Day 844 & Day 845

Day 844...Monday

It was another gorgeous morning and as it was Simon's non-working day of the week we took a slightly longer early morning walk of 3.6 miles in 1 hour and 13 minutes. It was surprisingly hot for an 8am walk!

And because it was still relatively cool compared to the forecasted high for the day we popped out to Lidl to pick up some fresh bits and pieces. We also got to meet our neighbours new Labrador puppy although it was from a distance as he hasn't had all his injections yet. He will eventually become a guide dog for the blind as our neighbours are part of a programme that trains the dogs ready for their prospective owners. But whilst they are puppies and are too young to be trained they still need to be looked after and that's where our neighbours step into the picture. They will have him for about a year before he leaves for his guide dog training, although I'm not sure I could do it as I would worry he'd be too cute to give up!

After lunch and in the need for an activity that would involve somewhere cool we decided to head off to the cinema. So into Derby we went to one of our favourite smaller cinemas, The Quad, to watch Thor Love and Thunder.  We had the cinema to ourselves, it was lovely and cool and we enjoyed a couple of hours of Marvel movie madness!

Day 845...Tuesday

Although it was still pretty warm first thing this morning it was rather cloudy which meant it was cooler than, and a nice relief from, the heat of yesterday.

We still started the day with an early morning walk but it was a much shorter and quicker 1.9 miles in 37 minutes and we were back home for 8.35am. This gave me just enough time to grab a few slurps of coffee and a change of shoes before I headed out the door.

I needed to be at my dads for 9am as I had an auctioneer visiting to advise about clearing the house and whether any of the items we have are worth putting to auction. I was there for 8.55am and realised I'd left my phone at home - doh! Thankfully it's less than a mile between home and my dads so I was able to dash home, get my phone and be back at my dads for 9.03am!!

It looks like all the contents of my dads house will be left for me to either sell on or dispose of myself. While there maybe some value to some of the items that we have, the auctioneer was very honest and advised against using their services as it really would not be worth our while by the time we've paid their costs and commission. So it looks like I will be getting familiar with Ebay and Facebook Marketplace once more! 

Whilst I was at my dads the estate agent stopped by to collect a set of keys so that he can start showing the house, in fact we have two viewings already booked in for tomorrow evening!

Mid-morning and I was back home and armed with a coffee it was time for some more internet research as I begin to prepare myself for selling stuff online. I also have a couple of places in mind for where I might be able to sell on some of the larger items and collections.

After lunch it was time to take Simon back to Derby hospital to see if the cast on his arm was ready to come off. Suffice to say we have two functioning arms once more, although he still needs to take it steady while his left arm heals - so no lifting heavy weights for a few weeks yet. He should hopefully hear from a physio so that he can make a quick and speedy recovery. 

The remainder of the afternoon was spent catching up on a few little tasks while I drank coffee outside; taking advantage of a lovely warm afternoon but with no real sunshine as it was still relatively cloudy...we even had a few spots of rain at times. One of my jobs was to get in touch with my tattooist, Saint Heywood, with the ideas that I have for my next lot of ink and send him over some reference material. Fingers crossed he can fit me in soon as it's almost a year since my last tattoo!

As Simon worked a little later than normal, to make up for the time spent out at the hospital this afternoon, and the weather was rather oppressively warm we opted to forgo our Tuesday workout. Simon needs to still be careful with his wrist and isn't allowed to be lifting heavy things for the next few weeks so we are still going to have to find alternatives to our usual workout sessions. But not to worry we will still be able to get out for our early morning walks and at least the weather should be a little cooler then as the forecast for the next few days is looking rather hot!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 784

Day 784...

Well I think this is the first time I've stopped today and I'm writing while waiting for Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to start.

We are visiting a local cinema in Derby called The Quad and for the first time are in their screen called 'The Box'. Probably one of the smallest screening rooms I've been in and it's kitted out with comfy chairs and sofas!!! 

But my day has been spent in work catching up with my deputy manager who has returned after a few days away. We've also been getting ourselves ready for our AGM which is tomorrow evening. So a busy day at work.

Once home I had a work email to send and to chase a couple of my own things while enjoying a coffee. Then it was time for our butchers delivery; 4kg steak mince, 2 kg chicken, 4.5kg bacon, 10 pork steaks, sirloin steaks, burgers and 100 sausages! Which then all needed splitting into portions to be frozen.

With that all sorted it was then time to cook dinner; a quick and easy keto chicken parmesan and while that was cooking we bought our cinema tickets online. Which then gave me enough time to eat dinner, get changed and head out the door.

A great film with plenty of action and probably more questions than answers but an enjoyable and quick couple of hours.

See you tomorrow.
xx

 

Day 642

Day 642...

Well, we have a Monday and the penultimate day at work for this year...although ordinarily I don't work Mondays! But today I was only in for a couple of hours to help out another colleague.

But it did mean that I could get ahead of some last minute admin bits and bobs, including the very important task of setting up the payment of wages!

By around 11.15am I was home and it was time to figure out the rest of our day. Both Simon and Ethan have already finished work for the holidays and Simon had spent a couple of hours this morning working on his personal website. But we had other ideas for this afternoon...

Onto the internet I jumped and I was able to secure two tickets to go see Spiderman No Way Home at a local cinema at 12.25pm! The cinema on a weekday and at a lunchtime, something that only ever seems to happen around Christmas. We grabbed a coffee and a quick bite to eat before heading off to a great little cinema on the outskirts of Nottingham. The Savoy has been in place since 1935 and is in fact the only surviving pre-Second World War cinema in Nottingham!

So how was the movie I hear you ask? Absolutely fantastic; I laughed, I held my breath, I cried and then I cried at least twice more. It was what a superhero movie should be all about, a chance to switch off your brain and marvel (see what I did there?!) at the action taking place in front of you. It was filled with story and characters and emotion as well as all the special effects and action shots. And all the cast were brilliant and I have a new appreciation for Tom Holland...all I will say is there is a topless scene...and then I had to remind myself I am old enough to be his mum!!! But seriously go and see it, support your local cinema, and lose yourself in another world - something I think we all need a little of at the moment.

On the way home we stopped off at a local supermarket to pick up a few bits and pieces ahead of a bigger shop later in the week as we get ready for Christmas and indulge in the tradition of buying way more than we actually need!

Back at home and we decided to grab a coffee and sit and watch a few You Tube pieces all about the Spiderman movie. We have a little habit of watching a channel called Screen Crush with Ryan Arey who does some amazing dives into all the easter eggs and references for a lot of the movies and TV shows that we watch. It's always great fun to see if we have spotted anywhere near the amount that he can find.

And that was Monday, I think I may have a little time to put a few jigsaw pieces in place and then it will be time to chill, drink some wine and have a little extra dark chocolate ahead of my last day in work for the year tomorrow.

See you all then.
xx

Day 613

Day 613...

The day started off like most Sundays do with a trip to Asda to collect our weekly grocery shop. Slightly infuriating as their app wasn't working properly so I couldn't 'tell them I was on my way' but when we got to the store the colleague on duty recognised us and we seemed to get our shopping before anyone else...obviously pays to be a regular!

After we'd returned home and put all the shopping away we decided to have an afternoon out in Nottingham and popped online to buy ourselves some cinema tickets.

Arriving in the city we were greeted by their annual Christmas market; so nice to see it back as last years had to be cancelled at the eleventh hour, although they haven't got the ice rink as in previous years.

Everywhere looking very festive and busy

We had the obligatory look around Primark and was able to pick up a Christmas present as well as a pair of Disney slip-on sneakers for me. In fact they are the same as the pair I currently have which I use for around the house, so wanted a back-up pair for when they fall apart!

We then went in search of coffee, finding our usual Caffe Nero to pop into, and remarked how much busier it was today than past weekends. On our way back to the car we decided to visit Forbidden Planet, not somewhere we visit that often and was an impromptu decision to do so with the aim being to have a look for possible Christmas presents.

And then I saw the section of Loungefly bags, the large amount of Disney Loungefly bags and then I saw just the cutest one and fell in love with it straight away. I picked it up and then put it back as I just couldn't justify what I deemed to be a frivolous purchase but Simon had other ideas. He insisted that I bought it...I said okay but only as an early birthday present...

How cute?!

We then headed just slightly out of the city centre to a small cinema that has been in existence since 1935. It is a great venue and with prices that are not as steep as the major chains and it was our first time in a cinema in forever. Although to be fair we were never regular cinema goers and only ventured out when something really compelled us...like a Star Wars or a Marvel or maybe a Pixar movie. 

But today it was Ghostbusters Afterlife; we'd seen a few reviews online that were really positive and remarked how much the fans were liking the movie so we decided to give it a go. Both of us are eager to make the most of opportunities to do 'normal' things like this before we are faced, yet again, with more draconian and intrusive measures especially as we hear about more lockdowns across europe along with the horror of vaccine passports and even worse mandated vaccines. But for today we were able to enjoy a little escapism.

And this was a good film, in fact we both absolutely loved it. It respected the original movie and honoured the ethos of films made around the mid 1980's. It was a great ride, it had all the effects you needed, a fabulous cast, it had laughs and it also made us both cry. I would recommend anyone to go see this movie, take some tissues with you and then stay till the very end...the very end of the credits...don't be fooled by the 'post-credit scene' stay a little longer!

And there we have a very enjoyable Sunday. See you tomorrow.
xx