Day 561

Day 561...

So ordinarily on a Thursday I only work the morning but today I had a message from one of my staff to say they were ill and couldn't work so this meant my half day turned into a full day.

But my day in work was pretty standard getting on top of banking, emails and a few admin bits.

I arrived home just as the last part of our bathroom re-fit was completed; the installation of our LED mirror. We had hoped to have fitted a recessed wall cabinet but when we discovered that the wall was in fact breeze block and not cavity we had to swap to just a mirror instead.

My next job was to speak to the company who will be installing a charging point for our new electric car. In the UK there is a grant scheme that means the installation of your first charging point is heavily discounted and with paperwork complete the next step was to arrange an installation. However, upon speaking with the installation team we encountered a small hiccup...well I'm hoping it's just a small hiccup. We want the charging point installed in our garage (pretty standard and obvious) but our garage is not attached to our house and is one of six garages that are associated with where our house is situated. So I have to prove that the garage is actually ours as otherwise we may not qualify for the grant scheme! This meant searching out the deeds to the house to prove that the garage, although remote from the house, is actually ours and ours alone! Documents have been scanned and submitted so I now await a phone call or email confirming that we can move ahead with the installation.

It was then time to hook-up online with my very good friend, and podcast co-host, Michelle to record this weeks Disney Dream Girls podcast. As always it was good just to catch-up with Michelle and share what's going on in our lives before getting down to the business of podcast recording. And with October 1st being the 50th anniversary of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World our show very much focused on the 50th celebrations which are set to take place over the next year (if not longer) and we did a little contemplation as to what we would do if we could actually be there on the 1st. All we can hope for at the moment is that things get back to normal and we get the chance to visit over the coming year or so. Not sure if that's going to happen or not as I think it will all depend on what sort of 'normal' we are living with!

While I was recording Simon and Molly hit the gym which I had no intention of doing as my back is still a little tender, although it is improving every day thank goodness.

And with that it must be time to stop typing and time to sit and watch this weeks RuPaul's Drag Race UK!

See you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 560...Midweek...

Day 560...

And we have the middle of the week and thankfully my back is starting to feel a little better!

It was a pretty standard morning in work and then it was home for the afternoon although the first job once home was to attend a virtual 'leaders and managers meeting' run by my county council's early years department. So after grabbing a quick bite to eat and armed with a coffee I logged onto the meeting. Unfortunately I hadn't realised that the meeting was not the usual network meeting run for managers to update us on all things early years but was in fact to look at something being called 'Future Shape Education'.

I should have bailed when I realised what the focus of the meeting was all about. While the basis of creating an education provision that will give children the best start and therefore the best possibilities in life is sound, it is something that as educators we are doing all the time and do not need a 'focus group' to tell us this. Apparently, it is a forum to share resources and best practice...well I'm sorry but we are a small charity run pre-school with a team who have been working in the industry for a lot of years and have the experience, the knowledge and the skill set to ensure our children get the best possible start to their educational journey. And as a small pre-school we do not have the time or wealth of resources to be sharing with others.

But I joined the meeting and listened to what had to be said and then we got to the 'interactive' part...really?! So the over 100 delegates in attendance were split into 'breakout rooms' and had to discuss the aforementioned 'Future Shape Education' and then complete a form to 'report back'. I found myself in a room with three other people...one person quickly disappeared and that left three of us...none of us knowing what we were to do or probably inclined to know what to do. One of my fellow delegates decided to speak and at that point I bailed. We have all been on courses where there is a point in the proceedings when an 'activity' has to be completed with the strangers that you're sat with. We all know how awkward that can be, having to chat with people you have never met before and are likely never to meet again, and someone has to take the lead, and someone has to be the 'representative' of the group to present your answers to the room. Well imagine that but online, with a series of circles on your screen with peoples initials displayed...well I couldn't stomach it so I bailed.

I really couldn't justify spending my time (personal time as this was outside my working hours) doing something so frivolous and unproductive so instead I got the remaining pile of ironing done instead. Much more productive and time well spent!

Next on my list of productive things to do was to order some new equipment for pre-school as well as place a butchers order that will be delivered on Friday. I was also able to have another little clean around of the bathroom as I started to put things back into the room. I have a couple of baskets that I like to have out on display that contain all the various soaps and shampoos that I have brought home from our various stays in Disney hotels, and so it was good to be able to put them back in their rightful place.

It was then time for Molly to drive us over to her second kickboxing class of the week and when we drove back later on to collect her we popped to a supermarket to pick up a few things we were running short of.

And that was Wednesday, and now all that remains is to watch this weeks episode of Marvel's What If?

See you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 559

Day 559...

And we have the first working day of the week for me.

My back was feeling slightly better than it did yesterday and it was definitely easier to move about, although by mid-afternoon it did require some painkillers!

My morning was spent in work and it was pretty much a standard sort of morning for me. Arriving home at lunchtime I found myself continuing on with some pre-school work which I hadn't planned on doing but was needed ahead of the activities I have planned for the remainder of the week.

When I got home Molly had taken over the kitchen as she was having a bit of a photo shoot for the items she has been creating over the past few weeks. I was a little concerned to find a poured glass of wine sat next to the kettle but discovered that it was actually a 'prop' that Molly had been using for her photography!

My afternoon seemed to disappear quite quickly but it was productive. Not only did I get a big chunk of pre-school work completed but I took delivery of my new iron and managed to get through about two thirds of my ironing pile. But, and most importantly, I was able to secure a pre-order of the new White Lies album which is due for release in February next year and at the same time, ahead of general release, I was able to buy some tickets to see them live in Nottingham in March next year. In fact the concert in Nottingham will be the first night of their tour to promote their new album 'As I Try Not to Fall Apart'. So nice to have something on the calendar, just need to keep everything crossed now that nothing gets in the way!! And with the tickets already bought for November it means we have at least two things to look forward to!

 And time to sign off and see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 558

Day 558..

Well the day didn't start out too well today.

Just after I'd had my shower I suddenly realised that I'd forgotten to get sausage and bacon out of the freezer yesterday ready for this mornings breakfast. Not a big deal I just needed to hurry up, get dressed and get out to the freezer...that's in our garage...and everything would be fine.

In my haste to get dressed I pulled on a pair of freshly washed jeans...you know those jeans that need a bit of stretching when wearing them for the first time since being washed?! Suffice to say somehow in the wriggling and pulling on of said jeans I managed to pull my back - doh! So I can sit down perfectly fine and I can move about pretty well but the in between bit is proving to be somewhat of a challenge!

And then when I got to the fridge I discovered that I did actually have enough sausage and bacon ready for breakfast and so all the rushing and putting out of my back had been for nothing!

The first job of the day was for Simon as he had a parcel that needed to be collected this morning. After numerous failed deliveries last week plus a lack of communication from the delivery company (Yodel) had resulted in Simon 'chatting' with them online on Friday, for the second time last week, and being told that the parcel was now held at our local depot. Our local depot that was 10 miles away...and only open Monday to Wednesday during office hours...so not very local and not very accessible.

But Simon decided to use the opportunity to get Molly out for a practice drive and as he didn't know where he was going it was a good excuse for Molly to practice driving with a sat nav, which is something she will have to do in her test in a couple of weeks time. So off they went and apparently Molly did brilliantly, unfortunately Yodel were not as brilliant as Simon was informed that the parcel had now been returned to sender!! Argh!! Simon is now having to chase with the company sending the item as to where it actually is and whether it can be redelivered; it's a good job this was something Simon was being sent as a free addition to something he'd bought months ago and not something that he had requested himself!!

Just before Simon and Molly set off on their travels I'd decided to tackle the ironing pile that had gotten rather large. I'd just started ironing the first t-shirt when there was a pop, smoke and a strange beeping sound...no more ironing for me today! Instead, while Simon and Molly were out and about, I was online researching irons and finally buying one that will hopefully be here sometime tomorrow. I can't really complain as this one had lasted me at least eight years...probably longer...and has done a fair amount of ironing in its life!

The next job of the day was for Simon to sand back the plastering that he'd done over the weekend so that the surface could be smooth and ready for painting. A lot of dust was generated...a lot! So once the sanding had been done the remainder of the afternoon was spent cleaning up all the mess. Simon did manage to get a coat of paint on the wall after we cleaned up and it is already looking so much better than it did before.

We took a little time to sit outside this afternoon with a coffee as although the weather had been grey and wet this morning it had turned out to be a sunny but chilly afternoon and it was too nice to sit inside. But as the afternoon got a little chillier we moved our way inside and were able to catch another episode of the Disney + show 'Magic of Disney's Animal Kingdom'. I'm not normally drawn to watching shows about animals and nature but I am finding this series to be so interesting and engaging and who knew that baby zebra's could be so cute.

It was then time for Molly to drive us over to her first kickboxing class of the week and yet again her driving skills were fantastic and she expertly handled three tricky hill starts in busy traffic!!

Monday is done, my back is still achy but I'm sure a little chocolate will make it feel better!!

See you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 557...Getting Arty!

Day 557...

Today was a Sunday with a purpose as we had an event booked to attend.

But before we headed out the door Simon managed to get another layer of plaster filler onto the walls that he is repairing with a view that tomorrow he will be able to sand back and hopefully have a smooth and even surface ready to paint.

So late morning we set off for Nottingham and ordinarily we would have driven into the city as it's only around twenty minutes away but today there was the Robin Hood half marathon taking place which meant most roads from our direction were at best restricted but most were closed. Thankfully, we have a tram that runs into Nottingham and which has a terminus just a couple of miles from home so we decided to make that our mode of transport for the day.

And whilst the tram is a great service; easy to use, free parking at the terminus, relatively clean and no more costly than car parking charges in the city it does take around double the amount of time compared to driving. And I will admit that by the time we got to our stop the tram was quite full and I was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic and also wished that other passengers had perhaps used a little more deodorant!! 

As we are not great users of public transport it was interesting to note that the take-up of people wearing masks was around fifty-fifty. We have opted to not wear masks as we don't feel the evidence supports their benefit to us or anyone around us and am I always astounded, and confused, at the way in which people do use them. Groups where some were and some weren't, couples were one half wasn't, people with the mask under their chin, getting onto the tram without a mask and walking through people to find a seat and only putting a mask on once they were seated - just seems to go against what they would appear to believe in. 

Arriving in Nottingham we were a little early so we stopped for a coffee before heading to the Canalhouse pub where, in their upstairs function room, Dr Sketchy's Nottingham was taking place. This is a burlesque/cabaret themed life drawing event that we have been going to for a fair few years now. Our last in person event was in February 2020 and although host and performer Scarlett Daggers had held a few online events it was great to be back doing something that had previously been one of our regular outings.

Dr Sketchy's are held all around the world and the Nottingham event has been running for 12 years. Simon, being the artist in the family, had discovered it many years ago and had attended a handful on his own before he eventually persuaded me to join him and 'have a go'. I am no artist by any stretch of the imagination, but the whole point of Dr Sketchy's is for anyone, of any ability, to come along and draw, enjoy the entertainment (the models will also perform), have a drink, maybe something to eat and giggle at the choice of music played by DJ Spike as he attempts to put the models off their poses with his musical choices.

It really is a very open and relaxed affair welcoming all abilities, all ages and all backgrounds. It's chance to switch off for a couple of hours or so, get out the pencils and doodle....or in the case of Simon get out the digital drawing tablet and create some wonderful images. 

Today, we had Scarlett Daggers modelling along with Starla Bright, who also entertained us with a cheeky burlesque number. We started off with a few one minute poses, then a few more two minutes poses, some five minute ones followed by 10 and 15 minutes ones before finishing off the afternoon with a 20 minute pose.

Here are just a few of my 'efforts';

Two minute poses - Scarlett Daggers

Five minute pose - Scarlett Daggers

Fifteen minute pose - Scarlett Daggers

Twenty minute pose - Starla Bright

As it is a while since I have picked up pencil and paper I was pretty happy with my results, and despite hating (and therefore avoiding) drawing faces I was pleasantly surprised with my efforts on my last drawing of Starla and when she commented that she liked it and thought it reminded her of her sister I was a bit shocked and maybe a little pleased with myself!

And with pencils packed away it was time to head home but with a date in late November in the diary for their next event. We had a small wait for the tram and found ourselves standing for the majority of the forty minute journey home.

Back home it was time for a coffee and chance to look over what we had done this afternoon with the obligatory posting to social media. Here are a couple of Simon's pieces...

Starla Bright

Scarlett Daggers

So nice to have a Sunday that revolved around actually getting out and 'doing something' and doing something that we have always done in the way we have always done it.

See you all tomorrow.

xx

Day 556

Day 556...

Our Saturday started with a trip to our supermarket of choice to collect our weekly grocery shop. Not our usual day but we did get chance to see Mark, one of the store colleagues that we have gotten to know over the years, for the first time in a long while.

We commented on the queue of cars waiting to get into the petrol station and how ridiculous it all was. He told us that by midday yesterday they were out of both diesel and petrol but by mid-afternoon a tanker arrived and refilled the pumps...so this shortage of fuel then? Media hype? I think so...one story today claims fuel companies have 'encouraged' the rumours in an attempt to let them recruit HGV drivers from overseas as this all hinges on a shortage of drivers rather than fuel by all accounts. But whatever the reason the media hype and over reaction has only made things worse and driven everyone a little mad!

Back home and it was time for Simon to tackle repairing one of our internal walls. The wall had been damaged by our previously leaky shower but with new wood batons in place the opposing side needed a rather large hole patching up. So it was out with the plaster board to fill in the gap and then plaster over. The first coat has been done so it now needs to dry before Simon can do anymore but already it is looking so much smarter than it has done in a very long while!

As that was pretty much a one man job I used the time to update some records for pre-school; I'd hoped to get them all done yesterday but simply ran out of time so I took the opportunity to get them all completed today instead. I then had three blog posts to write for the Disney Dream Girls website; two related to older shows and one was all about the show we recorded yesterday that will be released tomorrow.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent cleaning round the bathroom. Since the bathroom was completed last Monday we hadn't had the chance to get in there and get everything sorted. So today we were able to clean around properly and get the room ready for putting everything back in its place. And although everywhere is now clean we ran out of time to get everything back into cupboards so that will have to wait until another day.

With keto pizza made for dinner and the red wine poured it must be time to stop for the day and chill.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 555

Day 555...

And we have reached the end of the working week and a full day in work for me...well I say full day but my days ends around 3.30pm but we do start early so I still do just over seven hours in work.

Work today was a combination of working with the children and catching up on admin type bits and pieces. And when I did get home it was actually chance to carry on with a few bits that I wanted to get sorted. A few emails and some updating to do.

I also had my online grocery shop to update as we are collecting it a day earlier than normal as we have plans for Sunday which mean we won't have time to collect it then.

Then it was time to jump online with my podcast buddy Michelle as we had this weeks episode of the Disney Dream Girls to record. It's always a pleasure to chat with Michelle and our weekly recording session is also chance for us to chat, catch-up and support each other. We had fun recording about some new openings at Walt Disney World, changes at Disneyland and more.

By the time I'd finished recording Simon had finished work for the day and it was time to cook dinner. Molly and Dan were on their way home so dinner was timed for their arrival.

They had the trauma today of the panic buying of fuel that was going on in the UK. Not really sure why the panic had ensued but suspect the media reporting with headlines along the lines of 'public urged not to panic buy' perhaps helped 'fuel' the panic! Something that the media seems to likes doing at the moment!!

But as they had decided to fill the car yesterday they had enough fuel to get home but once here they decided to head out to see if they could get petrol anywhere. Dan lives about 190 miles away and as he will head back to his house on Sunday he wanted to make sure he had a full tank of fuel. Thankfully they were able to fill up at a local petrol station and while it was busy, and they had to queue which is unusual, they were still able to get what they needed.

Well that was Friday...it is late and I have had two glasses of wine so I'd better stop typing and see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 554

Day 554...

Another day split between work and home and another day mainly spent doing pre-school work.

The morning saw some of the usual admin tasks but was also chance for myself and my deputy manager to have a catch-up and start looking and planning towards the end of the year. I think we may have even mentioned Christmas at one point!

After a spot of lunch at home with Simon and Ethan I nipped back out to do a little grocery shopping. I didn't need to get a lot just a few regular items that I can get much cheaper at my local supermarket than the larger store where I tend to get the majority of what we need. 

Back home again and it was time for a little more pre-school work; some admin ahead of a new child starting with us as well as a little more financial planning.

Earlier today we had received a delivery of gravel for our courtyard garden, despite the fact that when we ordered it the earliest date we could pick was tomorrow! So when Simon finished work we decided to get the gravel moved from where it had been left and onto the garden where it needed to be. This involved a wheelbarrow, some steps, a rake and a leaf blower!

Simon shoveled the gravel into the wheelbarrow, moved it down the steps to place onto the garden for me to then rake into place. About halfway through we realised that we also needed to blow some leaves out the way so that the gravel further down the garden could be spread about easier. About an hour later and 850kg of gravel had been moved and spread about!

Before....

...and after!

And with that done all that was left to do was to cook dinner, pour the wine and settle down to watch RuPaul's Drag Race UK!

See you all tomorrow.

xx

Day 553

Day 553...

The middle of the week and another work day and another day of two halves.

My morning was spent at work and was a mixture of all the usual paperwork and some discussions with my deputy manager. I also had a prospective new parent stop by for a visit and I am now prepping for their child to start with us next week.

This afternoon was spent at home but it was another afternoon that was taken up with more pre-school work. Today it was an afternoon of numbers as I looked at budgets and attempted to do some forward planning with cash-flow predictions over the next few months.

Then this evening it was time to go down the gym, lift some weights and throw around the battle ropes.

And that has been my day, quite straight forward and nothing much to report. See you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 552

Day 552...

And we have another Tuesday and my first working day of the week and although it was split between work and home the majority of the day was actually taken up with pre-school work.

After a morning physically in work I headed home to carry on with more work. I had invoices to create and send out, along with a little research into an online app that we use and the changes it has undergone recently.

I also had my own emails to send and my own little bit of research into charging points for electric cars. I've also downloaded an app so that we can plan routes knowing where charging points are along the way. We are still waiting to get our home charging point installed so we won't be able to take delivery of our new car until that happens so in the meantime I am just trying to get my head around owning an electric car and getting prepared!

This evening as Simon finished work we decided to go out for a walk and we managed 2.8 miles in 58 minutes. It was chance to get some fresh air, catch-up on our respective work days and 'put the world to rights'!! It was a lovely evening to be out walking just as the sun was starting to set and we had some lovely views across our walk.

And that was today, so I shall see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 551

Day 551...

Well today turned out to be a busy and productive Monday and we achieved stuff that we hadn't planned on.

Today saw our bathroom fitter arrive for the last time (well...kind of...we are waiting on a mirror so he will be back to fit that in a week or so). He installed the radiator, cleaned up the tiles and added sealant around the edges and so with the exception of the aforementioned mirror we have a fully functioning bathroom again.

Just got to wait 24 hours for the sealant to cure before we can clean around and put our finishing touches to the room. Like our other rooms that we have revamped this past year or so we will take our time putting stuff back to ensure that we have only what we need and that it is stored in the correct places. This will be an ongoing project over the next few days I think.

I also jumped online this morning to order some red gravel as having cleared the courtyard garden a few weeks ago we needed more gravel to spread around. I hadn't wanted to order any while the bathroom re-fit was happening as we wouldn't have had the car parking space to store 850kg of gravel!! So roll on Friday and the weekend for finishing off another little project.

Then because the day was lovely and dry and sunny and because we had an empty 'garden refuse bin' we decided to chop back a couple or three bushes. One full bin later and we have a much tidier section of the garden, although I did have to remove my twinkly lights from the bushes as I was concerned the wires may have gotten cut by accident. Thankfully they are all intact and now I just need to get my outdoor electrics sorted so that I can have them functioning again.

We then had the garage to tidy up as it had been a storage area for all the bathroom bits and pieces over the last week or so. After putting things away and a little re-organising it was time to hoover through followed by mopping the entire floor. So thankful for the new rubber flooring that we laid a couple of months ago as it was so easy to get everywhere clean and tidy once again.

By lunchtime with the bathroom done, the garden rubbish bin full and the garage cleaned we had the afternoon free. So we took a trip into Derby as I had a beauty appointment booked for later on and enjoyed a wander and a coffee. Although I was slightly disappointed that Primark had almost no Disney themed clothing...pyjamas and socks were as exciting as it got.

Getting home we decided to go down 'our gym' aka our garage; our freshly cleaned garage, to lift a few weights and throw the battle ropes about.

This evening I was able to book a hotel for an upcoming trip as in November we are off to see White Lies (my favourite band) in Bournemouth for a stripped back and intimate concert. As Molly's boyfriend lives near Bournemouth we are getting quite familiar with the town and have a hotel that we like staying in. But unfortunately that hotel does not have any electric charging points in their car park and by the time we get to visit we will have our new electric car! Thankfully though I have found a comparable hotel that does have charging points and have managed to get a pretty decent deal including parking and breakfast. 

So all in all a pretty productive day...see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 550

Day 550...

Sunday again and the day started as is the norm for our Sundays of late with a trip to collect our weekly grocery shop.

With that out the way it was time to see Molly on her way as she will be spending this week at her boyfriends. And it sounds like she will be spending more time down there over the next few months. Ice skating is a big part of Dan's life and from November he spends most of his spare time at an outdoor ice rink that opens for the Christmas season. Molly has now become a bit of a skater too and so this year they want to make the most of the rink together and so it makes sense for Molly to spend more time at Dans. This won't be the first time she's spent time away from home as during the lockdown at the beginning of this year she chose to spend it with Dan. I think that this time signifies that in the future she will be coming home for visits!!

Our afternoon was spent wandering around Nottingham and stopping for coffee. The grey and wet morning had given way to a rather pleasant and sunny afternoon and so it was lovely to be able to take in the sights and sounds of the city. We popped into a comic shop that we haven't been in for a couple of years and Simon treated himself to three graphic novels.

Back at home and with more coffee Simon set about the next stage in the repairs to the wooden door frame that he'd started yesterday while I set about updating some more of the photos I'd scanned in the other day. I am now working my way through the August part of our trip to Orlando in 1993! I managed to update the information for each photo that I'd scanned so that I am now up to date again and ready to scan in the next batch of photos.

But while I was sat at my laptop I heard a thud on the window and looked round to see what had happened and saw a bird flapping about on our patio. The poor thing had obviously flown into the window and knocked itself out. It finally managed to flip itself over but it did not look good. Simon moved it to another part of the garden and even put out a little saucer of water for it but it still didn't look very well at all. About 15 minutes later I noticed that it was sat upright and had started to move around, although still in a very dazed state. It then hopped about a bit but lost its balance and ended up lying on its back. Things were not looking good, although Simon could see that it was still breathing. A short while later and it was back on its feet and was simply sat very still and I thought that maybe it was starting to come round but unfortunately the next time I looked it was lying on its back and on closer inspection it had stopped breathing...so sad. But at least we were able to move it and Simon could give it a little burial. 

So we will end today on a little bit of a sad note but I will be back tomorrow.

xx

Day 549

Day 549...

And stop...today started off quiet but has been a rather tiring sort of day.

The morning was a steady start to the day which was much needed after a couple of hectic days and disturbed nights sleep. Simon began some prep work on repairing the wooden door frame around the bathroom door. This is where we have suffered some water damage prior to the new bathroom being installed and we can now start the necessary repairs.

Then around 12.30pm Simon drove me over to meet the team from pre-school at a local carnival. Due to the carnival parade being in progress he could only get me so far and I then had to walk the remainder. I ended up walking alongside the carnival procession and actually walked faster than they were travelling and so made it to the carnival ground before them.

The team had done an amazing job at setting up and had created a play area as well as space to run a couple of tombolas and provide information about the pre-school. We had a very warm and busy afternoon and by 5pm we had everything packed away in cars. The team made their way back to pre-school to return all the equipment while I began my walk home. 

Simon came to meet me in the car which was very much appreciated as although I'd managed to walk quite far I had the takings from the afternoon with me which was beginning to feel a little heavy. By the time we got home I was very sweaty and in need of a coffee and Simon had had the good sense to put a pot of coffee on before coming to fetch me. So it was into the shower (our new shower!) to freshen up and take five minutes to enjoy a coffee before counting the takings.

We did really well and managed to make a profit of just over £200 which was a fantastic achievement and made all the effort, time and hard work put in by the team really worthwhile. We have hopefully also managed to promote the pre-school at the same time and make people aware of us and what we have to offer.

It was then time to pour the red wine, order a take-away kebab and indulge in a movie night in as we have just bought Black Widow on blu-ray!

Enjoy your Saturday night and I will see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 548

Day 548...

Well I think this will be another short post today as there is really not a lot to report.

My day was spent in work and due to prep work for our stall at a local carnival tomorrow and a last minute phone call I didn't get home until almost an hour later than normal.

And then once I was home I still had work to complete as my day had been taken up with so much stuff that I'd simply run out of time to get everything done that I wanted to get done.

But on a positive note our bathroom is almost completed. We now have a working shower, toilet and basin and we just need the radiator installing along with a few finishing touches and then it will be all sorted. The last couple of bits will now happen on Monday, although we will still have an LED mirror to install but we are waiting on the order coming through which should be towards the end of the month.

And that was Friday. I have another busy day ahead tomorrow as the afternoon will be spent helping out on our pre-school stall at a local carnival. So I will sign off and see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 547

Day 547...

Well it's late and to be honest I'm not in the right frame of mind for writing a blog post today.

Suffice to say despite being a day split between work and home the majority of the day was centered around work. 

Our bathroom is making steady progress with all the tiling completed, the shower is in as is the basin so we just have the toilet and radiator left to be installed. Fingers crossed it may be all done tomorrow or at the very latest Monday!!

Molly's boyfriend has arrived early for the weekend which was a lovely surprise for Molly even though the house is all upside down at the moment.

So yes, a short post and that's where I will leave it for today, I will see you tomorrow when hopefully I will be in a better place to write.

xx 

Day 546

Day 546...

The middle of the working week and for me it was another day of a morning in work and an afternoon at home.

The morning was a pretty standard morning with the usual emails, filing and banking. I also generated a few posters ahead of this Saturday's activities as pre-school will be having a stall at a local carnival. We will be trying to raise some money as well as promote the pre-school.

After stopping by a local supermarket I arrived at home just after lunch to a very busy and slightly noisy house. The bathroom fitters were hard at work laying the underfloor heating and the floor tiles so there was lots of cutting of tiles taking place! Our bathroom is now pretty much tiled everywhere and it looks like it's ready for the key pieces to be installed.

My afternoon saw me complete a little pre-school work as there were a couple of email conversations that I had started this morning that continued into this afternoon. I also had a float to prepare ahead of the carnival as well as producing a spreadsheet for collecting information of anyone who at the carnival maybe looking for a pre-school for their little ones.

With that done I made a start on updating the information held for each of the photos that I had scanned in yesterday. I think I have managed to update around 60 photos but have another 70 or so to go. Once the fitters had left for the day there was some cleaning up to be done, even though I know it'll all get dusty again tomorrow.

Then while Simon took Molly over to her kickboxing lesson...well he let Molly drive over of course...I jumped online with my podcast co-host Michelle to record this coming weekends Disney Dream Girls show.

And that was Wednesday, see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 545

Day 545...

And we have a Tuesday and my first working day of the week and it was a day, once again, of two halves.

The morning was in at work and consisted of the usual admin, banking and emails. And my afternoon was spent at home to the sounds of more tiles being cut as work progressed on our bathroom re-fit.

I did my good turn for the day when I arrived home and moved all of the now empty refuse bins back to where they lived for all my neighbours...in the pouring rain! Well, I figured I was already wet so at least I could save my neighbours from having to get wet unnecessarily.

Molly has been busy in the garage with more of her resin creations that she will be selling via her Etsy store. She is making unique coasters by pouring different coloured resins and creating some lovely effects. 

I decided to spend the afternoon scanning in yet more photos. I had a few from the other day that still needed their information updating but after that I tackled the next album from our 1993 Florida vacation. I managed to scan in the whole album and now have about 150 photos to edit in the Photomyne app before I can upload them to my laptop!

And in between scanning photos it was a case of keeping our bathroom fitter supplied with tea, making coffee for the rest of the house and checking a few emails for work.

Then with the fitter done for the day and our garage, aka our gym, being out of action for exercise purposes due to bathroom stuff everywhere it was time to clean through. I know there will be more dust created tomorrow but I am trying to keep on top of all the cleaning rather than having one big mess when it's all finished!

So Tuesday is done and I'll see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 544

Day 544...

Well today has been a very quiet Monday. Both Simon and I no longer work Mondays and so usually we try and make a point of doing 'something' but as we are now at day five of our bathroom re-fit we were tied to staying at home.

We were up early as our fitter wanted to make the most of the day and so there was no lie-in for us! I had two jobs for this morning, one was to get the ironing done and the other was to buy concert tickets!

Yes, actual, in person concert tickets! My favourite band White Lies very kindly emailed yesterday to say that tickets were going on sale today at 10am for an intimate, scaled back show in November at a club called Madding Crowd. Having never heard of this venue I did a quick Google expecting it to be somewhere in London and was very pleasantly surprised to find out that not only was it not London but it was somewhere that Simon and I have become quite familiar with over the last couple of years...Bournemouth.

Molly's boyfriend lives close by to Bournemouth and so when we have been gracious enough to either take Molly down to see him or to bring her home we have stayed in Bournemouth and have gotten to really like it. So when I saw that they were playing a small club there it was a no brainer, and felt like fate. So at 10am this morning I jumped onto their website and within five minutes I became the proud owner of two tickets. How excited am I?!! Cannot believe this will be our first concert since December 2019, which was also to see White Lies! 

The concert sounds like it will be more of an acoustic set as it's being promoted as an 'unplugged' performance, with them re-working songs and digging back through their archive of tracks. I think this should be a very special concert and I am very honoured and happy to be going along. Plus it felt so good to actually write something on the calendar that we can look forward to.

With tickets booked I then spent an amount of time looking for a hotel to book. We have a favourite that we like to use but unfortunately their car park does not have an electric charging point and by then we should have our new electric car and could really do with wherever we stay having one. It's a little daunting thinking about a long drive and a stay away from home with this new technology and so having a hotel with charging on site will give us peace of mind.

This afternoon I have used the time to work my way through more of our old photographs and scan them using the Photomyne app. Once scanned in on my phone I then had to go through and edit them before I could download them to my laptop. I am now working my way through them to give each photo a date, time, location and any other useful information. Today's photos were from the start of our 1993 visit to Orlando and yet again I have been thanking my past self for saving theme park maps and time schedules!

Our bathroom fitter worked late tonight and so while Simon stayed at home I took Molly over to her first kickboxing lesson of the week...well Molly drove over I was merely the passenger! Not long now till Molly has her driving test and it would be great to think that in a few weeks time she could be getting herself out and about without having to rely on the taxi service of mum and dad.

But Monday is done and I will see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 543

Day 543...

A Sunday has rolled around again and it started as our Sundays tend to have done of late with the collection of our weekly grocery shopping.

With that excitement out the way it was time to get Molly to her second guitar lesson of the weekend. Because she had missed a lesson last week when her teacher had been on holiday she was able to attend today to make up for it. So once again Molly drove us there and back and while she rocked out we made best use of the local Starbucks.

Back home we decided to try and beat the very grey clouds and prune back a magnolia tree that we have in our back garden. It is a beautiful tree but does insist on growing out over our neighbours garden and path and so we try to make sure it doesn't encroach too much. Just as we started we could feel a very light drizzle starting but that didn't stop us...well not until it decided to come down a little heavier. At that point we headed inside for a coffee and a spot of lunch to wait out the rain. Thankfully the rain seemed to disappear and despite the grey clouds it stayed away so that we could get back out and finish the job we had started.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent indoors with both Simon and I getting caught up on a few bits and pieces online. 

And that was Sunday, a fairly quiet sort of day. See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 542

Day 542...

The weekend has arrived and we have two days of respite from all the noise generated by our bathroom refit. Although we did have a little bathroom focused activity first thing as we had an early appointment at the bathroom showroom to pick out a mirror.

We had hoped to have installed a mirrored cabinet that was recessed into the cavity wall and had electric sockets inside. But when they came to fit the electrics we discovered that the wall was in fact not a cavity wall but one made of breeze blocks and so the cupboard was no longer an option. But with the electrics in situ we could still have a mirror and this morning we were able to choose a simple rectangular mirror with LED lights around the edge and most importantly a built in power socket - win!

Back home and I used the time to update my online grocery shop while Simon completed some work on some of his latest art projects as he has been working on a private commission these last few days.

It was then time to let Molly drive us over to her weekly guitar lesson, and yet again her driving is spot on. While she played guitar we walked over to the newly opened Starbucks to grab a coffee, chat and chill.

Back home and after a spot of lunch we decided to embark on a small DIY job. We wanted to install some key hooks around the house following the installation of new doors a few weeks back. Simon had ordered some jailors key rings, some antique hooks and some small wooden plinths so that the keys can be hung but look in keeping with the decor of the house.

This small DIY job then led to us having a clean through of the house...well as the hoover was out to clean up the dust generated from drilling holes it seemed the sensible thing to do! It wasn't a planned job but with all the drilling and cutting over the past week the dust had gotten everywhere and although it will all get dusty again next week at least we can have a couple of days with a relatively dust free house!

As I started writing this blog Simon had another art commission to get started on and spent a hour researching and then discovered that he needs some more information off his client before he can start.

And there we have a Saturday, see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 541

Day 541...

We have reached the end of the working week and I have had another full day in work. So not only have I worked each day this week but I've also worked two full days...thank goodness its the weekend!!

This morning at work rather than my usual admin tasks I was actually 'working the floor'; so whilst I manage a pre-school I don't always get that much time interacting with the children but now each Friday morning my role will change and I will be 'on the floor' working directly with them.

Then the afternoon was my chance to get caught up on my usual administration jobs; banking, emails, newsletters and more.

By the time I arrived home the bathroom fitters were just winding down for the day and we now have all the cupboard units installed, pipework for the radiator in place, the shower tray installed, holes filled in and the start of the tiling. Work will resume on Monday and we have a few days to go yet before everything is competed.

During the day we have had an electrician visit to go over a few pieces of work that we need doing and although nothing is too urgent the priority is some outdoor sockets so that I can get my outdoor lights back working. Plus I have all my Christmas lights to think about as I normally put these up towards the end of November!

We have also had a butchers delivery today which had to be unpacked and then split into meal portion sizes. I then had more cleaning to do once the fitters had left for the day so that we are not tracking dust all the way around the house and then it was time to record a podcast.

It was lovely to chat with Michelle, my podcast co-host, as we caught up on our respective weeks and then set about recording another Disney Dream Girls episode. And that rounded out my Friday!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 540

Day 540...

Well we have had a Thursday and another day in work and today it was a full day in work. Ordinarily I would only work the morning on a Thursday but today I worked the afternoon as cover for another member of staff.

My workday was pretty standard; lots of paperwork, new starters to prep for, banking to check, emails to send and data to input for our funding claim.

By the time I arrived home our bathroom fitters were almost done for the day and by all accounts it has been another noisy day and so being at work sounds like it might have been the best place to be!

But we have the electrics all in, waste pipe laid, shower tray in situ, new cupboards installed, extractor fan installed and the old electrics removed for the shower and pull cord light. We have also had to have some of the wall replaced as the wood frame behind the plasterboard was rotten in places so new wood has been installed along with new plasterboard. As we are switching from an electric to a mixer shower the new plumbing is in place ahead of the tiling happening. Although unfortunately we have discovered that the wall we thought was a cavity wall is actually a solid wall which means that the fancy recessed cupboard that was due to be installed cannot. But we think we will be able to get a LED mirror in its place all being well and the electrics have been put there ready for it.

Normally we would have been going down our 'gym' tonight but as the garage is full of bathroom bits and pieces we do not have the space so Simon and I headed out for a walk instead. We managed 1.89 miles in 40 minutes and despite a few rain drops we arrived home dry although at one point I did think it could have been a different story!

And that was Thursday, see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 539

Day 539...

Another work day and another day of two halves.

My morning was spent in work and was pretty much a repeat of my previous mornings in work; paperwork, printing, laminating, reorganising folders and banking.

On my way home I stopped by a local supermarket to pick up a few bits the most important of which were tea bags to keep our bathroom fitter happy!

Back at home and more work had progressed on our bathroom refit. The toilet is now out which means that the room is completely empty. The main focus of today has been to get the remaining old floor tiles lifted and then to dig a channel to lay the waste pipe from the shower.

One thing we've found with our house over the years is that some elements were perhaps not done quite as they should have been. Hence the digging of a channel for the waste pipe so that it will now be under the floor rather than running along the top of the floor behind some boxing-in! But at least going forward we will now know that everything is as it should be and the leaky shower that we have 'put up' with for years will be no more.

But this did mean that things got a little noisy this afternoon as the jack hammer came out. This also meant moving a lot of my Disney ornaments that happened to live in cabinets against the opposite side of the bathroom wall, just in case the vibrations from the tools caused them to move! Better to be safe than sorry!!

And as is normal for a Wednesday it was time to let Molly drive us over to her kickboxing lesson. She also does a strength and conditioning session afterwards and was lifting 130kg trap bar this evening!! 

Time to stop and watch this weeks Marvels What If...

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 538

Day 538...

Work day number two and we have a Tuesday.

It was a day split between a morning of being in work and an afternoon at home. The morning was more printing, organising paperwork for our new starters and a little banking as well. 

I was home just as Simon was on his lunch break and so we got chance to catch up over a coffee. Our bathroom re-fit has started today and so I was greeted with a half empty bathroom and by the end of the day everything had been ripped out apart from some floor tiles and the toilet!

I spent the afternoon doing a little pre-school work as there were a couple of emails to respond to and then the subsequent work that resulted from them. I managed a little time outside soaking up the sunshine as it has been another rather warm and very sunny day again today and I was determined to make the most of this short spell of good weather.

And then the day was rounded out with a trip down our 'gym' although with the warm temperatures it didn't feel much of a workout tonight as I was severely lacking in energy and will power!

See you all tomorrow.

xx

Day 537

Day 537...

And it was back to work today and the start of our new school year. So it's back to the early starts and busy days.

I don't ordinarily work Mondays but as this was the first day of the new year I wanted to be there plus I also had a ton of paperwork that needed printing and organising that I hadn't been able to do over the summer break.

So it was a mixture of emails, printing, laminating, printing, banking and a little more printing just for good measure. We also took the opportunity to start some prep work ahead of a local carnival that we are participating in in a couple of weeks. We have been given some great donations from our parents as well as a stack of items from our good friend Jon at our local Asda so we needed to get it all out, figure out exactly what we have, what we are going to do with it and how we are going to get it to the carnival ground. Plus we need to figure out what other resources we need with us as we will be having a small children's play area as well as who can help out on the day...so lots to plan.

I was able to finish around lunchtime which meant I could spend the afternoon at home with Simon and as the weather was absolutely gorgeous we took a rather sweaty walk over the fields managing just under two miles in a steady 42 minutes. And while walking about I received a phone call from a local garage who I'd approached about the possibility of changing our cars.

For the last year or so we have debated the efficacy of having two cars. In previous years having a car each was a necessity; Simon was making regular trips 'down south' for work and had his mum to look after and get from one place to another. But we have none of that now. Simon has been fortunate to work from home for a number of years and would 'go into the office', 130 miles away, once every few weeks or so. But since the initial lockdown last Spring his work office no longer exists and those he works with are now also working from home and have no intention of spending money on the rent of a 'space' when productivity has been just as good (if not better) with home working.

So the time has come to go down to a one car family (although I have a feeling it won't last long as Molly is desperate to get her own car). We can save money on the monthly payments, car tax, insurance, servicing and more but we didn't know if now was the right time to do this so had made a couple of tentative enquiries with local car dealerships.

Well after much debate and number crunching we have this afternoon decided on a deal. And not only will we be saving ourselves money but we will be moving with the times and getting our first ever electric car! It is a little bit daunting and rather exciting at the same time. We need to get a charging point installed in the garage and will need to get used to driving essentially an automatic car, having always driven a manual geared car before. Lots to learn and get my head around but I am up for the challenge!

And talking of driving, as Molly is back home it was her turn to drive us over to her first kickboxing lesson of the week. And to say she hasn't driven for about 12 days you wouldn't have known; she is turning into a very capable driver and we are extremely proud of how she is doing and we are just keeping all things crossed that she can pass her test in a few weeks time as the world will then be her oyster.

As the evening was so nice, and while Molly was kickboxing, we headed back home and laid some more weed membrane in our courtyard garden. We now just need to organise the delivery of gravel to finish off the area but as we have our bathroom re-fit starting tomorrow we will need to arrange for when we have less things happening! Where we live we have a shared garage space and having extra vehicles and gravel delivered can be an inconvenience to our neighbours so we need to get the timing right!

And there we have a Monday; all rather eventful!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 536

Day 536...

So today was Sunday and my last day before returning to work after the summer break. And typical of the British weather after a couple of weeks of grey and, on occasion, damp weather the sun decided to show its face and bless us with a warm and sunny day...on the last day of my holidays!!

But no matter what the weather the first job this Sunday morning was, as has become the norm, to fetch the weekly grocery shop...whoop! Next on the agenda was to remove all the masking tape from the bathroom following yesterday's decorating along with some touch-ups where we'd missed a couple of places.

Then we headed off out to Derby for a couple of hours. Our main reason was to pop in and see my sister-in-law who was taking part in a craft fair event in the city centre with her venture, China Petals. A relatively small event with about a dozen or so small art and craft businesses run by a non-profit organisation helping small business to promote their wears. It was lovely to see Diane and have a chat as well as have a look at the other stalls and speak with other artists and makers. We were then able to report back to Molly as it maybe something that she will be looking into doing in the future as part of her Shutter Crafts business.

We then enjoyed a walk around the city centre, stopped for a couple of coffees and had the obligatory nip into Primark to see if there was any new Disney merchandise to be had. Although they had a few bits there was nothing, unfortunately, that took my fancy today.

Back home we decided to enjoy the sunshine in our own back garden with a coffee before setting about laying some weed membrane in our courtyard garden that we are currently in the process of tidying up. And then it was time for our Disney Dream Girls Disney quiz which we have not held for a few weeks due to holidays and more, so it was lovely to see some faces that I've not had chance to chat with for a while.

And that was our Sunday done and dusted.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 535...Paint!

Day 535...

Another Saturday and a steady start to the day. Molly and her fella were off into Nottingham to go ice skating and our aim of the day was to paint the bathroom ahead of its re-fit next week.

But first issue of the day was for Simon as he found himself down to his penultimate pair of contact lenses. We held out in hope that his next supply would arrive in the post this morning but alas no. So after multiple phone calls he eventually managed to confirm that his lenses were despatched on Wednesday, he amended the next delivery date to avoid this happening in the future and was able to nip to our opticians later this afternoon to collect some spares to keep him going!

While Simon was sorting his lenses I was online finishing this weeks grocery shop ready for collection tomorrow. And once those jobs were done it was time to paint the bathroom. We just wanted to give the walls a fresh coat of paint ahead of all the new bits and pieces going in so that we wouldn't have to worry about painting it later. As we live in a barn conversion our ceilings are rather high and so we have a combination of mainly tiled walls and then very tall walls that are painted!

But before we could do all that Simon went out to the garage to fetch inside all the paint and brushes and rollers that we needed to decorate with. The next thing I knew was Simon appearing in the kitchen and asking if I could help clean up some spilled paint...oops! Simon had been carrying a full paint can down a ladder and slightly missed his footing which resulted in a dropped can of paint, the lid popped off and paint all over the floor. It must have took us about 30 minutes to clean it all up through a mixture of scooping some back into the can, lots of paper towels, cleaning wipes and soapy water!

The actual painting of the bathroom went smoothly and it didn't take us that long to get all the walls painted, brushes and rollers cleaned and everything tidied away.

The rest of the afternoon saw Simon doing some more digital artwork as he is currently working on a private commission and I was back at the laptop doing some pre-school work. I had a couple or three emails that I needed to send out today along with a new post for our website to edit and schedule. I also had to edit one of the pages on our website with all our updated policies and procedures, and when I say update it was almost starting from scratch. I had approximately 85 or so links and descriptions to add in and although it was all pretty straight forward it was just time consuming and repetitive. I still have to double check all the links but think that will wait now until tomorrow.

And with a glass of red on the go it was time to make what has become our usual Saturday dinner...keto pizza!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 534

Day 534...

We have had a Friday and I have been busy pretty much all day.

First job of the day was to nip to a local supermarket to pick up a few bits that we were running short on, I'd intended to do this yesterday but jury service had thrown me off course.

Next it was open up the laptop and crack on with pre-school work. Having missed the in-work inset day yesterday I had an email from my deputy to work my way through. So first it was responding to her email followed by a couple of other emails that needed to be generated. I then had policies to tweak and a lengthy newsletter to write and by the end of the day that had been achieved. I still have an odd email to send and some links (okay a lot of links) to update on our website but I am hoping that I will get the chance to get those done over the weekend.

At lunchtime Simon and I took our usual 2.4 mile walk out in the drizzle armed with umbrella's which to be fair we didn't really need as once we got walking the rain seemed to disappear. As Simon logs all our walks using the Strava app I thought I would have a look to see how our mileage was doing and in August we have logged 35 miles in 12 hours which has been our busiest month since April, making a total of 292 miles walked in 2021 in 97 hours!

Just after lunch I caught up with my good friend and podcast co-host Michelle to record an episode of our Disney Dream Girls show. Michelle has been lucky enough to have spent time this summer on one of the Disney staycation cruises around the UK and was able to share her experiences on our show.

By the time the day was done I'd shopped, podcast recorded, completed pre-school work (more than I thought I would) and kept the coffee machine going while getting some odd jobs around the house done, plus Molly arrived home.

So with Friday done, roll on tomorrow.
xx

Day 533...In Court

Day 533...

Well today has been a bit of a different day...

Today should have seen me back in work with my colleagues planning and getting ready for re-opening our doors to children on Monday but instead I found myself in court.

But not to worry I was in court for a very good reason, to serve as a member of a jury. I had been due to start my jury service next week and had received notice that my service might have to extend to three weeks rather than the usual two. Because of the possible time extension I had been asked to complete a questionnaire to determine whether I was able to complete a full three weeks. I had returned the questionnaire stating that I would rather avoid three weeks as it would be detrimental to my work; I was already not looking forward to missing the first two weeks of the academic year as it was.

Well, yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from my local crown court asking if I could attend court today in lieu of my scheduled jury service and in doing so I would avoid the possible three week stint. So I agreed to attend on the basis that the case I might have to sit on would last today and possibly tomorrow but that that would be my jury service completed.

This meant an early start to my day, well early compared to the last few weeks, and I found myself checking into the court just before 9am along with my fellow jurors. After running through a few bits of paperwork we sat waiting our call...we sat and we sat and about three hours later the jury was picked and I was 'lucky' enough to be one of those picked. We were sworn in and then broke for lunch! But then the afternoon was taken up with the case which turned out to be a little different from the norm; we were to assess whether the defendant had committed the act they were accused of rather than deliver a guilty or not guilty verdict.

Thankfully, we were able to come to a verdict resolution today and so my jury service ended around 4.15pm this afternoon, with the juror officer commenting that we were discharged and had 'completed the quickest jury service ever'! 

This means that not only have I been able to execute my civic duty, for which the judge and court officers present all thanked us for, but it also means that returning to work next week is no longer disrupted. 

But as my team were in work today I will have a day of work tomorrow to catch up on what I have missed today and complete some necessary administration bits and pieces.

My first job when I arrived back home this afternoon was to grab a big cup of coffee as the court was not able to provide any access to food or hot drinks as they would have done ordinarily because of 'covid'...really not sure how that works as cafes etc are open?!! I had the foresight to take a flask of coffee with me but it was lacking in volume to the amount I would usually drink (decaf though!).

And whilst I've been out all day we have had delivery of some of the items for our bathroom revamp that is due to start next week. We now have a garage full of boxes although all are strategically placed so that we still have room to complete our gym workouts. Which is exactly what we did when Simon finished work for the day.

And while we were out in the garage I just happened to hear a van pull up and upon investigation found it was a delivery for me of some clothes that I'd ordered at the beginning of the week - yay!

So whilst today was not the day that I'd originally had planned it turned out to be pretty good and extremely fortuitous.

See you all tomorrow.
xx