Happy Days

The last 5 days have been mad, happy, fun filled and a bit hot & sweaty but I’m not complaining, oh no.  How can you, with beautiful blue skies and sunshine from dawn to dusk how can you not be happy.  With my blogging brain I could go on forever this morning as I’ve so much to share but I am going it keep it brief and just give you the basics; two reasons for this. The first being that we board the Queen Elizabeth today and so I have a cruise to catch and secondly, Harriet told me that my last posting was really boring and I used words for the sake of using words.  I do go on a bit but I do like to think I can take criticism on board so I will try and stream line it today.

On Wednesday eTyres come and fitted me with 2 new rear tyres.   I have used them before and they are very good as they come to your home.  My new tyres cost me 75 quid and that included fitting (obviously) and tracking.  Unfortunately my slot time was 11am which was annoying because I wanted to go to the gym. Phil said he was staying home so I left him with my car keys and took the Peugeot.  This was the first time I’d driven it and I can’t say it was a good experience, the gears were difficult and the breaks were ultra-sensitive but it did have some poke which made a nice change.

My friend Jane picked me up in her new Range Rover and took me to lunch at the Ship Ashore at Willen.  I only see Jane a couple of times a year so when we get together our lunch dates are long.  Wednesday was no exception, she picked me up at half one and I got back to the flat at around half four.  A lot has happened in Jane’s world since I last saw her in December; she has been to Australia, Thailand, Gran Canaria; her dog died and both of her daughters have returned home to live.  Jane and Ian have found new business premises and are scheduled to move next month.  Jane has lots of other stuff happening and I do wonder how she copes with it all whilst working full-time.  Amazing and I have every respect for her.

Whilst I was a lady that lunches, Phil went to Rexam and had a very successful meeting.  The good news is that he negotiated a good hourly rate and he starts work this Thursday.  It was a manic at the flat when Phil got back from Rexam, we had to sort out a contract and get us some indemnity insurance, and also we had Harriet coming for tea.  It all got sorted though.  Harriet left the flat the same time that Phil went out for his Wednesday night out with the boys.  I stayed home alone and had a fairly early night.

On Thursday it was my birthday and I was 48.  I don’t whether it was phscosemtic but I felt my age plus a little bit more.  I received some lovely cards and emails which was really nice. Phil got me the mini cruise and a refillable bottle of Angel which was the perfect size for my handbag. I have had some weird and wonderful birthday gifts from Phil over the years but in recent years he has got a lot better. To be honest I am not bothered about gifts, I am one of those people that would rather give than receive. I went to the gym in the morning and did a big shop at Tesco in Bletchley. 

In the afternoon I popped into Sue for a cup of tea in her lovely garden.  The garden at the flat is almost unusable because it is so open.  I suppose I could sod something about it if I wanted and maybe I will in the future but if the sun shines we just take ourselves off to the caravan.  For my birthday meal we went for an Indian meal at the Blue Orchid in Aspley Guise, kindly organised and paid for by Sue.  She’d found a Groupon offer and booked for 4 but with all the wine we consumed it turned out to be quite an expensive evening.  But the food was amazing and we had a fabulous time.  It made it that we got to eat al fresco and had a delightful table by the fish pond.  Thank you Sue once again for treating us.

As with every good evening out which includes wine, I had a muzzy head on Friday morning.  No time to hide under the duvet though, because Phil was going to his mum’s and I had a load to do.   I went to the gym first and then went to Asda for shopping to take to the caravan.  I cleaned the flat when I got back and then packed up the car and drove to the caravan.  The caravans were baking hot and my first job when I arrived was to open all the windows and doors to let in some air.  It took ages to unpack all the shopping and I’d only just finished when Phil arrived from Melton at half four.

Saturday brought another bright and beautiful day and it was very hot even at half eight when I left the park and went to the gym.  I stopped off at Morrisons on the way home and it was jam packed, every man and his dog were out shopping, nightmare as Phil would say.   Harriet was already at the caravan when I got back, she’d come over to spend the day sunbathing. I joined her for a couple of hours, Phil did burgers on the BBQ and after lunch Harriet persuaded me to go to the pool.  It was busy; hardly a spare patch of grass to sit and the pool was packed with screaming kids.  Certainly not my idea of fun; I did join Harriet for a quick dip for all of 5 minutes and then we went back to the van.

It was so hot that I had no energy to do anything but we had guests in the evening so there was much to do. Phil did the lions share; he chopped onions, peppers and prepared chicken kebabs.  I’d invited Sue & Brian and Mads & Steve over to join us for a BBQ and afterwards for party in the park.  Phil & I had set the gazebo up in the park and taken the spare table and chairs down in the morning.  Sue & Brian arrived first at 5pm.  Phil made up a jug of Pimms and we waited for Mads & Steve to turn up which wasn’t until nearly 6pm.  This wasn’t a big problem but it did mean that our supper was rushed and it was a mad dash to get down to the park for 8 o’clock laden with food and enough drink to sink a ship.

In retrospect we needn’t have rushed.  There were many gazebos and most people had arrived by the time we got there.  The flyer that we’d seen advertised a temperance band and nobody actually knew what that really was but it turned out to be a brass band.  They were okay but they weren’t a patch on the band last year which was a shame.   I have though to say though that the atmosphere was great and it was good to see the event was well supported.  A couple of neighbours topped by our gazebo for a drink and a chat and the evening flew by.  The firework display at the end was good but again nowhere near as good as last year.   Sue & Brian stopped in the caravan next door but Mads & Steve drove home as they had to get back for their cat.

On Sunday morning Phil cooked full English on the BBQ and we ate outside even though it was a little cloudy.  After Sue & Brian left, Phil caught up with TV and I washed towels and bedding and did a general tidy up.  I did a roast chicken for lunch which we had with leftovers.  We had planned to leave after lunch but the neighbours Dick & Chris invited us for drinks which was nice.  We got back home just after 5 and I did some packing and then we watched some telly. 

This morning has been manic, I thought I had loads of time but the taxi is coming to take us to the station in 5 minutes so must quickly publish and sign off. Not time for edits or photographs will have to post these later.  Right now I have a train to catch.