Eyes right!

Today has been a day of mixed fortunes. This morning I was awake early, did the ironing, of which there is very little, then tried to get going on my sermon for Fiday evening - Womans' World day of Prayer. The country this year is France & the subject is "welcoming a stranger". I had thought that the French were not too good at it; apparently, I am wrong. I am trying to convince myself of that, which makes writing the sermon hard work. I went to the opticians - a slight improvement since 2010 & healthy, which is good. I went on to warwick to Tollbar to get the Volvo electrics sorted out. There was no problem with the electrical systems - one of the bulbs had blown & the key battery produced only 2.8 Volts, the warning comes on at <3 V. The two bulbs + battery, no labour costs payable, came to £69!!!! To add insult to injury, I misread the parking sign in Warwick & got a ticket - another £25!!!! Good job I'm on a diet. Aj has written me one of her amazing poems for my sermon - she takes commissions, just put requests on "comments". Two eggs today, which helps to redress the balance on the day - I can now make JR a cake for his 89th birthday on Thursday.

Solihull.

Thought I'd try another place name to see if I can disappoint an even greater number of people today! A first - I'm blogging in bed - I have been out for most of the day & again this evening & getting into a warm bed, with laptop, phone & books seemed a better option than the lounge, for what remained of the evening, when I came home at 10.00PM. I took the assembly at Sh school this morning - this is at 10.00am, so I'd had to cancel tennis, but, as fate would have it, it started to rain shortly before 10.00, so we couldn't have played anyway. I laced the chocolate cake for tonight's Lent course with a couple of drams of brandy before filling & decorating it, then pottered to Solihull, by way of Coleshill & Knowle, taking on vittals at M&S, before collecting J & Th from school. We had a relaxing couple of hours, including cooking their tea, then home, a rushed plaice fillet & veg before dashing to Jan's, with aforementioned cake, to discuss "allegience". This may have been the title of tonight's study but I don't think that the content had anything to do with"allegience" Next week, "joy". Lib Dems seem to be on another self-destruct mission - I don't advocate that women should be groped in the workplace, but, if this all boils down to a bloke in the office who liked to chat up the girls, rumoured, but not complained about, surely it's something the women should have dealt with at the time, one way or another. How much more historical muck-raking can we stand? The news is just one scandel after another.

Home again.

All well on the home front - drove down this morning - colder here than up North, by 2 degrees. I've made the chocolate cake for the Lent course tomorrow, having borrowed extra eggs from Jan. I cleaned out the chickens,filled the wild bird feeders, visited Phil & Marg, put stuff away, have a good fire going & have now to complete the preparation for tomorrow's assembly - aj did the research - "Mrs do as you would be done to" - courtesy. Hake for dinner, soon.

.Eboratum

Snow forecast & the coldest weekend of the year! I hope that it's not too severe or the journey home tomorrow may be slow. Having an action packed break - walked into York on Thursday, shopped, had lunch with Jamie, then walked half way home (aj's, not Brum) before hopping on a bus, as it stopped as I was at a bus stop. I made the mistake of standing well to the right & holding onto the door stop, as I waited to alight - the door opened, trapping my foot & handbag behind the door. We all laughed, I extricated myself & added buses to my list of technical contraptions, best avoided. Yesterday we went to "The Fleece" at Rillington, near Malton, for our Travelzoo, 5 course taster menu. It took nearly two hours & was very good = chhoose two of each course & both have a small portion of each - three main courses = pheasant, pork & duck. Pottered around Malton, then home. Later we babysat little Lily so J & J could have an evening out (use the Yesco vouchers at Cafe Rouge, where aj & I ate on Wed) She kept us awake & was very happy as long as she was on the move, cuddled & talked/crooned to - no problem there! A Focus Group on energy (electricity, not personal, I believe) at New Earswick, lunch included & remuneration given - I hope the room is warm.

Up North!

I'm in York, with aj, having left the old retainer in charge, at home. We've had a healthy lunch, done Acomb, had a healthy dinner & we are now watching TV - "Compulsive Cleaners". I am not a compulsive cleaner! These folk clean all of the time - they clean for 4 days for real scruf-bags. They are angels! A day in York tomorrow, meeting Jamie for lunch, whilst aj works. Really cold, biting wind today - headgear needed!

blog 2

It has been an fantastic day - warm & sunny. We went to the playground, J & Th on bikes,then after a few rounds of the assault course we went on to the reservoir to bird spot, then home for lunch. We spent the afternoon in the garden, playing,cycling, collecting twigs whilst I cleaned the windows & tidied some of the borders. We ended the day at church, stripping the noticeboards - great fun! An empty church makes a great adventure playground. Home for tea - lemon sole goujons & veg. This evening I went to Jan's for dinner then we both went bellringing - my first time. I don't really understand it but it's good for the tummy muscles. Two beautiful big brown eggs today - hurray

Chilly again.

I've just let the chickens out - -3 degrees this morning, but an egg - hurrah! No competeing yeterday as J & Th are staying & we were busy - we had the bikes oiut in the garden, played tennis after lunch, made cakes......they are little angels - presently classifying "Mushi Monsters" on their beds. We had the first meeting of the Lent Course ("Spot the Difference") here last night - 8 of us, followed by coffee & carrot cake. The overall theme is "What is the difference between Christians & others?" Last night we considered "Love" - anecdotes, Bible readings, prayers & quotes, from the likes of Martin Luther King, Dickens, Bonhoffeur, considered. We have to plan today - J & Th favour going to the playground & playing here, rather than an adventure - we'll see. Best quote for yesterday - i phoned Volvo as the low beam headlight bulbs had both gone only a matter of days after Ben had replaced them both. They enquired if they were volvo bulbs - no - locally sourced & suggested that it's because non-volvo bulbs would not last long because they are on when driving! I explained that there was also a problem with the key batteries - replaced & said to be "Low" only a couple of weeks later. Any ideas? I've booked the car in for them to check it out. Up & at it - the natives are restless!