Hide N' Geek

Today we went to Hillier's Arboretum for a hot chocolate in their pavilion cafe. It was a glorious morning so we sat outside on the terrace with our drinks and the Sunday papers and afterwards we had a mooch around the gift shop.

Next it was off to Hamble down on the coast where we had heard there was a new bird hide overlooking the water. We had a nice walk through some woodland, across the common and then along the sea front - the sun was baking hot and, had we lingered, I'm sure we would have got sun burnt. After quite a long walk we finally spied the hide and, oh dear, what a disappointment; we were expecting a proper enclosed hide right on the water with plenty of seating etc. What we found was a wicker screen with holes cut in it and one bench behind it. We sat behind it for a bit but felt like a right couple of chumps as it was right next to a footpath so rather than bird watching (which would have been scared away anyway by the amount of people walking by)we were people watching - so people came round the corner and we were just sat there feeling like voyeurs looking through our little peep holes. One guy walked past and sat on a bench just down from us and started talking to his dog - it felt sort of awkward as I wasn't sure he knew we were there so I made a point of talking loudly so he'd clock us.

Anyway, next it was back to the car and as it was almost 3 O'clock we went in search of food and went to a Beefeater and had a very nice main course followed by a shared sundae which came in what is best described as a basin - it was huge and delicious!

This afternoon we've been too tired (and too stuffed) to do much so we have just chilled out. It's been a good day and as the weather is forecast to change dramatically by Tuesday I'm glad we got and enjoyed the sun while it was out!

Oh Anne, if you are reading this. Commiserations on Gillian leaving Strictly - it definitely should have been Jesse!

Daniel Hit by a Train

A few years back Peter and I were in London and we came across a tiny little park called 'Postman's Park'. In the park is a wall which contains the Watts Memorial of Heroic Deeds, which commemorates, on plaques, acts of selfless heroism by ordinatry people who died while trying to save others. It is a very moving place.

Today whilst Peter was looking through the Guardian Review page this morning he found out that someone has written a theatre piece called 'Daniel Hit by a Train' which tells the stories of the 53 people whose names appear on the plaques AND it's on at our local Theatre 'The Point'. I got straight on the phone and booked it for next week - can't wait to see it.

Name that Song...

I watched the 2nd episode of The Family http://www.channel4.com/health/the-family/ the other day and I'm already hooked. At the end of the episode they showed a scene of the mum and daughter dancing in the kitchen to a version of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' which I'd never heard before and I just had to find out who the singer was. After some amazingly simple Internet research - what did we all do before Google? - I found what I was looking for. The song is by an Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, now sadly deceased, and he has a bit of a cult following - to see and hear a clip of the song check it out here http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0OMLoAtC9RY&feature=related

Sunday

Well Peter is back from his trip later today - hurrah, so I arranged for Mr Sainsbury to make a food delivery today so we have some decent food in. I know on these trips that they eat a lot of sweets and junk food so I imagine he is craving some nice food.

During the day I've cooked up a large batch of apples that my boss had given me off his tree, mowed the lawn, hoovered the car and generally tidied round. I've also finished reading 'Nights in Rodanthe' which isn't my usual fare being basically a 'romance' but I loved it and actually cried in a few places. The reason I read it is because I want to see the upcoming film with Richard Gere and Diane Lane.

The weather has been glorious again today - what's going on? It seems so alien to see the sun after the months and months of rain.

As part of this morning's shop I had two papers delivered so I shall wade through those after tea and see what the box has to offer this evening whilst I'm waiting for Peter to get home.

Social Saturday

Saturday

Today was out of the door by 7.00am and here's what I did with my day:-

7.15am - Tesco's Recycling Machine
Posted all our plastics through the magic machine and got 21 club card points - hurrah!

7.45 - Sainburys
Just called in to get my friend a newspaper as she has bronchitis at the moment and didn't want to venture out. Said paper had a Jamie Oliver DVD with it which she wanted but shop made me fill the form in, in the middle of the paper, and cut it out (thus ruining all the articles on the back of the coupon) - strange offer!

8.00am Visit to Parents
Visited mum and dad and found out that mum has been feeling unwell and after numerous trips to the doctors they can't find out what's wrong. She has intermittent burning pains on her tongue and lips and she gets it normally in the night and sometimes feels she is choking. Logged onto the Internet and googled her symptoms and 'hey presto' there is a complaint called 'burning tongue syndrome' which affects post menopausal women, sometimes caused by stress, sometimes caused by HRT - the articles I found (some of them NHS papers) fitted her complaint exactly and she fits exactly the high risk category for it. It took me 5 minutes to find - bloody hell why couldn't her doctor of considered that??? There are chat sites with hundreds of women comparing notes on this horrible complaint. The sad thing is that there is no definite cure but lots of things can help - stopping HRT, taking more B vitamins, even chewing gum - so at least mum can try this and confront the doctor with her newly found information.

10.30am Book Sale
Went to the book sale - by now the weather was stunning and I wished Peter was with me as we usually browse the books and then sit in the garden of the village hall to have a cup of tea and sort through the piles of books we intend to buy. I bought about 10 books but none of the list of books I am actively seeking.

11.30am - Visit Friend
Saw my friend and despite her feeling unwell we managed to have a good chat and watch a film. Delivered her 'shredded' paper.

5.00 pm Home
Arrived home and settled in to watch Strictly and X Factor.

Out of the Cage and into the Weekend

Oh my god it's been a busy week at work, I've felt like a machine at times typing typing typing. Getting out into the beautiful sunshine at 4 O'clock this afternoon was like being released from a cage! Luckily I didn't chose the motorway for my journey home as it appears there was another accident and the queues were about 10 miles long at the time I was leaving work.

I've got a nice day planned tomorrow - seeing my parents, visiting a book sale and then seeing a friend and of course this weekend's big event is that Peter is back from his travels in Austria - I've really missed him.

I did the last bit of housework I needed to do for the week tonight so I don't have to do any more all weekend - what a lovely thought.

This evening the wonderful TV schedulers have put Ricky Gervais and Al Murray head to head at 10 O'clock. There's no way I'll still be awake then so I'll have to chose one to record.

Part of my plan for winter is to go and see more films at the cinema, there are two on my 'must see' list at the moment:-

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (I enjoyed the book)
Road to Rodanthe (staring Richard Gere - say no more!)

I've also treated myself to a bargain film from Amazon this week 'Under the Tuscan Sun' which I'm looking forward to seeing - a good girly film I think.

The Week So Far

Sunday
Went to Tesco’s and got stuck in the car wash – had to reverse out round a tight bend and up a slope. Went to report it only to see the darn thing had suddenly started working again and was drying an ‘invisible’ car.

Monday
Went to see ‘The Duchess’ at the cinema. I wasn’t expecting it to be very good but it was fantastic! The costumes and staging is a feast for the eyes. Keira Knightly and Ralph Fiennes are wonderful as are the rest of the cast. The story is gripping, quite shocking in places and heart-renching. Go see it people!

Tuesday
Work was a slog – minuted my regular 8.25am start meeting without the aid of coffee –a major achievement.

Left work early to go to the dentist – I was dreading it and had put the appointment off once. However, I arrived early and was seen straight away and was out again within 10 minutes with only a bit of a clean round – brilliant!

The weather has been really autumnul for the last few days and things have actually stopped growing in the garden now - a respite from clearing the weeds and brambles, yeah! I love this time of year with the prospect of a frost, leaves changing colour on the trees; I'm one of those weird people who loves winter and actually looks forward to the evenings drawing in and being able to cosy up in front of a fire with a book.

Missing Peter & Autumn Cleaning

Peter left to go on his 10 day trip to Austria (viewing planes) last night. It felt strange coming back home after dropping him off to get his coach yesterday evening. I shall miss him.

This morning I'm ok and focusing on getting the house and garden straight. I have been out to get a paper.

The rest of the day I have spent giving the kitchen a much needed 'deep clean' not the usual flick with a damp cloth, hoovered, caught up with the washing and mowed the lawn. I also watched a film on Sky Box Office 'Eichman' which was quite chilling as you would expect from a movie based on one of Hitlers henchman. I've also delved deeper into my book 'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee' - from a very slow start, suddenly 'pow' the book really changes and it's shocks all the way ...... I really recommend it.

Tonight it's junk TV all the way

Sunday

Up early again today and P made me some delicious marmite on toast before he set off bird watching.

Whilst P was out I made my two Christmas cakes. I decided to stick to a Delia recipe and I must say they have come up beautifully.

P came back at around 11.30am as I needed the car so I could pick my brother up from the station. My brother had come down to buy a second hand car and see me and P on route – albeit that I gave him a lift to where the car was as good sisters do! The car trip took about 3 hours all told, what with test drives and the like, so I was glad to get back home and cosy up on the sofa with Peter and watch a couple of films. We watched Alfred Hitchcock’s classic ‘Rope’ and laughed at the 1950’s fashions in clothes and food – boob shaped blamanch anyone? Next, whilst eating a tea of good cheese and biscuits we watched the first of The Omen films. P always tells me that he doesn’t like horror but he actually laughed at the bits that were supposed be shocking so that’s ok. I shall break him in gently before I show him the Exorcist (mind you that’s probably tame these days compared to the likes of ‘Saw’).

Fell into bed about 9.00pm and read about a page of my new book ‘The Woman in Black’ before drifting off. A busy weekend.

Back at the Coal Face

Oh but it's hard being back at work, the first day of term was on Monday so we are flat out and I have aching fingers and scratchy dry eyes by the end of the day due to the continual use of my P.C.

On the home front we are harvesting more produce from the garden - Peter pulled some carrots at the weekend and they are beautifully straight and, well, orange. It's amazing how proud you get when something grows successfully (I have to give Peter credit for them though). In the greenhouse we have some green peppers growing successfully which is something even my parents, the seasoned gardeners that they are, have never grown with any success.

On the book front I have have been lent two books by a friend and have just finished 'Sleep with Me' by Joanna Briscoe which despite it's rather off putting 'chick lit' title is actually a gripping psychological thriller. Now I'm reading the 'Secret Lives of Pippa Lee' by Rebecca Miller which is starting off very slowly but I am hopeful the pace will accelerate going by the reviews on Amazon.

This evening is that rare evening when there about 3 programmes I want to watch are on at the same time. We'll probably watch 'Lost in Austen'.

A few days away, dreams and hitting reality

Travelled up to Somerset to see my brother on Friday - decided to take the country route and was doing really well following my AA directions and winding my way through some beautiful villages until I found the road blocked by an accident and had to switch to a map and try and find a different route. After about a 45 minute detour I found my way to a road I recognised and arrived about mid-day. Just in time to see 'A', my brothers youngest daughter get back from her first half day at school. They really ease youngsters in these days, they start off with half day mornings, then half day afternoons, then half day mornings including lunch before going on to a full day. I remember being just taken to class for my first full day and left to cry as the parents were ushered out of the door - how times have changed!

Unfortunately the weather in Somerset was just as bad as in the rest of the country and the rain came down in sheets so the longest we managed to get out for was a 45 minute walk around the village. It was good to see the children though and I managed to have nice long chats with my brother and his wife which isn't always possible these days as the children obviously take up lots of time and attention.

My brother runs in his shop in Bristol and also has a side line of an Internet company and is going to give up the shop in a year and half to concentrate on purely Internet sales - a very brave move I think but if he can make it work it will make his and his wife's life much less stressful. As well as the Internet side he is going to visit festivals to sell his wares - something he already does at weekends and which is proving very lucrative.

Whenever I visit my brother I get enthused anew to break out of being a wage slave and try and start up a business of our own. I have one or two ideas of what I could 'sell' successfully online but lots of research to do yet as to find a 'gap in the market'. My ultimate dream would be to run a 'B & B' in the countryside supported my some sort of online business and the sale of books, jams and other homemade goods to guests - if we could just win the lottery now to fund the dream that would be grand...........

I came away from my brother's after lunch on Saturday and duly 'took a wrong turn' on my way back and ended up skirting around the edge of Bath which was actually not too bad and from then on it's reasonably good roads through to Salisbury and then home.

The journey home was rain all the way so it was lovely to get back home and to get a lovely welcome back from Peter waiting at the door - arhhhhh. We settled down on the sofa and had tea and watched 'Lost in Austen' which we both thought was great - much better than we had expected and very funny in places.

Today we have a 'pottering day' planned. We have some 'produce' to use up so I shall be making french onion soup and Peter has promised to make an apple pie. I am trying to throw off the depressing thoughts of going back to work on Monday - I have so enjoyed this week it's an awful thought.

A Week Off Work

I'm off work this week and am having a lovely time being at home. On Monday I went to lunch with two friends - we rather craftily dumped my car at the garage as it had to have a new fog light fitted and walked into town for lunch (free parking - result!). Afterwards we did a bit of shopping - oh how my shopping habits of changed - I bought two secondhand DVD's in Cash Converters, a couple of books in a charity shop and a half price T-shirt in Salisbury's - last of the big spenders me!

On Tuesday I spent the whole day at home and did a mass sort out of one of our spare rooms which involved moving a table downstairs, disconnecting one of computers that we no longer use and sorting out a very grubby windowsill and a mass of books ready to go on a new book case (when we get one). We now have a lovely amount of floor space in the room and it looks less like a dumping ground - a job well done. Had a reprieve at lunch time and watched 'Loose Women' which is back on TV after the summer break - I've missed it.

Today had a short lie in and then went to meet a friend for lunch (oh how I love being a lady who lunches - roll on retirement when I can do it often!). We went to Hillier's arboretum where they have a lovely cafe and a very nice gift shop where I drooled over everything but didn't give in to any spending. The cafe has a decked area overlooking the grounds which I longed to sit out on but my friend has thinner blood than me and was feeling cold so we stayed indoors. After lunch we did a very quick Geocache in the grounds and then went to a pick your own place as my friend wanted some beans - they are nearly at the end of their season but we found enough for her to get a bag full. This evening has everything good on the box at 9.00am so I shall tape one, watch one and wait for the repeat of the other!

Tomorrow I have a another friend coming round for coffee and then on Friday I'm seeing my brother. A bit of a social week really but it's been so lovely having some time away from work, as I said ' bring on retirement' (even though they have moved the goal posts and I have to work until I'm 66 - arhhhhhhh!)