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I'm 22 years old today. OLD. It's been one whole year since I started this and I've managed to post a picture every day. I can't say it hasn't been annoying sometimes and I will be glad that it's finally finished but I'm quite proud that I've managed to remember everyday. I've even 'done my blog' on nights out, from the South of France, after festivals and from Venice. I'm sure for the next few weeks I'll wake up in the night worrying because I haven't done it only to realise that it's finished. It's been the subject of much jest from some friends and the source of knowledge for others but I've carried on. Today has been a really lovely birthday - we woke up early this morning so I could open my presents before Marge and Parge had to go to work. Margey made me a 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'-themed cake which I then had a slic of for breakfast! I got loads of lovely things as you can see here: a new lense for my camera, the two newest True Blood books, series seven of Monk which I've already started watching, series six of Entourage, earrings, nail varnish, a set of Agatha Christie audio books, series one and two of Being Human, my perfume that the Marger had to get shipped across from America as they've stopped doing it here and a duvet for the new kingsize bed I'm getting soon. James bought me Stephen Fry's new autobiography, the DVD of District 9 and voucher for John Lewis so I can chose another set of covers for my bed and another book and DVD that haven't arrived yet. As the duvet Sarah bought me was a thin summer one, we went to Ikea today to exchange it and have lunch after I also bought a nice smelling candle, two new pillows, a red fitted sheet and a duvet cover set that's white and patterny. We've just been out for a meal and I'm stuffed. I had the tomato soup to start, followed by the roast beef and then my absolute favourite, summer pudding. And on that food note, this blog hereby ends. I hope you've enjoyed my rambling musings on life and I'm sorry if I've moaned on too much. Thank you for reading.
It's normally the best things in life are free but the only thing here that was free was James! Last night at work they asked me if I could work during the day tomorrow so I ended up going in with Sarah for half nine and working until four. Knackering. I do enjoy waitressing but the bar work is much better. It wasn't that busy today and I didn't really need to be there but I help set stuff up for tomorrow. Marger picked me up and then cooked a lovely dinner of steak before James came round tonight. All we've food tonight is eat, play Lego Harry Potter and re-watch The Inbetweeners from Monday night. All in time for my 22nd birthday tomorrow! Woooo, exciting!
I've just driven to work with this immense soundtrack on full blast. It is so brilliant. When I was in sixth form, we put on a production of it and I played the narrator. I was pretty good at it, even if I do say so myself. I think a few of the people I drove past on the A1 had a shock when they saw me go past doing the Time Warp and singing at th top of my voice. Maybe I could organise a work production?
Milk solves everything. It's a bit like Calpol when you're little: magical. Today I have lived the life of a poorly person with lots of tablets and liquids as I now have to go into work. Sleepy sleepy.
Today I have played a lot of Lego Harry Potter. It's honestly the best game ever. Hands down, no contest. I managed to get a good nights sleep despite feeling poorly and I actually felt much better this morning but I still rested today. Tonight, Ginn, Liz and I went for a drink in Bedford and had a lovely long chat. We sat outside under the heater and had Irish coffees and cappachinos. Very nice indeed.
Today has been very poorly. Last night was a brilliant night but before I could sleep, the alcohol had to come out of my system which meant that I was sick twice. Being sick is awful and never gets any easier. Because of that, the cold I had brewing is horrendous today. My tongue is all swollen and I think there are a few ulcers underneath, my throat is so painful and I'm very tired. The rose obviously didn't help the situation. Today I sat in front of the tv and felt sorry for myself before having a really long nap. Best nap ever. I'm now round James' and feeling even more poorly than I was was earlier. We bought some Ben and Jerry's and played my new game of Lego Harry Potter for the xBox. I don't have any game consoles myself so I can only play it on James'. The game is amazing and the graphics are much better than the other ones. Excellent present from James!
Everyone loves to have friends. I have the best friends ever. Especially when we're all hammered.
I've had a lovely day today as I went out with Lizzie and her mum for luncheon to Cardington. Nanny and Grandad popped round for a bit this morning before Liz picked me up. They have so many choices of food that we took a good half an hour to decide what we wanted to eat. I really fancied some meat so had the burger. We had a really nice time chatting and all of us wanted a pudding so we went for their sharing dessert of lemon tart, Eton Mess, chocolate brownie and two ice creams. Very yummy. I'm now waiting for my hair dresser to arrive to quickly cut my fringe before I go to work. She's late so I might have to leave and report to cutting it myself again. Soon I'm going to do a Hayley Shepherd and cut it off at the scalp. Drastic but maybe necessary!
Today has been another day of nothingness. I really need a job. Although my new lady on The Sims is doing brilliantly. I had a dentist check-up this afternoon and like normal, everything was fine. Cost me £16 to find that out though. I tried to go to the library to get some books to fill my time but it was closed unfortunately. Tonight I've been to James' house and we watched more football. It was the Arsenal game and they thrashed the other team 6-0! Bless them. We also looked on the internet for skiing holidays as we never managed a summer holiday this year. This place looked amazing, probably because it was 5* and in Whistler, Canada. Bit too pricey for us though! Hopefully TravelZoo will come up trumps in the next few weeks. I'm not sure what I like more - the beach or the slopes!
Yet another day of not much. I'm not complaining because I'll wish I was doing nothing when I finally get a job. I applied for one job I found this morning online which was something like music management assistant. Random but it might be fun. Tonight I went to James' and watched the Man United game and Rangers outplayed them by far. Gutted Fergie.
I adapted this note I found in the kitchen tonight when I got in from Ginn's to make it hilarious. Haha. I haven't done much today apart from look for jobs and finish the last book in the Millenium Trilogy 'The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest'. Amazing. It really thee together all the loose ends from the two books and solved everything to leave it in a place that made you feel like it was all well and just. The Marger cooked an immense dinner of steak, potato wedges and rear and I contributed by making a shallot and red wine sauce. Yummy. Tonight I've been to Ginn's with Shep and Liz for an Inbetweeners party to watch the first episode of the new series. It was hilarious. Absolutely brilliant and did not disappoint.
It's nice to have days where you just do nothing and sit around. For the first time in ages, I didn't have to set an alarm so I slept for ages this morning. James was feeling rough, probably from the food last night, so we sat and watched the Grand Prix. When Debbie and Denis got back from their walk, they rang up the restaurant and complained. The woman there tried to tell us that food poisoning can't come on that quickly but Debbie mentioned the environmental health and they quickly said that the manager would ring back tomorrow. It'll be interesting to find out what the outcome will be. Liz came round this afternoon and then Ginn and Shep came round a bit afterwards. Marger came home from picking up Parge from the airport and I had a Chinese which was really yummy. I've now collapsed in front of the television, with a slice of Sarah's chocolate cake, half watching a David Jason drama and half reading this month's Elle. Lovely day.
What I though was going to be a lovely day has turned into a bit of a nightmare. James and I had planned today in celebration of our five year anniversary, or rather I had. We take it in turn to organise and this year it was my turn. I'd planned for us to go down to London, spend a couple of hours in London Aquarium and then have a lovely meal at Marco Pierre White's restaurant on Kings Road. The day did not quite plan out like that. James bought me a bracelet on Thursday which wasn't quite my style so we exchanged it this morning in Cambridge. I now have a beautiful red Swarovski (or however you spell it) crystal heart necklace. It's not something that I'd normally go for but I really love it. After James had a quick nap - he was pretty hungover from going out last night with Dom and Tommy - we got ready and headed down to London. I thought I'd left plenty of time to get to the aquarium as when I rang up, they told me that last admissions were at seven and it closed at eight. They told me wrongly. We arrived at quarter past six and it was already closed. Fail One. There was a free mini festival going on up the river so we wandered around there for a while which was actually quite nice! The Cadbury's Stars v. Stripes campaign was there with lots of games for the people to play which were hilarious to watch. We eventually got back on the tube and headed along to Sloane Square where we walked down Kings Road to get to the restaurant. We walked past some beautiful shops and bars but when we got to 386, it was opposite a Carphone Warehouse. Glamorous. It was really cramped in there and our table was perched in the aisle so we were in the way of everyone. Fail Two. We both went for the roasted pepper soup to start which was really lovely. But the main was something else. Again, we chose the same thing: supreme of chicken with creamed leeks. What actually arrived was some awful-quality flattened chicken with cress and plum sauce chucked on it. Fail Three. I thought I couldn't go wrong with the sticky toffee pudding but it was tepid and served with a pathetic excuse for ice cream. Fail Four. We quickly paid the bill and got out of there, only for me to throw up twice on the way to the tube. Once was in McDonalds' toilets. And I vommed whilst wearing my lovely Vivienne Westwood earrings for the first time. Fail One Million. I'm now feeling really weak and empty but thankfully we're on the way home. Marco Pierre White? Rubbish excuse for a celebrity chef. Give me Gordon any day!
Marger loves Muse but sometimes calls them 'The Muse' in her old age. She bought me, her and Sarah tickets for this tour when they went on sale early this year so we trotted down to London today. I spent the afternoon with Shep, Em and the Ginn and we had cakes from Gunns and lots of tea at Shep's house. Marger and I picked Sarah up from work and then drove down to the Big Smoke. I would have absolutely no idea how to drive the normal way to Wembley but Marger knows a nifty back way through Edgeware and Kingsbury so we get there much quicker than it would normally take. We missed the first support act of White Rabbits, disliked The Big Pink and then absolutely loved Lily Allen! She was amazing and looked very pretty in a white dress. Her set was brilliant and got even better when Professor Green came on to sing 'Just be good to Green'! Muse were prompt and as always, fantastic with sparkly suits, a great light show and lots of energy. They played my favourite 'Plug In Baby' during the encore and ended with 'Knights of Cydonia'. We're now stuck in the car park at Wembley because when we arrived, Marger parked up and then decided to move closer to what she thought was the exit so we could get away quickly. In actual fact, we parked the furthest away from the exit so it's taking quite a while to get out. Fail.
Today was another working day but I was only there for a couple of hours. It was hard to wake up early again but it'll be worth it for the bit of extra money. I spent the afternoon reading while Marge took Parge to the airport - he's off to see Auntie Jane in Spain - and she picked up fish and chips on her way back. James and I have been together for five years today and we're officially celebrating on Saturday but tonight we watched the amazing 'Four Lions' and had this feast: strawberries, grapes, chocolate and milk. Excellent.
This picture is so dark, apart from Em's teeth, but we had a great evening. I picked up Ginn, Shep and Em after a long day at the building company. I spent the day sending out more letters but didn't have to redo the ones from yesterday and photo copying. I ran the office for an hour when everyone was out and made countless cups of tea. Tonight we had a lovely night at the pub and I went a bit mental on J20s and food. I'd eaten dinner but had their amazing whitebait and then followed up with the cheese board. The brie was amazing. I'm now feeling very full. And am. pretty. tired. Ready. for. bed.
I worked at the building firm today and after spending two hours writing twenty letters, printing and folding lots of drawings and matching them up, the architects sent over the revised notes and pictures. Fail. So frustrating. But tonight, I headed over to James' to watch the football and England actually won! Nasty Rooney got the first goal and got some undeserved praise. His poor wife and child. Now catching up on some Mad Men but I don't think I'm going to be able to watch the rest of series two and three in twenty four hours before series four starts tomorrow.....
Sarah went to work this morning but was sent home because she's got a terribly sore throat. Dad was working from home today so the two of them have spent the day doing all sorts of ridiculous things. I didn't get up until late and then spent the morning looking for jobs but then had to watch these two dancing to some 'Stop. Wiggle. And Drop' song. I'm sure that's not the actual ghetto lyrics but that's the gist. Now at work and what I expected to be a relatively quiet shift has been pretty busy. For the first two hours, instead of setting the bar up, I was cleaning rooms and giving out complementary drinks to those whose rooms weren't ready on time. We had some lovely chilli con carne for staff tea and now I'm just chatting to some guys who are staying here.
I didn't get home from work until half two this morning so I had a huge sleep and a nap this afternoon. I spent the day lounging around watching films and eating. Brilliant Sunday activities, especially when the films are 'Liar Liar' and a Bond film. Marger made an immense roast dinner for tea and then I went over to James' to cut his hair. Just call me Toni and Guy. I cracked out my holiday colouring book tonight and the new pens that Sarah bought me from Ikea yesterday. One end is felt tips and the other end is little stamps like the old Crayola pens. Add into the mix a orange Club and you have perfect evening in.
This morning we went to see James' grandad in Hitchin as he's been poorly recently. He looked a bit tired but was on fine form conversation wise. We had lots of cups of tea and the usual cheese and tomato sandwiches, accompanied with J20s. James got to sit in the hot seat which is surrounded by the alarms and buttons f'warden but refused to pose for this picture because he was too tired. He's just dropped me off at home in his new work van as he's doing a lot more for his dad's company. The van is interesting but quite smelly. I'm now getting ready for work as I'm on a mammoth shift tonight despite the fact that I'm knackered. Happy days.
Today has been very busy with work and going out for James' dad's birthday tonight. I popped into Hitchin before work to buy Denis' present which because everyone needs to read it, I bought him 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'. I started work at midday and continued setting up for the wedding. We'd done a lot of it last night but there were a few last minute bits to do like table settings and name cards. I managed a few quick bites for lunch but it wasn't great. I gave out the welcome drinks which killed my arms again, served some drinks on the tab but then I got to go home! It was nice to leave without working the whole wedding. Tonight, we've been out to The Chequers in Stotfold which has just been redone. It's beautiful inside but their organisation wasn't great. They've only just opened this week after their decoration so the new staff were confused with everything. I went for the satay chicken and then their beef medallions in a Stilton and peppercorn sauce. The food was absolutely lovely. We didn't have pudding or coffee there but came back and I made Irish coffees for everyone. Instead of waking me up, it's just made me even more sleepy.... But we're now playing 'The Humourous Humming Game'!
Only a quick one today as I've only got a short break at work. Read a lot more of the book today which is getting even better and now I'm busy at work. When I say busy, I mean really quiet as they're only drinking coke! Bored.
I've had a delightful day today with no work. The sun was shining and I could actually go out in it rather than just look at it through the window. I met Sarah and Jaymo this afternoon for a coffee and a cake. It was back to school today for the teachers and Sarah is helping out for the next two weeks before she goes back to uni, so I met them at school and we headed into Biggleswade. We caught up on all the gossip over millionaire's shortbread, some of which was hysterical - the gossip, not the shortbread. When I got back, I started the second in the Millenium trilogy, 'The Girl Who Played With Fire', which is fantastic, if not better than the first one. I read for as long as I could in the sunshine before I needed to get ready for Em picking me up to go out. The four of us went to Chiquitos as I had a voucher (as always) and we proceeded to stuff ourselves with Mexican food. The restaurant was busy and we didn't eat until twenty past nine so we were nearly hysterical with hunger but I eventually had the potato skins, followed by the chicken and ribs which were both brilliant. I don't know how people manage three courses there because we were full up after one! The journey home was hilarious although Shep did run over a rabbit. I should now actually go to sleep but I need to read some more of this book! I could be here for a while....
Everyone loves The Sims. I haven't played it for ages as this last year has been full of uni work. Now I'm a lady of leisure and my only tasks are looking for jobs and occasionally working, I though this would be a good time to crack it out. I'd forgotten how addictive it is. I nearly forgot to get ready for work, I was so engrossed. It could be my downfall. Now about to go to work which makes my day seen like a loss as all I would have food is worked and played The Sims.
Today I had another barbecue at James' house after a lovely long sleep. His uncle has a new partner so it was held in honour of her coming up to meet the family. It was the day of the annual Soap Box Derby where kids race down the hill in home-made karts so the road was closed off and all we could hear all day was the megaphone. As always, there were a few crashes into the spectators on the sides which they try to limit with hay bales. Despite the dodgy weather, we managed to eat outside but had to head in for coffee as it started to rain. The food was immense - lots of meat, fish and excellent roast potatos. We stayed inside for the rest of the day as it was so windy and James and his cousin played some sort of xBox game for a while while I ate lots of flapjacks. We watched University Challenge tonight and I surpassed myself by beating my last score of ten and ended up with eleven. Get in. I met Liz, Kat, Vick, Shep and Em up the pub tonight as Liz is off to Croatia for a dub-step festival and Vick's going back up to Nottingham for a holiday and a new job.but now I need to sleep as I've had a knackering weekend. Back to the work slog again tomorrow though.
Today I woke up, still knackered from work on Friday and last night. I didn't get in until half three so I've been very sleepy all day. We picked up James and headed down to Fleet, near Reading, to see my godfather's new house. It's beautiful and massive with this lovely garden. It was lovely to see him and his partner and their children. Her daughter Laura is so like me and we get on really well. We had a lovely indoor barbecue because it started to rain. Laura had made a lovely strawberry cheesecake that we had for pudding and we spent the afternoon lazing around and chatting. After lots of cups of tea and some cheese and biscuits, we headed home and I was asleep the whole way home. I feel like I need to sleep for days now.
Today has been a lovely day off despite the fact that I've been knackered because I didn't finished work until just after two this morning. But I managed to get up before nine and picked James up before heading over to Ikea. I needed to change a frame as Sarah bought the wrong one but managed to get some store credit to buy a new one. Luckily, the poster fits into it and it's already on my wall. I met Susan for coffee this afternoon and we had a good gossip about recent events..... I'm now at Emily's with Liz, Ginn, Shep and Ginn's friend from uni, Michaela, and we're getting on the alcohol. I haven't been out in so long so tonight will be a good night. New dress, some gin and good friends. Winner.
Today I headed over to Cambridge with the Marger to get some shopping and to meet Steve for lunch. I didn't get home from work until half twelve last night so I was pretty tired. We parked and rided it into town and headed for the shops. I needed a dress for tomorrow night and after trying on a few in Miss Selfridge, I settled on this lovely one from New Look. I don't normally find much in there but this one was in the window and is a lovely colour. I needed a belt to go with it so picked up a pack of two in black and gold. I found a bargain necklace in the sale which used to be £12 but I got it for £3. Winner. We met Steve for some lunch and he took us to a tiny family-run Italian place that did amazing food called Clowns. I had their yummy lasagne and their Italian apple crumble. We headed home where I quickly got ready for work. I'm now here and it's so busy!
Nice lay-in. Long chat to Pez. Shower. Biscuits and a cup of tea for breakfast. Watched 'Den't Tell The Bride'. Ate lunch. Updated birthday list. Read Motely Crue book. Ate an immense roast dinner made by the Marger. Got ready for work. Drove to work. Set up the bar. Did nothing. Ate another dinner. Served behind the bar. Ate a pudding. Served more drinks. Feet hurt. Tired.
Back to the building firm today and it was really quite busy. I was snowed under with filing from the last year of bits and bobs that have only just been finished but the phone didn't stop ringing! I finished at four, rushed back home and bought some milk, six pints of each as normal. I quickly ate my dinner and got ready to go to my next job. Martin, my manager at the hotel asked me to work tonight so I went in from seven until eleven. Nothing really happened and Sarah was working so we left at the same time, making a little pit stop at the McDonalds at Baldock services. I made a hasty decision and went for the mozzarella dippers, but like all rash choices, they were a mistake so I had to nick some of Sarah's chips to accompany my milk. I managed to sweet talk the staff and got one of the free CocaCola glasses! I've always wanted one but it's one of those things that the Marger never allowed us to have as kids. Probably wise as Sarah and I would be fatter now than we are already!
Today has been pretty uneventful. I set my alarm early as I needed to go into Liz's dad's building company to help them out, and did that thing of waking up and having absolutely no idea as to why the alarm was going off so early! Such a shock at 7:40am, especially when you haven't woken up before half nine for the last two weeks. They didn't need me all day so I got them up to date with the filing of invoices, advice notes and orders and left at three. Just the right length work day: long enough to have lunch but short enough so you're not counting down the hours until home time. I did a bit more job searching but couldn't find anything today and gave up because I had a massive headache. Tonight I went to James' and saw this beautiful sunset through the trees at the bottom of his drive. Tescos supplied us with chocolate, strawberries and grapes and we ate them while watching a bit of 'Ultimate Big Brother' and the last episode of 'Sherlock' which was brilliant. I hope they do a second series because it is one of the best things I've seen on television in a long time.
You know a genre of food is good when even Shep likes it! This is the girl who doesn't eat cheese. After a day of heavy job hunting with the Marger where I ended up applying for six jobs, I went for a meal with Shep, Ginn and Liz. I had a voucher for Prezzo for a starter or a pudding, a main course and a drink for £10 so we got good food without having to spend too much money. It was lovely to see them after two weeks away and we caught up on all the goss which included Han's new job, Liz's new London flat, Shep's uni accomodation and several drunken nights out. Everyone's got such exciting things coming up in their lives and I want something exciting too. Hopefully I'll get one of the jobs that I applied for earlier. They include one in the Portrait Gallery, an administrator for a photo library and a gallery event organiser. Fingers crossed!
Everyone's house and garden look like this when they get back from holiday, full of wet and dry clothes with the washing machine on and the ironing board up. The Marger has been working hard all day but with it being really warm today, the majority of stuff dried on the line and she could do the ironing in the sunshine. Jayne and Barry have only just got back after their long drive back from France. They encountered lots of traffic after they left the camp site this morning and were much later going under the Channel than they thought they would be. I dropped James off at his house this morning and then spent the rest of the day sorting through the millions of pictures that I've taken over the last two weeks whilst catching up with the latest series of 'Ugly Betty'. I also finished reading Marger's copy of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and it is so good. Well worth a read. And if you're like me and assumed it was about kung-fu and Ancient China, then you're wrong. It's a crime thriller set in Sweden. I'm not quite sure where I got that impression from but it's one of the best books that I've read in a long time. Now I've got to wait for her to finish the second one. It might be easier to buy it myself......
Today was sadly our last day of the holiday. We woke up a bit later than everyone else despite the fact they thought I'd never be ready on time. In fact, I ended up being ready early. Win. Jayne and Barry are driving back home but we're flying back thankfully. We went to a lovely bastille town on the way to the airport but had to stop on the way so Nanny and Grandad could go to a hyper market. It's been absolutely boiling today and is just the sort weather that it should have been for the last two weeks. James didn't sleep last night so due to the many sharp corners, he was feeling really poorly. After grabbing a rubbish lunch, the two of us went back to the car and I read my book while he slept. We're flying from Toulouse airport so we went into the town centre and grabbed a quick drink. And then the robbery nearly happened. If James hadn't been on the ball, Nanny's purse would have been nicked. Two guys sat down behind us, one of them casually reached in to Nanny's bag and passed it to the other guy which James saw. Quick as a flash, he'd gone over there and demanded it back! These guys were massive but really quickly, they'd dropped it on the floor and pretended to see it there. They were obviously pros because after they were thrown out, the waiters were searching through their tabs to find their credit card details to report them to the police. It was almost 'Cops with Cameras'. We're now sitting on the plane and it's about to leave on time. Rare when it comes to EasyJet! We had a rank salad in the airport but I'm very pleased to be heading back home for my bed and most of all, milk!
Today is sadly the last full day of the holiday. James and I woke up to brilliant sunshine this morning but did not want to get up as there had been another unfortunate smell incident in the night. At about half four this morning, we woke up to the smell of rotten egg getting stronger and stronger in the room. It was awful, even worse than the poo smell of the other night. It was giving me a headache and James was nearly vomming so we had to open our windows to the sounds of the boars and the possible wolf packs. Our room was only barely back to its normal smell by half five so we managed to get back to sleep. Today's weather has been the best of the two weeks, boiling hot and very sunny. I've topped up the tan and also got to have a drive in the rental car to see what all the fuss is about. It was surprisingly easy! As last time was a bit of a rush, we headed back to Poppy in the Sky with Diamonds to shop and look around. It was still absolutely boiling so James, Parger and I powered it up to the top where the little cafes are. There is nothing like a large gin to make you feel better. As the food was so immense the other night, we went back to the local restaurant and sat outside in the warm. I went for the carpacchio de bouef (almost definitely the wrong spelling), followed by the odd but delightful combination of fillet of duck with a goats cheese sauce. It sounds mental but it was really really good. The banoffee was too good not to have again so I'm now feeling pretty full up. Makes up for the lack of cheese that I've eaten this holiday. Craving some cheddar right now though......
Finally, a fully sunny day! Excellent. I only had biscuits for breakfast because I was so eager to get in the sunshine. I tried to help Auntie Jayne to swim and gave her some pointers on floating, I read a lot of one of the books that Katie recommended which is shaping up to be brilliant, ate an immense lunch of salad, bread, quiche and fish fingers and tanned a lot in the Queen's Carriage. Best £14.95 I've ever spent. Probably. Tonight Marger and Jayne cobbled together some dinner from what we have left in the house. It was quite reminiscent of 'Ready Steady Cook' but without Ainsley Harriot and with a lot more wine. It was some sort of sausage and rice dish with the choice of two sauces: Mexican chilli with corriander and Leek and mustard. Very interesting indeed. I think even Ainsley would struggle to think of kind words.... Everyone has just been out for a night swim in the pool but we're now settling down the the lounge to watch the holiday video. Mainly Nanny trumping.....
Today began cloudy and I was furious about it. The weather forecast yesterday predicted that it would be lovely and sunny but it was all lies. James went for his every-other-day morning run while I carried on sleeping before having breakfast. I braved it and got the old swimwear on before heading up the pool. It was so cold, I didn't even need suncream. The sun did come out in patches but we decided that it was a good afternoon for kayaking instead. Only me, James, Parge, Barry and Holly and Grace went and it was amazing fun! I didn't quite fit into my life jacket whereas James had a child's one on! We went about four kilometres and it was really hard work towards the end. Parge's canoe had holes in, Holly kept getting splashed and me and James argued a lot about who was paddling on which side and who was doing it right. Needless to say, obviously I was correct. After kayaking, we headed to a place that I have been calling 'Poppy in the Sky with Diamonds' but I think it's actually something like St. Cere du Popie. It's a lovely hillside town that's won an award for being one of France's prettiest towns. We wandered around and bought presents for people before trying to find a restaurant with a table for eleven people. This was difficult, considering there wasn't more than eleven people in the whole village. We gave up and headed to a place a short drive away that the caretaker of the house had recommended and had a fabulous meal. It was exactly what you expect a French restaurant to be like, apart from the salsa music..... I went for the house salad to start which was bigger than I am, followed by a lovely steak with a peppercorn sauce, homemade pomme frites and some sort of brocoli bake. This was followed by some excellent banoffee pie and a cafe au lait. YUM. But unfortunately, now we're back at the house and it smells of poo. That's right: poo. Nanny and Grandad's room is on the ground floor and is the last in the plumbing before the septic tank. And for some reason, the smell has backed up and filled the house. Mine and James' bedroom is directly above this awful health hazard and our room absolutely stinks. James has tried to spray deodrant but it has only made my asthma bad. Interesting night overall......
I woke up this morning to lovely lovely sunshine so I speedily ate breakfast and got my bikini on! It was brilliant sun all day so I spent the whole day smothered in sun cream and got much more of a tan. The new inflatable came in very handy and I've now mastered a way of getting on and off without getting too wet - I've even made full use of the drinks holder. I read a whole book today, bringing my holiday total to nine and I've only got two left. Although the Marger has leant me her new copy of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' which she loved so that will keep me going for the journey back home. Tonight, Marge and Parge made dinner and they went for the very Southern European dish of tortilla with Mediterranean vegetables and couscous with feta cheese. YUM. This is our view from our outside dinner table and we get a lovely backdrop of the end of the valley. The noises in the night air have been a bit weird as we had the usual bells from the cows and horses neighing but also the shrill noise of pigs which could be the wild boar population of the area. There was also lots of dogs howling and it was suggested they could be wolves. I don't think the South of France is notorious for its wolf packs but you never know. I just hope I can't hear it all from my bedroom!
It was foggy this morning when I woke up at ten. Not a light mist but actual fog. We don't even get fog in English summers so I have no idea what it's in the South of France. As there seemed to be no prospect of sun, we decided to go to a local Bastille town called something like 'Villefrance'. As I was reading my book the whole way there, I didn't see any signs and this is my spelling of the way we were pronouncing the place. Anyway, we got there and the sun almost immediately came out. Typical. The town was beautiful and we stopped for a spot of lunch before exploring. Me and Grace have been craving chips for the last few days and Holly managed to find a little cafe that sold a sandwich, chips and a drink for €6.80. Expensive for England but cheap for over here. This is my wonderful salmon sandwich with the view of the bell tower in the background. We went into the lovely cathedral after lunch and all ventured up the tower, even James! He hates heights, maybe even more than I hate birds, but he managed to get up there. Coming back down the spiral stairs was a bit more terrifying for him but he did it. I bought the inflatable to beat all other inflatables from a toy shop: it is half sofa, half lilo with a hole to put your legs through and a drinks holder. It may have cost me £14.95 but it was worth every penny. I like to call it the 'Queens's Carriage'. I also bought a Van Gogh colouring book before realising that I don't actually have any colouring pencils with me. Good one. When we got back to the house, it was still quite sunny so we all got in the pool. My new inflatable is brilliant but did take up quite a lot of room. Never mind.
This is getting annoying. At this rate, I'm going to go home paler than I arrived! It's been very overcast again today and rained a lot. We decided to head out as the weather was so bad and visited some local caves. They are the only example of prehistoric caves that are open to the public in France so it was really interesting to see. The English-speaking guide was only available in the afternoon so we looked around their museum and their outdoor exhibit on the prehistoric people and their life on the site before we had our picnic. When we eventually got down into the caves, our guide was really interesting and obviously a scholar on the subject as he was very passionate and knowledgeable. They have found remains of people, pots and even mountain lions in the caves and he showed us the small piece that we could access as the full length of the explored caves are nearly eleven kilometres. At the surface, it was raining a lot so we postponed our planned canoe adventure and headed home. The remainder of the day was spent drinking wine, reading, playing Scrabble and we've just finished a two hour marathon of Uno. James has also just finished his book and I'm on my last of the eight 'True Blood' books that I brought with me. Not quite how I thought this holiday would pan out - same amount of reading but much more tanning!
Today the weather has been bad again. You'd never think we were in the South of France as it's actually been cardigan weather but apparently it's much worse at home so that's acceptable! I managed a bit of a sunbathe this morning and a quick dip in the pool while the Marger popped to the local supermarket to stock up on a few supplies. The weather didn't get much better but I spent the afternoon keeping an eye on the valley to see when the sunshine was creeping over. At one point, it looked promising so I raced to get up to the pool. The sun lasted for about fifteen minutes before the sky turned stormy. We sat inside for ages as it got really chilly and windy and then whilst Jayne and Barry prepared dinner, it absolutely tipped it down. It was like being back in England for a while. But it did mean we had a lovely sunset which hopefully has cleared the bad weather ready for the boiling hot temperatures of tomorrow. Fingers crossed!
We had planned to stay in today to sunbathe and swim but when we got up, it was grey and overcast. Barry, Parge and Nanny and Grandad wanted to see this bridge thing sometime over the next few days but decided to go today due to the shoddy weather. It's called something like the Foster Bridge and it's apparently a triumph of modern bridge making. If it had been just up the road, I might have gone to see it but it was two and a half hours away so I gave it a miss. James didn't fancy it either due to its height. The seven of us stayed here and attempted to top up the tan. Me, Sarah, Holly and Grace were straight in the pool this morning and we think we've left the heating system on because it was all lovely and warm, almost like a bath. The sun still wasn't out and although I managed to get about five minutes in the sun, it then stayed cloudy for the rest of the day. To amuse ourselves, we've read books (James is now up to chapter twenty six and scouting everyone else's books for the next possibility), completed puzzles and played Harry Potter scrabble where the only words you can form are Potter-themed. The sun came out for a bit this evening for the yummy pizzas that Holly, Grace and Sarah made but it's been a bit of a relaxing day today. It better be sunny and blazing hot tomorrow otherwise I'm suing someone....
We're staying in the Lot Valley so the area is rather hilly and steep. Today was meant to be overcast so we headed out for the day. It ended up being beautiful weather so we tanned as we went. This chateau is built high up in the valley and we were taken round it by a lovely old American lady who has lived in France for so long that she's nearly forgotten much of her English. The castle was in pretty good nick despite being built in the thirteenth century as it has always been lived in and managed to avoid the carnage of the two world wars. We had our picnic in their lovely wooded picnic spot before heading to the local church to have a look around there. Tonight we've been to a night market up the valley which had some brilliant food stalls and not much else. They have a dish in the South of France called 'Aligot' which is a smooth mix of potato and cheese and this market had it in abundance. For dinner, James and I both went for Aligot with bacon, potato and onions and then went back for seconds because it was so good! Another stall was selling strawberries and cream which I thought was very Wimbledon so I had that for pudding. It was a big community affair with lots of trestle tables along the street where everyone sat and ate together. It was very French with not many people speaking English so it meant we all had to use our basic school French. Even Grandad was brave and ordered his ice cream in French! On the way home, I did feel a bit ill but I think that was from an overload on potato and cheese!
Today began quite cloudy so we decided to go to a local market. Markets abroad can sometimes be very touristy and only put on as an attraction for the holiday makers but this was was full of French people which is always a good sign. Marger brought some greengages and nectarines, Nanny bought a 'hippy' dress as she would call it and Holly got some harem pants that are actually quite nice! Everyone bought the usual postcards to send back home and there was some confusion as to how we had to ask for stamps but we got there in the end. We had lunch in one of the restaurants in the town square and as though we were in Italy, we all had pizza. Mine was immense with goats cheese, mushrooms and duck breast. YUM. This afternoon we've all been sunbathing and swimming around. Marger, Auntie Jayne and Nanny and Grandad cannot swim to literally save their lives so they float around with the inflatables in the shallow end while we're all doing laps. I managed to get on a lilo today and floated about for ages on it which has really helped my tan. Tonight, it's been mine and James' turn to cook and to show off a bit, we produced three courses. To start, we did mozzarella with tomatoes and olive oil - main was chicken and veggie burgers for the vegetarians with mashed potato with spinach, courgettes fried in balsamic vinegar and brocoli and pudding was chocolate fondant with raspberries. Pretty good stuff and we've definitely raised the standards for evening meals......
Today we've had another lazy day around the swimming pool and the weather was much better than yesterday! I read another book and a half today so I'm steaming through the ones I brought with me - James is doing extremely well with his and is up to chapter eleven. Brilliant for one who has only ever read one book in his life. We're having a lap competition in the pool - I only managed a meager thirty where as Grace did one hundred! Lunch was mucho cheese, breads, salads and other gems we found yesterday before some hardcore tanning this afternoon. To try and make my hair blonder, I've been spraying my hair with lemon juice to make the sun catch it - so far, so good so I'm going to build it up over the next two weeks and hopefully go back home very very blonde. Nanny and Grandad cooked dinner and here you can see everyone eating it outside on the big table. We had fish with a herb crust, vegetables and potatoes followed by a brioche pudding with stewed fruit. YUM. Tonight we've taken pictures of a beautiful sunset, sat round the table doing puzzles (of course) and I've just been teaching Nanny about the differences between festivals and assuring her that they were safe for me to go to. Bless her.
Everyone had the early morning wake up of eight today but surprisingly, James had set his own alarm and was out of the house by seven and ran down and back up the hill while we were all sleeping! Puts my twenty holiday laps a day of the pool to shame. After a quick breakfast, we all headed over to Cahors in convoy and went into the tourist information to get a map of their secret gardens. They have small gardens all over the city that have their own themes and are anything from the courtyard of the cathedral to a flower bed around a fountain. This one is one of the largest and looks over the River Lot that surrounds the city on three sides. My favourite was called something like 'The Sorcerer and The Dragon Garden' and was filled with black plants associated with witchcraft. It was only tiny but really effective and different. We didn't stay in the centre for too long as we needed to get a big shop for the next two weeks. My buys were mainly cheeses, jaffa cakes with raspberry rather than orange and a concentrated peach iced tea that you then add water to. YUM. Tonight, the Marger made a chilli and we ate it outside, although with layers on as it's been a bit chillier today. Time flies when you're having fun!
We eventually arrived here this morning at about three, French time, and it was very very dark. We're up the top of a valley in the middle of nowhere and it's absolutely beautiful. James and I were meant to go in the Pigeonnaire which is a seperate tower but I was too scared last night. We're now in a lovely room at the back of the house but the bathroom is in the same room as the bedroom which is a bit odd but has His and Hers sinks which is brilliant. We woke up quite early and had a lovely breakfast outside on the veranda before immediately getting in the pool. The pool is amazing and there is darts and table tennis in a seperate barn. This place is absolutely wonderful. Everyone spent the day lazing around the pool and we had basic but yummy food for lunch and dinner. I spent a long time doing my puzzle book and also reading the first in the 'True Blood' series. The cows down the valley must all have bells attached to them because that's all we've heard all day - we assume they are cows though as we can't actually see them. Nanny and Grandad don't travel abroad very often so they are annoyed at the crickets' noises - at first, they thought they were birds making the noise so actually had their binoculars out to try and see it. We're now all sitting outside around the big table, surrounded by lemon candles, with the sound of cow bells in the air.....
Apparently as a family, we like white and blue. This was not intentional. All of us are wearing mostly blue and white with some additions of black and grey. We look like the Brady Bunch. Anyway, the seven of us were picked up by a mini bus from home and brought us down to Gatwick. The taxi driver was both sexist and racist and insisted on telling us all about his life rearing show ponies. Awful. We finally got here despite the traffic on the M25 and the heavy rain, quickly checked in and grabbed a sandwich as we didn't think we had that long. Oh, we were wrong. Our flight was meant to leave just after six but that was over an hour ago now. Good old Easy Jet has delayed our flight by two hours. So we're all sitting in the airport lounge - James and I, like two old people, have bought puzzle books and we're sitting here filling in logic puzzles and doing word searches. We're also playing 'Spot The Bad Parents' - judging but hilarious. My auntie and uncle with my two cousins are already in France and should have just arrived at the house we're staying in. Unfortunately, we'll get there in the dark so we'll have to explore tomorrow.
I was all organised this morning and ready for half eleven when our hair dresser was meant to arrive. She'd already delayed it by half an hour and I though I could make lunch with the girls if I didn't have a shower afterwards. Unfortunately, she was twenty minutes late so by the time I left my house, it was ten past twelve. I headed over to pick up the Pez - she's just been on holiday so it was lovely to see her and we headed over to Liz's. The Ginn, Shep and Em were already there and we had a lovely, albeit brief, luncheon. Kat was still there so it was nice for everyone else to meet her. We went to Ginn's for a while but I had to rush off home to pack as we leave for France tomorrow. It didn't take me that long and the Marger weighed my bag to make sure it wasn't too heavy. It was just over at 20.7kg but we have a group baggage allowance so either Nanny or Grandad will probably be under. I'm at James' tonight and he had a bit of a panic earlier as all his clothes didn't fit into his normal travelling bag. But his mum had a spare one in the loft that he used and there's now plenty of room for last minute bits in the morning. Now having a relaxing night with sparkling white wine, flapjacks and mini Yorkies, although we're watching 'The Mummy II' and it's not that relaxing! I hope I don't have any bad dreams tonight because they'll definitely be filled with mummies, small monkey creatures and skin-less men.
James and I went to Saxon pool this morning and did some hardcore swimming. A good hour and we didn't even stop and chat at the ends. Getting ready for holiday swimming! We haven't really done much more today - James did lots of work for his Masters while I sat on Wikipedia and read about celebrities. As a break from work, he packed his stuff for France although most of it can't be put into the suitcase until Saturday morning. James cooked Mexican food for dinner and I went a bit mental with the cheese and sour cream. Tonight the two of us met Liz and Kat at The Rising Sun for a drink. I'd completely forgotten that Kat was staying up here so it was a welcome surprise. I had a glass of wine which knocked me for six, especially with swimming this morning. Very tired now.
