He's through!

3hr 57 min, much of it under the new roof, but Andy Murray is through to the Quarter Finals, after a five set struggle. Great!
BBC news on very late & programmes forgotten or on BBC 2. Even better.

A slightly lazy day, in bed until 9.00am, when the builder arrived, having had a late night.
Went to play tennis, but it was cancelled as some thought it was too hot.
What a shame - I was really looking forward to a game.
I came home, did a few jobs & then went to Solihull to shop, in the lotus.
There are so many sales on - John Lewis & Gordon Scott were good sale & I bought some glasses & cleaning things. (nothing of a personal nature there then)
I had a potter about, bought some scrummy food from M&S, then went to P&A's to collect their garden shredder, which had to travel in the passenger seat, blowing the odd leaf at me on the way home.
G had been to the gym & has a demanding new programme to get himself back in shape.

Since getting home I have mainly watched Wimbledon.

I had a weigh in this morning & was 4lb lighter than this time last week, this despite having spent the weekend at B&E's.

Home alone.

A great day with Thomas.
Grandad G came as well as he needed to be at the station (the railway station, that is, not the "train" station) mid-afternoon - first leg of the journey to somewhere in Holland for the motor cycle Grand Prix.
We did some tidying in the garden until lunchtime, Thomas was a great help, digging with his little red spade, collecting leaves & carrying the bucket from Granny to Grandad.
After lunch he snuggled up to G on the settee & they both fell asleep (G first, by a long head & an open mouth).
We have had a number of deluges since then, one whilst we drove to the station & another as I drove home.
Dawn did the hanging baskets & troughs yesterday; they look wonderful - a mass of colour.
I was spared the job of watering them tonight, it is still raining now.

I have had a salad, an M&S Count on Us" chili & strawberries; I've lost two & a half pounds this week, having been very good all week - official weigh-in on Monday.
I started the housework at 10.00pm & have nearly finished downstairs, apart from catching a big fly that is harassing me. This will give me a free weekend & a clear conscience.
It's going to be a scorcher!

Thursday already.

Where has this week gone?
I stayed in Bicester on Monday night & was Granny helper at T's school on Tuesday morning, arriving home at tea-time.

Wednesday was a Thomas day - it was hot & we had a great time in the garden & the park before collecting a warm, tired Jessie from school.

Today I have been to Cambs to see JR & to ensure that he went to the dentist.
It was another lovely day by the time I got there at 9.00am , having been overcast & very busy en route.
I took JR to the dentist in Haverhill, then on to Saffron Walden to the barbers &, the locksmith & lunch at The Cross Keys.
We had tea, watched the Murray triumph on TV & put the goose to bed before I came home.
I'm knackered!

A restful day with Thomas tomorrow, with minimal driving.

Summer is here.

A great morning; we played tennis for a couple of hours with a few shots that we felt were worthy of Wimbledon.
Back home for coffee & a crumpet whilst a team put scaffolding up to the lounge chimney - due for a rebuild as smoke escapes in odd places.
G has disconnected all of the radiators ready for collection & refurbishment.
I am now in Bicester, babysitting, which is an easy option as t & KP sleep soundly.
I have eaten, watched a little Wimbledon & am now on "Waking the Dead" - a bit gruesome!
Granny helper tomorrow, then the gym.
I have started diet no 2290 today, inspired by W's success. I have been good.
aj should have started one as well. I'll check later

2nd Sunday after Trinity.

I slept really well last night, not waking up until 6.30 am.
I put this down to a relaxing day, an early dinner & no bedtime drink. G did spend an hour & a half somewhere else, apparently, reading his book (The Cold War), with a bad back.
On reflection, perhaps I slept well because.........
Do we need blackout blinds as well as ear plugs for the summer months?

I got up at 7.00am, had a cup of tea & a long chat to aj, then spent 2 hours finalising my sermon before going to church. A good turn out & two couples with banns to be read.
To Coleshill for a Times (free drinks at M&S all week) then home for pate & salad in front of the Grand Prix.
What a disappointment!
Not much of a battle with Vettel just going for it.
What are these foreigners doing winning our Grand Prix anyway?

I have since worked in the garden until 7.00pm (trouble with mower), done the ironing & cooked a scrummy beef strogonof followed by strawberries.
G has drained the radiators & sworn at their couplings in readiness for their removal tomorrow for collection to be sandblasted & painted.
I suspect that they will need to be sworn at a good deal more yet. Fortunately I am playing tennis in the morning then going to Bicester to babysit & to help at T's school on Tuesday.
Wimbledon starts tomorrow - a good reason to spend the odd afternoon in the gym.

Party time.

Today was Thomas's 2nd birthday party.
It was a lovely party, all of the children were delightful & the rain stayed away so that they could play in the garden. (photos to follow)
G & I arrived early to construct the train cake, mark 2 (Tim had mark 1 in May)
We are now planning a girly cake for P - suggestions welcome!

We went to the pictures in Solihull after the party but there was nothing on that anyone with More than two brain cells would want to see, so we came home & had fish & chips instead.
We watched "Michael MacIntyre from Birmingham"
It was rubbish.
G has watched BBC 4 - motor racing all evening!!!!
I have read the paper - more revelations about MPs' expenses.
Why do we pay MPs' mortgage interest, furnish their houses & pay for their food?
It seems that many then sell the house for a large profit which they pocket & avoid paying capital gains tax by claiming it to be their main residence for a few minutes whilst the sale goes through, & then start the process again.
I shall suggest to G that he stands for Parliament at the next election - I'm sure that a lot of new candidates will be needed.
He could be well paid & we could have a second home at the sea-side.

I have a sermon to check through in the morning ready for the 11,00am service at Nether Whitacre. (J calms the storm) I then have a few weeks off.
We hope to do some gardening after that - good weather forecast, ready for the hanging baskets & troughs hung/done on Wednesday.
Tennis on Monday, radiators out for sandblasting & spraying on Tuesday, so the warm weather will be welcome. I shall take a shower in Bicester, just in case of problems.

Aunt Mollies birthday.

This was the week of celebration for the Wilkinson family - Dad's birthday on 16th, aunt Mollies on the 18th & Mollie & Jack's wedding anniversary on 17th, I believe.
Marie was given an "official birthday" on the remaining day to make up for having a birthday a week after Christmas (giving rise to regal airs & graces).
Dad would be 100, Mollie 107!
Good job they're not still with us really.
Thomas shares Dad's birthday & was two on Tuesday, the twins one on Wednesday.
The next birthday is P on 11th July.

Anyway, I'm blogging on a new laptop - a Packard Bell, bought by G yesterday.
The two reasons for not blogging this week were :
* On Monday I played tennis then went on to Bicester to have an afternoon with KP.
I did a "sleepover" & was Granny-helper at T's school on Tuesday morning, to help with "Art week"
I helped to make parrots' bodies - no guts, just empty tubes or bottles, so scientific knowledge not needed!
* I arrived home on Tuesday tea-time, by which time my laptop was no longer working.
G "did a Dyson" on it yesterday. Just guess how many screws there are!
This one is great - up & ready to use like a flash - the old one took about an hour to warm up.

Yesterday I played tennis, which I really enjoy. I did fall over my feet & land flat on my face, bumping my nose very hard on the court. Fortunately the courts are carpet, so apart from a nose-bleed & carpet burns on my knees, I was fine, & played on, better than before - a wake-up!

We went to Solihull after lunch, to shop.
G bought this & batteries & bits; I pootled around the shops, was reprimanded for wasting time, & then did the food shopping.
I've caught up on jobs today, planning to go to the gym after lunch then on to the dentist to have a cap fitted. G is working then visiting the chiro & the gym.
The weather is lovely, with a hot weekend forecast.

Watch ITV 1 at 9.00pm tonight!

An action packed weekend.

We went to Leatherhead on Saturday morning, to see James, Gina & family, to celebrate the twins first birthday, which is on Wed.
We met P, A & family at Hatchlands, a NT park, for a pic-nic, then on to a park in Reigate to meet J, G & family to play in the sunshine for a couple of hours.
Later we went to Margarets for a fantastic meal with P&A who stayed overnight.
We arrived home at 1.30am. I slept for much of the journey, but was still pretty tired.

Up early this morning to chase a few spiders out of the conservatory before going to Shustoke & Over Whitacre to take the services.
In the meantime G got the meal going & the Shaws & Woodwards joined us for a very nice roast chicken lunch.
We lazed in the garden this afternoon, briefly, had a cup of tea with Steve & Diane, did some ironing & settled down for a relaxing evening.
Off to bed!

I'm off to Bicester tomorrow, after a game of tennis. Hopefully the great weather will continue a little longer

Friday again.

I managed one game of tennis, one trip to the gym on the plus side, I have eaten far too much, on the minus side.
Must try harder next week.

Yesterday I drove home from York,after two great days with aj, stopping off in Ashby for a comfort break & jam tarts from Birds the Bakers.
We always used to stop here & buy tarts when the boys were small, before the A42 & M42 were built.
After a cup of coffee, G & I went up to the Church to clean, with Maurice. G sorted the candles & mended the sound system whilst M & I polished, vacuumed & cleaned windows.
When we came home the sun was shining so we gardened until nearly 8.00pm.

Today was a Thomas day - we played football for a long time, had an early lunch, then went to Brueton Park. We fed the ducks then walked to Solihull where T explored the High Street (pedestrianised) before a treat tempted him into the buggy.
The playground in the park is closed for the next two weeks, being completely rebuilt.
T didn't mind - he likes the "Bird" horse statue & he was given a balloon, which he sang to for much of the afternoon.
We collected J from school & had dinner.
J's school has had an "outstanding" Ofsted report.

I'm falling asleep - protection from J Ross.

Up North.

Having a couple of days with aj, the highlight being a "Focus Group" this evening about supermarkets.
A day out in Wetherby today, possibly a game of tennis.
G holding the fort - has anybody seen him - I can't make contact.

Yesterday was cold, really unbelievably cold up here, fleece & coat cold - gloves would not have been out of place.
Global warming!

End of the monsoon.

What a wet weekend!
On Friday evening the entire yard was under water, it rained & rained. This continued for all of Saturday, so we stayed in, watching the Grand Prix, counting the Christian Aid money (£265, mainly in bronze), & dossing.
I must have done more than that, but I can't think of anything.
On Sunday, I went to church, in the rain, then went to Coleshill for a paper & vegetables.
We sorted through old photos & I even framed some to add to the gallery.
I need a family photo of W & MK.
By tea-time the rain had stopped & we went for a walk around the reservoir before dinner. G managed it , with some amount of pain.
We heard the early election results before we went to bed, so probably slept more soundly than G Brown.

This morning G was up at the crack of dawn to go to The George Eliot for a starvation blood test.
He had hoped that arriving by 7.00am would put him at the front of the queue. It didn't.
It did put him 31st!
I intended to vacuum whilst he was out, but chatted to aj on the phone & didn't get far.
I've had an indulgent day - tennis, shopping & the gym. I feel 10 years younger.
I even bought a dress pattern - the first for about 30 years.
I was surprised to see little difference in the pattern books since then, despite the price having risen from 3/6 (17p for the youngsters) to £5.60.
How's that for inflation?
I bought strawberries in M&S (reduced to £1) They were enormous!
The queen of strawberries, in a class of their own.

The labour party has had a meeting & GB has promised to change.
A lobotomy & plastic surgery may just not be enough!

A blue Friday.

Well!
How about the council election results?
A blue map apart from a yellow splodge around Bristol with enormous tory majorities.
The BNP has won only one seat, Burnley, despite all of the hype.
The cabinet has been reshuffled from those who have not resigned, making Mandy First Secretary of State aka Deputy Prime Minister.
Where does that leave H. Harman, who has defended Gordon so bravely on every TV & radio programme for weeks?
I wonder what Sunday's results will show.
Do listen to "The News Quiz" repeat at 12.30pm tomorrow - caustic commentary on the situation.

Today was a Thomas day. We played & talked a lot. G took the volvo for a service in Warwick & then joined us this afternoon for a game of football & a snooze.
Thomas is a born footballer, he has all of the required poses as well as a good kick - runs circles around Grandad G.
The game wore them both out & T fell asleep as soon as he'd finished his tea.

This evening it has rained frantically, the entire yard was under water at one point.
Perhaps the rain will run out before Sunday so that we can do a car boot in the dry.

"The Terminator" is on TV - what a load of vile rubbish!
I am going to bed.

How about a comment from someone?

Winston's pad.

No blog yesterday as I thought that my day didn't warrant one - pottering around home, doctors at 5.15pm for a BP check then a Huntchbach charity meeting.
I did clean the bathroom & sweep the cobwebs down from all around the exterior of every door & window on site, but that sounds really sad.
The good news was that my BP was 131/83, without the beta blockers & I bought Thomas's birthday present over the Internet.
I was so delighted with it that I wanted to buy everyone else one (grandchildren only)

Today I got up at 5.30am to go to Bicester to go on T's school outing to Blenheim Palace. Adults had two children each to care for & the kids were all great.
The sun shone on the righteous, as usual, despite a poor forecast.
We walked to take & collect KP from the childminder before & after, so we were tired by the time we arrived home, for tea in the garden, & baths.
I drove home in order to vote then collect a takeaway for dinner.
The ballot paper for the European Parliament was about 2ft long with a wide range of weird parties standing.
That vote was challenging!

Maxstoke Castle is open on 14th June - anyone want to come?

Whew, what a scorcher!

Wow, what a day.
For the first time in living memory, I sat in the garden in the sunshine & read/got red.
I even used the rather fine lounger that was a retirement gift from school, for the first time -this being made possible by G finding the cushion bit in the cupboards in the spare room, whilst looking for the binoculars, to snag the lounge chimney. It is amazingly comfortable, although very heavy to move.
I thought that I was sun-safe, having been out in the sun a fair bit.
I was mistaken.
My arms &, strangely enough, the left side of my legs are a fine shade of red.
Everything made of cloth & moveable has been washed, line-dried, ironed & put back, we ate all meals in the garden , so we have made full use of the hottest day.

G has work tomorrow, I hope to play tennis & then, who knows?
The boiler is being serviced in the afternoon & I have a Huntbach charity meeting in the evening.

The good news is that the nasturtians that J helped me to plant, are growing very well by the pear tree, with even a few plants under the front hedge, despite the rabbits best attempts to dig them up. I'll post pics when they flower.

A free weekend looms so we plan to gather the table sale stuff together & do a car boot sale, assuming that there is one in Whitacre.

I'm reading "Stone Diaries" by Carol Shields. Brilliant. Do read something by her - I have 3 novels, if anyone wants them.

No spellings to correct, again - God, I'm getting to be a good speller.
It does check "nasturtians" as "distortions" - not a botanical abc then.