Day 2.

We had a good night's sleep, only disrupted once, when Thomas rolled out of bed.
One shout & he was back in again, still asleep.
We have made cookies, drawn, played word games, read & tricycled/scooted to the playground.
Thomas spent half an hour on a swing while Jessie practised on the assault course.
We came home to tea & Adrian arrived for the journey home.
We've had a great day, if simple.
The children have behaved impeccably, as usual.
There's an unwritten rule that you're always good for Granny.

I've had my fish & vegetables, along with a stuffed mushroom, followed by a brandy, for the digestion. The first alcohol that I've had at home in two months.
It must be the mushroom that did it - I should have taken note of
Shirley Conran!

A Thomas & Jessie day.

May I first explain the inverted coffee pot yesterday & congratulate W on having found the model I had purchased, given no information whatever.
The day after G left, all three of the lights under the kitchen cupboards stopped working simultaneously. B says that it will be the transformer. I didn't know there was one.
The kitchen light fitting has three round, 100w energy saving bulbs, meant to last 10 years, or was it six - a long time, anyway. (they take as long to light up as it takes to fill& boil the kettle - I can do it by feel now)
In the winter, I leave this light on when I go out/away.
When I returned home from seeing JR last week two of the bulbs had gone, as in stopped working, not been nicked. That would be silly.
I have been unable to find round, 100w, bayonet fitting energy saving bulbs to replace them, so have been living in semi-darkness for a week or so.
The writing on the box was pretty small & of a font that looked credible upside down.
As W is concerned about my credibility, I won't mention that when I took out a bulb to match up, I actually took out the working one.

Anyway, the weather today has been fantastic - sunny with blue skies & a beautiful sunset - we have had a good day - familiarising, lunch, then a visit to Ash End House Farm, which was a big hit.
They have a big rubber bouncy jelly bean, which was great fun for half an hour & wore Thomas out.
We retired to JS for DVDs - Ben 10 & Dora the ex...., then across the road to McD, then home to draw farms.
We had "supper in the lounge", watching one bit of each DVD, then bed.
That was over two hours ago & I've not heard a peep yet, fingers crossed.
I've done a good part of Sunday's sermon since then & hope to finish it before bed.
Thank you God.

A day off.

I set my own agenda today, as G would say.
I went to the gym first thing, that is, it was the first thing I did, after getting out of bed & putting on my gym kit.
It was 9.30am by the time I arrived, just in time for "Jeremy Kyle".
After a scrub up, hair & make-up done, I went to see Ann, who has been very poorly for a month or so, with septicaemia, but is now well on the road to recovery.
We chatted for over three hours before I returned to Solihull to shop in preparation for Jessie & Thomas's visit tomorrow & Friday, after a well deserved cup of tea & a cheese scone in M&S.
The trying bit was yet to come: I bought a coffee maker on t'internet & had missed the attempted delivery on Monday & again on Tuesday.
I now had to collect it from Citi-link at Nechells.
I could not have attempted this without the satnav; on reflection, the rush hour, in the dark was not a good idea really. Nevertheless, I got there, down the horrible M6 & even ignored the satnav & made my own way home by Star City.
I was surprised that the jug sat on a shelf half way up the device, then I took my specs of & realised that it was inverted.
It is now washed & has had a practice run with water.
Tomorrow, I shall drink coffee!

I've had salmon & a bale of vegetables for dinner & really enjoyed it yet again.
Long may it last.

Here we are again

home, that is, after a couple of nights in Bicester.
I had a brief potter around Bicester before visiting J,G & family for a cup of tea on the way home.
Everything is just as I left it, including no coffee machine, as it cannot be delivered without a signature.
I shall have to collect it from Nechells.
Bother.
I've spent the evening on the phone & have a busy day lined up tomorrow, starting with a visit to the gym first thing.

Still not worth a comment?

Miss Marple, Rosemary & Whew!

T, KP & I have had a day of adventures:
juice at Starbucks (the website had wrong time for the train, honest!)
train to Oxford
bus to the castle
solving a murder mystery
winning a prize!
lunch at Madonalds
walk to M & S and look around
train back to Bicester

We had a very good day, despite the weather being wet & us needing an umbrella.
Tea is over & there's a pan of chicken & vegetable soup on the stove, Ben has just arrived home & all's well with the world......

A bit chilly.

I'm having a very decadent day, due to the weather being damp & cold.
It is certainly not fit for gardening so I had a nice bath & then did a typical wet day/boring job of filing & paying bills to get everything up to date. I emptied G's rucksack from his travels & put away his things that were presumably not needed - crocs, mosquito net, towels, etc. The rest I put back for him to sort out later.
G phoned, only the second time we have spoken in nearly seven weeks. He seems to be having a good time & not missing me/home at all.

I've been to Coleshill to post the letters, recycle & collect some cleaning. I've planted some parsley & then cooked two fillets of salmon, one of which I've just eaten, with salad, for breakfast come lunch.
As it's nearly 4.00pm I decided to have an aj afternoon, stay in the warm & watch TV/ catch up with e-m ails, etc.
Actually, it's not that warm, but John & Dan Snow are on TV going through the battles in Britain, which is fascinating to someone with scant historical knowledge.
They've done Naseby, The Boyne & are now at Culloden.

I have lost 9lb since returning from Egypt & have not opened a single bottle of wine (I have had the odd glass of wine when out).
I feel much better, only another stone to go!
I do need some exercise, but it's just too cold & wet for a wimp.

Home again.

I've had another action-packed week; down to see JR on Tuesday morning with the cool bag containing lunch (scampi, chips, beans, tartare sauce & the remains of Sunday's deserts) along with my usual necessities of wholemeal bread, butter, bananas & semi-skimmed milk.
I arrived a little later than anticipated due to an accident on the M6.
JR had me dead & buried by the time I arrived, 15 minutes late.
A good lunch & treacle pud set him up again.
On Wednesday we went to catch up with Peter in Manningtree, not having seen him since September.
It's about an hours drive across country, which JR enjoyed, despite his limited vision.
We had a good lunch at the local garden centre, then back to Peter's house for a chat.
"Dear old Brian", the gardener, comes on Thursdays. I left shortly after 11.00am, confident that JR could cope with his lunch, with Brian's help - a little more complex than his usual "TV dinner", as they used to be called..
I went to see Gina & family. Gina has a friend & her two little daughters staying so Oscar was having a day off so they were all having fun in the garden.
I went on to Bicester in the afternoon to collect KP & then T, then home to have tea.
B arrived later & we all took T to his swimming lesson, then home to bed/dinner.
I did a sleepover, so was there to see KP on her birthday & take T to school before leaving to pick up Thomas from Nursery.
We had a gentle day as he was very tired.
Still, it's half term next week, so all of these tired little souls can have some lie-ins & relax.

There were 15 phone messages & a pile of mail when I arrived home, I have yet to look at the e-mails.
The blog counter was 22222 when I opened it this evening.
I think I shall buy a lottery ticket with every 2 I can manage this weekend; I'm not sure how that works out - ,2, 22, 2x2, 2x2x2, 2x2x2x2, 2x2x2x2x2. That's it.

I plan to have a lie-in tomorrow & then decide what to do next.
I shopped on the way home, so may spend a day in the garden, weather permitting.

Happy Valentines Day.

Well, my valentine did phone yesterday to say that he had bought me a gift.
I had bought him a packet of Tunnocks caramel wafers, but it's not really the same.
Anyway, I've had a very good day & feel great.
I went to the gym first thing then had a quick potter around Solihull - many thanks to Morrisons, who have the barrier up, so that you can park there for free.
I collected Thomas, who was full of beans; we went to Brueton Park to feed the ducks, then walked to Solihull to lunch in McDonalds. I had a cheeseburger (287 cals) & coffee, which I really enjoyed.
Thomas always enjoys his food, chatting throughout, licking the remainder of his barbeque sauce out of it's pot & delighting in the fact that his feet now just reach the floor.
I bought a pair of Gabor shoes in G Scotts sale & exchanged my two £5 Telegraph vouchers at Bodyshop for make-up brushes.
I had taken the buggy so did the return across the park very quickly, then on to collect Jessie, play, tea & home.

Would a "Feliway" diffuser relax humans as well as cats?
I may get one for G's return.
I've caught up on phone calls & e-mails, ordered a new coffee maker & filled the washer bottle on the car & wrapped KP's birthday presents.
All's well with the world

Cranford.

What a tear-jerker?
So much wisdom. Even the righteous Dorcas at last paired off with a mere mortal.
It must be the end of the series, surely.
Now for the Baftas. What on earth does Jonathan Ross look like? He needs a good barber.

So much for cleaning the car & the windows - today has been cold, wet & windy.
The lunch went well - they left by 5.15pm, after I'd served tea & we sent £100 to the treasurer.
I've cleared up, had a cup of coffee & am still wide awake.
I may manage an early night, early morning & a trip to the gym before picking up Thomas.

G phoned, tired but happy, going back to Hanoi for a rest.
The blog seems to be a non-starter, but he promises to have lots of photos........

Al dressed up & ............

It's been a beautiful day today, warm & sunny - I hoped to do some gardening, but ran out of time.
I have just returned from the hairdressers, feeling very glam - I wish that I could make my hair look like Bryan does. Of course, this comes at a cost, monetary as well s listening to the aforementioned Bryan for an hour.
I had a lazy morning. I popped up to Coleshill to complete the vegetable buying for tomorrow's lunch, as JS didn't have any parsnips or cauliflower worth looking at - there are 12 of us for lunch; a fund raising effort for the church - £8, or what you think it was worth.
Hopefully, more than £8.
I have a nice piece of outdoor reared pork (always a firm favorite at the weekend) & a large chicken.
Deserts will be some of the old favourites.
Sherry as an aperitif & wine with the meal.
I've laid the table but there's a layer of dust to be dealt with before I settle down for the evening.
I had brunch (banana sandwich), washed the car thoroughly & cleaned the downstairs windows, whist the wash leather was out, when I got back from Coleshill, then back to Coleshill again.
What an adventurous day!

Yesterday was a Thomas day. We had a lovely day, despite Thomas being tired by Friday.
I did the shopping at JS on the way home, to save shopping today.
This wasn't 100% successful as stocks were low, hence today's trip.
I did visit the gym en route to pick up Thomas, so felt pleased with myself.

I have two Thomas days next week, Monday & Friday, so I shall get in two gym visits.
I'm visiting JR in between.
Not a lot of physical exercise there.

I have 9 piles of goodies on the kitchen table, for the grandchildren, having visited M&S sale.
I need to get organised as I'm visiting Bicester on the way home from JR.
I'd better tidy them out of the way before tomorrow.

I couldn't do any of the Telegraph crossword on Thursday or Friday.
Either I'm losing it or the compiler is an alien.

Home again.

We did York again this morning, as tourists, in the sunshine - a stroll around the side streets, the Minster, Treasurers house (closed) the Shambles, etc etc, then on to M&S for coffee & a tea-cake for lunch.
We caught the bus back, then I set off for home, doing it in 1 hour 50 min.
I sorted the 13 phone messages, opened the post, unloaded the M&S bags & heated some soup for dinner.
I'm about to undress & put the washing machine on so that I can hang the washing up before bed.
Gym in the morning before a day with Thomas. I may go to bed early.
Hairdresser on Saturday & a dozen for lunch, after church on Sunday.

Looks like I'm not going on the cruise.

Boots.

Thank you for the comments; I will try harder .
This morning we had a lie in as there were no steeplejacks coming to scale the roof & ogle us through the bedroom window.
We walked down to Acomb where aj caught the bus into town in order to go to McDonalds & harass diners as they munched their way through delicious chicken meals.
I had a potter around & then walked into town, went to McDonalds, sat at an empty table adjacent to the one where aj was harassing a diner. When approached by aj I asked loudly if this was Bettys, if not, I was leaving.
I pottered around lots of shops, had coffee in M&S then went back to meet aj two hours later, laden with M&S carriers.We came home on the bus & had a nice cup of tea & relaxed a little before going to a hotel at Skelton to take part in a survey about Boots (the chemist/pharmacist) for one & a half hours.
For our trouble we were given a goodie bag & £30 of Boots vouchers.
We came home & ate our "Count on us" lasagnes.
We have just watched Mary Portus, putting the fear of God into London estate agents.
Great!

Travelzoo has some good deals for Valentines day, especially in London,They have a 14 night cruise to see the Northern Lights for £699 instead of £1399 in March.
It sounds wonderful.

I've not heard from G for a couple of days so he must be having a good time somewhere.
Warmer & a bit wet today; home tomorrow.
Is this better, W?

Fish, fish, fish......

We may be getting thinner but I fear that we may also be growing gills.
We had M&S chunky fishcakes for dinner with mounds of vegetables, actually, they were very nice.
We have had a relaxing day, which is more than can be said for the guys who fitted aj's log burner & chimney lining this afternoon, which involved scaling the roof.
They should have fitted it this morning but the roof was covered with ice.
We went to Wetherby this morning for a potter around.
We went to McArthur Glenn after the steeplejacks had left, to familiarise ourselves with the Boots shop as we are going to a focus group about it tomorrow evening.
We will be rewarded with Boots vouchers.
Aj is working in McDonalds tomorrow - a truly Scottish working week!
I am intending to walk into York, have a coffee in McDonalds, accompanied by whatever aj is market researching, if she needs another interviewee.
If she doesn't, I shall retire to M&S & have a low calorie lunch using the voucher that is always sent with info for shareholders.

Is this worthy of comment?

They were joking....

Despite the severe weather warnings & reports of flooding in York on the TV this morning, it was fine, as in "not-raining".
It has been a blustery all day.
We pottered into Acomb then caught the bus into York & pottered around the shops, had coffee in M&S then pottered a little more on the way back to the cinema, where we caught the 5.10pm performance of "The King's Speech".
It was brilliant.
We both bought taupe, Per Uno jeans in the M&S sale & will have a try on later.
We have eaten our healthy dinner & are now watching "The Biggest Loser" to see where we might be heading otherwise.
Aj is threading beads.
I am not.

Feel free to comment, if you can be bothered.

York.

I'm sitting watching "Antiques Roadshow" with aj.
I drove up this morning with a sack of logs, kindling, firelighters & a green rubber trug(?) to put them in - aj has a log burner being fitted on Tuesday, in the dining room, not intimately.
I did pop into church first thing to finalise the fund-raising lunch I'm doing next Sunday, but didn't stay for the service as it is a blustery day & I just wanted to get here.
The journey was OK.
Jamie & Julie have visited, Jamie carried the sack of logs into the garage as I'd had great difficulty lifting it.
Must be nearly dinner time.
I've heard from G; still in Vietnam & enjoying himself eating squid & shrimps.
I'm getting almost competent at texting, I may start using the mobile for phone calls at this rate.
Hoping to do York tomorrow - pottering & coffee in M&S.
Severe weather warnings for N Yorks but I guess they're joking &/or wrong.

Self indulgence.

The bathroom is decidedly the warmest place in the mornings,. This morning I had a lie in, reading the book by the diet blogger in Australia, who eventually lost half of her 25 stone bodyweight.
I did speed-read, but half way through she is still over 17 stone & has not lost anything for 45 weeks.
It must get better than this.
I then had a bath, facepack & pedicure before setting off for Coleshill & then on church, to clean..
I didn't phone Maurice, my cleaning buddy, as I thought it was unfair to take him out on a Saturday.
Having taken cleaning materials & the radio then fetched the key from it's cobweb infested hidy-hole, I found that Maurice had already been & done it all.
Part of me was relieved, the other part, guilty.
I went home, had a light brunch then opted for Ventura Park, to buy food to take to aj's tomorrow to ensure that we both lose weight next week - fish, fish, Count on us meals, lots of fruit & vegetables & tonic water.
Scrummy!
M&S had racks of sale clothes, all very drab & samey. the children's were much better & I bought some things for J & DK.
I took in JS & Homebase as it was dark & everyone else had gone home by then.
I visited Maurice & Mary on the way home with some potted narcissus as an apology, & stayed for about an hour, arriving home at about 8.30pm.
Dinner, phone & TV off now as it's complete & utter drivel.
A couple of texts from G - "Nightmare" was the one from the overnight, 12 hour bus journey across Vietnam.
Unfortunately I found these texts while having my free tea in M&S (thanks, aj), & replied.
It being midnight in Vietnam, I woke G from the following night's sleep.
Whoops!
Much warmer yesterday & today; 11 degrees, but windy.
Time for bed.

Home at last.

I had a great couple of days with B, E T & KP, leaving on Tuesday morning to go to see JR.
The journey is difficult, by-passing Buckingham & Milton Keynes, giving rise to a lot of slow, heavy traffic with only one lane in each direction for much of the way. The new bits are excellent but unknown to my satnav, which shows me in the middle of fields for miles & having to negotiate strange roundabouts with the wrong number of exits.
I arrived in time to cook lunch, chat & then relax by the fire.
Yesterday we went for a drive around the villages, went to JS for real food, then home for lunch.
JR had a funny turn after lunch so I took him to the doctors' this morning to have his medication checked out.
This was changed & blood tests done, then on to Mary's for coffee & home for lunch.
I left at 2.30pm & got home in record time, despite a lot of heavy trucks playing catch.
The house was cold so I lit a fire & have been in the lounge ever since, enjoying being home.
I think I'll have an early night, unless the Question Time panel are outstanding.

Dreadful news from Egypt. It seems that democracy only ever comes at a high price.
Monday's celebrations replaced by violence & hatred. I think it will be a long time before we holiday there again.

T did the last blog.
His abridged version of the story lost much of the irony & flow of language but he enjoyed doing it!