Ready for anything....

Not a lot to report, did the Times Travel Magazine comp, hung the washing out (that took a degree of faith ), vacuumed the house from top to bottom & then went to the gym.

I did the full work out, 10 minutes in the spa pool as it was vacant & it is very relaxing.
A quick trip to Solihull to take things to the Charity shop then tea & the obligatory scone in M&S

I bought 3 "count on us" diet meals (for the price of two), prawn crackers(BOGOF) & came home.
The mole had made one large & 5 small mole hills overnight, all on the bald patches where we had cleared the other mole hills yesterday.
When I went to get the washing in he was just digging a seventh hill so I attacked violently with a pitchfork then listened carefully for the sound of mole laughter (a little like mouse laughter only more throaty)
I could never attack a terranian animal in this way, but this appears to be a victimless crime & this beast has made us suffer.
Time will tell if I need to consult my conscience.(mole hill count tomorrow)

I then raked the grass & leaves off the top lawn - G had mown it without the collector for the first cut - because of G's terms of endearment as he left for work, "if you want some exercise you can......."
Fortunately there was a downpour after an hour so I could retreat to make a cup of tea.
I took G to the NEC so that he could enjoy an evening of fine food, good company & entertainment, then drove home to eat my diet meal, a glass of sauvignon blanc & fell asleep.
There's a little ironing to do before bed, now I have my "second wind".

Ikea & elephants.

On the promise of my first ever visit to Ikea, we went to Coventry on Saturday morning to collect W's car from the adjacent car park, where G left it on Friday night.
We had coffee, spent £3.45 in the store & rather more in the food shop - interesting, but not aimed at the likes of us.
Not knowing where we were & seeing a familiar church spire we went for a short walk & found ourselves in the city centre, headed for the Belgrade Theatre & bought tickets for the evening performance of "Elephant" - a UK/S. African production of song & dance with "enough charm to stop a rhino".



We drove home, G arriving before me as I took a detour into the Ikea car park (kind young man moved the bollards & let me out) & a number of suburbs before finding Coundon & the way home.
I always found Coventry confusing!
I spoke to Ann at length in the afternoon - I was wrong, she does not have a big birthday until 2009 - we caught up on the news, & I finished today's sermon - The Good Shepherd.
Ask me anything you like about shepherding in Judaea.


We went back to Coventry to the theatre, which was very good & then to Spon Street for an excellent Indian meal.
We were surprised at how quiet Spon St was when we arrived at about 10.00pm; it did not disappoint by the time we had eaten it was heaving with clubbers, many scantily clad for a chilly evening!

Today, I took Morning Prayer at Sh & OW, G cleaned gutters. After a bowl of soup, we spent the afternoon in the garden tidying up & moving mole hills.
A good weekend altogether, although G still has a tummy bug - the curry did not prove to be a cure!
I made some rock cakes to "tempt him".

Happy Birthday Ann.

I think that I am right in the belief that WRM's big sis has a big birthday today. In this belief I have been to see her (out) & left a card & flowers.
En route I spent two & a half hours at the gym followed by tea & a scone in M&S & a little food shopping.
I am pleased with my efforts in the gym - 20 min on X-trainer
30 min on treadmill
30 min on bike
5 min on rowing machine
+ 30 stretches on the sitting down "leg" things (abs?)
then a minimum of 10 lengths in the pool, depending on numbers in the pool/time/energy.
I reckon that must be at least 10 digestive biscuits.
Today I went in the Spa afterwards, as it was empty.
It was great!

G is out tonight so I shall have an even quieter evening than usual & possibly watch a "Miss Marple" as the TV on Fridays is usually very poor.

I regret wishing that the weather would get warmer as it has had the opposite effect - cold with hail/sleet storms at regular intervals. i.e. dry intervals matching those I spent in the car.
It is bright & sunny now that I am inside, but still cold.

A good drying day.

Another lazy day, full of good intentions.
Yesterday I bought the Sunday Times travel magazine - an indulgence at £3.40 - which had three competitions, one of which could be entered on line.
I made the poor decision to log on shortly after breakfast & then spent most of the morning on line.

I did learn that Bali has four lakes & that Lake Bratan has caves along the banks, dug out & lived in by Japanese during World War 11. (comp 2)

Otherwise, I did loads of washing which dried beautifully on the line so that I could iron it all & replace/put it away& cleaned upstairs
I ventured to Coleshill. The car thermometer said that it was 13C - it was certainly much colder in the open, with a cold wind - the snowman hasn't yet all melted.
I would like it to warm up now.

G has a bad stomach & has suggested that last night's dinner poisoned him, despite the fact that we both ate exactly the same & I'm fine.

He has refused to eat tonight & gone to bed early!

I think that most gastric problems are caused by putting dirty fingers in your mouth.

Self indulgence.

I had a great day with Thomas yesterday, including a very long walk around the park & local area & a visit to M&S food.
Unfortunately I left my purse in Thomas's pram.
I was very low on fuel, but, because there was a lot of traffic, I decided against filling the car with diesel on the way home, which would have been a little embarrassing with no means of paying.
I realised what I had done when I got home & so I started the day with a rather fraught journey to P & A's to collect my purse, with only 30 miles of fuel left which fell to --- before I arrived.
P assured me that A often drives around with --- fuel, which cheered me up & I did make it to Sainsburys to fill up & then on to the gym.

Grandchildren must keep you fit as I did an extra 10 minutes on each machine without realising how long I'd been working. I even managed extra time on the rowing machine. Beat that!
I went to M&S for a decaf tea & a cheese scone & then looked for a wedding outfit for a family wedding next month, but found little inspiration. (G says no M&S!)
I bought some scrummy food/fish & vegetables & came home for a cup of tea.

This is for Tim.
This is as good as any that I saw, but not for me!

I only ate the one, honestly.

A good evening's sleep.

We awoke to bright sunshine & about 2 inches of beautiful, powdery snow this morning.

We got up early to make the most of the snow before it disappeared.



After breakfast G fashioned wellies/overshoes for Tim from thick polythene & tape & we did a little sledging before utilising much of the snow on the top lawn to make "Dennis" - complete with carrot nose & ginger nut* eyes, mouth & eyebrows, assisted by Ben & Steve.


Tim rode the tractor around,collecting snow in the bucket, but found the snow too cold to handle. (I did have the advantage of my best rubber gloves!)

By lunchtime most of the snow had gone. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch of roast beef followed by spotted dick & coffee with a celebratory chocolate cake; KP & Thomas joined in for the first time.
(small portions, low fat suet & having a no-diet day)

Between lunch & tea we walked to the sports field where all of the children enjoyed half an hour on the play equipment.

We have since cleared up & I have had a snooze on the settee, waking in time to see the final episode of "He killed coppers".

Time for bed, said Zebedee!


*The ginger nuts that I made yesterday that Ben decreed "not fit for purpose".The birds may enjoy them.

A prize for the first person to identify the origin of each picture And Dennis's surname.

Hi-jacked!

G is now a blogger!
Friday, I worked my socks off cleaning & polishing everything in sight & then went to Kenilworth to shop, for a change. It's a pleasant drive & about the same distance as Solihull with nice little shops & a good Sainburys with free parking.
JS had sent G a "burthday present" of a voucher for a box of chocolates, again, which I collected. Why don't they send me a pressie for my birthday since I'm the customer - G never darkens their doors.
We went to "Cineworld" in Solihull & saw "Vantage Point" - an attempted assassination of the US President seen from a number of vantage points.
Good, not great.
We had a portion of fish & chips from Coleshill on the way home as G was not hungry (I was!), consumed with a bottle of chardonnay.
I liked Cineworld, G did not.
It is like a small Star city but less threatening, with an integral car park.

Saturday, we went to Solihull for G's appointment at D & A (opticians). I had half an hour to shop then we went to Bromsgrove to collect a part from Paul Matty, for the lotus.
G was so long in the spares department that I sold two elises whilst I was waiting for him.
Could this be a new career?
I was considering becoming a central heating installer as I find that I have a natural bent for boilers & valves - last weeks episodes involving British Gas were highlights of my retirement.

B,E T &KP arrived at tea-time.
B was delighted with his apple peeling & coring machine that we brought back from Denmark.
B & E went out for a romantic dinner, we had shepherds pie on the settee, followed by coffee cake.
G has a sore thumb from over-use of the Powerball. I hope that his muscles build up with some haste otherwise life could get ugly.
He is encouraging me to "have a go".
I think that two sore thumbs in the house is enough for one weekend!
A big family Sunday lunch tomorrow;; well - hung ribs of beef.
I may ask B to make the yorkshire pudding as his are brilliant, much better than mine, of late.