Whatever happened to Monday?

In order to calm down after the excitement of Saturday, we spent most of Sunday afternoon(or so it felt) changing our energy supplier.
Scottish power (who else!) claim that our on-line account with them will be £456 per annun cheaper than British gas/Npower are at present. Whoopee!
G can also have the pleasure of being "meter-man" & posting his results.

Sunday was "Fireworks Spectacular" at Drayton Manor Park.
The fireworks were all fantastic, especially the final one, which filled the whole sky & took minutes to fall to earth.
Apparently, it contained 60kg of explosives (I might have that wrong) & such monsters were made illegal immediately afterwards.
Photo 3 may have some historical significance to the pyrotechnics industry!

Monday, completed the Citizenship course, took it to Swad & spent 3 hours copying /completing. Used the Sat Nav! She only made one mistake, when I ended up in a building site, hard hat zone, & had to do a bit of crafty manoevering to get out.
Oh, & it fell off, so I listened to instructions from the passenger foot-well, on the way back.
I went to the gym & had my induction + a great workout & swim - I have been offered "spinning Classes".
This must be a new cult.
Apparently you use a bike!
Arrived home at 8.00pm (new time), knackered.

A special Day.

Today was our twelfth wedding anniversary - the glorious twelfth, no grousing allowed!
We had a day out.
We visited a bike factory outlet, in Erdington, then took the scenic route to Hatton Locks.
We walked about 3 miles to the bottom of the 21 locks, & back again, then on to the cafe for pumpkin & parsnip soup.
This was all great, apart from my pedometer dropping off in the loo at the cafe & going blank before I had read it.
The good point was that it was still under the S bend 10 minutes later, when I realised that I had lost it.
Going down was 5623 paces, up again was probably about the same.
Photo 1 is especially for Elaine!
We took G's new flask & sachets of coffee - he filled it himself!
This final photo encapsulates his pleasure in this "senior moment"
We stopped in Solihull & bought some special food to cook for a celebratory dinner.

Where'sthe week gone?

I know, but apparently G doesn't.
Thomas came & shared a few hours. He was great company, as usual.
We played, had elevenses, a little early as Thomas was peckish, discussed global warming & went for a walk around the block.(1409 paces)
We looked at the mole hills on the side lawn - fourteen now.
We admired the honeysuckle on the laundry wall, now in full flower.
My mole-catching gear is to the right of the honeysuckle. A spade to dig it out, when caught digging near the surface- a small new hill, a plastic leaf scoop to put him on to transport him to a distant field.
I do not recommend this method, I have found it noteworthy only in its total lack of success.
G took the final photo, from a sitting position, having eaten a hearty, but healthy meal.
I wish that I had thought to take a photo of it.

Please comment, if you have time.

In the dentist chair.

My teeth look great - not pretty, but all complete & gleaming - I just need to keep away from G on his bike now.
No William, I decided against the ruby, at the last moment - it lookd a bit tacky.
I treated myself to a quick look around Solihull, quick because I parked in a different car park, then realised that it was a 30 minute maximum stay, after I'd bought the ticket.
I went to Knowle in disgust (at my stupidity - denied a cup of coffee in M&S)
I shopped in Tesco, hence aiding their attempt at world domination, then drove to Ballantyne's gym in Saintbury Drive.
I drove straight there without making one wrong turn - amazing, considering that it's not in my A-Z (too old) & I could only recall that it was somewhere near Widney Manor Golf Club - next door, in fact.
I was so pleased with myself that I joined on the spot.
It costs £34 a month, off-peak, with a 10% discount for paying up front - a lollipop for the first one to work that one out.
It is newly refurbished, loads of equipment, a pool, spa, cafe & is really quiet during the day. I'm looking forward to going on Monday pm for my inauguration.
After reading the WRM comment I had two teacakes at 4.00pm - combined breakfast, lunch & tea! These were not flaming, thankfully.
I still have a lot of Citizenship to do, I'll start now!
Your bonus pic today is my Lady Di at the Taj Mahal

Elevenses on the job.......

A full day working on this Citizenship course.
Highlights were a banana sandwich at lunchtime, a trip to Coleshill to post some letters & a birthday card for J.
I bought teacakes for a treat, & arrived home at 4.00pm in time for a nice cup of tea & a teacake, worked on until after 7.00pm, then cooked the dinner.
Nick Owen, Midlands Today, gets to look old. Discuss.
W & K have a nice new tap & set of kitchen utensils.
WRM wants to set up a blog for the fatties; there's food for thought!
Dentist tomorrow to have my broken tooth capped - on balance, I'd rather be working on Citizenship.
I shall write to Good Housekeeping tomorrow to see if they would like to do a make-over on the twins, before they reach middle age

work, work, work - I'd forgotten the constraints.

I have a citizenship course to prepare this week.
I started this morning then went to Kingsbury School to borrow some materials that I had prepared last year.(sneaked in - half term week)
Unfortunately, I binned all resources - Kingsbury no longer has citizenship lessons & I never dreamt that I would need them.
Back to the drawing board!
I collected 4 barrow loads of leaves from the drive & yard - cold & wet forecast for tomorrow - & cooked a very healthy dinner.
Our BUPA reports arrived today.
I am fighting fit apart from overweight (not obese)
A stone to lose.
I shall insist that I remove all clothing before the weighing next year - they can turn off the light.
G has to lose "1/3 of his body weight"
I think that this will require major surgery.
Any suggestions as to which bits he can manage without?

Another photo of J at South Park, as an supplementary!

No elevenses since Thursday

Hectic few days - Thomas on Friday, he was lovely, as usual.
A run in the lotus with Tim on Sat & then a visit to Sandwell Hall Farm with Steve & Diane.
This was great, walled gardens, a farmyard, amazing Tamworth Red boars, bigger than me, & a playground with a "killer slide" which Tim loved.
On Sunday morning, Morning Prayer at Nether Whitacre, followed by a visit to Coughton Court near Alcester, a National Trust property.
This is where the wives of the gunpowder plotters waited, on 5 Nov 1605.
A stronghold of the Roman Catholic Church.
I have always pronounced it "Cofton". The guide said "Coton".
Wrong again!
Apart from the Hall, it has a beautiful kitchen garden, orchard & two churches, one of each,on either side.
G was mainly concerned about not blending in with the other visitors.
Social stereotype: 65+, brown trousers/blue jeans, buff/green fleece, comfy shoes/trainers.
I include a photo of G, taken on my phone, for comparison.
Today I went to Bicester.
E, Tim & KP were all on good form,if a little tired!
I am now qualified to take a "Monkey Music session". I have practised all of the songs & movements 20 times.


Please use you initiative to match the photos to the text.
Note that I am not wearing brown/green/buff/denim or trainers.

"Elevenses" was called "break" again today

Beautiful day again - a little cooler, but bright & sunny.
I went to Granville School in Swadlincote (without getting lost!) to collect materials for some work I have taken on. (foggy around Swad)
I stopped at Kingsbury school on the way home, to borrow some materials.
The school were doing a sponsored walk/run in the water park, in the sunshine & everyone enjoying themselves.
It was good to see everyone & catch up on the news.
Martin told me that my route to Swad could be improved - I did have my suspicions that the tour of the industrial estate may be unnecessary, but I didn't do a single 3 point turn!
I'll borrow the sat nav next time.
I shopped on the way home & am now in a position to feed a small army - just in case!
Any visiting army may choose to eat off the floors, which are gleaming.
I christened the sc1122 steam cleaner yesterday, cleaning all of the tiles, even under the appliances.
I award sc1122, 8/10 (I did have to operate it)

a little less "woe" today.....

Firstly, an explanation.
Yesterday's photos;
1.Eating off the floor. (I recall that W told me in his youth, that this would never catch on & my time cleaning floors could be better spent. He was right! He was a precocious child)
2.A cold virus.
3.Cold cures. They do not work!
4,A mole.(G tells me that I am doing more damage to the lawn than the mole. On reflection, he is quite right. I have removed "mole-catching" from my list of daily duties)
5.Jeremy Kyle - host of an obnoxious show, giving families from an "under-class" the opportunity to air their differences on daytime TV. Lie detector tests on fornicators feature largely.

I cannot label photos, due to my own inadequacies, not those of the website.
I have approached "Blog Help"
It does not communicate in a language that I recognise.

Today's photos are of the garden in the autumn sunshine - the sun is shining, it's a lovely day & the garden is full of birds (+ a mole)

Anyway, aj told me to have a lazy day yesterday. I enjoyed it so much that I'm doing it again today.
This could be habit forming.
In my defence,I have washed & ironed & I'll try the sc1122 on the floors - I've read the book!
(I'm going to start on not feeling the need to defend my actions, as well)

Woe is me.......in bed at eleven.

No blog yesterday, flaked out after a hard day shopping, gardening & blackberrying.
I have a dreadful cough & cold.
This resulted in my banishment to the spare room last night & a long lie-in, reading.
I hope that the cough mixture & tablets will be effective before G comes home.
T & B return from London this evening - I am on high alert for station pick-up.
I am watching TV - The Jeremy Kyle Show -daytime TV!
If you feel that your family is dysfunctional, watch this programme.
Is it real?
I must not do this again!
In my defence, I did dash out in my dressing gown, to dig out the mole at about 10.00am. (failed!)
I have eaten 2 portions of fruit.
I am going to grapple with the KARCHER SC1122. I hope that it is straightforward & the floors will be clean enough to eat off.....just in case!

Blogger has a problem & will not allow download of photos at the moment - I'll try again, later.