Saturday, 30 October 2010

A week away

Ed and I are off tomorrow for a week in Cornwall. We're stopping overnight in a travel lodge in Chippenham so that we can spend the evening with youngest daughter and her boyfriend.

On Monday we reach Cornwall, and will be joined by friends of ours, so we should have a great week with lots of laughter.

Hoping to swim every day (no, not in the sea, there's an indoor swimming pool on site) and get in some nice walks. Taking the camera, so will entertain you with some photos on our return.

Have a great Sunday, and see you in about a week.

Tuesday, 26 October 2010

Knitting!

I hopped on the bus to Norwich today, to buy some knitting wool. Youngest daughter (remember? She's the one moving to Belgium in December) being a true Brit, insists on taking a teapot with her. As you know, we Brits can't exist without our tea. And it has to be made properly - in a pot. None of your teabags dropped in a mug, for us.

Youngest daughter, being slightly crazy in the family mould, wants a tea cosy. Now I haven't used a tea cosy since the days when we started using mugs instead of cups. With a mug, you get all your tea in one go, so no need to keep the pot warm for a second dose. I explained this carefully to youngest daughter, but it made no difference. She wants one. So I thought I'd knit one.

I haven't knitted anything since the kids were small, but on the grounds that it might be like cycling - you never forget how to do it - thought I'd have a bash, hence today's trip into Norwich. I found a free pattern on the internet. All I needed then was the wool and the needles.

You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to buy wool in Norwich, these days. Gone are the days when every little parade of shops had its wool shop, and this despite the fact that Norwich was built on the wool trade.

In the end, I asked in The Tea Junction, where I buy my coffee (cinnamon and cappuccino - to die for), and they told me it was either the market, or John Lewis. Naturally I went to the market, it being cheaper.

I chose shocking pink and purple. Yes, I know, but I wanted the finished article to be as zany as she is. After all, if you're going to use a tea cosy, you might as well get it noticed!

Saturday, 23 October 2010

The start of half-term

It's been a cold, miserable, grey Saturday, punctuated by long showers of pouring rain, which is, of course, inevitable when the schools break up for half-term.

Friends of ours are taking their grandson to Legoland for the week, so I hope for their sakes that the weather improves. I can't think of anything much worse than dragging a freezing cold, soaking wet small boy around Legoland for hours.

Ed and my regime of long(ish) walks has gone by the board. We're snuggled up under slankets (the gorgeous, long, blanket-like fleeces which cover you from top to toe) with our feet up and the aroma of baked potatoes emanating form the kitchen.

It being half-term, I'm working tomorrow, taking three services while the rector has a much needed holiday. However, since the first service is at 8.00am, I do hope it's a little warmer and drier tomorrow.

Have a good weekend wherever you are and whatever the weather.

Wednesday, 20 October 2010

The night of a thousand cuts

Just been watching the news on television. The chancellor of the exchequer has introduced swingeing cuts in all public sector services, to reduce the national debt.

The problem is, as always, it's the poorest who are hurt most. Despite the fact that we're constantly told, "We're all in it together" (what a lot of patronising rubbish that is - no politician or banker will be wondering where the next penny is coming from, or be struggling to feed the kids) it's the social security budget which is really suffering. Benefits are being cut so that people who are too disabled or ill to work will struggle. Those who can't afford housing will struggle. Thousands of public sector workers will lose their jobs - and how will they find other jobs in the present climate?

There are already strikes and blockades in France. I can't see it will be too long before they're repeated here. And all because greedy people in high positions and who were already extremely high earners, took more than their share.

Life is unfair - or is it people who are unfair?

Saturday, 16 October 2010

How time flies!

I can hardly believe a week has passed since I last blogged. Not because anything special has happened, but perhaps because it's been a lovely, normal week; walking, golf, a little writing, lunch with a friend, a new skirt/culottes for choir - must tell you about that.

We have to wear long black skirts for choir concerts (there was one last night. Concert, that is, not skirt. There were several of them.) I bought mine off Ebay when I joined the choir last year, but as I've lost a little weight since then (did I slip that in subtly?) it no longer fits.

I was in Norwich on Wednesday for a hairdo, and had half an hour to while away, since the council in their wisdom have changed all the bus times. So I wandered in and out of shops - as you do - and meandered into Dorothy Perkins just for something to do. But there on the rail were long black culottes, all floaty and silky and with very tiny pleats. Just in, according to the assistant, and perfect for choir instead of the long skirt, so naturally I had to buy a pair.

Went down well with the other ladies at the concert. There might be a mass charge towards Dorothy Perkins. Perhaps I should have shares.

Sunday, 10 October 2010

A busy week

The paper proof of my new novel arrived on my doormat this week, so I've had a busy (and tedious) time, reading all through it yet again and correcting any typos. I've already read through it about fifty times to correct mistakes, including reading from the back forwards, but still I find more. Still, the corrected copy has now gone back to the publishers, so hopefully the novel will be out before Christmas.

Youngest daughter arrived on Thursday for the weekend. It's son's birthday soon, and the two of them were going to the Theatre Royal in Norwich to see Spamalot.

Yesterday, eldest daughter and family came over as well and we all went out to a local pub/restaurant for lunch. Lovely to be all together - and may be the last time for a while as from the beginning of December, youngest daughter is off to Belgium for the next three years.

Oh well. Should make for some good holidays.

Sunday, 3 October 2010

Harvest Festival

I took the Harvest Festival service at North Walsham Methodist Church today. North Walsham is a small market town in North Norfolk, about twenty miles from where we live now, but that's not all.

It's the church my parents attended for many years until they died, and where my father was organist, again, until he died. And it's the church where Ed and I were married forty years ago. So it's a very familiar church to us, and we still know some of the people who attend.

One couple who now live in North Walsham and are regular attenders, were friends of ours when we first married all those years ago. At that time, we both lived in a village in Hertfordshire, within spitting distance of London. Then we moved to Norfolk in 1973 and our friends retired up here around seven years ago.

After the service, they took us back for lunch, so we had a great few hours catching up on old times.

I had no idea it would be such an enjoyable day, steeped in nostalgia and reminiscing over times past. Shows our age, but who cares? Life is so good!