A musical evening!

Time dragged a little at work today, but I finished the moan report and tried to sort out the box office returns that need to be scanned into a folder on the computer. Sara is off next week, so she went home at lunchtime, lucky thing!

At home, I did half an hour on the exercise bike to help a little with our upcoming weekend, which I think is going to be an indulgent one! Sophie arrived home and we opened a bottle of white wine and watched a lovely film called Shall We Dance starring a gorgeous Richard Gere. It was perfect for a Friday night!

Keith didn't go to the pub this evening, so he prepared the dinner - pizza for Keith and Sophie, and a delicious quiche for me, served with new potatoes and salad. After we'd eaten, we watched an episode of a new show called Virgin Island. It makes us both cringe, but I'm fascinated with how some of the people taking part don't like to be touched... why? 

We finished our evening with Top of the Pops from 1985 and then a few minutes of Kate Bush live on the BBC. Tomorrow morning, the tickets go on sale for the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, and Sophie and I are determined to get tickets for an evening of music from classics such as North by Northwest and Vertigo!

A near miss!

Sophie was working from home today so we sat and watched Race Across The World with a cup of coffee. A lovely start to a busy day!

I had a good shift at work and managed to get lots done. I left at 2pm, popped home to see Sophie and Keith very briefly, and then drove to Kettering to collect my Mum for her nail appointment.

When we arrived, I parked Sophie's car and then noticed, with horror, all the broken glass nearby and the empty bottles and rubbish. If I'd parked a little to the left, I would have driven over the broken glass... it didn't bear thinking about. Natalia hardly said a word to either of us, so I think it's time to find another woman to do Mum's nails. 

I drove Mum back, stopping at Waitrose on the way to buy her some much-needed goodies. It was great to get home with Sophie already there and relax!

Mundane chores...

I had a mammogram booked this morning, in Guilsborough, and we had a lovely drive to the village through stunning countryside. 

I wasn't looking forward to the procedure, but it's so important to attend, and I chatted with the nurse about whether men would ever be able to do the mammograms. I said I didn't mind (I'd given birth twice and all dignity goes out of the window!), but she was convinced that it wouldn't be the case, simply because it would make some women uncomfortable and prevent them from attending. I had forgotten how much manipulation of the area is needed!

Thankfully, it was over quickly, and I was back outside into the sunshine. Keith and I drove into Northampton to visit Boots at Sixfields, where we bought some items for the holiday. We wanted some mosquito-repellent plugins as neither of us fancied a repeat of our Pals holiday, where we were bitten numerous times!

On the way home we popped to the garage at Moulton to book the car in for a service, but it was closed up. We discovered that Glen was on holiday so I'll check back next week when I'm in Moulton to give blood.

Back home, we had lunch of leftover potatoes and ham from last night, and I put some laundry onto the line to dry. It's been a gorgeous day today, with blue skies and a lovely breeze. I pootled about doing chores, and contacted the dentist in  Kettering to make appointments for Sophie and me. We had paid into our plan four times now, and wanted to be seen soon. I was most annoyed to find we'd been allocated to a dentist who only works on Monday and Friday! After texting Sophie and asking when we could go, we decided to book early appointments on a Monday, so we could go to work straight afterwards. I was not happy as I will have to make up the hours at work!

I then attempted to make sense of the letter the council had sent me regarding my Mum and Dad's financial assessment, and called the Age UK helpline. It was very busy, with a wait time of between fifteen and thirty minutes. After waiting half an hour, the wait never changed, so I clicked on the online chat and eventually managed to speak to someone. She didn't have the answer I needed, but gave me another phone number to call, warning me it was another busy line. It made me realise how lucky we are at work as we never have wait times as long as that!

Before Sophie arrived home, I hoovered downstairs, and then it was time to relax. Finally!

Traffic chaos!

Sophie texted me at 6.30am this morning to say that there was a problem on the A45. When I looked, the road had been closed between Riverside and the town. I assumed it was down to an emergency exercise happening in town, but I later learned there'd been an accident involving a gas tanker at 3am this morning.

I warned Sophie to leave earlier for work because of the road closures, and I left a little earlier myself as well, although this morning, we had no problems whatsoever! I was first in!

My shift passed very quickly as I put on our complicated new swim camps and dealt with all the emails. At times today, the office was very noisy, with Jo and Angela holding loud conversations across the office. I wish I had noise-cancelling headphones!

It was great to escape at 4pm and go home to our quiet house. We were having cold meats and salad again for dinner tonight, but I had no plans to meddle with the salad. I wanted a more harmonious evening! 

Which we had! We caught the first Eurovision Semi-finals and enjoyed Ukraine's and Azerbaijan's entries! The programme went on until past 10pm, so we recorded it and adjourned upstairs with the cats. No escapees tonight, either!

Salad wars!

I was late for work today for the first time ever! All was going well until I reached the new dualled Moulton bypass. I could see a traffic queue ahead, but assumed it was a set of traffic lights opposite the new Aldi. I see the same people every morning when I drive to work: a woman running with her dog in Walgrave, a woman with three very young children walking to school, and an older man with a dog. I sometimes see the same cars as well!

This morning, the woman with the children was waiting to cross the pedestrian crossing, but the traffic was at a standstill. There was no way of turning around; I was stuck! It was about 7.45am and Scott Mills' excellent "The easiest quiz on the radio" had already been and gone, because I think the contestant had only scored six points! I tried to connect my phone to the car, but it kept looking for Sophie's phone, so I had no way of letting Sara know I'd be late, because, judging by the traffic, I wasn't going to make it for 8am!

Two lanes of cars crawled slowly towards the Round Spinney roundabout, and we discovered what the problem was: a broken-down car on the roundabout itself. There was a police car behind it, so I indicated to get into the second lane, but an idiot behind me wasn't going to let me in! I don't know whether he hadn't seen the police car, but he had no choice as I pulled out in front of him and sounded my horn. Idiot!

Sara and Sheila had been wondering where I was and had even checked the holiday rotas to see if I was on annual leave. Being fifteen minutes late for work meant I felt discombobulated all day! The time passed so quickly!

Back home, I did thirty minutes on the bike and then prepared a salad for tonight's meal. I wanted to make a big salad, so I added lettuce, a pepper, cucumber, celery, cress, grated carrot and spring onions. I didn't add tomatoes as I know Sophie doesn't like them in a salad. When she walked in, she took one look at my lovingly constructed salad and went mad!

My daughter, who will eat almost everything, including raw oysters, went ballistic about the spring onions, yellow pepper and celery I'd added, digging some of the lettuce and cucumber out to put into another bowl for herself! She didn't even go and change out of her office clothes!

It set the tone for a subdued evening. The last straw was when I went to close the conservatory door and garden gate, and inadvertently let Mooney escape into the night... Sophie was furious as she'd just got both of them in for the night and had to go and call Mooney all over again. Luckily, he came in. Phew! What a day!

Pootling about!

We've had a relaxed Sunday, pootling about and catching up with housework and chores. It was another gorgeous day, and perfect for getting lots of laundry washed and on the line to dry. We didn't have to do anything for dinner, as we were reheating the lasagne again, so we were able to have a little pamper in the afternoon, put on face masks and paint nails!

I had advertised a shopping trolley on our local Facebook pages that we didn't want. Sheila at work had donated it to me in case it would be useful for Mum and Dad, but they had no need for it. I was offering it free to a good home, and a neighbour came around to collect it just as I'd applied a mud face pack! Needless to say, Keith had to go and get it for her!

Sophie and I played Scrabble and enjoyed a couple of drinks while we played. We added a couple more pasta sheets to the lasagne and put it into a different dish to cook. It was a lot more stodgy than yesterday and tasted just as good!

After dinner, we watched the BAFTAS, but we knew little about any of the programmes up for nomination besides Baby Reindeer and Would I Lie To You, which, to our delight, won! I keep trying to get tickets for the show via SRO Audiences, but I think it's very popular, so we never do! 

This weekend has passed by very quickly, but has been hugely enjoyable. Back to work tomorrow!

We see a snake!

I was awake at 7.30am this morning, and let the cats out straightaway as they were miaowing to get into the garden. Outside, it was glorious and, looking at the forecast, we're set for at least a week of dry, fine and sunny weather. There were mutterings on the news this morning about a drought, as some areas of the UK  haven't had any rain for three weeks, and I actually can't remember the last time we had any. I won't be buying any bedding plants for the garden as we'll have nobody to water them when we go away!

Sophie and I watched Saturday Kitchen for a little while, but I wanted to get preparations for tonight's lasagne done, so I chopped up shallots, carrots, celery, a pepper and a courgette. Sophie made a batch of banana and chocolate muffins while Keith went to get a newspaper.

We watched a little more and had another coffee, and the morning whizzed by. Sophie made us sandwiches for lunch, and we covered the muffins with a clean tea towel, ready to be eaten with a cup of tea later.

After lunch, I cooked the vegetables, added the meat and other ingredients, and left the Bolognese sauce to simmer slowly all afternoon. I had a quick shower, and Sophie and I set out for a walk at 2pm. We headed to Walgrave and did "the round" in reverse. This was a walk I used to do several times a week, but it's been years since I did it!

Beautiful, very old, Oak tree

At the bottom of the track leading to Walgrave

It was hot and peaceful; we didn't see another soul the whole way around! At the bottom of the track is a little river, and we always used to peer into the water to see if there were any fish. Well, today, we saw a snake! It was swimming in the river and then slithered up the bank! Sophie ran off to get a closer look, and we think it may have been an adder, although it was difficult to tell. We'd never seen a snake on our outings before, and certainly not swimming in the little brook!

We carried on up a more forgiving hill and stopped at the top to look at the crop growing. We had no idea what it was, but it partly obscured the gorgeous view.

We could see home now, but had to walk through another field, and then cross over into the meadow owned by the village. By now, we were hot and tired, and the thought of getting home and having a cup of tea and a muffin was most welcome!

Nearly there!

We had been out for about an hour and a quarter, and I was pleased we'd made the time to go for a walk. It had been far too long since we'd completed our favourite walk, so let's hope we'll do it many more times.

The tea and muffin were lovely, and we spent the rest of the warm afternoon relaxing. In the early evening, Sophie and I played Scrabble, and my daughter thrashed me! When we finished, we played cards before Sophie made the bechamel sauce for the lasagne. Once that was done, we layered the sauces, the pasta sheets, and the cheese, and popped the dish in the oven to cook for half an hour. Sophie made garlic bread, and voila! It was done!

As anyone in my family will tell you, I'm not a huge fan of lasagne and especially when it's gloopy, like our dish was. It tasted delicious, though, and we're planning to have it again tomorrow night, and add more pasta sheets.

Our viewing pleasure for this evening was the remake of The Flight of the Phoenix, and we had trouble getting naughty Mooney Bums in. He was hanging out with Lynn's cat, Cora, and wouldn't come in until we enticed him in with the laser toy. Little monkey!