Bank Holiday Shenanigans

Day 439...

Today was bank holiday Monday here in the UK but for Simon and I it was like any other Monday as neither of us work a Monday ordinarily.

So the day started as usual with the collection of our weekly grocery shop. Once everything was put away Simon had a helmet order to finish off and I decided to venture out into the garden to tidy up a few of our plants that were getting a little 'wild'!

With a refuse bin full of branches and Simon's helmet build all completed it was time for a spot of lunch before taking Molly out for another drive around. She is doing so well; getting more used to the car, understanding how to approach junctions and obstacles and hopefully she is gaining in her own confidence. Our little drive about ended up with a quick visit to my dad which meant that Molly had to reverse the car for the first time when we came to go home; which she did brilliantly.

Back home we had some more re-organising to do. There were some items in the loft that needed to be brought down and then other items that needed storing in our garage. So we keep moving things about in the hope that eventually we will reach a point where everything is tidy and organised.

Simon also gave me a quick tutorial of using an app called Photomyne. Simon used this a few months ago to scan all the photographs that we had inherited from his parents so that we now have digital photographs rather than the physical ones that take up so much space in albums. We have now decided to do the same with ours and I'm hoping to have the time this week to make a big dent in the albums that we have collated over the 35 years that we have been together!

See you tomorrow.
xx

A Slow Sunday

Day 438...

This morning we had a very lazy and slow start to the day as we were rather late getting up.

But once up and about I jumped online to sort out my online grocery order as well as research some questions for our Disney Dream Girls podcast Disney zoom quiz. While I did that Simon took Molly out for another drive; they did the same route as yesterday but we figure the more miles Molly can drive the easier it will get for her and we want to do whatever we can to help her pass her test as quickly as possible

The rest of the day saw Simon continuing to sort more of his 'stuff'; re-organising it all and streamlining where he can. We still have a lot more 'stuff' to go through and need to come up with solutions as to how best store it all. Whilst everything is now organised and in boxes we now need to figure out where these boxes can live. We have a few ideas brewing that include using the garage and having a complete overhaul of the space there, as well as looking into replacing our garden shed with a 'garden room' which would work as an art/craft space for Simon. So lots to think about, lots to plan and in the meantime lots of boxes to live with!

Late afternoon we headed out for a walk across the fields where we live. This was the first time we'd been out for a walk in a few weeks simply because the weather, until this weekend, had been so wet and miserable. But today it was blue skies, sunshine and warm, enough for the shorts to be pulled out from the wardrobe!

And our walk took us past our local alpacas which have all had their winter coats removed and looked very cute. We even discovered that one of them is called Obi-Wan!!

We managed 3.4 miles in and hour and ten minutes and were home in time to make a coffee and settle down for our Disney quiz via Zoom!

It was great to see everyone as it has been a few weeks since we all hooked up online. As I was setting the questions the pressure was off for me. My questions had a bit of a musical theme as we had caught a YouTube film this morning all about a rock band called Halyx that performed in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in the Summer of 1981. A fascinating story and well worth a watch; I just love these sort of stories about Disney, the unusual and often short lived events!

And that was our Sunday.

Take care.
xx

Saturday Driving

Day 437...

And we have a Saturday and the first day of my week off from work.

Well it started with a trip to our local recycling centre, before we'd even had breakfast! We had a car load of wood as a result of disassembling an Ikea sideboard that we no longer needed and decided that getting over there early would be the best approach before it got too busy. It turned out that was the right approach as within five minutes of us arriving it had gone from a couple of cars to a full site with a queue!

It was then back home for breakfast before heading out again to take Molly to her guitar lesson and a drive thru' coffee for us. I am still amazed at the number of people who wear a mask when out in the fresh air and even more so at the number wearing masks to drive, never mind those who are driving on their own! Who are they protecting and from what?!

Home once more and it was time to sort out some car insurance so that Molly can drive my car while she is learning to drive. Having passed her theory driving test earlier last week, and having a date for her practical test later this year, we thought it would be a good idea for her to be able to drive my car and get some extra experience. The great thing is we have found an insurance where we can pay for the just the time we need so we were able to set it up for just a couple of weeks while Molly is at home before she heads off to her fella's house again for a short while.

This did mean that this afternoon the 'L plates' went on my car...

...and Molly took us out for a short drive. We found a route that was around 15 miles and gave Molly about 40 minutes worth of driving. She did really well especially as this was her first time driving this car and she was not used to all the controls. Hopefully, we can find her time to get out driving each day to build up her confidence. It's not until you have to explain how you drive that you realise just how much of what you do is instinctual!

After a coffee in the sunshine we decided to do a little measuring up of available space in our garage for possible storage solutions. Having emptied the living room and Simon's workspace for the laying of our new wood floor a few weeks back we had decided to re-look at some of the 'stuff' we have and undertake some re-organisation. I think over the course of the next couple of days we will be having a sort through of the garage, de-cluttering and figuring out just what space we need and how best to store everything. We have a lot of 'stuff' we need to get sorted and it's just figuring out where best to start!

Suffice to say this all ended with a trip to Ikea to buy more storage boxes...although we also came away with a table lamp, a drawer tidy tray and a new saucepan!! But we also have plenty of boxes now to better store all our 'stuff', so that it will be organised, contained and will be kept clean and tidy.

My task for the week ahead will be to go through all of our photo albums and digitise all the photos, remove said photos from the album and then dispose of the actual albums. They take up so much space at the moment and we very rarely go through them so to have them all as a digital copy will be much better and I think (hope) we will be more inclined to look at them.

By the time we returned from Ikea (we had purposefully visited early evening to avoid the heavy crowds) it was time to cook dinner which meant a quick chicken curry with low carb naan bread. And now it is time for red wine, feet up and maybe some very dark chocolate.

Take care.
xx

Time for a Break

Day 436...

We have reached Friday and the last day of this half term at pre-school, we now have a week off to look forward to.

But first we had to get through the day! It was the first warm day we have had for a long while which meant that we were able to spend the majority of our time outdoors. So while the children played outdoors I was able to have some quiet time indoors to chase emails, update banking, prepare registers and add observations onto our online learning journal system. All in all a pretty good work day.

Once home it was time for a coffee before jumping online with my good friend Michelle to record our Disney Dream Girls podcast. We managed to record two shows; one to be released on Sunday and the other was a bonus episode for our Patreon supporters. We chatted Disney history, cruises as well as current happenings including the easing of more restrictions; specifically in Orlando where social distancing markers are now being removed in addition to masks no longer being required outdoors which came into force a couple of weeks ago. Universal Studios is going one step further and making masks optional indoors as from this weekend. 

And while the US seems to be opening up more and more we seem to be still in 'limbo land' with lots of  murmurs that the deadline for lifting all restrictions of the 21st June may not happen...or it may...or it's likely to happen but we can't guarantee it. Bloody politicians can they never give a straight answer? Heaven forbid they actually do their job with a measure of competency! We have cases at a plateau, hospital admissions and deaths are at their lowest levels, and have been for weeks now, and still we are unable to get back to normal. 

I think we have to accept that covid is not going anywhere. It is endemic, variants will appear because that's what a virus does but variants do not mean a worse outcome. A virus wants to survive so it will mutate into new variants that can maybe move about easier but as it does so it will become less problematic. After all, if it kills off it's host bodies then it will have nowhere to go and will kill itself, so it is better for it to get less awful so that it can continue to survive. I am no scientist but even I know this, yet those in charge seem dead set on scaring us all into submission and quite frankly I am fed up of it all now.

Oh well, best stop now...take care and see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 435

Day 435...

Another day of two halves.

The morning was spent in work with more admin prep work for the new term in just over a week's time. We break for our 'half term' tomorrow and so we will start a 'new term' and hence there is the production of invoices as well as getting things in order for some new starters plus all the usual day to day stuff.

I was late finishing work as I had a new parent to meet at lunchtime who is wanting to send her children to us after the half term break. Then on my way home I stopped by a local supermarket to pick up a few items that we'd run low on.

Once home and after the shopping had been packed away and a coffee drunk, my first job of the afternoon was to unpack the butchers order which had been delivered today. This always takes me longer than I think but I do have to split the order into meal sized portions. Today's order was sausages, bacon, burgers, steak and liver!

With everything packed away into the freezer it was time for another coffee before I set about a little more pre-school work. It was pay day today so I needed to organise all the necessary bits and pieces as well as email all the staff their payslips. 

The afternoon seemed to fly by and before I knew it Simon had finished work for the day and was off down 'the gym' while I played taxi service for Molly as she had a hair appointment very late on this afternoon. This was her first haircut since sometime last year...in fact it's probably about eight months since it was last cut! It's a good job she likes having long hair!!

And in between all of that I have also managed to get a little research done ahead of recording the Disney Dream Girls podcast which we are hoping to do tomorrow afternoon.

Phew! Feels like a non-stop day today so I think I need to stop typing, drink some more wine and stop!

Take care.
xx

Day 434

Day 434...

I think this will be a short post today as it has been a full on work day.

The day was spent in work and was split into two halves. This morning my focus was on getting registers sorted for next term, updating the banking, responding to emails and taking photographs for our sponsored bounce happening this week.

The afternoon was spent with my deputy manager as we started working our way through the updated statutory guidance for the early years foundation stage curriculum that we have to follow. We managed to work our way through about a third of it but we have until September before it comes into force so we will be well prepared and ahead of the game well before then.

At home I decided to carry on with a little more pre-school work as I had a couple of emails that I wanted to get sent off as well as update our online learning journal. I had some time chatting with Molly about getting her some driving practice as she had had a driving lesson this morning and by all accounts is getting on pretty well. We just need to get some insurance sorted so that she can drive my car, under my instruction, as I think she will benefit from just having more time behind the wheel.

Michelle and I were planning on recording a Disney Dream Girls podcast this evening but 'life' got in the way so we have re-scheduled for Friday evening instead. This will give us more time to get some more research done ahead of recording. 

And then it was time to play taxi service for Molly as she had her second kickboxing class of the week, followed by a strength and conditioning class. 

See you tomorrow, take care.
xx

Day 433

Day 433...

So my day started with a detour...a literal detour as I'd forgotten that the road I take to work was closed just for this morning! Thankfully I didn't have to go too far out of my way to actually get to work, I was just annoyed that I'd forgotten all about it.

But once in work it was more of the usual admin bits and bobs. We are also having a sponsored bounce this week so for some of our children, who had returned sponsor forms, had two minutes to see how many bounces they could manage on the trampoline. It is surprising how many bounces little legs can manage in two minutes!!

This afternoon I played taxi service for my dad as he had an appointment at the barbers and then the rest of the afternoon was spent at home. I bumped into one of my neighbours and had a good old natter with her; she is in her late 80's and is still independent and driving and as sharp as anything.

I did do a little more pre-school work this afternoon as I have quite a few bits to get done this week. It is the last week of the term and I have funding data to submit, invoices to issue, new starters to co-ordinate, registers to compile, wages to pay and much more!

And at the end of the day we had a quick workout session, which was the first time for me in a couple of weeks.

Well this is a short post for today as it has been a bit of a whirlwind and spent just keeping on top of everything!

Time for wine, food and TV.

Take care.
xx