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.