A Pretty Good Sunday

Peter went on the bird watch guided tour on his own this morning, I didn't surface early enough to shower, wash my hair and generally make myself presentable (losing an hour had a detrimental effect I'm afraid). It sounded really good actually so I really should have got myself organised earlier.

Whilst Peter was out for the morning I seated myself at the kitchen table, stuck the radio on and, to the sounds of the Archers and Desert Island Discs (featuring the wonderful Penelope Wilton), I ploughed through yesterday's papers and a couple of magazines as I knew Peter would be bringing the Sunday papers home.

During the afternoon it has been wonderfully sunny so after lunch we have both been out doing bits and pieces; I've dead headed and weeded a flower bed and then weeded one of our vegetable plots.

In between that I've been reading the Sunday papers and researching National Trust properties to pinpoint one to go and see over my birthday as we both have two days off work around then so want to make the most of it. At the moment my favoured placed is Stourhead (which I have been to in the past but not for many many years).

Oh yes and I must blog about 'Earth Hour'. We both observed it and decided to take two candles upstairs and read. Prior to Peter coming up I lit both candles and settled down on the bed. Realising that there wasn't actually enough light to read by, I got out two book lights (the one's that clip on to the book). Once settled, I reached across for something on the bedside table and promptly but my hand through the flame (ouch) and snuffed it out. Then I reached over to pick up the plate the candle was on to move it nearer to light it again, forgetting that there would be molten wax around the wick and therefore splashing loads of it over my hand and on the floor. After a quick run to the bathroom to run my hand under the cold tap I finally settled again and we did manage to read for an hour. A brief peep through the curtains revealed that about 50% of our street were also taking part (or they were out, we are not sure which).

This evening there is absolutely nothing I want to watch on the box except for 'Gavin and Stacey' (I am already pinning for Lark Rise to Candleford) so we will either watch a film or have another evening's reading - both of which are fine by me.

I'm quite dreading work tomorrow, given that Friday was so horrid, but I will try and keep the things I am looking forward to in my personal life in my mind to get me through.

Not Going Out

Lots of wind and rain again today so I only ventured out to get the papers and then scurried back in again.

Whilst Peter has been at football I've been doing housework interspersed with catching up on my blogging, phoning my closest friend and my mum and dad, and reading.

I'm off to the station now to collect Peter and then we shall have tea whilst watching Harry Hill and a taped edition of Johny Kingdom. Then we shall plunge into darkness for Earth Hour before resuming our evening's viewing. When I was telling my friend about Earth Hour she said "well, I'm not doing it as Holby's on at eight O'clock" - oh well, can't convert everyone I guess!

Long Hours and Earth Hour

Another horrible day at work today, we are being inspected soon so everyone is in a major panic and tempers are short. I was home later than Peter this evening so it was a very long work day and I was pooped.

Mr Sainsbury arrived with our shopping at 7 O'clock, so we are now stocked up for a few weeks, having been eating the dregs out of the bottom of the freezer for a few days now (credit crunch? Yep, this household is definitely feeling it).

We watched the new series of Bennidorm this evening which wasn't as good as the last series really but we'll probably stick with it for a while.

This weekend we don't have an awful lot planned, Peter has footie tomorrow and I'll be doing chores and hopefully doing some reading. Sunday we may be going on a guided bird watch (we are just waiting to see what the weather will bring!)

Tomorrow we will also be observing 'Earth Hour' http://www.earthhour.org/ by switching all our electrical appliances off at 8pm for an hour (not just the lights). I'm actually looking forward to an hour of stillness in which to read under candlelight.

I must say that I think our Government is now hi-jacking this issue in order to tax the hell out of it's citizens though. Gordon Brown saying that he would freeze the increase in fuel tax until October but it would still have to come in to encourage people to use their cars less - what tosh, he wants the revenue, end of. When will this Government understand that people who don't live and work in large cities need their car to get to work, especially if they work out in the sticks as I do. Another major bug bear with me at the moment is the way the Government calculates inflation which it reckons is running at around 2.5% based on some archaic shopping basket - um, I don't think so (I can't think of a single one of our bills that has gone up by 2.5% or under!)

Family Meal

My what a busy social week it has been, I've been out twice (can I really hack the pace - tee hee). On Thursday evening we had arranged to meet Peter's sister and family at a pub just outside Bournemouth. Peter was picked up from outside of work and I made my own way down there in the car after work. The pub we went to was called the 'Avon Causeway' and it's an interesting place, it has a train carriage in the grounds of the pub which is let out for functions, there are also red phone boxes - inside it's pretty much your usual gastro pub.

Anyway, as we were there early we grabbed ourselves a very nice large circular table and had a very nice time catching up with our respective news. The bread and butter pudding I had for dessert (with clotted cream) was devine!

Peter's sister's house move is moving along nicely now - they hope to be moved in by the end of Easter. Their new home is a spacious detached house with it's own drive and garage with a garden at the back leading up quite steeply to an area of woodland (great for bird watching I would think). Peter's niece is very excited and has already bagged 'her room'. As the housing market in their area at the moment is so stagnant they intend to let out their existing house. We are planning to go up to Norfolk in July and will definitely be calling in to see it then. It's a standing joke that I've only ever seen Norfolk in the dark as we only seem to go up there in October for the Beer Festival or at Christmas.

We headed home at about 9pm (having been gassing away since about 5pm!) and went to the station to pick up Peter's bike that he'd left there in the morning. It always feels a bit weird dumping his bike in the back of the car - I'm sure onlookers think we are hardened bike thieves.

Repitition Repitition

Today was one of those annoying days at work when everything proved to be an irritant. I sometimes feel like I'm a square peg in a round hole there at the moment - roll on May when I can escape for a week. The tasks I'm doing at the moment never seem to get finished as so many people have an input that I'm doing revision after revision of the same documents. I am on version 10 of one document for example and if I have to change it one more time I think I shall scream.

After work I whizzed over to Starbucks, which is attached to the local Sainsburys, and met up with two friends, one of whom is recently bereaved - she is coping amazingly well but it is so very hard for her and this evening is the first night she will be going home to an empty house since her husband died, as up until now her family and friends have been staying with her. I shall be thinking of her tonight.

Peter was home a little before me this evening which is very unusual and he had tea on the go which was nice, I think I pushed it a bit though when I starting hinting that I could also do with some waiter service on the alcoholic drinks front!

This evening I'm going to read another chunk of my current book (I can't keep up with your reading pace Anne!) and then I'll be glued to The Apprentice at 9pm.

Mooching

Today Peter was at footie so I spent a day mooching about the house and garden. I tackled our largest flower bed which is covered in weeds, pine needles and fir cones and re-potted a plant which has come out in gorgeous pink flowers and now has pride of place on the patio. I managed to fill up a large garden waste sack with debris before the rain set in again.

After my stint at gardening I felt I deserved a break so settled down to watch Loose Women. I do love it when Carol McGiffen is on, I do so agree with so much of what she says and she seems to have a pretty good lifestyle, no kids, lots of friends and lots of foreign travel (envious moi???). I wonder is anyone old enough to remember a similar programme that was on when I was a child called ‘House Party’, it was basically a group of women meeting in a house and chatting about this and that but it was very tame, they mostly talked about their latest embroidery project and how to get a stain out of a shirt (oh, how things have changed!!)

During the afternoon I read some more of ‘One good turn’ and then collected Peter from the station. It seemed strange going to collect him during the light as I’m used to pulling into the car park, under the cover of darkness, and amusing myself by watching people’s interactions with the taxi-drivers who park outside the station entrance. I like to imagine where they are going, are they coming home to someone or just taking a short trip to the airport perhaps? Are those flowers that bloke is carrying for a wife or a mistress, or maybe his mum?

Once home we had a lovely tea of bacon and egg and then I went upstairs to watch the Monday night soaps so Peter wouldn’t have to sit through them all (I am kind to him sometimes you know!).

Hiding the Giggles

As the forecast was so crap for the weekend, we decided to get out and about, when a brief bit of sunshine appeared, and went down to Titchfield Haven. After a quick mooch around the shop we set off for the first hide and just made it in time as the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse and the wind starting swirling and hail and sleet pounded the hide. The storm was so fierce the hail was even coming through the slight gaps in the hide windows.

Luckily the weather soon cleared and the rest of the day was pretty fine and we saw quite a few unusual birds including one spotted by me, a black headed godwit I think it was called. I also spent quite a bit of time reading 'One Good Turn' by Kate Atkinson which I'm really enjoying.

During the day Peter playfully told me off about something and I got a fit of the uncontrollable giggles in a crowded hide - trying to stifle it when everyone else was being really quiet was really difficult - but I managed to pull myself together after a time(just).

Just before closing we headed off back to the shore to collect the car and then the wind and rain seriously set in again - we just made it back to the car before the worse bit started.

Back home we watched a taped episode of Johnny Kingdom's wildlife programme whilst consuming fish and chips - bliss!

Farewells and Flip Charts

This morning I had to be in work early to check a conference room was ready before a big meeting this morning. Whilst waiting for the porters to arrive to set up the room I sat in my car gazing out across the trees and fields at the top edge of the college. There was bird life everywhere and some little brown jobbies that I couldn't identify which was a bit frustrating.

At lunch time I escaped the office for an hour and a half to attend a leaving do at the local pub for one of the College receptionists. It was really nice to get out for a change and I had a delicious brie chiabata for lunch.

This afternoon's disaster (there has to be at least one a day of course) was that at this morning's meeting they did a brain storming exercise and scribbled everything on a flip chart. However my boss didn't tear the relevant flip chart pages off at the end of the meeting and when the porters cleared the room they just dumped the paper from the flip chart in a skip and there is now loads of catering rubbish tipped on top of them! Usually after such meetings I get handed the flip chart pages and told to type them up (no matter that they cover the whole of my desk and are totally illegible) but this time I have to email everyone to see if they can remember what they said - ho hum.

Freebies and Funny Bones

Monday was dullsville so no comment about what happened during the day really. When I got home the latest of our increased bills was on the mat (deep joy). Today it was the water rates which have gone up by 7%, yesterday’s was the Council Tax which has gone up just under 5%. My pay increase at work was 2.5% so that’s good then ……….NOT

As soon as Peter got home in the evening we went to Homebase to buy a new padlock and of course got seduced by buying a plant and pot too. On the way out of the store I spotted that they were giving loads of plant trays away for free. We took one look at each other and grabbed a large armful each, thus clearing out all of their stock – well I guess they would have thrown them out otherwise anyway – it didn’t stop us guiltily almost running out of the door though.

On the way to Homebase we had taken a short cut through a housing estate and queued up at the traffic lights to turn right onto the main road. Well, the lights were on red and we waited, and we waited, and we waited until such time as the bus a few cars in front of us ran the risk of going through a red light and the women immediately in front of us took a u-turn. Just as she did so the lights went green. Peter said her face was an absolute picture and he couldn’t stop laughing (hmm a cruel sense of humour he has some times me thinks).

During the evening I watched my usual soaps and my daily ‘rationed’ episode of Still Game which, as usual, was hilarious. There are only 4 episodes to watch in this latest DVD and then there will only be one series we haven’t seen – they better not stop making them – it’s my daily sense of humour fix you know.

We are starting to think about what to do over the Bank Holiday Weekend – what do you do if you are skint? Answer, according to Peter, is go bird watching which isn’t a bad idea actually so that will fill one of our days nicely.

Shopping & Spooks

As getting new car tyres cost so much, we are very broke this month. So we trotted off to Iceland today (the store not the Country) and bought loads of cheap stuff (which I'm sure isn't healthy) but hey we only spent about £45 compared to the £120 that we'd normally spend on a fortnight's shopping so it's certainly helped the budget. We still need to get some fruit and veg but we can get that from the market next week.

When we got home, looking like drowned rats because of the awful weather, we had a bit of a rest before spending an hour blitzing the housework. I love it when the house is up together; it helps me to relax and makes me feel less guilty about having a lazy afternoon.

This afternoon I've been watching a spooky film called '1408' based on a Stephen King novel. It stars one of my favourite actors John Cussack (and also Samuel L Jackson in a minor role) and it was good to watch a good old fashioned scary movie.

What a nice thought it is to have two four day working weeks ahead too. We just don't have enough bank holidays in this Country to my mind.

A Socialable Day

Today I left the house early, leaving Peter sleeping. First I went to see mum and dad - they had some good news in that a development that was proposed next to their house may not now happen (fingers crossed that it doesn't).

Then it was over to my friend's house and we went to a book sale together. For the first time ever I didn't buy a single book which is very unlike me. We then went over to see another friend for a coffee. Then it was back to first friend's for lunch and to see who two teenage daughters who both had friends over. One of the girls had been given a realistic 'baby' by her school which is the same size and weight as a new born and which contains microchips so that it cries; you can't switch it off and the chip knows if you mistreat it or try and smother the noise - it was quite hideous really. Apparently this particular baby was a 'basic' model and you can get more advanced one's that wee and poo - cripes! If the school's intention is to warn young girls off getting pregnant I'm sure that it works!!!

Late afternoon I picked Peter up from the station, we bought fish and chips and then headed home to watch Saturday nigh telly. It was a horrible cold, wet and windy night so it was nice to curl up on the sofa and relax.

Friday Blog

Gosh but it’s been a tiring couple of days. On Wednesday night Peter got home from band practice and noticed there was a puncture on one of the car tyres so we (well he really) were sorting that out at about midnight and we didn’t get to sleep until about 1 o’clock in the morning. These days the loss of just a few hours of sleep has an impact on me for days and by the afternoon at work I just want to curl up like a dormouse and go to sleep.

Yesterday I had intended to go to the tyre centre on my way home but they had run out of puncture repair patches – I think that’s a bit like Eskimo’s running out of ice but there you go!

This morning I whizzed about before work, went to the garage to inflate the ‘spare’ tyre that we had to put on the car which also appears to have a slow puncture as well and was 13 lbs under pressure; then it was off to the post office to collect a parcel (an Acer tree that I’d sent off for) and finally to the cashpoint to get out some dosh for the weekend.

Today at work I have been typing up some seminar notes which are just littered with ‘management speak’ which I absolutely hate. An analoegy is being made with an egg. The yolk is ‘management’, the white is the ‘support structure’ and the plate on which it sits is ‘the environment’. David Brent eat your heart out!

After work I’m off to the Tyre Centre (who have repair patches today) and praying that it won’t cost too much as we are skint and then this evening I’m going to chill out big time.

Sad Day

Today was the day of my friend's husbands funeral. I went into work for a few hours and then went to pick up another friend to travel to Romsey Abbey together. The place was packed, as I thought it would be, as so many people know and love the family. The daughter gave a reading (so very brave of her) and the vicar read out a piece written by one of the two sons, about his dad, which was extremely moving and was the point at which I got a severe lump in my throat. It was a truly beautiful service and I hope my friend and her family drew a little strength from seeing how many people cared.

Afterwards there were refreshments in the hall next to the Abbey and the place was packed and very hot. After being there for about an hour I started to feel very hot and apparently went as white as a sheet so I took myself out into the Abbey grounds to get some fresh air which soon had me right again. Then it was over to my travel companion's house for a cup of tea and then back home.

I'm going to have an early night tonight and contemplate how lucky I am in my own life.

Banks and Storms

As the weekend was forecast to be wet, I booked for us to see a film today. I booked the earliest showing, at 12.30pm, as I figured it would be nice and quiet then and I was right - there were only about half a dozen people in the screen. We went to see 'The Bank Job'. We both really enjoyed it and it was facinating as it is based on a true story.

We were home by 3.30pm and the rain was still falling so we holed up for the afternoon. A nice quiet day.

Apparently we are in for some very stormy weather from Sunday night through to Monday - 70/80mph winds. I have about 3 routes I can take into work so I'm planning to go the one with the least trees!

Say Arhhhhh !!!!!

Whizzed through my work today as I had a dentist appointment in the afternoon. I was kept waiting in the dentists waiting room for about 10 mins before being 'called'. Immediately on walking into the room the Polish dentist said "there is no need to be so nervous", to which I replied that I didn't think I was and he said "oh, you smiled, but I could see the fear in your eyes". Ok...... then, how to make your patient anxious in one fell swoop!

I admit I don't like the dentist, who does?, but I was only going for a scrape and polish so I wasn't too worried. However, it turned out to be worse than having my wisdom tooth extracted, worse than any filling I have ever had and worse than a root canal treatment. Although he said I had very good strong teeth, and in good condition; apparently I had a bad build up of tartar on the inside of lots of teeth so he set about with his scraping tool drill thing with a vengeance - my gums were bleeding so badly I had to do numerous mouth rinses and my face and neck were soaked with the spray from the drill - having never held up my hand for a dentist to stop in my life, I did it about 5 times as when he nicked my gums it was agony - it was horrible! When I left the room I wanted to run and wash my face but there is no washroom between the dentists chair and reception, where you have to pay, so I had to line up and pay with wet hair, and a face covered in grime - I got some looks from those waiting to go in I can tell you. Despite all this I have to admit that he has left my teeth in a wonderful clean condition and I have orders to floss for England and use a special mouthwash for healthy gums - which believe me I am going to do as I am not going through that again. Thank god I don't have to go back until September.

Peter has been on a course in Poole this week and has bring bringing me back books form a local secondhand book shop - he is a sweetie.

Sad Day

I wasn't feeling very well this morning (dicky tummy) so wondered whether I should go into work. I decided to go in and was met with some very sad news, one of my ex work colleagues, and friend, lost her husband on Friday. The circumstances are all very tragic and not really suitable for a blog - needless to say work was a very sombre place today as lots of people knew them both, I couldn't stop thinking about it all day.

Mum also phoned and said dad had been very ill indeed overnight with an bad attack to do with his crohns disease -he's ok today but he's very weak and is not going to risk eating anything for a while.

Tonight I've been wallowing in the soaps and Peter has kindly kept me company when I know he really wants some peace upstairs on his computer - that's love for you.....

Mother's Day

Today we took my parent's to the Vyne (National Trust Property) near Basingstoke. It was a windy crisp day but nice and sunny. We went for quite a long walk through the woodland surrounding the house, including spending a bit of time in the newly built bird hide, and then went into the restaurant for lunch. We got back to my parents house late afternoon and just stayed for a cup of tea before heading home as Dad wasn't feeling very well.

During the evening we watched Larkrise to Candleford which was very emotional this week - poor Dorcas losing another man! Those evil evil sisters (oh dear I think I'm getting too involved!)