A manic day!

We had Sarah and Liam coming over for dinner this evening, and Sophie and I were in charge of the cooking. The night was Italian-themed, and we had asked Keith to get the ingredients for panna cotta. We had planned on making this, and then going shopping for the meats and cheeses for a charcuterie board as a starter. However, when Sophie took the tub of cream out of the fridge, she realised she didn't have enough... 

We decided to go shopping at once and buy everything we needed, and then come home and prepare the dishes. It must have rained heavily in the night, as the roads were awash with water. We sloshed over to Kettering and braved the crowds in the busy supermarket. 

We bought everything we needed, and a box of chocolates for Mum. We called to see her on the way home, and she was up and dressed nicely, which was a relief. I'd dreaded going into her room and seeing her still in bed.

Back home, Sophie made a start on dessert while I chopped up the vegetables for the tagliatelle Bolognese. Sophie discovered that gelatine sheets she'd asked for were actually sachets of powder, so she had some calculations to make! 

She managed it, though, and decanted the panna cotta mixture into pretty glasses. She'd even found time to tie ribbon around the stems, bless her! I made the Bolognese sauce and let it simmer for the rest of the afternoon. 

I then cleaned the conservatory (a job I'd been planning to do last Wednesday), and Sophie made sure all the crockery, cutlery and glasses were gleaming. She ironed the tablecloth and set the table while I draped a throw over the sofa. This area is very much the domain of the cats, and it took a while to remove all traces of them!

After cleaning the kitchen, scrubbing the cloakroom and hoovering the living room, we were all done and could relax for a little while! I had a soak in the bath before applying a coat of clear varnish to my nails, and getting dressed. My allergic rash is still flaring up now and again, and I've had to remove my engagement and wedding rings as they make the irritation worse.

I joined Sophie in the kitchen as she was putting the finishing touches to the charcuterie board, and I lit all the candles and turned on the heater in the conservatory. We were all done!

Sarah and Liam arrived, and I was given a beautiful plant, Italian wine and chocolates. We stood and chatted in the kitchen before moving into the conservatory for the meal. The Italian meats, cheeses and olive bread went down well, and we served Prosecco with the starter. Sophie took care of the pasta and garlic bread, and the Italian wine Liam brought went beautifully with the main course. He was driving, so he only had one glass, but Sophie and I certainly enjoyed it!

We had a pause before the starters, and we were hugely relieved that the panna cotta had set and was delicious served with chopped up strawberries! We also had tiny glasses of Limoncello to accompany the dessert.

Sarah and Liam left at 11:00pm after a great night of chat and laughter, and we promised we'd see each other again soon and not leave it so long!

We did some washing up and then had a real job getting Moonbums in... we called and called, and eventually he emerged from where he'd been when Sophie walked up the road to call for him. We grabbed him, had a cuddle and then went, thankfully, to bed!

A morning shock...

Keith dropped me off at work this morning, and yet again, I faced a mountain of emails to deal with. I honestly didn't think we would have this many cancellations! The situation with the loss of our centres was on BBC Radio Northampton, and I managed to catch a small segment while on the journey to work. I have to say that Everyone Active wasn't coming across too well!

In the office, Sheila and Sara gave me some truly shocking news, which completely floored me. I then had to concentrate on the box office returns before spending the rest of my shift tackling emails. Even with five of us working on them, we still didn't make any inroads.

Keith collected me at 4:00pm, and we trundled home, where I went onto the computer and listened to the BBC Radio Northampton breakfast show. We, along with Everyone Active and the council, had issued a statement, but the main gist of the complaints was against the new company and what little information had been given out.

Keith went to the pub, and Sophie and I watched a Netflix documentary about the former Prince Andrew's interview with Emily Maitliss. The casting of the gorgeous Rufus Sewell as Andrew was a little bizarre!

We had dinner, watched the end of the programme, and then found the original interview on YouTube. It was amusing to see the Queen's favourite son squirming so much!

The normal routine

I spent my six hours at work today trying to answer as many emails as I could, but they just kept coming in a relentless stream. At least I was spared from going on the phone as Kathy came in at 10:00am, so that was a relief!

At 2:00pm, I sped home, quickly had a chat with Keith and then went to see Mum. One of the carers handed me a sheaf of letters that had arrived, so I looked at them before taking them home with me to sort out. I sat with Mum for an hour, and we chatted about this and that, but she is still very confused.

Back home, it was the usual chores and the added task of doing our shopping list as Keith is going tomorrow. We had a delicious dinner of chicken wraps with salad, and then it was time for Shetland again. Same old, same old!

A telling off!

Sophie didn't go to the gym this morning, but I woke up before it was time for her to leave. I sat and had a coffee and then waved her off to work.

I had a GP appointment at 9:30am to discuss the results of my blood tests. Everything was fine, including my cholesterol (perfect), but I was advised to cut down on alcohol... I had to agree with the lovely doctor I saw, and he's booked me in for another blood test in eight weeks. I will be the first to admit that I drink too much, and see a glass of wine or a vodka and tonic as a treat when I get home from work. The annoying thing is that I don't drink sugary or caffeinated beverages (I can't remember the last time I had a Coke) and prefer water to pop or fruit juices. However, I'm determined to cut down and will be researching alternatives to spirits! 

Keith had accompanied me, giving me a lift to work, and I was so glad he had, as the hospital car parks were rammed! I would never have found a space at 10:30am! As soon as I got into work, I made a start on the emails, and Sara and I also cleared out a load of older messages that needed answering.

I stayed on until 5:00pm, and Sophie picked me up from our rear car park. It's been another beautiful day today, and it was great to drive home with Sophie and chat.

Dinner tonight was a very easy meal of baked potatoes with lots of salad. Scrumptious!

Chaos on the roads!

It was truly lovely driving to work in the light this morning, and sunrise is now around 7:00am, so it can only get better!

We faced another load of BOB cancellations, and Sara and I managed to tackle them all over the shift, so at least I felt like I'd done something! The weather has been very pleasant today with milder temperatures and sunshine. Are we over the worst?

Keith picked me up at 4:00pm, and he'd had a busy day as well, with a visit to the dentist for his six-month checkup. We drove home in the lovely Spring-like weather, but despite this, the roads were full of drama! Two police cars came screaming past us while we were on the A45, and then we saw an accident just past the Riverside roundabout. A car had been crossing the busy dual carriageway, and it had hit another vehicle head-on. The front had been ripped off, and there was debris all over the road. Why these openings are still in use, I'll never know, as they are so dangerous. I see cars queuing up to cross the main road on my way home, and I think the drivers are mad! 

We carried on our way, and the traffic queuing on the other side was horrendous. When we arrived at the Moulton bypass, something else had happened, and the traffic was backed up again! I texted Sophie when we got home to warn her, and saw another three incidents on the Moulton bypass and A43! It's mad to think that this was the first pleasant evening at rush hour and there were multiple problems! Sophie's satnav sent her a different way home because of the problems and she looked stressed when she arrived home. 

I felt very restless tonight and couldn't settle, probably because I had agreed to work tomorrow and try to make inroads into the email situation. Work seems to be dominating my life at the moment, and I fear it can only get worse!

Keith had prepared chilli for dinner, so I sat in the living room and watched the first episode of Lord of the Flies on BBC iPlayer. I'm not sure I will watch any more! The cinematography was beautiful, though!

After a delicious dinner, Keith watched Newcastle v Qarabag, and I fell asleep on the sofa! Back to Shetland tomorrow!

Feeling overwhelmed!

My arms were covered in a rash this morning, and they itched like mad. I seem to remember last time the rash lasted quite a while, but I hadn't had much contact with the leaves this time, unlike the time before, when I was squashing them down into a box! 

As we had no paella last night, I called into a Tesco store on the way to work to buy myself a sandwich. When I arrived in the office, Sara said there were 180 "Bob" cancellations. These aren't straightforward, as we have to read the conversation with the AI chatbot and then obtain the DD reference number before sending an email to the customer service inbox to action. It takes far longer than a normal cancellation email, and I couldn't believe my ears when Sara told me how many were waiting to be done. I really didn't think that so many customers would desert us, but it seems they're very attached to the centres we're losing!

Sara and I worked steadily all day but I hardly felt like we'd made an impact! I'm surprised I'm not dreaming about emails!

Sophie made a delicious paella tonight, and we all sat in the kitchen and chatted before she made a start on the meal. It was then time for an episode of Shetland and a spot of relaxation before bed!

A spot of gardening

I think we were all suffering from Sunday syndrome today, even though Keith doesn't work! At least the sun was shining again, though! That managed to lift our moods a little!

Keith and I went out into the garden and chopped down two bushes behind the garage (the ones that had been affected by the caterpillars). We cut them right down to give them a chance to grow back healthily. I would love to have an outdoor kitchen in this area, as the grass is patchy and we store mostly rubbish here, which needs to go to the tip!

We then turned our attention to the hibiscus tree, which hasn't flowered for years and is spindly and weedy. We managed to get the root out, and we took out another spindly tree that wasn't doing a lot. I want to gravel over this border and place a bench here, as it's shaded in the summer. We left one tree alone and started to tear down the rampant ivy that has completely taken over the fence. 

Too late, I remembered that I come out in a rash if I have contact with ivy and I could already feel my hands starting to itch... We carried on, though, and cleared a large section of the fence. I was very surprised that the wood was still intact, buried under the leaves and hadn't rotted! It looked a lot better, but we left all the prunings on the lawn to be taken to the tip on another day. It felt great to be out in the garden on a mild, dry day, and although we made a complete mess, it will look better soon!

While we'd been working in the garden, Sophie had cleaned the house, which had helped! I made lunch for Keith and me, leftover mashed potatoes mixed with grated cheese and crispy bacon bits. We had been doing laundry all day, so that needed to be sorted out, and the twin beeping of the washing machine and tumble dryer nearly drove us mad!

The plan for dinner tonight was paella, but Sophie asked if we could postpone the meal until tomorrow instead. We readily agreed, but Sophie and I still drank a lovely Rioja!