Yes it has certainly been a while, the longest for me
ever. I have no excuses, at the
beginning of the month just wanted to keep myself to myself, did endless hours
in the gym (all to no avail, still carrying 5 excess pounds) and the last two
weeks I have been working flat out, and here we are nearly at the end of
another month. There’s not a cat in hells chance that I can remember all that I
have done in August but I shall have a stab at recounting some of the highlights.
I went out to lunch with Mike and the old girlies from
Permayne Sheltered Housing. We went to
the Marle Inn which is one of our current dining favourites and luckily it was
a beautiful sunny day and we were able to eat our Sunday roast outside over
looking the lake. There were no wasps so
I was okay. Janice, Anne and Pat are all
lovely but I have decided to forgo our monthly catch-ups. Once every now and then is fine but I cannot
cope with everyone’s troubles, god only knows I have got enough of my own!
We haven’t really been to the caravan much this season but I
did go over a couple of weeks ago to spend an evening with Sue and Ian. Again, it was another lovely day and Ian did
a really nice barbeque supper. Sue has
brought a caravan overlooking the lake and quite close to the clubhouse and she
and Ian will be moving into it permanently in 3 weeks. Ian has rented out his bungalow in
Southampton and if all works out, Sue will probably sell her house in Newport
next year. I am pleased for the pair of
them and I really hope they will be happy with their new life in Overstone.
I think Phil has already blogged about starting his MSC at
Cranfield University in September. He is
really excited and I am excited for him but it will mean a big change in our
household. It will mean long hours of
study for Phil, a massive cut back on the holidays and I have to go back to
work. I have half heartedly been looking
for a job for ages but now I have to up the anti. Actually, this week there is a job advertised
in the Citizen for a receptionist at Cranfield University and I am going to
apply for it. It’s part time, 25 hours a
week; the salary isn’t fantastic but it will bring me in a few pennies, keep me
out of trouble and still give me time to visit the gym.
Talking of the gym, I had an unfortunate accident on the
treadmill a few weeks ago. I was doing a
fast walk on the treadmill and was about 20 minutes in, when my right ankle
started to hurt. Rather than do the
sensible thing and press the pause button, I decided put my legs astride of the
treadmill whilst it was still rolling; unfortunately I missed and lost my
footing. Rather than just roll off on to
the floor, I was rolling on my knees trying to press the emergency button. I
did find it in the end but only after ripping all the skin off my knees. I was spotted by a member of staff who took
me to reception; they bathed my knees with antiseptic cream and entered me in
the accident book. It was so very embarrassing.
My knees were very sore, so sore that I had to dress them
when I got home. Still it didn’t stop me
going to the gym the following day. I
didn’t think I had that big a work out but on Friday evening my left knee
really swelled up. I did mention about
going to A&E, but Phil said, if you think I am going to take you to A&E
on a Friday night, then you can think again.
The knee was fine on Saturday morning, so fine that we decided to walk to the
cinema. Big mistake, but by the time we
reached Cineworld, I could hardly walk.
We had lunch at Waggamama’s which is normally a favourite food of ours, but
the food wasn’t great and it was expensive.
The film was good though, we watched Dawn of the Planet of the
Apes. There was no way I could walk home
so we caught a bus home.
The day before the move (Thursday the 7th) I went in to do some cleaning as I
wanted it to be spick and span for the new owners. Harriet calls me OCDC and she is kinda right. On the day of the move, Phil picked up the
hire van and I met him at the flat.
Unfortunately, Harriet had to work in the morning and Billy couldn’t get
any friends to help so it was just the three of us. It was a really hot day and we worked like
Trojans. It was a struggle to get the
sofa out of the lounge and down the stairs but Billy & Phil eventually did
it. Unfortunately we had to do 2 loads
but luckily we got the keys to the new house at 11am and by half twelve we were
all out of the old flat and unloaded into the new house.
I hadn’t seen the new house in Green Park but I really liked
it. It’s only a two up, two down mid
terrace but it has 2 double bedrooms and a separate dining room. Billy put the bed together and Phil plumbed
in the washing machine, Harriet unpacked boxes and I got going with the bleach
in the kitchen. It was teatime by the
time we finished and we were knackered by the time we got back to our flat. No
chance to rest up though, just time to shower and get ready to celebrate Ian’s
birthday at Wilton Hall in Bletchley. It
was a 70’s night with a 3 course meal with a DJ and band. We partied hard, it was a good night and I
think it was half one by the time we hit the sack.
Phil felt really hung over the next day, I felt a little
fragile but I was around at Harriet’s and Billy’s new house for just after 9
am. Harriet had decided that she wanted to redecorate the house in her week off
and I had promised to help. Actually I
didn’t think the décor was too bad but I like everything just right so I could
understand why she wanted to repaint the whole house. Billy and I started in the main bedroom and on
day one we got it finished. Phil was
nowhere to be seen but after phoning he finally turned up at midday. He filled some holes and then disappeared
home.
Billy’s mum (Cindy) got started in the garden; I don’t do
gardening so I was pleased she’d taken on this particular project. Again, it
was a really hot day so it was hard work for her. Phil and I were due to go to a party in the
evening and we had talking about not going so I was a little surprised to get a
call from Phil at 4.50 pm to say that we were being picked up at 5.30 pm. I
rushed home only to find that Phil hadn’t turned on the water heater so I had
to have a cold shower. Seriously I was
not impressed but I guess it woke me up a bit.
Chris (husband no 1) and his partner Tina picked us up about
quarter to six. A bit late but I was pleased because it gave me extra time to
get ready. It was a bit weird going out
with ex husband and his partner but actually Tina is really nice and we got on
great. We got into Flitton and got a bit
lost looking for Ian and Jane’s house; we stopped to ask someone for directions
when Phil said he felt sick and got out of the car. We weren’t far from Ian and Jane’s house so
we left Phil by the side of the road so he could puke without an audience.
Ian and Jane’s house is wonderful, think footballer’s
wives. The party was for Ian’s 50th
and I was glad we went. We hadn’t seen
Ian and Jane for ages and it was nice to catch up with some of their friends
that we hadn’t seen in over 20 years.
Time flies. Phil felt so rough
from the night before that I didn’t think he would drink but he went for hair
of the dog and got stuck into the cider with the boys. Chris and Tina had said that they would
probably leave the party early and this was fine by us, but we didn’t get home
until way after midnight.
The next morning I went to Harriet’s (I am going to call
their house no 6 from now on in) and left Phil hanging. I had not shut my car door properly so I had
a flat battery, not the best start to the day but I decided to take Phil’s car.
I got started painting in the second bedroom, Harriet helped but Billy had to
work all day. There was no sign of Phil
on that day but then again, I didn’t expect him because I had his car. I finished the second bedroom and Harriet and
I got started in the kitchen. I worked
until about 1 pm and then decided to call it a day as I needed to sort my
car battery. Luckily we had jump leads in the
shed, Phil got my engine going and I drove up and down the A5, stopping off at
Stacey Bushes to get a Kentucky Bucket for lunch. Not very healthy I know but it was easy.
I painted at no 6 on Monday but took the Tuesday off, as
Chris, Harriet’s dad, along with 2 friends went to no 6 to paint the lounge,
hall, stairs and landing. I hate doing
stairs so I was very grateful for their offer of help. Actually, I didn’t have the Tuesday off
because Harriet called me at lunchtime to ask me to come and help finish off
the lounge. The hall, stairs and landing
were fine but I’ll admit the lounge was very patchy. We went over with a third coat, which was a
little tricky as the paint was still wet in patches but I was satisfied with
the end result.
The following day my sister Julia came from Suffolk to join me for a twilight
spa break at Whittlebury Hall, a present from Harriet for my birthday. To be honest, I was glad of a day off and so
was Julia, she works a 60 hour week on average and told me she hadn’t had an
annual leave day since April. She
arrived at midday and we went over to Overstone and had lunch at The Manor. It made a change just to chill out. We went to the caravan for a cup of tea and
then drove to Whittlebury.
We had 2 hours in the spa and then had an anti pasta supper
in the restaurant. There wasn’t a great
choice of food on display but we ate enough to fill us and the deal included a
free glass of wine. Thanks Harriet! Unfortunately the crappy sat nav took us the
wrong way back to the caravan but we eventually got back to Overstone just
before half eight. We had a glass of
wine with Sue & Ian and then retired to our caravan, where over wine, where
we put the worlds to right. It was a nice evening.
The following morning we drove back to MK stopping off at no
6 to show Julia the house. Phil was
there putting up new light fittings and Harriet was also there. I took Julia back to the flat to get her car,
she left for Suffolk and I went back to no 6 to do some more painting.
On Saturday Phil took Georgina back to Melton to see his mum as Georgina
hadn’t seen her grandma since last February.
I painted at number 6, I worked until 3pm and then went home to get a
shower before heading off to the caravan.
Sue and Ian were already at their van and Phil arrived about 5pm. We had the lasagne from the freezer so supper
was easy. Afterwards we went down to the clubhouse for a 60’s night. We all said that we wouldn’t stay late but it
was midnight by the time we got back.
It was disappointing to see the rain the following morning
as we had friends joining us for an afternoon BBQ whilst watching the planes
fly by from Sywell airdrome. Luckily for
us it had cleared by midday and we were able to set up. David and Jane (Sue’s friends) and Pauline
arrived at the caravan just before 2 pm.
Phil cooked, the sun shone and it was a pleasant afternoon. I have to
say I wasn’t impressed by the air show, not a patch on the last time I saw it 2
years ago. The red arrows came on at
half five and they were brilliant. The
guests went home at half six we had one last glass of wine and then went back
into our separate caravans.
I was up early on Monday morning; I packed my stuff, left
Phil sleeping and was back home in MK just after half past six. I had
tea, went to B&Q to buy some polyfilla and then went to no 6. Harriet was already at work and Billy was in
bed. I tried to work quietly but I not
sure if I was. I busied myself with some
filling and got on with painting the hallway.
Harriet and Billy’s mum had stripped off wallpaper but the walls were in
a great condition. I managed to finish
the hallway on Tuesday.
I have to say that it’s not been all work and no play. On Wednesday I picked up Sue and we drove to
Champneys in Tring for a spa experience that Phil had brought me for my
birthday. I had never been to Champney’s
before so I was very much looking forward.
Both Sue and I have lots on at the moment and we did consider postponing
but Sue has had a chest infection and cold for the last 3 weeks so I thought a
steam and spa might do her some good. The grounds of the spa were lovely as was
the building but I wasn’t impressed with the registration at Champney’s; lots
of suits, very pretentious and not very efficient. It was almost midday but the
time we actually got to the Jacuzzi and that was after the saga of mastering
the lockers in the very inadequate changing area. The changing room for day guests near the
pool was much bigger and better equipped but we didn’t discover this until
much later in the day.
Lunch in the restaurant was very, very healthy, nice but
some very unusual tasting salad dressings. After
lunch we were able to check in our room which I have to say was very nice,
spacious with a nice view of the grounds.
We chilled in the afternoon, went into the steam room and at 4 pm we went for
our Thessamolomy massage; the thessamomy massage was poor and not a
patch on Whittlebury Hall.
Horrible to compare especially as my boy paid so much but
you can’t help it, especially as I was only there last week.
At Whittlebury the Thessamolomy massage is free and you can use it as
much as you want. Dinner, I have to say, was excellent, Sue and
I both really enjoyed it. Nowhere to chill
afterwards and we were in our room separate by half eight.
Sue and I are both early risers so we were awake at 5 am,
breakfasted by 8 am and on the road by half eight. I took the decision to take
the B roads with the help of the crappy sat nav to avoid the M25 and this was the right
decision. We were back in Newport by half nine.
Once back home I caught
up with paperwork, had a light lunch then went to the gym in the
afternoon. I was home by 4 pm and cooked
a chilli n rice dish for Phil. I have
rather been neglecting him in the food department of late and I kind of feel
guilty.
On Friday Phil and me went round to no 6. Billy was on a late so I helped him pull 3 layers of lino up from the kitchen floor. A very sticky job. Phil put up mirrors and pictures and did a bit more filling. It was a very productive morning and we were finished at no 6 by midday. Our last job was to pick up a work bench that we had been storing in Sue's garage which we took round to no 6. Harriet and Billy have a garage in a block and have very kindly let us store some of our tools. In the afternoon Phil got on with his maths homework and I went to the gym.
Yesterday was Phil's birthday; he was 59. I got him a one day motorcycle CBT course, some new knickers and a new shirt. To celebrate we went to the Marle Inn with Sue and Ian. And very nice it was too. It's such a lovely setting there and luckily the sun was shining. It was a little chilly in the wind but none of us had coats on. The lunch was excellent although way too much food. I had the beef, and much to Phil's horror, I asked for a doggy bag. We had walked to the pub but cadged a lift from Ian on the way home. Thank you Susie Sue for treating us, we had a lovely time.
I seemed to have gone on forever and forever which is always the case when I don't blog for ages. At least now I am up to date. Got to get washed and get going. I am visiting mum today and need to be on the road by 7 am. God only knows what the M1 is going to be like on this bank holiday Monday but let's hope for my sake that's is quiet. Fingers crossed hey...........
Pictures of No 6 (after painting)
