Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Well, I guess we're not doing that then
I thought it would be neat if we could do some of the stuff in DC that we never got round to doing...like getting tickets for the Washington Monument. I've just been online and the next available bookable tour tickets are for 1st June!!!!! That is a whole 2 months away and definitely not in our time frame. I thought that tickets sold out a couple of weeks in advance, but 2 months in advance - wow! I'm blaming Dan Brown for this unprecedented upsurge...
Monday, 29 March 2010
A flying visit to East Kilbride
We did a bit of a flying visit to see Stephen's mum in East Kilbride this weekend. She's not been feeling too well for the past couple of weeks so Sister Mary-Kerry and Dr Spark did a housecall.
We drove up on Saturday morning and back down again on Sunday afternoon, so we're feeling a little bit knackered today. Especially with the clocks going forward which has really screwed with my body clock. It seems to hit me quite hard. Its like having jet lag without the benefit of actually going anywhere!
His Mum was in hospital when we arrived on Saturday, waiting to hear if she was going to be allowed out. It took about an hour before she got the news and we were able to bust her out. We did a bit of running about getting groceries, magazines and flowers etc and when we got back she was snoozing on the sofa. She slept through that night too (the first time in a while) and it seemed to do her a lot of good as she was quite perky in the morning. Definitely an improvement on how she had been recently.
We drove up on Saturday morning and back down again on Sunday afternoon, so we're feeling a little bit knackered today. Especially with the clocks going forward which has really screwed with my body clock. It seems to hit me quite hard. Its like having jet lag without the benefit of actually going anywhere!
His Mum was in hospital when we arrived on Saturday, waiting to hear if she was going to be allowed out. It took about an hour before she got the news and we were able to bust her out. We did a bit of running about getting groceries, magazines and flowers etc and when we got back she was snoozing on the sofa. She slept through that night too (the first time in a while) and it seemed to do her a lot of good as she was quite perky in the morning. Definitely an improvement on how she had been recently.
You know its going to be "a day" when....
You know its going to be a day when the Chairman's EA calls first thing in the morning...
Em: Morning. How are you?
Me: Great. How are you?
Em: Got your coffee?
Me: Yup. Its in my hand.
Em: Drink it...!!
Me: Smmnwahhh (which was the sound of me snorting with laughter)
Its good that we can laugh in the face of (possible) adversity!! You can't keep us down! We laugh in the face of the BA strike and the potential change to all the meetings lined up.
Em: Morning. How are you?
Me: Great. How are you?
Em: Got your coffee?
Me: Yup. Its in my hand.
Em: Drink it...!!
Me: Smmnwahhh (which was the sound of me snorting with laughter)
Its good that we can laugh in the face of (possible) adversity!! You can't keep us down! We laugh in the face of the BA strike and the potential change to all the meetings lined up.
Photos of Ludlow
Ludlow has some beautiful buildings
Me! In Ludlow castle
The coffee called! It was warm enough to sit outside - yay!
Taken from the top of the tower
Is Stephen moonlighting??
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Lovely Ludlow
Its officially the first day of Spring today, and Spring has definitely Sprung! It was a gorgeous day, so after the gardening session we grabbed the cameras, put the roof down on the car and headed off to Ludlow for the afternoon.
There is nothing finer than to be in a car, whooshing through the English countryside with the top down, savouring the lovely freshness of the Spring air. Unfortunately there were times when the air became less fresh and I truly wished that we weren't whooshing along with the top down. In fact I was was wishing we were whooshing along with the top up, the windows sealed tight and the air con on "circulate". You appreciate these things when you pass the fields where the farmers have been out muck spreading! There is nothing quite like the smell of freshly spread poo to make you wish for breathing apparatus! Ah...the smell of the country!!
Ludlow was as picturesque as ever! There was an antique fair and flea market going on in Market Square, so we had a little wander round before walking over the road to the castle. We had a good wander about and took loads of photos. Its an impressive place with plenty of history. Parts of it date back to Norman times, and it became a Royal palace in the 15th Century (it was where Prince Arthur (the elder brother of Henry VIII) died whilst on his honeymoon with Catherine of Aragon), before being abandoned in the late 17th century and falling into disrepair. We had a good wander about, although Stephen was more adventurous than me in climbing all the staircases. Some were better than others, but several hundreds of years of use had worn the stone steps quite badly in some cases and I wasn't too keen on landing at the bottom of them in a heap!!
Sunday opening hours really caught us out today! We headed back to the car at just after 4pm and had planned on calling in at the grocery store we had passed earlier. We were doing the whole "give me the camera, the keys, the bag...no take the camera back I can't carry it all" thing in preparation for Stephen ducking into the store...when we realised that the store wasn't actually open!! D'oh! Of course, we had NO FOOD in the fridge at home!! Thankfully we were able to scrabble together a meal from the freezer, but I think that was the last of the proper food that was in there! Its all ice cream now!!
There is nothing finer than to be in a car, whooshing through the English countryside with the top down, savouring the lovely freshness of the Spring air. Unfortunately there were times when the air became less fresh and I truly wished that we weren't whooshing along with the top down. In fact I was was wishing we were whooshing along with the top up, the windows sealed tight and the air con on "circulate". You appreciate these things when you pass the fields where the farmers have been out muck spreading! There is nothing quite like the smell of freshly spread poo to make you wish for breathing apparatus! Ah...the smell of the country!!
Ludlow was as picturesque as ever! There was an antique fair and flea market going on in Market Square, so we had a little wander round before walking over the road to the castle. We had a good wander about and took loads of photos. Its an impressive place with plenty of history. Parts of it date back to Norman times, and it became a Royal palace in the 15th Century (it was where Prince Arthur (the elder brother of Henry VIII) died whilst on his honeymoon with Catherine of Aragon), before being abandoned in the late 17th century and falling into disrepair. We had a good wander about, although Stephen was more adventurous than me in climbing all the staircases. Some were better than others, but several hundreds of years of use had worn the stone steps quite badly in some cases and I wasn't too keen on landing at the bottom of them in a heap!!
Sunday opening hours really caught us out today! We headed back to the car at just after 4pm and had planned on calling in at the grocery store we had passed earlier. We were doing the whole "give me the camera, the keys, the bag...no take the camera back I can't carry it all" thing in preparation for Stephen ducking into the store...when we realised that the store wasn't actually open!! D'oh! Of course, we had NO FOOD in the fridge at home!! Thankfully we were able to scrabble together a meal from the freezer, but I think that was the last of the proper food that was in there! Its all ice cream now!!
Ring a ring a Roses
I ventured out into the garden this morning for a quick burst of pruning. It was pretty much the first time I'd done anything in the garden since we got back last April! It is definitely time to rediscover my gardening genes, if not my gardening jeans!
I pruned the roses, and not in a delicate way. Mum's not a pruner, preferring to let nature do its thing, so the roses were about 8ft tall in some cases. The stems were pretty thick, so I had to use loppers to hack them back! We'll see how they react to my hard treatment. Some were pretty woody, so may need to be replaced anyway. They were also pretty goddamn thorny! There was a rich chorus of "Oww", "F&%$# hell" and "S&%$ that HURT" when I was working my way round. I was wearing thick gloves so my hands were okay - it was the rest of me that was being viciously assaulted!
Its looking better, but I really need to spend a whole day out there getting it into shape. I need to get my gardening muscles into shape first though!
I pruned the roses, and not in a delicate way. Mum's not a pruner, preferring to let nature do its thing, so the roses were about 8ft tall in some cases. The stems were pretty thick, so I had to use loppers to hack them back! We'll see how they react to my hard treatment. Some were pretty woody, so may need to be replaced anyway. They were also pretty goddamn thorny! There was a rich chorus of "Oww", "F&%$# hell" and "S&%$ that HURT" when I was working my way round. I was wearing thick gloves so my hands were okay - it was the rest of me that was being viciously assaulted!
Its looking better, but I really need to spend a whole day out there getting it into shape. I need to get my gardening muscles into shape first though!
Bravery
It was a bit of a pampering day yesterday. I had a 9am appointment to get my hair cut and coloured, then an appointment for a facial (damn those zits!) after which we headed into Worcester and I got my eye brows waxed. Which was where the act of bravery came in... After the cut and colour I had a brown forehead where they'd glooped on the hair dye. After the facial I had no make up on and a high shine from the lotions I'd been slathered in. And on top of all that - after the eyebrow wax I had bright pink skin above and below my eyebrows. I looked like I was wearing Geisha eye make up! How brave was I to venture into a public place without a scrap of make-up, shiny skin with brown patches and luminous pink brow bones? How brave were the people of Worcester not to run away screaming from the scary looking lady?
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