Home again.

I drove to Cambridge shire yesterday to see cousin JR.
A 2 hour journey, during which I experienced all kinds of weather from fog on the M6 to sunshine over Godmanchester.

We went out to lunch, then viewed photos on my laptop, chatted, & nodded off for the remainder of the day, in a warm lounge.
I "slept over", driving back at lunchtime today, in glorious sunshine.
I did the washing & a little gardening before going to the hairdressers at 4.00pm.
I had "foils" & a rather sleek cut. I am pleased with it, G is indifferent (no change there then), so all is well.

(This isn't me, but she does have foils)

I hope that I can get it right on Saturday for the wedding, but I shall be wearing a hat anyway.
When hats are removed you always have a "pudding bowl" anyway.
When is the accepted time to remove hats at weddings?
Is there a way to avoid "hat hair"?

I am watching "Question Time" - not too bad, although the Tory underling looks like Michelin Man - he would be better on the radio!

Does anyone know the whereabouts of my camera case (containing memory & spare batteries)?
Last seen in Cornwall, but not left there.

Fewer weeds now, top left.

Back to work (for some)

Yesterday, the weather was cool, very wet & windy.
G went into work as he was unable to do anything outside, walk or cycle.
Obviously, I wasn't sufficiently entertaining, so I went to the gym, bought some scrummy food at M&S & came home to look after G.
We slumped in front of the TV after dinner & watched "Life after people" - how the Earth would change over the next 1000 years if the people disappeared. They did disappear, no corpses or anything, just no people. Dogs & rats died of boredom with no-one to aggravate (moles as well, no doubt) & the plants took over.

This morning we were up early as G had meetings all over the North of England.
I planned to go to the gym early on, but started by sorting out my wedding outfit for the weekend, in case I needed to buy anything. This cost me 2 hours as I sorted out the wardrobes & took a pile of clothes & some strange objets d'a to the Hospice Shop in Knowle, en route to the gym.
Afterwards, I visited M&S for a cup of tea & cake (drink 1/2 price with cake, after 2.00am)
I did have a look in the dress departments in John Lewis & M&S, but saw nothing of interest.
Drove home, swept up the tree debris & prepared dinner - olives, welsh lamb chops with new potatoes, sugar snaps & redcurrant jelly, summer pudding with creme fraishe, then "The Apprentice"
Hurray, hurray,that self-deluding, egotistical, arrogant, conniving, two-faced little toe-rag, Michael, was fired.
Time for bed.

Grannny, Granny, Granny....

Both Friday & Saturday were "Granny days", hence no blogs as I fell asleep when I sat down after dinner.
Jessie & Thomas on Friday, to the park in the morning to check out the swings & the slides, then home to lunch.
Thomas & I can drive to Brueton Park, walk across the park to the town centre, have a cup of tea /bottle in John Lewis & do the return journey in the time Jessie is at nursery.
There is little time to spare &, to be honest, Thomas doesn't walk far, but he enjoys the scenery & I enjoy the walk.
Tim & KP on Saturday whilst B & E went to London to see the queen, so Tim told me.
I think that she may have been busy as they settled for "Joseph" instead!
We visited the local barracks in the morning, en route to the swimming pool, after lunch we walked to the local playground & then did a little light shopping to take on "Percy Pigs" in M&S.
Bathtime was fun; Tim soaked me over the shower cubicle, on purpose, I suspect. KP was taken short whilst on my knee, wrapped in a bath towel.
Both days were great fun; thank goodness I went to the gym on Thursday!
All of this activity necessitated my getting up at 6.00am this morning to complete my sermon (Love your enemies...) in time for Morning Prayer at 9.30 & 11.00.
The weather was cold, wet & windy so G went into work for the day, I had an unplanned nap after church then baked, ironed, sewed & prepared dinner. (British asparagus followed by coq au vin)

We watched a fascinating programme about Tibet this evening.

Shopping guide:
Aj recommends the Meal for two for £10 at M&S*, which includes two courses & a bottle of wine. Sounds good to me!
*Not available in Denmark.

Wet again tomorrow; not a gardening day.

De-moled.

We are a mole free zone.
We have a bill for £120, but we can now look out on G's well tended lawns without wincing at the disfiguring piles of soil.
We seem to have more birds in the garden than I have seen for years. Swallows & wrens are nesting in the stables, thrushes in the honeysuckle, blackbirds,sparrows robins & a variety of finches in unidentified corners of the garden.
The swallows do perch on the washing line on their approach to the stables & occasionally plop on the washing - only sheets & large items of course - this seems a small price to pay.
Swallows nested there every year until an extreme winter in the late eighties, I think, when the population was decimated.

I have had a quiet day - washing out (to entertain the swallows), floors washed then off to Coleshill to the cleaners, bank, chemists & hairdressers, to make an appointment for next week, prior to the wedding.
On to the gym for a good session & a swim then to Shirley to pick up Jessie from school.
She looked very cool in her yellow school dress, pink sun hat & pink, fur-trimmed thermal gloves. We read & coloured in teddy bears, deciding what each colour could hide in for an hour or so before coming home to prepare salmon for dinner...eventually.
G is mowing the field, first.

Home Alone.

Well, not anymore as G has arrived home from work & mown the lawns.
W, K, & J departed today. W went for a bike ride then put his bike back in its bag & loaded the car ready for the journey to East Midlands Airport.
J & I watched a bit of "cars"DVD whilst the packing up was done.
This involves us saying "Granny", "J", & then J being tickled.
It is fun, really.
W drove to the airport, a final treat, in a volvo, before returning to the Danish"van" & all went well.
I came home cross country & stopped in Ashby to have a tootle round & buy jam & lemon curd tarts at "Birds the Bakers".
We always stopped & bought a box of these fantastic tarts on journeys between Shustoke & York when I was a student/ married & living in York/ visiting AJ in York, before the M42/ A42 was built & Midlands to York journeys included Ashby, Breedon on the hill,Donington, then the M1.
The tarts are in a class of their own & well worth the detour.

I arrived home at 2.00pm, stripped the beds, turned the matresses, put loads of washing on & on the line, spoke to aj on the phone & fell asleep on the settee.
Thank you God for such a good drying day.
It is all now dry, ironed & away.

We have had pate, salad & drunk a nice bottle of red wine for supper, eventually.
We forgot to watch "The Apprentice" Shucks!
We did watch the follow up on BBC 2.
How could AS fire Ralph, an educated, articulate, charming, discreet young man & retain Michael, who is none of the above?

Happy.Birthday, Bent.

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The Merchant of Venice.

This is the last day of W & K's visit.
J has spent his time indoors speeding around the house on the pedal-free cycle, alternating with the Fireman Sam fire engine.
Quieter games have included lego, cars, football up & down the hall & demolishing the construction toys.
J is almost mesmerised by DVDs of "Fireman Sam", & "Cars"; useful at bedtime.

W has done two bike rides & plans another early tomorrow. Well worth while bringing the bike then! (He does have pedals on his!)

This morning we walked to the playground in the village, J on the pedal-free bicycle, which he put through its paces on the mounds there after trying out the play equipment.
After lunch W & I went to Tamworth to do a few errands & make a few final purchases whilst K had a rest & J slept.
W & K have gone to Stratford to see "The Merchant of Venice" this evening, so J & I have had a lovely evening together; he is now soundly asleep.
The house will seem very quiet tomorrow - a return to Radio 4 & housework & the gym.

Fn & all that.

I am trying a new tactic today.
The discerning reader may have noticed that my recent blogs have not had very satisfactory conclusions/completed the day.
This has been due entirely to the fact that I have fallen asleep before completing the blog.
It is 1.46pm, J is asleep, W & K are in Solihull. I feel very alert, having just eaten a rather fine sausage sandwich for lunch (not my usual "healthy option") & am confident that I will finish the blog & even manage to post some holiday photos without "nodding off".
I would have blogged earlier but had "no network connection"
W has explained the purpose of the "F" keys - not what I had thought at all - nothing to do with relieving frustration, so I'm up & running!

Yesterday I delivered all of my Christian Aid envelopes in the morning after church & collected most of them in again in the evening, poor light forcing an early retirement at 9.00pm.
OK, so it was a day late, but nobody noticed/minded.
Please give generously as it is a very good cause, has negligible admin costs & is quite hard work for the collectors - I am lucky having such a friendly patch.
£11 will buy enough banana seeds to provide food for a family in Bolivia - other fascinatng facts on your envelope.
Three of the family, with spouses, & five of the grandchildren came in the afternoon. They played very well together, riding things in the garden, camping with E in the lounge, watching "Cars" & helping to prepare dinner. Tim washed everything made of cloth that was not being worn & cleaned the filter on the tumble drier.
We had an early dinner. (cottage pie with vegetables, rice pudding & bread & butter pudding,created by W).

Today, W & K have walked around the reservoir, J cycled, then came home & had brunch.
I went to Kingsbury school to see friends & confirm my availability for the remainder of the term.
J & I are now taking it easy!
The good news is that I have just spoken to Radley bags.
I bought a "purple pocket bag" at the end of February, whilst in Wetherby with aj, Santa Claus having failed to deliver the goods.
Last week I noticed that one side of the bag was completely faded - the side facing outwards when in use - following our sunny holiday in Cornwall.
Radley confirmed that there is a problem with both the purple & teal dyes used & that they will replace my bag with a brown or black one if I return it.
I think that I shall have an antique brown one.
Strangly, they still have the deficient colours for sale on the internet.

W & K want fish & chips tonight, so I have a lazy afternoon.
Not even any ironing left to do.
Perhaps I'll enter the competitions in my Good Housekeeping & Coast magazines.
It's a hard life!

Crackington Haven, beachcombing.

Beach Dudes!

Boscastle harbour.

AJ saying farewell to Bude on a fantastic morning.

Tim's birthday party - a "high point", when J mounted the wall bars, out of Dad's reach!

Jeremy's here.

I fell asleep whilst blogging last night so my second draft & editing got lost.
I'm quite surprised that the blog appeared at all.
Only E seems to have read it anyway - that'll teach me to take a holiday.
Anyway, if there's anybody out there, we have had a fun day with William, Kathrine & Jeremy.
We went to Ash End House Farm this morning. They have a vast array of farm animals - sheep, pigs, goats, horses, poultry & pets of all breeds, ranging from shire horses to guinea pigs.Jeremy loved them all & made the most of the adventure playground, anything that you could climb on really.

Visitors from the north.

A quick tidy up & then to Ventura Park to exchange my £5 Boots voucher & 5p off per litre on fuel at JS voucher whilst still in date, thus saving £5 on my L'oreal Regenerist anti-wrinkle cream & £2 on diesel.
On to the main purpose of the day - to pick up W, K & J at East Midlands airport.
Their Stirling flight arrived nearly 1/2 hour early, so my timing wasn't as good as I had anticipated.
The family, luggage & W's bike -in-bag all fitted in the car easily & so home to lunch.
J settled in quickly & was soon whizzing around the garden on the peddle-free bike alternated with the tractor. His new "Fireman Sam" DVD gave respite & set him up for a few more turns of the garden & circuits of the house on a tricycle. He helped to make a chocolate cake for daddy, which we shall enjoy tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Tim!.

Tim is 4 today.
I did a "sleepover" at Tim's last night; he assured me that he was bigger now that he was 4, when he came to see me early this morning.
I'm sure that he will have enjoyed his day.

Last week, we spent an idyllic week in Cornwall, basking in the sun with a big part of the family, including AJ & 4 of the grandchildren.
We stayed in a delightful cottage a mile from the beach at Crackington Haven, a beautiful, quiet bay with a river running down the beach, rock pools & spectacular cliffs.
We spent days playing on the beach there or in Bude on Summerleaze beach.
AJ & I had last been here 14 years ago; for a number of years we took school parties to Adventure International, an activity holiday centre in the centre of Bude, canoed on the canal, abseiled down the cliffs, tried to surf on Summerleaze beach & walked on the cliffs, amongst other activities.
It was a pleasure to see the youngsters from the centre on the beach with their instructors, doing a grand job.
We visited Tintagel, looked around the "Old Post Office", originally a medieval long house, redesigned over the years, we climbed up to the castle & rewarded ourselves with a fish & chip lunch.
We walked around Boscastle & out to the end of the harbour in hot sunshine.
It was great.
I really think that you cannot better Britain for a sea-side holiday, if the sun shines.

Stuff the moles!

Not a good result for Gordon.
AJ tells me that he has looked increasingly miserable as the day has progressed.
I have yet to see any TV; he has avoided radio 4, but his minions have all restated his promise to listen to the electorate.
Will he act on what he hears?
A change of career may be on the cards then.

We have yet to hear confirmation of "Mad Boris's" success in London.

To return to the more rational, the mole man came today.
He was a little late, which was good because there was a downpour at midday, when he was due.
This was one of a number of showers during a bright, sunny day.
He calculated that we have 2-4 moles, based on the area affected, laid four traps (one each I suppose) & moved the molehills so that he can see new ones.
He will return next week & count molehills & replace traps.
I counted two new ones ten minutes after he had left - I hope that the traps work or he will be well into double figures by the next visit.
The warmth & sunshine coaxed me into the garden where I weeded the drive & yard - nowhere with too much soil!

A few days off blogging, whilst I learn Spanish, to keep up with Tim.

This appeared in the field opposite one night this week - & we thought that our moles were a problem!

Election day.

Not for us, but the BBC is upping the excitement level as the evening progresses - Will it be Ken or Boris? Apparently the result of the next general election all hangs on this result.
Watch out for the results from Liverpool, Cheltenham, Coventry & Cardiff.
I predict that the Conservatives will do well - fuel at an all time high & pay packets just hit by the income tax changes. (these have both hit this poor pensioner, who is not in any of the groups that will benefit elsewhere).
If you are reading this after 10.15pm, stop immediately & watch "Question Time" on BBC 1, which has a great panel.

I have had another charmed day: I vacuumed, hung out the washing,contacted a "mole hunter", who will visit tomorrow, lunched & then drove to Ventura Park to food shop.
Woolworths is closing on Saturday, with all stock -25%, this necessitated a little impulse buying!
I recommend M&S for an oakham chicken, posh sausage & cookies, all on special offer.
I recommend JS for Philip Berio extra virgin olive oil (1 litre), Cheddar cheese & posh pasta, all BOGOF & danish pork.

It rained heavily whilst I was in shops & stopped when I came out.

I drove home via Coleshill, to collect the Christian Aid materials for Shustoke, arriving home to find that we had had no rain & the washing was dry.
The sun shines on the unworthy!

Fish cakes & stir fried vegetables for dinner - a healthy day, inspired by a trying-on session this morning of summer clothes.