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.