Back on dry land.

AJ & I returned from an exciting "Fjordland cruise" on Saturday, on mv Discovery, the ship that G & I travelled on to Mumbai in December 2009. It was an eventful cruise. "A disaster" is how it was described by some. We should have sailed from Avonmouth on 18 April. Due to storms the previous day the ship was unable to get into port, so we were delayed for a day, causing us to miss two ports of call. We had two days at sea, the first had a couple of hours of sunshine before the "ill wind" struck. That lasted for the remainder of the cruise, with little relief. We did have an afternoon in Stavanger, cold but dry - interesting old town. We were walking, but the tour bus, used by many, would not start. Tour abandoned. The most impressive fjord of the tour was traversed overnight! We arrived at Flam in a force 8 gale, unable to dock, lots of manouevering & two hours later, we anchored & lowered 4 tenders. They were eventually loaded & headed for the quay. The first 3 landed & tourists separted on buses for Voss, up in the mountains. Only number 4 heard the recall back to the ship due to worsening weather conditions. We had a brilliant lunch in Voss, a couple of hours shopping (Norwegian traditional sweater at a bargain price - watch this space!)then up on the railway to join the Flamborgen railway - steepest railway in the cosmos, 1:18, 5 independent braking systems on each car. There was a blizzard at the station, several inches of fresh snow since the last train & a wipeout for much of the descent. Waterfalls frozen. Arriving back in flam we stood for 15 minutes, buffeted & soaked, whilst waiting to board the tenders - surely they expected us to return! The pilot said that he had never known such weather before. Eventually we sailed for the ship on tender 2, tender 1 could not dock to the ship due to the force 9 gale, so we circled, returned to the quay for a while, then tried again. There was great relief all round when we were all boarded, especially the lady with a zimmer frame! On to Bergan - amazingly cold & pouring down all day - we walked around for two hours, then returned to the ship with soaking jeans, despite wet weather gear. We cruised home in rough seas for the final two days - sick bags everywhere - the sun was shining at Avonmouth! G returned from Nepal last Wednesday, having succeeded in reaching Base Camp Everest - a tick in another box, so I returned to a nice warm house & dinner on the table. One of those statements is beyond the realms of probability - I warmed some soup before bedtime! A beautiful morning so tennis, hopefully, then to Solihull to collect J & Th. I have lost a couple of stone in the last three months - lightest I've been since I was a teenager, so I may treat myself to a new pair of jeans today. I think I'll wear the new sweater - that should turn heads. Sounds like a good day.

A better offer!

Well I did get a better offer on Monday, so not so much housework done - perhaps G will do it when he returns from holiday, in fine fettle - he has completed hi climb up & descent from Everest Basecamp & is now touring in Nepal, with friends. Sounds good. Meanwhile, on the home front, I collected J & Th from school on Monday, at short notice, so that I could go on to Bicester afterwards & have a day with T, who has a viral infection. We had a peaceful day, doctors, a potter around Bicester, bought lunch at M&S, then home to cook & eat. He was fully recovered by tea-time! I have a gas engineer here, putting right the very poor job done last Friday by the previous engineer. I am packing for my Fjordland cruise, finding clothes that fit as I am down to 10 st 8lb, having lost almost 3 st since last summer. I think that I still need an evening top to go with a couple of long skirts. The chickens are laying well. Hurray! I have some things to do in the village, but am housebound whilst the boiler is fixed, which will be a long job & the system will need bleeding afterwards. I am listening to Marg Thatchers funeral - a fitting tribute to a great PM - what she said, she meant, whether you agreed with her or not. Gym kit to pack - up & at it!

Spring?

The weather is certainly warmer - 10 degrees when I released the chicks this morning, but a cool breeze still. With all of this in a chicks favour, why do they not get into productive mood? i had to buy eggs again on saturday to make cakes for after church - Family Service, on Sunday. It has been very hectic, with grandchildren here & there - great fun, but I must do some housework now, to make up for time off. I took the car in for a service on Friday & then frittered away the day in warwick & Alcester until tea-time. £450 poorer I went on to Bicester, to accompany B tto the Didcot A memorial/closedown party. It was a good party with some interesting folk & helped B to get over me having locked us out of the house as we left - I thought I had the key..... He did some manly abseiling tricks & was delighted to find just how secure the house was. We later found a friend with a key. We shopped on sat morning, ready for hectis weekends. I took three services yesterday - Family Service at Sh, Mattins at OW & Evening Prayer at Sh again - the first evening service for many years, & quite well attended, thanks in part to the bell ringers turning out to announce that we were there. Empty bin so I'm planning a thorough cleaning day....upstairs, at least, unless I get any better offers.

Breakfast time!

We are about to start the adventures for the day, starting with breakfast. I have suggested that we have a "Treasure Hunt breakfast", but not well received! Chickens then Solihull then home for lunch with E planned. Over to T & KP: Yesterday we spent the day with J and Th. We did a treasure hunt, drove the jeep and watched Beethoven. Today granny is going to choose her new glasses, hopefully arriving in time for her cruise. Yesterday we had fishcakes for lunch and made cheese & sweet scones & fairy cakes for tea. Time for breakfast!

Sleepovers.

I've done two cosy nights with B & E, being entertained by T & KP inbetween. We came back today, collecting J & Th en route - a fine team having a potter & lunch in Solihull before visiting Baddesley Clinton - a moated manor house with priest holes & a fake one for kids. They all played/rode bikes, etc for a good hour before a gourmet tea of lemon sole goujons & chocolate eclairs. After a bit more play, they got ready for bed + onesies, ready for a "Cinema night" - "Flushed Away", with interval for snacks. DVD player defunct; T connected up & played it through a laptop without blinking. Amazing! All now peaceful - time for bed & reading the paper. Started a Hilary Mantel novel about the french revolution - a weighty tome, but very good. Activities tomorrow weather dependent.

Happy Anniversary P & A

A lovely spring day, eventually - it was freezing first thing when I released the poultry. No eggs. A trip to solihull - called to the bank again to sort something out. I decided that it was an omen & so only window shopped & had a cup of coffee courtesy of aj's M&S premium club vouchers.I delivered P & A's card & came home. Last night I christened the B karcher vacuum. Brill! Suck like a Bangkok business woman! Downstairs is gleaming - I now have to find the energy to carry it upstairs - weighs a metric tonne! Have spent far too long on the computer when I should have been in the garden, getting some exercise & enjoying the sunshine. The molecatcher has been - fingers crossed. I pay by results, apparently. Can I be bothered to change into garden clothes at 6.10pm??. I could tidy a border, but I'm really clean.... Thanks to W & MK for the parcel - I treated myself to Jo Malone shower gel at the airport, on the way to CPH, with only hand luggage, so had to leave it there - kindly posted, with easter eggs - I ate one immediately - 170 cals! Scrummy.

How cold?

I arrived home yesterday afternoon, kept my down coat on until bedtime as the boiler wouldn't light & tha house was really cold. Still is! Too cold for a J & Th sleepover, so I went to them today, P will drop them off in the morning as I have to be in for the boiler man. I've had a fire this evening but am now out .of logs as G has padlocked the shed & I don't have a key. Had a lovely, lazy day with J & Th - stayed in & did things as it was so cold out. Surely the weather should be warming up by now. I sahall have a hot bath & put the washing on tomorrow evening & turn the heating up high. i may even get round to eating. Up far too late & I can't open the clock in here to put it on an hour. What was it that Zebedee said?

Home again.

From Denmark, via York. I had a lovely 8 days with W,MK & family, including two days at the beach house & a b'day party there on Sunday. We have eaten very healthily, including a paleo lunch in CPH. I flew back to MCR where aj met me, we went on to York where I stayed until thisborning. Really tired - blog more tomorrow.