Freyja is going to be IN THE OLYMPICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She's going to be skating in the opening ceremony.
How exciting is that?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Turning into my aunt
Slowly, very slowly, but ineluctably I appear to be turning into my Aunt Margaret :-S
We went to Bishops' House on Saturday. It was a chilly, grey, damp sort of a day. The sort of day when comforting, warming drinks are called for. And nice warm, toastie things to eat.
So did I suggest that we should drop by to the nice cafe just up the road, which does lovely Caribbean food on Friday evenings and buy breakfast sandwiches and hot drinks?
I did not.
Did I suggest that we should go to the Co-op next to the cafe and buy the makings of a picnic breakfast?
I did not.
So what did I do?
I took egg and bacon sandwiches, wrapped up in foil, which I had made before we left home.
And ...
I took a flask filled with hot chocolate and two cups from the picnic set
:-S
I've turned into Margaret, I tell you!
But not absolutely entirely,. I haven't yet turned against alcohol and Sunday afternoon torpor. When these things happen, the transformation will be complete!!
We woke up on Sunday morning to find that the Weather Dogs had FINALLY realised that it was winter and had turned on the snow. Nothing like as exciting as the snow they sent us last November/December; only around 5cm or so. Enough to disgust Marlo who walked out through his cat hole out into the back garden, found all the snow and sharply turned around and came straight back in again! We have laid in some kitty litter, although the snow seems to be melting away now. The chickens were equally unimpressed, but The builder dug a space for them in their run so it was snow-free - and in any case they can be bought off with warm porridge or warmed bread and milk.
And it is true that the snow is very pretty. But it really isn't very practical. People were not game to use the back roads to commute to work in the ice and compacted snow on Monday morning (you can see their point - anything smaller than a landrover was struggling mightily to get up Hagg Hill to Grassmoor), so everyone was on the main road. Which was at a standstill heading into Chesterfield from well before our roundabout. Took us over an hour to drive to the station. Usually takes ten minutes!
For those of you who aren't on Facebook, you should be able to view the snow photos here:
We went to Bishops' House on Saturday. It was a chilly, grey, damp sort of a day. The sort of day when comforting, warming drinks are called for. And nice warm, toastie things to eat.
So did I suggest that we should drop by to the nice cafe just up the road, which does lovely Caribbean food on Friday evenings and buy breakfast sandwiches and hot drinks?
I did not.
Did I suggest that we should go to the Co-op next to the cafe and buy the makings of a picnic breakfast?
I did not.
So what did I do?
I took egg and bacon sandwiches, wrapped up in foil, which I had made before we left home.
And ...
I took a flask filled with hot chocolate and two cups from the picnic set
:-S
I've turned into Margaret, I tell you!
But not absolutely entirely,. I haven't yet turned against alcohol and Sunday afternoon torpor. When these things happen, the transformation will be complete!!
We woke up on Sunday morning to find that the Weather Dogs had FINALLY realised that it was winter and had turned on the snow. Nothing like as exciting as the snow they sent us last November/December; only around 5cm or so. Enough to disgust Marlo who walked out through his cat hole out into the back garden, found all the snow and sharply turned around and came straight back in again! We have laid in some kitty litter, although the snow seems to be melting away now. The chickens were equally unimpressed, but The builder dug a space for them in their run so it was snow-free - and in any case they can be bought off with warm porridge or warmed bread and milk.
And it is true that the snow is very pretty. But it really isn't very practical. People were not game to use the back roads to commute to work in the ice and compacted snow on Monday morning (you can see their point - anything smaller than a landrover was struggling mightily to get up Hagg Hill to Grassmoor), so everyone was on the main road. Which was at a standstill heading into Chesterfield from well before our roundabout. Took us over an hour to drive to the station. Usually takes ten minutes!
For those of you who aren't on Facebook, you should be able to view the snow photos here:
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Partying
Right then. Pay attention up the back, there.
We have been to Warminster for a party. It was Barb, the ex-Mrs Builder, 's brother Greg's 70th birthday party. (Got it? There might be a test later!!)
The party was held in the Cornmarket cafe in Warminster. (There might be a test on this later too!!)
So we trundled down to Stoford on Saturday after lunch and booked into The Swan, as is our habit when pootling about Down Sowf. Then we went to Nunton and collected The Builder's Mother, Gwen and took her with us.
None of us was exactly sure where the Cornmarket was, so I put the postcode into Kathy the Sat Nav and off we went. Alas - Kathy's map assured us that the place we were going to was down a side street which, once we got to Warminster, proved not to exist :-S So we went down another street, which did exist, and more or less by accident found ourselves in a car park which had a board announcing the existence of the Cornmarket Mall, or something very like it. I went on a little recce - and found the cafe with Barb and Greg and Jeanette and Matthew and Rebecca and Evie all sat inside. We decided that this must be the place we were heading for!!
It was a good do. Greg's sons came with their children. His other sister Pauline came with her family. There were friends and colleagues. I think there were something like 40 people there. The cafe was running a bar. There was music and dancing. There was food and merriment. One of Greg's sons presented him with an inflatable zimmer frame festooned with balloons.
It was all lots of fun. But we couldn't stay terribly late. Gwen was fading quite a bit by 9:30 or so (might have had something to do with the glass of wine I gave her, but I think she is usually heading for bed by around 10 anyway). So we took her home and then repaired to The Swan for a pre-bed tipple and a lovely, snuggly bed.
And then we more or less came home, after breakfast and a visit to the Wilton garden centre to see what varieties of seed potatoes they had. Marlo was quite surprised to see us. Usually if we are away overnight we either get back shortly after breakfast because we've stayed in Sheffield overnight, or not until later in the evening, because we've been gallivanting down in Wiltshire or Hampshire for the day. It's unusual for us to come home before lunch. But I had had the foresight to take a small piece of roasting meat out of the freezer before we left on the Saturday, so no excuse for a lunch out.
Alas, however. Poor Frugality has fallen flat on her face and seems to be rolling around in the gutter. Even without having Sunday lunch out, the savings for the GWT took something of a battering over the weekend. I think our "how-far-can-we-get-with-what-we've-got" meter might have plunged back to somewhere like Southampton.
Had a nice lunch with Freyja, Julia and Timon last week. Julia and Timon are back in New York now. Freyja is back at Uni. I think the partying is all done now.
Well - until Easter when I think we can start again :-)
We have been to Warminster for a party. It was Barb, the ex-Mrs Builder, 's brother Greg's 70th birthday party. (Got it? There might be a test later!!)
The party was held in the Cornmarket cafe in Warminster. (There might be a test on this later too!!)
So we trundled down to Stoford on Saturday after lunch and booked into The Swan, as is our habit when pootling about Down Sowf. Then we went to Nunton and collected The Builder's Mother, Gwen and took her with us.
None of us was exactly sure where the Cornmarket was, so I put the postcode into Kathy the Sat Nav and off we went. Alas - Kathy's map assured us that the place we were going to was down a side street which, once we got to Warminster, proved not to exist :-S So we went down another street, which did exist, and more or less by accident found ourselves in a car park which had a board announcing the existence of the Cornmarket Mall, or something very like it. I went on a little recce - and found the cafe with Barb and Greg and Jeanette and Matthew and Rebecca and Evie all sat inside. We decided that this must be the place we were heading for!!
It was a good do. Greg's sons came with their children. His other sister Pauline came with her family. There were friends and colleagues. I think there were something like 40 people there. The cafe was running a bar. There was music and dancing. There was food and merriment. One of Greg's sons presented him with an inflatable zimmer frame festooned with balloons.
 |
| Spot the birthday boy!!! (Click on the photo to get to the album) |
It was all lots of fun. But we couldn't stay terribly late. Gwen was fading quite a bit by 9:30 or so (might have had something to do with the glass of wine I gave her, but I think she is usually heading for bed by around 10 anyway). So we took her home and then repaired to The Swan for a pre-bed tipple and a lovely, snuggly bed.
And then we more or less came home, after breakfast and a visit to the Wilton garden centre to see what varieties of seed potatoes they had. Marlo was quite surprised to see us. Usually if we are away overnight we either get back shortly after breakfast because we've stayed in Sheffield overnight, or not until later in the evening, because we've been gallivanting down in Wiltshire or Hampshire for the day. It's unusual for us to come home before lunch. But I had had the foresight to take a small piece of roasting meat out of the freezer before we left on the Saturday, so no excuse for a lunch out.
Alas, however. Poor Frugality has fallen flat on her face and seems to be rolling around in the gutter. Even without having Sunday lunch out, the savings for the GWT took something of a battering over the weekend. I think our "how-far-can-we-get-with-what-we've-got" meter might have plunged back to somewhere like Southampton.
Had a nice lunch with Freyja, Julia and Timon last week. Julia and Timon are back in New York now. Freyja is back at Uni. I think the partying is all done now.
Well - until Easter when I think we can start again :-)
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Food, Wine and Merriment
There was a meeting on Friday evening of the volunteers and committee for Bishops' House. It started at 7:30 and it hardly seemed worth my while going home to Tupton, just to turn around and head straight back to Sheffield. So I suggested to The Builder that he come into Sheffield at around 6pm, meet me and we could go somewhere for an early bite to eat before the meeting. He thought this was a good idea.
So we thought we would go to the Rutland Arms, which isn't far from where I work and does nice pub grub. Alas, when we got there it was absolutely chockers full (mostly of students, I think - which surprised me because it has never been a student pub and I would have thought it was slightly off the student track). No chance of getting a meal there then.
So we headed up towards Bishops' House and stopped at a pub along the way. No food there at all.
Then I remembered that there is a cafe not far from BH and as far as I remembered they were open on Friday evenings. So we went there. And they are open on Friday evenings. And on Fridays they do Caribbean food. So we had an unexpected delightful Caribbean meal and shared a bottle of wine and headed off to the meeting feeling full and replete.
We didn't stay long after the meeting, when there was cake and wine and chatter. I had been awake for the better part of the previous night and was feeling exceptionally sleepy.
Saturday was a relatively lazy day. No unexpected food adventures, but we did replenish the cat food supplies, to the great relief of the cat, and we replenished the wine supplies and generally pottered about.
Sunday was much more engaging.
So we thought we would go to the Rutland Arms, which isn't far from where I work and does nice pub grub. Alas, when we got there it was absolutely chockers full (mostly of students, I think - which surprised me because it has never been a student pub and I would have thought it was slightly off the student track). No chance of getting a meal there then.
So we headed up towards Bishops' House and stopped at a pub along the way. No food there at all.
Then I remembered that there is a cafe not far from BH and as far as I remembered they were open on Friday evenings. So we went there. And they are open on Friday evenings. And on Fridays they do Caribbean food. So we had an unexpected delightful Caribbean meal and shared a bottle of wine and headed off to the meeting feeling full and replete.
We didn't stay long after the meeting, when there was cake and wine and chatter. I had been awake for the better part of the previous night and was feeling exceptionally sleepy.
Saturday was a relatively lazy day. No unexpected food adventures, but we did replenish the cat food supplies, to the great relief of the cat, and we replenished the wine supplies and generally pottered about.
Sunday was much more engaging.
 |
| Raspberry and white chocolate tart for dessert |
You may remember that a little over a year ago, Julia and Timon called by for lunch with Freyja on their way to New York (not Freyja, she was just accompanying them to our place - no exciting New York adventures for her!). Well, it's nearly time for them to return to Australia and they decided to pay a visit to Western Europe before heading back to the Antipodes. I have been following Julia's NYC blog with interest while they've been there and have noted that one of the things she has really missed has been roast lamb. Or, indeed, any lamb. I don't think the denizens of NYC eat a great deal of sheep. So I said that if she came unto Tupton I would provide roast lamb for her. So she and Timon and Freyja and Simon trundled to Chesterfield on the train on Sunday and I provided the promised roast lamb (veggie alternatives available on request). With Yorkshire puddings. Julia is also rather partial to Yorkshire Puddings and I rather suspect they are almost as often on the New York menus as roast lamb appears to be. We had a lovely afternoon eating and chatting - but not drinking a great deal. Freyja thought it highly likely that I would start be reporting that they had all headed out on the razzle the previous evening and had had the temerity to turn up to my Sunday feast remarkably hungover and sleep deprived. In fact, I had intended to gloss over this. But I think I might, perhaps, just mention it in passing since Freyja had raised it :-D The Builder and I had not been razzling and thus were not hung over or sleep deprived. The Builder, alas, was taking the visitors back to the station when they left so couldn't indulge much over lunch (he caught up when he got home). But I could. So while everyone was partaking of the non-alcoholic cocktails I had found for non-drinkers, I got to drink the wine.
Julia and Timon head back to New York for a final month next week. Freyja and Simon are heading over for a few days just before Julia and Timon go home. The Builder and I have no New York Plans. But I think I have enough now in the Grand World Tour account to get us as far as Athens, possibly even a little further, depending on which deals I could find. Not that Athens figures in my plans, but I like to know how far I could get if I wanted to. The Grand World Tour at the moment features SE Asia, Australasia and the Far East. Europe doesn't, as yet, get a look in!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Day Off
I had a remarkably long day at work on Tuesday. I had a 2 hour meeting in the morning that required a fair level of concentration. I had a 1.5 hour meeting in the afternoon that also required concentration. Then I was on the desk from 5-9 - which required considerable concentration to keep me awake!!!
I decided to take Wednesday off. I declared it to be a Saturday. A supplementary Saturday, sat in the middle of the week :-)
And I really enjoyed it. We got up spectacularly late by our standards (I somehow managed to sleep through the radio coming on and both of my alarm calls going off). We pottered about in a leisurely sort of a way. We went to Sainsbury's (for not only was it a day off, but it was also payday for me, so I did a few payday bits of shopping) and to the Garden Centre for some bird food supplies. We drove out to Chatsworth in a backwards rotation from our point of view (usually we go to Chatsworth then to Sainsbury's for mop up shopping) and thence on to The Nettle for a truly lovely chicken and leek pie (well, I had a chicken and leek pie. The Builder had gammon and egg and chips). And then we went home and watched television and read books and played games on the Internet. It was a lovely, lovely day.
And the weather was proper English weather. Misty and cloudy and damp - which sounds very dreary (and is, when it goes on day after day after day). But it is evocative and very atmospheric when you are out driving over the moors and in the countryside. The trees are beautiful and dark and sometimes twisted, and the mist curls and furls and unfurls. And sometimes it turns into tendrils of fog. And the frost and ice had gone and the temperature had once again turned quite mild.
It came as something of a shock to the system to wake up this morning and find that it wasn't Sunday, but Thursday. But I could easily get used to having a second Saturday on a Wednesday!
I have been working on the Grand World Tour savings account. So far I think I have enough to get us to Rome :-D
I decided to take Wednesday off. I declared it to be a Saturday. A supplementary Saturday, sat in the middle of the week :-)
And I really enjoyed it. We got up spectacularly late by our standards (I somehow managed to sleep through the radio coming on and both of my alarm calls going off). We pottered about in a leisurely sort of a way. We went to Sainsbury's (for not only was it a day off, but it was also payday for me, so I did a few payday bits of shopping) and to the Garden Centre for some bird food supplies. We drove out to Chatsworth in a backwards rotation from our point of view (usually we go to Chatsworth then to Sainsbury's for mop up shopping) and thence on to The Nettle for a truly lovely chicken and leek pie (well, I had a chicken and leek pie. The Builder had gammon and egg and chips). And then we went home and watched television and read books and played games on the Internet. It was a lovely, lovely day.
And the weather was proper English weather. Misty and cloudy and damp - which sounds very dreary (and is, when it goes on day after day after day). But it is evocative and very atmospheric when you are out driving over the moors and in the countryside. The trees are beautiful and dark and sometimes twisted, and the mist curls and furls and unfurls. And sometimes it turns into tendrils of fog. And the frost and ice had gone and the temperature had once again turned quite mild.
It came as something of a shock to the system to wake up this morning and find that it wasn't Sunday, but Thursday. But I could easily get used to having a second Saturday on a Wednesday!
I have been working on the Grand World Tour savings account. So far I think I have enough to get us to Rome :-D
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Finally, Winter has found us
We woke up at the weekend to find that winter had finally managed to make its presence felt. Apart from a sprinkling of snow weather around my birthday, this winter has been by and large mild, grey and windy. Very, very windy! So it was rather nice to have a few days of cold, frosty, sunny and above all - still weather!
I'm not sure the chickens agreed with me though. They don't like the ice and the frost. And their water hopper froze :-S (We've bought another one so that there is at least one unfrozen hopper on the go!!) But they were quite happy with the warmed vegetable peelings or bread soaked in hot water that were on offer during the cold snap.
Sometimes where we live is beautiful in the winter, especially when the sun, which is low in the sky in January, catches the trees and hills as it passes by
We were scheduled to open Bishops' House on Saturday. I have to say I wasn't really expecting many visitors, if indeed any visitors. But I announced on Facebook that we were going and we took books and my laptop and the makings of tea and sandwiches. It was a stunning morning in Meersbrook Park, but most of the people out walking were with their dogs and they don't tend to come in.
My Facebook announcement drew out our friend Alex and his not quite 2 year old son. Neither of them had ever been inside and they only live around the corner! We were visited by someone wanting to know where the Weston Park Museum was (I felt that respondiong with: In Weston Park might not be entirely helpful!!!!!). His sat nav had brought him to us, instead. This seemed a bit strange - until when consulting my Very Useful Laptop, I discovered that the top entry on Google gave our address and post code and not the one that Weston Park actually has!!! And then we had a group of Greek people come to visit us. That was very exciting. We don't get many international visitors in the winter :-) Plus there were a couple of random people who popped in. And then suddenly it was time to hand the house over to the afternoon volunteers and go home
We will be back at Bishops' house from 10 - 1 on February 4th and March 10th if you fancy coming to say hello. On March 10th they're doing a Wartime Home reenactment from 10-4 (and a local heritage event on Saturday March 3rd as well). Entrance is free
I'm not sure the chickens agreed with me though. They don't like the ice and the frost. And their water hopper froze :-S (We've bought another one so that there is at least one unfrozen hopper on the go!!) But they were quite happy with the warmed vegetable peelings or bread soaked in hot water that were on offer during the cold snap.
Sometimes where we live is beautiful in the winter, especially when the sun, which is low in the sky in January, catches the trees and hills as it passes by
 |
| The view from the bathroom on Sunday morning |
We were scheduled to open Bishops' House on Saturday. I have to say I wasn't really expecting many visitors, if indeed any visitors. But I announced on Facebook that we were going and we took books and my laptop and the makings of tea and sandwiches. It was a stunning morning in Meersbrook Park, but most of the people out walking were with their dogs and they don't tend to come in.
My Facebook announcement drew out our friend Alex and his not quite 2 year old son. Neither of them had ever been inside and they only live around the corner! We were visited by someone wanting to know where the Weston Park Museum was (I felt that respondiong with: In Weston Park might not be entirely helpful!!!!!). His sat nav had brought him to us, instead. This seemed a bit strange - until when consulting my Very Useful Laptop, I discovered that the top entry on Google gave our address and post code and not the one that Weston Park actually has!!! And then we had a group of Greek people come to visit us. That was very exciting. We don't get many international visitors in the winter :-) Plus there were a couple of random people who popped in. And then suddenly it was time to hand the house over to the afternoon volunteers and go home
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| Click on the house to see the whole album |
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
2012 - the year of austerity
And so I have, belatedly, joined the rest of the world in 2012. After a pleasant week sitting at home in my armchair, doing very little, I bounced back into the real world on Monday, ready to start the year, filled with resolutions, good intentions and New Year Plans. Just a week later than everyone else :-D
So this is to be the Year of Austerity. The Prime Minister says so. The Chancellor of the Exchequer says so. The Pundits all say so. If we are to rescue Capitalism from a moribund future and release it into a bouncing and revivified future, then austerity is definitely what is called for. (Although the sharp intakes of breath that followed the Prime Minister's strong suggestions that the nation should all of us tighten our belts and dramatically cut our household spending in order to reduce our household debts and clear our credit cards were clearly audible nationally when he made this proposal a few months ago. Small and large businesses all around the country seemed to think this was a recipe for catastrophic economic disaster. And you can see their point.)
Anyway. All that aside. I have been listening intently to the PM and his Chancellor and have agreed that austerity is the way to go for 2012. This will be something of a challenge. I am not very good at austere. I am hopeless when it comes to self restraint. Pathetic when it comes to self denial. Useless when it comes to pleasure deferred. More to the point - I am not very interested in economics, can't abide the PM or his Chancellor and their interference in matters that are none of their business (every time they opine that we should stop drinking, eating, breathing, I determine to go out and drink, eat and breathe even more!) and simply can't see how me spending much less will improve things one iota.
But I do have a personal carrot dangling in front of my nose. I am in the early stages of planning a Grand World Tour at the end of the year. And for that I will need a large injection of pennies. And this will require considerable scrimping, saving and definite austerity - at the moment I have precisely enough money for the train fares to and from work between now and the next payday!!
Oh - and I will need a house-sitter, if you know anyone who fancies a winter break in rural Derbyshire next December/January
So this is to be the Year of Austerity. The Prime Minister says so. The Chancellor of the Exchequer says so. The Pundits all say so. If we are to rescue Capitalism from a moribund future and release it into a bouncing and revivified future, then austerity is definitely what is called for. (Although the sharp intakes of breath that followed the Prime Minister's strong suggestions that the nation should all of us tighten our belts and dramatically cut our household spending in order to reduce our household debts and clear our credit cards were clearly audible nationally when he made this proposal a few months ago. Small and large businesses all around the country seemed to think this was a recipe for catastrophic economic disaster. And you can see their point.)
Anyway. All that aside. I have been listening intently to the PM and his Chancellor and have agreed that austerity is the way to go for 2012. This will be something of a challenge. I am not very good at austere. I am hopeless when it comes to self restraint. Pathetic when it comes to self denial. Useless when it comes to pleasure deferred. More to the point - I am not very interested in economics, can't abide the PM or his Chancellor and their interference in matters that are none of their business (every time they opine that we should stop drinking, eating, breathing, I determine to go out and drink, eat and breathe even more!) and simply can't see how me spending much less will improve things one iota.
But I do have a personal carrot dangling in front of my nose. I am in the early stages of planning a Grand World Tour at the end of the year. And for that I will need a large injection of pennies. And this will require considerable scrimping, saving and definite austerity - at the moment I have precisely enough money for the train fares to and from work between now and the next payday!!
Oh - and I will need a house-sitter, if you know anyone who fancies a winter break in rural Derbyshire next December/January
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Not planning to retire yet
In the (highly unlikely) event that I can ever afford to retire I am going to have to be very careful not to fall into bad habits. Here it is, after 9:00 in the morning, and I am still sitting around in my night attire and fluffy dressing gown. Mind you - it is extremely windy and still rather wet outside so there is no absolute imperative to do anything. I was woken at 4:30 (you could learn to dislike intensely a time like 04:30 when you are greeted by it pretty much every morning and when there is no need to be awake - not that there often is need to be awake at 04:30!!) by a howling gale and squally but very heavy rain. To my surprise I went back to sleep and didn't wake up again until 07:30. And have only just got up. Doesn't augur well for an active life of retirement!!!
The other thing I will need to be careful about is noting the days of the week. I haven't even been off work for two weeks yet and I am chronically confused by what day it is. Fortunately my computer knows! But that really doesn't augur well for retirement.
So it is probably just as well that there is absolutely no prospect of an ongoing idle life in the foreseeable future. I go back to work on Monday with no plans for any time off after that until Easter (well, apart from the odd day here and there).
It crossed Freyja's mind on Tuesday that Wednesday would, most unusually, see The Builder, me, Tabitha, Cally and her all off work and all, more or less, in the same place. Did The Builder and I fancy going into Sheffield and all meeting somewhere for lunch. Now I find this very hard to explain, but I am always deeply reluctant to go into Sheffield on days when I am not at work or don't have pre-arranged things to do. It's not that I don't like Sheffield. It's not even that it's particularly far away or onerous to get to. Can't explain it at all. But my practically instant reaction to "Why don't you come into Sheffield and we'll ..." is nearly always "Bleurgh. Yet ANOTHER trip to Sheffield". And yet, when I go, I always enjoy whatever it is we've gone to do. On this occasion, however, I counter- suggested that she, Tabitha and Cally could perhaps come to us, on the bus which passes right by the bottom of Tabitha's road. So no need for me to go to Sheffield and they don't mind pottering about on the bus.
So The Builder went to collect them from the bus station, and I made pizzas and we all had a merry afternoon - except perhaps Marlo who was a bit disconcerted to find a small, rapidly moving creature running around in his lounge room (not that she can run, but she can crawl very quickly and can walk around with alacrity as long as she's hanging on to something - won't be long!!!) Gareth missed out on the pizzas and merriment, given that he actually was doing something useful and was at work. Then Tabitha, Cally and Freyja went back to Sheffield on the bus and The Builder and I settled in for a lazy evening.
Looks as though today is going to be a lazy day as well. No plans. And I'm *still* not dressed!!!
The other thing I will need to be careful about is noting the days of the week. I haven't even been off work for two weeks yet and I am chronically confused by what day it is. Fortunately my computer knows! But that really doesn't augur well for retirement.
So it is probably just as well that there is absolutely no prospect of an ongoing idle life in the foreseeable future. I go back to work on Monday with no plans for any time off after that until Easter (well, apart from the odd day here and there).
It crossed Freyja's mind on Tuesday that Wednesday would, most unusually, see The Builder, me, Tabitha, Cally and her all off work and all, more or less, in the same place. Did The Builder and I fancy going into Sheffield and all meeting somewhere for lunch. Now I find this very hard to explain, but I am always deeply reluctant to go into Sheffield on days when I am not at work or don't have pre-arranged things to do. It's not that I don't like Sheffield. It's not even that it's particularly far away or onerous to get to. Can't explain it at all. But my practically instant reaction to "Why don't you come into Sheffield and we'll ..." is nearly always "Bleurgh. Yet ANOTHER trip to Sheffield". And yet, when I go, I always enjoy whatever it is we've gone to do. On this occasion, however, I counter- suggested that she, Tabitha and Cally could perhaps come to us, on the bus which passes right by the bottom of Tabitha's road. So no need for me to go to Sheffield and they don't mind pottering about on the bus.
So The Builder went to collect them from the bus station, and I made pizzas and we all had a merry afternoon - except perhaps Marlo who was a bit disconcerted to find a small, rapidly moving creature running around in his lounge room (not that she can run, but she can crawl very quickly and can walk around with alacrity as long as she's hanging on to something - won't be long!!!) Gareth missed out on the pizzas and merriment, given that he actually was doing something useful and was at work. Then Tabitha, Cally and Freyja went back to Sheffield on the bus and The Builder and I settled in for a lazy evening.
Looks as though today is going to be a lazy day as well. No plans. And I'm *still* not dressed!!!
Monday, January 02, 2012
Welcome, 2012
The Builder and I retired to bed nice and early on New Year's Eve, so that we would be refreshed and eager to greet 2012 with enthusiasm and vigour.
We were woken at 23:45 by The Builder's mobile phone excitedly receiving a text message. It doesn't get many text messages so is always keen to tell us when it does. We were woken again at 00:15 by what I think might have been the new people in the last house at the end of the terrace. Whoever it was, they were having a long, loud and cheery fireworks party. I woke up at 03:00 or so because I was a bit hot and a bit thirsty. We were woken after 04:00 by Daniel-next-door, who is in the army and stationed in Germany but is home for the holidays, having a happy, drunken and LOUD conversation on his mobile phone, until hustled inside by his father. At 05:15 I gave up and dispatched The Builder to make us a cup of tea. 2012 was clearly determined that we were going to note its arrival as soon as it could attract our attention!!
In fact, it is usually quite quiet in Tupton and it's unusual for us to be woken by noise at all. It was very exciting to had so many noise interruptions in one night!!!
This all had the effect that I was more than ready for Bea and Steve to come to lunch at 13:00. I had taken the giblets and neck from the lunchtime goose and made a stock. I had tidied up. I had set the table and made a table decoration. We had been out a-hunting and a-gathering in the garden and returned with a trug of vegetables (although it was a bit weird to be wandering around in the garden on New Year's Day wearing nothing but a cardigan. Well yes, and clothes - but no winter weight coat or scarf). The goose had gone into the oven on time. All was good! Although it is always a bit disconcerting when we are having a luncheon party and I am ready ahead of time. I always worry that I have forgotten something. But on this occasion, I hadn't.
And it was a very jolly luncheon party. And the roast goose was lovely. It was wet and very windy outside, but warm and cosy and festive inside. I think we all had a good time.
Today the sun has come out and it's a beautiful day. The temperature is much closer to the January average, so no wandering around outside without a jacket on. It's still nice and cosy in the house though.
It's a Bank Holiday today in the UK, and then most of the rest of the country gets back to normal tomorrow. Not Scotland, which I think is largely closed tomorrow. And not me. I have the rest of the week off :-)
We were woken at 23:45 by The Builder's mobile phone excitedly receiving a text message. It doesn't get many text messages so is always keen to tell us when it does. We were woken again at 00:15 by what I think might have been the new people in the last house at the end of the terrace. Whoever it was, they were having a long, loud and cheery fireworks party. I woke up at 03:00 or so because I was a bit hot and a bit thirsty. We were woken after 04:00 by Daniel-next-door, who is in the army and stationed in Germany but is home for the holidays, having a happy, drunken and LOUD conversation on his mobile phone, until hustled inside by his father. At 05:15 I gave up and dispatched The Builder to make us a cup of tea. 2012 was clearly determined that we were going to note its arrival as soon as it could attract our attention!!
In fact, it is usually quite quiet in Tupton and it's unusual for us to be woken by noise at all. It was very exciting to had so many noise interruptions in one night!!!
This all had the effect that I was more than ready for Bea and Steve to come to lunch at 13:00. I had taken the giblets and neck from the lunchtime goose and made a stock. I had tidied up. I had set the table and made a table decoration. We had been out a-hunting and a-gathering in the garden and returned with a trug of vegetables (although it was a bit weird to be wandering around in the garden on New Year's Day wearing nothing but a cardigan. Well yes, and clothes - but no winter weight coat or scarf). The goose had gone into the oven on time. All was good! Although it is always a bit disconcerting when we are having a luncheon party and I am ready ahead of time. I always worry that I have forgotten something. But on this occasion, I hadn't.
And it was a very jolly luncheon party. And the roast goose was lovely. It was wet and very windy outside, but warm and cosy and festive inside. I think we all had a good time.
Today the sun has come out and it's a beautiful day. The temperature is much closer to the January average, so no wandering around outside without a jacket on. It's still nice and cosy in the house though.
It's a Bank Holiday today in the UK, and then most of the rest of the country gets back to normal tomorrow. Not Scotland, which I think is largely closed tomorrow. And not me. I have the rest of the week off :-)
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| Happy New Year (Click on the photo to reach the food blog, to read all about the roast goose) |
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Poor old Greg
For some time, Barb's brother Greg has been having problems with his heart. He was booked in to the Salisbury hospital on January 3rd to have an angiogram to see whether maybe a stent would help. But I think he was having delusions of royalness - after we had seen him on Wednesday he had to be taken in the middle of the night to the Salisbury hospital with severe chest pains. Alas - he didn't get to go in an exciting helicopter. He had to be content with a boring old ambulance - not even with its lights and siren going! Freyja says that this is all my fault - I had jinxed him by thinking how very well he was looking on Wednesday. But I don't think it was my fault. I hadn't actually said it - only thought it.
Anyway. He has now had his angiogram and has also had FOUR stents put in. I think he is expecting to go home today, so I assume he is feeling better. I don't think he is going home in an ambulance though.
On a happier note, our 2011 spare bedroom drought has been broken at the eleventh hour. Finally it has had an overnight visitor. Freyja came to stay while we were away, to play with Marlo, who was very pleased to see her. I think the spare room might have been pleased to see her as well. It must be very sad to be a spare room that no one uses for its intended purpose (I use it, mainly as a spare storage space for things I can't be bothered putting away - but that is obviously not its intended purpose).
Last day of the year. Better go and do something useful.
Anyway. He has now had his angiogram and has also had FOUR stents put in. I think he is expecting to go home today, so I assume he is feeling better. I don't think he is going home in an ambulance though.
On a happier note, our 2011 spare bedroom drought has been broken at the eleventh hour. Finally it has had an overnight visitor. Freyja came to stay while we were away, to play with Marlo, who was very pleased to see her. I think the spare room might have been pleased to see her as well. It must be very sad to be a spare room that no one uses for its intended purpose (I use it, mainly as a spare storage space for things I can't be bothered putting away - but that is obviously not its intended purpose).
Last day of the year. Better go and do something useful.
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