Saturday

First of all, just for Vix, here are some pictures of our elderly cat Suzie.  She is coming up to 20 years old and is just starting to look her age.  We have had her from a kitten together with her brother Tigger who passed away 8 years ago.  Their Mother was a wild cat, that some friends of ours took in, but both Tigger and Suzie have always been nice natured.  Suzie sleeps a lot these days and doesn't venture further than our back garden.  She is very loved and fussed over by the girls and it will be a very sad day when she is no longer with us.

The big thing today was that this afternoon I had my first Covid vaccination.  I had to go to Dawlish Hospital which is about 6 miles away.  I was more worried about finding where I was going etc than the actual vaccination but it was all very well organised and over and done with quickly.  I am group 9 so thought it would be at least  April time before I heard anything but suddenly had a phone call from my surgery Thursday morning giving me my appointment.  Hopefully, I won't suffer any side effects.  I am someone who shies away from anything medical, never visit the Doctors or take any medicines, but we love to travel so I had to be brave!

The girls are all busy with their own activities so I'm going to sneak off and read a bit more of my book.

  Friday

Well today has been drier than the last couple of days so after walking L to school I went around the village doing various errands.  First of all there is a woman who has a table of books for sale outside her house, for a donation for a local charity, so I left two bags of books in her porch.  We have a new free food larder box in the village for people to donate unwanted food which other people might use.  I had a bag of rice flour that I bought recently but no longer needed so I put that in the box.  I then collected a prescription from the chemist and then called at the shop for some sour dough pitta breads.  These are made by our local Hotel and the girls like to use them as pizza bases so that will be their lunch tomorrow.  I was also hoping to get some daffodils as they've had some lovely ones this last week or so but they had sold out.

D had to be dropped at school for 11 so as I had an urge for a decent coffee we called into our local Morrisons garage on the way back and got a couple of cappucino from their Costa machine.  We drove a short way to a viewing point layby  and sat and drank our coffee looking out over the estuary.  It was lovely.

Well tomorrow I have my covid vaccination.  I had a phone call yesterday morning, which took me by surprise, as I am in group 9 so thought it would be next month before it would be my turn.

Have a good weekend.

 Happy 56th Birthday M

Today is Hubby's birthday and our third family birthday in 6 days! Even though there is a big difference in ages it is still quite stressful sorting everyone's presents and cards. Again we  waited until K got in from school before presents and cards were opened.  He had a bottle of port, bottles of lager, curry kits, spicy sauces (bit of a theme here) and a new fleece.  The girls are eating on their own tonight and then we are getting an Indian take away. We are great lovers of a curry but usually make our own - its hard to believe it but this will be our first Indian takeaway! We shall then have a glass of wine or two and finish watching Ben Fogle in Chernobyl which we started the other night.

This is the birthday cake Hubby chose!

I'm still ploughing through all my library books.  I've just finished 'A Winters Dream' which I enjoyed and have read other books by the same author. Now I've just started 'Bad Blood' by Mark Sennen.  I've read the first book in this series - a good crime read but I need to concentrate to keep up with all the characters!  

 

 Happy 13th Birthday K

Today is Daughter K's 13th birthday, another teenager in the house!  There wasn't time to do presents before she left to catch her school bus so we did them when she got in this afternoon, with big sister S joining us on facetime.  She had lots of craft bits and a trolley to store it all in as well as a couple of books and some clothing. We also enjoyed a slice of Jaspur birthday cake.  Tonight we are having the treat of fish and chips so a night off cooking for me.

K was my biggest baby at 8lb 6oz and was due on Hubby's birthday, the 11th.  I was big early on in the pregnancy and always felt uncomfortable then a few days before my due date it was realised that she was breech.  I was booked in for a section, which I requested to be the 10th so they would have different birthdays.  They then had a go at turning her which wasn't pleasant and had no affect except a couple of days later I went into labour. It was a busy day, with D going to a birthday party, and although I had niggles all day I think I was just so focused on my booked section I missed the signs until that evening, whilst watching Midsomer Murders, my waters burst.  I have never moved so quickly in all my life! We  had to get some friends to come and stay with S and D and then shot off to the hospital.  How I didn't give birth in the car I will never know!  I arrived at the hospital at about 11.40 ready to push, but was advised to continue with the section, so had to be prepped and sign the consent forms.  She was born at 4 minutes past midnight.  Hubby was in shock all the way through it!

 Another Sunny Day

Today was the last sunny day forecast before a few wet days so I walked L to school and then carried on around the village taking a longer route home.  I am determined to shift some of these lockdown pounds before the Summer! D only had school till 11.15 so I whizzed over and picked her up and then, as it is K's birthday tomorrow and she will also be back to school, we decided to walk up to our park and have the treat of coffee and cake.  It really was lovely, sitting in the sunshine, looking out over towards the estuary. You can just see our mobile coffee van in the corner of the car park - it is actually a converted horsebox.

K is currently on zoom taking part in her guides meeting and they are making face masks - I envisage some mucky tidying up for me later!. Well we shall watch Unforgotten tonight and then once K has gone to bed we  will be blowing up balloons and putting up birthday banners.

 The Last Couple of Days

Well yesterday was cold but sunny so washing was out on the line again including the girls coats they wear to school as they had got a bit mucky from all our trips to the park. Next everyone sorted school bags while I polished shoes and got out uniform.  People were feeling a bit nervous last night but actually when they got home today they had had a good day, so that's a relief. Hubby did a bit of tidying in the garden yesterday and planted some summer bulbs he had ordered online so hopefully we will have a lot of colour in a few months time.  We also skyped Hubby's Aunt and Uncle who live in France for a catch up. We are hoping that we may be able to visit them once school finishes for the summer holidays as its two years since we last saw them.  They live down near Dijon so a fair old drive for us but they have a lovely house with big gardens and are near some nice towns and a big lake where you can paddle board etc.  We are off to Holland towards the end of August for 12 nights - third time lucky! We were originally meant to go last Easter then we moved it to October half term now its August and it actually looks like its going to happen.

Today, I walked L to school and as it was nice and sunny did a longer route home calling at the post office to forward on some birthday cards that had arrived here for Daughter S.

 Daughter K doesn't go back to school till Wednesday so she is relishing having her Mum to herself for a couple of days.  We went into our local town as I had library books to collect and return and then we went into Asda to get birthday cakes for K and Hubby.

Finally, dinner tonight was cheese wheels.  These appear on the school dinner menu and are now something we have when it needs to be cheap and quick. You make up mashed potato and leave to get cold, then spread it over a sheet of puff pastry and cover it with grated cheese. Roll it up, cut into slices and bake until golden.  We usually have it with cauliflower cheese and baked beans.

I think that's it for today.

 Another Sunny Day

How lovely to wake up to another sunny, if slightly cold day.  The washing was out first thing - sad person that I am, I absolutely love seeing washing drying on the line outside.  Next was washing and hoovering out my car which was absolutely filthy.  After lunch me and the girls went for our usual walk around the village stopping off at the park.  Our mobile drinks van was there today so I had the treat of a cappuccino and the girls had a hot chocolate each.  It was lovely sat in the sunshine while they played and scootered.  It was quite busy with families and dog walkers but its a vast space so easy to keep your distance.

When we got back I tackled a pile of ironing whilst K and L made some red velvet cupcakes.  They both love baking so for Christmas I made them each up a little baking gift bag containing icing, sprinkles, cutters, mixes etc which they have been working through during this lockdown.

This is mine and Hubby's curry tonight, Jamie Oliver's butter chicken. It is very good, a bit of a kick but more fragrant than spicy.  We started our Saturday curry nights many years ago.  I'd just had eldest Daughter S and we had been relocated to Cornwall by the Bank Hubby was working for.  We had no family nearby to help out so suddenly every Saturday night was a night in! We would wait until she was asleep and then cook ourselves a nice curry and have a couple of glasses of wine and here we are 21 years later still doing it.  The only difference is that while at one time all children were in bed when we ate, now they are just in the other room!

Well its The Voice tonight - the girls choice more than mine - but I usually read my book and listen with one ear!

Have a good evening all.