwich while I settled for some pate and toast and very good it was, too! After we'd eaten we avoided the Christmas section where the decorations were being offered at 50% off (huh!) and bought some food for the hungry birds.
I contemplated driving somewhere else but I was low on diesel so we went home and just as I was sitting relaxing, Mikey called to ask me to pick him up from Brixworth where he'd been all day.
In the evening Keith and I decided to return to Brixworth to go to The Coach and Horses pub, somewhere that had almost been our local over twenty years ago when we both lived in Northampton. When we moved to Walgrave, we never went back!
First impressions weren't good as there was an all pervasive smell of dirty bodies and fustiness and the place looked like it hadn't been decorated or changed in any way since we'd last been in (we'd had my 21st Birthday meal here, so you can imagine how long ago that was!). There were a group of youngsters at the bar who obviously had been there for a while and although they weren't rude, one of them was extremely drunk.
The lounge bar was empty apart from us and the party of young 'uns, and a television played to itself in the corner. Behind Keith a fruit machine flashed and dazzled us and I asked Keith if we could just have the one drink and go somewhere else. It had not been a good choice! The pub was tatty and down at heel and I wondered what on earth had happened? This used to be our favourite place to go!
We finished our drinks and went back to The White Horse, but we'd both forgotten that there was a special "12 Nights of Christmas" meal going on and the place was packed to the gunnels. Our neighbours, Sue and Paul, were sitting at the bar and we chatted to them for a while before moving to our seats in the window as I seemed to be in everyone's way!
After just the one drink we headed home, Keith and the children to have turkey curry while I had a prawn one (leftover from our Christmas Day starters!). After dinner we watched the first episode of Top Gear's adventure in Patagonia - the very controversial Christmas special!
Friday, 26 December 2014
A very relaxed Boxing Day!
Early this morning, before we had breakfast, we called into work to make sure everything was OK and I put a load of food down for the birds as it was a bitterly cold and overcast day. Very different to yesterday when we had blue skies and sunshine!
When we got home we decided to go out for a quick walk and went the same route as Christmas Eve, down the track to the Nature Reserve and back again. There were quite a few walkers about and we kept seeing a little robin all the way back. It must have been a different bird, but it was lovely to see! The fields were a mixture of sombre greys and browns and so different from the other day when the sky was a brilliant blue.
When we arrived home I made some breakfast and a cup of coffee and from then on we did very little which was lovely. I watched television in our bedroom for a while and kept falling asleep (I have a nasty tickly little cough as well) and then went downstairs to make a cup of tea which I laced with some whisky. Keith and I watched the traditional horse racing and then I went back upstairs to lie with Sophie and watch some more TV. We wrapped ourselves up in blankets and Keith shouted up to us as it had started snowing!
As I write, it's still snowing but not settling that much as we had heavy rain beforehand. I really hope I don't get called into work tomorrow to clear away the snow in the car park!
When we got home we decided to go out for a quick walk and went the same route as Christmas Eve, down the track to the Nature Reserve and back again. There were quite a few walkers about and we kept seeing a little robin all the way back. It must have been a different bird, but it was lovely to see! The fields were a mixture of sombre greys and browns and so different from the other day when the sky was a brilliant blue.
When we arrived home I made some breakfast and a cup of coffee and from then on we did very little which was lovely. I watched television in our bedroom for a while and kept falling asleep (I have a nasty tickly little cough as well) and then went downstairs to make a cup of tea which I laced with some whisky. Keith and I watched the traditional horse racing and then I went back upstairs to lie with Sophie and watch some more TV. We wrapped ourselves up in blankets and Keith shouted up to us as it had started snowing!
As I write, it's still snowing but not settling that much as we had heavy rain beforehand. I really hope I don't get called into work tomorrow to clear away the snow in the car park!
Thursday, 25 December 2014
Christmas Day
I was up at about 8am this morning and looked forward to seeing my family open their presents, even though it took some persuading to get them out of bed!
The children were really pleased with their gifts, but unfortunately, Keith didn't like the jacket that Sophie and I had spent ages looking for...I was a bit upset, to be honest, but we agreed to take it back to M&S and buy him what he wanted. After all these years I still find it very difficult to buy for him and next year I've resolved to just give him the money and he can go and buy something he wants!
Mikey disappeared upstairs and then came back down to say that his Play Station 4 wasn't working, which was wonderful as we'd bought him two new games... To cut a very long and tedious story short, we discovered it was his TV, after trying it on the living room television and our bedroom TV. When we pulled the furniture out to connect all the wires, I nearly died of shock when I saw the dust! This meant that instead of preparing for my parents coming around later in the day I was hoovering and cleaning behind the chest of drawers in our bedroom! Luckily, for some reason, we managed to get the TV working so Mikey was extremely happy! Later we heard that they'd been a problem with the Play Station network so that might have been the cause.
I took Keith to the pub and while he was gone I made a loaf of bread and started to set the table in the conservatory. I collected Keith who was walking down the village street as he guessed I wouldn't want to come into the pub...and he was right as I resembled a bag lady!
Back at home I cleaned downstairs, finished setting the table and peeled the potatoes as Keith had done the rest of the veg in the morning. We put the turkey in at 3pm and then I sat down to relax and play with my Tesco Hudl that Keith had bought me.
My parents arrived at 5pm and by then I'd had a bath, washed my hair, put some make-up on and dressed in a pair of black trousers and a pretty top, so I was feeling a bit better! Unfortunately my Dad upset me slightly when he came in and I warned him not to wind me up - I hadn't had the best of days!
Before the meal we opened our presents to one another and Sophie and I were delighted to be given tickets to see Ben Howard again in Birmingham, in April! Woohoo!
We had a lovely meal and it all went very well, which was a relief after the disasters of the day. We ate our starters at 6pm (pate or prawn cocktail) and then had the main event at about 7.30pm. We decided not to go with the mashed potatoes or the Yorkshire puddings as we felt there was more than enough food on the table and after Sophie and I had cleared away, we all sat in the living room and played Devilish Dilemmas, which got us all laughing and enjoying ourselves.
The evening was rounded off with either chocolate gateau or Christmas Pud accompanied by a sweet Greek wine and then at 10.30pm my parents departed into the night and I collapsed in a heap on the sofa!
The children were really pleased with their gifts, but unfortunately, Keith didn't like the jacket that Sophie and I had spent ages looking for...I was a bit upset, to be honest, but we agreed to take it back to M&S and buy him what he wanted. After all these years I still find it very difficult to buy for him and next year I've resolved to just give him the money and he can go and buy something he wants!
Mikey disappeared upstairs and then came back down to say that his Play Station 4 wasn't working, which was wonderful as we'd bought him two new games... To cut a very long and tedious story short, we discovered it was his TV, after trying it on the living room television and our bedroom TV. When we pulled the furniture out to connect all the wires, I nearly died of shock when I saw the dust! This meant that instead of preparing for my parents coming around later in the day I was hoovering and cleaning behind the chest of drawers in our bedroom! Luckily, for some reason, we managed to get the TV working so Mikey was extremely happy! Later we heard that they'd been a problem with the Play Station network so that might have been the cause.
I took Keith to the pub and while he was gone I made a loaf of bread and started to set the table in the conservatory. I collected Keith who was walking down the village street as he guessed I wouldn't want to come into the pub...and he was right as I resembled a bag lady!
Back at home I cleaned downstairs, finished setting the table and peeled the potatoes as Keith had done the rest of the veg in the morning. We put the turkey in at 3pm and then I sat down to relax and play with my Tesco Hudl that Keith had bought me.
My parents arrived at 5pm and by then I'd had a bath, washed my hair, put some make-up on and dressed in a pair of black trousers and a pretty top, so I was feeling a bit better! Unfortunately my Dad upset me slightly when he came in and I warned him not to wind me up - I hadn't had the best of days!
Before the meal we opened our presents to one another and Sophie and I were delighted to be given tickets to see Ben Howard again in Birmingham, in April! Woohoo!
We had a lovely meal and it all went very well, which was a relief after the disasters of the day. We ate our starters at 6pm (pate or prawn cocktail) and then had the main event at about 7.30pm. We decided not to go with the mashed potatoes or the Yorkshire puddings as we felt there was more than enough food on the table and after Sophie and I had cleared away, we all sat in the living room and played Devilish Dilemmas, which got us all laughing and enjoying ourselves.
The evening was rounded off with either chocolate gateau or Christmas Pud accompanied by a sweet Greek wine and then at 10.30pm my parents departed into the night and I collapsed in a heap on the sofa!
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