Alone on Halloween!

Keith and I took Mike to college this morning and then returned home for breakfast with Sophie who was working away in the conservatory. She has so much work to do at the moment but is certainly getting on with it and being very disciplined!

I spent a lot of the morning searching for a nice venue for afternoon tea with my Mum and Sophie next Sunday, as it's my Mum's birthday soon. I would love to have gone back to Fawsley Hall but I was disappointed with our experience last time. We were seated in a cold, bare room which wasn't what I'd had in mind as I'd pictured us sitting by a roaring fire in the main hall! I googled afternoon tea venues with log fires and looked as far afield as the Cotswolds! However, a hotel in Woburn sounded lovely, so I might choose that as the village is a lovely place to walk around and have a browse in the shops.

At work, it was so much easier finding things for the children to do and we could see exactly what we had to put out. We put lots of games and activities out, including a chessboard which kept us busy for the session. It was great talking to one of the girls who had just returned from Orlando and Naples and she loved talking about her holiday.

Most of the children were gone by 5.30pm and they were all very excited as most of them were going trick or treating. I returned home to find the house opposite decorated even more! There was a screen in the front window displaying scary pictures, a ghost by the front door and little red eyes peeping over the fence. It looked brilliant!

Keith and I enjoyed our dinner of jacket potatoes and then he took Sophie to a friend's house in Moulton as she was out for the night. He was going to the football and Mike was also out with his mates so I was in the house on my own. We had a few trick or treaters but there seemed less than last year for some reason and by 8pm it was all over. I can't say I enjoyed my night in on my own and I was very glad when Keith returned!

Getting things done!

I met Lisa at the school this morning and along with her daughter, we cleared out the toy cupboard which was in a huge mess. It was so bad we couldn't even walk into the small space and when we finally took everything out she found things she hadn't seen for years!

We sorted all the toys and put them into different boxes and by the time I left at 12.30pm, it was unbelievable how much better it looked. We now know exactly what we've got for the children to play with and all the games and toys that were broken or had bits missing have now been thrown away. With the dark nights coming up it was vital to sort it all out so the children have something to do in the three hour session.

I picked Keith and Sophie up from home and we took Soph to uni. After we dropped her off we popped to the Weston Favell Centre and came across my parents having a coffee. After a quick chat we went to do some shopping and we bought loads of sweets for tomorrow night. When we'd finished it was time to collect Sophie and on the way home we called into the tip to take some of the rubbish from the school.

Back home we had lunch and then I caught up with various car-related chores. Keith went to get Mike from college so it was great not to have to go out again in the evening. Tomorrow night is (hopefully) going to be busy with Sophie out with friends, Keith off to football and Mike probably ut as well. I just hope we get lots of trick or treaters!

Very lazy Sunday!

It's been lovely to have no plans for today and a very lazy start to Sunday! The clocks went back last night so we all had an extra hour this morning...fab!

The weather today has also been a bonus - blue skies and sunshine, although it's been slightly colder than of late.

I made some banana and walnut muffins in the afternoon and Sophie and I took Monty for a walk to see the horses. We took them some carrots which were much appreciated!

It was great to get out into the late afternoon fresh air, even if for just a little while and Sophie managed to get quite a bit of work done. I wrote a few more words of my novel, so all in all a very productive day!

At 6pm we went to collect Mike from work and it was very dark indeed. There were no lights in the car park outside the cafe where he works so it was quite creepy! I'm glad Keith was there with me!

House of Horrors!

I was at work from 8.30am until 4pm today and there was just me and another member of staff manning the phones. Thankfully, it wasn't too busy!

Mike had already gone off to a Halloween party in Brixworth (dressed as a pirate this time) so it was just the three of us for dinner. We picked Sophie up from work and then collected a Chinese takeaway from the van that we'd ordered earlier. The plan was to have a drink at home for half an hour before eating but Sophie and I were really hungry so we ate barely fifteen minutes after getting home - a bit different to last night!

Over the road, a neighbour's house had been decked out in Halloween decorations for a party they were holding (we hadn't been invited 😕) and I was quite envious! The dining room had cobwebs and ghosty things hanging in the windows and they must have installed some kind of screen on an upstairs wall as there were spooky figures moving across it, which looked really good!

Overhead we had a perfect half moon and with the clouds scudding across it, the sky looked very Halloweeny!

Lunch in the sun!

It's been another gorgeous day today and after we dropped Sophie off at work, Keith made the most of it and went for a walk. It was a good job I didn't go with him as Mike's work texted him and asked him to go in a bit earlier, at 11am.

I spent the rest of the morning pottering about and at 1pm we both picked up Sophie from work. I was glad she was only working half a day today as it meant we could pop over to Beckworth Emporium where we had some lunch. We chose the chicken burger and it was far bigger than I anticipated, but it was delicious! We asked to be seated in the conservatory and it was wonderful to look up and see the blue sky and sunshine. What a treat at this time of year!

After eating we meandered around the Christmas Emporium and we bought a little china gonk to go on our Scandinavian tree. I also bought some foodie treats and a pumpkin for Halloween.

Sophie trying on spooky glasses!

On the way home I washed my filthy car at the garage and then finished it off when I got home. The machine never does the wheels properly!

Keith went to the pub and Sophie and I collected Mike from work. I really didn't fancy much dinner in the evening...no surprise after my big lunch!

A better day.

As usual, I was dreading going into work today but it's been much better. Perhaps I'm getting the hang of it?

I was finished at 2pm and Keith and I drove over to Kettering to get some diesel. We took a different route to normal and I drove on roads I hadn't been on for ages. Once home I had some lunch and as I'd been sitting down for most of the day I went out to sweep up loads of leaves that had gathered in the garden. Monty kept me company and after I'd finished we sat in the garden for a little while. The weather has been dry and overcast today but still very mild.

In the evening I went out with Fiona and Lynda to Akasaka, the Japanese restaurant I'd visited with Sophie and Mike back in September. I picked Lynda up from her home and we drove into Northampton where I found it very difficult to park. In the end we found a space in the Albion Place car park opposite Derngate and walked the short distance to the restaurant.

Fiona was already waiting and even before we looked at the menu, Lynda showed us some risque photos on her phone! She's found a new lease of life by online dating and regaled us with her stories, some of which were a bit shocking! She's lost over three stone in weight which is brilliant and I could definitely see a difference. I think both Fiona and I were a bit shocked by what she was telling us, but good luck to her! I just hope she finds someone genuine and trustworthy.

We had a good meal but I think I made the wrong choices. I started with chicken skewers served in a soy sauce which were delicious, if a bit salty. For my main course I opted (after a great deal of thought) for the Teriyaki chicken served with beansprouts and boiled rice. Again, it was very salty but certainly filling. I'm not sure either Fiona or Lynda really enjoyed their meals so maybe we won't be going back to this particular restaurant again!

After the meal we suddenly remembered that it's the start of Come Dine With Me season and I confessed to not being that enthusiastic about it this year. When I said that my theme was going to be Scotland, Lynda went a bit white as she hates haggis and whisky, both of which featured heavily in my dinner! Fiona then asked if we could give it a miss this year and I was filled with relief. Although we've had fun in the past with the different themes, last year was all a bit too much as we seemed to cram the evenings into a very short amount of time and I felt guilty about dragging Keith out to pick me up. Fiona said that it was proximity to Christmas that was the problem, so even though Andrea was unable to make it this evening we decided to postpone all the meals until some time next year but go out on Lynda's evening in December to a good restaurant to celebrate Christmas.

Back home (I was much earlier than normal) I told Keith and Sophie of the demise of Come Dine With Me this year. Yippeee!

Catching up!

Today has been an absolutely gorgeous day with plenty of sunshine, blue skies and warm temperatures. Summer is still here!

We dropped Sophie off at uni and then returned home where I caught up with some housework. Before it was time to go and get Sophie I wrote some more of my novel which I am really enjoying. Oh, to be able to do this full time and make a living from it!

In the afternoon Sophie and I went into town as we were meeting Gill from the CAB at 3pm, but I wanted to go in a bit earlier to say hello to Frank who I hadn't seen since about May. We called for a sneaky, naughty lunch at McDonald's and watched the hordes of people walking past the restaurant. Half term is in full swing and everyone seemed to be taking advantage of the good weather.

We had a great chat with Frank before going to Costa for a good old chinwag. Gill had just returned from a holiday in Tenerife and it was really good to catch up with her and hear her news.

On the way home we collected Mike and his friend Natasha from Brixworth. he'd been out since yesterday lunchtime so it was really time he was home!