Where is the 'care' in British Gas Home Care??

this 'service' costs me over £200 a year - and this is how useful it is:

sunday:

around 18.00 hours:

boiler started to clank and then the lights started to flash and then there was no hot water and no heating

around 20.30 hours:

phoned homecare and they said the earliest they could get an engineer out was 'between 8 and 1 on Tuesday'

monday:

no hot water, no central heating

tuesday:

engineer arrived around 10.00 - fixed the pump - boiler working again

wednesday:

lucia was here and also stella and the pies.

around 14.00 hours: more boiler clanking and flashing lights - no more heating, no more hot water. phoned home care and said this was priority because i had small children staying with me in the house, youngest of whom, cpie, is 22 months. said they could get an engineer out 'tomorrow between 8 and 6.'

thursday:

16.00 hours and no engineer in sight. phoned home care and asked if one was coming - yes definintely.

17.00 hours and still no engineer - phoned again, asked what was happening and was told they would email the engineer and get back to me

17.20 still no engineer and no phone call. phoned again just as the van drew up on the driveway

engineer came in, looked at the boiler and said the pump was broken (i personally think the other chap just bodged it), he would get a new part and would be back in the morning at 11.00.

17.45 home care phoned to check if engineer had been

another night with no central heating and no hot water.

today:

11.00 engineer arrived, fixed the boiler and left by mid-day.

between sunday at 6.00 p.m and today at mid-day (114 hours) my house had neither hot water nor heating for a total of 86 hours

the engineer (who had to bear the brunt of my anger - although i told him several times that i did realise it wasn't his fault) had only been told about the job 30 minutes before he arrived!! yet homecare had known about it for 27 hours by then. arriving so late in the day, he was unable to get a part before morning. this 'service' is quite obviously a complete shambles!!

i think the administrative team (if there is one) should get themselves organised - get some people with brains on the job is my advice

swings and roundabouts . . .

the weekend has had its 'ups' . . . but also a decided 'down'

HIGHS:

I am lucky that I have a good number of really great friends - but of course over the years there are some who, for whatever reason, stand out. My friend B is one of them. For one year we shared a truly grotty flat with 3 other girls. This flat was the top floor of a large but very run-down house near Sefton Park, Liverpool - and I'm not saying the Landlord was exactly criminal but he was certainly more than a little bit shady!! Then, as now - well probably more then than now - I was up for any mischief going . . . and B and I certainly got up to our fair share - including one memorable and hilarious History field trip to London. (B and I both did History as a 'Main'.) This included us gaining unlawful entry to the Houses of Parliament - mainly due to B telling the policeman who challenged us that we were 'expected'!! About 20 years ago B and family moved to the Antipodes and I lost contact. I bet you can all guess where this is leading . . . . . Good Old Facebook!!! YAY!! This weekend I heard from her again - they are back in England and not really terribly far from here. The last time I saw here she was expecting their first baby - and now he is almost 30!! We have a lot of catching up to do . . . and I am very excited!!!

My second high is having Kathy and Tony drop in for a bite to eat on their way back home from visiting Claire. It is always lovely to see them and hear their news. Exciting times for them as they have 2 grandchildren expected this year. Unfortunately, however, while they were here . . .

My LOW occurred:

I had just turned the tap on when the boiler gave an almighty clunk!! crash!! bang!! Then 2 of its red lights started flashing and the gas flame symbol thing went out too. The upshot is that the darned thing is broken, I called the Home Care people and an engineer is coming out Tuesday morning. In the meantime . . . no heating and no hot water other than what I can boil up in the kettle. I love the snow and the cold weather . . . but just for now I'm hoping we have at least 36 hours of warmish temperatures!!

a smile a day . . .

here's what made me smile today:
from 'My Little Book of Crap Advice':

Ten Top Reasons to Procrastinate
1.


hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

nicked from cat's blog . . . .

this seemed like a good idea . . . though a little after new year . . .

2007 - MOST MEMORABLE

FILM: The Queen - about the only new release I saw

BOOK: Conrad's 'The Rover' - 'O' level text I revisited after 40-odd years - recommended!!

MEAL: New Year's Dinner - 2 halves really: the one which ended in 2007 at Judy and John's and the one which started at mine in 2007 and ended in 2008

HOLIDAY: Northumberland - visiting Barter Books and walking along the coast to Dunster Castle on the same day - fantastic!!

WEEKEND: Sheffield at Easter . . . and going to the top of Win Hill

DAY: the wedding - of course!!!!!!!

MOMENT: seeing Lucia-Rose for the first time

twelfth night

it has been a busy week-end!

saturday:

eric, janey and lizzie arrived early afternoon and eric did some extraordinarily useful jobs for me: mended my bath and outside pipe and (even more importantly) mended jpie's chair-he-ever-had. then we just did the usual: sat around drinking coffee and/or wine

in the evening it was our 2nd annual visit to the panto at the palace along with kpie, jpie, rich and most of rich's family (they took up almost the whole of the front 2 rows!!) . amazing fun - what can i say? we all enjoyed it tremendously! then back here ordering a chinese en route and we all ate far too much and drank more wine - lovely!!

sunday:

latish breakfast and then j e and l pushed off for maud's.

stella rich and the pies came around 3.00 and then frankie alex and lucia a bit later. we had tea out in the conservatory (hoorah!!) and then (at last) opened our christmas presents. stella had lucia, cpie and jpie as the 3 wise men and kpie as the camel with little l riding astride - they all lined up in the hall and then processed into the sitting room - hahaha they are very funny

after they left i took down the crimble decs and tree decs and took the tree outside. it always seems so sad when it all has go. i always leave the crib up until about february as the wise men only come today and it seems a shame to pack away so soon! this year, however, i have left quite a few other things out on the basis that they were only up for the wedding anyway

so . . . christmas over for another year . . . 2008 looks like being an eventful year: ruda with s,r,k,j and c (and possibly f, a and lucia too) in april, mary and kevin's wedding in may, the counting in june, possible trip to stoff in the summer, o and g trying to move down here, i may do another solo hols - possibly yorkshire this time - and quite a lot of my targets to be achieved too . . .

back to work

nothing much to report about that . . . except that . . . people were enthusing about some tv prog called 'how to look good naked'. i turned on to watch . . . and just about managed ten minutes and had to turn it off again. i have rarely seen such a load of old drivel in my life. if it hadn't been so cold i would have gone out to the shed, got my tin of yellow paint and watched it dry!! far more interesting!!

2008 . . . and no resolutions

i have only just remembered one is supposed to make them . . . never mind . . .

last night was the Annual New Year's Eve Dinner - and it was at my house - yay! i am really getting into 'party-hosting' mode!

eric and janey were here around mid-day and we had heaps of fun getting ready - eric made funny hats and a 'menu' like a sort of 'cheapo' (!! imagine!!) mcdonalds

janey had brought beouf bourguignon and also made mashed tates (and did most of the veg cooking too), denny and john brought the starter (fish) and jane and dave and john and jude brought the puds (trifle, pineapple and a chocolate torte) - yumm mcscrumm to all. i didn't really do an awful lot it seems - just the nigella express chicken and the cheese and biscuits. but it all went very well, we seemed to laugh a lot and the atmosphere was lovely. we sang auld lang syne at midnight and then went back into the conservatory to finish our cheese course and 'passed the port' - great company and a great start to 2008!!

then today we had the Annual New Year's Day Walk and Pub Lunch. Same 'suspects' as at the dinner plus Cat and David and Freddie (except they weren't allowed to stay because the pub 'doesn't have a licence for under 14s unless accompanied by an adult and eating a meal') - ya boo to the Essex Arms for a rotten attitude!!. matt and helen, chris and zoe and ali and sam also pitched up.

Frankie phoned when i had been back home for a while - they are visiting stella et al - to let me know the web-site for the wedding pics. so had a quick shufti at them and then did some ou work - which i have been sadly neglecting what with all the wedding palaver. also spoke to stella who has booked their ruda van - so booked mine too - yay!! - north devon here we come - wheee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a joyous noel . . .

Yesterday evening I went to celebrate Noel's 80th birthday at Watford Bowls Club. (I find it hard to believe Noel actually is 80 - he looks years younger!!) It was a lovely party with delicious food, great speeches and lovely company.

Earlier in the day I went round to Jackie's to visit and see the pies. They were all well - Ketta and Jose in the kitchen doing play-doh modelling and then Calla got up from her sleep. Today Jackie is driving them back up to Yorkshire.

Mid-day today Janey and Eric came round to bring some drinks and the beouf bourguignon for tomorrow's New Year's Eve Dinner (at my house this time). They will be back in the morning and I think I shall have a busy day getting ready. I am a little nervous - not least because I am such a useless cook - but the Nigella recipe seems quite simple so I am hoping for the best!

I am writing now because I know I shan't have time tomorrow and I wanted to wish everyone who visits this blog a Very Happy New Year - with much love xxxxx

christmas time . . . mistletoe and wine . . .

here's a quick catch-up:

saturday:

stella, rich and i fell into various beds around 2.00 a.m. - the pies and lucia had all been fast asleep since about 7.30/8.30

once we were up it was mainly taking stuff back (cutlery, crocks, wine glasses and the car) and also collecting frankie and alex from the noke where they had spent the night.

heaps and heaps of tidying and in the evening went to jackie's for a lovely meal. we were: jackie, pete, brian, ruth, rich, stella, elizabeth, barry, anna, isabelle, ryan, jemma, andrew and self. brian had made a nice starter - and also some seasonal reindeer meat - and then jackie had made curry with accompaniments including naan bread - yumm! i was very tired however, and had to excuse myself before 11.00.

sunday:

mainly tidying i think and when i was completely finished watched 'father of the bride' for the aah factor

monday (christmas eve):

up to yorkshire by early afternoon. what a wonderful christmas it was!!! the pies were lovely and we all had lots of laughs. stella cooked a brilliant christmas dinner which we had that night as they were travelling back down to hertfordshire on boxing day and wanted to have as few left-overs as poss. it was delish!!!!!

christmas day:

splendid!! what can i say? christmas with the pies is just the best!! mainly we just sat around talking and eating and drinking - we watched 'polar express' with the pies in the afternoon and 'love actually' in the evening. their house is so cosy, the company was wonderful and the only sad thing was missing frankie, alex and lucia. we all went to bed tired but happy.

boxing day:

down to ashby around mid-day and managed to catch o and g still there and then went with eric to take them back home. they had all had a lovely christmas too. eric and i were back home by early evening. we were so full after lunch we didn't need supper so just sat around talking and drinking wine for yonks

thursday and friday:

home again - robin has been and collected the marquee and associated bits and pieces

stella and rich have gone back to yorkshire minus the pies for a couple of days adn called in briefly on the way home

i went over to hazlemere to spend the evening with the fairlies yesterday - had a lovely time - this was the first time i have been there since they moved in - it is very homely and cosy and i had a great evening. lucia was very sweet - malcolm gave here a little rocking horse (except it is a reindeer) for christmas and she just loves it - she is very sweet

friday 21 december 2007 - frankie's and alex's wedding

i have already described the wedding as the best night of my life . . . and it was certainly that!

lots of people helped including stella and jess both of whom were here until late on wednesday and thursday helping frankie and me with the decorating/orders of service

friday morning saw eric and janey here - janey to look after lpip who was crawling over just about everything and eric to hoover the marquee - a man!! a man mark you, doing the hoovering!! - whatever next??

the wedding mass was beautiful and frankie looked stunning!! lpip and cpie looked very sweet:

lpip (with jackie) and cpie waiting for arrivals in church

huge, huge thanks to jackie, incidentally, who, with rich, looked after not only her own grandchildren, kpie, jpie and cpie, but also lucia whilst the rest of us were flying around getting the marquee and the morning preparations done - and went out and did shopping for me thursday morning! - a lady who truly deserves the title of 'MUMBE'!!

jpie walked down the aisle with me and did the most tremendous bow when he got to the front!
jpie doing his 'piggy' face

as for kpie! the prettiest flower girl i have ever seen:
and here are most of the bridal party on the altar:

that's: gerorge, jess. frankie, alex, stella and justin, the best man (and wicked conservatory builder!)

folks just milling round at the back of the church after the mass:

jess, stella with kpie and jpie, rich, jemma (who made frankie's beautiful, beautiful dress), pete (who did parking warden duty during the mass) and peter who stood in for boogs so magnificently!

our 'new' family:

moi ('oh my! where did you get that 'at?'), alex, lpip, frankie and stella

i love this photo of my 2 lovely girls - you can tell they are great friends - and you can also see how jess did the bridesmaids' hair with black feathers in the chignonny-type-thing:

beautiful bride and dishy groom!!:

meanwhile . . . back at the house . . .

here are o, lizzie, matt and g in the marquee:

eric and cat

lots of friends and relatives in the marquee:

anna talking to brian (who also 'did' her wedding), round the table at the back its jackie, with clara, talking to jemma, table in front: g, james, peter and emma, malcolm is talking to geoff just behind them and there's justin on the extreme right

more or less the same but with ricky on the left behind anna, stella at the back, alex talking to geoff behind me and lpip and the table on the right has sarah, kelly and mark with justin:

and here am i with lpip and obviously having a wonderful time (even though my grin looks scarily like cherie blair's!!)

frankie and alex cutting the caake - cat made this cake for them!! - it was chocolate covered with white chocolate with chocolate swirly bits - and feathers and roses for the top - yumm mcscrumm!! - and obviously 'Frankie Heaven'!!!

alex and justin both did very good- and very funny speeches . . . and this is frankie doing her speech . . . thanking cat . . . (that's pauline and chas in the background)

a very happy couple . . .

. . . and finally . . .

frankie and alex had a wedding guest book . . . and someone who knew him very well wrote 'Boogy would have been proud' - my cup brimmeth over!!

'the night i ever had . . . '

yes . . . the wedding has come and gone . . . and it was the best afternoon/night of my whole life!!! . . .

. . . in the same (but of course completely different) way that 22 june 2002 (stella and rich's wedding day) was the best morning/afternoon of my whole life!!! . . .

i am still totally overwhelmed with what a wonderful day it was . . . and now there is only the kitchen still to finish tidying and i shall be 'all square' again!

tomorrow early morn i travel up to yorkshire to spend christmas with stella rich and the pies, leaving tully in the capable hands of my lovely neighbours, lara, ricky, lauren, jake and benson . . . and i shall update on here when i return . . .

happy christmas everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

worrying . . .

this is how i manage to irritate my daughters . . .

today stella rich and the pies drove down from yorkshire

they dropped in for a quick coffee/milk on the way to jackie's

rich and the pies are staying down but stella is going back up for a few days and then coming down for the wedding

the insurance paid up after stella's accident - it wasn't her fault - but they are waiting a while before they get a new car and in the meantime have been lent one by a kind friend.

rich sent me a text to let me know that stella is on her way back . . . but what is worrying me is that:

she is always losing her keys and now she is driving back home with a set of keys which aren't really hers and i'm wondering if she has remembered her house keys!

this is quite (quite!!) ridiculous!!!

stella has been independent for 9 years - 4 at uni and now over 5 married

she has 3 lovely children whom she manages to look after superbly

she is one of the most capable women i know

. . . and yet i am still worried she may be locked out of her home when she arrives!!

is it any wonder my family get irritated??

why do i only ever write on here on sundays?

. . . i don't know . . . it's certainly not because it is the quietest day of the week . . . or the least busy . . . or the day i feel inspired.

a lot has happened this week . . . some of it good . . . some of it awful . . .

i am very cheesed off . . . in fact i am a gorgonzola

a whirl of activity!

we have all been very busy since last i wrote - so just a quick update then . . .

my lovely girls:

it was Frankie's 'Ladies Pre-Wedding Dinner' weekend' - and we all had a grand time!

Stella arrived Friday evening - I picked her up from the bus station in Golders Green - and then stayed up until gone 2.00 chatting and making things (games) for the dinner.

Saturday S and I went into Watford shopping - we went into every clothes shop in the Harlequin and found absolutely nothing for me to wear at the wedding!! although Stella managed to change the top and bolero of her bridesmaidmaid's outfit for a smaller size. (She had ordered it over the internet and when it came it was too big) so at least that was one good thing.

Frankie Alex and Lucia fetched up in the afternoon and we mainly sat around talking until it was time to get changed and go.

Stella and I collected Anna, Cat and Lizzie to take them over to the Lily Lounge in Harpenden where Shirley, Lucy, Seamus and Luke made a fabulous meal for us all. It was a fantastic venue and and an inspired choice! Frankie looked stunning and her friends were kind enough not to embarass her with any vulgar 'props' (which she had been a bit bothered about). We were: Anna, Jemma, Stella, Cat, Lizzie, Barbara, Grace, George, Catherine, Collette, Emma, Aoife, Jess, self and (naturally) Frankie. Stella had arranged some very funny games between courses which were good ice-breakers and a jolly time was had by all!

To bed late and up late too! Barbara, Grace and George cmae round this morning to see Lucia and then I took Stella off to catch the bus back at 4.00 and happily she is safely home with Rich and the Pies now.

the wedding:

plans and events coming along skippity-skip - but i am keeping schtumm about it for now and will post a report after the event.

my conservatory:

finished!!! yay!!! Alex has painted the walls and I am delighted with it - so now it is ready for the wedding which is a huge relief!!

any other business:

heaps!! but i think this post is long enough for now - and anyway it's getting late and i will just have to update some other time

until next time . . .

grrrrr!!

i don't believe it!!

arrived home from visiting o and g to find that builders' merchants have delivered for my conservatory:

one bag of sand

several lengths of skirting board

one 3m length of window board

and left them on my driveway . . .

in the rain!!!

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeccccccccccchhhhhhh!!!!! (me letting off steam!!)

a veritable medley of unusual and unexpected activities:

lots of novel events for me this week . . .

monday and an election:

straight to school after work to do gov's stuff (parent gov election) which meant i had to miss the 'sharing in his life' session. it was a shame but the work i had to do was new to me and consequently interesting.

tuesday and the women's group:

it was my 'turn' to have women's group evning. I had really struggled to think of something to do and then on sunday night stella had a crafty idea which sounded a good bet. i looked on the hobbycraft website and also went to the store after work. but in the end i decided i should really have at least practised to make sure it worked and to be confident about showing the others how to do it. and so i abandonned the idea and we just had mulled wine and mince pies to get us in the Christmas spirit - even though it isn't even advent yet!! it was a good evening though. these ladies came: jackie, mary e, sue s, katrina, dorota and liz.

wednesday and my first tutorial:

after looking after lucia i went up to london in the evening for my first german tutorial. it was very enjoyable and didn't even seem like hard work. i got lost getting there (of course) but fortunately i was early so still managed to arrive in time.

thursday and a dancing lesson:

friday will be my first scottish dance! so tonight we practised as many of the dances as we had time for

friday and my first scottish dance:

petra and i have been going to scottish dance lessons for about 2 months now and the association held a 'beginners' dance. It was held in watford at St Thomas's. The experienced dancers were very helpful, it was nice to 'dress up' a bit, both p and i did better than we expected, we all sang auld lang syne at the end and a jolly good time was had by all!! Home exhausted but happy!!

saturday and shopping (yes your eyes do not deceive you - i really did go shopping!!)

left early and was at the 'pie-house' by 9.00 a.m. quick coffee and communing with pies and then stella and i went to leeds ikea. stella bought lots of nice things for the house: some wooden slatted blinds for the kitchen, a shaker-style shelf and boxes for kezia's room, a hobby horse for jago, a red fleecy blanket for clara, some other odds and ends - like one always just seems to do at ikea! - and a lovely present for someone (can't say what or for whom - spies may be reading this - lol!!). i was starving by mid-day having had no breakfast and vitually nothing on friday, so we even stopped for lunch. we were there about 5 hours all told and then called in at the white rose centre on the way back to get stella's maid dress (only they didn't have it in but she has ordered one internetly). arrived back after dark to find clara sitting in her high-chair chatting to herself in the window's reflection, kezia and jago playing and rich just finishing making us all a lovely soup. yumm!! quiet evening.

sunday and a snow journey:

lovely morning with the pies and then set off home after lunch. stella has a rotten cold poor thing so i think she was going back to bed as soon as i left. horrid weather all the way down except for some snow - yay!! - round milton keynes/luton. it was far too wet for it to settle unfortunately but it did look lovely in the head-lights.

and finally . . . i am aghast to think it is only just over a month to the wedding - i am beginning to stress a bit about my 'outfit', frankie on the other hand is remarkably laid back about everything! i now find she has quietly been sorting everything out so that it is all in fact organised whilst conning us all that she is totally disorganised - what a joker!!!

An Element of Electricians

life has been busy mcbizz this week all right!!

Monday: to Liz and David's in the evening - very nice time

Tuesday: Frankie and Lucia here after work and then Frankie whizzed to collect Linda. Linda is doing the food for the wedding and had lots and lots of tips and useful hints for us. We have decided what we will have and I have a l-o-n-g shopping list. This was a jolly good job done! Alex and Justin were also here to talk about electrical work to be done on the conservatory. (I knew my fuse box and junction box etc did need to be updated)

Wednesday: Fran had parents' evening so stayed at school, Alex came here and stayed with Lucia, and I went shopping. Fran home around 9.00 ish and we all had soup and then all 3 of them stayed as it was too late really to go home.

Thursday: I was expecting 'The Electrician' to come and put in a new fuse box to accommodate the stuff needed for the conservatory. Imagine my surprize when Frankie rang me at 4.15 to say she was parked outside my house and did I know that there were 'Electricians' in my house - 'about 3 of them and two great big vans parked on the driveway'. Oh dear!! A Siege!! (What is the collective noun for electricians, by the way?) I arrived home to find floorboards and carpets up all over the house, toolboxes and bits of flex everywhere, brickdust on every surface and what seemed like a veritable battalion of electrical johnnies in every room in the house. Actually there were only four - it just seemed like hundreds!! Then I had to go weaving in and out of the homegoing traffic and buy the wall lights I wanted in order that they could be placed at the right height - and to make matters worse Next didn't have the ones I had chosen from the catalogue so had to make a quick dash to Homebase and buy others - which I don't really like as much but I was desperate by then!! I eventually made it back home, by which time the electricians had left having first promised to come back the next day to finish off . . . and I was just in time to gather my stuff and dash out to Bushey for class.

Friday: decided to use a bit of my flexi to leave at 3.00, go home to tidy up and get the dinner on before Janey and Eric arrived for the night. I was so sure the electrical work would be done and everything neatly back in place. You've guessed it!! Two electricians still there, carpets still up toolboxes still lying around, place looking like Bedlam (but not as tidy) and no apparent end to the work! I managed to dust and tidy a bit in the upstairs rooms which had been finished but couldn't vacuum as all the sockets were off and, even worse, couldn't get dinner started because, with the power off, I couldn't use the oven either. They did eventually leave at 5.30 (and if this sounds like a rant I have to say they did a very good job and it wasn't their fault it took so long). By this time the house was still in pretty poor shape tidy-wise and the dinner only just in. I could have wept! Janey and Eric arrived at 6.00 by which time at least the dinner was heating up and the dining room back to normality. But it's amazing what a difference a box of wine makes! By 7.00 we were sitting round the table laughing and the evening finished very well indeed!

Saturday: made the 'one-pan breakfast' Stella told me about - which went down very well, lashings of coffee and then E & J left around 11.00. Spent most of the rest of the day cleaning and tidying and then Evening Mass with Edna.

Today: It was Remembrance Sunday so up to O and G's early and Eric and Janey came too. G, E, J and I went to the Remembrance Parade and then back for coffee and caake before going out to the Heart of England for lunch. We managed to have quite a lengthy chat about the possibility of O & G moving down to Hertfordshire - which looks like a bit of a 'go-er'.

So . . . it's been a busy week - but quite productive: 10/10 Po!! well done and gold star!!

weekly 'round up'

The week has been very busy and consequently gone in a FLASH!! (this is a Good Thing)

The wedding seems to be finally coming together: Fran has actually decided on the style of her dress (unbelievable but true!) and she and Jemma went to London yesterday and bought the fabric . . . so no going back now (lol). While they were there they even saw dresses for the maids which they liked and which should be easy to get for the girls. Replies to invitations have been coming in and today Fran and Alex went to M & S and bought wine and stuff. I thought I had better start thinking about my m.o.b. outfit as I think the one I had for Stella and Rich's wedding will be too snug a fit now. (I know it is customary to have a new outfit - but I do so hate shopping and I thought I would get away with a new top to go with it and different accessories. Besides which it seems plain daft to have yet another outfit hanging in the wardrobe which I will probably never wear again.) Anyway Fran and I had a quick look on the internet and there seems to quite a few nice things in the shops right now. I dread actually going into all those horrid crowded shops though! Sigh!!

Frankie and Alex and Lucia have moved to their new home - I haven't been over there yet - it will seem funny not having them so close. I looked after Lucia yesterday while Fran was in London. We went over to visit Cat David and Freddie in the afternoon. Freddie is very sweet and kept giving Lucia hugs and kisses and grapes and bits of melon. We picked Fran up from the Junction, came home here and had cups of tea etc. By the time they left it was a liitle too late to make it to the Park for the Fireworks so I had a shower, watched the last bit of 'Gunpowder, Treason and Plot' and then went round to Jackie's for supper. Danuta and Nusia were there as well as Elizabeth, Barry, Claire and Anna with Isabelle and Ryan. Ryan is lovely - he sat on my lap for ages and was quite content. (Isabelle is lovely too of course!). Brian was home and had brought some sparklers which we had in the garden. And then we all went back inside and chatted - it was a lovely evening!

Today was fairly quiet until Fran and Alex and Lucia arrived. I have been trying to sort out some paper work and it was in piles all over the floor in the Library. After Lucia had been in there it was all over the floor of the Library NOT in piles! She also does what Kezia, Jago and Clara did: push all the books right to the back of the shelves - but the funny thing is: Fran used to do the very same thing when she was little - she said it was 'such a nice feeling' !!! Mad as pants!!

another week gone . . . and a week nearer to THE wedding!!

Monday: the 6-week 'Sharing in His Life' evening sessions have started at Liz and David's. This was the second one. They are quite challenging but interesting and I enjoy going.

Tuesday: Visited with O and G in the evening after work. I didn't tell them I was going but O asked was I checking up on her? Of course!! Haven't seen her look so well in absolutely yonks!! She had had her hair done that afternoon and was wearing a lovely pink jumper and tweedy skirt - she looked very well indeed. G asked me to look out for a little flat in Watford or surrounding area to which they can move: sounds like a fine idea!!

Wednesday: It was half-term hols so I didn't have Lucia. I did lots of necessary 'jobs' in the house - like painting the front step and mending the kitchen sink drain pipe - exciting stuff!! wow!!

Thursday: Frankie, Alex and Lucia came in the evening. Frankie did all the wedding invites ready to go out.

Friday: Fran came to 'house sit' while the conservatory 'bits' were delivered . . . and they nearly all were!! Just the roof missing . . . it was delivered to Darren's house (sigh). On a more positive note, however . . . all invites are now posted - hoorah!!

Saturday: Fran and Alex busy packing up all their stuff ready for the move. I had Lucia. Then F and A came and brought their dinner to cook - this is because the heating has packed up in the their house and anyway it is full of boxes!! - Alex cooked and it was delish!! they left at about 9 and I was sooo tired I went straight to bed!!

Today: Fran, Lucia and I went over to see Jemma . . . oh dear!! Frankie really is 'The Mistress of Indecision'!! It took ages to decide what she wanted . . . and then she changed her mind on the way home!!! There are less than 8 weeks left!! . . . will everything be done on time I wonder?? Watch this space!

what have i been doing?

Fretting about 0 mainly!

Though happily she is very much better. She came out of hospital last Friday which was quite remarkable and is very nearly back to her old self!! I went up to stay on Friday, coming home late Sat night and then visited again on Wednesday with Lucia. We all had a lovely day. Fran, Alex and Lucia visited on Saturday too and Eric nipped in to be there when the Speech Therapist came on Friday last. O's recovery has been quite amazing - she really is very 'tough' for her age!!

Had a lovely day yesterday: Fran, Lucia and I went to look at some houses (Alex was working) and Fran even found one she liked!! Wow!! I think they will take it as they went again today and Alex likes it too. This is a good thing as it is much nicer than the one they live in now, but sadly about half an hour's drive away - I shall miss being able to nip round on my way home from work. We arrived back to my house and had something to eat and then did some weddingy type things. Only just under 9 weeks to go!! Crikey!!!!!!!

Today was beautiful - sunny and quite warm. I did a few hours gardening (exhauting!!) and then a little knitting on Kezia's ballet cardi. Met Frankie, Alex and Lucia for evening mass - Lucia was sooo good - chattering away and smiling at all the people!! I shall miss seeing them at mass too - oh dear!!

the good, the bad and the ugly

the good:

o is much better - recognising g, Stella and me when we visited yesterday

Eric visited today and reports that she may be going home tomorrow

the bad:

Stella had a bad journey home

the ugly (in spirit):

1. lorry drivers who pull out, crash into cars and then continue their journey without even bothering to stop - the particular one I have in mind had a blue lorry which was left hand drive and with non-British licence plates

2. all other drivers who drive on without stopping to help

b*****ds!!!

more news of o

Eric and G have visited twice and each time O has been more like her old self. She has been moved from the Emergency Assessment Unit to the Stroke Ward - which must be a good thing?

Tomorrow I am meeting Stella at O and G's house and then all going on to visit. We are taking a neighbour, June, who has been very kind and helpful. People are been very kind in general; I wish G would take more advantage of their offers of help!!

I am looking forward to seeing O and hopefully finding out a little more from the doctors.

Then we shall all have to think very hard about what is best to do for them.

news of o

Whizzed up to Yorkshire on Friday evening after work to stay with Stella Rich and Pies for the week-end.

Was having a lovely time with them but left earlier than planned as Eric phoned to say that O had been admitted to hospital on Saturday with a suspected stroke.

G went in to the hospital with her and Eric visited in the afternoon in order to find out from the staff as much as he could.

I was able to visit today along with G, E and Janey. We are not sure when she will be allowed home - hope it will be very soon as she does so hate inactivity. The good news is that she is very much better today than she was yesterday. I will try to update tomorrow.

not a lot has been happening . . .

. . . although now i think of it . . . i have been very busy!!

though sadly little of it is stuff which would make interesting reading!!

i have had lucia one day a week since frankie went back to school - so 4 days so far! she has been very good though i am amazed at how much time she takes up!! can't imagine how i ever managed to get anything done when stella and frankie were little!! - it's been a lot of fun though! she almost managed to crawl last wednesday . . . and i saw her today and now she can!!

stella rich and the pies came down last week for fiona's wedding on the friday. i saw the photos on stella's camera and it looked beautiful. we all went for a walk on saturday afternoon along the path at the back of the houses on park avenue and then along the side of the golf course. boogs and i would often walk there on summer evenings - which was obviously a far better time of day!! - we were not exactly flavour of the month with the golfers and had to beat a hasty retreat!!

i have joined facebook properly at last and am just about getting the hang of it - you can tell i am not exactly a computer buff . . . this afternoon i was doing my latest assignment and had to phone stella to ask what the I in IT stood for!! ho hum!!

and now i am packing up for the night, going downstairs to watch the end of a video about antony gormley and so to bed

my conservatory . . .

after months and months . . . nay, years and years and YEARS . . . i have finally made a start on getting the conservatory built

justin and alex are doing the technical bits and patrick is doing the labouring

here is what it looked like last wednesday morning before commencement:

taken from the inside:

and outside
and here is how it looked when i arrived home from work today:

insider's view: and outside:

and here below are the orrelly men last friday lunchtime

justin, patrick, paul and alex

. . . and a p.s.: i arrived home one evening to find catpaw indentations on the concrete for the footings! needless to say i'm sure this was NOT tully!! (lol)

the last kerniggit

our annual camping week-end at aston cantlow . . . marvellous!!

here's what we did: talked, laughed, read, ate, drank, walked to the king's head, listened to last night of the proms, slept! - that was it really - but a fantastic time in fantastic company!!

we were (in order of arrival): janey, eric, moi, cat, david, james, imy, freddie, lizzie, matt, stella, rich, kezia, jago, clara and clare-and-niall (who cycled from their home to join us for lunch at the king's head)

i missed frankie, alex and lucia . . . but maybe next year???

. . . and i missed boogs - today is the 35th anniversary of our wedding day

you can do this too . . .

I confess . . .
I pinched this from another (random) blog . . .

Look at the list of books below.
Bold the ones you’ve read.
Italicise the ones you want to read.
Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.

Movies don’t count!!!!!

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
3. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
4. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
5. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
8. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
9. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
10. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
11. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
12. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

the roly hoods . . . and parish camp

this weekend has been 'parish camp' . . . sunny . . . and funny . . . lots of nice people, lots of laughs . . . and exhausting in an enjoyable kind of way
i didn't camp (went home to sleep every night!!) and i can't remember where my inflatable mattress or pump are even if i had wanted to stay - and i didn't remember my camera so sadly no photos
but . . .
not one
not two
not three
but FOUR of my favourite bloggers came too (you know who I mean, ladies!!)
so hopefully there will be good pics on other blogs
and now I am off to enjoy my 'campering pampering pack'
thank you all xxxxx

back from hols . . .

. . . and had a wonderful time . . .

i went to northumberland and stayed on a farm

i did things i have wanted to do for ages . . .

i went to housteads roman fort and to the national park and to the roman army museum

and i went to barter books in alnwick and walked by the sea from craster to dunstanburgh castle and back again breathing in the good sea air

and i went to corbridge and did some christmas shopping

and i did lots of walking and reading and relaxing

and then i went and stayed for one night with stella rich and the pies (which was a holiday in itself!!) and we went out for a lovely meal at the meadows

and then i stayed for 2 nights with janey and eric. lizzie and matt were there too . . . on friday night we all went to see romeo and juliet at calke performed by the lord chamberlain's men and then on the saturday janey eric and i went to packwood house and in the evening janey cooked coq au vin and we all sat around for ages talking and laughing (and drinking wine)

and then i came home . . . and tully was very pleased to see me!

and now i am mainly back at work but . . . tomorrow i will be looking after lucia as a 'practice run' for when frankie goes back to school in 2 weeks time . . . and that will be nice

Last Saturday: I collected O and G and whizzed up to Yorkshire to visit Stella, Rich and the pies in their lovely new home. As soon as we arrived on their driveway, Kezia, Jago and Clara popped out to welcome us and show us around - they were very excited. The house is really beautiful - especially Kezia's bedroom which has: a new pink appliqued quilt cover, spangly new pink lampshade and which she assured us will be painted pink and have pink curtains!! Jago's new quilt was midnight blue with appliqued rocket, moon and stars. The rest of the house is just as lovely - I like the kitchen best!! Lizzie and Matt came over too and we had a great day.

Jago, G and Rich in the Sitting Room:

Lizzie and Matt:

Clara and O:

Two Pies (in what I suspect will become 'The Stage!!):

Stella in her lovely Kitchen:

Sunday: I spent working on my assignment.

Monday: I met Pauline in the Essex.

Thursday: Frankie and Lucia came round in the evening (Alex had rugby practice) and we looked at more weddingy-type things and F more or less decided what music she will have - it still seems ages away but I suspect it will be here before we know it - and I have quite a bit of weight to lose if I'm going to fit into my suit!! (ARRRRRGGGGHHH!!)

I'm off on my hols tomorrow - Frankie is on Tully Duty - back soon!!

2 nice things

1) result

yay!!

i passed my course!!

well done me!!

i have worked really hard and it has not come easily so i am very happy

i am currently doing another course - but only a little one (10 points) and have still not decided whether i shall carry on to degree level - oh well - only another 300 points to go!!!!!

2) dishwasher

frankie alex and lucia were here when i arrrived home from work. alex didn't tell me but he had put the front on my dishwasher so it matches the rest of the kitchen. it took me almost 2 hours to notice after they left - despite standing right next to it while i made a cup of tea!!

it is a great improvement - hoorah!!

a secret that can now be told!

my exciting event was a trip to ireland (sligo and county mayo to be exact) for my friend odilon's surprise (!!!) 50th birthday party

jackie, celia and i flew out from luton on friday morning during a torrential rainstorm, landing in knock to blue skies and brilliant sunshine. we stayed in westport in a wonderful hotel (the party was also held there). jackie had hired a car and we drove out to sligo and 'did' yeats country! we went to drumcliffe - here i am by yeats' grave :

we also went to lissadell and walked on the beach - it is sooo beautiful!! - there's celia in the distance paddling:

and celia and jackie sunning themselves on a bench overlooking the sea:

the party was tremendous!! odi was totally surprised!! - she said she 'knew something was going on' but had no idea what it was. brian had done an amazing job getting everyone together in such a short space of time (i only knew about it 10 days beforehand) and the atmosphere at the party was fantastic!! lots of people had managed to get there including some, like me, who had never visited ireland before. i didn't manage to get any photos of the party - well i did keep snapping but only seemed to get a lot of backs and arms!! - but here is odi just as she came into the dining room - she was saying 'What!! is going on??':

the party went on into the small hours - and odi and brian still got up to have breakfast with us before we left on our morning flight

. . . and ireland is wonderful - i will be back!!

back in blighty by early afternoon and just missed eric and janey who had come to collect o and g and take them home. i have spoken to them most days and saw them last weekend and they are both very much better though we still have our thinking caps very much in position in order to come to a sensible arrangement for them for their future

last week was mainly rather ordinary - i had offered to go up and help stella and rich to move house (which was partly why i had thought i would be extra busy) - but they managed fine just the 2 of them and both they and the pies are settling in and enjoying their new home

friday was my birthday - i took the day off work and had a lovely time. odi phoned in the morning and we had a long chat (this was her birthday too) - she was still overwhelmed by the party and all the guests!! and then frankie arrived with this beautiful bunch of flowers:

jackie had invited me round in the evening (i thought it was just a cup of tea - but it was a lovely meal with lots of nice people - yay!!) we were: jackie, pete, christine, jimmy, doireann, liam, barry, elizabeth, mary, kevin, ruth, brian, janet and moi - what a brilliant way to round off my birthday!!

sunday was lucia's baptism

lucia was a little angel and she looked beautiful in the gown - it has been worn so far by stella, (for whom o made it) frankie, clara and now lucia. o, malcom and collette were godparents and after the service we all came back here and had 'afternoon tea' in the garden. it was a lovely sunny day - after weeks of rain - and a good time was had by all

. . . and my ps: amidst all the excitement, harry potter no. 7 came out - stella, rich and the pies kindly included it in my birthday presents!! hoorah!! - and my flight to ireland was a kind present from jackie!! i think i should be 57 every year!!