Day 882 & Day 883

Day 882...Thursday

Well the day started very grey again and just before we stepped out the door it started to rain. But it didn't stop us and thankfully it didn't last too long but we still stuck to our new route following the pavements and managed another 2.2 miles in 39 minutes. We even bumped into a couple of old friends who were out walking their dog and had got caught in the rain. 

My morning job was to nip down to Lidl to stock up on a few bits and bobs, and in hindsight I was glad I decided to go down today as there was a water leak along the main road which now means the road is closed until early next week! 

The remainder of my Thursday was split between grabbing a coffee outside when the sunshine came out, starting my next jigsaw (sorting the edge pieces) and a lot of online stuff.

I managed to 'chat' online with a local jewellers to make an appointment with them to look at some of the jewellery we'd found at my dads house. I tried to book my car in for a service but couldn't quite manage it so have requested a call back (which I am still waiting for) and then it was time to book a hotel.

We are going to see Molly and Dan at the end of September and so needed to get a hotel booked for a few nights. I'd looked around to see if I could find somewhere different to our usual hotel but after much searching I realised that there are many good reasons why we go back to the same place each time; great location, breakfast included, always clean and tidy, lovely staff and free electric car charging! Having looked at various dates we'd settled on a longer stay than normal so that it would tie in with Molly's non-working days, plus we will get a longer break away from home too.

I also spent a considerable amount of time online acting as admin and technical support for my podcast co-host, and very good friend Michelle, who is out in Walt Disney World at the moment. Facebook had decided to lock her out of her account which meant she was unable to post to our podcast page and message friends who she was due to be meeting. Thankfully I was able to get in touch with her friends and provide them with alternate ways to get in touch and between us we managed to get her back online, although not as fully online as she could have been. Technology is great when it works but when it doesn't it is a pain in the bum!

After a forty five minute session down the gym where I focused on abs and legs it was time for a spot of dinner before settling down to watch the latest Marvel series; She Hulk! And I really enjoyed it, it was well acted, a little bit goofy and simply fun to watch. Fingers crossed the series carries on in that way.

Day 883...Friday

So having run out of time yesterday to write my blog we now have two days for the price of one.

This morning we were back to blue skies and sunshine, although it was not as warm as it has been of late. This meant we could get back to our usual walk over the fields and our hilly 1.9 mile walk completed in 35 minutes.

I was then off out to the jewellers to see what we could do with the jewellery we had found. As most of it didn't hold any sentimental value we have simply been able to cash it in along with confirming that some of the items we have are just costume pieces that I think we will ultimately sell via Ebay. I do have a couple of pieces of jewellery that belonged to my mum that are in need of repair and I was in two minds as to what to do with them. I don't want to part with them but they are not really my style but then Simon came up with a great suggestion; could they be made into a bespoke piece that could incorporate my love of Disney? Chatting to the jewellers and the answer is yes. I now need to think about what that would look like before making another appointment to sort a design. They were also able to confirm that one of my dads gold chains could be made into bracelets relatively easily and I simply need to work out the sizing.

When my dad had passed Molly had asked if she could have two gold bracelets that he used to wear as keepsakes but having looked far and wide we have not been able to find them. So instead Molly is going to have the gold chain that he always wore instead. She has measured up and we are going to have it made into a bracelet and an anklet for her instead.

The remainder of the day saw me catching up with a few jobs around the house; a little cleaning and even some gardening...well okay weeding! And in doing some cleaning around I found the missing piece from my last jigsaw it had somehow worked its way under the stairs!

I did also make a start on my latest jigsaw by getting the outside edge completed.

It was then time for the final workout of the week by paying a visit to our gym and 'throwing' some weights around.

And that was Friday, I need to stop typing now as we have Drag Race Canada to watch.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 757

Day 757...

Another day that saw a good amount of 'stuff' get done!

First job of the day was to pop to the funeral home to collect the jewellery that my dad was wearing when he passed away. There were only a couple of pieces to collect which included my mum's wedding ring that he used to wear on a chain so I was very happy to get them back. Although there are a few pieces of jewellery that we haven't managed to find yet but that I know he used to wear and I also know would mean a lot to Molly if we could find them.

On the way home I stopped at our local Lidl to pick up a few essentials. Good job I did as I also have an Asda shop to collect tomorrow and yet again there are quite a few items that I cannot get but thankfully I had the sense to pick them up from Lidl instead.

Once home it was podcast recording time with my co-host Michelle. We recorded two shows; this coming Sunday's Disney Dream Girls and a special show just for our Patreon supporters. We talked about Disneyland Paris as Michelle is off over there next week, some news items, some Easter food treats and ticket prices and reservations.

I finished recording just as Simon was about to break for lunch and so we decided to pop out for a lunchtime walk completing 2.5 miles in 48 minutes. After a spot of lunch I then headed to my dad's house to see if I could find any jewellery pieces and check on the post. No jewellery found but I have had a look through some other bits and bobs as I try to get clear in my head those items that we may want to keep, those that can be sold and those that will be thrown away.

Back home once again and I had the pleasure of the ironing pile to attack...whoop! Actually it wasn't as bad as I thought it was and was dealt with relatively quickly. In fact I even found a spare few minutes to sit outside with a coffee and enjoy a spot of late afternoon sunshine. Although between the rather large bumble bee buzzing around and the wood pigeons that like to swoop on and off the fence next to where I was sat it wasn't the most relaxing of times!

The day was rounded out with a trip to our gym. But now I think I need to put my feet up and have a cuppa!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 590

Day 590...

Well, we have had a Friday and I don't think I've stopped all day...until writing this at the very least.

Once up and about I headed off to the jewellers to collect my repaired rings and they both look wonderful and now fit my finger so much better than before. The half eternity ring was the one that needed the most repair work doing as I'd managed to lose a diamond out of it and when the ring was reshaped a good bunch of the remaining stones fell out and needed re-setting. But the results are great and I'm just happy to be wearing both rings again as it has felt very strange not wearing them these past few weeks.

Rings as good as new

The rest of my morning was very exciting...she types with heavy sarcasm...as I had Simon's tax return to complete. I'd been putting it off for months but had promised myself that I would get around to it sometime this week and today was the first day where I found myself with the time to do it. It was straight forward enough to complete as I had all the necessary figures to hand it's just a laborious process to go through each page of the return, read each page, ensure I understand exactly which boxes to complete and with what figures. And because I wanted to get it all completed and completed correctly there were a lot of explanations to read and links to explore but by the time Simon finished for lunch I'd gotten all the data input.

We braved the windy weather and headed out on a slightly shorter than normal walk completing 1.9 miles in 34 minutes. I needed to be back home in time to head out with Molly as we had an appointment with a garage to see about getting her car stereo updated.

We arrived at the garage and were told that they needed to assess the car to ensure that they had all the correct fixings but that if they did they would then install the new stereo. So while we left them to it me and Molly took a walk over to a local McDonalds to grab a coffee (me) and a milkshake (Molly) and in doing so we discovered parts of the town we didn't know existed. About 30 minutes later we got a call from the garage to say that they had hit a problem and couldn't install the stereo. We walked back over and having spoke to one of the colleagues at the garage it would appear that there may be an issue with some of the connections but we're not 100% sure...so we have booked to go back again on Sunday when another member of staff with more experience (and we hope expertise) can have a look and see what can or cannot be done.

Back home and I had a few things I wanted to get on top of...I had Simon's tax return to submit which I managed to do and then I had a couple of bills to pay and some other stuff but then I opened up pre-school's email. I had actually kept on top of the email account this past week but knew that there was a couple that I had to deal with...well four hours later not only had I responded to those couple but I'd created a few of my own along with updating the accounts, issuing text reminders, composing seven different emails and scheduling when to send them, writing two different newsletters and uploading them to the various different platforms that we use and updating our learning journal system that I'd forgotten to do this time last week - oops! And my bills still haven't been paid!

Molly has been busy sorting through all her stuff as she prepares to move down to Dan's this time next week. We have piles of stuff that either needs throwing away, has the potential to be sold on Ebay or is ready and waiting to go with her next week. It is a very exciting, if slightly overwhelming, time for us all. But the bonus of helping move Molly down south next week is that Simon and I get a weekend away coupled with a night out to see my favourite band, White Lies - eek!

And there we have a Friday...I'd hoped to get a little time just for me as I seem to have done a lot of running around this week but alas it was not to be.

See you tomorrow.

xx

Day 587

Day 587...

So Tuesday turned out to be a busy old day.

Simon was back at work today but I had the whole day ahead of me. The good thing is that as Simon works from home it does mean when I'm on holiday we can actually start our day a little later as there is no one to 'get out the house to work'.

Once up and about me and Molly jumped in her car and headed out to run a few errands. A few weeks ago a slight mishap at work resulted in my engagement and half eternity rings getting stuck on my finger and pushed out of shape. I'd managed to get them off my finger but both rings were left in a sorry state and in need of repair.

I'd had to wait a little while for the bruising of my finger to subside before I could think about getting them repaired plus I also wanted to get them re-sized. Having lost weight some seven years ago, and more importantly having kept the weight off, my rings had become slightly too big and I had on a couple of occasions managed to lose my engagement ring (thankfully I always managed to find it!). Today was the first chance I'd had to pop by a local jewellers to see what they could do.

Well my engagement ring should be a pretty straight forward job to put right but my eternity ring may be a little more tricky. When the rings became stuck on my finger I'd been able to remove the engagement ring through putting my hand in cold water and using some washing up liquid but the eternity ring just wouldn't budge so I'd had to use a pair of pliers to squeeze it into a shape that I could then pull off my finger. The tricky part of repairing it will be keeping the diamonds in place and it looks like I may have lost one of the diamonds as well. So it's not going to be a cheap repair job but these are important rings and so need fixing...it is very weird not wearing them everyday at the moment! But it's going to be a few weeks before I get them back as the jewellers are really busy with repairs.

While we were at the jewellers I also had some old pieces of jewellery that I wanted to get rid of. Most of the items had been inherited from Simon's mum but none were items that I would wear and it seemed daft to have them hiding away in a drawer. And while the jewellers could only give me scrap value for them they turned out to be worth more than I was anticipating which was a nice surprise and will off set the cost of my ring repairs.

Next we had to make a stop at the bank as I had some coin to pay in on behalf of pre-school; there was a bit of a queue so it took us longer than we would have liked and so we headed home straight after. 

At lunchtime Simon and I took a walk out and covered 2.4 miles in 44 minutes. After a quick bite to eat me and Molly headed out once more and it was now my turn to drive. We headed to a local supermarket to pick a few things up plus Molly wanted to pick up some items as thank you gifts. With her moving down South in about eleven days time she will have to give up a few things that have been part of her life for probably the last ten years or more and so she wants to mark the occasion with the people that have helped her along the way.

We also made sure whilst we were out and about to stop by my bank as I now had a cheque from the jewellers that needed paying in! Back home again and I walked in to a freshly brewed coffee thanks to Simon followed by the smell of lemongrass as our new essential oil diffuser had arrived and was making the house smelly lovely. Although we do need to figure out how to work it properly as all the instructions are in German!!

Our day was rounded out with a trip to the gym and it's so nice now that the nights are drawing in not to have to drive out in the dark and the cold and instead just pop out to the garage.

Well with a glass of red wine calling I will sign off for the day.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Power of Words

I wanted to write a piece that was very personal to me and that would mark an anniversary. Unfortunately it's an anniversary I would rather not be marking.

A year ago I lost my Mum unexpectedly and as you would expect it hit me and the rest of my family really hard. The evening she passed was a very cold and clear night and the sky was full of stars...it felt very apt, and I remarked that Mum was up there in those stars looking down on us and while ever there are stars in the sky then I know she's still there with us.

We opened a bottle of champagne that night to toast my Mum and that's exactly what we will be doing a year on.

A couple of months ago my Dad found a bracelet that my Mum had bought on one of our last trips to Walt Disney World together....I think it may have been as long ago as 2008. I wasn't even aware that Mum had bought the bracelet so have no idea where she got it; I know she never wore it as the price label is still attached! I have the bracelet now and it sits on my dressing table so I can see it every day. It is a simple silver bangle with engraved words, and it's those words that really hit me when Dad gave me it;

Simple bangle, costing $10.00 but where was this sold...I have no idea!

Words: Shoot for the moon...

Words: Even if you miss....

Words: you will land among...

Words: the stars

How poignant are those words - Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you will land among the stars

Love you and miss you Mum but I know you're up there keeping an eye on us all..

Me & Mum - WDW August 2008

Countdown to Christmas - Day 6

6th December

The good thing about working at a pre-school at this time of year is that we have had our decorations up for a couple of weeks now, we are starting our preparations for our Christmas concert and we have the children's Christmas party to look forward to at the end of term so there is no excuse for not getting into the Christmas spirit.  Although I think by the time we reach our concert we will have about exhausted our Christmas song repertoire ;)

But even if I didn't have all this 'Christmasness' around me I always find away to bring a little holiday spirit with me, wherever I am, through a little collection of Christmas jewellery.

And of course it wouldn't be me if I didn't have a couple of Disney themed pieces..

Brooch and earrings bought in WDW - wish I had more...oh well I'll just have to go back again!!

Disney pins from WDW and Disneyland Paris.









So not only do I get to have a bit of Christmas with me everyday, I also get a bit of Disney too - that's a win I think!