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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.
Today is Sarah's nineteenth birthday. She isn't a fan of having her photo taken (apparently) which is why she's holding one of her birthday cards in front of her face here. We woke up early to give her her presents and she got loads of stuff. There is a jewellery brand who make rings that you wear as a stack together - James and I clubbed together to buy one, as did Nanny, Grandad, Jayne and Barry and Marge and Parge brought two others. She also got books, CDs, DVDs, an oversized Paul's Boutique bag, a voucher for a driving experience at Silverstone and a camera. I picked up Ginn at half nine and we went to the bra shop near Leicester. They'd got a brilliant new stock in so I bought a new bikini, bringing my total up to a grand two, and Ginn got one matching underwear set and an extra bra. I managed to get back home in time for lunch so the Mercer Four went out for lunch to The Old Maltings in Biggleswade. I obviously went for the cheese Ploughmans to eat. When we got home, I did a quick bit of packing for holiday before getting ready to go out again for food this evening. Both James' came round, although James II was fourty minutes late. Awkward.... We headed to The Black Horse in Ireland, which is actually a local village rather than the actual country! Their food is amazing and it's a beautiful place - I went for the salmon and creme fraiche mousse to start, followed by the lamb roulade and a pudding made from cappachino ice cream, meringue, chocolate sauce and bits of hazelnut. Bit ranky and chewy but the rest was beaut. I love eating a lot. It's one of my favourite hobbies.
After an immense lay-in, I got a lift into town with the Marger who was meeting a friend for lunch, and went into PJ's with Shep and Ginn to grab some food. They do salad boxes there that are bigger than my head for only £3.30. Immense. After Shep finally chose her chicken and stuffing baguette, we headed off to Liz's lovely house. She is working on a playscheme in Bedford but get ages off for lunch so we met her and some of the other play leaders for food. After that, we went over to Biggleswade so Ginn could print some photos out and then visited Shep's nan in Letchworth to drop off some photos with her. It's nice just to do anything that crops up in your day rather than work, work, work.
Sarah and I both got paid last week by the hotel and she is now off for three weeks so we went shopping with the Marger today in Milton Keynes. I need to save my money more than spend it but Sarah or rather Miss Moneybags, bought lots of stuff. Marger got some stuff for holiday as well whereas I just got some make-up and a shower bag from Boots. We had a Pizza Express for dinner and surprisingly, I didn't have my usual. I had bruschetta to start and then really fancied some pasta so had the lasagne for main. YUM. Tonight I meet the Ginn, Batch and Shep for a drink at The Kings Arms and it was lovely to just sit and chat - I snuck in a cheese board as their's is really good. We talked for so long that everyone else in the place left and the staff wanted to close up! I got back and Marger had made some summer fruit pudding yesterday so I quickly ate a piece of that. Probably shouldn't have eaten it so late though. Too. Much. Sugar. To. Sleep.
I was probably the only 21 year old there today who indulged in tea drinking. Not just any old tea but Assam. Rock and Roll. This is my best rock face but it just makes me look a bit furious. We arrived early to make sure we got there in time for Skindred who are a Welsh metal reggae band and were surprisingly good despite the mixed genres! They've gained a fan in me. Slayer were up next and are one of The Big Four with Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeath so they're pretty heavy. James wanted to see them and I watched them for a bit before laying on the dusty floor and listening. Suddenly, the set had finished and people were kicking me on their way to the other stage. I'd fallen asleep to one of the heaviest bands at the festival! After having this lovely cup of tea, we wandered around before deciding to heading home. We weren't too keen on the bands tonight and had got our money's worth so managed to get back to mine in time to watch the brilliant Sherlock. Now absolutely knackered........
Nooooo, I forgot to do my blog! But it's only the second time I've forgotten in nearly a year so it's not too bad. Ooops. Any way, today has been a brilliant day. Really warm after some rain this morning and I've got a bit of a t-shirt tan unfortunately. We found a Pizza Express stand! Brilliant. What a great business idea. They were doing meal deals for £10 for dough balls, a pizza and a drink so we shared that for dinner. We met Kieron tonight for Motely Crue who were ok but not as good as Download last year. They haven't played on stage for 13 month so they were a bit rusty. Rammstein were the main headliners and I know nothing about them but I knew they were going to be entertaining. They used so much fire! They blew flames from head masks and set a man on fire, albeit intentionally! Very theatrical. We managed to get back to the shuttle bus queue quite quickly and only had to wait for half an hour but as we left, the queue was so long and stretched back to the campsite entrance. Mental. I think that's why I forgot to do my blog as the queue and then the bus threw my time perception.
