Tuesday - not at work

Tuesday saw The Builder return to work. I have all the rest of this week, plus next Monday, off. Hooray! But there are Things To Do. Today, The Vixen is off for its 12 month service. Hard to think that we’ve had it nearly 12 months. Seems no time. On the other hand, it also seems like we’ve had it forever. Time is an odd thing!

The Builder left at 06:15, as is his wont. I pottered about, cleaned and tidied, did some washing, played with the cat (who seems to be settling in reasonably well) and ambled off in the car at about half past eight. Trundled along back roads, being in no hurry and wishing to explore a little, to Autoworld, on the other side of Chesterfield. Dropped the car off and took the courtesy people carrier back into Chesterfield. Got there about half past nine, I suppose. So I went for a potter around the market. Tuesday is not a market day, although one or two of the fruit and veg stalls were there. But the indoor market was fully operational. It’s an interesting market, really. Lots of stalls similar to the ones in the Sheffield Castle Market, aimed at the lower end of the food market. So frozen burgers, chicken nuggets, frozen fish sticks, sweets, cheap pick and mix, that sort of thing. But amongst that are some really interesting stalls. There’s one which is effectively a farmer’s shop but in a long, long market stall. There are some lovely fish stalls, in among the not so lovely ones. I didn’t have much money with me, but enough to buy some smoked haddock for dinner. Oh – and I’ve bought Marlo a new tag with his new address and phone number on it.

I just missed the bus back to Tupton, so dropped into St Mary’s (she with the twirly spire) for a potter around. There’s a lovely stained glass window which was put up in the 1980s to celebrate (I think) the church’s 800th anniversary, though it may not be 800 years. Anyway, it’s a lovely window, telling the history of the church and the town from 1200 and something. I inspected that, matching it with the information on the descriptive paddle. Then I had to run for the next bus!!! (The bus stop is just across the road from the church.)

So home, where I pootled about, pottered and ambled.

Then it started to rain. And rain. And rain and rain and rain and rain. Sigh. It was nearly time for me to go and catch the bus back into Chesterfield to collect the car. Sigh. Fortunately, by the time I really needed to leave, the downpour had become drizzle. By the time I got to Chesterfield, it had stopped and the sun had come out. I was very, very early for the courtesy car back to Autoworld so I went for a proper explore in the town. There’s a Julian Graves shop in the main shopping centre. Oh no – there goes the budget!!! There are not a whole lot of really interesting shops; all the usual high street shops of course, a few gift shops, several interesting looking pubs. It reminds me a bit of central York, but without all the touristy stuff. There are some fantastic mediaeval buildings. And the market, of course, is fantastic when it’s open.

I arrived at Autoworld and waited. Was told it would be a further 15 minutes or so. So I waited. And waited. And got cross! I had arrived when they had said to, and wasn’t happy wasting a further hour just sat there. Eventually approached the person who had booked the car in in the morning. And oh yes, the car was more or less ready. Sigh! Collected it, handed over a huge wodge of money (have I got anyone left to sell on eBay?) and drove away. Autoworld is on the Unstone, Dronfield road, so I pottered off into Unstone just to have a look. Might go back into Dronfield one day and park up and go for a poke around. Came back to Chesterfield and went for a further explore in Wingerworth (across the main highway from Tupton) and a drive around Tupton/Ankerbold/New Tupton. But not Old Tupton, which is also on the other side of the highway. I’ve been investigating to see how many people there are in the various Tuptons. Can’t find an exact figure, but I think it’s probably around 2.5 to 3k.

We had the haddock for dinner, poached in milk, with home made oven chips (potatoes from the allotment) and a huge mound of buttered runner beans, also from the allotment, and corn on the cob, from Chatsworth. And early to bed. I was struggling really really hard to keep my eyes open by 21:00. Gave in at 21:45!

I have always thought we were fairly frugal in our water use. We try very hard not to be wasteful. So, The Builder has put two water butts to catch water from the bath, shower and sink in the bathroom for use in the garden. He attached it all up on Saturday. It is very scary to report that the first one is nearly full!!! Must Do Better. (And, of course, since he did that, it has rained for at least a part of every day and we don’t need to water the garden or even the pots!)

Right. I am off to Sheffield with the cat. It’s the day for his postponed operation. He is a bit worried by the fact that no breakfast has been forthcoming this morning!!!