I understand now why people don't post food parcels overseas. I was going to surprise my friend Morag with a couple of packets of her favourite M&S digestive biscuits, so I packaged them up and sent Stephen off to the Post Office when I went to get my hair cut. I got back and saw the box still sitting in the kitchen. I was prepared for this to be Number 3 on the list of things that make you go grrrrr...but no! He had been to the PO and decided not to post it as it was going to cost Sixty QUID to post it!! I couldn't believe it was so much!
So...Mo - I'm sorry!! But I promise that I'll deliver some packets in person soon!!
Monday 25 January 2010
Things that make you go grrrrrrr....
Number 1: Finding out that your hubby had taken the enormous pile of socks that you had lovingly washed and dried...and removed his socks, paired them and then left your four socks unpaired. Four socks...oh I was mad! I am on sock strike now...
Number 2: Loading the dishwasher with the rinsed breakfast cups and plates, picking up a coffee cup that hubby had put with the others a minute before and upending it to load it, only to find he hadn't tipped the half a cup of coffee out. It splashed all over the floor, cabinet doors and ME. I wasn't happy!!
It's just as well I love him really, otherwise....!!
Number 2: Loading the dishwasher with the rinsed breakfast cups and plates, picking up a coffee cup that hubby had put with the others a minute before and upending it to load it, only to find he hadn't tipped the half a cup of coffee out. It splashed all over the floor, cabinet doors and ME. I wasn't happy!!
It's just as well I love him really, otherwise....!!
Sunday 17 January 2010
Hair today
After it took nearly 15 minutes to dry my not terribly long hair yesterday I figured that after 23 years service, it was time to retire my trusty hairdryer and treat myself to a new one. I can't believe it has worked for 23 years (and to be fair, is still working now, just not as well as a modern dryer). I paid a fortune for it - a significant part of my meagre wages at the time! My new one cost the same as I paid for the old one all those years ago - a whole 25 quid. Hopefully this one will keep me going for the next 20-odd years!!
Snow away
This is the Winter Wonderland that was our house and garden after the snowfall on Tuesday. Thank goodness it looks a lot greener than this now!
Saturday 16 January 2010
Zena vs the Zit
I had another appointment for a facial today. The skin on my mush is in tip-top condition as its getting the special treatment too. Its just around my jaw that is still the problem! I've been getting a cleanse and exfoliation and then Zena goes to work with the pens which fire little impulses across your skin. Great for tightening up the skin - and also for blasting the pesky zits! We turned that sucker "all the way up to 11" (to quote Spinal Tap)...there is no more we can do short of licking my finger and sticking it in the electric socket!!
It's raining - thank goodness!!
I never thought I'd say these words...."Yay! It's raining!"...but after 10 days of being virtually housebound I was really glad to see the overnight rain had swept away most of the snow and we are now a green and pleasant land once again.
Stephen ventured into work on Monday and Tuesday. I didn't, because he had to pick up 3 overseas visitors and take them into work so there was no room in the car. I'm glad! The roads were pretty awful by all accounts, despite a partial thaw (there were tales of cars going down the steep and hilly main street in Malvern sideways) and it took him around 1 1/2 hours to drive 5 miles. Tuesday was a bit better, but another snowfall came in overnight and left us with about 6 inches of snow...and another day in the house. We both braved it on Thursday after digging out the car, and despite the roads being a lot better they were still pretty bad! The main roads were okay, the side roads were awful! What surprised me was the road that leads to our work and the high school was terrible...I know its not a main road, but you'd think with the number of cars that use it there would have been some attempt to clear it!
The temperature raised on Thursday afternoon and there was a beginnings of a thaw. This made Stephen a little gallus when driving in on Friday. The site entrance we normally use was now open and he automatically took the usual route into work as opposed to sticking to the main roads. We were doing fine until we got to the hill down to St Andrews Road. It was a mess. He began to turn onto it and then decided that it wasn't a good idea. In fact, it was a very, very bad idea. He tried to turn around onto the road we had just left but began to slide and couldn't get any traction. I was turfed out the car to see what the problem was. I walked round to the front of the car and stood back, he rolled down the passenger window so we could talk. Just as I was explaining the problem was the 9 inches of churned up snow and slush he spun the wheels...and covered me head to toe with a liberal spray of slush!! After a couple of minutes of trying (and me avoiding any further slush showers as best I could) he shouted that I should get in the car as we had no choice but to go down the hill.... I duly got in, and as I was fastening my seat belt he gunned the engine, spun the wheels, and delivered a further face full of slush through the still open passenger window!!! By this point I was wondering if he was doing secret filming and I'd be appearing on You've Been Framed in a few weeks!!!
The hill was "interesting", but we survived and learnt a valuable lesson! Stephen might have learned two, but he was blissfully unaware that he'd been showering me with slush!!
After all this time cooped up in the house we were desperate for food which I hadn't cooked, so we made a beeline for the Tilla - Malvern's newest Indian Restaurant. Yum yum! The food and service are excellent and the portions huge! Stephen did lose further brownie points by failing to order me another drink when he ordered his, but was scolded by not only me, but by the manager who explained that it was essential to keep the ladies happy if you wanted a peaceful life. Wise words! And ones he will never learn!!
Stephen ventured into work on Monday and Tuesday. I didn't, because he had to pick up 3 overseas visitors and take them into work so there was no room in the car. I'm glad! The roads were pretty awful by all accounts, despite a partial thaw (there were tales of cars going down the steep and hilly main street in Malvern sideways) and it took him around 1 1/2 hours to drive 5 miles. Tuesday was a bit better, but another snowfall came in overnight and left us with about 6 inches of snow...and another day in the house. We both braved it on Thursday after digging out the car, and despite the roads being a lot better they were still pretty bad! The main roads were okay, the side roads were awful! What surprised me was the road that leads to our work and the high school was terrible...I know its not a main road, but you'd think with the number of cars that use it there would have been some attempt to clear it!
The temperature raised on Thursday afternoon and there was a beginnings of a thaw. This made Stephen a little gallus when driving in on Friday. The site entrance we normally use was now open and he automatically took the usual route into work as opposed to sticking to the main roads. We were doing fine until we got to the hill down to St Andrews Road. It was a mess. He began to turn onto it and then decided that it wasn't a good idea. In fact, it was a very, very bad idea. He tried to turn around onto the road we had just left but began to slide and couldn't get any traction. I was turfed out the car to see what the problem was. I walked round to the front of the car and stood back, he rolled down the passenger window so we could talk. Just as I was explaining the problem was the 9 inches of churned up snow and slush he spun the wheels...and covered me head to toe with a liberal spray of slush!! After a couple of minutes of trying (and me avoiding any further slush showers as best I could) he shouted that I should get in the car as we had no choice but to go down the hill.... I duly got in, and as I was fastening my seat belt he gunned the engine, spun the wheels, and delivered a further face full of slush through the still open passenger window!!! By this point I was wondering if he was doing secret filming and I'd be appearing on You've Been Framed in a few weeks!!!
The hill was "interesting", but we survived and learnt a valuable lesson! Stephen might have learned two, but he was blissfully unaware that he'd been showering me with slush!!
After all this time cooped up in the house we were desperate for food which I hadn't cooked, so we made a beeline for the Tilla - Malvern's newest Indian Restaurant. Yum yum! The food and service are excellent and the portions huge! Stephen did lose further brownie points by failing to order me another drink when he ordered his, but was scolded by not only me, but by the manager who explained that it was essential to keep the ladies happy if you wanted a peaceful life. Wise words! And ones he will never learn!!
Saturday 9 January 2010
Winter wonderland
Here are some photos we took today.
Our back garden covered in a blanket of snow 
Chez Spark
Our street
Budha looking serene despite the snowSnow days
Well the first week back to work was an easy one thanks to the weather. I was in work on Monday and had to bail out about 11am on Tuesday as it was snowing hard and hilly Malvern is not easy to negotiate in bad weather. We packed up, gathered the Leigh Sinton posse together (we took Julie home too), and headed off. The snow was already about 3" deep at this point and we were an Audi toboggan at some points on the way home. The roads were very slippy and there were a couple of times we had no grip at all and slid elegantly into the kerb. It took us 1 1/2 hours to go the 5 miles home, constantly assessing the roads and possible route to avoid any of the very steep hills.
We got between 4-6" of snow on Tuesday - nothing to compare to the 24" they got in Alexandria, VA a few weeks ago - but enough to bring us all to a grinding halt! There was no traffic moving past our house on Wednesday. We decided to follow the lead of the rest of the UK and work from home. Thank goodness for the capability to do that!!
I continued to work from home all week. I figured that I could be more productive sitting at home working than sitting in the car sliding all over the place for an hour each way. Stephen braved it though. He said the roads were terrible. We'd had extremely low temperatures in this area overnight (minus 17C in Pershore, which is about 1F) and grit is apparently only effective down to minus 7C, so the roads were treacherous and littered with abandoned cars. I think he has now qualified for the British 4-man bobsled team so I'd better begin packing him for the Winter Olympics!
We headed into Malvern this morning. We were getting low on food supplies and Stephen hijacked my hair appointment (his need was greater than mine!). So I braved Waitrose whilst he went for a trim. The grocery store was fun...especially the bread section where things were beginning to get a little tense. There were little old ladies with sharpened elbows stockpiling bread and prepared to take down anyone who got too close to the shelves!!
There was one moment which had me snickering....there was an announcement "Can the owner of a blue Skoda please report to the customer service desk" and I had two thoughts "you have to be kidding...no-ones going to admit to owning a Skoda if they shop in here" and "they're probably going to ask them to remove it from their car park as its lowering the tone"!!
Can I just say, pushing a trolley laden with shopping through the snow is really difficult! The car park hadn't been cleared (I think its a liability thing) and it was okay until I got to the less frequently used end of the car park...trying to push it through 3" of compacted snow when it was laden was no mean feat!
I was surprised how many Seniors were out today. They all had their sensible walking boots on and had walking poles with them. Where do you get such things? Perhaps they're handed out along with your bus pass when you hit 60.
We got between 4-6" of snow on Tuesday - nothing to compare to the 24" they got in Alexandria, VA a few weeks ago - but enough to bring us all to a grinding halt! There was no traffic moving past our house on Wednesday. We decided to follow the lead of the rest of the UK and work from home. Thank goodness for the capability to do that!!
I continued to work from home all week. I figured that I could be more productive sitting at home working than sitting in the car sliding all over the place for an hour each way. Stephen braved it though. He said the roads were terrible. We'd had extremely low temperatures in this area overnight (minus 17C in Pershore, which is about 1F) and grit is apparently only effective down to minus 7C, so the roads were treacherous and littered with abandoned cars. I think he has now qualified for the British 4-man bobsled team so I'd better begin packing him for the Winter Olympics!
We headed into Malvern this morning. We were getting low on food supplies and Stephen hijacked my hair appointment (his need was greater than mine!). So I braved Waitrose whilst he went for a trim. The grocery store was fun...especially the bread section where things were beginning to get a little tense. There were little old ladies with sharpened elbows stockpiling bread and prepared to take down anyone who got too close to the shelves!!
There was one moment which had me snickering....there was an announcement "Can the owner of a blue Skoda please report to the customer service desk" and I had two thoughts "you have to be kidding...no-ones going to admit to owning a Skoda if they shop in here" and "they're probably going to ask them to remove it from their car park as its lowering the tone"!!
Can I just say, pushing a trolley laden with shopping through the snow is really difficult! The car park hadn't been cleared (I think its a liability thing) and it was okay until I got to the less frequently used end of the car park...trying to push it through 3" of compacted snow when it was laden was no mean feat!
I was surprised how many Seniors were out today. They all had their sensible walking boots on and had walking poles with them. Where do you get such things? Perhaps they're handed out along with your bus pass when you hit 60.
Friday 1 January 2010
Our New Years Eve
Richard and Justine hosted a New Years party last night. It was a great night! We'd been asked to bring a firework for the midnight display. Of course, this was a challenge to Stephen who is never knowingly understated! He disappeared off to Homebase yesterday to get a few - and came back with two enormous bags worth!!! They were selling them off 2 for 1 and 50% off - essentially buy 1 get 3 free...so he did!!
The girlies with wine and dessert - heaven!
L-R: Julie, me, Justine
Us before we went out.
He also went to get BBQ gas and (thankfully) forgot on that journey and had to go back. I say thankfully, coz if he'd had a bump with all the fireworks and gas canister in the back he'd have been launched to Mars!!!He needed the gas canister because we decided to BBQ and start the year as we mean to go on! He dragged the BBQ out of the garage all by himself as I'd made it very clear when he and the neighbour put it away that there was no need for it to go inside to overwinter as its covered and designed to be rugged!
The brave little soldier outside with the BBQ
Visit to Ben n Anna
On the way back from Heathrow we detoured to Norwich to visit my brother, his wife and their children. Little Anna is the latest addition to the clan, and we hadn't met her until this visit. She's very cute and a good baby.
A slightly nervous looking me with baby Anna.
We had a small "ah...supper" moment later!!
As it turned out there was no snow. There was a 10 minute flurry about 8pm and that was it!!
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to one and all! I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be a wonderful year...
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