More crazy days

The last couple of weeks have seen us running about the country - to Nottingham, place of us grownups birth - on family business.  Father in Law has been offered a sheltered flat in Park Gate, after being on the local council waiting list since March.  So, two weeks ago, we had to go up to Nottingham to fetch him to have a look at it.

Fortunately he approved, so the council and the Housing Association whose property it is have also been busy getting the paperwork filled in.  Last weekend (a bank holiday) I took him back to Nottingham to start packing and generally closing his life down up there.  K came with me to help, and came back with some new bruises due to failing to use the door way as an entrance to a building.  Dyspraxia rules!

We then spent all week packing up what he wants to bring with him, and taking piles of rubbish and old magazines/newspapers up to the tip.  There's still plenty of tip work for us and a few more things to bring down but that will happen over the next few weeks.  On Thursday I realised that K was due on scout camp at Thorpe Park this weekend (as in the following day).  Needless to say, it didn't happen.  I sent many apologies to the leader and explained what had happened.  K wasn't overly distressed, especially after I promised her a day out at half-term to make up for being a sieve-head.

Father in Law seems to live 'in the now', with very little sense of urgency to plan ahead or remember chronology, so it has been very interesting.  I left him a pile of paperwork to sort through and file - even bought a file and plastic baggies for him - but I ended up chucking it all in a box yesterday.  Then, yesterday, he starts deciding what he'd like packing from upstairs.  He's had all flippin' week to tell me that but waits till the van's outside (driven up from here by A, accompanied by D) and nearly all full.  Minor grrrrr.

Once the van was loaded, and an early lunch was had, we all set off back down here.  I tell you, my car could do the journey without any input from me; it's certainly done it an awful lot this year as we tried to sort him out.  Father in Law slept most of the way down, and most of the time since he's been here.

Today we are moving into his new place.  K & I have a hot date at Curves first thing - they're starting their weight management classes today so we can't put it off - then we'll head back; by which time most of the heavy lifting will be done and A will be done in.

We have to go and order/buy a new fridge/freezer for Father in Law.  He assures me he bought it in the 60's, except that a) I know that style didn't exist then, and b) A can remember it being bought when he was about ready for secondary school (late 70's).  Either way it was in no fit state to be taken anywhere but the tip.  There was rancid milk accumulating on the bottom and going a lovely shade of blue, the drain pipe at the back was black with gunk, and it really needed a good scrub.  It also stank.  And don't get me started about the bag of cabbage that had turned to a vile, green liquid.  Father in Law says he has no sense of smell and I believe him.

Before anyone berates us for letting things get that bad for him, it wasn't through lack of effort on our part.  Up until the past 6 months or so we have been told politely but firmly to 'butt out'.  There's not a lot you can do about that without alienating him completely.  Six months ago he decided that he couldn't cope any more and that he thought he was becoming a bit forgetful (we'd been noticing it for a few years).  Since then we have been making enquiries, plans, and generally scheming to sort him out.  The local council here were happy to put him on their waiting list for somewhere suitable.  I am organising an Occupational Therapist assessment to see what else 'adaptive' he'll need to make life easier - I'm hoping to get a Dementia Screening person in at the same time so he doesn't twig on.  There will be plenty of home-made food in his freezer, and he WILL eat it - another issue caused by poor memory and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (too tired and breathless to eat) - as he hasn't got to walk far or use stairs to get to the kitchen any more.  I will also be taking care of the laundry, making sure the pots are washed properly and the place is clean

Life is about to get a whole lot more busy for us.  I'm hoping we'll see an improvement in his general health or, at least, a slowing in the decline of it.

When I got home yesterday there was a letter from the local college, where I'm going to do the Level 3 AAT qualification.  Basically it was a 'you can get your course books from us on these dates, oh and by the way there was a mistake in the brochure.  Your course day is a Thursday, not a Tuesday'.  The brochure came out in June and it takes them till the beginning of September to tell us that we're coming on a different day.  It's a good job I don't have other, unavoidable, plans for Thursdays, or have childcare to sort out.  I've had issues before with this college's admin 'skills' but this is just pathetic.

HOLIDAY!!!!

Before you all get excited I'm not actually departing Dark Corner for anywhere else.  We are staying at home and having some days out.  Today we went to Brighton & Hove (both bits).  A parked in Hove and we walked along the very nice promenade to Brighton.  Hove seems genteel and really unspoilt by the tourist tat, preferring to save that accolade for its sister town Brighton.  We found a nice little cafe in Brighton, The Bucket, where they make their burgers by hand from scratch.  A bit of a wait but well worth it for the taste.  The weather was very 'Mediterranean' with lots of sun and a blue sea, which looked very inviting. 

We then mooched around the shops for a while.  I managed to get A into an Ann Summers shop but we only looked at the lingerie.  Nothing really took our fancy.  Some of the phone shops have some appealing offers in right now.  We might investigate those this week.

On the way back we followed the A259 and passed through Worthing.  It also looks like somewhere we might like to visit for the day.  There was an interesting-looking restaurant that served Chinese, Japanese, Singapore, Malay, Thai, Indian & Italian cuisine.  That just about covers our family's culinary desires, so we will definitely give it a try.  I'll let you know the name and a review afterwards.

Later this week we intend to go over the the island (Isle of Wight) for another day trip.  In between all this galavanting around we will be doing more mundane things like finishing up in the garden (spray painting the shed and the rest of the fencing, moving a couple of bushes, taking out some ivy that is encroaching, reminding the clematis and the jasmine that it grows in THIS garden and not over the wall by the footpath, etc), making a start on getting rid of the carpet moths (not nice as they loosen the pile in your carpets, leaving bare patches - their favourite places are in the dark and rarely disturbed), and de-cluttering the study (just how many old PC towers can a man need?)

K & I will continue to fit in 3 visits to Curves each week.  Our exploits there can be followed at another one of my blogs.

Been a bit busy

Partying, that is!  The weekend saw a birthday here in Dark Corner so I saw it as my duty to give my liver a good workout.  It has now forgiven me.  A bought me a Bon Jovi DVD.  The jury is out as to whether I am in heaven or not.  The lip synch seemed a bit out in places, some of the instruments hit the odd wrong note, and Jon sounded more out of tune than in.  All in all, not the best DVD of theirs I own, and I own plenty.  We did wonder if it was recorded at the end of the tour (Madison Square Gardens 2008) and if they were all tour weary.  However, I did my best to make it rain, yodelling along to the tracks and thoroughly annoying the rest of the household.

Last week, friends of ours left to go home to the US (waves madly at Ann).  Hopefully they will soon find a house and life settles down again.  They'll be missed.

D goes on camp next weekend for a week.  Unfortunately K chose not to so we parents won't get as much peace as we deserve.  We are having the week off and will be alternating between de-cluttering the house and doing day trips.  We might head to the island for a day.

My parents came down for the weekend.  I now have a tidy back garden - thanks, folks.  I need to go and buy a job lot of slug pellets and growmore, as well as a bucket of long-acting weed killer for the patio and drive.

On the job front, my official finishing date is the end of August but, as per usual here, I may be needed a bit longer.  I'm not bothered either way but it'd be nice to have something concrete.  Oh the joys of being a temp!  I've applied for a few jobs but not heard anything back.

Roll on tomorrow.  No work for 2 weeks.  My job share fellow temp wanted to swap some days with me so I am working Monday - Wednesday this week.  Then I'm off next week before returning to my normal Wednesday - Friday the following week, so for 3 days off work I end up with 1 day short of two weeks not working.  Excellent!!!!!

Another first

My daughter's first love is now, as of this week, her first ex - which explains why she has moped around the house in her pj's all week.  She is a little upset about it and has had a cry in my arms.  Now she's downstairs eating my best chocolate (with my permission) and watching Harry Potter (No.6, I think) with her Dad.

The perennial question

It's heading towards that time of year again and A, being the caring, thoughtful husband that he is, has asked me what I want for my birthday.  As usual there are two sets of answers to this.  One runs to 'ha ha, stop kidding around' things like finish revampin en-suite, a new kitchen, a 'no snoring ever again' medication so we can share a bed every night (ok, so this isn't kidding around but no-one has invented one yet), my very own Ferrari 360 F1 Modena (with flappy paddle gear box), or a sprawling house in the country with acres of land between me and my next door neighbours ('cos I'm the sociable sort, you know).  The other usually goes something like 'dunno, nothing's really took my fancy'.  This is not strictly true as there's always ONE thing that takes my fancy  ;-) but why wait till my birthday  hehehehe.

I'm after a new camera BUT as I know absolutely nothing about digital SLRs I am going to make a nuisance of myself at the camera club in September and see if the some of the boys will let me play with their toys.  The new camera will have to wait till next year some time.  It would be a VERY expensive mistake to get the wrong one.  (We are talking £500+ here so I need to be very sure I'm getting the best one for me).

So, I've settled for a serious session at a hairdressing salon.  The goody bag that I brought home from the Ball on Saturday had a 20% off voucher for somewhere that charges silly money (to me who would make Scrooge look profligate with money for things like clothes or hair) to do even the simplest of things.  I want a new style and some streaks of colour putting in.  Just the sort of thing to make me feel summery and cheerful.  It has to be low-maintenance as I don't have the time or the inclination to spend more than 10 minutes each day making it look presentable.  It would also have to look good whether I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt or formal business wear.  Picky, picky, picky.

I've already shown the kids what I want and, between them, it comes in under budget.  Let's hope they remember.

Take me to Vegas!

Last night hubby and I, accompanied by 4 friends, went to a Charity Ball.  My friend, and ex-Pampered Chef boss, Debbie Casey is raising funds for Women for Women and last night was the finale in her fundraising efforts so that she can go on a bike ride through China to raise money for and awareness of this charity's work.  If you would like to donate, click here.

Back to last night.  The food was very nice.  I discovered I like melon, the yellow-skinned green flesh variety, and creme brulee.  During the evening there was a 'spot prize'.  One chair in the whole room had the W4W logo tacked under the seat.  Me, me, me!!!!  For that I 'won' a bottle of pink fizz.  That'll go down nice at my birthday next month.  During the meal Debbie's girls were doing a tombola.  They had a bag of home-made tickets, carefully sealed, and some had prizes.  We had 3 tickets and won a bottle of pineapple Malibu and £30 of vouchers for a Mediterranean restaurant.  The latter will go down nicely on our week's holiday next month.  We weren't quite so lucky in the auction.  The bidding for 4 tickets to watch Hampshire v Durham AND a signed Hampshire CC shirt went beyond our limit, so we didn't win anything there.  Then the raffle was drawn.  I had my eye on the 'Finger Buffet for 25 people' as it would come in very handy for said birthday.  Unfortunately it was not to be.  Instead I won a one night stay in an Executive Suite at the Hamble Retreat, 2 miles from home.  Very nice, indeed.

Fortunately that was it; it was beginning to get embarrassing.  There must have been 100 people there, many of whom left with no prizes at all.  And then there was us with a bagful.  But it would have been just as much fun if we'd won nothing at all.

What's going on at the moment

Yesterday afternoon I had another session with my life coach friend, R.  We talked about my future plans with particular respect to job-hunting.  I told her that it was on hold for now as I was having difficulty dealing with the constant knockbacks/no replies.  She helped me to see that there is nothing wrong with making big efforts to find a job then taking a few weeks off when the constant failure gets too much.

We also discussed my personal brand - or, the image I need to project to get what I want.  We have made plans to go shopping in a couple of weeks to look at, and maybe buy some 'sharp and professional' business attire.  Needless to say, A is already going a bit pale at the thoughts of it all.  I have promised to be good and be more Primark than boutique.  I am also considering getting my CV professionally done. 

The plan was to start job hunting towards the end of September, assuming that my current contract finishes at the end of August.  Well, this afternoon I got a call from an agency asking if I was prepared to look further afield for jobs - as in Poole or Andover - and the answer was 'not that far'.  Anyway, the job they sent me for 3 months ago (the one I never heard back from, and they never phoned me back about) became a different role, one which I wouldn't have gone for (and neither did anyone else who they interviewed).  This business have decided to fill this vacancy in-house from their sales ledger team, leaving a vacancy.  So, I asked this job agency to get me in for that one.  This agency don't generally handle jobs paying less than £14K (lucky them that they can be so choosy).  I explained to them that this is an unrealistic wage for someone with AAT Level 2 but no proper work experience; somewhere around £12K is more appropriate.  I repeated that I was interested in the position and could be negotiable on salary - apparently the company likes a bargain.  We'll see what happens.  I might just go on to the company's website direct and see what's what.  Looks like I'm in the job market again.

I am a good mummy

Why?  Because I have made waffleberry pie for pudding.  If there is one dessert guaranteed to get my family's attention and undying affection, then this is it!  D has decided it must be a healthy pudding as it has berries in it.  I countered that with it must be really bad for you as it has loads of cream in it.  Are you drooling yet?  Here's the recipe.

And to thank me for my largesse K is cooking dinner - ham and mushroom pasta bake.  I might suggest some garlic bread to go with it, but might not having just been shooed out the kitchen.

A is working late tonight, and doesn't read this blog, so he doesn't know what he's missing.

Fats - the good, the bad and the downright ugly

Two posts in one day!  Scary, huh?

I know my blog is daily reading for thousands  a few of you, so here's my latest health warning.  (Or rather, my only one apart from be safe in the sun).  There was an article in The Times on Saturday, in their Weekend supplement (I can't link to it as they expect you to pay these days), concerning trans-fats and their closely related cousins hydrogenated fats.  Apparently these are the seriously bad boys of the fat family, being blamed for the dramatic increase in levels of heart disease, certain cancers, strokes and diabetes.  These are only the things we know about at the moment; this list may well grow over the next few years.

Now I'm normally quite sceptical about government advice on what is bad for me to eat, but if you could read this article you would see that our government, unlike the US, aren't saying much about banning these fats.  In fact, the UK Food Standards Agency thinks that legislation would be "unlikely to deliver any significant health benefit" as our intake levels are "approximately half that of recommended levels".  Hmmm, the government want us all to eat healthily, lose weight, get more exercise, reduce type 2 diabetes and heart disease, yet there's no reason to bring in legislation to ban the stuff.

Over in the States, whole areas have outlawed these fats in restaurants, whilst in California (ever the extremist on the health front) has intoduced a state-wide ban.  Any food manufacturer who wants to keep their market share over there has removed it from their products.  Are you outraged yet?

Trans-fats are made by processing polyunsaturated fats.  These types of fat are runny at room temperature and quickly go rancid.  By adding hydrogen to them - no you're not getting a complicated chemistry lesson on how this happens, it just does OK - their structure is altered and they become partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.  This gunk can be found in many processed foods including, but not limited to, popcorn, chips, cakes, biscuits.  If you want to avoid it, and who wouldn't, look for products that are labelled 'all butter', or are made with a different fat.  You should avoid anything that has 'vegetable fat', 'shortening', 'margarine' or 'partially hydrogenated vegetable oil/fat' in the list of ingredients.

So that's the ugly out the way.  The bad could be attached to saturated fats, and until recently it was.  Although it still shouldn't be consumed in great quantity it is less harmful than trans-fats.  Saturated fats can be found in goods such as milk, butter, meat, some nuts and cocoa butter.

The good fats are the unsaturated fats, both poly- and mono-.  Poly-unsaturated fats are the omega-3s and omega-6s.  The ideal balance is 3 x 3s to 1 x 6s.  Polys can be found in seeds, nuts and oily fish.  If these aren't prominent in your diet it might make sense to take a supplement.  Monos can be found in avocado, olive oil, eggs and lamb, amongst other things.  Here at Dark Corner we do all our stir-fries in olive oil.

I've already discussed it with he who thinks he's boss (unless it's Sunday when it IS his turn) and I've bought some butter today, along with a butter dish - a proper pot one.  All I need now is to work out if I can fry chips in olive oil, or whether sunflower oil is ok.  Don't anyone mention oven chips, not unless you can recommend ones that taste like the real thing instead of cardboard/sawdust sweepings.

I hope you all find this of some use.

Hi there

I've been very busy living life - again.  Sorry, but it keeps getting in the way of the blogging.

Anyway, I have news on the job front.  I have lowered my hours to 3 days per week.  Now the balance feels right; I can get my housework done, see friends, not feel guilty for vegging on the sofa for a few hours if the mood takes me, etc.  This has made me much happier in myself, though I still get stroppy at the others if they don't pull their weight.  (It took me a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get them this far.  I'm not letting it slide now).

I also have news on the studying front.  After much discussion with my nearest and dearest (and his dad) I have decided to go back to college in September to do AAT Level 3.  I'm even going back to Fareham College!  Some of my friends from this year's course are going back so I decided to join them.

Oh and my dad turned 70 on the 18th.  I'll put up some photos when I get a chance.

The things you see

This week hubby and I took a walk along the sea front at Hill Head.  We parked near Titchfield Haven and walked right round to the main carpark and back.  On the way back hubby spotted a hawk hovering just behind some beach huts.  By the time I'd got the camera switched on, zoomed in and the focus on the hawk it had dived.  Muttering naughty things under my breath I put the camera away only to have the hawk fly not 10 feet from me, with its prey, and land about 50 feet behind me on the stump of a breakwater.

Being the brave soul that I am I got the camera out again, switched it on and started snapping, moving forwards 5 feet or so after a few shots.  Eventually the bird spotted me and shot me a nasty look so I stayed still and took a few more shots.  Here's the best one - if you don't like to see half-eaten corpses don't look.

This image has been much fiddled with, using Paint Shop Pro, to bring out the clarity and sharpness as my camera lens isn't powerful enough to get up close. 

I'm beginning to pine for a camera with changeable lenses, so that I can get really close to nature.  At the moment the blue tit parents are feeding their fledged babies in the trees around my garden.  Those birds NEVER keep still for more than a second or two, barely long enough to focus in.  And it's a pain trying to get close enough to get a close-up without them seeing you and flying off.  Anyway, here are my best efforts.

The top image was taken just as the parent bird took off.  The bottom image is of a baby.  Amazingly, the babies can fly but still need their parents to feed them.

Then to cap it all, yesterday I saw this.

They flew right past me, far too busy playing at piggy-backs to notice my presence.  The one on top was really buzzing his wings.  The pitch kept changing and got quite high at one point before stopping completely for a few seconds before starting again.  All I can say is, lucky them!

Doing too much, and other interesting insights

Maybe I was trying to do exactly that.  Needless to say, thanks to a good chat with hubby, things are a-changing.  I am reducing my hours at work down to 3 days and, once the exam is done (this coming Tuesday), 2 weekdays at home.  This gives me a 4 day 'weekend' to get caught up on all the chores.  It also means a return to some lovely home-cooked-from-scratch dinners.  And I'll have more time to catch up with friends.  And I might be able to find the time to keep this blog up, instead of letting it drift like I have for the past few months. 

You see, there was a rumour at work that my services would be required up to September and there's no way I can let my outstanding 'big' chores list (total spring clean, decorating, etc) go on till then.  So tomorrow, for the first time in many months, I will NOT be going shopping tomorrow (Saturday).  I've never liked doing that - too many people.  So I'll start going on Mondays (or Tuesdays).  I might even stop feeling guilty for having a lie in at the weekends.

I've also decided to stop job-hunting.  It's soul-destroying to get no joy.  I've had 2 interviews this year out of nearly 50 job applications.  Once the economy picks up, and there's not so much competition, I'll try again.

I have enjoyed my time at college and I'd like to do the Level 3 course at some point in the future.  However, I think I'd like a job in that field so that I can have some experience of what I'll be learning.  Plus the distance learning version will set me back about £800, once you've allowed for things like books, exam fees, AAT annual fees, etc, etc, etc.  Makes you wonder what you're paying the course fee of £670 for, doesn't it?! (Yes, the £800 includes this £670).  For a mere £650 I can go back to the Open University and do the next course on my list - M208 Pure Maths.  No extra fees (apart from posting some tutor-marked-assignments back).  Plus I LOVE pure maths. 

Right now I want to spend the next 6 years or so finishing my Maths degree.  The only issue is, what do I do with it?  Most people assume I'll go into teaching.  Not a hope!  I'd rather go into a research role - being left alone to discover new and wonderful things in the world of numbers.  Not much money in that, though, but a heck of a lot of job satisfaction, not to mention the absolute delight at going to work each day.

Anyone want a middle-aged, enthusiastic, willing to learn, number cruncher?

This working woman's lot is not a happy one

I feel worn out.  It's not tiredness - as in could fall asleep anywhere.  It's a total loss of energy/go/drive (call it what you will).  Let me give you a bit of history to help put it all in context.

 I last worked outside the home full-time in June 1991, which is when I quit to be A's company secretary - aka money for nothing much.  Since then I have done the full-time housewife/mother routine, and let no one tell you that it is the easy option.  You work just as hard but don't get paid.  Then in April 2004 I started home educating D and we were joined, in October 2005, by K.  Our life had a certain routine - certain activities happened on certain days, etc.  Then in September 2009 I had no kids 'at home'.  They were both at college.  I was left to find a new role.  I dabbled at finding a job but my heart wasn't really in it.  A couple of friends suggested I take up a local job agency's advert for exam invigilators.  After all, I was doing it for free for the local home education group.  This led to odd days of basic admin work.  Then, the NHS job came along.

I was originally sent in for 3 hours a day for 3 days.  No problem.  The money wasn't as much as I'd earned previously but it would be a new experience.  That was in early February this year and I'm STILL there, doing 4 full days per week (the 5th day being at college doing AAT).  Suddenly I had to find time to do the housewife/mother stuff.  The kids are helpful but pretty much only when told what needs to be done.  And, for the most part, the same can be said about A.  Admittedly he's finally worked out how to use the washing machine - assuming he remembers to do any - but he's never voluntarily dusted or hoovered (dust allergy so unfair to expect it), cleaned the bathroom, ironed, taken on the weekly shop (unless I am not in a fit state, when I usually go for a delivery service), made sure the kids are doing their chores properly (ok, maybe occasionally but usually when I have nagged him to make an effort); and hardly ever worried about things like making sure we are ready for Christmas, birthdays, etc.

Some people were quick to point out that he works SO hard and I (until February) was at home all day, so therefore it was my job to do all that.  And I did it all with barely a moan.  But now I WORK TOO.  And to be honest it just feels like if I don't ask someone to do something then no-one else but me can see it needs to be done.

In recent times (the past few years) I have been having a few issues with my memory and processing - things  slipping my mind, and using the wrong word or getting them the wrong way round - and things have been getting worse in the past year or so.  Stress seems to make it worse.  I've had a few stressors at work lately.  A suggests that if work is getting me like that I should quit.  Now, I know he means that exactly as he says it, but there is a part of me that wonders if his subconscious would then feel less guilty about relying on me to remember everything/notice everything that needs doing.  He'd deny it, and I'd feel bad about accusing him of this; honest, it's just me feeling a misery guts.  A has never been any good at remembering things.  I know that but my issues are getting to the stage where I can't be trusted either, and I can feel myself getting more worked up trying to make sure that I don't forget things (because A is bloody useless at it).

Hands up who can see who's going to deal with the lion's share (or even all of it) of when FIL moves down here.  And keep those hands up if you think that, whilst I'm up in Nottingham sorting that end out, bugger all housework-type stuff gets done down here.

What a lovely weekend

The weather was warm and sunny.  Not sure if I've had a skin breakout - probably, but let me kid myself for just a few weeks more, eh?

We got a load of jobs done in the garden.  I had 2 wonderful labourers.  They did a lot of lifting and breaking (old terracotta plant pots to make drainage chips for my new planters).  K & I filled said planters and planted seeds in them.  A then set up the watering system.  Fingers crossed, we will have loads of vegetables.

Yesterday A & I went down to the sea front.  There were lots of yachts out doing their thing, and one whose owners were enjoying the view.

Today, whilst not strictly the weekend, I was up at 7.00, in Makro by 8.15 and home by 9.10 to put the second load of washing out.  Then I put away all my Makro shopping, tidied the cupboards under the sinks in the bathrooms, hoovered the stairs, and hoovered and tidied the big cloak cupboard by the back door.  By 11.30 the third load of washing was out.

Then I decided it was ME time so got out the camera and played with some of the settings.

I think Spring is here

Finally!  The weather has chosen to be more seasonal this week.  I have been going on walks at lunchtime as I always feel in a better mood after.  This afternoon all 4 of us got stuck into some gardening.  Earlier K and I had decided that some big planters would go nicely under the kitchen window.  They're big enough for me to put carrots, lettuce and peppers into.  The carrots and lettuce are sewn directly into the planters.  The peppers are in seed trays in the house - in my new plastic mini-greenhouse.  It's too cold at night to put them outside.

Speaking of the mini-greenhouse (which K managed to put together pretty much single-handedly today), the kids planted broccoli, tomatoes and French marigolds earlier this week, along with the peppers.  The broccoli are already through.

I'll probably have too many plants so if anyone locally has too many of their plantings and would like to swap form an orderly queue - otherwise known as LET ME KNOW.

And to round off a lovely day A got the BBQ out to cook tea on.  Mmmmmmmmm.  Did I ever tell you how much I love that man.

A quick update

Cos there's not really much happening.  The kids are on Easter Break from college.  I'm still slaving away.  Hubby is too. 

These last two are quite important as we have seen a really nice kitchen.  It's not on his our list of things to do this year, but I live in hope.  I've been living in hope for 12 years.  And, strangely enough, we saw it in IKEA.  Now, we don't do IKEA.  We had a look round one some years ago and were unimpressed with what was on offer (and the price they wanted for it too).  Yesterday we were wandering round Southampton when hubby decided that it might be nice to see if they're still as bad, given that EVERYONE thinks they're fantastic/must have.  So now we are of the opinion that they do have some nice stuff at a reasonable price but some of their stock is still 'not us'.

I did see a nice dining table - £159 and can sit up to 10 people - but the chairs are extra (£35 each).  I reckon I can get away with just 6.  Our current dining table, which we've had for less than 10 years, has warped and the knots are becoming proud.  Also it doesn't clip together very well, both adding and removing the extender leaf.  And it's too big really.  It didn't look that big when we bought it.

Oh and yes we did buy something in IKEA, a new loo roll holder to replace one that broke off.

Ooh I'm so excited!!!!

Hubby and I are going out on Saturday night.  We're going to see Bon Jovi on the cheap.  Bearing in mind Jon and the boys are coming to the O2 arena in June and the tickets are £45 - £200+, the £10 each we're paying for Saturday's gig in a little club in Southampton is better value by far.  Of course we're not actually seeing Bon Jovi themselves (boo, hiss) but we ARE seeing a decent tribute band.  Decent enough that Jon Bon Jovi has sung with them.  Click on the link and go to the audio/video link.

Can't wait.

ps  D is recovering nicely.  The black eye is almost gone.  However out dentist is on holiday this week so that's all on hold till Monday 15th.

Positive thoughts/vibes/prayers please

Whatever floats your boat.

For the past 4 weeks or so K has been suffering with eye pain, at first in the bone around the eye but lately also in the eye itself.  It got steadily worse and on the day she had a doctor's appointment she was sent home early as she had a bad headache and felt sick.  The doctor decided that she had a minor ear infection - they did look slightly pink down near the ear drum (yes I got a peek, without asking) - and a sinus infection (but K said he pressed so hard on the left maxiliary sinus it would have hurt anyway). 

One week of antibiotics later and we were back at square one.  So I made another appointment, this time with our own GP Dr D.  Unfortunately I was working so A had to take her.  K was also sent home again today, suffering from a bad headache.  On the plus side K's confidence is blooming and she was able to handle all the history taking herself - that and she is up-to-here with the pain and discomfort.  After much chat and testing Dr D said that he thought the most likely option would be migraine (A's mum and I have both been known to be floored by them), but he also wanted her to see our optician to check for visual defects and, particularly, glaucoma.  Strictly speaking, K is too young for this disease but occasional cases have been know.  She is also having increasing difficulty with blurring and focussing, though I'm not sure if that's all the time or just when the pains are playing up.  So we are off to see our eye man on Tuesday.  K has to take propranolol, a mild beta-blocker, for two weeks to see if that helps with the pain.  So far the answer is no but we'll keep going for the course to see if it needs to accumulate in the body.

If the optician can't find anything and the propranolol doesn't work then she gets referred to the opthalmology department at the local hospital.

Go figure

There was an interesting section in yesterday's Times (Weekend section) to do with alcohol and middle-class, middle-aged consumption, as in how we are all drinking too much too regularly - more than half a bottle a night apparently will lead to future health problems.

One particular article grabbed my attention.  You can find it here.  Those of you who know us will understand which bit grabbed me, those of you who don't will possibly find it interesting anyway.  I told my husband this relevant bit of the article - and no, I'm not going to enlighten you -  and those of you that know us will probably guess what he replied.  The reason he is still breathing is that he said it with a smile on his face.

How lemon curd can seriously ruin your evening

This post WAS going to be titled "What is it about Christmas that makes me want to bake" (and I bet you can see where this post is going).  Today I got the culinary urge to spoil my family with home-made offerings.  However my pastry-making abilities are, well, pants!  My MIL will attest to this.  So I cheated and bought some Jus Rol frozen shortcrust pastry, 2 lots of jam and a jar of lemon curd.

After tea (home-made pizza) I set to with a vengeance (and my Pampered Chef Deluxe Mini Muffin Pan).  All was reasonably well until the 2nd batch came out the oven, the lemon curd batch.  As usual A, D & K were like bees round a honey pot waiting to sample the wares - I have a great quality control department.  Unfortunately one of the tarts split apart and landed oven-hot lemon curd on mine and A's hand.  He seems not too bad.  My little finger has a bright red patch and is throbbing merrily.  Fortunately this means the damage is superficial and not needing a mad dash to A & E.  It also means that the 3rd batch - blackberry jam - will have to wait till tomorrow.  A is watching the snooker and the kids have homework so there's no-one to take over.

This is after the cake I made yesterday decided to crumble apart instead of easing out of its tin like it was supposed to.  Maybe I should hold off making the double chocolate pudding (chocolate, bread waffles, cream, eggs).