Quiet Weekend

Saturday

This morning we got up early and went to Asda before they got busy. Our purpose was to get some compost as they have it on offer at the moment. We bought some other stuff whilst we were there and Peter bought me a lovely garden ornament which is a beautiful black Buddha - he looks lovely in the corner of the garden surrounded by foliage.

The rest of the day we pottered about at home and in the evening watched the film 'Into the Wild'. It's a true story about an American man in his early twenties who become disillusioned with his life (the lies his parents are told him and their cruelty to each other, societies obsession with possessions and the expectations of others when he graduates). He packs a bag, gives most of his money to charity and burns the rest, abandons his car and travels on foot around America living off the kindness of strangers, part time work and foraging what he can from nature for his food. It's a very liberating film but also very sad - I highly recommend it.

During the evening we observed 'Earth Hour' - no one else in our road seemed to be taking part though. I must admit I didn't realise it was 'the day' until I spotted something by chance on the internet, but last year I knew about it well advance.

Sunday

Today has been a day of gardening. My first job was patching up an area of fence where the panels have rotted away - it's only a temporary fix as we really need a whole new fence panel but it will do for now. Then I re-painted our two wooden garden chairs with a lick of dark green paint. My dad made the chairs for us about a year ago so I want to look after them and they've come up looking like new. Finally, I've been doing some weeding and putting some compost and mulch on one of our flower beds - it's amazing how adding some new fresh dark material to the soil makes the plants look so much more vibrant because of the contrast.

This evening we shall be eating the last of our leeks that we dug up from the garden today and watching the last of the 'Yellowstone' series on BBC2.

Catch Up Blog

I meant to blog at the weekend but somehow didn't get around to it. Here's what has been happening in my life recently:-

Saturday 20 March

I went to see friend Wendy today, we visited the local booksale (didn't buy much but had a lovely cup of coffee and slice of cake sat outside in the sunshine at the village hall the sale was held in). Then we went to my favourite charity shop and I bought some audio books for my mum as she loves them. Then it was back to Wendy's place and we watched a DVD of The Reader with Kate Winslet which was quite a grim film really but I still enjoyed it.

Sunday 21 March (Mother'sDay)

Today mum and dad came over for lunch and tea. In the afternoon we took mum and dad to visit a garden that was open as part of National Garden Scheme. It was a beautiful garden and it left us inspired to get on and do more with ours. The weather stayed beautiful and I think mum and dad enjoyed it.

Wednesday 25 March (Today!)

Today most of the managers were out visting another establishment so my work colleague, Sue, and I went for a very rare pub lunch with a colleague from our other campus. We went to the Mayfly near Stockbridge which is a lovely pub with a river running past it (see picture). I really wished the weather had been better today so we could have sat outside but it was far too cold and windy. Never mind we still had some lovely food (fish cakes - yum) and a good old gossip. We plan to do it again in a few months time.

This evening I'm intending to hole-up with The Apprentice which is back tonight - hooray!

Friends and Future Plans

Peter left the house early this morning to go on a trip with some mates. I met up with two friends at Hilliers Aboretum's Pavillion Cafe (above). We usually meet up after work when things are all a bit rushed so, for a change, we met on a Saturday and spent a couple of hours chatting over coffee followed by a wander around the art gallery and gift shop. We also made arrangements to see an Am Dram production in a couple of months.

Then I headed off to Andover to see another friend, as it's one of her daughter's 20th birthday today. We spent the afternoon eating birthday cake and hearing about said daughters nurse training (it sounds exhausting!).

Headed home around 5 O'clock and put the car through the car wash as the birds seem to be using it for target practice at the moment.

Comedy Brilliance

Did you see the Comic Relief programmes last night - wasn't it brilliant? It was like a whole year's comedy rolled into one night. We sat on the sofa wearing our red noses and spent the evening on Beeb 1. The highlights were definitely James Corden giving a team talk to the England squad; Ruth Jones, Rob Brydon and the cast of Gavin and Stacey peforming 'Islands in the Stream'with guest apperances by Robin Gibb and Tom Jones (plus a supporting video shot in Vegas); Comic Relief does The Apprentice and French and Saunda's (and Joanna Lumley) taking off Mama Mia - comedy gold. You can find two clips here:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAE1YyDm66A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qij-GltNyw0

Washing Machines & Dubious Practices

This morning I got up extra early so I could visit Sainsburys before work to buy a present and card. I managed to get into work on time and thought, ahh, I can get my coat off, have a coffee, switch on my computer and run through my emails and ease myself into the day as the boss said he would be late in. He wasn't. So from the get go I was being given new work before I'd even looked at the overnight emails (it's amazing how they come in - some people can't have home lives I don't think). Anyway, I typed like a demon all day and by about 3 O'clock I'd broken the back of it - I so can't wait until we are back to normal admin strength next week though.

On the home front, Peter worked at home today to take receipt of our new washing machine which arrived in the afternoon. By the time I got home he had it unpacked, plumbed in and the old one stored in the shed. What an excellent chap he is! The new machine is so quiet you don't realise it's on - our old one was so noisy it shook the house. Please please let this be the end of our white goods breakdowns.

This evening we've been watching coast to coast which featured Bournemouth this week. It's always interesting seeing places that you know, or rather you think you know; I kept saying 'why haven't we been there, or there? It's true, you rarely know the beauty that is on your own doorstep.

I'm going to end this blog with a minor rant (you know me). I have a small balance owing with a well known home shopping catalogue with what I owe being paid off quite happily in interest free instalments. Today they emailed me to ask if I'd like to pay less each month (£1.93 less to be exact) by extending the terms. In the very small print at the bottom of the email it says that this will incur a 29.3% interest rate to the outstanding balance. Clearly this email is designed to appeal to people who owe a lot more than me and I think it the worst kind of enticement to try and encourage people to get into more debt. This company have really sunk in my eyes.

The Speedy Dentist

A little while back I blogged about Tesco's recyling machines no longer giving out clubcard points for plastics and glass. Well the bad news is that they are ripping out their recycling machines altogether - I visited the Tesco at Winchester this morning with my huge bag of cans and there were two large cranes there and loads of lorries breaking the machine up ready to take it away. So that's another source of saving points towards Christmas gone boo!

Work this week is very busy as I'm covering for two other PA's who are on leave and at times I have six phones to handle which is not much fun but the week is going fast and it will soon be over.

Late this afternoon I had a dental appointment and I can honestly say that I have never been in and out of the dentist's chair so fast. I arrived at 3.50pm and was in the chair by 3.52pm and back downstairs paying by 3.57pm - £16.80 for a 'hello, how are your teeth' - 'fine'- a quick scrape and out. Whilst I was paying, the dentist passed me with his coat on heading for his car so I guess a late appointment equals a swift escape then!

Tomorrow Peter is working from home as our new washing machine is being delivered. Our old one has limped on for a few weeks, after Peter managed to get it going again, but now it has definitely died. We went to the local tip with our old dishwasher on Sunday and now we'll have a return trip with our old washing machine - getting it collected by the council costs a minimum of £27 though so it's a no brainer really.

I finished by latest book 'Boy A' in record time - it was a fast and compelling read and really challenges the stereo types of the hoodie generation. Now I've picked up The Resurrectionist by James Bradley which I think is going to be quite macabre but that's fine by me.

Feeling Melancholic

As the title suggests I'm feeling pretty fed up today. All I've really done today is clean the house; the washing machine's has packed up again - so I'm not looking forward to doing everything by hand - and I narrowly avoided the loft hatch falling on my head (don't ask!).

The only good thing today has been by the way of some nice post by way of a CD I'd ordered. The trouble is it's not exactly uplifting music; beautiful but, well, depressing actually - oh dear!

I'm sure I'll be brighter tomorrow. Excuse my self indulgence but I think a blog should be honest so that's what I'm being.

This is weather; but not as we know it....

How much different weather can one cram into a day? I looked out the window this morning, expecting to see some snow but there was just rain – phew! Drove half way to work and saw cars coming towards me covered in snow and it was snowing really heavily when I arrived at work – roads just starting to get dicey. Now, everything has melted, the sun is out and it’s a beautiful Spring Day – what a day and what does one wear for such varied conditions?

It’s been a funny week, Peter's been out a lot so I’ve been pottering about at home in the evenings catching up with various things – I've finished the Moonstone at last! Loved it but it was longggg. I'm going to move onto a totally modern read next 'Boy A' by Jonathan Trigell.



Last night I got totally bored with what the TV had to offer and dug out a DVD I'd purchased yonks ago but hadn't watched called ‘Angels in America’ which was a stage play and then got turned into a 6 hour series for America’s HBO. I won’t attempt to describe the plot because it’s complex – someone has done better than I ever could here:-

Angels in America takes place in the America of the 80s, starting in 1985 against a backdrop of the fear of AIDS, Reagan in power, and corporate and personal greed starting to manifest in the yuppie generation. The plot is fairly straightforward, despite at times seeming complex. It tells the tales of two couples who are having relationship troubles, while simultaneously covering the lives of two men infected with AIDS. It examines the disintegration and reformation of communities and characters too, and of course features a religious undertone with the appearance of angels. In 'Millennium Approaches', relationships come to an end and characters move towards isolation – but in 'Perestroika' communities are reconstituted.

It stars some amazing actors - Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon and Simon Callow, to name a few, and the theme tune (which I’ve never heard before is hauntingly beautiful and I’ve just found out it is called ‘Angels in America’ by Thomas Newman – wonderful thing Google!) Anyway, I've watched episodes 1 and 2 and I'm totally hooked - I'm going to be disappointed when I've finished watching it.

Today I took advantage of the Travelodge £19 room sale and booked us three nights in East Sussex in a few month's time. There are quite a few things we want to visit in the area - including a wonderful book shop called 'Much Ado About Books' in Alfriston which I've been yearning to visit. Nothing like booking a short break to brighten the day.....

Spring has Sprung

Wow, what a beautiful day! Things are really happening in the garden:-

Good Things
We have masses of frog spawn in our wildlife pond.
We have spotted two adult frogs in the pond but think there must be more.
Bulbs are starting to poke through the ground and buds are appearing on the trees.
We have some interesting fungi on a log - quite beutiful.

Bad Things
Saw my first slug of the year - boo!
Weeds are starting to appear in the veg patch - double boo!

After nipping out to get the paper, I had a relatively lazy morning reading the papers, reading my book and listening to the Radio whilst watching the birds in the garden.

After lunch I spent a couple of hours in the garden pulling out dead leaves and plant around the pond, de-weeding the cast iron pig troughs we use for planting flowers, the herb patch and the veg patch. I also raked up loads of pine cones and needles in our main border - these form a thick layer and makes the soil underneath really dry if we're not careful. Throughout all this the sun was out and it was warm enough to wear a T-Shirt, wonderful. We had a well deserved Diet Ccoke break and sat in the garden chairs chilling out and enjoying the warmth of the sun.

Once it got dark we settled down in front of the box - I must say I think ITV really do have the upper hand when it comes to Saturday night at the moment, we stuck with it the whole evening to watch Harry Hill, Chris Tarrant's new game show The Colour of Money(which has me shouting at the telly) and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Take-A-Way - ITV are also sticking on a good film each Saturday night, this time The Bourne Supremacy. I think the Beeb need to pull their socks up.