High Winds, Homebase & Working as a Team

Well the car brakes are now fixed at the cost of £208 (yikes!) - but a least they are done and we can drive without worrying for a bit (three things have gone wrong with the car within a month so I'm hoping that it is it for a while).

Whilst the car was being fixed I sat in the local park on a sunny bench and read my book - it was a really horrible thought that I'd have to go to work afterwards as I could easily have sat there all day. I made it into work about 10 and I was totally thrown because I was doing stuff at 10 that I normally have done and dusted by 8 so I was pretty much out of sinc all day.

As I have been a bit naughty on the food front over the last week I decided not to go to Weight Watchers today (why pay £5.00 just to be told that you've put weight back on or stayed the same). However, I will be going to the class that our leader runs on a Wednesday night - so all I'm doing is buying a few extra days really to make sure I get a good result - a sneaky plan I reckon.

When I got home I whizzed round and did some chores, put the tea on and then found a sheltered spot in the garden to read my book and open the day's post. It was really windy so it was hard to find a patch in the sun where I wouldn't get blown away but I managed it.

Had a nice surprise when I opened a parcel addressed to me – it was a book that Peter had got for me from www.readitswapit.co.uk which is a brilliant site where people swap books for free and just pay the postage for sending the book. He ordered Gorky Park for me which I have been after reading for ages.

I also had a look through a book that a work friend had lent me which is about James Cracknell and Ben Fogle entitled The Crossing: Conquering the Atlantic in the World’s toughest rowing race. It’s a shame she didn’t warn me about a very graphic photo in the book of James Cracknell’s bottom which is covered in spots (apparently as a result of all the sitting down, non wearing of clothes and salt water)

After tea we went to Homebase and Peter bought a new hose attachment, some bags of compost and an extension lead for our new fridge (which we can now plug in at last!). Oh and we bought some little cactus plants in lovely little hand painted pots which were reduced. We were sorely tempted by some cute bar-b-ques they had which were in bright pink or blue but decided that it wasn’t ‘an essential’ so left them alone.

After we had done the watering when we got home, flopped on the sofa at around 8.30am and watched a bit of the box and then read a bit more of my book - I've nearly finished it and I have so enjoyed it that I'm quite disappointed.

Nothing Much Happened !

Not much to comment on today.

Did more gardening today - pulled up loads of weeds out the front. Weed-killered the drive as the weeds are pushing through the asphalt like nobodies business. I reckon whoever laid the stuff in the first place was going round the houses door-to- door with a wheel barrow full of asphalt because it's a crap job. I'm not joking when I say if I try to pull up a sturdy weed by hand the tarmac comes up with it!

Also filled up two of the flower beds with quality soil - the stuff that was in there was like rock. The poor plants I don't know how they were surviving.

The rest of the day was reading, sunbathing, housework and watching a bit of telly - not necessarily in that order.

Grass, Ebay & Sunshine

Got up early this morning, made myself a coffee and sat in the conservatory and watched two squirrels run up and down along our fence. I hadn't seen them for a while and was pleased to see they were ok. Peter got up about an hour later and joined me for a bit.

As we are not using the car at the moment Peter cycled to get the paper (note the singular 'paper' we really are cutting down) and I mowed the grass front and back. The effects of mowing are just like when you have hoovered a particularly dusty carpet I think - it looks lovely afterwards and transforms the garden.

Peter left for football at around 10.30 and I spent an hour taking pictures of the stuff that I'm going to sell on Ebay. Also did a write-up in each piece in Word ready to paste into the description when I post the items on Ebay's site. Tonight Peter is going to shrink the pic's down so they are quicker to load as large images take ion's to load on Ebay.

Whilst Peter was out I did a fair bit of cleaning and gave myself some time off and sunbathed and read my book in the garden. It's been quite windy today so it was difficult to find a spot that was both sheltered and hidden from the neighbours who I don't particularly want to spot me laying on the lawn. Anyway, I discovered that as our washing was out that that hid me away just nicely and also provided a wind barrier - result!

When Peter got back in the evening we ate our tea in the garden and then started on the watering - we have so many plants inside and out of the house, plus vegetables that this takes quite a while. Where possible we draw water from our two water butts but they are now half empty so I do hope we get a downpour soon to top them up (but not at a weekend of course, a Monday would be good so I can feel better at being at work).

Later we sat in the lounge and watched another J.C. episode and Chrisltine's Garden and Chaos at the Chateau which is hilarious - how do the producers of these programmes find these perfect for TV people? I am now approaching the part in my Jonathan Creek DVD's where the wonder Caroline Quintin is going to be replaced in the role by Julia Sawalha which just won't be the same - Caroline is so A1 perfect in the role - no-one could match her in the part, her comic timing and sarcastic wit are spot on (not to mention the incredulous expressions) and the fact that she's not your typical co-star beauty just adds authenticity to the thing.

I turned in typically early at 9.30 as I was shattered - managed to read about two pages of my book and that was it. I left Peter in the lounge carrying on with his photo shrinking and watching the new style Jim 'll Fix It where they track down past fix it kids and make them do their fix it all over again 30 odd years on - bizarre.

Forever Friday

Dropped Peter off at the station first thing as he off on a spotting trip today to London City Airport. Felt a pang of jealousy that I didn't have the day off too but hey I had work to look forward to (hmmm). Put my last tenner in the cars petrol tank on the way (well half my tenner and half Peter's actually - he scraped together a fiver for me the other day when my tale of car woe got too much for him).

This morning at work passed quite quickly as there were various meetings going on and lots of peeps coming in and out of the office. At lunch time one of our external management trainers, Jo, came in - I like Jo she is one of those people that just exudes positivity and you can't help but feel better about things after you've spoken to her. She should go onto The Apprentice she'd probably win.

Oh, and we had a letter at work asking all staff to prove their identity and that we have the right to work in the UK. So next week everyone has to trot into HR with their passports and utility bills to prove who they are. Ok then...............................

The afternoon however, dragged for England and I shot out of the door five minutes before I should have to avoid the queues out of the car parks so that I didn't have to do much braking.

During the evening I sorted out my main wardrobe and now have a very large pile of clothes to sell on Ebay. I also need to tackle the other wardrobe in the spare room but as it's got winter stuff in it there's not much point in putting that on the site until the autumn. The long winded part of the sales has yet to take place - I have to put everything on hangers and take pictures that show things off to their best advantage and then enter everything onto Ebay (that's the long bit - if the site is on a go slow each posting can take about 10 minutes which means hours at the computer on a sunny day - not good but it will have to be done if I want to raise some cash). The bit I do love is watching the bidding - I get so excited if something goes above what I thought it would.

We usually watch the gardening programmes on a Friday night but as Peter wasn't around I taped them all and just watched my Soaps and another Johnatan Creek. Then caught up with a bit of back dated newspaper reading where I saw yet another article about the 'I'm not a Plastic Bag' issue - however hard I try to get away from my disappointment at not getting one, I just keep hearing about them - arhhhhhhh

I snapped on and off until Peter came home around 10.30pm (I couldn't really settle until I knew he was safely back). I would normally pick him up from the station but with the car as it is we had agreed not to use it unless it was absolutely necessary so its not leaving the drive until Monday morning when I drive it into the garage to get repaired.

This weekend is supposed to be hot, hot, hot so as we are confined to barracks I suspect we will be doing lots more gardening and generally enjoying the sunshine.

Dreams

Today’s desk calendar quote is:-

Love thyself last: cherish
those hearts that hate thee:
Corruption wins not more
than honesty.
Still in thy right hand carry
gentle peace,
To silence envious tongues.
Be just, and fear not:
Let all the ends though aim’st
at be thy country’s,
They God’s, and truth’s: then if
Thou fall’st, O Cromwell,
Thou fall’st a blessed martyr!

Huge pile up on the motorway today which luckily I’d seen on the News in advance so left extra early as I knew it would be ‘lorry city’ with everything diverting onto the Country roads on my way to work. I was right too – huge lorries everywhere – took me about an extra 10 mins to get to work. My colleague took an extra one and a quarter hours more than normal as she leaves her home that much later.

I’ve been trying to think of some money making schemes today and have decided I’m going to have a big wardrobe clear out at the week-end and put some clothes on Ebay. In the past things have sold really well so let’s hope that will still be the case. I know there is stuff lurking in my wardrobe that I’ve never worn so I should be able to turf out quite a bit. Also our wardrobe is so packed that when you take one thing off a hanger a great heap of other stuff falls to the floor so if I thin it out it will make me feel a whole lot better.

I’ve always thought that I have a sort of 6th sense about things and my work colleague agrees as I often predict things that then turn out to happen. Today I was doing a very mundane job of sticking labels onto envelopes and my mind drifted to a book I had just read and I was trying to recollect who the murderer turned out to be at the end. I had just remembered that his name had been Jed when I turned over to the next page of address labels and saw the name Jed …………. (can’t remember surname). I didn’t produce the labels either so it’s not as if I could have subconsciously have that name held in my head. It’s such an unusual name that it did spook me.

Watched the Hairy Bikers on the box with Peter and part of It’s not Easy Being Green before nodding off. Had a horrible dream overnight that some joy riders had smashed into our car on the drive and also that our neighbour had ripped down the hedge that separates our two gardens. It was really upsetting and I woke up feeling tense and stressed as it had felt so real – let’s home that premonition doesn’t happen.

The One That Got Away

I heard on the news this morning that Sainbury's were re-issuing the ultra trendy Anya Hindmarch bag which they sell for a fiver. So, I went to Winchester's large Sainsburys and I was amazed to see quite a crowd of teenage girls queuing up for them at 7.00am. In their wisdom Sainsburys had decided to issue tickets to limit numbers per customer (fair enough) but they wouldn't start selling them until 8.00am (why not?? the store opened at 7.00am). So, I had to miss out as I had to be in work for 7.45am and didn't fancy lurking in Sainsburys for an hour.

I was even more annoyed when I checked Ebay and saw the same bag selling on there for well over £100 - to say I was gutted was a under statement - we are so skint a the moment that this sort of influx of cash would have really helped. Peter, bless him, jumped off the train at an early stop to try and get one in Boscombe on his way to work but they had already sold out by about 8.00am (so they must have started selling theirs early). Not fair!!

My colleague was unexpectedly back at work today as she had got her family issues sorted earlier than expected. I was so pleased as it is horrible here at the moment, with all that is going on, without someone to have a moan to.

The car's brakes are increasingly bad and I can't wait to get it sorted on Monday - I really shouldn't be driving it but what choice is there - not go to work so earn even less, hire a taxi (I don't think so). Just driving like a snail and not getting too close to anything in the interim.

On a good note I heard from our friendly mortgage adviser today, Adrian, he is going to help us get a better deal when we renew our deal at the end of July. Let's hope he can because if we have to go onto our current lenders standard variable rate I reckon we could be looking at least another £100 a month which is not worth thinking about. Anyway, Adrian is excellent and he doesn't charge a fee (he gets his commission from the lender) so that's good news.

Peter didn't get home til late tonight so I earned some brownie points and did all the watering and put his tea in the oven when he was heading home. I also watched another Jonathan Creek which I am currently addicted to. Oh and the Apprentice later in the evening which was very entertaining. Tray (is that how you spell it) who I hated at first is actually proving to be very funny now so I think he might be there until the end.

Tuesday

Today’s Shakespear Quote from my Desk Calendar

For thy sweet love
remberer’d such
wealth brings
that then I scorn
to change my state
with kings

It was raining steadily when we got up this morning so that will be good for the garden. I took pity on Peter and drove him to the Station.

As soon as got to work I knew it was going to be a bad day. My opposite number is away for two days so there is no-one to chat to which makes it an awfully long day. Also, I saw my bosses car was in which means that, yet again, all the travel bookings and event bookings I have booked for him today have been a waste of time as he has cancelled things at the last minute. If this happened occasionally it wouldn’t be so bad but it’s happening all the time and it’s totally demoralising. A lot of my normal day is spent organising meetings, venues, travel etc and the meetings, when they involve a large amount of people, are really tricky – so when they get cancelled at the 11th hour it really is sole destroying – particularly if you know that you will have to re-arrange them again for later in the year. Ho hum

I was not in the best of moods when I got home so I consoled myself with a bag of crisps which actually made it worse as I knew that was breaking my weight watchers points.

On a positive note, I managed to collar one of our neighbours to interrogate him about his roof which he has recently had re-tiled (and we know ours needs doing at some point as it is circa 1930’s). He was very forthcoming and even gave me a business card of the contractors who had carried out the work and the price they had charged. On a bad note he said that he thought we had asbestos tiles which would cost extra to remove!

Absolutely zilch on TV so read loads of my book which cheered me up and Peter listened to all my work moans so that was good of him.

Monday Blues

Not a good work day at all – having had a good weekend I came in full of the joys etc. but everyone was so glum around me I soon got dragged down. Another couple of people have handed in their notice today – because of all the uncertainty that’s going on people are very unsettled and understandably want to secure their futures and don’t want to wait until August to find out if they have a job or not.

The day wasn’t totally lost though as I lost another pound at Weight Watchers which I didn’t think I would as I’d eaten bar-b-que food at the weekend (although we did do a fair bit of walking so I guess they cancelled each other out). I had a scary moment in the car park though – I was walking back to my car and walked behind a car which was waiting to get into a space – suddenly the stupid women started reversing back, without looking, and I had to run to get past her. She didn’t even notice me, she was so focused on making sure she got the parking space which was being freed up by someone reversing out. I was bloody angry and really wish I’d banged on her window and told her off – if I had been a child or someone elderly they wouldn’t have stood a chance.

When I got home I did a few chores and then stuck on the second episode of Jonathan Creek to cheer myself up. It was just finishing as Peter got home. We had squid for tea which I’ve actually decided I don’t like now so we won’t be getting it again.

We decided to water the garden just in case the promised rain didn’t come but it eventually did overnight – oh well, doing the watering was quite therapeutic anyway.

Good things Today
Another pound gone
Jonathan Creek

Bad Things Today
Work

Gardening & Snoozing

We installed our new fridge today– typically we wanted the door to open on a different side so there was a bit of faffing around with that but it fitted perfectly under our rather small worktop space. However, it is not yet in use as the power lead won’t reach our plug socket (it's about a foot short which is rather annoying). We are going to get an extension lead next weekend when we go to the garden centre for some essentials we have run out of - we can't afford to go until pay day so there's rather a list!

Today we have almost solidly been in the garden - me doing a bit of gardening - reading a bit of my book - doing a bit of gardening - reading my book - you get the picture. Oh and fell asleep at one point too.............

Peter, similarly did the same and indispersed his gardening with watching the aircraft go overhead.

I’m really pleased with how our garden is coming along – Peter has ensured we have lots of veg coming along and flower seeds planted ready to plant into our pig troughs and hanging baskets and I’ve been keeping things tidy – strimming the path edges, clearing away unwanted bits of pieces either into our green bag or sneaked into our wheelie bin. I dumped the last of mdf boards that got ruined when we had the leak in the dining room – unfortunately as it had been in the garden for ages getting soggy and rotten, but when I picked the bits up to put them into the bin there were masses of slugs underneath which I absolutely abhor (they are my one phobia) so Peter had to help me get rid of them before I’d touch some of it.

I retired to the house first in the evening and settled down to watch the first ever episode of Jonathan Creek from my new box set – bliss!

My Dad the Mole Murderer

Went to the book sale in Penton, Nr Andover today. This time they had opened up the field opposite the village hall for parking which was a big improvement as usually you have park all around the village lanes which is a nightmare. Anyway the place was packed as usual with enthusiastic book rummagers and I bought a Stephen King and two Karin Slaughters (never read any of her stuff before but they look like my sort of thing). Then we had a quick visit to our favourite charity shop and then over to mum and dads.

My belated birthday present from mum and dad was a fridge (I have previously blogged that my parents are the masters of the unconventional birthday present!) Anyway, I was pleased as our old one is a bit clapped out and won't fit under the kitchen worktop - we are going to use the old one now for a 'drinks fridge' - how cool is that.......

Mum and dad did us an ace bar-b-que and then we went for a short drive to some local bluebell woods which were spectacular - I'm sure Peter will post some pics attached to his blog.

When we got back we had tea in the garden and watched the wildlife. My parents are huge wildlife fans but are a bit selective i.e. if something damages their garden ie. rabbits, moles etc they are fair game for the shot gun/mole trap. Dad's lawn is currently home to several mole traps which I don't approve of but hey they ain't digging up our lawn so I suppose I shouldn't judge.

We had taken over some broad bean plants for the folks and they in return gave us some flowers and lettuce plants. We also became the proud owners of two old galvanised pig troughs (yes you read that right). I'm going to plant them up with beautiful flowers and hopefully they will make a nice garden feature.

So, on the way home we had the car absolutely laden in heavy goods - so it was a slowish drive home.

We're now watching one of my birthday films "Shaun of the Dead" - quite funny so far.

Friday

My Current Book

Slept right through the alarm this morning which is unheard of - normally I wake up before it goes off - so our late night, as predicted, had left me very tired - oh dear I just can't hack it any more !





Fairly busy morning at work followed by a quiet afternoon. Was very glad to leave at 4.30 and head home. We had tea in the garden - fish cakes, baked potatoe and salad - yum. Then Peter got on with some gardening and I do some housework before settling down to watch the Friday night gardening programmes. We'll probably catch Have I got News for You too.



Had some rather annoying post today. A few weeks ago I filled in a questionnaire that the Lib Dems (that run our local Council) had sent out - it was about crime. I ticked the box that said I'd like to see Police actually on foot in the local area. Since completing this questionnaire I have had a letter saying 'thanks for completing the questionnaire' and then today another letter enclosing a letter that our local MP has sent to John Reid about Crime (the copy letter to John Reid was on high quality embossed paper). What a total waste! So the lib dems have wasted two first class stamps and envelopes and paper sending me that info when I'd rather they spent it things we actually need in this area. God knows how many other they've sent it to. I would write to them but then I'd probably get another letter of acknowledgement!!!

Tomorrow we're going to see my mum and dad and are hoping to cadge some plant cuttings as we have a few gaps in the borders. Dad is also apparently taking us to a local bluebell wood which is supposed to be spectacular - so I'm looking forward to that.





Sunday we are planning a 'pottering day' and I hope to get chance to read some more of my current book which is Crippen by John Boyne. So far I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I also want to look at the books that I got for my birthday as I haven't really had chance to look at them properly yet.

Good Things Today
Planning the weekend
Tea in the Garden
Getting a head start on the weekend's housework

Bad Things Today
MP mailshots

Screaming Rabbits and Opera

Ok-ish day at work so not much to mention there. Left slightly late and dashed home to do a few bits before picking Peter up at the Station. As we are on a severe economy drive I managed to blag a couple of pack lunches that had been left over from a meeting at work to take with us.

On our way to Basingstoke we stopped off at Winchester Services and sat on a picnic bench to eat our free food. It was very pleasant sitting there in the sun - that was until we heard the screaming!!! A short way in front of us, in some bushes, we could hear this loud what can only be described as screaming - the sort of sound an animal makes when it is distressed or injured. People kept walking past the bush, on their way to their cars, and staring and pointing. After a while a baby rabbit shot out of the bush and ran up and down in front of the service area and then over to the children's play area where a couple of larger adult rabbits joined it in running around dementedly. Then the cause of their distress appeared - a dirty rat!!! As they disappeared deeper into the undergrowth Peter went to have a look but couldn't spot them but the screaming went on. Quite horrible really - I do hope the baby rabbit and his family were ok but the rat certainly didn't look like he was giving up - ah well, such is nature I guess!!!

Then we went into Basingstoke to the Anvil Theatre to see Aida. We were two rows from the front so had an excellent view. We sat next to a middle aged lady who'd gone on her own and she was pleasant so that was nice - nothing worse than sitting next to a grumpy person is there. The Opera was very loooooooooooooooong at over 3 hours with two intervals - I don't think I have ever been to anything with two intervals before. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it and the singers and the set design were excellent, as were the orchestra who we were virtually sat in front of. I always find orchestras fascinating and wonder what the internal politics are like. They were a right mixed bunch - some old hands, some very glamorous ladies playing Cello and violin (including one in a see through top!), a young lad playing the flute and piccolo who looked very bored indeed and like he would rather be playing Motorhead, a drummer with a wild mane of a beard................ I just bet it's a seething bed of intrigue.

I had similar thoughts with the operatic stars - there were a lot of 'background players' playing the servants to the Pharaohs and in certain scenes some very attractive and lithe ballet dances came on to do some of the lighter dance sequences. You could almost feel the animosity of the rather stocky opera ladies standing watching these bright young things flnng themselves around the stage ........... or maybe I just imagined it..............

All in all, I enjoyed it (I was very glad of being able to refer to the programme and having sub-titles scrolling across the top of the stage though). We eventually got home around 11.30pm so no doubt we will be zombies in the morning.

Good Things Today
Opera (a new experience)
A free lunch (yes, there is such a thing!)

Bad Things Today
Rabbits in distress

I hate cars !!

In a pretty good mood today - still on a high after my birthday I guess. The day pretty much flew by as the meeting I had to attend, and minute, took up the whole morning and the afternoon just disappeared in trying to catch up on a few days emails.

Peter didn't go into work again today as he is still not over his cold (I know from experience it will take about a week to go properly so I am being sympathetic fiance I hope!)

On the way home I noticed the car making some strange grinding noises - I think the drivers side front brake pads may have worn through to the disc (darn it - I have absolutely no money and can't afford something else going wrong).

We had our Sainsburys food delivery tonight and once the guy had unloaded Peter looked at the pile of bags and said 'is that it?' - I had to reassure him that we weren't going to starve as there as we have plenty of things lurking in the bottom of the freezer (they may be circa T-rex era but I'm sure they are edible).

The National Trust sent us another renewal reminder today - we cancelled our direct debit in December. I just sent it back saying can't afford to renew. We will definitely rejoin again when our luck changes. Peter did say that he hadn't checked our lottery tickets from the weekend so you never know!

This evening I've done quite a lot of tidying up and now I'm flopping on the settee in readiness for The Apprentice.

Tomorrow we are off to the Opera, don't you know, as we ain't been before and we're gonna check it out - tee hee. We booked it some time ago (before the cash crisis) and I'm looking forward to it as neither of us have been before and I'm sure it will be an experience but I do hope we won't feel out of place as I am sure there will be some real Opera buffs there. .........

Ooops The Apprentice music has started - time to make a brew and settle down for an hour of cult TV.

Oh god I'm 43!

Yep, it's my 43rd birthday today - how did I get this old. I still feel about 30!

Anyway, woke up and opened up lots of lovely presents from Peter and my friends and the postman brought some cards too.

Here, are the lovely things I received.

Jonathan Creek DVD box set
Rick Stein - Fish Cookbook
Undiscovered by James Morrison CD
An Inconvenient Truth - the Al Gore Environmental Documentary
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
This book will save your life by A M Holmes
Proclaimers Greatest Hits CD
Band Anthems CD
Shaun of the Dead DVD
The Birds - Hitchcock DVD
The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson
My Life on a Hillside Allotment by Terry Walton
Chilled holder for putting a tub of Hagan Dazz Ice cream in - how cool is that!
Some Avon Make-Up
A Necklace and Earrings
Photo Frame
Back Massager
Some friendship books on smiling and laughing
A little box of luxury chocolates

This evening, as I am typing this, we are watching Click which is a mad comedy about a guy who gets given a magic remote which allows him to pause, fast forward and rewind parts of his life.

What a lovely day - what a shame work is tomorrow and I have a big meeting to minute. Oh well, tomorrow is another day and there is still 4 hrs of this one to go yet ........................

Flying Fish, Sunshine & KFC

Today is the first of my two days off work - hoorah. However, Peter has definitely caught my cold and didn't go into work today.

Mid morning I decided I ought to go and do something so went up to the local park and Peter decided to 'take the air' and come with me (just for half an hour). We sat on a bench and watched the birds on the lake - after a while we noticed something orange in the water and discovered it was a very large koy carp (the sort you would get in a very posh fish pond) I guess someone released it there. We also saw fish jumping out of the lake to catch flies - very entertaining.

We then went back home and I got ready to go out. It's so hot and sunny I have abandoned weaning tights until the autumn now - hoorah! I hate the darn things. It's bare legs and flip flops for me from now on. Anyway, went to Weight Watchers and much to my delight I have lost 1.5lbs so only 2lbs to go now until I reach the magic 2 stone mark. I already feel so much better and clothes that I haven't been able to get into suddenly fit - don't get me wrong I still have a longgggggg way to go before I'm 'thin' or even 'slim' but I'm getting there.

After WW I went into town to pick up my pals Julie and Wendy and we went to Basingstoke Cinema to see 'Sunshine' - there were a total of 5 of us in the cinema. After the film we went to KFC (we know how to live!) but only because we had some money off vouchers. We couldn't eat all our chicken so I wrapped a piece up in a doggy bag to take home for Peter. Anyway, Julie thought the film was CRAP (very blunt and to the point is Julie), Wendy thought it was OK and I quite enjoyed it.

When I got home Peter was asleep but stirred enough to move his hand in a slight wave when I came into the bedroom (poor thing his cold is really zonking him out).

Sunny Sunday

Today was the day I felt my cold finally easing off, I can actually breath through my nose now although I have developed a cough which rather than being croaky is just like having a speck of dust in your throat that you just can clear.

I phoned my brother this morning as he has also been unwell, more seriously, with bronchitis. He’s well on the mend though so that’s good.

Today we mowed the grass (I did the front and Peter did the back). It’s amazing how much the tidier the garden looks when all the daisy and dandelion heads have been cut off!

I spent most of the day with my head in a book and have now finished Messiah by Boris Starling. What a great read – I thoroughly enjoyed it. As the murderer was basing his killing spree on Jesus and his twelve apostles there were plenty of dead bodies to keep me happy (god I’m morbid!). Now I need to decide what to read next – I have hundreds of books I haven’t yet touched so I am spoilt for choice.

Did a fair bit of sunbathing today and now have a pleasing healthy colour. I also managed to get into a summer skirt that I haven’t worn for ages so the weight loss is meaning that old favourites are making their way out of the wardrobe – hooray.

Peter and I were discussing our garden and we do love it but it does have its faults. We have a three patches of grass out the front which are very wasted as they are too public to sit out on and are just a pain to mow and keep tidy really. Out the back we could do with just little more ground on which to site a greenhouse and to grow more vegetables. So when we move in about 20 years time we will definitely look for something slightly larger (nothing wrong with having a long term plan I guess).

Looking forward to next few ‘non work’ days!

Gosh, It's Rather Warm

Pottered about today. Re-potted a couple of plants and washed down the exterior conservatory woodwork as it was covered in spiders webs, plus did some housework.

Boy it was hot today though and I also spent a lot of time in the garden reading the papers and my book and also did a bit of sun bathing to get rid of my celery coloured legs!

I was pleased to spots some frogs in our pond as I hadn't seen any for a while and we were concerned that all the frog spawn we had seen earlier in the year might have been destroyed when the pond froze over in February.

Collected Peter from the Airport station at just gone 6pm, well I would have if he had remembered to get off! I think he suddenly thought it was a work day and carried on to the town station - so I did a quick dash there to pick him up. As Peter said later, it's a good job that the train stopped at the town station as it usually doesn't and goes straight to Winchester.

We had our tea in the garden and now I've come in to watch Dr Who and Peter is outside planting broad beans. There is what looks like a good film on later with Nicole Kidman and Anthony Hopkins in it called The Human Stain. Not sure if I'll stay awake long enough to watch it or whether I should tape it - probably the latter.

Tommorow we had planned to go up to the local boot sale but given recent car events I am now skint so I think we'll have to give that a miss. No matter - another relaxing day in the sun will do me fine and all the vitamen D might make my cold go away.............

Friday 13th Part 2

Well the car made the drive into Andover! I dropped it in the garage and started walking across to the park with my book and rug to kill the time whilst it was being fixed. I had just crossed the road and I heard this car tooting its horn at me - I looked round and saw my friend Wendy. I followed her car around the corner and met up with her at her doctors which is where she was heading! What a coincidence! So rather than sitting in the park for a few hours I sat in the doctors waiting room chatting to Wendy, then went back to her place for a coffee. The garage rang a couple of hours later and said the car was ready - got a bit of a shock when I got back down there though - their estimate of about £100 had shot up to £170!!! Oh well, it had to be done and at least I can drive with confidence now.

Hit the usual traffic queue up to the Winnal Roundabout on the A34 and got home about 5 ish. Peter had got the early train so was home earlier than usual - he'd had to collect a parcel from the Post Office in town. We used to be able to collect parcels from the Royal Mail depot in Eastleigh which was extremely convenient as I could nip in on my way to work (it was open from 7.00am) but now we have 'progress' and have to collect it in town, which doesn't open until eveyone is at work and means paying for a parking ticket - great!

My cold got progressively worse during the evening - I don't know how much more I can blow my nose - it's so sore. We caught up with a few programmes this evening most wildlife and gardening one's. Got a few tips about planting under shady trees from Gardening World so when we can afford it I want to get some ferns for the border under the tree.

Hit the hay at a dreadfully early time and hope I didn't keep Peter awake too much with my nose blowing and snoring - not being to breath through my nose is not making me a good bed partner.

Friday the 13th - Part 1

Well, I made it in to work this morning (car wise and illness wise). I got here slightly early so I could drive along the roads very slowly to try and prevent the car from going bang. Only pissed a few drivers off who were behind me I think.

Work had been ok, very quiet but have had quite a few visitors in and out of the office and went for a coffee with a couple of colleagues mid morning. Also brought my radio in today so I've been listening to Radio 4 and improving my current affairs knowledge immensely. Also they keep saying that there is going to be a heat wave this weekend - bring it on!

It's almost half past one and I need to phone the garage in about half an hour to see if the part is in (it better be as I can't take this dicing with death driving experience for too long I can tell you). My plan is to drop the car in and then go and sit in a park just around the corner and read my book whilst they do the repairs - it could be a few hours as they will have to fit it in around other work.

I've done a severe editing of our next Sainsburys shopping list today - the amount of our fortnightly shop has been going up and up as we are eating healthier and having more 'nice' but 'pricy' suff. So it's dropped from about £120 to £95 - I can't seem to get it much below that without us resorting to tearing up sheets of newspaper for loo roll (which I think would be too extreme).

We had expected to hear from Denise and Brian last night as they had tentatively suggested meeting up again yesterday evening when Peter spoke to Denise at the beginning of the week. However, we didn't hear anything which we were both quite releaved about as,
a) I was feeling so unwell
b) using the car would have been risky
c) we have no money

That's the end of my ramblings for now - Friday 13th Part 2 to follow.

Colds and Cars Bahhhhh

Oh dear what a day today was! After spending £60 in ATS for my new tyre I went to work and rang my garage to get the car booked in. They wanted to look at it at 2 O'clock so that meant using some of my TOIL hours up to go and do that (I don't like using up my well earnt extra hours by doing unpleasant stuff but needs must!).

Carol, my co-worker is having a rough family time at the moment so I did lots of sympathetic listening today. It looks like one of her son's is splitting up with his live in partner of 12 years (he cheated on her with her best friend - what a cad!) and there is a young child involved too. Carol is very upset as she loves her grandchild so much and indeed his mum too. Of course she can only try and guide her son because she doesn't want to fall out with him either. Oh dear families sometimes cause so sorrow........

At 2.00pm made it over to the garage and after lifting the bonnet up and hearing lots of tutting or sucking of teeth from the two mechanics they diagnosed that the alternator adjuster had broken which means the alternator belt is slipping off and if this happens it could totally knacker my engine. The worst part was that they didn't have the right part and didn't recommend that I drive it at all until it gets fixed. Well that's fine in principle but I could hardly walk home to Eastleigh (about 25 miles) and how would I get to work in the morning and then back to the garage. So, I had no choice but to drive home very carefully (praying all the way) and I made it back. Just the trip to work in the morning now and then to the garage again to get through now.

Felt really rough with my cold when I got home - I think the stress of the car (and money it is costing) added to my headache too so went to bed early for the second time this week. Had to get up several times to answer the phone though as friend Wendy called to finalise arrangements for my birthday get together with her and Julie next week. We are going out the night before, the Monday, and the plan is that I will go to my Weight Watchers class (and hopefully come out smiling), then drive over to Andover to pick up said friends, then off to cinema to see either Sunshine or Perfect Stranger, then a cheap meal somewhere followed by cheap drinks in Witherspoons - sounds good to me. Peter has the Tuesday booked off with me and we are going to go to the http://www.wealddown.co.uk/. Dad also phoned to ask about the car and to check when they could see me to give me my 'large' present next week - I'm never sure if my dad is joking or not - on one memorable birthday he bought me a wooden loo seat as mine had broken so his presents can be a little random !!!! I shall wait and see with anticipation.

Later in the evening I watched The Hairy Bikers with Peter and part of It's Not Easy Being Green before falling asleep.

Oh and had rubbish post today too. A job I had been tentatively looking at as a possible change of direction sent a 'no thanks' letter to my application. I suspect they were eitehr horrified when I said how much money I wanted (as you had to state that on the application) or they wanted a 'young thing' and almost 43 is pushing it - but who knows! I know I was more than qualified for it so my nose has been slightly been put out of joint in not getting an interview.

Good things today

Beautiful sunny day

Making arrangements for my birthday next week

Bad things today

Car trouble

Money trouble

This darn cold

Oh Ricky You're So Fine ................

Wednesday

Left work at 4.00pm and headed straight down to Bournemouth to meet Peter at the Town Hall. Bournemouth Town Hall is such a nice building – especially in the sunshine – it reminds me of the Town Hall in that ancient kids programme Trumpton with its’ decorative clock tower.

We left the car where is was and wandered up to Borders, one of my favourite shops, in the whole world ever! Had an iced coffee in Starbucks which was great as it really soothed my sore throat.

Then we moved the car to the Bournemouth International Centre car park and walked down to the beach and ate fish and chips on the sea wall and watched everyone on the beach. Harry Ramsdens is supposed to be the best fish and chip place in the UK but Peter had to queue for ages and then we had very undercooked chips. However, the fish was good and everything tastes good by the sea anyway doesn’t it!

Then after Peter had made a valiant attempt to win a Winnie the Pooh in the grab machines we went to see Ricky Gervais who was absolutely brilliant – we both enjoyed him emmencly. However, when we left the car park we got a tap on the window and a helpful chappy pointed out that we had a flat tyre. So we limped up to a deserted car park up the road and Peter changed it with the spare wheel. Poor Peter, his white shirt wasn't white by the time we got home!

Thursday AM
Went to ATS this morning in Winchester. The tyre was a rightoff as a screw had gone in the tyre and out again right through the tyre wall. So a new tyre cost £60.00

They then checked the mileage to put on their form and noticed the oil light was coming on and checked the oil (which didn’t even register on the dip stick) so the nice ATS man filled it up for free!

However, there was more bad news – the alternator belt was almost hanging off and if it had come off totally we would have lost steering control and knackered the camb belt which is about £300 !!! So I have booked it in a garage in Andover this afternoon for them to look at – I’m hoping they can just stretch it across to the right place but who knows if it is going to be that simple? I’m quite worried about what it is going to cost but there is no choice but to get it done – I think we will be living off bread and dripping until the end of the month if this comes to more than £50 – oh dear. Why do all these things happen at once? I’ll have to get selling on EBay again I think.

Tuesday Blues

I woke up this morning with a very sore throat, a headache and a slightly runny nose! Where did I catch this bug from? I've been out in the fresh air most of this weekend. Anyway, drove into work with a heavy heart as I know it's going to be very quiet this week and therefore the time will drag. All the major bosses are on leave this week, as are many other staff, and the students are still away so the place is like a ghost ship. My boss has left me a pile of stuff but I can probably knock through it in about a day and then I'll be scratching around thinning out files i.e. the dregs that normally don't get done frequently enough and therefore build up for occasions such as this.

Carol, my opposite number at work, has booked the day off tomorrow so I will be on my own in our suite of offices tomorrow - I really enjoy that sometimes when I have lots of catching up to do but when it's quiet it's hell having no-one to chat to. I can see I'll be roaming the building looking for signs of life within other departments.

I didn't leave on time tonight as a colleague wanted to chat about another job she has been offered - she doesn't really want to leave here but with all the upheavel and uncertainty here at the moment, and with no signs of the pay ever improving, she is sort of feeling she has too (her other offer pays quite a few thousand more so I totally understand why she is considering it). Real shame as she is one of the people I like best here.

I made the mistake of driving home along the A34, forgetting that there would be some late Easter bank holiday returners, so got into a very long queue. By the time I got home I was feeling as they say, dog rough, so sloped off to bed and sent Peter a text in case he came home and, not spotting me in my usual place on the sofa, wondered if the earth had stopped turning (creature of habit me!). Peter came up and noshed his tea with me in bed and then I just watched a bit of telly and was asleep by 8 O'clock.

During the evening I sort of got hooked into a programme about plans to mine the moon for something called helium 3 which apparently could solve the earth's energy crisis. The problem is that both the Americans and the Russians are reckoning to be able to do this by 2020 but no one actually 'owns' the moon so you can guess what the next war will be about then! All the way through the programme I was thinking, well we've wrecked our own planet and now we going to try and wreck the moon too - is there no end to man's destructiveness!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/broadband/tx/moonsale/tips/

This cold has come at exactly the wrong time as we are off to see Ricky Gervais tomorrow night and possibly out with Denise and Brian the following night so I would like to be feeling my usual self. I am determined to fight it though - there is no way I am missing out on the stuff we have planned for this week.

A Monday I Enjoyed

What a lovely day today was. The weather was really hot - I even did a spot of sunbathing to get rid of my winter paler and have succeeded in actually getting some colour into my face without burning.

Peter was on full 'planting mode' and put in some veg and planted lots of flower seeds in pots to bring out into the garden later.

I pottered about doing bits of housework and gardening amongst bursts of sitting out in the sun enjoying my current book. At lunch time we sat in the garden and ate fish cakes, accompanied by minted new potatoes and a green salad - blissful.

This weekend has been so good, just the right mix of getting things done, seeing other people and having time to ourselves all accompanied by exceptional weather (oh and yummy Easter Eggs too which we have both troughed in two days!)

Sell, Sell, Sell !

Peter bought me a lovely white chocolate Easter egg -yum. I noticed that it had an 'eat by' date of June 2007 on it - hmmm no chance of it getting to that date me thinks .........

By 8.30am the car was loaded up and we were on our way to Popham Airfield. We did a Geocache on the way, a nice easy one at the A34 Services, conveniently stuck to a lamp post. I noticed that the Services had a 24 hr Costa Coffee - so that's where I'll go if I ever find I can't sleep.

We got a good sheltered pitch at the Airfield and the sun baked down on us. We applied sunscreen but I still got a bit red on my neck. It might have something to do with me just dabbing the stuff on whilst Peter applies it liberally. I just don't like the greasiness of the stuff. Anyway, we had a good day and sold just under £40 worth of stock. £20 will go into our Canada trip fund (slowly slowly we will get there).

On the way home we called in at Wendy's and had a lovely roast dinner. Laura, showed us her Amsterdam trip pictures, including ones in the Sex Museum. It seems everyone goes there as Peter and I went when we went to Amsterdam.

We got home around 7.30pm and got the car sorted out and everything put away and then slumped in front of the telly and watched Alled Jones learning to play the drums which was of particular interest to Peter as he is learning to play.

Flopped into bed dead early with the intention of reading but fell asleep after just a few chapters - all that fresh air again!

Sell, Sell, Sell !

Peter bought me a lovely white chocolate Easter egg which he gave to me this morning. I will 'try' and ration it out over the next few days (ha, ha). I noticed the 'eat by' date was June 2007 - well, it's got no chance of seeing mid April 2007 really!

By 8.30am the car was stuffed to the roof with boxes and we were off to Popham Airfield. We did one very easy Geocache on the way (conveniently fixed to a lamp post) at the A34 Services and we also picked up the papers there. Peter actually managed to keep me out of Costa Coffee which has a 24hr store there - wow 24 hrs - now I know where to scoot off to in the middle of the night if I can't sleep!

We got to the Airfield around 9.30am and managed to get a very good pitch which was sandwiched next to another stall who had a large hoarding up so we were totally sheltered from any wind (not that there was any really). Even that early on the sun was beating down and we slapped on the sunscreen - well Peter did - he applies it as you should do, liberally, but I just dab bits on because I hate the greasiness of it (oh too much vanity!).

Anyway, the weather was fantastic all day and after a slow start we managed to sell just under £40 worth of stock, £20 of which is going into our Canada trip fund (one day we will get there - every little helps as they say!).

On the way home we called into friend Wendy's as we had been invited for tea. She did a wonderful roast dinner and a fantastic profiterole pudding (although I stuck to the healthy fruit jelly and just had a bit of the 'wicked' dessert to taste it!!). Laura, eldest daughter, showed us her Amsterdam pictures (complete with ones from the Sex Museum - it must be on everyone's 'must see' list as Peter and I went there on our trip to Holland). Laura is turning into a real jet setter and is off to France and Spain during the Summer as well - oh to be young again and without responsibilities! I think Wendy would like to travel and see more of the world but Mick just isn't interested. Peter suggested that Wendy and I go on a abroad trip sometime which is actually a good suggestion. Peter is going away on his own in May to either Belgium or Switzerland on an Aircraft trip so he won't mind at all if I do the same at some point. We stayed at Wendy's until about 7.30pm and then decided to head back to get the car unloaded in daylight.

Then we slumped in front of the TV for a bit and watched Alled Jones attempt to learn the drums which was actually very interesting, particularly to Peter who is learning at the moment and knows how difficult it is. Finished the day off by reading some more of Messiah about 2 pages before totally zonking out - all that fresh air again!

Sell, Sell, Sell !

Peter bought me a lovely white chocolate Easter egg which he gave to me this morning. I will 'try' and ration it out over the next few days (ha, ha). I noticed the 'eat by' date was June 2007 - well, it's got no chance of seeing mid April 2007 really!

By 8.30am the car was stuffed to the roof with boxes and we were off to Popham Airfield. We did one very easy Geocache on the way (conveniently fixed to a lamp post) at the A34 Services and we also picked up the papers there. Peter actually managed to keep me out of Costa Coffee which has a 24hr store there - wow 24 hrs - now I know where to scoot off to in the middle of the night if I can't sleep!

We got to the Airfield around 9.30am and managed to get a very good pitch which was sandwiched next to another stall who had a large hoarding up so we were totally sheltered from any wind (not that there was any really). Even that early on the sun was beating down and we slapped on the sunscreen - well Peter did - he applies it as you should do, liberally, but I just dab bits on because I hate the greasiness of it (oh too much vanity!).

Anyway, the weather was fantastic all day and after a slow start we managed to sell just under £40 worth of stock, £20 of which is going into our Canada trip fund (one day we will get there - every little helps as they say!).

On the way home we called into friend Wendy's as we had been invited for tea. She did a wonderful roast dinner and a fantastic profiterole pudding (although I stuck to the healthy fruit jelly and just had a bit of the 'wicked' dessert to taste it!!). Laura, eldest daughter, showed us her Amsterdam pictures (complete with ones from the Sex Museum - it must be on everyone's 'must see' list as Peter and I went there on our trip to Holland). Laura is turning into a real jet setter and is off to France and Spain during the Summer as well - oh to be young again and without responsibilities! I think Wendy would like to travel and see more of the world but Mick just isn't interested. Peter suggested that Wendy and I go on a abroad trip sometime which is actually a good suggestion. Peter is going away on his own in May to either Belgium or Switzerland on an Aircraft trip so he won't mind at all if I do the same at some point. We stayed at Wendy's until about 7.30pm and then decided to head back to get the car unloaded in daylight.

Then we slumped in front of the TV for a bit and watched Alled Jones attempt to learn the drums which was actually very interesting, particularly to Peter who is learning at the moment and knows how difficult it is. Finished the day off by reading some more of Messiah about 2 pages before totally zonking out - all that fresh air again!

Banana Drama !

I was so tired last night I went to bed at 9 O'clock and didn't even hear Peter come to bed (all this gardening is knackering!).

This morning went out to get the papers and a few provisions at the local Tesco Garage. Unfortunately the cashier was 'happy chappy' who Peter has blogged about previously. No transaction is straightforward or 'quiet' with happy chappy as he adopts the American method of serving customers - questions, questions, questions. Did I have petrol? - No / Do I have a clubcard? - Yes / Do I want the School's Voucher? - Yes / Did I want a bag? - Yes / Could I get some alternative bananas as the bar-code won't scan? - Ok, Yes / Do I still want the car wash token even though it isn't open yet - Yes. Arh!!!!! I just want to get in, grunt hello, pay and leave.

Drove homw via the huge new housing estate that has sprung up near to our house - up to now you haven't been able to gain access to it from our road but they opened up the access road the other day. It all looks very nice but the houses and flats are packed so closely, with no green space inbetween them and inadequate parking, so I wonder how long it will look as it does now. At one time the tower blocks of the 60's and 70's were thought to be utopia for the masses but look what happened to them!

Back at the ranch, we sat in the conservatory for a couple of hours reading the papers and eating hot cross buns (I am trying to be good and just had one without butter - not quite the same without butter though). Then I started a bit of weeding of the vegetable beds and Peter went off to get his train to the footie.

This afternoon I washed down the windowsills on the shed and lean-to's at the back of the house - after winter they were grey with dirt and cobwebs - yuk. Then sat in the garden for a bit and read some more of 'Messiah' which is gripping - however, the sun kept going behind a cloud and it was bloody chilly when that happened so I didn't stay out for more than an hour.

Came indoors and watched Grand Designs on More 4 - this lucky couple have bought an old warehouse in London which they are doing up with a cool 1.9 million quid - the place is incredible - it's own gym on the top floor with a skylight above - a cooker that cost £34,000 - a sauna, a library, a roof terrace overlooking the city - really sickening what some people can afford really. The lady of the project owns an Architects practice and her husband works as a City banker - oh how the other half live .........

Shorty going to collect Peter form the station - I am making sausage casserole for tea which almost got burnt due to my engrossment in Grand Designs - just saved it in time !

Gardening

What a joy it was to wake up and not have to go to work! Peter went down town this morning and I stayed behind and did some weeding and general gardening tidying up - I did about half an hour at a time and then treated myself to a rest and a read of my current book, Messiah, which I am really enjoying. Once it had got to about quarter to 1.00 I texted Peter to remind him to come home (he had got ingrossed in some train talk with some pals down at the station). We then ate lunch in the garden - mushroom omelette and new potatoes - yum.

In the afternoon we sat outside and got all of our sale stuff out of the shed and priced it up ready for our first Popham Airfield sale of the season on Sunday. We have bought quite a lot of new stock so I hope there are some big spenders up there this weekend.

The weather today has been fabulous - Peter has got a bit of a tan already! We also noticed some blue-tits investigating our bird box which is cool. Next door are having a bar-b-que - we toyed with the idea of having one but decided we didn't have sufficient of the right type of food in the freezer so we have chicken korma with nann bread - speaking of which Peter has just brought it in so better close this now ........................

Word Association

I love the trip to and from work before Easter, the roads are so much clearer - normally I set out at the latest by 6.45am to avoid the snarl ups around Winchester but I've been setting off at 7.15am and sailing through it - brilliant!

Work was quite busy so the day whizzed by - made it home in record time and whipped the mower out to do the front lawn - so everything looks neat for about a week!

When Peter got home we had tea in the garden which was lovely. As last night it started to get quite chilly at around 7 O'clock so I've come in to type this and to watch Corrie.

Whilst having tea I was watching Peter eating his chocolate moose and he had just taken a big spoonful and it was still sitting on his tongue as I said "whilst I was mowing the lawn I stepped in some cat poo" - for some reason this put Peter off his pudding! I thought it was funny - I have hadn't realised my brain was associating the two things before I blurted it out.........

I keep thinking it's Friday today - such a nice thought knowing there is no work tomorrow and the day is ours to do as we please - joy indeed.

Nearly Easter

Oh, things at work are not too happy at all and I’m not going to blog about them for a while as it will depress me even further.

By contrast, home life is good – the garden is starting to take shape again now that we are paying more attention to it and it’s almost warm enough for us to sit outside in the evening to have our tea – if only the wind would drop! This evening, after tea, Peter said he was going to potter about and plant some seeds so I thought I ought to do something too and mowed the back lawn – it looks much better for its trim but boy did I freeze doing it. I was glad to scamper back inside to watch Corrie.

I am sooooo looking forward to the Easter break – 4 days of bliss without any work worries – hooray.

Watched The Apprentice tonight. Oh dear there are some really clueless dipsticks on there at the moment and two of them, yes two of them, were fired last night. Dipstick number one Rory who was chosen as the leader. He went on a total power trip making everyone take off their jackets and ties, whilst he left his on, to supposedly make them notice he was in charge! He ignored his team’s pleas to design a much more practical and saleable item (chosing his own design) and therefore they lost. One of his colleagues, Ifti, totally lost all of his enthusiasm for the contest and just admitted he had felt lazy and hadn’t contributed anything that day (and he was chosen from 10,000 others to be on the show!!). All great TV of course!

Family

Bit of a hectic evening, this evening. Straight after worked dashed over to Andover with the greenhouse glass and dropped that off. Wendy wasn’t back from work yet so it was literally a drop off and drive off situation. A couple of panes had broken in the boot but the majority made in one piece.

Then dashed home to give the house a quick tidy up and to shove tea in the oven before Peter arrived back with Denise, Brian and Hannah. It was really nice to see them all and we sat around the kitchen table chatting until about 9.30pm.

Hannah is such a well behaved child – we sat down to eat at about 7.00pm and she sat there the whole evening with us without complaint. We gave her, her Easter Egg which she adored as it was pink and had a pair of bunny ears in it attached to an alice band. Hannah had been keen to see our garden hedgehogs but they legged it as soon as I opened the patio door.

Whilst Denise and Brian had been clearing Brian’s dad’s house they had come across quite a few old black and white photographs of Brian as a child – Brian had always been told by his dad that none existed anymore so that was a lovely thing to find and I think Brian and Denise will treasure them. Although we did poke some fun at Brian in his school shorts!

Brian’s Dad’s funeral is next Tuesday and we are hoping to go over to give Brian and Denise a hand with the house next week when they are up for a few days.

We were both tired by the end of the evening but it was great to see them.

A Monday Of Mixed Emotions

I lost another 1.5lbs at Weight Watchers today so that’s only 3.5lbs short of losing 2 stone!! The next week is going to be tricky though as it’s Easter and there is no class on Monday next week and two weeks is a long time to go without someone checking up on me and encouraging me. I have found out there is another class next Wednesday though so I will probably go along to that.

As soon as I got home I rang Wendy and arranged to call round tomorrow night to drop off the greenhouse glass. After the call I gingerly packed all 15 sheets of it into the back of the car – sandwiching each piece under a piece of dust sheet. I just hope it stays in one piece when I drive though pot-holed Eastleigh tomorrow!

After Peter got home and we’d had tea, Peter’s sister Denise called to say that, as we had suspected, Brian’s father had died over the weekend. Denise, Brian and Hannah are therefore in Southampton, a stones throw from us, clearing out Brians father's house. Peter is going across to help them tomorrow afternoon and I’m cooking tea for them when I get back from Wendy’s. It will be nice to see them, but not under such a cloud maybe. I’m going to pop into Sainsburys tomorrow morning and get Hannah an Easter Egg as we don't usually get to see them at this time of year.

Things are going to be very doom and gloom at work tomorrow as the restructuring, leading up to merger, is being announced to managers at 1.00pm. Some of it is not going to go down well at all. The admin side of the business will not know about whether their jobs are safe until about June/July when the impact of the management re-structuring has taken place and things have settled down. So that’s nice then – us lowly admin people have to sweat it out for another couple of months and then we might have the delight of re-applying for our own posts. What a lesson in making people feel valued!!!

April Activities

Today is 'Costa Coffee' day - the one day of the month we treat ourselves to a grande laitte and read the papers for an hour in the comfy sofa's of Costa watching the world go by. Considering it is such a pleasurable way to spend an hour I think the £2.45 spent on the the gallon cup of coffee you get is a bargain. We went into The Works afterwards and had a browse round the bargain books - got a few presents for people whose birthdays are coming up and 'I think' Peter go something for me as there was a mystery bag that he wouldn't show me! On the way home we popped into Halfords and got some spare bulbs for the car lights - we recently got caught out when both bulbs on a headlight went when it was dark and the shops were shut so I've learnt a lesson there and intend to keep a few emergency items in the car.

Then it was home to do a spot of gardening as the weather is dry and sunny - but boy is it windy! Firstly I sorted out some piles of greenhouse glass that the previous owner of the house had left behind - there is loads of it, some of it broken, and it's a devil to dispose of. I have already given a load of panes to our friends Wendy and Mick for their greenhouse and yesterday Mick asked if we had any more has his niece and nephew had put a football through his greenhouse. I am delighted to get rid of some more of it so have stacked up about 8 panes to take over later in the week.

Then I did some strimming (the bloody strimmed drives me mad though, I'm fine 'driving it' so to speak but the cable that is supposed to continuously feed out of it to do the cutting 'doesn't' so I continually have to stop and manually undo the end and pull out some more plastic line - hardly labour saving!)

Finally, washed out the birdbath and refilled it, washed down our large garden chair, did a bit of weeeding and burried some mdf in our wheelie bin in the hope that the bin men will take it away. Peter has been busy too but I will let him blog about that (I took a sneeky pic of him planting some spuds though - see attached).

Not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of the day - probably finish off reading the papers, then delve into my current book and finally watch a bit on the box.

Good things today

Costa

Getting things done in the garden

Buying some presents in advance of people's birthdays

Reading

Bad Things

Too windy

Forgot to play an April Fool's joke