Parties and Paint.....

 
Remember the children's program Mister Ben? Well Liz Truss went into the changing room and came out as Rishi Sunak our new Prime Minister. 

In another seemingly quick change my little nieceL has had her 50th birthday. We went to her celebration party Saturday evening and it was lovely to see her and other family members. 

I've been getting ready for Halloween. Gone are the days of pumpkin carving with the children and cooking a spooky dinner here and heading outside in the dark to catch the sweets the witches keep dropping off of their broomsticks. However the neighbours have young children and I'm happy to wrap sweets for when they trick-or-treat.

Instead of pumpkins I'll put lights in these milk bottles so they can see they are welcome to knock.

I've a happy Hubby now as he has decided to refurbish our bedroom; repair, repaint and recarpet. All prep and paint for now and carpet after Christmas when the sales are on. 

AND at the same time he is giving the office a makeover. Son had said he wants our treadmill and multi-gym but he's having major building works at his house so we won't move those for quite a while. So it's boxing up all the Atari, PlayStation and the Nintendo stuff which includes the SNES and the SNES64 (there's loads) that are no longer played with and sorting out what else can go. Hubby's researching what furniture can go in there to make it more cosy. However no new stuff can go in until old stuff goes and it's clear enough for him to install some underfloor heating as it's always been a cold room. 

Two long term projects, so a very happy Hubby. 😊 

For friendM's birthday eight of us went Turkish. Then back to hers for more drinks (I had coffee) and the birthday cake. A lovely evening. 

We should have had two grandchildren and the dog here all week and sleeping over, however both children ended up with other plans and M was happy being taxi and caterer until he landed two days on a film set so in the end we had just the dog for four of the days and no one sleeping here. 

Have a spooky weekend.

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Spot the Proud Grandma......

 

Still disappointed at not going to see sisterP on Sunday, especially as she keeps telling us all the food she'd bought and the planned menu, cruel eh? She tested positive too of course a day or two later (end of the week update, they are both nearly better apart from the persistent coughs). 

Mmmm I really fancied some rye bread and had caraway seeds in the drawer so made a very quick soda bread. It was yummy. 

There's been some major pruning. 

This lot is for shredding now. 

Apple cinnamon sponge came out well. Wish you could smell it. 

This whole week Daughter has been yet another character to meet and greet and prepare the mood for visitors to Kentwell's Scaresville event. 

Yaay I've already bought our tickets for Red Rose Chain's Christmas performance, so proud that Granddaughter R is a third of the cast. 

This week marked our 49th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately that day had horrid wet and windy weather so all of our outside suggested trips were crossed off the list. We actually drove to Clacton. We had thought some time ago about checking out the factory outlet shops at Clacton Village so went there first. Have to say the discounts weren't great but did buy a few bits. Then onto Clacton-on-Sea and as it had stopped raining we had a walk along the prom before heading into a pub for lunch. The heavens opened while we were eating so we took our time. As soon as it stopped and the sun came out we left and had another walk back along the prom to our car. 

We specially wanted to be home for our usual Thursday night virtual online pub quiz and this week's made us debate and laugh and finally reach an OK score. 

FriendKK and I used to theatre together all the time but haven't for years, I've now booked her ticket for Wind In The Willows with us and for this week she's booked us this....

I'll start by saying how well the four actors took on all the different characters and amazed how word perfect they delivered a huge amount of dialogue. The content was very dark and a bit weird. KK loved it and I enjoyed having our evening out together. 

If you want to read the whole Edgar Allen Poe poem you'll find it here The Raven

Son had been abroad all this week for work. The multi-national company he works for have avoided travel for almost three years. Son got a slightly earlier flight home as he was feeling a little unwell and once home discovered it was covid! Still everywhere grrrrr! 

Of course this blog is mostly my personal historical record but outside stuff which may affect me should be mentioned and as much as I hate talking politics........ Liz Truss has resigned as Prime Minister after a record breaking 45 days, shortest tenure in British history and no doubt a favourite quiz question in the future. 

Keep smiling everyone.

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A Mixed Bag........

 
Daughter came over to sort car stuff, O and the dog came too. O decided he was going to do some filming for a new short movie, so he films lots of brief takes of various ideas (often repeated many times so he can choose the best when editing). He asked Daughter to operate the camera (his phone) occasionally, he asked me to stand in certain places or to say a few words, or to give a certain look. He didn't tell us why or what the end result might be as he seemed to have lots of ideas coming and going but didn't share any with us. 
The strangest bit was when he decided he needed a briefcase full of mugs of tea! 

Tea is a precious product in this house so not wanting to waste that quantity I helped him create fake tea by finding some out-of-date coffee and very out-of-date powdered milk. 

I'm really looking forward to seeing the edited end result. 

I've been chatting to a lovely lady online who needs major surgery similar to what I've had, answering her worries and making suggestions when I can. The process for her has taken far longer than it should have done and it's been very stressful. She really kindly sent me a thank you card and prezzie. 

Two neighbours missed coffee morning this week as they came back from their holiday with covid. Still so much of it around! 

I've only really done  "freestyle" crochet, sort of do whatever stitch makes it fit, but never remember what the stitches are called. I've been a knitter for ever and knitting patterns make total sense, but a crochet pattern is a bit of a foreign language. This little square is totally working from the pattern and there are a few mistakes which I'll hopefully improve on by the time I've made enough squares to join and make into something.  

We've both had flu jabs now, and thankfully no major adverse reactions just the usual achy arm for about 24 hours.

Just heard from SisterP that her hubby tested positive this morning (he's had five jabs so hopefully he'll only have mild symptoms) which means unfortunately we can't visit as planned this weekend. We get to see them rarely, as they live two hours drive away, so we must reschedule as soon as they are germ free. 

Hope you've had a good week, enjoying the mild weather and beautifully emerging autumn colours. See you next week.

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Everything is Rosy......

 
We've been shopping...

And arranging. 

Straight after this Hubby planted them all of course. Then there are four in the garden to move into this bed and two coming from Son's garden. Just need the ground cover between them and we can sit and watch them grow. 

What is it that's so irresistible about the smell of bacon cooking (apologies to all vegetarians/vegans) I love that smell more than I love the taste, even love it the next day when the cooker hood hadn't done its job properly. Mmmmmm

I really didn't need to rearrange the loo rolls, but I do like a good pattern

I needed to clean the worktops a bit more thoroughly than normal, so moved the microwave etc from the corner but then couldn't reach far enough (and Hubby was out) so I improvised by attaching the sponge to the kitchen brush with an elastic band and just about managed. 

We've had a lovely family meet up with Son&fiancé and Daughter&O and both of their dogs, to have an early celebration for Son's birthday.  We started on the beech at Southwold so us and the dogs could have a walk. 

It was perfect beach weather for me. Then a lovely meal at The Sail Loft

This was a good try by O to get us all in one photo. 

Thank you Daughter for driving me and Hubby there and back. 

Hope you've had a rosy week too.

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L'Shana Tova..........

 
Sunday was the start of the the Jewish New Year of 5783.

Wishing anyone who celebrated and/or fasted a good year ahead.

On the same day as City Fibre arrived in our Close with their barriers, lorry, trailer and diggers, to dig up the pavements and lay their cables.....

....Hubby had his top soil order arrive on a big lorry needing to get up the close. Amazed the driver managed it. (Rubbish photo but the sun was full on the window).

And even though Son said he'd be over the following morning to help, Hubby couldn't stop himself from creating a ramp and moving the first bag in wheelbarrow loads from the drive around to the back. 

He went out again in the afternoon to clear a second bag. It did mean when Son came I got more chatting time as they moved the other two bags really quickly. 

Now we get to Monday!  

Barriers are up for nearly three quarters of the Close, right up to our drive and across it. Some neighbours checked if we were having coffee morning, but as it's so noisy and dusty out there we said it wasn't a good idea, had we not had grandchildren and dog here I would have invited them up here. Thankfully the barriers are mostly movable unless there's already a big hole! 

Both Hubby and neighbourA went out, in the rain, to check we could get off our drive. NeighbourA left home just after 8am. Barriers went back. 
     Then Hubby had to take R to work at 9:15am so barriers were moved, but it wasn't easy maneuvering around all their equipment so when Hubby came back he left the car parked in the road at the bottom of ours. 

     I was going out to meet a friend for lunch so Hubby and I struggled just walking around the barriers, over holes and cables and across neighbours' gardens, so I could walk down to collect my car, and I headed to Felixstowe.      My friendM and I had a lovely lunch out, this was my late birthday present as she'd been away, she chose a great seafood restaurant miles away so an hour drive there and back but worth it. 

     When we arrived back to Felixstowe we had seen the road back to Ipswich was jammed so bad, so I took various minor roads to avoid it but still hit the totally grid locked town centre when almost home, so my usual 20min drive took me more than two hours and it was raining a lot of the time. Finally back in my Close and I had to make them move all the barriers so I could get my car home. 

     Meanwhile O needed to be in Colchester 5.30pm till 7.30pm, Hubby was happy to take him and arranged to go to Son's in between. They moved all the barriers to get his car out. 

     I phoned him when I was in my jam and he said he couldn't get hold of R to see when she'll be home from work as she doesn't have a key, so sent her a message to say he was leaving the patio door unlocked and bravely left the dog alone for the first time here. 

     I finally got home just after 5:30pm (desperate for the loo), R had only been home a short while and said the dog had been fine. 

     Just as I'd managed to get my clutch foot pain-free Hubby called saying he was now stuck in traffic in Colchester! Found out later that O was just 10 mins late arriving which wasn't a problem. 

     I then got a call from the doctors receptionist to say they want to discuss my latest blood test so a doctor will call tomorrow. 

     Glad I made dinner first thing this morning, carbonara followed by apple strudel requested by O,

so I know O and Hubby had eaten and I could heat it for R (and a little for me) without any more effort! 

Did you nod off half way through reading this? 

Doctor did call and said although some blood results are outside the preferred range he had now checked my history and it seems this is normal for me so no action needed. Actually that's what I expected. 

Hubby and I have both had another covid booster jab, this time moderna (all previous ones were Pfizer), neither of us had side effects apart from a bruised arm which was great. 

Had a good catchup lunch with friendsR&S. Their second son got married recently in Italy and they had lots of photos to share. Only downside was I noticed they had chocolate brownie on the dessert menu as standard or small potion so I ordered the small portion, it arrived and looked lovely but it was rock hard and very dry, so they got it back and told to remove it from the bill. 

While the Jewish calender starts a new year, today the Gregorian calender starts a new month. Happy October everyone. 

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