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.
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!
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 out 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.
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?
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.