Cars & Shopping

Dropped Peter off at the Station at 6.45am this morning which meant that I was way too early to drop my car off at the garage in Andover for its' MOT. Therefore trundled off to Andover and went into Tesco's for a browse around and bought a paper and my sandwich for lunch. As their cafe doesn't open until 8.00am I sat in there anyway and read my paper until they opened and then left to take my car in. Mum and Dad kindly picked me up and brought me to work and when I arrived things were already in full swing - people queuing to see the boss etc (doesn't that always happen when you are a bit late in!)

Anyway, been quite a hectic day - visiting MP's, lots of interviews going on etc. The garage has just called and said my car will cost £221.24 (two new tyres, an MOT, new bulbs and exhaust re-alignment). I said to myself this morning that I wouldn't get it back for less than £200 - bang goes paying more off my credit cards this month!

Mum and dad are collecting me from work at 3.30pm today and after I've picked up the car I'm going to meet Peter in Lidls in Eastleigh to do our fortnightly shop. Actually if we do two shops there this month I could probably rein our finances back in quite nicely as they are so much cheaper than Sainsers.

Tonight I'm going to flop and I'm not sure what we are doing at the weekend. We must clear out the inside of the roof ready for Monday but Peter has also suggested going down to Bournemouth again on Sunday to go to Borders (my favourite bookshop and the airport cafe/museum for lunch) which is very tempting.

Le Grande Cirque

Well the scaffolding is up at home - Peter stayed at home to keep an eye on them and they arrived at 8.30am and finished at 1.30pm - five hours of clanking and banging apparently. The weather forecast for next week is excellent so we are hoping the roofers will be able to crack on and complete by next Friday.

I got home about 4.30pm and then Peter and I took off for the New Forest where we had a picnic and reinstated a Geocacache of ours that had been missing for years and has mysteriously turned up again.

Then it was off to the Bournemouth Bic to see Le Grande Cirque. It was truly amazing - the acrobatics and contortionists were out of this world. There was little bit of audience participation but thankfully we were in the circle so weren't picked on (I was relieved to notice they were only picking men to go on stage too).

Got home around 10 O'clock and headed straight for bed and caught the end of a comedy show on Beeb 2, stuffed a few Hershey chocolates that my boss had brought back from the States and then we were zonked zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Structures and Sofas

Spent most of the day today designing organisation charts in PowerPoint - very frustrating at times as the charts I need to design never seem to fit the 'standard' PowerPoint pattern - why do educational establishments have such strange reporting structures I wonder?

The applications are all in for Carol's post (PA to Principal) as Carol retires in a month. Some of them look like real high flyers - oh I do hope they don't appoint a power-crazed individual with no sense of humour - I don't think I could stand that. Carol and I have got to know each other really well and know each others 'ways' so it will be a real upheaval to get used to someone new - oh I do so hate change in the workplace - a woman of routine me.

This evening just I've done two huge piles of washing (whilst watching the machine like a hawk in case the pipes overflow again), cooked tea (yes actually cooked a bolognaisse from scratch) and done the hoovering. Peter has gone to band and I'll probably catch up with some video tapes I've still to watch.

It appears we will soon be sofa shopping as our one is on the way our big time - the wire under the cushions is coming out so I feel like I'm sinking down a hole and the wooden ends keep popping out and I have to bang them in with a hammer. I know exactly what I want to replace it with - a three seater, burgundy colour, squidgey sofa with loose covers and no legs(the sort you can sink into one corner of an curl up with book). However, every catalogue or website I look on has exactly the opposite - hard looking leather types with high wooden legs and backs that you know will sag in no time - going to try Ebay tonight as someone might be selling something second hand.

Raising the Roof!

Strange day today. My boss was expected in today but didn't turn up! I guess he will be back tomorrow.

Carol, my colleague, is back today - due to how our holidays fell we haven't seen each other for a month and we had loads to catch up on (in between working of course!).

Things were more manic when I got home - started to have a go at unblocking the washing machine pipe with a gadget dad has learnt us but no luck so far. Then decided to ring the scaffolders to ask what time they are coming tomorrow. Well it was a good job I phoned as it turns out they aren't coming on Wednesday but Thursday! The roofing contractor must have got mixed up because of the bank holiday. As Peter is booking the day off it could easily have been an absolutely waste of his time - bloody hell I'm stressed already and work hasn't even started yet! Anyway, managed to get hold of Peter on the train, who phoned his boss and switched his day off.

Then tackled the back lawn, strimming and mowing - I figured with scaffolding going up we won't be able to mow for a few weeks and it will be a jungle by then.

Finally collapsed in a heap just before 6 O'clock and managed to be in a calmer frame of mind before Peter got home.

After tea I called on our neighbour to double check he is ok with scaffolding poles encroaching on his garden and he is which is a relief. Must buy him some beers when everything is finished.

This evening we are going to watch 'A Cock and Bull Story' which I taped from the other night.

Bowls, Sun Burn & Ratus Ratus

Headed over to parents place to arrive there for 1 O'clock. When we got there dad already had the bar-b-que going and the sausages sizzling. Two of my uncles and spouses and one of my cousins, Gary, came over and it was a lovely afternoon. Gary and Ron (one of my uncles) spar off each other like machine gun fire - joke after joke - rib after rib - they are quite a double act and very entertaining. We broke the afternoon up by playing bowls and boule. Well I played the bowls but not the boule (I was getting rather sun burnt by that stage so sat in the shade with my two aunts and my uncle Ron's dog Jem who is lovely (I so want a dog!)

Oh, and no afternoon with my family would be complete without a game of 'splat the rat' with a live rat (I'm not kidding!). Mid way through the bowls game someone saw a rat (that dad had been after killing for ages) scarper under a bush. Well that was it, all the men started acting all manly and grabbing sticks. This rat, we think, is not well as it was running around the garden in broad daylight and was very slow in it's movements. Dad reckons it's eaten some of the poison he had previously laid but it's not quite done the job. Anyway, the rat poked it's head out of various bushes throughout the afternoon and caused much excitement but it's demise still eludes us. As I said to Peter afterwards, I wonder how many fiance's get treated to a real life game of 'splat the rat'at their wife to be's parents place - not many I bet. Never let it be said that my family are 'normal'.

We left about 7.00pm and risked going home on the motorway (we were concerned it could have been choked up with returning bank holiday traffic). Miraculously it was about the quietest I have ever seen it (how strange!).

Had a phoned call at 9.00pm from our roofing contractor yes 9.00pm!) who was phoning to say the scaffolders will be erecting the scaffold on Wednesday this week (yikes, nothing like a bit of notice then!) and he hopes to start the roof tiling either on Friday this week or Monday. I must say I'm not looking forward to the upheaval as the garden is looking rather lovely at the moment and for about 2 weeks it will be covered in scaffolding poles and debris I expect but hey, it needs to be done and it will be well worth it and give us piece of mind this coming winter.

It's 'Bean' Crazy

We decided to give The Tate a miss today as it was forecast to be lovely and sunny - after all who knows when the next bit of sunshine will appear.

Amazingly for me I managed a mini lie-in and didn't surface until about 9 O'clock. I talked Peter into going to Asda as we wanted some Mr Muscle drain unblocker as the washing machine pipe is backed up (every place I've ever lived in has this problem eventually). Miraculously it wasn't too busy when we got there so we didn't linger long and Peter managed to get some bargain clothing too (oh and I got some more Koppaberg too :-)

Once home we settled in the garden and, as yesterday, did bits and pieces between relaxing - me with my book and Peter on the laptop. Peter picked another load of beans so I did a second batch of blanching (that's 6 lbs in the freezer this weekend) which we will probably eat in the autumn/winter when the price of veg goes up.

We discovered this year that we have an apple tree (yes, I know we have been here two years but it was cut back when we first moved in and it's only just started fruiting again). We are not sure what variety it is other than the apples are 'eaters' - we hope to be able to make some of them into pies if the insects and other critters dont get them first.

I need a new digital camera and yesterday I spent quite a bit of time on the web researching which one to get - there are literally 100's to chose from and it's totally confusing, even when looking at a price comparison site like Moneysupermarket.com. Anyway, I had pretty much decided on a very neat little Canon which had rave reviews on Amazon and then today, in The Mail, they are reviewing digital cameras and give great reviews to some I hadn't considered - arhhhhhh!

The other frustrating thing is that I went onto the Theatre Royal website to book our tickets for 'Abigail's Party' and not only does the stupid site not let you choose a seat option (so I couldn't specify an end of isle to accommodate Peter's height) but on check out they had a drop down box of how to get the tickets where the only option was 'collect at box office'. Hmmm, if they think I'm driving into Winchester, paying to park etc just to pick the tickets up they've got another thing coming - I thought the whole point of 'online booking' is to cut out exactly that hassle. Needless to say I bombed out of the site and will use the good old telephone on Tuesday to book.

Tomorrow we are going over to ma and pa's for a Bar-B-Que and we'll probably bribe dad in coming over to look at our plumbing as sadly Mr Muscle wasn't muscly enough for our blockage!

This evening we'll probably watch 'Jimmy's Farm' and 'Mountain' on the box and I'll be taping the Martin Clune's drama on ITV as its got good reviews.

What a nice thought it will be this evening knowing that we have another day off work tomorrow :-)

Super Saturday

What a gorgeous day today has been. Weather has been fantastic and neither of us has ventured past our front gate today - spending most of the day in the garden. As anticipated, I've done a fair bit of weeding (one wheel barrow full) and killed numerous slugs (shudder). In between times I have relaxed with my new book 'The Surgeon' by Tess Gerritsen which is proving to be right up my street (my usual gor-fest thriller).

We christened the bar-b-que at lunch time and had marinated chicken and burgers and jolly nice it was too. We cleaned the thing straight away afterwards as we'd learnt whilst on holiday recently that if you leave them to cool they are a bugger to get clean again - the one we used with the holiday cottage took about 4 attempts by both of us to get the grill bit anything near respectable.

This afternoon I top and tailed, blanched and froze a big pile of runner beans from the garden and jolly proud of myself I was too. Unfortunately, just as I was finishing the task and feeling rather hot from being in the kitchen, Peter walked in with another bundle he had just picked - he was a little put out that I looked less than delighted I think! Anyway, the bean incident is now behind us and no doubt I will prepare the rest of them tomorrow.

It's gone 7pm and we are still in the garden enjoying the last bit of the sun. Peter has gone inside to prepare poached egg on toast as we fancied a light tea after our carnivorous lunch. Later I'm going to have a much needed wash and brush up and we'll settle down to watch the X Factor and maybe a film I taped 'Caddy Shack' as I fancy a laugh.

Just found out that the Theatre Royal in Winchester are doing 'Abigail's Party' in September which is a favourite of mine. Must get some tickets - I think it is something that Peter will enjoy too - just wish I could find a production of 'Way Up Stream' which is another of my favourites.

Friday (Part 2)

Well, the rest of Friday went swimmingly too. Finished off the archiving I was doing for my boss, completed the projects I was working on, brought the diaries up to date and even had time to give our little corner of the office a spring clean i.e polish the desks (the cleaners never bother!) and gave our coffee machine a much needed clean.

As I was on my own again in the office today, I did lots of thinking about our next trip away - Norfolk at the end of October. Ever since I've known Peter (nearly five years now) we have gone up to Norfolk for the same week (to catch the Beer Festival) and to see Denise of course and it's a sort of ritual now. I love the drive up there - ok it is long - but as it's so far away you do feel that sense of escaping from your ordinary routine and the autumn colours are so beautiful on the rural roads we drive through. We 'always stop at Baldock on the way up and eat in the same cafe and visit a few of the charity shops and also stock up with food supplies - I just wouldn't have it any other way - some couples have a 'song' we have our little week in October.

Mum phoned me at work to invite us to a family bar-b-que on Monday - everyone's going bar-b-que mad as they think this might be the last sunny weekend of the year I think!

Booked the car in for the dreaded MOT next Friday - god I hope it passes, I couldn't face another huge repair bill at the moment. Have to accept that the car is getting old now though so it's bound to cost money as bits start to drop off.

Drove home the country route to avoid any contact with a dual carriageway or motorway so as to avoid the inevitable bank holiday queues and actually made it home in record time, the few traffic lights I have to go through being green for once.

Once home I got my viewing of Escape to the Country out of the way and then sat out in the garden reading Country Life - I don't normally buy it as I find the 'society pages' annoying but there was a article on the village I was brought up in, hence the purchase. Found an excellent competition in there to win a trip to go to America where you get to travel route 66 (a dream of mine) and visit 6 other states. The only snag is that its a prize for the person who enters and 4 others - how on earth would I choose who to take (apart from Peter of course!). A total of 5 is a bit of an odd number - oh well, I'll worry about that when I've won it :-)

Had a bit of 'good post' today - our re-mortgage is definitely going through on 31st August (saving us about £40 a month which will be saved for something special like a trip to Canada) and also the mortgage company owe us an £86 refund (not sure what to do with that - it could pay for our petrol to Norfolk or maybe we should squirrel it away - not sure yet). It has been unbelievably easy to switch our mortgage - I would actually say it has been easier that switching a bank account. After seeing our wonderful financial advisor we've completed a few very simple forms which we've posted off (never had to see a solicitor or anyone in person) and that's been it and it's saved us £40 a month (well, £140 really as if we'd stayed with our existing lender we would have had our monthly payment increased by £100 as we came out of our fixed rate period).

Once it had got chilly in the garden I headed in for my soap fix and then watched Kate Humble tackle caving on BBC1. God she's brave - I know for a fact I could never do pot holing/caving - it's my idea of a nightmare. At one point she had to do the 'squeeze' which is crawling through a long tunnel the length of a football pitch and the width of a car tyre on her belly with rock totally encasing you. The guy doing it with her had a mild panic attack half way through but he had to carry on as there was someone in front of him and someone behind - I was so tense watching it I felt like I was there.

I'm sat here typing this in the conservatory early on Saturday morning and it's a beautiful morning - it's quite misty and the sun is breaking through making all the plants in the garden look extra lush and colourful - looks like it is going to be a perfect day. Peter says we are going to 'potter' today which I think means doing a little bit of gardening, having a cuppa, doing a bit of gardening, having a cupaa (repeat as necessary). Sounds great to me and I shall be relaxing with my book too if I can sit still.

Pre-Bank Holiday Friday (Part 1)

It was very hard to get up this morning. I used to wake up in anticipation of the alarm going off but this past week it's not the case (must be the darker mornings). Today I wanted to leave the house early so that I could nip into Sainsburys on the way to work and get a few bits and pieces, mainly some bar-b-que items (as supposedly the sun is going to shine this weekend) and also an anniversary present for my best pal and her hubbie. This year as they are for once going away on their own together, without their daughters, I have decided to make up a little romantic survival pack. So far I've bought a scented candle, a book each, a romantic film and some chocolate. I'll probably chuck in a half bottle of bubbly and some bubble bath or something to finish it off. I wasn't sure if supermarkets were yet able to sell alcohol before 8.00am so I didn't get any booze for our bar-b-que but Peter is going to get that after work and my favourite of the moment - perry cider called 'Koppaberg' which is delicious.

This morning was about the deadest of the year at work due to it being peak holiday time and being near a bank holiday so I had chance to chat to a temp who is working here at the moment. What a life she has had - she was born in Zimbabwe and lived there up until about 4 years ago when her and her husband and close family had to flee due to the danger they were in living under Robert Mugabe's regime. She told me some real horror stories they experienced as her brother in law was a judge (who's upholding of the law was not recognised by the Government.). She told me of guards having to be on the gates at home, numerous check points encountered simply going to work, people mysteriously disappearing, people just suddenly being told they no longer owned their houses, having to smuggle family out in the boots of cars. She said you just got used to it and accepted it as part of daily life but once the family got back to the UK her sister had a break-down due to years 'of fight or flight' response her body and mind had had to deal with. I know we all moan about this country but compared to somewhere like that we have good lives I think. I was facinated and appalled by her story - she should write a book on her experiences I think - such an eye opener.

That's Entertainment

Today was pretty good, work was reasonably busy so the day went quickly. My boss called in (he had just got back from Miami don't you know) and is looking very brown. He said he had a fab time and was regailing me with tails of the Everglades and how the tour guides on the boats actually poke the alligators with sticks to make them snap - yikes!

That reminds we of a wonderful Lewis Carol poem (albeit about crocodiles not aligators!)

How doth the little crocodile...

How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail,

and pour the waters of the Nile on every golden scale!

how cheerfully he seems to grin,

how neatly spreads his claws,

and welcomes little fishes in,

with gently smiling jaws!

My boss was also going on about how cheap everything is over there - his family came back with an extra suitcase full of clothes (including a 14 pairs of new shoes!) apparently they wore each pair of shoes for a while whilst out there in case they got stopped by customs on the way back for going over their limit of £250.

When I got home, after my usual frantic half an hour of housework and getting tea ready, I settled down to watch 'Escape to the Country'. It's on in the afternoons on BBC2 so I've recently taken to recording it and I'm addicted. Each programme shows a family wanting to move and the expert lines them up with 4 properties to view plus a mystery house. I usually sit there drooling at the wonderful houses and locations and I'm thinking more and more about where I'd eventually like to live when we retire (years and years off yet of course but one has to dream about a lifestyle when work is no longer the consumer of one's days). The only fault with the show is the two alternating female presenters who are so patronising it's unreal.

Peter brought the papers how this evening and there is one interesting 'opportunity' in there which I'm going to explore :-)

Peter pulled a blinder today and got us free tickets to 'The Grande Cirque' at the Bournemouth International Centre next week (they are worth £25 each). Occassionally if something isn't selling well the Council employees get offered tickets for free which is great! I'm really looking forward to it http://www.bic.co.uk/events/Event_Details.asp?event=3824

This evening was comedy night on BBC2 and I settled down to enjoy 'Mock the Week', 'Saxondale' and 'Still Game'. It's good to laugh. Still Game's current run has come to an end though so Thursday nights won't be the same :-(. I had been bidding on the DVD's of series 1 to 5 on Ebay but when the price went over what you could actually get them for 'new' on Amazon I stopped bidding (you get some mad people on Ebay).

Back Blog!

Haven't blogged for a few days so a bit behind. Here are the things of note of the last few days:-

Self Sufficiency

Not strictly true but we did have tea last night which incorporated saute potatoes with potatoes from our garden and runner beans too. It's all rather nice going into the shed to hunt out a handful of spuds to use for tea - it makes you feel rather proud really. Peter does the growing of course but I feel I contribute a fair bit with my constant weeding and slug killing of the veg patch.

Pulled our onions up too which although mainly small look pretty good to me. They are currently drying out reading to hand from the beams at the back of the house until needed.

Ice Age

For some reason I decided to defrost our various fridge/freezer appliances (we have accumulated one small chest freezer, one fridge freezer and two fridges so it takes some keeping on top of). The worse condition fridge we use as a drinks fridge to keep cokes, beers in etc. which, had we had a summer, would be very useful. Anyway, the freezer wasn't too bad at all but the old fridge with the broken ice box at the top took over 24 hours to defrost and chunks of ice the size of glaciers were falling off all night - making us occasionally jump as we watched TV in the front room!

Weight

Went to fat club this week and have put on 3lbs since before the holiday. Well it was more than expected as we pigged out big time and drank wine whilst we were away which is a rare occurrence when at home. To compensate I'm trying to exist on a couple of yogurts during the day at work and then have a proper tea when I get home. Hopefully it will re-dress the balance.

Ebay

To make some much needed pennies I'm going to list a few items on Ebay this evening as it's half price listing day :-)

Autumn?

The past few mornings when our dreaded alarm clock has gone off at ten to six, I've been noticing that it is still semi dark outside - hmmm autumn commeth me thinks. Actually I really like autumn, I love that time of year when the leaves change colour, apples fall off the trees and you need to turn the fire on when you get home to make the house cosy (bliss!).

Holiday Brochures

The three holiday cottage brochures I ordered have now all arrived and I'm enjoying flicking through them all and trying to decide on which looks the nicest for our holiday next year. I will probably pick an eventual top five and then Peter and I can argue over the final result! We will probably go early September next year for reasons of cost and to avoid the kids holidays as we came across some very poorly behaved children on various trips out we made this year.

Quiet Sunday

As Peter blogged, we didn't make it to the Tate as planned as he was poorly - he had been very ill in the night. Peter did valiantly offer to go in the afternoon but I talked him out of it as he definitely wasn't recovered enough to traipse around a gallery. Anyway, we are going to make a third attempt to go next Sunday so it's no problem. We spent a very quiet day at home instead and watched a couple of films which was nice in itself - some nice 'us' time.

Friends and Family

Peter was still feeling unwell today so gave football a miss. As I had already made arrangements to go out, I still went.

First I went to my friend Wendy's and stayed for a couple of hours and caught up on all the news. One of her brothers is getting married for the second time tomorrow to a woman that the family don't think is going to be good for him - she is very possessive and has already thrown him out on the street once (not a good sign I feel). Wendy's going to the wedding with her two girls but her husband isn't - he's very true to his feelings is Mick - he doesn't approve and therefore he's not going and he's said that to the bride and groom's face too (I sometimes wish I was that upfront!)

Anyway, it was very nice to catch up and hear what the girls are up to (oh to be young again!). Laura is staring university in October and has been allocated her accommodation and now she has passed her driving test and has her own little car, they'll be no stopping her I think. Oh and she got three excellent A levels this week A in psychology, B in chemistry and C in maths. Go girl! Sophie, daughter number two, is also growing up fast and has some big school trips coming up to Poland and America (the furthest I got in my day was France!)

Just before lunch I went over to mum and dads and stayed with them for a few hours. They reminded me it's my brothers birthday in a few weeks and he'll be 40 - so must do something about getting a present and suitably exuberant card.

Came home around 3.30pm and Peter is burning hot and still has no appetite. Not sure if we should attempt our trip to Tate Modern tomorrow.

Rain has settled in for the day now so I'm settling down to watch Music and Lyrics on Sky Box office (you can be a bit of Hugh Grant for a bit of light fluffiness). This evening we will probably tune into The X Factor as the first few programmes with the first auditions are always the funniest.

130 Days

Had a good day at work today. I was on my own for most of the day and started having a big filing clear out – it’s like having a big clearout at home it makes you feel more organised once you’ve done it. However, it’s ‘paper city’ here so it will probably take me until the end of next week to complete it!.

My mate Wendy phoned at about 1 minute to 4 O’clock, just as I was about to leave, and I was thinking "grhhh – who’s phoning me up now". However, it was nice that it was a friend and I’ve arranged to call in on Saturday morning on my way over to mum and dads. I don’t think I’ve seen her for well over a month, maybe more, so it’s about time we had a catch-up. Peter is off to football on Saturday – can you believe it? The start of the football season already! I hate to say it folks but it said on the TV this morning that there are only 130 days until Christmas……….

Peter had emailed me earlier in the day to warn we that he was feeling really tired and would be hitting the hay early (not surprising really as he didn’t get until 1pm on Monday and 10.30pm on Wednesday). Anyway, when it got home he was almost asleep standing up and didn’t eat all of his tea (a very worrying sign) so went off to bed about 7pm. I ended up watching the Inspector Linley Mysteries which was actually really good. By the time I went to bed Peter had woken up a bit so we had a bit of a chat – I had been quite worried about him all evening as his breathing was really shallow and fast and he said he was feeling hot – so I hope he’s not going down with something.

The forecast for the weekend is dreadful – just as well that we are going to the Tate Modern on Sunday (yes our tickets arrived on time this time!). Just about to book tickets for the Dali Exhibition too :-)

Sleep, Slugs & Still Game

Just after I blogged last night in which I'd wished the Sainsbury's man would hurry up and deliver our goods - he turned up seconds later (half an hour early) - result! We never seem to get the same delivery guy twice and this one was immune to any sort of attempt to engage him in conversation - he just sort of grunted at everything I said. After a bit I accepted that he could be a) a bit deaf b) hating his job or c) just damn rude. Forgot to give him our carrier bags for recycling too - damn. I must say I missed Peter helping me to pack everything away - we've got it down to a fine art between us but it's a struggle for one.

Peter came in very late last night - well after 12 O'clock I think and unusually I was still awake - couldn't really settle because the sensor light kept going on outside and I kept jumping out of bed to check all was well. I'm not sure how long it is going to take me to get over having had intruders in our garden- it's about 2 weeks ago now and I'm still as jumpy as hell and keep worrying they will be back. I'm not worried about personal safety, we know they aren't after us, it's what the factory behind us contains they are after. It's just the 'invasion' of our space that I can't cope with - it's our little retreat from the world and it's horrid when someone disrespects that. Time will heal I guess..................

We were both well tired this morning and I didn't even hear the alarm which hardly ever happens. Peter made an effort to get up and I suggested he get a later train as he didn't look as if he had enough energy to get on his bike, let alone peddle to the station in gale force wind and rain. So we both pottered round getting ready, I'm going into work slightly later as it's quiet, so it was lovely not to have to rush for once. I even had time to eat a bit of breakfast in the conservatory. When Peter appeared I suggested he might like to kill a few slugs that were enjoying the inclement weather on the patio. He went further than that and took our big pot of salt out into the garden, in the rain, and went on a major massacre. He reckons he killed about 70 of the hideous creatures - my hero! Dropped Peter off at station on my way to work and had an ok drive in.

The top boss was back at work today and he brought me a pack of sweets from his trip which was very nice of him. Today has been pleasingly busy and things should start to pick up again now that the senior managers are drifting back in.

At lunch time I spent a while surfing the Travelodge website and secured 4 nights in Travelodges around Norfolk for our trip in October for £93 - not bad at all :-). We might extend it to five nights if they come up with any more cheap rooms nearer the time.

Also spent a bit of time on Ebay bidding for the first few series of 'Still Game' which is obviously cult viewing as loads of other people are bidding like mad too. Why did we come to it so late I wonder? It's been going strong for 7 series on BBC 2 apparently and we didn't have a clue how good it was. It really is the comedy TV hi-light of our week - check out this page to get the gist of what it's about http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/tv/chewinthefat/jack_and_victor/still_game/

During the day things brightened up considerably weather wise but now, just as I'm due to go home, the heavens have opened - typical. I must learn to bring a coat in - I'm just not really a coat sort of person.

Not sure what I'm planning to do tonight - might dip into my book for a bit when I get home - after Mondays' house clean I feel quite on top of things in that department so feel I can relax a bit. Must also write back to my long-lost friend who sent me the card yesterday.

We also have the luxury of having a choice for tea tonight as the last few days we have been scrapping around the bottom of the freezer for stuff - Sunday night's tea for example was grilled chiken, a bit of battered fish and a few chips - we know how to live you know! Tonight's tea should be along more conventional lines.

A single call & 2 Unexpected letters

Today was my first day back at work after our holiday and what a day it was - as I drove to work it was dark and lashing it down with rain and all I wanted to do was to turn the car around, drive back home and snuggle back under the duvet in the warm with my book.

I knew work would be quiet today as I would be on my own in my part of the office so, in anticipation I brought my radio in. After ploughing through 96 emails I started on the post which took me to around lunch time. At lunchtime I surfed the net and came up with some cheap Travelodge deals for our trip up to Norfolk in October. I also sent off for two self catering cottage brochures in order to plan next years holiday - we are thinking of going to the Peak District next time.

The phones at work today were amazingly quiet. I was looking after 4 phones and I took one call all day! The few weeks before the new term starts really are the dead zone. Drove home at the end of the day with a bad headache though - it must be getting used to staring at a VDU all day again.

When I got home I found two really nice pieces of mail (amazing for this household). One a note from a friend I haven't heard from in years which was really nice. I love receiving proper handwritten letters. The second piece of mail was from a relative of Peter's - Brian Kneller - who is getting married to a rather exotically named lady called Ravilla Sariano (Ruby for short) on 9 October in Somerset. I texted Peter to tell him and he said he hadn't seen Brian for about 20 years so I think he is quite amazed to get an invite. I'm not sure if we'll go or not - I'd quite like to - after all I've hardly met any of Peters side of the family and he's met about 100 of mine! Scary stuff I know Anne - do I really want to delve any deeper into the Olding/Kneller clan I hear you cry!!! However, it would mean a stay in Somerset so we'll have to consider the cost implications so close to our trip to Norfolk I guess.

Peter is at a football match until later so I'm sat here waiting for the Sainsburys delivery van to arrive - I wish he'd hurry up as I want to change into my slob-out clothes but can't really do that until he's been and gone - don't want to give him too much of a shock after all.

God I'm tired, this whole work thing is a drag you know. Why can't we win the lottery and then I can spend my days keeping house and making jam (dream on!)

Monday at Home

Peter went back to work today but I had booked an extra day's leave to give myself a bit more time to get the house straight again after our hols.

It has been beautiful and sunny all day and I've enjoyed doing 'house wifey' things today which included:-

• washing the net curtains from the conservatory
• hoovering the car
• checking the oil
• re-potting some plants
• picking our first crop of tomatoes
• cooking up a batch of mince to last us a couple of days
• catching up on laundry
• hoovered upstairs and down
• dusting our wine rack which was shamefully dusty
• sorting out our book stash which is working its' way from the bookshelves into all areas in the front room
• washing skirting boards in conservatory (they were covered in ant powder from an earlier infestation)
• polishing
• thinning out the paperwork that had been threatening to take over the kitchen
• did some weeding in the front garden

After all that I treated myself to watching a film 'Notes on a Scandal' starring Judy Dench and Kate Blanchett - it was very good. Also started a new book 'Blind Sighted' by Karin Slaughter (yep another gore fest book for me!)

Also went to post office to collect a parcel and stuck the car through the car wash on the way home.

Having achieved all that I'm feeling quite chilled and work shouldn't be too bad tomorrow as I will be on my own as both bosses will still be on holiday, giving me plenty of time to catch up on my email inbox I hope!

Happy in Herefordshire

Well, our wonderful week's holiday has sadly come to an end - boo! We stayed in a fabulous cottage, with garden, in the village of Brierley near Leominster. Pictures here:-


Cottage Exterior http://www.selfcatering-directory.co.uk/uploads/estate/selfcatering/self-catering-9122.htm

Cottage Interior http://www.selfcatering-directory.co.uk/viewphoto.asp?id=9122&stock_no=2658

Garden http://www.selfcatering-directory.co.uk/viewphoto.asp?id=9122&stock_no=2699


It is definitely the best cottage we have stayed in to date and it was very comfortable with lots of thoughtful extras provided by the owners like, loads of magazines and books to read, DVD's for the evening, a welcome bottle of cider etc. In the sitting room they had two wonderfully squashing sofa's which were bliss to sit on after a hard day's walking.


We were so blessed with the weather too - perfect sunshine all week and each evening we were able to sit outside the cottage and eat our evening meal and watch the birds in the garden.


Here are some of the things we got up to on our holiday (in no particular order):-



Gilfach Farm

We first found out about this place on Chris Packham's Nature Watch programme (http://www.forestofdean-sculpture.org.uk/). After a journey through roads through the mountains we took a sharp left turn towards the farm and what a road - totally single track and very steep and winding - we were just praying we wouldn't meet anyone coming the other way! Anyway, once parked we set out on one of the four marked walks which took us across fields, rocks, alongside a river and up and down dale. We spent about 3 hours walking and stopped for a picnic overlooking the river before wending our way back to the car - on route we popped into a bird hide and were lucky enough to see a dipper and tree creeper. The farm has a barn attached which has a small gift shop and sells refreshments so I treated myself to a new mug (with a rather attractive robin on it) and we sat outside in the sunshine enjoying a well earned cold drink.

Croft Castle and The Weir

We visited two National Trust Properties

The Weir http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-theweir/ is beautiful gardens alongside the river Wye. We met a very friendly and informative gardener who chatted to us for ages about the garden, his job and told us about the fish in the river. For once we had some stale bread on us (intended for ducks) which we fed the fish with and very impressive they were too (carp I think!).

Croft Castle http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-croftcastle/ is a stately home in very attractive grounds. Unfortunately the castle was under heavy scaffolding when we got there but we were still allowed in and we were very surprised when one of the guides asked us if we'd like to see the work being done on the roof! We went up 4 sets of steel steps set amongst the scaffolding and sure enough ended up in the middle of the castle at roof height being able to see what work is going on - very strange and not for those of a nervous disposition. In the castle grounds is a charming church which local women were decorating in readiness for a flower festival - throughout the holiday we came across groups of people doing things for their community - it's something I miss from having once lived in a village environment. Needless to say we visited the shop and Peter bought 4 plants for £10 which were a bargain. We also visited the Honesty bookshop and purchased quite a few volumes.

Hay on Wye

On the day we visited Hay-on-Wye (http://www.hay-on-wye.co.uk/) we arrived about 10.00am in the morning and expected it to be packed and difficult to park but it wasn't at all. We happily wandered around the numerous bookshops (mostly second hand) for a good few hours. It was a hot day and actually quite tiring as many of the bookshops are on 3 or 4 different levels. I enjoyed it as books are 'my thing' but was a bit disappointed that they weren't as good value as I had expected - rather pricey in fact.

Geocaching

Yep, we couldn't let a holiday pass without fitting in some caching. We started off a the Shropshire Hills Visitors Centre (http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/visitor_guide/secret_hills_guide.shtml) and went on to find 5 caches in the area. It was a baking hot day so, again, quite tiring but it is always rewarding to relax with a picnic when you have walked hard to earn it. At one point we took a wrong turn and were faced with an extremely steep path down to road level to get back on track - we edged our way down inch by inch - hanging on to trees to try and ensure we didn't slip - luckily neither of us came a cropper! After all our caching we had a lovely pot of tea in the Visitors Centre.

Sculpture Trail

This one was my idea but I hadn't realised quite how long the Sculpture Trail would be when I said I wanted to go (http://www.forestofdean-sculpture.org.uk/). The walk started off in a Forestry Commission car park and it was a steep climb up to the first sculpture, a huge chair, there were 18 sculptures in all to find and some were very impressive - there was one of a huge stained glass window suspended from a very tall tree which was very impressive. I enjoyed the walk and the sculpture added lots of interest but boy was I tired at the end - Peter said he could tell I was getting more and more tired as I was getting slower and slower............. well it was 4 and a half miles over all terrains! The following day we went to another Forestry Commission place and I just plonked myself down on our rug and got my book out - Peter took the hint that if he wanted to go for a walk he was going on his own and returned an hour and a half later having clocked up about 3 miles - very impressive! Peter did one other 'loan walk' on our holiday - near to our cottage but I will let him have the fun of blogging about that expedition - let's just say he returned home muddy and injured !

The overall impression I had of Herefordshire was how less built up it is than the South and the only traffic hold ups are when you get stuck behind a tractor. The house prices seem to be about 25% cheaper than the South too! The houses are beautiful - lots of white houses with the traditional dark beams.

Our week went all too quickly and we had intended to head to the Bristol Balloon Festival on the way home but we were anxious to check on our own house given the problems we had had before we had come away. Anyway, I am pleased to report that all was well when we arrived home, much to our relief.

I'm now keen to book our next holiday - I believe in always having something to look forward to and planning for our next expedition seems like a good way to take the sting out of going back to work this week. Not sure where we will head next - possibly Derbyshire or Scotland - depends on what bargains I can seek out on the Internet.

A day at home

Had a lovely day at home today getting organised for our hols. Just enjoyed pottering about doing things that have been neglected lately - like the car! I checked the oil and it was below the minimum line - yikes. Also checked the tyres and one of them was 10 lbs under pressure! Anne, if you are reading, I expect you are appalled - I know you check yours regularly. Oh the shame of it!

The weather today has been fantastic and come 2 o'clock I had done most of my planned things to do and I sat in the garden for a bit reading my new book 'Storm' by Boris Starling which had me gripped from page 1.

I even did some home baking today - wonders will never cease! I used our rhubarb crop from the garden to make rhubarb crumble - well we didn't quite have enough rhubarb so it ended up being rhubarb and apple actually. Peter is always very appreciative when I've cooked something from scratch - it makes me feel I should be doing it more often - oh to have the life of my mother who spent days baking in the kitchen listening to radio 4 (but maybe I have put a too rosie glow on that as she did have me and my brother running around too!)

A repeat of the last ever 'Royal Family' has just started so I'm going to settle down and enjoy that now - bliss!

11 Days of Freedom

Grhhh - absolutely hideous day at work today. It was my last day before my week off work and my boss decided to throw heaps of work at me at 3.00pm when I was due to leave at 4.00pm. I think he knew I wasn't impressed as by the time the 5th thing hit my desk I was almost spitting blood. Anyway, I managed to escape at about 4.30pm in the end and escape it was - I just left without popping my head around the door like I normally do. I mean for gods sake I have been in at 7.30am all week and had I been given extra work then I could have easily scheduled it in so to pounce on me at the 11th hour is really not kind at all.

Anyway, driving away from work I felt this huge weight lifting as I realised I don't have to be there for a glorious 11 days. On the way home I called into Sainsburys garage to fill up the car and to get a few bits of food shopping. There was a big queue at the petrol pumps but I soon spotted a pump I could use which was the opposite side to my fuel cap - I never understand people who will wait for ages to get a fuel cap side pump when all they have to do is to drag the hose over a bit. I had filled up, done a casual shop and returned to my car before the next person in line had even made it to a pump.

Miraculously I managed to stay awake until 10.pm tonight to catch 'Still Game' on BBC2 which is fabulously funny.

Autumn commeth

Another sunny day - what's going on?

Work was complete dullsville today though so was glad when the longggg day came to end and I could head home. Popped into B&Q on the way home to buy some timer switches - yep, yet more security measures - it's costing us a fortune.

When I got home I sat in the garden and read our RSPB magazine which had come in the post. It's a good read and there are always plenty of ideas in there of what reserves to visit next.

We had our tea in the garden again and were just about to have a healthy yogurt for pudding when we heard the distant chimes of the ice cream van and decided to have a treat. However, we kept hearing it but it didn't seem to be coming our way. About an hour later it finally appeared at the end of the road - I'm sure he'd never seen such eager customers!

Is it me or are the nights drawing in? Sat here typing in the front room at 8.45pm and I can hardly see the keyboard - oh dear autumn is on its way all too soon.