Another fine day.

This new laptop is a dream -
-it has a right & left click button (?), so I don't have to click the mouse instead, fifty times.
-it is quick.
-it has a big screen.
-s & w both work.
Thanks G.

The frost had disappeared by 4.00am & temperatures soared to 7 degrees today.
I played tennis this morning, which was great - even took my jacket off after the first set.
Home for lunch - pea & ham soup (Waitrose) - G's favourite.
Pottered for a bit & then litter-picked around the block - two bin liners full. Met CF en route  - chair of Parish Council - & were thanked on behalf of the village!
Back for a nice cup of tea & some chores followed by a soak in the bath.
Small steak, jacket potato & masses of stir fried vegetables for dinner - hope I'd used that many calories!
G asleep. I'm watching "Crusade" - good, but difficult to follow - perhaps my brain is shrinking.
I hope not as we are in a quiz next week.

Good article on Waddesdon Manor in Tues Telegraph - the second most visited NT property (what is first, I wonder), two miles from the HS2.

Car in for repairs tomorrow, with rental car & hopefully, a visit to the NEC, to  "Antiques for Everyone" - thanks to Jan & Chris for the ticket.
Sounds like a plan...... 

Warwick 2.30

It was 10.30am, but it was G's visit to the dentist for a filling - 2.30 a little since!
I had a potter whilst G suffered, then we had a very nice cup of coffee at a new coffee shop in the market square before setting off for Kenilworth, en route home.
We had a potter around kenilworth, finishing at waitrose, where the food looked scrummy & there were lots of discounts.
We did the week's shopping, including a Thai meal for tonight & crusty wholemeal bread.
We checked Coleshill out & the car repair/hire is sorted out through Andrew walker.

It's been a lovely bright day, despite very low temperatures, -3 when we left home this morning & freezing for most of the day - a scarf & my big fur hat needed!
I doubt that we will be playing tennis tomorrow as the carpet courts are slippery when frozen - plenty of other things to do.

News is dominated by the Costa Concordia accident - another 5 bodies found on board & 24 still missing.
You tell yourself that the ship is perfectly safe, however rough the sea - on the two cruises we have been on , many of the passengers were elderly & had poor mobility.
When the ship rolled, they would take to their cabins, for fear of falling - I think a lot of people may be put off cruising for a while.
G is put off by the elderly & infirm as well as the short time spent in port in many places.

Apparently, temperatures dropped to -5 last night - I thought it was chilly.

Jack Frost. 68

Today is day 1 of the diet.
I weighed in this morning & will post my loss on Saturday.
I've been quite good - porridge for breakfast, soup & fruit & a hot cross bun for lunch & salmon to cook for dinner.
This morning we had a lie in - becoming a habit, of late.
After breakfast we went for a walk around the reservoir, stopping to collect Margaret & Phil's dog, Milly, en route & finding a debit card on the bench on the Lower Green.
Back for lunch, since when I've cleaned all of the downstairs windows, outside, cleaned the car & done the ironing, to warm up, so now I'm sitting by a roaring fire, watching "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" (antiques show).
Beat that!
G has spent the afternoon doing battle with the insurance industry.

Only dinner to cook - the first meal I shall have cooked since last Tuesday, having been out for dinner every day since then - probably all of the invitations for the year.

Bargain Hunt.

Inspired by a lazy day, watching daytime TV on Friday, we decided to go to an Antiques Fair on Saturday.
Internet search found a weekend event at Uttoxeter racecourse.
We made the effort to be up & out by 2.00pm (I had done cleaning & ironing - guilty conscience!)
Nice drive over in the frost.
Fair was sizable - nothing to compare with, actually, only impression from TV.
We both wore red fleeces & dashed around madly, comparing prices of unattractive, overpriced goods, eventually settling on a Bristol blue glass frog/eye bath, haggling to get a 25% discount.
No bonus buy, but we were amazed at the price of some Wade Whimsies (v small animal figures)
Must check on e-bay.

We went on to Ashbourne for a cup of tea, & carrot cake (no lunch) & a walk around the town - no danger of overspend as the shops had closed.
We went on to Edingale to have dinner with Peter & Judith, then home by 11.00pm

Still freezing.
Church this morning.
Now planning a "Bring your Mum to Church" for Mothering Sunday on 18 March. Family service with simnel cake & hoping that Shustoke school will make hearts(?) with Mum's name & attend to hang them on a "tree" of some sort.
Church open all day, serving cream teas & simnel cake.
Any ideas???

PS bit about red fleeces & rushing was poetic licence.
We did use the toilets.

Lost my ssss

G has fixed it - a bit of grit under the key.
Things seem to be against me blogging - a half hour power cut, then no S, without hammering it.
Having a really degenerate morning - finished my book, then a cup of coffee & toast whilst watching TV.
The excuse is that we had a really late night - home at 2.00am after a day in London.
We had B&B with M&N on Wednesday & had  a lovely evening eating & catching up.
We parked at Richmond (£14!) & caught the train to Victoria, visited The Cathedral & Westminster Abbey (£13 each/senior rate, but I did use the carefully concealed loo).
G visited Harley Street for a body scan of blemishes in the afternoon whilst I pottered, then e had a really nice meal before the homeward journey.

Seem to have lost W now - I'll  investigate later, perhaps.

Gove to make it possible to get rid of duff teachers in a term, instead of a year.
NUT disagree. They would, wouldn't they.
The school must have an ethos that is supportive of all staff, teachers in particular, but  I'm sure that there's a small percentage that will never make the grade & will damage pupils' enthusiasm & education whilst practising.

Sun's shining despite a hard frost.
G has gone to sort the car out - waiting at traffic lights in Guildford on Wednesday, the little car about 6ft in front suddenly went into reverse & accelerated into us, at high speed - broken number plate & bumper squidged to one side & buckled - didn't look too bad, but expensive, I imagine.
Elderly gent with leg splint, taking grandson to a class, in his wife's car.
Bother.

Hectic social life  - no cooking to do until Monday, at the earliest - we'll start the diet then!

The shopping that wasn't shopping.

We woke up late this morning - I read an article about sleep in G's "Christmas pressie from aj book on ageing".
Apparently, sleep patterns change as you get older - shorter cycles of sleep, so you wake up during the night & then start again.
It's a treat to sleep in, as long as there's nothing important to get up for (unlikely).

After breakfast & a few odd jobs whilst G loaded tip stuff in the boot, we went to........the tip, then on to Solihull, where I was dropped off for a shopping experience whilst G & Peter went on to more exciting things, & lunch.
Time flies when you're shopping - I only had time to do J Lewis, East, Lakeland & M&S, dumping the food in M&S as the queues were ridiculous.
I bought ......an ironing board cover.

G&P dropped me off at J's school to do the usual pick up (dash to pick up Th, then home)
We had a "Bruce tea" (I'm having fish tonight), followed by blackcurrant & cassis mousse - the lengths I go to with my Aga hand whisk!

I can't do a single clue in the Telegraph crossword - one fewer than yesterday.
Either the setter or I live in a parallel universe.

Culture - Dickens & British musicals on BBC 4 all night - presently Matt Lucas in Les Mis.
Better than WW1 & 11 / battleships / Top Gear / Have I got very old repeated News for You......
Time for bed, said Zebedee

The Tour that didn't tour.

We're watching Peter Kay, G's Christmas present DVD.
Very funny.
Peter's here for a few days, he & G having a laugh.

Played tennis this morning - play enhanced by running up to the chemist's to get some "Otravine" for G, before playing.
Had a lazy day after that - cooking, ironing, cleaning & watching TV.
I suppose it wasn't that lazy, just not very noteworthy.