Mobile again.

I picked my car up this weekend, and it's good to be mobile again. I've made a big change from my usual cars and now have an automatic. I had been driving one while on holiday in California and with using Neil's when we got back I have got quite used to the idea of no gear changing. Previously I wouldn't have even considered one but now, and it must be an age thing, I can see how much easier it is in traffic and town, and so I decided to give it a go.

I hadn't realised that there was a way of putting it into manual gear mode, when required, but I think it's unlikely I'll bother. I also have a button to put it into sport mode, that may get used on occasions, it does give it a bit more oomph.

I also have a paddle on the steering wheel to control the stereo which I've immediately found useful, although I keep trying to turn it instead of the key as one is just infront of the other.

And so, I'm getting to know my new car quite quickly and beginning to enjoy it. It's certainly been a quick turnaround from finding out my old car was an undriveable wreck to being mobile in my new car. I'll try and hang onto this one a little longer.

Frantic Thursday.

It seems that people have begun to realise Christmas is just over a week away and panic to get things done has set in.

Yesterday, the phones at work were manic. From 8.30am, right through the day it was non-stop attitude. The spirit of Christmas could not have been further away with people demanding, shouting and generally being unpleasant over.............well, not a lot really. It's as if the stress of Christmas approaching has suddenly decended and people have lost the ability to be reasonable.

As with all businesses we issued Christmas closing dates, final order dates for pre-christmas delivery and even allowed room on the production planner for those last minute must haves. It seemed pretty covered.

But not when you have customers who seem to think that a 'made -to-measure' product is somehow sitting on the shelves in the factory just waiting for their call. As if we have a crystal ball to tell us what fabric, colour, size they are going to order so that we can just pick it straight from stock.

No, it doesn't work like that.

And so we fielded calls throughout the day trying not pass on the mood of our customers to each other, and we survived until it was time to turn the lights off and go home.

I expect today will be no different.

Hey Ho, one more week to go!

Dear Diary

After anticipating long drawn out discussions with my insurers over the payout for my car, the actual conversation took about 3 minutes thanks to my research the night before and the internet. A browse on car websites showed me how much I would have to pay to get exactly the same car, same age, same mileage as I had. I knew what I wanted and I knew what I expected them to offer, and I didn't expect the two figures to be very close.

Basically, the conversation went as follows:

Him: Have you done any research on your car to see what you are expecting?

Me: Yes, I had a look last night.

Him: Do you know what mileage your car had done as I don't have a note of it on the form?

Me: Yes, about 44,000

Him: Right, I'm looking at the Autotrader website and can see your car would now be valued between x and y

Me: Okay.

Him: So we would be offering you mid-way.

Me: Ok, I'll let you know.

Phone call ends and they have just offered me exactly the amount I had I discussed with Neil that I would be happy to settle for.

Before the internet, when it was so much more difficult to get comparitive prices and it was all done on Glass' Guide within the motor trade, getting an agreement was a long drawn out process, or it was when I had a car stolen way back in the early 1990's, (we effectively had to find a comparitive car on a garage forecourt to prove its value).

So, within a couple of days I had the cheque in my bank account and I am now looking forward to collecting my new car on Friday.

Not too bad really!

Ticking Off the To-Do List

Despite the unpleasant winter weather I have had a good day outside clearing the mountains of dead leaves which had been brought down by the intense winds over the past few days. We can now get in the front door without wading through soggy mounds of decaying leaves.

Once dressed for the outside it seemed daft not to continue with the list of jobs and I always have the dogs for company, if I'm outside they want to be with me, even if it's raining.

So the task for today was to plant all the spring bulbs. They arrived the day before we went on holiday so they have been sat in the greenhouse waiting for me to have a moment to plant them. It had to be today, regardless of weather as some of the bulbs were already showing signs of new shoots.

Hopefully, I will have a lovely patch of snowdrops, crocus, daffodils and tulips next spring, my hope being that if they don't all survive, some must surely make it.

As the rain got heavier I moved into the greenhouse. We still have tomato plants with green tomatoes on. They are a good size but I am sure that there is little chance of them ripening on the vine now so, it looks like we'll be finding a recipe for green tomato chutney to make use of them.

I took off the last of the chilli peppers too, so the greenhouse is now ready for winter. I'm going to plant the Pampas Grass into large containers and winter it in there so that the roots don't get damaged by the frost. I've always wanted some Pampas Grasses and if I can keep them alive through winter I may finally get them to grow in a sheltered spot in the garden.

So, now darkness has decended, I can feel quite pleased with my days work and get on with planning Christmas. 2 weeks today at this time we should all be sat back watching something on TV having eaten far too much turkey. Seems strange to think it will be here so soon and yet I have effectively done very little so far due to the holiday and the car incident.

Oh, and that's another item off the To-Do list - I've found a replacement car which I can pick up on Friday now that we have agreed a settlement with the insurers.

And one final thing done - we have put the Christmas tree up. It's always fun decorating the tree, testing the lights and being delighted when they work. The dogs have shown no interest in it at all this year, they are so grown up now although the 'I'm Dreaming if a White Christmas' singing Polar Bear still annoys Brinkley.

Quite a productive few days, I feel I've deserved some time to put my feet up infront of the TV, shame there's only football on!

Dear Diary

It seems that, sometimes, things just conspire against us to make life difficult. I'm going through one of those times just now. I shouldn't be, after all, I've just had 2 weeks holiday with our Californian friends and Christmas is just a couple of weeks away when I'll get to spend some time with my brother, who I don't see often enough.

But there's always a curve ball ready to come your way and mine landed a few days ago.

I tried to do a nice thing, after all, my car would be sat on the drive for 2 weeks doing nothing. I have 2 stepsons. They're all grown up and live closeby. Just before we went away one of them told us his car had broken down and needed a lot of work doing. He'd recently lost his job and was doing the rounds of agencies and had a job interview to get to. So I thought it would be a nice thing to do to let him use my car while I was away as it was only going to be parked on the drive.

Well, it's not parked on the drive anymore!

It's now in a compound several miles away, all smashed up. Today my insurers told me it's a write-off.

I have to try and be positive about it. No-one was badly hurt in the collision (I learned today that we don't have 'accidents' anymore, they are 'collisions' - the policeman dealing with the incident told me that, it's all to do with blame) and he did get to the job interview before he smashed it into the back of a stationary van, and he starts after Christmas.

But it was my car and he should've been more careful.

So, 2 weeks before Christmas I am now looking for a replacement car.

I don't like to feel angry - but I am angry about this. I know he didn't do it deliberately and I'm sure he would rather not be black and blue from the bruises caused by the seatbelt and airbag, but I'm still cross with him for not being more careful.

So, having agreed a settlement figure with the insurers today I can now get on with finding a replacement car.

Hey Ho, just one more thing to add to the 'To-Do' list!

Thanks Giving - American style

In true American spirit Neil decided he would like to make a desert to take with us to our first Thanks Giving dinner. We were now in a kitchen that was almost fully functional. The marble worktops (counter tops) had been installed yesterday, the plumber had been today and so the appliances were working, the sinks were working and we had work surfaces to prepare food on. We found a variety of bowls and utensils from the piles of items in the various rooms and we were in business - we decided a Chocolate Pan Forte would be good and visited the local Nob Hill Supermarket for all the ingredients. It's a simple dish that needs no baking, it sets in the fridge, or when short of time, the freezer. Neil somehow managed to tweak his back while taking it out of the freezer, which was to have serious repercussions for the rest of the holiday.

http://www.ginodacampo.com/recipes/panforte

Lynn prepared a dish of Sweet Potato Mallow and we were already for the next day.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1950,146170-244197,00.html

Dinner was scheduled for 3pm and we have a drive of about an hour. We hit the freeway with the rest of California. As we drove closer to San Francisco all 4 lanes of traffic started to crawl. It gave us a wonderful opportunity to look at the gorgeous autumnal trees

but it wasn't getting us to dinner. Suddenly Lynn's Satnav told us of an alternate route to avoid the heavy traffic. We took the next exit and were soon travelling again and reached our destination only 10 minutes later than planned.

The table looked beautiful

and as we moved through to the kitchen the smell of the turkey met us at the door. It was almost ready to come out of the oven so, once drinks had been served and initial greetings exchanged it was time for the great unveiling of the main event - the traditional Thanks Giving Turkey.

There was 7 of us for dinner but enough food to feed twice that number and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. After dinner, in a family tradition, we all took turns at saying what we were thankful for this year. It was lovely to hear some of the stories around the table and, although we were given a pass if we didn't feel comfortable joining in, both Neil and I were happy to say our piece having been pre-warned of this tradition so having had time to give it some thought.

After dinner we all went through to the Family Room and the guys settled themselves down to watch the big game - 49ers v Raven's - it was a good afternoon as long you weren't a 49er fan - oh, the whole room was rooting for the 49ers!

So, many thanks to our hosts Cath & Chris for inviting us to spend Thanks Giving in their San Francisco home - it will be a special memory for us for many years.

Thanks Giving and Black Friday

When we arrived at Customs in San Francisco we were, as normal, asked what the purpose of our trip was. I told the official we had come to share Thanks Giving with our friends. He responded by asking if we were also there for Black Friday. This was a term I had not heard off and only associated similar terms with stock market crashes etc.

It turns out to be a very different meaning.

It is the sales held the day after Thanks Giving. Infact, some stores were opening at 9pm & 10pm on the day of Thanks Giving.

On our journey home after our Thanks Giving meal, which I shall write of another time, we called by the local Retail Outlets . It was 9.30pm and the car park was full, not an available place to be seen. Fortunately we were only driving through, not looking to park. There were many queues outside stores due to open at 10pm and many of the signs in the store windows had anything upto 75% reductions advertised.

We would visit the sales before we left but at a calmer time.

Another off the 'Bucket List'

I've always enjoyed visiting America and love watching programs of the American way of life. Since meeting our California friends in 2004 we are just back from our 6th visit with them. This time, I managed to tick another of my ambitions off the list.

To experience a real American Thanks Giving (Sorry, my Canadian readers) as portrayed in American programs such as Cheers, Frasier, Friends and many more.

So, when we were planning our annual break earlier this year we decided we would re-visit California and so I asked it if would be ok for us to go over for Thanks Giving, the last Thursday of November.

I was so pleased when our friends said we could and the flights were booked back in June and I have been ticking the days off ever since, well Virgin Atlantic have as everytime you open up their website to manage your trip there is a large banner across the top telling you how many days, hours and minutes until you fly. And, if it wasn't for this, we would have been at the airport a week too early as I had all my dates wrong in my head and thought we travelled on the 12th, not the 19th - ooops!

In the run-up to our trip Lynn emailed to say their kitchen re-model was running behind schedule and as we arrived there would be no-where to sit downstairs, all the kitchen items being stored throughout the lounge and dining area, no where to sit in the family room as that too was being re-decorated as it runs on from the kitchen and no-where to sit outside as the furniture from the family room was out in the yard.

There was no-where to cook and no tv, but we were still very welcome to stay as the upstairs was untouched and so we could still sleep and even watch tv in one of the other bedrooms where there grandson stays when he's on his weekly overnight visit.

Effectively we would be camping out indoors. No problem, we said, we're coming to spend time with you, it will be fun whatever we do.

I admit there was an element of me that thought Lynn may have been over-exaggerating a little so that when we got there we were prepared for the worse - but she wasn't.

The re-model was originally planned to start in May. Delays meant it had to be postponed until after the family re-union in August. Once started, with plenty of time for completion before we arrived, there were snags and un-expected jobs that kept cropping up. Result - nowhere to sit, eat, cook ot watch tv.

Our first couple of nights were spent in a local hotel as Lynn & Andy were both away for the weekend and we booked a game of golf for the Monday after which we would make our way to their house. The golf was good and although it was the first time my golf clubs had been out in over a year, I was surprised to see I could still whack a good ball down the middle of the fairway.

When we finally arrived at the house we were met with an exact match to Lynn's description with one addition - Andy was very unwell, with manflu - and getting worse. He battled on being sociable serving drinks in his office while we all perched on a variety of chairs, stools and desks. Afterward we ate out, as we planned to do for most of the holiday due to the lack of cooking facilities in the house.

While out, they received a phone call about there grandson, he too was very unwell and needed taking to the doctors in the morning, could Lynn take him as his Dad was also down with man-flu and his mom was working. Result - he was brought through to stay the night and our tv priviledges were withdrawn as he would now be sleeping in the room with the tv.

American man-flu certainly seems to hit hard, that was 3 generations of men in one family - wow!

Oh dear, it's a bigger problem than it first looked!

That was the phrase used by my dentist yesterday that left a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Dentist are not my favourite people, not that I am alone in that feeling. It stems from some fairly bad experience as a child visiting the school dental clinic.

As an adult I shied away from going for a number of years and would only go when the pain from toothache was greater than the fear of going to get it treated. I had friends go with me as I would be in such a state after treatment and my dental notes had a big warning note across the top about how scared I was of getting into the dentist's chair.

Several years ago I changed to a dentist recommended by a good friend and he did a lot to ease my fear, but it was still an ordeal for me. Then I had a session of hypnotherapy for something completely different but 2 days after the session I was due at the dentist, and was amazed how much calmer I was about it all. Now, I was always sceptical about hypnosis but having exhausted all kinds of other treatments I decided to give it a go.

I made sure I chose carefully and in a safe environment and decided to book a session at a local Health Spa as one of my treatments. I'll cover the experience of hypnosis in a seperate post, and simply say here that since then I have been able to go to the dentist without too much difficulty.

So, hearing my dentist come out with the phrase above was not good.

She had checked where I had I broken my tooth and told me there was a small filiing next to it so she would take that out and re-do as one. Only trouble was, the rest of the tooth was attached to that filling and when she took it out another chunk of tooth came with it - apparently, my tooth had been cracked right across.

So, half an hour and a very thick lip later, I was on my way back to the car.

Maybe I'll stay clear of the ice-creams for a while.

Christmas Cards in November.

Every year I am determined to be organised for Christmas, and generally every year I am except for one thing - writing my Christmas cards.

It's not that I send mountains of them, normally I have about 20 to post and the rest can be hand delivered.

I always buy them weeks before Christmas but never seem to sit down to write them until the last minute. I think a big part of it is that they need to be hand written and the arthritis in my hands makes this an uncomfortable task, but it's not as if it has to be done all at once. Whatever the reason, it's always done at the last minute.

But this year is different. We go away this weekend for 2 weeks. By the time we get back it will already be December and in no time Christmas will be on us. This year I need to set my card writing deadline to be before we go away.

So, I have already bought my boxes of cards and tonight, while watching the new series of 'I'm a Celebrity....' (yes, I know it's sad but I can't help it - I have to watch it!) I will get my cards written and ready to send. Then all I have to do when I get back from holiday is post them.

That's the plan!

Ice Cream can be tough.

I know I shouldn't eat shop bought ice-cream when we have our own ice cream maker, but every now and then I fancy a cone with nuts and stuff on.

Well, maybe now I'm cured.

Last night while eating an ice-cream cone I managed to break a tooth.

Don't ask me how. Maybe it was down to a very firm piece of nut but a large chunk of tooth came away and I am now left with a large hole in one of my upper back teeth 4 days before going on holiday.

Hopefully I will be able to get an appointment at the dentist in the next couple of days.

The good thing about it, it appears to be part of a tooth that I've had the nerve removed from so there is no pain at all - as yet.

I hope that continues to be the case until I can get it seen to.

Lest We Forget!

Each year I and many, many more people across the UK buy a poppy ready for the 11th November at 11am. This year was no different, and at 11am on 11.11.11 our factory fell silent for 2 minutes in respect for those men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice over a variety of wars for almost a century.

Whatever your views on the rights and wrong of the battles fought, those that lost their lives deserve to be remembered.

It got me thinking about the history of the poppy. I've always known it was symbolic of the fields in Flanders in Northern France where so many soldiers died, but how did it get to be the symbol of rememberance?

Intigued, I turned to my trusty laptop and started Googling. I came across a website and, to my surprise, read that it was an American lady that wore the first poppy as a symbol of rememberance, I had always thought the British Legion was responsible for the introduction of the poppy, but they simply followed the lead in 1921, 3 years after Moina Michael wore the first poppy in New York.

I remember the poppy-appeal lost some momentum as many of the war veterans from the 2 world wars grew ever older and died, the memories of the horrors of war dying with them. The validity of continuing the annual appeal was questioned, then the modern day wars began to be considered and the numbers of injured service men and women returning home from the Falklands and the Middle East conflicts began to revive the general public's passion for Poppy Day.

And so tomorrow, I and many, many more will remember!

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/article/remembrance-poppy.htm

Feeling 20 years too young!

It's that time of year when the elderly and the frail can visit the health centre for their annual flu jab.

And I come under the label of 'frail' being an asthma sufferer.

Now, it has to be said, my asthma is fairly specific and relatively easy to control being linked to pollen. So, effectively - avoid too many flowers (hence the excuse my hubby uses for the lack of spontaneous floral gestures), avoid springtime walks through fields and avoid strongly perfumed candles, perfumes etc, etc, etc. Yes, the list of things chemical that can trigger an attack is far in excess if the natural world - however, I know how to manage it and suffer attacks rarely.

But there is no doubt that if and when I get a bad cold it immediately causes severe breathing difficulties and it is nigh on impossible to avoid the sniffles and sneezes that will inevitably be prevalent over the next few months.

And so, I decided it was wise to go along for my annual jab and hope I don't get a cold from the jab itself.

As luck would have it, I rang yesterday to see when I needed to go and there was a clinic today that I was entitled to attend. It was held in our local Town Hall (the Health Centre not being big enough for the volume of attendees expected) and I was well impressed by the military run operation.

To start with, it was incredibly well sign posted, which was a good job as I have never been to our Town Hall before and had no idea where I was supposed to go. As I followed the arrows I was immediately aware that the oncoming flow of people were significantly older than me.

When I finally reached the correct room I was informed there was no delay and I could be stabbed immediately and so, within 1 minute of arriving, barely the time it took to remove my coat, I was done, recorded as attending and on my way for a 15 minute sit down to ensure no negative reaction.

It was as I turned towards the WI coffee table that I realised I had brought the average age in the room plummeting down. Everywhere I looked there were seriously elderly folk. I felt a fraud and almost as if I should have a badge stating 'Asthmatic' to justify my presence.

Cup of coffee in hand (all proceeds to local charities - it seemed churlish not to partake) I sat between an elderly man on my left and an equally elderly lady on my right. To pass the time I decided to check my emails and it was while I was scrolling around the screen on my Galaxy that a voice on my left asked me what game I was playing as his great-grandson has a gaming machine too.

I tried to explain it was my phone and I was just checking my emails but whether it was a hearing deficiency or a 'not really interested, just making small talk to pass the time' type of comment my explanation didn't make sense to him and in the end we just agreed that they were ingenious devices, these little games machines.

Having finished my coffee and having sat for the obligatory 15 mins, I politely made my goodbyes and left a vacant chair between 2 people who didn't seem to have any inclination to leave.

So, all that remains to be seen now is whether I show mild symptoms of a cold as a response to the jab, and whether I can get through until next Spring without any major coughs and splutters.

Only time will tell.

Winter Preparation

There's no getting away from it, despite the recent warm, sunny spell, winter is not far away.

The shops are in a quandry as to where to display the halloween items and where to put their Christmas offerings.

The card shops have halved the choice of birthday cards and replaced with this years selection of Christmas cards.

I spend each weekend sweeping the piles of fallen leaves that congregate at my front door - even though none of them are from trees in our garden.

There is a defininte crispness in the air on the morning dog walks, which I love.

The central heating boiler kicking in now wakes me before the alarm goes off.

The radishes seem to have stopped growing (but are still nice and crunchy).

And so this weekend we went out and started to tidy the garden ready for winter. The grass has had (hopefully) its final cut. The 6 ft high hedge has been trimmed all neat and tidy. The plants have been tidied, clipped or removed.

The summer jackets have been put at the back of the wardrobe and the winter, padded jackets have made it to the coat pegs next to the dog leads.

The sandals have been stored away and the big walking boots are now next to the slippers in the shoe cupboard.

We're ready for winter to start.

Bring it on!

Dear Diary

I don't know whether to be frustrated or to be happy.

The cloud & silver lining scenario.

For over a month I have continued with my new eating & exercise regime that lost me 8 pounds in the first month.

And I've lost not an ounce.

Somedays I get on the Wii and it's gone up a pound and the next day it's gone down a pound but over the last few weeks the ups and the downs have cancelled each other out.

Now, the cloud is I haven't lost any more weight which is what I'm trying to do

BUT

the silver lining is that as and when I finally do get to drop another 7 pounds, which is my ultimate goal, I know I'll be able to maintain it.

So, I now have my weight maintenance regime sorted. All I have to do is work out how to get rid of that next 7 pounds.

An Indian Summer

Suddenly we have summer. Shorts and T-shirt weather. Walks with the dogs along the canal, and then dinner sitting outside the pub with a nice, cool drink. 

Suddenly the central heating is turned off again and the ceiling fans are back on. The windows are closed in the office and the air-conditioning is back on.

Suddenly salads are back on the menu and the stew-packs are back in the freezer.

Suddenly we are in the midst of an Indian summer - and have a few more days to come.

Thank you Global Warming!

Caffeine - a no, no I cannot resist.

I am not supposed to have caffeine, on doctor's recommendations.

I have arthritis and caffeine is not recommended.

I have a history of fybromyalgia, although currently under control, and caffeine is not recommended.

I am a woman of a certain age, and caffeine is not recommended.

3 reasons to listen to the doctor and take heed.

However, I love my coffee and love the Tassimo Columbian coffee pods.
http://acoffeeandachat.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-bought-new-coffee-machine.html

So, in an effort to control my intake I limit myself to a maximum of 2 Columbian coffees each day, one at breakfast and one after dinner, as long as it isn't later then 7pm.

Or that was the case until now.

At work our Crawley office has moved to smaller premises and so we have inherited an amount of furniture, copiers and other office equipment that they either no longer use or want.

Among the items is a coffee maker, not the same as ours, but similar AND it takes the same Tassimo pods.

It was decided we would have it in the office for when the MD or General Manager have visitors, we can make them a really nice cuppa. The machine is in our office. It sits on the desk next to me.

As no-one else had tried the pods they were guided by me and so we now have a stock of Columbian pods at work - for guests.

Except I now have my boss, a constant tea-drinker at work, converted to the pods. She likes to have a frothy coffee at 3pm in the afternoon. And no-one could expect me to make coffees for my boss and my colleague......and not have one myself, now could they.

So, my caffeine intake is now up to 3 cups a day. I need to keep an eye on the effect on my sleep and my health but it would take more will power than I have to make frothy coffees for everyone else and then have a standard de-caff.

Lord, forgive me for being so weak!

Out of Milk

When I lived on my own shopping was never a problem. Back then my memory worked and I didn't have anyone else in the house using things. Then 2 things hapened. Firstly, I married a man with 2 sons. All 3 have a tendency to use things from the fridge or pantry and not tell me. Secondly, I became ill with stress and although I have significantly recovered over the last few years, one thing that has not recovered is my memory.

And so lists have become important. We have a perpetual shopping list in the kitchen. I have trained hubby and the boys to leave the empty cartons on the side so I know what needs adding to the list. It also means that the empty containers get recycled correctly.

But for all the planning, list writing and organising the men folk to let me know what we need replacing, it all falls apart if I forget to pick the list up on the day I am going shopping. 

And that happens more often than not.

So I was quite excited to find an app for my android phone called Out-of-Milk. It is a shopping list that you keep on your phone. I always have my phone with me so it means I'll always have my shopping list with me.

It has a barcode scanner which recognises most branded items. It struggles with own brand items but you teach it what things are and next time it remembers correctly. So, as we empty a box I scan the bar code and it's on my shopping list.

I know the store layout well and I can put the items in the order I will pass them and I can tick them off as I find them.

Yesterday was the first day I did a full shop using my Out-of-Milk app - it was so easy. 

And if I want Neil to do the shopping for me I can send him the list from my phone to his.

I'm gradually building a few apps that get regular use.  This is definitely a good one.

http://www.outofmilkapp.com/

Red Hot Chilli Peppers at Dobbies

I don't like chillies, I don't like spicy food but my husband does. So, when we had put all the perspex into the greenhouse and installed the tomato plants, I decided to have a look at the local garden centre to see what we could do for a hot chillie plant.

About 20 minutes away is a Garden Centre called Dobbies. It's my kind of garden centre - clean. A huge selection of plants and paraphanalia to make gardening enjoyable and a great coffee bar as well. It's part of a chain and I'd never heard of them until a work colleague told me of our local one during a discussion about coffee.

It's almost as if they have taken over in the few years we lived in Spain.

So a few weeks ago we took a drive over to Dobbies to look at pre-grown pepper plants.

I have previously tried growing things from seed but I've always failed at the second hurdle - transplanting them into larger pots. They always seem to give up. We found several good-sized pepper plants but were dis-appointed to find they were bell-peppers rather than chillie peppers. It wasn't really what we wanted but decided we would chat about it over a cup of coffee.

This all happened on the weekend after Neil had pulled his back so, I left him in the coffee shop while I went for a 2nd look at the pepper plants. There, right in the middle of them I found a chillie pepper plant with a number of flowers on and several peppers already growing. It was reduced to half-price and so it wasn't a huge decision to buy it.

And so, over the last few weeks I have lovingly cared for it, along with the tomato plants of course, and finally the love & care have paid off. The peppers have started to ripen and turn a lovely orangey/red.

Yesterday, I decided one was big enough to pick. I brought it in for Neil's judgement on the flavour. And apparently, it passed.

It's a real, home grown red hot chillie pepper!

Success.

All we have to do now is wait and see whether the tomato plants are going to ripen as well. Otherwise, we'll be having a lot of green tomato chutney this winter!

http://www.dobbies.com/

Celtic Manor Golf Resort

Several years ago, in what feels like another life, I once visited the Celtic Manor Resort in south Wales when I attended an annual conference. In my former life I was involved in Estate Agency. The company was part of a network which covered the whole of England and once a year there was a conference and awards dinner to attend.

As the network grew, the numbers that attended swelled and the venues changed to accomodate the ever increasing numbers.

Our conference was held a few years before the Ryder Cup was played there but it was already showing the top standards of facilities expected for somewhere hosting such a significant competition.

Unfortunately, although my visit was in the middle of my golf playing days, there was no time for me to play there.

Earlier this year I had a golf break deal email drop into my inbox and it was for 2 rounds of golf, an overnight stay and evening meal and breakfast, all for £123. That is a very good deal and I made the mistake of giving the details to Neil. Within the week he had a group of 6 all keen to take advantage of the offer and off they went in late July.

They had a brilliant time, the facilites were first rate and they talked avidly and openly about it in the golf club to enyone and everyone that would listen.

It wasn't long before some that hadn't been decided they really would like to go and a second trip was being planned.

Again, Neil made all the arrangements and got the same deal as before. On the day before they all travelled he reminded them all to take their swimming trunks so that they could make good use of the pool and spa area after golf.

Neil and I always contact each other when travelling just to let the other know we have arrived at our destination safely. Neil rang me from the on-site shop - after reminding the others to pack their swimming things he had prompty forgotten to pack his and was now buying some to ensure privacy was maintained.

On his return I, as always, listened to him enthuse about his 2 days of golf, the fabulous meal they had been served and how much they had all enjoyed their trip.

For no other reason but to show interest and make conversation, but with no real wish to know, I asked how much he'd spent. He made a show of counting through the notes in his wallet before announcing it was in the region of £100.

He'd only been gone 1 night. It's his money to spend as he wishes but it did seem rather a lot. So we did a little reckoning up.

His swimwear was £20.

I knew he'd had a few drinks, probably more than he realised,  and definitely enough to mean he was incapable of sending me a 'Goodnight text' (for which he was adequately chastised the following morning)  and reckoned about £40 would cover drinks, hotel prices being what they are.

But this still left £40 unaccounted for........

Or so I thought.

Neil sheepishly left the room and returned with his golf shoes. I couldn't work out why until he told me that, not only had he gone on a golfing holiday and forgotten his swimwear, he had also gone on a golfing holiday and forgotten to pack his golf shoes and the pair in his hand, which he had to buy in order to play,  represented the missing £40!

So much for a good deal on the golf trip!

But for anyone interested here's the link

http://www.celtic-manor.com/golf.aspx

One week on and the back is just about sorted.

It's been a week of doing very little. By the end of a day at work my back was beginning to ache and so in the evenings I rested it, a gentle walk with the dogs, a soak in the hottub was about as energetic as I got. The Wii had stayed firmly stored away under the sideboard and I tried hard not to comfort eat even though I felt so in need of a variety of comfort food, especially with the massive change in the weather. Autumn came in with a bang this week with torrential downpours which had flash-flooding closing the main A57 road on Thursday. The week started with terrific winds courtesy of the hurricane hitting the American east coast.

By Thursday I felt I needed to start using the Wii again, as it's been a disappointing month since reaching my first target. After sticking to my eating plan for a few more weeks I didn't lose a pound. It fluctuated throughout the month but I reached my target date without making any indent on my target loss. At least I hadn't put anything on!

So, it was no surprise when I turned the Wii on and it matter of factly advised me that I'd not reached my target and needed to set a new target.

So, this next month I have been more cautious. 1lb per week.

My Sketchers trainers finally fell to bits this week and so I've treated myself to a new pair. They are ideal for dog walking across the fields and round the park, just so comfortable. I decided, with the winter months approaching, I would go for a darker colour rather than the usual white, so I've bought these in brown.

Neil also needed new trainers and we managed to save a total of £10 by picking up a voucher from the counter next to the cash till and handing that in with the 2 pairs of shoes. It makes it easier for me to accept the cost of a pair of Sketchers if I can save a bit somehow.

  

Hand-crafted Traditional Rocking Horses

These beautiful, handcrafted rocking horses are made by

a very good friend of ours.

 They are now on Ebay for sale.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-new-hand-carved-rocking-horse-/330612134305?pt=UK_Toys_Creative_Educational_RL&hash=item4cfa04d1a1

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-new-hand-carved-rocking-horse-/330611658741?pt=UK_Toys_Creative_Educational_RL&hash=item4cf9fd8ff5

Ouch, that hurt!

Hubby has a history of lower back problems and when he strains his back it takes him out of action for 3 days. This last episode has lasted 2 weeks and it's always the daftest thing that makes it go.

This time we were potting up the tomato plants into bigger containers and while lifting one of them up onto the table to transfer it - bang goes the back.

On day 2, while it was showing signs of improvement, he bent down to pick up one of the dogs bowls and bang, it went again. Since then we have nutured and protected him from doing anything that will aggrevate it.

Yesterday we finally had the door panel changed so that it now has a dog flap fitted.

 It's actually fitted into the glass, which I didn't realise they could do - but it seems fine and Brinkley has already remembered how to use it

 although Brandy is taking a bit more time to work it out.

The only problem was the drop outside was bigger than the dogs could manage so we needed to make a step. We have a pile of paving stones and decided we could make a good step using 6 of them, so I lifted them onto the wheel barrow for Neil to walk round to the back door and then we both lifted them off together to lay them to make the step.

 It worked a treat and we stood back to admire our handwork while taking time for some hard earned refreshments.
Then, while Neil was mowing the lawn I decided I would sweep all the leaves at the front of the house - how hard can that be?

Well, it can be very hard when it means moving a large planter. which I decided to do on my own. Bad idea.

Neil is now looking after me as I have strained my lower back and am currently sitting here in pain, ice pack on and trying to give it the 3 days rest needed to recover.

Hey ho!

Dear Diary

My laptop tells me it's 2.43am so I have to assume tonight is a night I won't get much sleep. It's not that I haven't tried. I've spent 2 days sorting out paperwork and getting things decluttered and tidy. I don't know where all the papers come from but since we moved house the pile seems to have grown out of all control. Maybe it's because we are spending more time in the garden and less in the house that things are getting left.

So, I bought some files and storage boxes and got on with sorting them all out. The re-cycling bin is full of shreddings from all the junk that comes through the door so, I should have a clear mind on 2 counts. Firstly, all my papers are sorted and dealt with and secondly, all the junk stuff is now re-cycled.

I thought an uncluttered mind meant sleep would be a given.

Apparently not.

Normally, when I can't sleep I get up and make a hot chocolate drink, Milky drinks are supposed to make you sleepy. I finished mine some 30 mins ago, but I still feel wide awake.

I have slept for maybe half an hour when I first went to bed, but something woke me and I then couldn't get back to sleep.

And the later it gets the more my once clear, settled, restful mind becomes completely focused on the fact that I have to be up for work in less than 4 hours.

And it's not the thought of going to work that's a worry. I enjoy work, it's not stressful. I enjoy working with my colleagues, we have a laugh, we work well as a team. I don't have a difficult time with traffic.

And so, I sit here trying to fathom out what is keeping me from sleep.

When suddenly, a noise catches my attention. Not from outside the house, but from within. And it's not the dogs as they are in another room and the noise came from within the same room as I am sitting.

It's a distinctive noise, it needs no investigation but instantly, I know what woke me and what is keeping me awake.

I'm hungry. The noise was my stomach telling me it wants food. Now that I know what it is, I will never be able to sleep until I satisfy my need for food.

And then begins a further dilemma. There is only one thing that will meet the need to enable me to sleep. But is is seriously off the list of foods. It's my weakness challenging me in the darkest hours of night. The only thing I ever eat when I get these night time munchies is toast. But toast is simply bread in disguise and bread is my downfall. I cannot have just one slice. Once the aroma of hot buttered toast fills the kitchen I know there will be a second slice and a third. Somehow, 3am muesli just doesn't work.

So now, I have admitted I am hungry, I have admitted I want toast. I accept sleep will not be easy tonight, but I need to try and catch a few more hours before daylight enters the house.

Maybe if I promise myself a slice at breakfast it will calm my brain cells enough.

It's worth a  try.

A new home to hide the clutter.

I don't know about you but I have memories of visiting older people when I was a youngster, who always had a writing bureau in the room where pens, notepaper, stamps etc were always kept. I always loved the idea of sitting at a bureau to write my letters. Of always knowing where I could find a pen, the sellotape or some string. In all my adult life such items have always been loose in a kitchen drawer, correspondence that needed dealing with is always in a pile on the corner of a table, orktop, and gets moved around as I clean.

Finally, I decided the time was right to find a nice bureau. Something that looked good in itself but had lots of drawers to keep all my 'stuff' in one place.

So, we trawled the internet and came up with this lovely, oak bureau.

It arrives in the back of a van tomorrow.

Jabba the Hut

 4 weeks ago I woke one morning and, as I swung my legs out of bed and sat up, this was the image I saw in the wall mirror. Admittedly, I didn’t have my glasses on so my vision was a little unclear but it shocked me.

Shocked me enough to do something about it.

That evening I decided I had to face the truth. I needed to lose some serious weight. And so finally, my mind set was right.

I set the Wii Fit board up and faced the awful truth. Since Christmas my weight had crept up another 7lbs. It was time to reverse the trend. Obviously, since working full-time and not playing golf, my exercise regime was reduced to an evening walk with the dogs and a longer one at weekends. If the little character on the Wii was to be believed, I had some serious work to do.

So, I have been very strict on what I eat and very focused on my daily exercise and body check. I have used my arthritis as enough of an excuse for long enough but it is possible to exercise if you’re sensible. And finally I am.
And it’s paying off. My first target was to lose 8lbs  – and I achieved that on Friday. It’s very rewarding to have fireworks and messages of congratulations come up on screen. And so, the next 7lb target has been set for the next 4 weeks.

I miss bread. It is my weakness. I only have bread at the weekend now. I have cut out a loaf every week

I now eat lettuce. I’ve never found any enjoyment in eating lettuce. It is a pointless food. It’s a lot of hard work for little reward.

Until you add balsamic vinegar. Suddenly, lettuce becomes not only palatable, but also, dare I say, enjoyable. Why didn’t anyone tell me this before?

So, weekday mornings see me on the Wii fit for my daily weigh-in and fitness check followed by a healthy breakfast of Muesli, fresh fruit & yoghurt. Tuna salad for lunch and something sensible for my evening meal. With my job being so close to home it means I don’t get caught in traffic so can have my meal before 6pm, so no more late night eating. Pizza’s, Burgers and other take-a-ways have been off the menu for me for a month now and I am beginning to crave a Pizza – but that will have to wait.

That will be my reward for reaching my next target.

It just fell on me ‘ead! So I ate it.

This greeted us on the door mat when we got home one day last week

I had been bidding on a pair of bookends on Ebay a few days earlier and had won. This was the card left by the Postman to say he had tried to deliver them.  Ooops!

When we are out of the house, Brinkley lays on the doormat  and looks through the glass panel that runs down the side of the front door. What is happening for the first time in his short 3 and a half year life is that when the post is being delivered it now comes through the door halfway up, and falls on Brinkley’s head.

So he ate it!

Neil went to the Post Office the following day, taking with him the evidence that they had a package for us. Fortunately he got a worker with a sense of humour and he got the package.

Thinking back over the houses we have lived in since we got the pups, none of them have had a letterbox in the door, they’ve all had a box mounted on an external wall so it’s hardly surprising that this new method of the mail arriving has caused Brinkley to retaliate.

And so, we are now the proud owner of a letter box cage.

And, I'm bidding on another pair of bookends as I type, with 3 minutes left I am the only, and therefore winning bidder so I'm off to keep an eye on the last few minutes.

Dear Diary

Today we acquired 4 grown tomato plants and several sticks of rhubarb.We spent last weekend putting the glass into the greenhouse that was at the bottom of the garden.

I needed something to put in it and, as we are at the wrong end of the growing season, we were happy to give a home to some surplus tomato plants grown by one of Neil's golfing buddies.

There are even some small tomatoes already growing.

I finally got my rhubarb plant a couple of weeks ago. One of the customers I deal with at work, well....chase for money, has a Conservatory business based in a garden centre. He was coming through to bring me a cheque so I cheekily asked him to bring me a rhubarb plant too, as I have had no luck growing my own from seed. And then, even if I did, I couldn't eat it until it was 3 years old - that's a long time to wait for a crumble! Anyway, I had every intention of paying for it but he wouldn't let me, I still made him pay his account though. Never mix work & gardening!

The rhubarb plant is still a little young to be eating it and so, when we were over at our friends this morning relieving them of their surplus tomatoes they mentioned that they had a surplus of rhubarb as well. So, ever keen to help out I offered to take some off their hands.

Once home, tomato plants carefully re-homed and watered I decided I would make the crumble ready for dinner. I always part stew my rhubarb and so I cleaned and chopped it and put it in a pan with some sugar and a little water and left it on a low heat to gently stew for 10 mins.

Now, it turns out that rhubarb has very little smell as it cooks, and burning rhubarb has even less and so, an hour and a half later when I went into the kitchen I suddenly realised that I had forgotten to set the timer, had forgotten I had left the pan on the stove and that by now crumble was probably off the dinner menu.

I think it highly unlikely the pan will be recoverable and so it looks like my few sticks of rhubarb will be a costly moment of forgetfulness as we had said any new pans we needed to buy would be to match the recent, expensive, cast iron ones, which I have to say are very good pans.

I wonder if they would survive slow burnt rhubarb?

 

Apps and Androids.

So, we use simple pay-as-you-go mobiles to make calls and send texts. It's enough.

Or is it?

A couple of months ago Neil started to ask questions such as what's an app, what's Android about, should we have one of these new phones everyone is getting. What would we use it for. All we do is make calls and send texts but we couldn't help but feel that technology was leaving us behind, to the extent that we don't know whether we would use one because we don't understand what they do.

Then Neil went with one of his sons when he collected his new i-phone.

'Show me what it does' said Neil.

'Well, if you do this it does this, and then you can do this for it to do this, and when you need to see this just do this'.

And all that went straight over his head.

And the thought of having one of these new fangled phones went out of his mind.

Then we moved house and didn't have an internet connection, and there was an anticipated time frame of 3-4 weeks before the phone line would be connected.

'One of those phones would give us internet access while we were waiting for the broadband to be installed', said Neil, 'maybe we should pop along to the phone shop and have a chat with someone'.

And so we did.

We worked out that we were both topping up our mobiles with about £20-25 per month - which just so happened to work out as the perfect amount for a contract internet phone. Mmmmmm - being the cynic that I am - that seemed a little coincidental - but I decided to go with the flow. The young chap then proceeded to explain what we could do with the phones and lost me after about 2 minutes.

'Let me ask the questions I want the answers to and you tell me whether it can do it' I said.

Can I get my email? - Yes!
Can I make phone call ?- Yes!
Can I send and receive texts? - Yes!
Can I read the blogs I follow? - Yes!
Can I access Facebook? - Yes!
Can I browse Google for info? - Yes!

OK, I'm interested.

And so, half an hour later we both walked out of the shop with our Galaxy S Android phones.

For the next 2 hours we sat in almost complete silence while we read the manual and pressed a variety of buttons trying to set the phones up to get email, ring when it should, and get the hang of dragging our finger across the screen to answer a call. It took a while.

Then, of course, we wanted, nay.....needed to visit the Android store to download an app, just so that we could say we had.

So we sat and tried very hard to think of something we would want to know so desperately that we had to be able to get it at anytime. But inspiration and need were both lacking in huge volumes.

Then finally we realised there was something that would be so useful to have at our finger tips, no matter what time of day or night. Something that would change our lives and justify the longevity of having these new, shiny, all singing all dancing internet phones beyond the installation of our broadband service.

And so, filled with excitement, we both set about downloading the ' Weatherbug' app. Now we would always know whether it was to be a sunny day or not. Our lives has just been significantly improved!

Oh, it is to be hoped there are more exciting apps to be found over the coming months!

Sit, Stand or Walk?

Having looked at the order of play we were lucky to see a clump of matches following each other which had players we wanted to see. The likes of Lee Westwood, Phil Mickleson, Tom Watson, Darren Clarke to name but a few.

We could choose to follow one match and walk the course with the growing crowds but this would restrict the players we would see. Or we could stand at some point along the course and watch them go by or we could look for a seat in a stand at one of the greens and settle in for the duration while the players played their approach shots and then putted out and moved on.

We opted for the latter and found ourselves a couple of good seats on the 2nd green and zipped open the picnic bag.

The atmosphere was quite calm early on and each set of players was greeted with polite applause as they approched the green. Lee Westwood's appearance raised the noise level a little but his dropped shot made for subdued exit applause. Especially as his dropped shot followed a brilliant birdie by Jim Furyk from exactly the same place. It gave us a bad feeling for Lee's game - he just wasn't on form.

After a couple of hours we decided we would have a wander around a few different holes, find somewhere for a coffee and decide where to settle next. The obvious then came into mind - where were the toilets? By now the crowds had grown considerably and I anticipated a long wait in the queue for the ladies. As we approached the block of toilets I could see that there were 4 ladies and 4 gents - but oddly enough no queue.

As I opened the door I was amazed to see behind it not a single toilet but a whole block of them - at least 40 cubicles stretching ahead of me. The organisers had certainly got this aspect right.

Within minutes I was back in the sunshine, coffee cup in hand. At £2.40 for a paper cup of coffee we were glad we had taken a picnic lunch and decided to find a new perch where we could watch some more golf while tucking into lunch.

We found we had walked to the 15th green and decided we would sit there for a while. Once seated we realised that in a few minutes the first set of players we had watched on the 2nd would begin to come through the 15th so we managed to catch up with the progress of them all once again.

There was a continual migration of people onto the stand and off again as those that were following one match took their seats while the players putted out and then moved on as the players left the green.

When we booked the day 12 months earlier we had chosen the Friday for one very specific reason. We would be able to see all our favourite players who were taking part before the cut which narrowed the field for the weekend play. That was the sole reason for not going down at the weekend. And it meant that out of 4 days play we were there on the one day when they had warm sunshine and not cold torrential rain.

By the end of the day my face was the colour of a lobster and I knew I needed lots of 'aftersun' to stop my skin peeling too badly. But, I'd suffer that any day rather than spending 8 hours in cold, driving rain as there is only so much rain waterproofs can keep out.

Early afternoon we walked over to the 1st tee to see Rory McIlroy tee off. By now the crowds around the tee were 20 deep and there was a huge wave of people walking along the fairway as he followed his tee shot - his was going to be a busy match and we decided we would not join in the melee.

We decided, instead, to go and browse around the 'merchandising' area. We needed some little trophy of our day out and so we 'ummed' and 'ahhed' over ball markers, bag tags, towels etc and finally settled on a bag tag and towel for Neil and a pitch repairer and golf shirt for me - all badged and logo-ed up with the 2011 British Golf Open. If nothing else, they will impress the Americans when we visit later this year.

And so, 8 hours after arriving, over another cup of coffee, we decided we had seen enough players and experienced enough atmosphere and we would make tracks back to the Park & Ride bus to start our 4 hour journey home.

Again, by leaving early we missed the crowds and within half an hour we were back in the car and on the road heading towards London. We had no choice but to do the Dartford tunnel. The traffic warnings meant any idea of going the long way round the M25 to avoid the tunnel just wasn't going to work.

This time though, traffic moved well and there were no hold ups and so we even managed to miss 5pm Friday madness on the roads around London.

By the time we got home we were both ready to collapse. It had been a long, but enjoyable day and we were both glad to kick of our shoes and relax.

We watched the final 2 days play on the TV and I lost count of the times I said how glad I was not to be there on those 2 days because of the rain. I doubt I'll go again now I've been once. I'm happy to watch it from the comfort of my settee but I'm so glad we went - just for the experience.