It's only 6 iches !

No, no, no this is not 'that' sort of blog !!

After work today I went to get my hair cut; the hair dressers I now go to is small and friendly and as I've previously blogged it's been about 8 months or so since my last visit. My hair had got incredibly long and was getting very difficult to manage, not to mention to dry! Anyway, I did what all hair dressers hate - I took in a photo of a stunning style and said "I want to look like that" - well not exactly, but you know what I mean. So the scissor wielder took about 6 inches off the length of my hair, gave me a side parting, layered and moused me and I came out feeling ten years younger and all fluffed up and bouncy - maybe I could get to like going to the hairdressers after all! I'd had to ditch the car on the edge of an industrial park as there is no parking near the hairdressers so I was relieved I hadn't been clamped when I came out.

Tonight the Sainsbury man cometh too so we are now all stocked up for two weeks. I was praying he would be late so we could get another £10 off our next shop but he arrived with about 8 minutes to spare - drat!

We watched Springwatch again this evening - it really is a stunning programme - we'll miss it when it finishes in a couple of weeks.........

Wot No Meeting!

As it's half term - there was no Wednesday meeting at work today - so no minuting for me - hoorah.

Peter went to band pratice this evening and did a bit of tidying round and then settled down to watch The Apprentice. The wrong person got fired this week in my opinion (Naomi) when it really should have been Simon. However, Simon is much more entertaining so I guess keeping him in makes for better TV! I had intended to watch the follow up programme but, as usual, I nodded off for most of that and to think I used to rib my dad for falling asleep in his airchair when he was in his 40's - now I know!!!

Only a short blog today - hopefully tomorrow will be a bit more eventful.

The future's bright

Normal day at work - typically a brilliantly sunny day after the weekend of rain.

Got a sniff of a job I am 'very' interested in today and they are sending me an application form. Trying not to get excited about it - but it's hard - from the job description and where it's located it sounds ideal for me.

This evening was a busy evening. Firstly we had the first of three roofing contractors come round to quote for the replacement of our asbestos tile roof. I was very impressed with the guy who came who reminded me a bit of my dad when he was in the building trade. He really seemed to know his stuff and pointed out some things that we hadn't been aware of; like the Council having to inspect the roof joists if the weight of the tile is heavier than the existing tile (money for old rope I call it - he said the inspector will turn up - poke his head through the roof - in all likelihood confirm it's ok and then charge £20o!!). Anyway, he said it is important to get this done as come the resale of the house in the future - a future buyer could ask for the certificate of inspection. Anyway, two more contractors are due to come round yet - but I hope this guy turns out to be the cheapest.

Adrian our friendly mortgage advisor came round about 8.30pm with some papers for us to sign. We have been successful in re-mortgaging to another provider when our existing 2 year fix ends at the end of July. We will save about £37 a month which is fantastic given that the interest rate has been climbing steadily since we bought the house - we would have been paying about £150 'more' a month if we had stayed with our existing lender.

We watched Spring Watch in two parts because of Adrian's arrival and it was fascinating with boxing hares and town foxes - excellent TV.

All in all, a good productive day and I feel much more positive for the future.

Hobbies

Another rainy day - actually had a bit of a lay in and didn't surface until about 9.00am. This morning we went to Hobby Craft where I bought a scrap book for my new hobby of scrap booking. Also had a wander around Haskins Garden Centre where we bought some food for our visiting hedgehogs. Then it was back to the The Works in Eastleigh to get some more scrap booking stuff as Hobby Craft is very expensive for the little items you need for the hobby such as craft knives, stickers and glues.

This afternoon I sat and did my first scrapbook page - it's a collage based on the Opera Aida that we recently saw. I've included the tickets, an excert from the flyer and decorated the page with ribbon, embossed wording etc. I'm quite pleased with it for a first attempt.

Phoned my friend Wendy this afternoon and we've arranged to go to the Cinema this week on a night Peter is out for an evening, so I'm looking forward to that as we don't see each other as much as we used to. At least it's only a 4 day work week this week so it should pass quickly (god, talk about wishing your life away!)

Dipped into my book this afternoon - curled up on the bed as I was absolutely freezing - it's almost June and I feel like putting the heat back on!

This evening we're going to watch Springwatch which is back for a 3 week run. I enjoy it except for Simon King whose over enthusiasm can get a bit wearing after a while.

Where's the Ark?

We went down town this morning and had a coffee and delicious blueberry muffin in Costa Coffee and had a read of the Sunday papers. Then we had a wander around The Works and Robert Dyas where I bought my dad a garden umbrella for his forthcoming birthday - it's a huge canvas green one with metal pole and base (which weighs a ton) - it was half price so I got a bargain. It would have been nice to have the one with built in fairy lights but that would have doubled the price, so couldn't run to that I'm afraid.

We headed home for lunch and stuck a Sky Box Office movie on The Prestige which was about 2 rival magicians set in the Victorian age. It was quick good and good old Michael Caine was in it so it couldn't fail to please me really.

During the film I cracked open a jigsaw I'd recently bought in a charity shop (I know how to live you know!). By the end of the film I was already bored with it and now Peter's having a go. I don't usually get bored but I am at the moment - just not used to being rained in I guess. I'm looking forward to watching Rolf on Art this evening as the 3 artists are painting Bill Oddie which should be interesting.

Not sure how I'm going to fill my time tomorrow if it's still raining. I'm a fickle cow - I always think I haven't got much time to do my things because I'm always doing housework and stuff but when I get a slab of time to myself I get bored - as I said, I'm a fickle creature.

Clouds and Hedge Hairdressing

We had been expecting today to be brilliant sunshine all day (as promised by the BBC weather forecast). Let down again! It was cloudy and windy all day and it is only now, at almost 6 O'clock, that the sun has poked its head out in earnest. Bah! I had been planned a leisurely day sitting in the sun reading my book and topping up my tan and Peter has been hoping to sit outside doing a bit of plane spotting whilst logged in onto Google Earth on the laptop - none of this happened.

Instead I hit the chores that I had planned to do on the anticipated rain soaked Sunday (who knows if they will get that right either!). Did four machine loads of washing, changed the bed, hoovered, cleaned the dishwasher (don't ask me why they should need cleaning but they do), polished, sorted some stuff out for the charity shop, took some stuff out to the shed, weeded the vegetable garden and path and then made lunch. After lunch Peter went out to tackle the right hand front hedge which is long and, in places, very tall (much taller than Peter). He soon discovered that to use the electric hedge trimmer he needed an extension lead to add to our existing extension lead so he said "do you want to come with me to Homebase?" and before he could turn round I was at the door with my handbag (bit like a dog who wants to go 'walkies' I guess - sometimes I just need to get out of the house!).

The hedge exercise filled up 3 large garden waste bags and one huge builders rubble bag - we are just hoping next door might do their side now as there are bits that can't be reached from our side.

This evening we are going to watch Doctor Who (we don't normally catch it but the monsters look every scary in it this week - sort of scary scarecrows!). I'm going to stir fry some cabbage from the garden with some bacon and we'll have that with a chicken Kiev - yum.

Unusually for me I'm reading a 'non crime' novel at the moment - a Joanna Trollope (The Rectors Wife). I wouldn't say it was gripping but I am enjoying the gentle village lifeness of it and I think there is passion to come so it should hot up a bit (I hope).

I spoke too soon about the brief burst of sun - some really dark clouds have jut come overhead - maybe the storm is coming after all................

Hair Raiser

Rather upsetting day at work again. Saw yet more existing managers being turned down for their own jobs after they had been interviewed for them. Many of them have been offered 'lower posts' - what does that do for their morale I wonder - not to mention their pockets ! Thank god it's a bank holiday weekend - don't know how much longer I can go on buttoning my lip at work without exploding about the injustice of it all.

When I got home I did the mowing (it seems to be my Friday night thing at the moment). Good frustration reliever chopping heads off daisy's. Peter therefore made the tea which was a bonus. Also started on a bit of the housework so I can relax over the next weekend without worrying about it.

Not sure what we're doing this weekend really - the forecast is so bad for Sunday and Monday we haven't really planned anything and figured we should spend tomorrow focusing on the garden whilst the sun shines.

I have booked myself a hair cut next Thursday night - my hair has got very long and I don't think I've had it cut since about last September! Except for my fringe of course which I trim myself with mixed results. The ends are in a shocking state but as I wear my hair up nearly all the time I tend not to worry too much - however with possible job interviews on the horizon I thought I'd better try and look a bit more professional. I absolutely hate the hairdressing experience - I cannot stand looking at myself in the mirror for hours - I find it very unsettling (I'm sure I've got some sort of burried problem from childhood over it).

Oh well, better sign off for now and grab a quick shower before Have I got News for you starts.

Applications and Wobbly Bits

Work was very annoying today or some people were anyway - I was doing some very heavy tongue biting I can tell you - but enough of the work trauma.........

On the positive front I am completing applications left right and centre for new posts and that in itself lifts the spirits as it gives me hope that there are other opportunities out there and even with reasonable salaries. The one I am completing at the moment wants to know 'everything'; for example - how many days have you had off sick in the last two years? Answer '11' - how many periods of sickness is this made up of and what was the reason? Bloody hell that's thorough isn't it - better not put that I had the black death then, they might not see the funny side! Rather annoyingly - for all the questions - the boxes are minute so I am replicating the form exactly in Word and I'm going to type in my replies - otherwise everything is going to look so cramped, the presentation of the form would lose me the job straight away! The job I'm applying for is working for a women - found a picture of her on the Internet - she looks well scary (yikes!)

Haven't eaten much today in anticipation of my fat club class - Peter came home and heated up his pizza and I was literally drooling! Anyway, a big result this week - I have lost 4lbs! that makes 32.5lbs altogether now which I am well proud of. I've told myself that when I drop under the next stone barrier I've got to start exercising as the weight may be going but the wobbliness is still wobbly!

Nearly 9.00pm now and I'm pooped - it's been busy today and I haven't really stopped 'doing' so I'm going to stop now and go an watch Grand Designs on the box.

What Happened?

Typing Monday's blog at 3.15pm on Tuesday and can't for the life of me think what I did yesterday.

Came to work, busy day with loads of interviews going on around me. Had a chat (rather a moan) with the Central Services Manager about how life is in our office at the moment - she just listened and nodded which is what I needed really - just to offload some of the pent up frustration.

Raining hard on the drive home so had a comforting tea of breaded turkey breasts and mashed spud.

Watched a bit of telly and fell asleep early.

How much ?????

We got to the boot sale at around 7.30am and everything was already in full swing. We bought a few things, a nice tray for carrying plants around, I bought two Karin Slaughter books and a Stephen King, some model aircraft to sell on at our Popham Airfield stall, an extension cable for the laptop and some almost out of date crisps which were a bargain (I'm not a great believer in sell by dates for dry goods - I believe things are fine for ages these days - if food looks ok and smells ok then generally it is ok --far too much stuff gets thrown out these days, needlessly in my view).

I shocked Peter a bit at the boot sale - I asked a bloke how much a Stephen King paperback was (it was one of his unusually short novels called the Gunslinger - about a 1/4 of the thickness of his normal books). Anyway, when he said £1 - I immediately said "I don't think it's worth that - look how thin the book is" and I apparently said it in a rather 'disgusted of Tunbridge Wells' manner. Anyway, the bloke meekly took the 50p I offered and that was that. I used to hate car book sale hagglers when I ran a stall and now I AM one - Arhhhhhh

After Peter had an ice cream (I was good and declined) although he did snap a bit of the bottom and let me have a little dip so to speak. We were home by about 10 O'clock and then pottered about doing gardening and house stuff.

Felt a bit glum this afternoon as it's been a good weekend and the doom and gloom of work beckons tomorrow - it's really getting me down at the moment and quite frankly when I wake up tomorrow I know I'd just rather curl up in a ball and not come out from under the duvet. Spoke to my friend who left the college the other week - she is now working at a posh Estate Agents in Winchester and she really doesn't know if she has done the right thing - she misses all her friends at the college and wonders if she 'jumped ship' too soon. It worsens my dilemma - I too don't know whether to bail out now to avoid the next few months of chaos or to stick it out. Ho hum.

Tonight I'm skipping tea so as to try and get a better result at Weight Watchers tomorrow (silly I know but if I start failing at that I really will have the miseries).

I'm typing this in the garden with the sun shining and warming my back so life isn't' all bad. Peter has planted up our pig troughs today with marigolds and they look very pretty indeed. In fact the whole garden is looking splendid and there seems to be a new flower out every day.

Going to go inside now and settle down in front of the box whilst Peter has his tea - tomorrow is another day ........

Bargain Hunt

Today we went to Penton nr Andover to the monthly second hand book sale. Once again we forgot to take a bag or box with us. Everyone does and just heaps them in whilst they browse around. Anyway, we bought a nice stash and sat in the little garden behind the hall and had a cup of tea and a bacon roll (naughty but nice!). At the table behind us sat a middle aged couple with an absolute mound of books on their table - the women was on her mobile reading out the ISBN number to someone (who it became clear was on a computer). I guess she was ringing someone who had access to a rare books website or something and was hoping to grab a bargain.

After we'd paid for our books I looked at the notice board in the hall and spotted a jumble sale that started at mid-day in a local village - so off we sped and got there about 10 minutes before it opened. We weren't sure we were in the right place until we spotted the line of grannies - then we knew we were. Pensioners are the worst at jumble sales they elbow you out of the way no problem! Anyway, I got four tie on cushions for our kitchen chairs for just 50p - what a bargain. Peter bought an armful of books and some jodpurs which he'll sell on Ebay (they always sell well - either there are a lot of horsey Ebayers or there are some kinky Ebayers I guess!)

Next we popped into our favourite charity shop and then headed home.

At home, we had lunch in the garden and then cracked on with some tasks. Peter severely pruned some of our roses and bushes and I did some strimmer edging, hoovered the car and cleaned three of the back windows which were looking particularly grubby.

This evening we are watching the Nicholas Cage film we didn't get around to the other night and it's pretty good. Tomorrow, weather permitting we are hoping to go to the local car boot sale.

Shameful Behaviour!

Interviews again at work - lots of comings and goings through my office all day.

Peter was home a little earlier tonight and before tea the door bell went - we weren't expecting anyone so that meant one of two things:-

a) a charity collector
b) someone trying to sell something

We sort of hid out of site from the windows until the danger had passed and then saw a note from Christian Aid on the mat. Sorry, but we need every penny at the moment - anyway,I don't like door to door collecting or pestering in the street for that matter. Anne, if you are reading this, you must escape this sort of things as the steps probably put them off (a good defence indeed!)

This evening we are vegging on the sofa watching garden programmes and shortly, Have I Got News for You, that's what Friday nights are all about for us.

Going to feed our Hedgehogs shortly - going to try them with an egg tonight (raw that is!) as one of our wildlife guides points out that they like them.

Oh yes, we also discovered a major ant invasion in the conservatory last night too so we have ant powder around all the skirting boards (very attractive!). Looks like we have a very careless coke habit in there at the moment.

Sunny & Dizzy Spells

Whew work has been very busy over the past few days – the interviews for the managers posts are in full swing. Quite a few of the existing managers have done well, and some have even been promoted, but some haven’t and are; how do they put it ‘misplaced’ within the organisation. Nice!

Anyway, the day went in a flash and it was actually nice and sunny when I headed home. As soon as I got in I thought, right; must mow the grass as clouds were already overhead and I wanted to beat any rain. I went at it hammer and tongs which was rather silly as just as I’d finished mowing I came over very faint and nauseous and had to sit down immediately. It was a horrid feeling, first my hearing seemed to go, so everything was muffled, and then I felt overwhelmingly sick and dizzy. I felt better after a few minutes and dragged myself indoors to get some water and to sit in a cool room. I was silly trying to do everything so fast and the weather was very humid. Lesson learnt.

When Peter got home we sat in the garden for a while (bliss!) and waiting for the Sainsbury delivery man to arrive. He was about 15 minutes late so we got a £10 voucher to use next time – result!. I love the evening when the Sainsbury man comes as it means we’ve actually got a choice of what to eat. At the end of a 2 week period we are scratching around in the back of the fridge and the bottom of the freezer for something to eat.

Our original plan for later in the evening was to watch a film – I bought a bargain film earlier in the day of Matchstick Men starring Nicholas Cage. However, as there was some ok TV on (Hairy Bikers and It’s not easy Being Green) we settled down to watch those.

Very humid overnight so we slept with the windows open – maybe summer is coming back after all!

Parcels and Dilemma's

Minuted the usual Wednesday meeting this morning - it was chaired by one of the Assistant Principals who sadly is one of the first casualties of the new management structure as a result of the merger. I feel dead sorry for him - he has only just bought a house in the area and relocated his family (after spending a long time living on campus on his own away from his family). I must say he is acting very professionally and not acting at all bitter (not sure I could do the same in his position - in fact I know I couldn't!).

Busy day today so time flew and I was home before I knew it. In my lunch half an hour I entered loads of competitions - I enter so many that I can't believe I haven't won anything lately.

Today I had an avalanche of Ebay payments so I've been furiously wrapping parcels (this is the bit that takes all the effort with Ebay - it takes a lot longer than you think so you really earn the money I can tell you). Also had two nice books as a result of readitswap swaps - so 'good post' for a change.

Peter has now gone to band practice so now my parcel wrapping is done (I have 8 to post tomorrow) I can catch up with some emails and watch some telly. It's 8.30pm and it's so light out - our friendly hedgehogs have been coming out quite early lately so I'd better go and feed them their unsalted peanuts shortly as we have found they lurk around the patio until we put them out now (we always imagine them leaning on a plant pot tapping their watches saying "come on hurry up with our grub humans").

My thoughts are very much pre-occupied with two things at the moment:-

• Getting our mortgage sorted (I haven't heard from our financial advisor this week which either means he is dead busy or he is finding it difficult to get us a better deal).
• The other thing is work, do I stay and risk being made redundant, jump ship now if something half decent comes up or even put my name forward for voluntary redundancy (the last one is not really an option as I haven't been there long enough to get a decent redundancy package anyway). If only I had a crystal ball !

Just a quick one

Just a quick blog tonight as Peter wants the laptop as he is busy loading his aircraft photo's onto aerodata. I have a brief 'window' whilst Peter makes a cup of tea and waters the indoor plants.

Work was ok-ish today but I have still booked an appointment with an employment agency next week so I can find out more about a job I am interested in and to register with them so they can keep an eye open for me. I have used the agency before in the very brief periods when I have been out of work during my career and have also hired temps through them when I was an office manager in the olden days so that's why I've chosen to go to them above any other Agencies now.

This evening I came home and wrapped another five Ebay parcels as I've had five more payments. Quite a few people have sent Postal Orders which look nothing like the Postal Orders I am used to - in fact they look exactly like a cheques with the payee's name typed in. Must be a new thing to stop people intercepting them in the mail and filling out their own name on them I guess.

Peter got home from his conference at around 6pm and we sat and ate tea in front of the News and marvelled at the size of one of the Sports presenters ears (they were huge - so huge they looked like comedy ears - his mother really should have done something about them!).

When Peter comes back with the tea we are going to watch part two of Daziel and Pascoe which I recorded on Sunday night (a very wise choice as it turns out as I fell asleep when it was on so would have missed it).

Oopps, can hear Peter coming back to the kettle which means my time is nearly up - bye for now!

Staying the Same

Paid some Ebay cheques into the bank cashpoint on my way to work this morning - very satisfying to experience that rarest of things, money going 'in' instead of 'out'.

Sent my CV off to an agency today as I'm not going to sit around and wait to see if I'm going to be made redundant or not in August - I'm far to pro-active for that. If any opportunities come up I will go for them and, if not, at least I will be in good interview and CV submitting practice if the worst happens.

Was dreading going to Weight Watchers this evening as I have not been very good on the food front this last week, especially over this weekend! Anyway, I had stayed the same as last time - so it could have been worse but disappointing all the same as this is the first week I haven't lost weight since I started in January - note to self: must try harder. I did give myself a pat on the back though for not chickening out of going to the class as it was in the back of mind to do just that.

Had some rubbish post when I got home - the gas and electricity statements for the year. We are ok-ish on the gas - in fact our provider owes us £7.71 but the electricity is not so good as we owe them £170 - so our monthly payments will go up to cover this. It's not helped by having to put the heating back on recently due to the wet weather making the evenings so chilly.

Peter is back tonight - yeah ! However, he's not back until about midnight so I will probably just about be aware of this person crawling into bed and that'll be it until tomorrow - we've both got to be up early tomorrow as well so any conversation will have to wait until tomorrow evening.

I know it's only Monday but I'm really looking forward to next weekend - we've had stuff on for quite a few weekends now and this one we haven't got anything that we 'have' to do or people that we 'have' to see. There is a book sale that I'd like to go to and that's all the plan there is at the moment - bliss!

Relies and Rain

God the weather was awful today - absolutely lashing it down and thundering at one point too. Got over to my parents place at around 9.00am and met up with them and three of mum's sisters (she has 7!). One of my aunts, Angie, was in the field at the end of the garden when I got there trying to spot where a woodpecker that she had spotted was nesting - she was out there for ages in the pouring rain - nutter! Angie is enthusiastic about everything and is one of those people who loves to find out everything possible about everything she comes across - it must be nice to be like that. Barbara is the aunt who has recently loss her husband so she is still very much adjusting to her loss but she still managed to have some fun with us. Janet is one of the younger sisters, about 45ish I think, and tragically she lost her husband at a very young age when her children were quite small - she is very down to earth and fun and very easy to talk to. She loves books like me so we had quite a long chat on that subject.

As the weather was so bad we couldn't wander up to the boot sale as planned which was disappointing - so there was nothing for it - out came the scrabble board. We had an excellent game with only one tile (a Z) left at the end of the game and 2 points between the two lead players. During the morning I gave mum some more computer training with everyone watching (no pressure there then!).

After lunch we played another mad game called 'Grab a Nanna' which Peter's sister first introduced me and Peter too. It's a mad-cap game involving trying to collect a set of four cards before your opponent and then grabbing a plastic banana from the middle of the table (there is one banana less than the number of players) - it gets quite violent with people screaming and snatching their bananas. A bizarre game!

I dropped Jan back to Station for her trip back up to Rieslip at around 3.30pm and then called in on Wendy and Mick for a cup of tea. Wendy wasn't supposed to be at work today but had been called in again so I didn't hang around for long as she was obviously tired.

Now back at home checking my Ebay sales (I have two items yet to finish on the auction) and the other items have made about £80 so I'm quite pleased with that.

This evening I'm going to watch the box - Corrie and the second part of Daziel and Pascoe I'd expect. Haven't heard from Peter yet, I expect he'll call me later tonight as he did yesterday.

Taking Money and Earning Money

Seemed strange waking up without Peter this morning.

Got ready, put on my most practical shoes and parker coat and set off for my stint on the admissions gate for the College Countryside Day. Despite the weather being rainy and windy, on and off, that didn't have an impact on the crowds who come along and we seemed to be taking an astonishing amount of money. My shift was from 9.00 to 12.00 and it went in a flash. Sadly my friend Wendy and hubbie couldn't come afterall as Wendy got called into work as the chef hadn't turned up (that's catering for you!). Hubbie was not happy as he's been wanting to come for ages and hasn't usually been able to as Wendy used to always work on a weekend (she isn't supposed to now) - oh well, there's always next year. My parents and no less than 3 of my aunts did turn up however and surprised me.

Didn't hang around for long after my shift - had a quick walk around the craft tents and to see if I could spot my relies (but no joy - not surprising amongst 12,000 people). Came home and watched a black and white film of Rebecca and wrapped a load of the Ebay parcels that I need to send off. Had a text from Peter from his hotel at Amsterdam Airport so at least I know he is safe and enjoying his trip.

Just phoned the parents and arranged to go over to see them tomorrow to meet up with them and my 3 aunts who are staying there. If the weather is fine enough we are going to go up to the boot sale which is a minute walk from mum and dads front gate. Will probably call in and see Wendy and Mick on my way home so my Sunday will be filled with some nice social things.

Not much on the box tonight (it's Eurovision night - yuk!) so will probably watch a DVD of a film.

Up up and Away

One of my best work pals left today. She had a bit of a 'leaving do' in the staff room and loads of people turned up which proved how popular she is - she also made a bit of a speech which was very brave I thought (and she remained composed!).

Peter had a day off today as his he is off to Holland and Belguim this weekend on his Aircraft spotting trip. His mate has just come round to collect him so I'm my owneo now (feels strange as Friday night is usually Gardening and Have I Got News for You night for us - the creatures of habit that we are).

I have just been watching our friendly hedgehogs who have come up to the patio doors - it's still quite light out so I could see them really clearly.

The weather is dreadful tonight (I wouldn't fancy Peter's trip on the ferry - I get as sick as a dog on a mill pond though so I'm sure his sea legs are better than mine).

Going to have an early night tonight as I'm working tomorrow morning.

Weather and Witherspoons

Today’s desk calendar quote:-

“Poor and content is rich and rich enough”
Othello (Act 11, Scene 111)

Hmmmmm, I like today’s quote – very apt at the moment.

Had our staff briefing today for the College’s ‘Countryside Day’ which everyone has to work at on Saturday. I’m on the main gate, collecting ticket payments from 9.00am to 12.00pm which is good as I get my stint over with early on and then can stay and wander round if the weather is fine or go home if I wish. Some friends are coming over to see the event for the first time so I do hope the weather holds off (Mick is hoping to take a helicopter ride and I want to see that!)

This evening I had arranged to meet with my two best mates, Wendy and Julie, and go for a meal and drink in Andover (a late birthday celebration for Julie). We went to Witherspoons and got a delicious and curry and a drink for just under £6.00 - their prices are amazing! Also tried out a couple of new drinks Apple Sour which is served in a shot glass and looks like the medicine Night Nurse and pear cider whcih was delicious (as I was driving I only had a straw full of each but it was fun). We had a good time and plan to 'go out on a Saturday night' in June to celebrate Wendy's birthday - how scary is that - don't 'the young people' come out on Saturdays????

Also decided that we all want to go and see The Wizzard of Ozz at the Mayflower Southampton near Christmas so that will be something to look forward to.

Selling and Swapping

Got up after Peter this morning as I was in no rush to face work today - however I still made it in ahead of my official start time. Minuted a meeting this morning which was mercifully short.

The day pretty much whizzed by, my Ebay stuff is selling well and I secured a couple of book swaps on readitswap it - Truth by Peter James and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Lucia Graves.

Raining this evening which actually feels very strange after all the hot weather - have actually put the fire on. Currently watching The Apprentice which is just reaching the firing stage and its a real cat fight this week...........meowwwwww

Traumas, Dosh and Trotters

Work was so bad today I don't even want to write about it and in all honesty it's probably best not too. All I'm going to say is I haven't been so angry and fed up for a long time and just could not wait to get home.

In the evening Adrian our very helpful mortgage advisor came around. We are approaching the end of our two year fixed rate deal with our current lender and Adrian is going to try and get us a better deal. Hopefully, if the lender we want to switch to agrees, we can make a saving of about £50 per month on what we are currently paying. We just have to wait and see if we are accepted. Before we were introduced to Adrian neither of us had any experience of IFA's but he has helped us tremondously in the past and sorts through 1,000's of mortgage options that are out there in the market which there is no way we would have the time or expertise to do ourselves.

Adrian was here for about an hour and then I watched a very interesting Horizon on The Perfect Murder which is right up my street (given my love of thrillers and crime dramas). Read no further if you are squemish. During the programme I learnt loads more about forensic science which I am very interested in. Did you know that there is a scientist that, in order to work out how bodies have discomposed after murders, uses dead pigs to establish this. Say someone has been dumped in a field on a hot summer day and is found in a very decomposed state - he does the same with the pig - puts the dead pig in a field on a hot day, wraps it in the same sort of material that the body was found in, waits until it reaches the same sort of state of decomposition, and then tests what insects are on it etc- from this he is able to establish quite accurately when the body was dumped there - absolutely facinating.

In another experiment another lady in the forensic science lab put pigs trotters into containers and put various liquids in each container, one had acid poured in which obviously totally disolved everything except for a fatty sludge left at the bottom (and gall stones and teeth don't disolve either). However, another trotter was soaked in water and 2 biological washing powder tablets and kept for a few days at 60 degrees - amazingly when checked - everything had dissolved except for the bones in the trotter - yikes no wonder those washing powder tablets get the shirts clean!

Finally, a women walked into a room and stood surrounded by four tables which each had a white piece of blotting paper on them. The women spoke for 30 seconds, touched nothing, and left the room. The forensic scientist said the women had left sufficeint DNA in the room just from the spittle she produced when speaking for them to be able to identify her - how amazing.

If I were writing a crime novel I'd have plenty of ideas !!!

Home Territory

Funny weather day today - raining one minute - sunny the next. Spent the day reading my new book Perfume by Patrick Suskind (which so far I'm finding intriguing), indispersed with gardening and watching yet more Jonathan Creek (sadly I have now reached the end of the box set so I have no telly treats stored up now).

Ate far to much today so will have to pay for that by being good for the rest of the week.

Not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow at all - it's also the College's Open Day next Saturday and I have to work which will make the week longer and Peter will be abroad on a trip all next weekend and I'll miss him - so, all in all, I'm not really looking forward to the week ahead at all but it will soon pass I'm sure.

Coffee, Books and 3 Creeks

Had a tiny bit of a lie in this morning which is very unlike me as I usually can't stay in bed past 6.30. However, by some miracle I had managed to stay awake the previous evening to about 11pm so I guess I needed the sleep.

Today being the first Sunday after pay day meant it was Costa Coffee morning. We got there just before 10.00am and were disappointed to see that two sets of people had already bagged the comfy sofa's in front of the window. We have decided on different tactics for next month. One of us is going to plonk ourselves on the sofa and the other will go and get the coffees. Anyway, we still had a leisurely hour in there reading the Sunday paper. Afterwards we went into Peacocks as I wanted to buy some costume jewelry for a friend - as usual the 16 year old on the check-out was totally untrained and dis-interested and messed up every transaction in the queue of people in front of me - I was almost at the point of flinging my purchase back on the counter but decided to be patient as I was buying a present. Next we went into The Works which is always good for a browse - they have some amazing prices on books that haven't long be released. However, today I managed not to buy anything.

When we got back I mowed the back lawn and Peter took a 1 hour trip up to the airport to see an interesting plane. However, his 1 hour turned into 3 so I did lots of other bits and pieces before he got home.

This afternoon we have watched three Jonathan Creeks (its' a good job Peter enjoys them too!) and Peter is cooking tea - meatballs on a bed of rice (yum). This evening we are going to watch Victoria Wood in Empire and then Daziel and Pascoe which I love (I like grumpy cops!)

Books, Films & Lounging

Woke up to grey skies this morning - the forecast was for it to get sunny later though.

Today Peter has gone off on a trip to a 'fly in' event at Popham Airfield. Three of his mates turned up to collect him in a car sharing arrangement this morning at 9.00am. I did a whirl of housework for a couple of hours and then set about listing our new acquired books on http://www.readitswapit.co.uk/ whilst listening to Radio 4 - the main topic this morning was the Scottish elections (yawn).

Talking of which the Lib Dems got in again in Eastleigh. To be honest I voted selfishly this time as the Lib Dems keep the Council tax in check here - however it's still bloody too high - for what we get for our £115 per month (bin emptying once a fortnight) and one street light I'd happily forgo and take my own rubbish to the tip.

The sun came back out in the afternoon so I read my book and the paper for a bit. Then when it got a bit too hot came in to watch a film Breaking The Waves starring Emily Watson. Wow, what a film - I'm too lazy to write my own review tonight but here's one from Amazon which pretty much sums it up.

"This was the film that gave von Trier his much-deserved international breakthrough and revealed him as one of the most brilliant and uncompromising filmmakers of his generation. Breaking The Waves is set in one of the extremely religious and oppressive communities in the north-west of Scotland, where life is dominated by the ascetic and strictly protestant Free Church. The film centres on Bess (Emily Watson), a luminous, naïve and emotionally immature young woman who marries an outsider - the Swedish Jan (Stellan Skarsgård) who works on an oil platform. The idyll is shattered when Jan has an accident on the rig, which leaves him paralysed. Determined that his incapacity should not ruin his new bride's life, he encourages - and eventually manipulates - her to take a lover. Bess' naïve Christian faith and devotion to her husband result in tragic consequences. The plot of this film is highly melodramatic but is balanced by the way the film is shot (on Digital Video - one of the first films to do so), in a realistic documentary-style way which, coupled with the outstanding performances, not only make the film work, but give it an almost unbearable intensity. This is by no means an easy film to watch, but is a true work of genius and will stay with you long after you've seen it. "

Out of my 30 odd items on Ebay I have 4 items that are definitely going to sell and lots of 'watchers' on most of the other items so things are looking good on that front.

Peter has just sent a text to say he is on his way home so as it's not hugely late we'll eat dinner together which will be nice.

How nice it is to think that there are another two full days before going back to work. Tomorrow is our 'treat of the month' when we go to Costa Coffee so I'm looking forward to that.

Good Things Today

Sun

Book Listing

House now looks tidy

Washing done

Bad Things Today

Telling a white lie on the phone to a friend (it was to spare her feelings but it still made me feel bad)

Freebee Friday

Another longggggggggggg Friday at work. I was on my own in our office suite for most of the afternoon which made it drag even more. I ventured out a few times to speak to a colleague and friend who is leaving in a week's time. It is such a shame; she is a lovely person, excellent at her job, popular with everyone but just can't afford to keep working for the same money anymore which I can totally empathise with. I know that if they offered her a measly £1K it would probably be enough to make her stay but it seems it is only the management posts that get big money thrown at them to the detriment of the lowly admin workers. Work moan over.

After work I drove to the station to pick Peter up and we headed into Southampton where Peter had organised a meeting with a person who is registered on freecycle http://uk.freecycle.org/. She was offering, for free, four carrier bags of miscellaneous books. I actually had some reservations about it - just from the pure fact of storing more books as our house is bulging with them. However, I have to admit it was fun going to get them and to see who 'Carol' was. From her emails we had both envisaged a young person, perhaps a student, but we will greeted by a grey haired lady in her 60's (strange how wrong you can be). On the way home we called into a mini Tescos and picked up a couple of baguettes and two large bottles of beer. When we got home we poured the books onto the garden table and sat in the sun eating our tea and browsing the books. There was an eclectic mix ranging from authors like Dean Koontz to a biography of Burt Reynolds to Life in the Saddle (no not a rude book dear reader!!!) to books on Pitmans Shorthand to Mills and Boon to Chick Lit. I pulled out about 6 books that I am interested in reading and I think Peter found one he liked on planes flown in the war, there were 8 Dick Francis novels which I will pass on to my dad who loves them and the rest we will either try and sell on Ebay or we will list on http://www.readitswapit.co.uk/ in the hope of getting some good swaps. I have to admit that discovering what was 'in the bags' was great fun.

After some tidying up I watched a couple of soaps and then Peter joined me to watch Have I got News for you which was hosted by one of our favourites Bill Bailey.

An Ebay Day

As today is half price listing day on Ebay – I have put loads of clothing items on the site today. I already have a couple of bids and plenty of people ‘watching’ my items so I’m quite hopeful of shifting some of it.

Also put together a spreadsheet showing the state of mine and Peter’s finances in readiness for our mortgage advisor’s visit next week. It could be better as we still have some loan/credit card debt to get rid of but it is a much better picture than when we applied for the mortgage that we currently have, so at least that is encouraging. I have two cards that I haven’t spent on for a couple of years now and in fact they don’t exist (they were cut up ages ago) but I’m still paying them off little by little and it takes so long to make a dent – I pay off £50 and £35 goes back on in interest – credit cards really are evil. My overall aim is to own just one CC for absolute emergencies and I look forward to the day when I can achieve that.

This evening I did all the plant watering as Peter needed time to do his Ebay listings. There wasn’t much on the box so I read loads more of The Crossing which is proving to be fascinating. I really admire people who do endurance stuff and test themselves to the limit.

All in all a productive day and a lovely bank holiday weekend is in sight J

Good Things Today
Getting my Ebay listings done
Planning our finances

Bad Things Today
Disquiet a work

Weigh Hey !

10% Keyring (if you turn it sideways it looks like a 10)

As I didn’t go to the Monday fat club class I went to a different class, run by the same woman, in Eastleigh tonight. I actually preferred the class to the usual one I attend, the other women seemed more friendly, but a Wednesday night wouldn’t really work out time wise as my Monday class conveniently starts at the exact time I am passing it on the way home from work.

Anyway, I wasn’t expecting to have lost much as I had ‘cheated’ a bit but much to my delight I had lost 3.5lbs !!! and I got given a little silver key ring (pictured) as I have now passed the point where I have lost 10% of my original body weight – I was thrilled.

Watched The Apprentice which was excellent but there’s a woman on there, Katie, who is a real bitch. Hope she gets booted out soon.

Crime Evil

What a beautifully sunny day again – far too nice to be working.

Called into Tesco’s garage this morning as we have totally run out of any kind of lunch food so bought myself a tuna pasta salad which was yummy. Tesco’s, even at that ungodly hour, is normally packed but as they had run out of unleaded petrol the place was empty and ‘Happy Chappy’ wasn’t serving – who could ask for more!

Our Sainsbury order arrived tonight – I have really paired it down to just the essentials so what had been creeping up towards a £140 fortnightly bill is now well under £80 (not bad!). I think I have taken advantage of almost every BOGOF offer in the shop too. The Sainsbury man left one item on his van so I rang up to request a refund and instead of just refunding the 98p they refunded £2 - result. That virtually pays for the next delivery charge.

Finished my book this evening - Crippen by John Boyne and excellent it was too. I hadn't realised that he also wrote The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas too which I've also read but is so totally different in style that you wouldn't think it was written by the same author. Now on to Gorky Park .............

Watched a bit of Crime Watch in the evening. God that programme is so depressing. A Police officer getting almost kicked to death for challenging 4 youths about not paying their bus fare - absolutely terrible. So many knifings of young people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - gangs just walking along the street and stabbing someone at random. The most upsetting one for me was an elderly chap - who sort of reminded me of my dad. He had lived a blame free life and had been a happy fellow, a good neighbour etc. Anyway, someone had broken into his home and stabbed him in the shoulder with a bar-b-que utensil and left him in a cupboard to die - he was found by his son three days later and taken to hospital where he later died. His daughter said the life had literally been frightened out of him - what a terrible way to die - leaving the world so frightened ............... that story really got to me. The Police can't find a motive - he had no enemies and nothing was taken from the house. I don't know why I watch the programme really it just makes me even more wary than I already am of people I don't know.