Well. Blow me!

It has been a surreal evening.
I had a 'phone call at 7.15am from Granville School, to do a day's supply (science).
This fitted in well as I had planned to visit aj, so I could do a day's work & then continue the journey at 3.00pm
I had a pretty hard day at school, the M1 was very busy & there was a breakdown on the A64, otherwise, it was a relaxing day!
AJ cooked us a very nice italian meal (lasagne, tiramisu), then the Police Community Support Officer arrived, to see that all was well & talk about home security.
Of course, all was well, she hardly got a word in edgeways, the TV was on mute & had a programme of willies, as in male parts.
I watched the willies (grotesque) & listened to the banter. Surreal!
AJ was unaware. The PCSO must have wondered what she had wandered into.
I eventually turned if off, with an "Oh dear, I don't know what this is"
The PCSO was fun; her best line was to offer AJ her e-mail address!
AJ pointed out that it would be of little use at present as she no longer had a computer.
She eventually angled her bike out of the front porch & cycled off into the night.

I have had a comment that I made little note of the oysters.
They arrived on plates, opened, with lemon wedges.
I swallowed the first, chewed the second & declined the third, prefering the champagne.
I note that they did not bring a smile to the face as they taste merely of sea water & lemon, not chocolate.
Perhaps they would be better flash fried in olive oil, on a bagette.
We are now watching Jamie Oliver - quite an eye - opener all round.

Tomorrow we shall do York & have coffee in M&S & dine out.

Here I am!

Well.
Thanks for the comments - I wasn't on strike.
I had a hectic week & fell asleep each evening before I blogged.
In fact, I do seem to fall asleep whenever I sit down after mid-morning.
Perhaps I have a dietary deficiency?
I do try to minimize the chances of this happening by eating everything that comes my way - I did weigh myself last week, after a gap of several weeks & found that I had lost half a stone, so it does seem a pretty pleasing diet.

Anyway, I spent Monday & Tuesday in Bicester with T & KP. I should have left after lunch on Tuesday, but, on return from school, KP was asleep, T wanted to stay at home & make cakes & I was out of puff, having done Bicester & back, with a headwind in both directions.
Wednesday, I did a day's supply at Granville, Thursday I did the gym followed by shopping & packing, ready to fly off to Galway early on Friday morning, for the "Oyster Festival".

We had a very early start, arriving at "The g hotel" at noon for a superb buffet lunch.
After lunch G & I walked along the loch & into town, passing a well, a shrine dedicated to St Augusta, healer of eyes & ears, where we left a few words for DK. There followed an evening of oysters (well two, anyway), champagne, dinner & traditional Irish entertainment.
The locals all sound like Father Ted, a delightful, lyrical lilt.
On Saturday, we took a different route into town & were lucky enough to meet up with the local marching bands on their way to the main square, The Meyrick Hotel to "kick off the festival, then parade to the quay to the marque, where all of the events took place.
A hairdo then on to the Gala Ball, until the small hours.

On Sunday, we went to Ashford castle, a partner hotel to the "g", 30 miles up the coast, for a guided tour & lunch, before returning to the airport for the flight home, arriving sometime after 11.00pm, in time to watch the highlights of the grand prix, & fall asleep.

Today I have been to the gym, shopped & washed, G has been to work, T has been poorly & AJ has been burgled & her laptop stolen.

There is definitely an autumnal nip in the air & there are leaves blowing around the yard.

Comments, or I strike!

A really enjoyable weekend, apart from one minor detail.
Thomas came for the day on Friday, the sun shone & we had a lovely relaxed day.
The combine harvester was in Hollylands for the day,harvesting the crops in all of the fields at high speed,finishing with the field that surrouds us. It has a 30ft cut,is high speed, & completed the field in 4 hours.
Immediate action is to get the washing in & close the windows as the dust cloud approaches.
G came home at a reasonable hour & mowed the lawns whilst I wrote Sunday's sermon. We ate late in front of the TV.

Saturday was another lovely day, G went for a bike ride, I went for a run around the block & then swept the cobwebs from the windows (outside!), then washed the paintwork & cleaned the windows, to remove yesterdays dust.
I went shopping to Ventura Park, as we had friends coming for dinner.
They arrived, I completed the salads & we started dinner.
This is when it went wrong.
I left the table to be violently sick, repeating this between courses throughout the meal. I did keep this to myself, but ate nothing & was green, according to G.
A good night's sleep, wearing a fleece, under two duvets effected a cure & G did a great job of the clearing up.

11.00am Morning prayer at Nether Whitacre then P joining us for lunch, with the family as A had a full day date with the TV - Ryder cup + football.
We walked to the playing field where J & T had great fun in playground.
We have just eaten jacket potatoes because of the Lurpak advertisement & it's bedtime.
BBC 4 has a whale night - how many whales can you relate to in one evening?
We did watch Charlie Boorman, tonight he crossed to India & did the route that we followed.Such a shame that the producers chose this inarticulate, one brain cell, excitable lout to front the programme.
He'll certainly have to have a ghost writer for the book that will undoubtedly follow the series.

Home again.

I have spent a couple of days with cousin JR in Cambridgeshire.
His eyesight has deteriorated recently so he has decided to give up driving, which will have an obvious effect on his lifestyle as he lives alone, in the sticks.
He lunches at local hostelries, where he is well known, four times a week & enjoys popping out to the shops & to see friends.
There are no local services, such as "dial a bus" or taxi tokens, so, without a car, life is restricted.

It was obvious that JR's friends had sorted things out; lifts to the pub, trips to Sainsburys & so on, with the gardener & home help & their families filling in.
He has bright lamps with magnifying glasses to help with reading & will cope.

We went out to lunch on Tuesday & Wednesday with me driving JR's car on Wed., to Saffron Waldon, to give it a run.
We drank lots of tea & put the world to rights.

This morning I drove back to Solihull for a dental appointment, shopped, went to the gym & eventually, came home!

Happy Birthday Jessica.

Apparently, J scooted around the shops in Solihull, on her new pink scooter, dressed as Stephanie.
I bet that turned a few heads!
Monday morning is tennis.
It was a pleasant morning & I really enjoyed playing a couple of games before going on to Knowle & Solihull at lunchtime, for a little light shopping.
We have a weekend away coming up which includes a number of functions so a clothes panic is called for.
Why is it that however many clothes you have you can never think of anything to wear?
I'm sure that I don't really need anything, but it's good to check.

I arrived home at about 4.30pm, intending to have a cup of tea & do some gardening.
Sadly, I fell asleep after the cup of tea, woke about an hour later & found that it was too cold to garden - the heating had come on, despite the thermostat being set on a low setting.
I settled for ironing, in the warm, & fetched the still wet washing in to join me.

We have enjoyed asparagus, followed by chicken breasts with mozzarella & pesto & lots of vegetables, for dinner.
We are now watching a travelogue following the Amazon from it's source.
Looks a bit cold & bleak to me. The director developed an abscess on his brain & had to be airlifted out of the jungle.
They are drinking beer made by the women chewing sweet potato & spitting it back into the brewing vessel.
I've just crossed the Amazon jungle of my itinerary!
Must be bed time.

I have spell-checked. Usually all is well.
Tonight I mis-spelt all of the long words.
Wel!

Holy Cross day.

Yesterday we had a lie in & then boiled eggs for brunch before setting off for Jessie's fancy dress birthday party, me on my broomstick, G following in the car, with the presents & a remarkabley pink cake.
The kids all looked wonderful, especially Jessie, as "Stephanie"
The sun shone & everyone enjoyed themselves.

We shopped briefly in Coleshill on the way home & dined on Carluccio's olives(a gift from B & E), ciabatta, salad, red wine & fruit.
Beat that for healthy eating!
G spent the evening setting up a blog for his Karma Enduro rally.
This took a mere seven hours; we went to bed at 2.00am.
I hope to put a link to this blog, for interested parties. You have probably guessed that I have no idea how to do this.........yet.

Church this morning, hence I know that it is Holy Cross Days. I was cross because the whole congregation was squashed into the choir stalls.
Why?
Steven Record preached an excellent sermon, the Hadron collider vs the power of God.(I hope that I got that right)
The sun was shining by midday so we went out for a drive to find a nice place for lunch.
We found ourselves in Kenilworth at "The Cross", where we had a marvellous, indulgent meal, & then did the castle, making use of our English Heritage membership.
A new addition is an Elizabethan garden, which was an archeological dig site last summer, now well on the way to completion.

We came home for tea, I then ventured out with my blackberrying paraphanalia, picking 5 or 6lb which I took to Margaret & Phil (good for his bowels!)
G joined me on his funny bike, & we picked about as many again, then picked up litter on the way home.
We now have a whole freezer drawer full of bags of blackberries.
I use this joy of hunter gathering to try to persuade G of the pleasure we could have if we grew some soft fruit in our large, fruitless garden.

We have watched Charlie Boorman (an apt name) on his self indulgent travels across Europe on trains, boats & planes, etc.
We may eat some more olives, later.

Rain, rain......

A free day to do as I like so I started by stripping the bed & washing everything in sight.It only started to rain when there were two loads of washing on the line.
"I had a premonition (pattering on the conservatory roof) & was out there getting the washing in as the Heavens opened.
It has rained heavily for most off the rest of the day, spoiling my plans for gardening, blackberrying & litter collecting.
I settled for housework, baking, clearing drawers & blogging. I then had a bath & glammed myself up to go to the pictures with G.
We went to the Showcase to see "Bangkok" with Nicholas Cage.
The reviews gave it one star & slated it.
They were kind.
Apart from "Le Passionata" (Ted from Hi de hi as an Italian ice cream godfather, full of Ferraris & Chris Reay music), it is the worst film I have ever seen.
Cage (who I do not rate in anything) as an assassin; love interest, a deaf mute Thai pharmacist!
He looked like Ken Dodd on a bad hair day.
We picked up an Indian takeaway on the way home & we are now watching "Jonathan Woss", before bed.
Jessie's birthday party tomorrow.
I must find my broomstick!

6055 - a landmark!

I arrived home at 6.30pm yesterday, shortly before G.
I had a great few days with aj, pottering around York & Wetherby, catching up on jobs, but, mainly, nattering.
Aj has a gammy knee & was not up to the route marches that she normally objects to, glancing longingly at passing buses, jumping aboard if I'm not vigilant.
Aj did a mornings market research in JS on Tuesday whilst I walked across the road to Monks Cross shopping centre.
I walked all around the outside, past the service areas & in at the far side, in driving rain. I could claim that this was to get some exercise or because I was practising turning aj's freebie "Anchor butter" yellow telescopic umbrella the right way round after continually blowing inside out, or because I'm in training for a trek across the Antarctic.
Those who know me will know that it was because I had my head down & did not notice the entrance to Monks Cross just to my right, & turned left!
I'm not surprised that it made the monks cross, it is a sad place full of boring shops.(photo 4)
Whatever was there before must have been better.
Aj was harassing a little old lady to extract her shopping habits, when I returned, weather beaten.
We had an excellent lunch in JS (2 for £5) then off to Wetherby.

Yesterday aj went to the hairdressers, under duress, whilst I made free with the cif, before hitting the town.
Off to Solihull shortly for a "Granny day".

Obviously, photos 1 & 3 are afters & before of aj.
A puny prize for the first comment recognising the site of photo 2.

Come on Andy!

I came up to aj's at the crack of dawn - 10.05am!
I did have to pack, put out the dustbin, pay the milkman, cancel the milk, organise G's dinner, empty the dishwasher, wash up the breakfast dishes & put out the rubbish (down the drive, as I'd already put the bin out), first.
Two lots of roadworks on the M1, so I arrived at 11.55am.
We had coffee, went into York, walked through The Museum Gardens to see the floods, did a few shops & had coffee in M&S.
We have since had dinner, drunk a bottle of G's finest rose & slept, in some order or another.
We are now having coffee so that we can negotiate the stairs for an early night as aj has work (accosting innocent shoppers in JS) tomorrow morning.
G is up North tomorrow. We may dine with him, if he's up to it!

Meths do long services.

A few photos that G has taken of the weekend:







J & T on Saturday morning (before G nodded off)
This morning I went to church, G went into work until lunchtime, (2.00pm!).
We had a light lunch then G watched the grand prix whilst I went blackberrying; he caught up on this strange bike & joined in - we must have about 7lb of fruit.
We collected litter on the way home so Castle Lane & Hollylands are pristine with very green verges.
G drove me to Rowley Regis to see Jamie instituted as a Methodist Lay Preacher; broad black country accents all round (except me!)- very entertaining.
G stayed in the car & read, & read & made phone calls &.......
The service lasted for two hours!
We drove home for dinner - goats cheese tartlets with tenderstem broccoli followed by chocolate.

Coffee, what coffee?

So what happened to Thursday & Friday?
I remember that it rained.
It has rained all week, especially on Friday & Saturday - there are floods everywhere, especially Meriden & Hampton in Arden.
Jessie & Thomas came for the day on Friday & "did a sleepover".
I played all day Friday & had a great day.
J & T woke up at 8.00am on Saturday, J made porridge & we all had a good breakfast before playing, shopping for comics in Coleshill before returning J & T to P & A.
G & I shopped in Solihull - Maplin, Poundland, Ecco, Dolcis & Boots in the main.
We did visit M&S to use the toilets & buy food - scallops & salmon, for dinner.
We have since eaten this (delicious) with a bottle of rose, follwed by coffee & chocolate, in the lounge.
G managed to knock his coffee over with a computer cable - half a pint of black coffee on a plain pale green carpet!
I have since cleaned the carpet & drunk my coffee.

No lottery ticket so no win.

An early morning to finish jobs before tennis & a day out.
Of course this went wrong as I got carried away, pressing & replacing the covers on the settees in the conservatory, washing outside paintwork & tidying up.
By the time I got to the tennis club, a few minutes late, the ladies were already on court & I didn't like to disturb them, so decided to settle for the gym.
This was irrational as I'm sure that they would have been delighted for me to join them.
Anyway, I followed my nose & ended up in Kenilworth where I checked out the charity shops, Sainsburys & the brand new Waitrose.
The sun was shining, I bought a travel cot & a game of Snakes & Ladders & the Waitrose was FANTASTIC!
It is large, well-designed, with an incredible stock & helpful staff.
If you are in the vicinity you must check it out.
I went to the gym afterwards & arrived home just after 6.00pm.
G was already home, having been to the doctors for inoculations ready for his trip to India, & missed out on the planned visit to the gym.

I am planning to take up urban running - the world championships are in London tonight. It looks just my sort of thing.
Any advice on footwear?

Rain, rain go away.......

I have just had a nice cup of tea & a dark chocolate fairy cake, iced, with marbled chocolate on the top.
I deserved it.
Scrummy.

I have a day at home alone today, the first for some weeks.
I have caught up on housework - removal of spiders & cobwebs, cleaned all of the windows & glass, done a mountain of ironing & made a total mess of all every room downstairs.
At this point, I went blackberrying in Castle Lane for a couple of hours.
I have picked about 6lb of fruit, now washed & freezing.
A few moments after I got home with my bounty, the heavens opened, so I sorted the blackberries then sat down with my tea.
I now have to dust & vacuum & put the house to rights. No rush as G is going to the gym tonight.

I had planned to go to the gym & then shop today before I looked around.
I shall settle for feeling self-righteous, everything gleaming, & have a bath before G returns.

White Rabbits!

A hectic weekend with J, G, Oscar & the twins(11 weeks tomorrow) staying.
O has enjoyed playing in the garden with a propensity for escape if not watched carefully. (I'll remove the pebbles & acorns from the drain later)
George & children came on Saturday afternoon, joined by P, A J & T, bearing clotted cream, fresh from Cornwall so we had cream teas in the garden.
The kids bagged apples, acorns & various seed pods between eating fairy cakes & playing football.
G & I went to a Cancer Research charity do in Derby in the evening - chilli & a free bar with various entertainments but totally lacking any organisation.

On Sunday G & I went to church then to Warwick to see Charlecote Park, in the rain.
A re-enactment group were there to do battle but I think that their powder got a little damp - it would only have been about 5 a side anyway.
The house was charming, a lot smaller than I had anticipated, but well worth a visit.
There was a Subaru convention in the area, 100s of them everywhere.
Home for dinner & a bit of baby cuddling.
J, G & family have gone to Drayton Manor today & then home via Bicester to return the travel cot to B & E.
I have baked, washed, ironed....., being too late for tennis.
It is now raining.
It was a mistake to sit down as I now feel lazy/tired/disinclined to grapple with the Dyson.

I need to get my hair cut, have a pedicure, do my nails, pick blackberries.
Perhaps a cup of real tea will get me going.