Busy but still found time to party!

It was all systems go here at number 2 on Friday.  Phil left for work at the crack of dawn and after tea and toast, I went to the gym.  I stopped off en route and tipped the office carpet at the Bleak Hall tip and also nipped in to the OB flat to drop off some stuff.  After my work out I popped in Sainsbury’s to get some supplies and then it was back home.  Sue was looking after her grandson Jake for the morning and to keep him occupied they had baked some cup cakes.  Jake is 3 and a half and a real live wire; Sue had to watch him for every single minute.   I hadn’t long been home when the doorbell went and it was Dave from Shenley Domestics to look at the Hoover tumble dryer.  This is the tumble dryer we had given to Sue when she first moved back but every time she switched it on it blew the electrics. She ended up having to buy a new one but rather than dump the Hoover I decided to all Dave just to see if he could fix it.  As it turned out, Dave was able to fix it.  The problem was simple, when Phil and I moved the dryer in the Land Rover, we laid it on its side and water had trickled into the fan.  Dave removed the fan and dried it with a hair dryer, for which he charged me £38.  At some point this week, I shall get Phil to help me get it out of the garage and take it to the OB flat.  When this is done, I can start then start clearing out our rubbish from Sue’s garage.

Not long after Dave from Shenley Domestics arrived, there was another ring on the doorbell and this time it was the carpet fitter with the new carpet for the office.  Sue had to take little Jake back to his mum’s so left me in charge.  I had to be at home to do Phil’s lunch and he arrived while the carpet fitter was still fitting.  This wasn’t a problem, I still managed to serve up Thai green curry followed by syrup pudding and custard.  So it was all systems go on Friday morning and much the same for the afternoon.  I went to Wickes to buy floor boards for mum and dad’s loft and while I was in the area, I decided to go and check the gas and the electric meters at the flat.  We have had to put the heating on 24/7 to dry out the damp and its swallowing money.  I had a bit of a shock to find a BWM in our drive and recognised the guy as being one of the squatters from the flat. He looked shocked to see me and I was fairly aggressive when I asked how he had managed to open my garden gate which can only be opened with a Yale key.  Obviously he has made a copy but I decided to let it go because he had come round to pick up the car tyres in the back garden and as it would cost me to dump them, I just let him load them in his car and drive off.  Hopefully this is the last we see will of these tenants and squatters and thank goodness we changed the locks.

On Friday we decided to go into Newport and try out Robinson’s wine bar.  Unfortunately it was dead as a dodo and a bit chilly in the bar.  Still, we had olives and nachos’ and red wine and it made a change to go out on a Friday night.  We ended up in The Cannon which was fairly packed.  It was an interesting evening and we got chatting to locals.  At least the pub had some atmosphere.  Sue & me ended up dancing in the kitchen with our wooden spoons and Phil asleep in front of the telly.

Unfortunately it was an early start on Saturday morning, because we had to drive down to Melton Mowbray to floor board the loft.  I handed the boards up to Phil but he had the job of grovelling on his hands and knees screwing the boards down.  Mum had done us roast pork with all the trimmings for lunch and in the afternoon I programmed the new phones that I had taken down for them. I felt a little sorry for mum, she’s feeling much better after her sickness bug but she had a few tears when she was alone with me in the kitchen.  She’s a little depressed being at home all day with George not driving.  I think also, she is frustrated that there are lots of little jobs around the bungalow that are not being done.  Phil & I are doing the best we can but until Phil finishes work, the jobs are just going to have to wait.

On the way back from Melton we stopped off at Overstone to pick up post from The Manor.  It’s been a while since we have been and we had a stack of letters.  We got back to number 2 at half four so it wasn’t a terribly long day.  We just had time to get showered and changed and Sue very kindly dropped off at Kiln Farm Social Club.  We were there for a surprise 50^th party.  The party was for Sandy, our ex neighbour from the cul-de-sac.  The instructions were to get there by 7.15pm; we were there in plenty of time and I was worried that were hardly any people.  Sandy didn’t get there until 8pm and by this time plenty of friends had turned up.  Sandy was gobsmacked when she walked in and I would said that this one truly surprised lady.  She thought she was going to a concert!  Becky, her daughter and Lisa her best friend had organising all the planning, the room was done up with balloons and a nice buffet had been prepared.  Becky’s boyfriend did the disco and he was excellent.  To be honest, we were a little jaded from Friday evening jolligans (is that a word?) and also from the drive to Melton Mowbray and back but we had a great time.  I enjoyed talking to Derek & Julia, Sandy’s immediate neighbours and it was good to chat to Kevin and buy him a pint.  Phil took on the role of ‘unofficial’ photographer and when he downloaded onto his laptop, there were some 260 photographs.  I have promised to download on to a CD and pop it round to Lisa.  God knows when I will find time to do this but it’s certainly on the ‘to do’ list.

Sunday was an easy day as planned and to be honest, it was really nice to have a chill out day.  Although niether Sue or I work, we don’t seem to have much time to put our feet up and simply do nothing.  I popped out to get a newspaper first thing, Phil went to Curry’s to buy some bits for his headphones and Sue had to go to Wolverton to get some stuff from her dad’s bungalow but that was it.  Sue did the veggies and I put a joint of roast lamb in the oven and we served up just after 1pm.  Harriet joined us for lunch; I hadn’t seen her for a while so it was an opportunity to catch up.  Lunch was tasty and the red wine helped it all go down and after clearing up, we sat down in front of the telly.  Phil put a film on which we kind of followed but in the main we just sat back and relaxed.  Lovely.

Phil was up and at work for 7am on Monday morning; Sue and I were both downstairs before half seven but somehow I was slow to get going.   The new office furniture was being delivered sometime between 9 and 1pm and Sue said would I mind staying in while she nipped to the doctors.  I didn’t mind at all because I had a load of paperwork to sort and sure enough the Viking delivery van turned up just after 9am.  The new furniture came flat packed and the two delivery men came equipped with a tool kit and put it all together.  It took them a good hour.  I cooked a corn beef hash for lunch and Sue sorted out the office.  

My peasant lunch offering of corn beef hash wasn’t brilliant, real comfort food for a Monday but everyone finished their plates.  In the afternoon, Sue went for a meeting with her dad’s social worker and I did some more paperwork.  I had intended to go to the gym and pop into Asda afterwards but then it started to rain and I changed my mind.  I did pop into Tesco but then I forgot half of what I wanted.  Phil finished at Cerulan yesterday, his work there is done and they don’t have any more work for him.  He is happy and delighted that he has finished as there so much flat stuff for him to do.  Indeed he hasn’t got a chance to have some leisure time because this morning he if back to Melton to do some jobs for mum and dad.  He’s going to stay the night and hopefully he should be able to get more of the loft boarded and do some more sorting out in the garage.  As soon as I finish posting this blog I am off to start painting in the OB flat and Sue, bless her, is coming along to help.  We’ve got our cheese and beetroot sandwiches already made in the fridge and a spare pint of milk to make tea.   Hopefully the pilot light hasn’t gone out and we will have heat while we work.  There is so much to do but it will get done, it’s just a matter of time.