I can’t remember the last time I posted a blog which is
quite unusual for me as the blog is therapeutic for me and gives me a chance to
rant and occasionally rave sometimes.
The truth is that Sue has been away with Ian in Southampton and I haven’t
really been up to much. Been doing a
bit of hiding away from the world which I am quite happy doing but it isn’t
really very healthy especially with all the lovely weather we have been
having. We didn’t do anything last weekend;
in fact I don’t think Phil went out of the flat from when he got back from
dropping his mum back in Melton on the Thursday evening until Monday. There was talk about going to the caravan but
it didn’t pan out.
So what have I been up to I hear you ask? Nothing exciting, been spending endless
hours in the gym in an effort to loose the extra pounds that I gained at
Christmas but it just won’t shift. I
have decided to go on the band wagon when we get bck from holiday and Phil
tells me he is putting himself on a 500 calorie a day diet when he gets back
from the cruise. 500 calories a day
seems a bit extreme to me but I think he must be serious because he has printed
out a food calorie list. Still if this
glorious sunshine keeps up then we can live on salad.
Harriet has still not exchanged contracts on her flat; we
have chased the purchasers who have yet to receive their mortgage offer even
though the survey was carried out weeks ago.
Harriet is really pissed off and I’m sure she wishes she never put
herself on the mortgage; and we wish we had never brought the flat in the first
place, we have lost thousands. Dealing
with Guinness (the housing association) has been a nightmare. One word of warning to anyone considering buying
a shared ownership where Guinness own the freehold, DON’T DO IT. I will chase up the estate agent today in the
hope of an exchange tomorrow but I will not be holding my breath. Harriet and Billy are currently enjoying a 2
week holiday in Mexico so at least they both have a break from all the house
stress.
Talking of holidays, the Robb family have been very much in
our thoughts over the last couple of weeks.
Jim & Shirley flew out to Oz for Dan & Kylie’s wedding which
actually took place in Fiju. The pictures
on Facebook look amazing and it looks like they had a fabulous time. Kylie looked lovely in her wedding dress and
Dan scrubbed up well. Congratulations to
the newlyweds! Both Phil & I are gutted that we are not able to go to the
wedding reception in 2 weeks time but we shall be away on holiday. Never mind we have a post wedding Robb family
lunch on Sunday so at least we will be able to catch up then.
Of course, last week we were away with mum in Majorca which
I can’t say that I really enjoyed. I
know Phil posted that we’d had a great time but he was speaking for himself,
sometimes I think it’s like we go on separate holidays! May be it’s the girl with the glass half
empty scenario; don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all horrible and it was nice of
mum to pay for both of us but I won’t be taking mum overseas again. She is a born worrier and anything that is
not familiar or that takes her out of comfort zone just makes her more
anxious. Plus travelling with someone
that has limited mobility is hard work.
Phil had to go to Melton and pick mum up on the Sunday which
was the day we flew. I did lunch at the flat and we left for Luton airport at
half four. Thank goodness that I’d had
the sense to book special assistance for disabled people, Easyjet staff were
brilliant. I was concerned that our
flight was late enough, so I was just a bit fed up to find out that our flight
was delayed by an hour. The flight
itself was uneventful, we stayed in our seats and I guess it was around
midnight by the time we got to Palma airport.
The speedy transfer that we paid extra for wasn’t so speedy
and it took 2 hours to get to our hotel.
I’d already been on the hotel website and read that the hotel wasn’t
suitable for wheelchairs or disabled people and this was already obvious when
we made our way up various ramps and bumps to reception to check-in. No easy feat with 2 cases, one wheelchair
with mum in, a walking frame and no trolleys.
Anyway we did it, got our keys and then had to make our way to our room which
was actually in the hotel next door. More manoeuvres and it was half two in the
morning local time but the time we got our heads down.
The lift in the hotel was a complete nightmare, only 2 lifts
for 9 floors, didn’t really work for us.
We took mum to the restaurant with her walker, so when the lift finally
stopped on our floor (1st) there was no room for us. Sometimes we waited forever. Food was okay, the usual fare for all inclusive
although the cooked breakfast was better.
The hotel was alright, clean but tired and definitely not suitable for
people who cannot walk unaided. The weather was windy for most of the time we
were there but it was warm, early 20’s I would say.
We went on the tourist train one morning and then wheeled
mum to the shops another morning but that was the extent of our outings. Phil spent the afternoons writing his book
which I understand is going well. The
entertainment never started until 10pm so we never saw any of that. In the evenings we went down into dinner at 6
pm and then played cards in the bar area near the restaurant. It was a shame we
couldn’t sit on the balcony when we retired because not only was the view crap
but we were on the corner which always seem to get the wind.
It was an early start on the day we were coming home as we
were being picked up at 6.30 am in the hotel next door. At least the lifts were free which was handy
with all of our luggage. Our speedy
transfer took an hour and a half and we got to Palma airport by 8 am. Thankfully the flight was on time and we got
back to Luton just past midday. Phil
dropped me off at the flat and took mum shopping in Lidl’s and Aldi’s, they had
a sandwich back at ours then Phil took mum home. I unpacked and did all the washing and
ironing, giving me a chance to catch up with all my soaps. Phil didn’t get back home until 7 pm, he was
absolutely knackered so I was surprised that he didn’t sleep very well. Still at least he didn’t have to go to work
the following day.
Sue & Ian got back from Southampton on Sunday afternoon;
Phil was busy writing so I went over to Sue’s for a cup of a tea and a catch
up. I also took over some chilli and
rice that I had made the day before and some of Phil’s famous home made garlic
bread so they didn’t have to cook. They’d had a good, but busy week in
Southampton, which involved entertaining, baby sitting and a shed load of
domestics. I think I am an active person
but I am not a patch on these two, they put me to shame.
On Monday morning I picked up Nicola, Sue’s daughter-in-law
to be and took her to the gym. The
crappy sat nav couldn’t locate her house so I got lost in Broughton and had to phone
Sue for directions. I hate being late
but I found Nic’s house eventually. I
really must find a way to update our TomTom.
Anyway, I diverse, Nic is getting married in October and wants to loose
2 stone. She’s so terribly body conscious but I am sure if she sets her mind to
it, she can shed the pounds and feel good in her wedding dress.
It was awfully hot in the gym even with the air conditioning
but we had a really good workout, Nic managed 2 hours in the gym which wasn’t
bad for a first timer. We talked for the
entire workout so the time soon flew by.
We finished up with a dip in the Jacuzzi, a quick steam, followed by a
shower and a coffee in the café. Before
we knew it, it was time to pick up Nic’s daughter, Sophie from nursery. I was a little worried that I had worked Nic
too hard but I got a text the following morning to say that she was fine, obviously
I didn’t work her hard enough!
After eating a healthy warm chicken Subway salad at Nic’s
house I decided to stop off in Newport to see Sue & Ian. Sue had brought a BBQ from B&Q which I
decided to help Ian put together while Sue sorted her sprinkling system. Boy it was hard work, 18 steps and 18 separate
packs of screws, nuts and washers.
Several hours later, I decided to phone Phil to see if he had finished
writing and fancied a cold beer at Sue’s.
Thankfully he did and helped Ian finish off the BBQ assembly. Or is that
Ian assisted Phil lol! Either way, after
nearly 5 hours, it was mission accomplished.
Phil went home and I ended up having supper at Sue’s.
Phil was back to work on Tuesday morning, I caught up with
paperwork, went to the gym and did some food shopping. Phil emailed me to ask how much we paid for
his car insurance. I got the file out
and discovered the MOT certificate was missing.
Well when I say missing, I could find an MOT which expired in January
2014 but nothing since then. Oh dear, car now booked in for an MOT next Monday.
When Phil got back from work, he changed into his shorts and sandals and walked
to Sue’s for a BBQ. The sun had gone
down and it was a little windy but we managed to eat outside. And very nice it was too, we had a lovely
evening, although a little late for a Phil work night.
Yesterday morning I got up to date with my paperwork, I also
had to sort out my car insurance as I have promised to loan my car to
Pauline. She had a collision with a
lorry in her car coming back from Manchester over the weekend and her car is a
write off. My car will only be on the
driveway so she may as well have the use of it whilst I am away. I went to the gym in the afternoon, it was
hard going because it was so hot and muggy, can’t say that I gave it my best
effort.
Afterwards I went into Asda for a few bits, then went to
Lidl’s to get Phil the special 4 ply toilet rolls that he likes and some
strawberry jam for his crumpets. Next stop was Argos to get a desktop fan for
Phil for work and last call was to Staples to buy stamps on the company. I stayed in home alone last night while Phil
went out with the Wednesday night crew.
He was really looking forward to seeing Jim and finding out how the
wedding went.
We have quite a number of social events from tonight and
right through until we go on holiday a week on Saturday. It’s nice to be invited but it’s a bit like
buses, you wait for ages and then 3 turn up all at once. We really must go to the caravan and sort out
cleaning it and doing the garden although I really don’t know when we will have
a chance. I am going to Melton to see
mum tomorrow and am thinking that I could meet Phil at the van if I drive the
back way. Uumm we shall see, sometimes
you make a plan and it doesn’t turn out the way you want it too. Such is life.
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