Movies & Meals Out

I am pleased to report that this Couch Potato girl wasn’t so lazy last week and actually got her fat arse off the couch.  On Monday I went round to Mike’s to help him with his hall, stairs and landing and was impressed to see that he’d been painting all over the weekend.  I did a couple of hours painting and we were more or less finished.   Mike has a little bit of glossing to do and then its job done.

On Tuesday I went to the gym and then met Jan at the OU for lunch.  The hub was packed out but we managed to find a table; Jan had a meeting after lunch so we were able to have a bit longer, it was nice to catch up.

On Wednesday it was back to the gym for a pretty long workout.  I have put on half a stone since Christmas and have desperately been trying to lose the extra pounds without success.  Obviously the workouts and the diet are not enough, the wine has to go this week or at least until we go to Budapest.  Sue invited me to supper with her and Ian on Wednesday evening; she cooked liver and bacon with onions and mash potato, very tasty.  Afterwards we went to the cinema to see Wolf on Wall Street.  The cinema was packed out and we ended up having to sit right at the front.  The film was okay, very mediocre and went on for hours, 3 to be precise.   We didn’t get out of the cinema until gone 11.30pm.

I felt very tired on Thursday morning as did Phil because he’d had a bad night suffering with acid indigestion. I did food shopping in Aldi and the car park was packed out.  I am on an economy drive at the moment as I am just about maxed out on my 2 credit cards.  I have been most impressed with Aldi and I am getting nearly all of shopping there.  Except for my fruit and vegetables which I got from the market on Friday morning.

Phil did Daphne stuff all day on Friday but he did stop when I got back from the gym late afternoon.   Jim had given me a data stick with some movies sent from Tom and we watched 12 years a slave.  It was okay but I can’t really understand why it’s won loads of awards.  It was a  little bit, same old.

I gymed it on Saturday morning and after lunch we went to B&Q to get compost for mum, she’s keen to get started on her spring planting.  Phil got some bits from Staples and then we went home to watch another film on the data stick.  This time we watched ‘Her’, a film about a bloke that falls in love with his operating system.  It was crap, I watched it to the end but Phil fell asleep in the middle. At teatime we walked to Sue’s as she had invited us for dinner.  It was mild out and we got to Sue’s just before dark.  Sue cooked a delicious beef in red wine and we had a good evening, with lots of wine being consumed.

I felt a little bit delicate yesterday morning but still made it to the gym.  Phil drove to see his mum and was on the road before 9 am.  It would have been nice to have had a duvet day but this wasn’t an option because I’d promised to go out with Janice and the sheltered housing bunch to celebrate Janice’s birthday.   I picked up Sue first, and then Mike and we met Janice and Pat at the New Inn in New Bradwell.  This was their choice of venue, not ours, but I guess it’s convenient.

We all opted for the roast beef which was nice and not bad value for £5.95.  I felt a little sorry for Mike being the only bloke but we tried to keep him in the conversation.  Somehow and I don’t know how, we ended up promising Pat that we would give her a party for her 87^th birthday in April.  Both Sue and I felt sorry for her when she said she’d never had a birthday party, ever.  I have also promised Mike that Sue and I would paint his kitchen.   Why oh why do I get myself in these situations??  We shared a taxi back and I wasn’t long in before Phil came in just after 4pm.   We watched some recordings and it wasn’t long before I was fast asleep on the sofa.  Two outings in 2 days is just too much for these tired, old bones.

Couch Potato Girl with new technology

I haven’t written a blog for ages because I haven’t really been up to much. With all the wind and the rain, I have been hibernating in the flat, not going out unless I absolutely had too. I did go and see mum, not this Friday gone but the one before.  I had another nightmare 2 hour journey with lashing rain and delays after J15.  Funnily enough the rain stopped when I got to Melton and it was a beautiful sunny day, which was just as well because mum wanted to go out.

Our first stop was Tesco’s for a trolley load; we unloaded back at the bungalow and then went into the town centre. Mum wanted to get money from the building society and then I took her into a shop to get a new coat especially a new coat with a hood.  Now, she has many coats but sometime last year she took off all the hoods from her various coats and put them away somewhere safe and now can’t find them.  Fortunately there was a sale in the Edinburgh and Wool shop and mum got a coat that she was very taken with.  We popped into Eve’s her friend and then it was back for lunch.  I left about half two as I was anxious to avoid the Friday traffic.  It still took me 2 hours to get home though but at least it wasn’t raining.

We had a very quiet weekend, I went to the gym but I don’t think Phil even left the flat.  I had invited Harriet for Sunday lunch and phoned her at five to one to see where she was and she was still in bed and had forgotten all about lunch.  It wasn’t a problem although I had done roast chicken especially.

It was Georgina’s 21^st birthday on the 12^th of Feb so last Monday we went to London to take her out for lunch.   She had lectures for most of the day but she did have a 2 hour window from 1 until 3pm.   As it was a special birthday, Phil booked Simpsons in the Strand. He’d been there a few times and has always raved about it to me.  We had a drink in the bar upstairs whilst we waited for G to arrive. It was certainly very posh but I was disappointed with both the food and the service, the latter of which was slow and extremely pretentious.  It cost a small fortune and I certainly wouldn’t go there again.  But then I did feel slightly undressed and I never feel comfortable in up market places.  Still it was good to see Georgina and catch up with her world.  Phil did want to go to the Aquarian but tickets were £20 each and so we decided to head home and save this outing for another day.

Phil was back to work on Tuesday and I had day in the flat catching up with domestics.  Sue had been staying in Southampton and I picked her up from the station; it was such a foul day I was amazed that her train hadn’t been delayed.  Sue came for supper on Wednesday which gave us a chance to catch up.

Last Thursday I went to Mike’s in Newport to help him decorate his hall, stairs and landing.  He is covering blue and yellow walls with white emulsion so it was always going to be a 2 or 3 coat job.   Mike had already done all the preparation so it was straight in with the roller tray.   I did wonder why I had offered to help but it’s been a while since I have done any painting and I was fine once I got going.  We did quite well and managed to get 2 coats upstairs and down, I was happy to get going on a third coat but the walls weren’t  dry enough. 

Valentines just didn’t happen in our house, I did get Phil a card but he didn’t get me one.  He did make me a cup of a tea and a crumpet for breakfast which I suppose counts for something.  The plan was that he was going to cook me something for lunch but his morning was taken up with paperwork for the police and the solicitor.  I took myself out to phones4u at Kingston and came out with a Samsung mini phone and tablet, on contract with Orange at only £16.99 per month.  I have been wanting to change my phone for ages but have been waiting for Phil to get an upgrade with his iPhone.  He couldn’t find a good deal which is why I went and got a different phone. 

We went over during Harriet’s lunch hour to meet her and Aaron, the estate agent at her flat.  We’ve known Aaron for years, we negotiated a fee and he took some photos. It was almost 2 pm by this time and we were starving so we decided to go to The Old Swan at Woughton for something to eat.   We both had steaks which we were disappointed with; they were overdone and the sauces obviously had come out of a packet.  Phil nearly fell over his chair when he saw that my glass of rioca cost £7.45!  It’s a shame because we have had some lovely meals in this pub.

I went to the gym on Saturday morning and Phil made garlic spaghetti with lots of chillies, it was so hot it nearly blew my head off.  I spent some time playing with my new phone and tablet and with the help of Phil; I am getting on quite well with it.  The world of Apps and android, and iclouds are all foreign to me but I am sure I will be whizz in no time.  We had just started watching a film when Sue called to see if we fancied a drink at The Giffard, we did so we walked down and met her & Ian.  Saturday evening was films and The Voice.

How lovely to see the sunshine yesterday, really we should have gone out and had a walk but instead, I cooked roast lamb and we slobbed out in front of the telly.  I really must drag myself out of this hibernation pyjama mode, it is not good for the soul and it is definitely not good for the waistline.  

Getting it all off my (small) chest...............

I hate writing a blog when I haven’t written anything for what seems like ages, a) with my grey matters, it’s hard to remember what I’ve been up to, and b) I write so much that I go on forever.  Today, I promise not to deliver an essay.  The week before we went away was a busy one; I got my car serviced (£188), met up with Jan at the OU for lunch, went to the dentist for some deep cleansing (£55) and waited in for most of the day on the Thursday waiting for the Aut Glass to turn up to fit me a new windscreen.  They phoned mid-afternoon to cancel.  This was fine because as it happened I’d promised to loan my car to Ann whilst I was away.  It only cost me £12 to insure and it helped Ann out no end.  Whilst I was at the sheltered housing, I popped in to say hello to Janice.  I refused a cup of tea because otherwise I would have been there all afternoon.

Dad's photo boards

Friday (24th of Jan) was my dad’s funeral; amazingly it was a fine sunny day which was amazing seeing as all the rain we’ve had.  We had a good run down to Suffolk and arrived at Louise’s house at just after 11am.  Mark was there, well obviously because he lives there and so was Julia.  This was the first time we had seen Mark & Louise’s house; Louise has done nothing but moan since they moved, but both Phil and I thought it was lovely.  Okay much smaller than their old house and only a patch of a garden but the room sizes were good.  Anything feels like a mansion compared to our little flat.

We had a cup of tea and beef and horseradish sandwich, and then me, Julia and Louise walked down to Marie’s house to wait for the funeral car.  I was worried that Marie might have a tantrum but she was quite friendly and normal which was slightly unsettling.   The funeral car arrived and Marie, Auntie Jackie, Louise, Julia and me went in it.  Louise had ordered flowers in the form of a cat but I wasn’t that impressed, suppose it was different from the norm.

There were loads of people at the crematorium; in fact it was packed out.  I never knew my dad had so many friends but then, I didn’t really know him very well at all.  The sisters together with Auntie Jackie did a good job with the service.  Tina the civil celebrant was lovely, the tribute written by Jackie was touching but truthful and thankfully there were no hymns.

The wake was back at The Bull Hotel in Woodbridge, there was so many people that we practically took over the whole pub.  The food looked good although I didn’t have any of it.   I spoke to uncles and aunts and cousins but most of the people I didn’t know.   It was a bit weird seeing step dad no’2 family there, I hadn’t seen them in years.  I feel very uncomfortable and wouldn’t have got through it if it wasn’t for Phil who was brilliant, talking to everyone and buying them drinks.   The wake went on to after 9 o’clock and of course we were one of the last few left.  This really wasn’t strange because we had booked a room at the hotel for the night.  Not cheap at £87 but then this is Woodbridge we’re talking about.

Ex brother-in-law Ian, Nephew Jack & Uncle Brian

Auntie Jackie,69 and doesn't she look great? 

Sister Julia and step dad no 2's sister in-law, Kym

Sister Louise

Brother-in-law Mark

The Flowers............

We were both feeling a little rough the following morning and welcomed the full English breakfast which was lovely.  After breakfast we packed up and headed for home.  I decided on the journey home that I will not be returning to Suffolk. I never really felt part of my dad’s family even though I lived back in Suffolk for 5 years as an adult. My dad’s wake confirmed that indeed I do not belong. There is no point in forcing yourself on relatives that don’t give a toss.  From now on I am going to concentrate on my own family and friends, of which of the latter I am lucky to have many.  As I always say, you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family.  Bottom line is that I have my fill of deaths and funerals and family that I am not close to.

Phil made good timing and we got back to MK before midday.  I was in a strange mood and didn’t feel like doing anything much so we ended up having a takeaway and a duvet day.  On Sunday, we drove to Melton to see mum, we managed to persuade her not to cook and instead we went to lunch at The Harborough hotel.  Three roast dinners please and very nice it was too.  We didn’t linger though because I wanted to get back to do the packing for the holiday.  Not very organised I know but it didn’t take me long to throw a few things into the back pack.

We flew to Fuerteventura from Gatwick which is my least favourite airport.  We left the car at Days Hotel in Horley and got the shuttle to the north terminal.  Just time for a couple of drinks and get sandwiches for the journey and we were on our way. Our Easy Jet flight was on time, the private transfer was smooth and check in was quick and efficient.

 I know this sounds ungrateful but I really wasn’t looking forward to our week away.   The reviews of our hotel on Trip Advisor were dreadful although I have been back on Trip Advisor and the recent reviews were good so I think management must have made some changes. My first impressions of the hotel were good and I wondered what people were moaning about.  Our room was lovely, great views and a separate bedroom.  Phil loved the 'his n hers' sinks and our first dinner in the restaurant was good.

Unfortunately the following day and on closer inspection, our hotel wasn’t as good as we thought.  The Geranious Suites & Spa was obviously built in style but the slump in the economy and well lack of guests, lack of money and it hasn’t been maintained.  I didn’t like the red wine, watered down and chilled but the G&T’s were good as was the beer.  Phil managed to fill his belly at the food but I was disappointed.  Breakfast was good but I was disappointed with lunch and dinner which was basically pork chops every day, a mush of foods that weren’t easily recognisable.  I felt that I went hungry but a jump on the scales when I got home tells me that I have put on 5Ibs.  Must have been all that nice French, crusty bread that I pigged out on, something that I don’t usually indulge in at home.

My boy Phil, in the crap Spa.........

It was just a shame that we were very unlucky with the weather.  We had rain on 2 days; it was windy all the time, and one day the sun didn’t come out at all.   This is unusual for the Canaries and bizarrely on our last day, it was wall to wall sunshine and blue skies all day.  Still a break away and I understand it was really cold at home.  The entertainment at the hotel was laughable but I had a bop a couple of nights.  I didn’t really talk to that many people, Phil & I both got on with a couple of elderly Belgian ladies and I did meet a French lady who I took pity on.  She’d lost her husband and had come on holiday by herself.  I am always a sucker for a sad story and I felt so sorry when she told me all she had done was be cold and cry in her room.

To be honest, the hotel was much better than I thought it would be.  Certainly not 4 stars but you gets what you pays for and we paid very little so at the end of the day, it was very good value for money.  We paid 20 euros on our last day to keep our room until half four which well worth it. The private transfer arrived on time but checking in our bags was tedious with only one desk open so we didn’t really have a lot of time before boarding. We were sat near to the family from hell, only 20 minutes into our flight home when the kids starting throwing up.  I mean throwing up, picture over filled sick bags, it was so bad they had to replace the seats.  Still, at least we arrived on time and the baggage wasn’t delayed.  Phil called a taxi and we got to the hotel near Gatwick around midnight.  We watched 10 minutes of crap TV to unwind and then it was lights out.

We got held up on the M25 on the way home and it was midday by the time we got back to the flat.  Sue bless her cotton socks, had stocked up our fridge, picked up free newspapers and post from the doormat, and more importantly had whacked up the central  heating.  It felt good to be home.   I unpacked, washed, dried, spent hours ironing and we caught up with recorded TV.  Phil dropped me off at New Bradwell and I picked up my car from Ann.  She, very kindly, had cooked us a homemade quiche which was very sweet, but unfortunately as nice as it tasted for tea, it gave Phil really bad heart burn and he was up for most of the night.  Just a shame that he had to go back to work on the following day.

On Wednesday I did some domestics and then went shopping.  My credit cards are maxed out and I am forced on an economy drive.  I tend to think that I am quite thrifty anyway, but I shopped at Aldi instead of Asda and I think I saved us a fortune.  There were a few things that I couldn’t get but it was no biggie.  Aldi, Lidl and the odd shop at Asda or Tesco is the way forward. 

Even though Phil was tired he still went out with the Wednesday night boys, and so I found myself accepting an invitation from Sue & Ian to join them for dinner at what used to be Prego in Newport Pagnell.  It’s under new management and not called this now (can’t remember new name) but I recommend going.  We had pizza and salad and it was very nice.  Sue had been there the week before with her friend Carol.  They are in early days (the restaurant) and I’m afraid we were a little picky, we sent the red wine back, I complained about the lightning and Ian hated his dessert but all in all, a good night, with great company. And thank you my very generous friend Susie Sue for treating me. Beforehand I did worry that I might be the gooseberry but I’m ashamed that Sue and I had so much to catch up on, that it might have been Ian that was the gooseberry!  I apologise Ian and thanks so much for the lift home.  Will make it up to you on the 22^nd! Promise!!

Phil didn’t sleep very well again last night although I don’t think this time that it was due to the indigestion.  I think he must be worried about something.  I felt bad waking him at 8.15 am this morning because he was dead as a dodo and snoring for England but needs must and all that.  I was slow going this morning; I did a wash, made a Shepherd’s pie and then set off to Overstone to pick up the post.  It was a bit frustrating because they have major road works going on in Newport and it took me 35 minutes just to get from the flat to the other side of Newport.

I don’t know about anyone else, but this miserable weather is getting me down, so down that I almost wish I was back in Fuerteventura or even Marrakesh for that matter.   I had to literally force myself out this afternoon to go to the gym but these extra pounds are sitting heavily and I need to lose them and fast. I don’t know if I am the same as everyone else but when the weather is horrible I crave comfort foods and the more carbs the better.   Right now, I need to publish this post and get me an early night.  Tomorrow morning, I am going to Melton to see mum and must be on the road by half seven at the very latest.   My 400 thread real Egyptian sheets beckon right now.  Goodnight folks, next time I promise not to leave it so long.

Final day Final thoughts

According to a lady that works in a bar where we had sunday lunch, this has been the longest winter in the 9 years she has lived here.  Its been cold all week and only occasionally the sun comes out.  I haven't done many blogs because we haven't really done anything to talk about.  We have had a very normal holiday taking it easy and drinking to excess.  We do have nice rooms and have spent a long time in them.  The all inclusive food is ok but, as normal you get fed up with the same style of food after a few days.  They seem to specialize in pork chops at this hotel and it seems to be on the menu every lunch and dinner.  Of course, they have alternatives, like pork stew where they put the leftover pork chops into a random gravy.  You can always find things that you do like but it seems nicer to go out occasionally or cook in.

We have a tv but most channels are either Spanish or German.  We only have CNN and CBS reality in English.  Not being one that likes the news we have been permanently tuned into Judge Judy, Dog and Beth, Bait car and Heir Hunters all week.  I did watch the German snooker open on german Eurosport as well but other than that we read lots of books.  We have only had an occasional walk along the beach and I have put some random pictures in this blog.  Ironically, its our last day and we leave shortly and the sun has been out most of the day.

Anyway we don't get back to Gatwick until midnight so we have booked into a local hotel.  The picture of the hotel toilet that I put in is one of my favorite features.  Its a green smoked glass wall with sensors along it and when you stand there to have a pee a wall of water along the entire glass washes your waste away instantly.  It was quite embarrassing because I was caught taking this picture.

As usual Claire has met some wild and weird friends along the way.  I could talk about them all day but I should have taken pictures of them to make it more interesting for you.  As I always say, the best time to visit the Canary islands is spring and autumn as the weather is totally reliable but I couldn't resist the price of this all inclusive.  Although we have eaten out a few times and cooked in a few more we have hardly spent any money on this trip but we are both ready to come home.  One thing Claire likes about the Canaries is that they have very few wasps or bees and they have good cheap wine, but I guess that’s more than one thing.  The other thing she likes about the Canaries is that I am with her.