Mole Up In The Hole..

That's what Vin says he feel like, a mole in the hole up in the loft all morning. He is doing sterling work up there, and has brought down yet more bags of sand and straw. I expect the straw was used for insulation years ago, and maybe the rags etc round the pipes for the same reason.
Good job he has our neighbours ladders, they are on a cruise ship up the norwegian Ffjords and will be away for ten days or so. Funny thing. the girl in our end terraced house knocked on our door this morning to as if she could borrow our big outside ladders because her step-dad was painting the outside of her house for her. She is still trying to sell it, it has been on the market for about five years now. I think it is overprices at £200.005 and that has been reduced by quite an amount. I suppose it will go one day eventually, they all do.
Vin brought down a magazine he found up in the loft, it was a copy of "Motor Cycle" weekly from 1955 obviously belonged to my brother who was very keen on motor bikmes, and used to go to the TTRaces on the Isle Of Man. It was priced at the princely sum of 8pence weekly, old money that is. There is an advert inside for a Robin Reliant Convertible!!! for around $435 three and sixpence !! I wonder what the three and sixpence was for?
Wimbledon finals have been sorted out today..Sharapova against a Czhech Republic girl I haven't heard of before. The men's will be sorted out tomorrow. the interesting match will be Andy Murray against Nadal.. not sure whether I shall watch that one, not a Murray fan at all.
Tonight we are having:
The remainder of the baby Jersey Royals

Something from our well stocked freezer
Carrots and green beans.

Out For Some Fresh Air...

Vin decided that he wanted to go out for a bit of fresh air today, which is only right since he has been stuck in the loft for the last two days. Well ormskirk is a good place for fresh air so we went over there. It is a pleasant 1/2 hour drive mainly through rural roads so it is quite a nice outing.
I wanted to take a shirt back that I had bought anyway, so didn't mind.It was quite breezy over there too being a fairly hilly place, and was fairly quiet today too. Changed my shirt for a top that will go with my blue jacket so well pleased with that. Had a good coffee in Morrisons , very cheap compared to the "proper" coffee shops and good value. needed a few things from there anyway to get the parking fee back, so went round quickly. Long queues at the checkouts so decided to use one of the self scanners. Mistake..what an irritating thing they are...
You put an item in front of the scanner..
"Please scan your bar code"
Please pack your item in a bag"
And so on ad infinitum until all your shopping had gone. i was saying shut up by the end... Horrible machines.
Our neighbour is moving on Saturday so the little cat will be going as well. What a shame it isn't its fault, well not anybody's actually, just circumstances. We were looking in the card shops for a moving home card and it is quite hard to find an appropriate one. most of them are for couples etc, but we did find a nice one in the end. Shame she is moving, we will miss them both her late husband and her..godd neighbours. Wonder who the next people will be.
Watching the Wimbledon while doing this, and rooting for Roger federer..a lovely man, but he lost to Wilfred Tsonga who came back from two sets down to win by three sets. Good tennis match.
Tonight we are having:
Pasta with a spinach and ricotta sauce
Green vegetable mix and asparagus
A bit of garlic bread.

Up, Up and Away!!

In our beautiful..not balloon but Loft. Vin has been doing some clearing out again up there. he has his blue overalls on and looks like a proper little workman. he has brought down another three bags of bits and pieces including straw!! lord knows how that got there, I'm pretty sure that my dad didn't put that up there so who knowshow long that has been there.
he did find a paper a Daily Mail from 1956 up there which was of course a broadsheet, and seemed to have local news in it as well as general news. There was a story of a mysterious happening in a store in Southport when the bedding/linen had black marks on them. Eventually a sharp eyed storegirl spotted a black and white cat coming through the skylight. it was Bimbo..the mystery solved, it was climbing through and leaving black marks on the bedding. Naughty little Bimbo!
There was also an advertisement for Redi-Cut Rug kits..i remember those, you got a wooden hohandled hooky type thing which you used to pull short lengths of ready cut woll through a canvas backing. You could get patterns and the wool came in hundreds of different colours. i wonder if you can still get them? I must have a google and see.
Very sunny here today, and a really pleasant day, watching a bit of tennis after lunch and it seems it is pouring down at Wimbledon. They have the roof over the centre court, and play is abandoned on the other courts. isn't it odd how two ends of the country can have such opposite weather conditions.
Vin has just come down from the roof and said it is getting too warm up there with the sun on the tiles etc. he's working very well my little handyman. He has just shown me a bag of damp sand which weighs a ton, it's a wonder the ceiling hasn't come down! We are on the coast, and I suppose that is years and years of accumulated sand blowing through the roof tiles. The newer houses which have been built on the sand dunes since the seventies will be absorbing most of that now, we don't seem to get as much these days.
Tonight we are having:
Sausage lattices
Small tin of something saucey.
A bubble and squeak rosti
Mushrooms.

Twas on a Monday morning....

The plumber came to call...Well the afternoon really. When Vin rang him up yesterday he said he could be there aftert two and he was, arriving about half past. he had a look up in the loft, and diagnosed a faulty ball cock, so he went off to get one, and came back in a very short while to fit it. What is better, is that he only charged £35!!!! which considering the horror stories you hear on theTV shows like Watchdog is a baby miracle.Vin said he got a lot of free advice while he was up in the loft too so well done Mr Plumber. And, well done the lady in the shop who recommended him.
We were awake early this morning and for once the cats weren't stomping all over us..I think the sun streaming through our not very thick curtains was the problem. We really will have to get some thicker ones sometime.
So, we went to Sainsburys for our weekly veg and stuff, 1/2 an hour free parking, and you can just about get round if the checkout queues aren't too long which they usually aren't. Home to wait for the plumber.
Vin got up into the loft before he came and came down with about three bin bags of assorted rubbish including newspapers from 1955!!!Buy your wife a new vacuum cleaner for only 99shillings and sixpence!! That was quite dear then it seems to me.
Watched a bit of the tennis at lunchtime, Serena Williams went out to a french girl bertolli..sounds more like an Italian pasta sauce, and Andy Murray won his match in three sets. I do feel for anyone who plays against him, they have to play the crowd as well. Prince William and Kate were there looking as if they were enjoying it, his mother was a big tennis fan and was often seen in the Royal Box. Unbelievably she would have been 50 on the 1st of July. I bet she would have loved her son's choice opf bride.

Tonight we are having:
broccoli amd cheese escalope
baby jersey Royals (can't be many more of those yet?)
Mixed vegetables and hollandaise sauce.

Leaks....

When Vin came into the bedroom last night he said what's that damp patch on the wall over the chimney breast? Well i can't see any damp patch, but given the state of my dodgy eyes, that's not surprising. Anyway he started investigating, which meant a lok up in the loft which wasn't easy because our ladders aren't high enough to enable him to get up there. So, he debated what it could be, and came up with a number of possibilities such as the thermostat which had gone wrong causing an overflow etc. He eventually settled down and started again in the morning. He borrowed some better ladders from a neighbour two doors down and had a look again. Still not sure, but he asked the lady in the shop down the road if she could recommend a plumber which she did. You hear such terrible tales about plumbers these days, but this man is local, and he is coming to have a look tomorrow afternoon. Meanwhile my nice laura Ashley wallpaper which has been on the bedroom wall for years Vin reckns has had it now. So we will have to do that later as a project.
Jane sent me an email of her in a mexican hat... She is growing up nicely..



Very odd day weatherwise, sunny, dull, sunny, dull, a bit of a drizzle, sunny then dull..Vin hang the washing out but had to bring it in again twice. real Pain. At the moment it is dazzling bright sunshine..you just don't know where you are.
Tonight we are having:
Pizza with portobello mushrooms courgettes peppers and pineapple.
Egg and potato salad
Potato salad for moi and rice salad for VT.

Deliveries...

Yesterday it was a beautiful vase of flowers left on the doorstep on next doors house, so Vin brought them in in case they disappeared, and she collected them after work when she got home. Today he got up for his shave, looked out of the window and there was a postman delicvering us a parcel.quite a big parcel for a small Bobbi brown eyeshadow compact that I had ordered. Then he was going out to get the paper and the courier man was looking for someone to take in a big box for next door. that was leaking too at the bottom. Vin said it must have been tipped up in the van. It is a M&S flower ddelivery..so I guess it it her birthday. must be quite hard the first birthday without her husband. Notice her daughter has arrived up from London which is nice..they seem to be really good kids those. They have been out all day, probably gone to her new flat. The little ginger cat has been at the back of the house a lot today, and we gave her some chicken when ours had theirs at lunchtime, it really enjoyed that.
Watching a bit of tennis this afternoon, a couple of good matches, serena williams won hers, and Federer and Nadal both won theirs fairly easily. Nice to see Serena Williams back after her surgery and looking good. Do like federer, would love to see him win once more. They did an interview with Andy Murray..the problem with him is that he is so unlikeable.He does need a bit of a personality implant. Vin was quite interested in the Sharapova match..I wonder why???
Tonight we are having:
Chinese quorn dippers
Stir fry vegetables
Plum and ginger sauce
1/2 a packet of fried rice between us.

The Lure Of Tescaw...

We did it again! Despite my essential feelings against the power of tescaw..we went there this morning. Why? simply because they tempted us with a £4 off £40 bill coupon which was a good deal. So we gave in, and went there. Pain in the neck actually because it isn't a store we are familiar with so we spent a lot of unnecessary time going round just looking for things. Couldn't find the Avocados so had to ask, then couldn't find the courgettes etc., etc., But, we got there in the end. Vin also had a five pound card from there as well, so we got quite a lot of money off in the end, and home in plenty of time for a nice cheap cup of coffee.
We watched an old Miss marple which we recorded at Christmas last night..simply because we couldn't find anything interesting to watch. We recognised some of the locations, as being around mapledurham, and the village, and watermill. We stayed in a beautiful cottage there on their estate quite a number of years ago when jane was very small about four I think. The cottage we stayed in was called "Step Cottage" and had apparently been used in a number of films and television programmes. it was the "Spy Lady's Cottage" in The eagle Has Landed, so we had to buy the video of that afterwards. We needn't have bothered since it has been on television countless times since. The village,,the big hall/Manor House has been in Midsommer murders a number of times too. It must be a favourite location.
This is Step Cottage..which can be rented for around £600 a week now.

It is quite near reading and with good access to London, so was a good centre to stay. The village is extremely unspoilt though so I suppose that is why it is popular for location work.
Vin is quite bereft now the skip has gone..nothing to watch at the frontanymore. it really was a source of enjoyment on the whole, especially with the bike that kept appearing and disappearing. i wonder who has that now?
He saw our neighbour this morning and suggested that she put a card in the shop window about the cat, she said that was a god idea so he offered to do that. So there is now a card in the window for the poor little thing. it really wants to be around this area since it has always been round here, and it seems to love this area. It was in our back garden last night with our two and they weren't having any trouble, but we couldn't have another one, two is fine in our house. I do feel so sorry for it though, hope someone will take her in.

Tonight we are having:
Crispy Quorn Fillet
Chips 200grms
Mushy peas for Vin and green beans for moi.

The Vultures Swoop...

The last few days has been the Day Of The skip..It has at least given plenty of watching human nature at work. The bike which sat on top of it since the lad brought it back, has disappeared again! That was a bit of a wonder since it wasn't in the best condition to say the least. A few men ccame last night to go over it, and when Vin went down for the paper this morning he said it had all been disturbed. Then at lunchtime three men in a lorry came and started unloading things from it. They were about half an hour and filled their lorry with the contents. Obviously they were after metal, because anything remotely metal was thrown into the back. Then the dentist next door but one from us came out and got them to take two very large pieces of dental equipment away also. His wife followed and took away a couple of things like a model of a roof???? and what looked like an art case. I syuppose it is a case of one mans junk is another mans useful stuff.
Since the skip was by now half empty,over lunch Vin said I think I will go and get rid of that big old plastic pot that had half a Cordyline in it, so he wheeled that round..came in, and lo and behold just ten minutes later the lorry came to take the skip away!! Good timing that was.. he was well chuffed.

We nipped out this morning, because we wanted to get a couple of plants for some pots he had emptied yesterday,had a good look at their plants and decided on another Spirea mainly because they are so hardy, and seem to last for ever in our pots, and a little Acer tree that he said he will nurture, and it will be a project for him. We have one in the garden that he rescued from the sale section of another garden centre ande bought really cheaply, and he nurtured that, and it has grown into the most gorgeous little tree.

We of course had our last free coffees for the month, and he went off to get the shrubsw and I started to have a look round, when I bumped into and ex school colleague..barry. If you can imagine a large Man who looks like father christmas that is barry. In fact he was telling me that he actually does Father Christmas at Dobbies in december..I wonder if I should go and sit on his knee at Christmas?? he brought me up to date with a number of people who were at school with us, and vice versa..Nice catching up.
Went off then to get a few things that I wanted..they had a good offer on Yankee Candles the Baby Powder flavour with 25% off so I got two samplers, and a medium jar for our neighbour as a flat warming present.It's a beautiful smell that one, and one of their top sellers apparently. if you can imagine the scent of baby powder , that is it.
Tonight we are having:Sausage lattices with quorn,
Bubble and Squeak rostis
Carrots and beans
White sauce to go with the veggies.

Watching the Skip....

Proving to be quite amusing. The doorbell went last night and it was a young lad who asked Vin is this your skip Mister. Vin said No it belonged to the lady next door, and the lad said he was interested in the bike on top of it. Vin said the stuff was being thrown away and she wouldn't mind if he took it. he said it could be done up with new brakes and tyres. bear in mind it is well quite rusty! So he wheeled the bike off and away. Only...to return with it in about 30 minutes later to throw it back on top of the skip. Clearly someone at home had put their foot down! Shame, might have been the start of another "Alan Sugar" career.
Vin saw two old ladies come out of the dentists and start looking it over. They picked up a picture and put that back..it has been attracting interest all day, with a few men looking over and commenting on the metal in it.There is money in metal I suppose, but she hasn't had time to do anything about it.
Little ginger girl is in our front garden, I wonder if she is getting suspicious, they are quite intuitive are cats. our two certainly know when they are going on holiday or to the vets, As soon as the cat baskets appear, they disappear! Hide in the most awkward of places too, just where you can't get at them.Cute as a cartload of monkies as they say.
Vin has been sorting out a few plant pots today, ones that the frost got to in the snows. Although the pots we buy are supposed to be frostproof, quite often they are not, and when we do get really cold bad weather they crack. We do seem to have lost a few this year though. he has put some on the skip, so that has saved a journey to the tip.
We stayed in today, having been out for the last two days, and have just pottered about. Radio two has been all over the place today, none of the usual programmes on at all.No Ken Bruce at the normal time, and no jeremy Vine to get us all thinking. Funny how you get used to the same names in the daily routine. i suppose we should embrace the change though.

Tonight we are having:
Something out of our very overstocked freezer! We came back from the shops ion Monday, and I had a job to squeeze a flan in there.

Veg out...

Woke up this morning to the sound of a skip being delivered next door. our neighbour's son is here with a white van to take some of his things back to London, and help his Mum clear out her house. My heart breaks for her really, she is being so strong about it all it seems. In a year, she has had her whole life changed, husband gone, had to move house and also had to clear out the accumulation of years of marrital collecting. The only thing is like I was saying to vin, is that she is young enough to have the energy to do it all. Still a terrible shame though.

We went out to Ormskirk to get our veggies for the rest of the week. It is a nice run, and a market town which is pleasant to go to.I needed a new pair of slippers and it is impossible to find slippers in the spring and summer. My old ones are positively lethal, so hope these are better. When we went to the Cheswhire Oaks Outlet Village a few weeks ago i went into the Clarks shop to find some, only to be told they are "Seasonal". I can't go round in bare feet much as I would like to because you have to be careful of what you tread on with "Diabetic feet". Sad Woman!!!
Very pleasant there today, just a bit of a breeze, but it started raining on the way home, quite heavily too. Vin has just been down to pay our huge gas bill£16 !! and he was saying to the man in the Post Office how nice it was..he said that he had been in all day, and he went out at lunchtime to water the boxes at the front and it poured on him..Oh dear!
Vin was just telling me that all sorts are looking in their skip. Some lads had just walked past and one put a golf ball in his pocket, and this morning another man took a shovel out. then he said there was a couple walking from the train station, and they deliberately walked past it to have a look in. Hilarious, would make a good comedy piece. I do remember an episode where Victor Meldrew had a skip outside his house and they came back to find a Citroen Dyane perched on top of it, and the skip was full.

Tonight we are having:
Mozarella and pesto escalope,
Mushroom sauce
Potato croquettes and
carrots and beans

Just heard...

On the radio, on the Steve wright factoids..that when a giraffe is born it is already 6ft !! Imagine giving birth to a 6ft baby!!!
Up quite early this morning because I had an appointment at the renal clinic. 4 months since my last one, yet it seems like only weeks ago. Quite a nice Doctor today, at least I could understand him, and he wrote beautifully with a fountain pen. That's something you don't see very often. beautiful white shirt with very expensive looking cuff links. He adjusted the medication a little, one injection that I do every two weeks when Vin reminds me! is to be increased to 30 from 20 wonder if that will change anything? I sometimes wonder at the efficacy of all these tablets and potions..how on earth did people manage years ago. Vin sat outside..I don;t let him in with me, he's too nosy...and he was saying that he was watching quite a few nurses walking round with not a great deal to do. I must admit, that most of the clinics that I go to there doesn't seem to be a shortage of nurses, no wonder the NHS costs a lot!
Anyhow, my appointment was for 12.20 and I was out by 1 o'clock so not too long a wait today. Seemed quite quiet actually. Since it was lunchtime, we went to the Aintree M&S and had toasted sandwiches..not a huge choice for veggies, so we both ended up with cheese and mushroom, and a bottle of water between us. £8 for that! God knows how people afford to eat out all the time.
Did a little bit of shopping after, and got a few things for tonight to go with the remainder of the pizza. Got some really nice new York style ground coffee..and an almond tray bake that will do us this afternoon and freeze. It is a gluten free one and really really yummy.
We are surrounded by Jans..we have one either side of us. One a Janet and one a janice, both have ginger cats. Jan on one side is moving soon to Southport, and her son is here from London helping her get organised with a big white van. her poor little cat will be going back to the rescue centre which is a real shame, we will miss her terribly, she is always in our garden in the sunshine, Ginger Thomas on the other side is going into a cattery soon for about ten days, while she goes on a Norway cruise. So it's all upheaval for the ginger cat community.
Tonight we are having:
The remaining pizza which was really nice. Mushroom pesto and a little emmenthal cheese,
A greek salad from M&S today
potato salad for moi and a pasta salad for both of us.

Oh Dear!!!

Had a bit of a catastrophe yesterday. I thought i would play about with the colour of the heading.."A Veggie Life etc" because I wanted just a different colour to the bacxkground. So, i clicked a few buttons here and there, and ended up, to cut a long story short with a post that had tiny writing that I couldn't see and a totally different layout to what I wanted.
Now, all I really wanted to do was unscramble it all, but I suppose like eggs it cannot be done. I was stuck wioth it. All i wanted was it to go back to where it had been. Shouldn't have started fiddling with it in the first place.
I look at some blogs, and wonder at the marvels of technology that they use. beautiful backgrounds and pictures, and they evolve quite often into a different world. I am so envious really of the progress that has been made in technology, and sometimes think our generation has been left behind. The young ones seem to find it all so simple..you just press this here and move that there and Hey Presto it is done.I just have to face it...I'm a techno thickie. I would have been in the remedial class for this subject, that's for sure.
Anyway, Vin went out this morning to get some stuff in crosby, so I sat down, and managed to get a bit of semblance back to it, and at least I have a font size that I can read now.
Quite a nice sunny day today, it was a bit breezy but stayed bright throughout. Looking good for the tennis tomorrow. We did all the crosswords after lunch,actually completed them really quite quickly today. The odd one needing to be looked up on the internet. Who wrote Psycho? and a novel by Evelyn Waugh..(3,3,4,5,)? I knew brideshead revisited but nothing more by him. I do like doing general knowledge crosswords though they are always interesting.

Tonight we are having:
Pizza. Vin is doing a different one today, with mini portobello mushrooms, pesto and a small amount of cheese.
Egg and potato salad with avocado and baby plum tomatoes
potato salad for moi and a pasta salad for him.

Strawberry Jam??

I don't think so, not yet anyway. Vin bought a sweet little strawberry plant from the garden centre last week, and it has a total of ...one strawberry on it as yet anyhow. maybe we are in for a bumper crop though. It is one luscious looking strawberry though just sitting in the sun getting lovely and deep red looking. I must take a photo of it. he has the plant on our table on the patio, and Bobby goes on there. I'm sure she has her eyes on it!!
Nothing much doing today..for once we got some post on a Saturday, and it was early. our post generally arrives at lunchtime or well after. Vin was quite pleased because he got his £5 tesco card via the Daily Mail. That is worth £5 off any purchase in the store. He says he will go in and just buy something for a fiver..somehow I don't quite think that is the object.
Sat outside in the sun this afternoon, and it was really quite pleasant. A tiny breeze, but the cats were really enjoying sitting in the sunshine. i think little Rusty got a bit warm though because she disappeared for a while to the hut for a bit of shade I think.
I have been playing with the templates on this background this afternoon. God knows what I am doing because I don't, can't seem to get it back to what it was either. What you need is an unscramble button, so that you can undo errors. Too much technology here today.
Anyway..
Tonight we are having:
Chinese goujons
Sweet and sour sauce
1/2 a packet of rice
Stir fry vegetables.

Cool For The Time Of The Year...

Watching the ladies in Royal Ascot this afternoon for a few moments after the news, they were doing their strutting under rather large umbrellas today. Wimbledon next week, so i suppose it will rain for that. But, they do have the new covered centre court now, so they are alright now. I do love Wimbledon, it is one of the few sports, very few sports that i do watch, together with a bit of ice-skating in the Winter. I used to love playing tennis when younger, we had a thriving tennis club on the other side of the line which was always a place to go. They had a massive tennis tournament for juniors every year always very well attended and a highlight of the summer.I had a wooden tennis racquet which went boing boing when the ball hit the strings, unlike the posher kids from over the line who had Dunlop Maxply or Slazenger racquets. No wonder i could never beat Pat Yeomans who always had the best ones! The tennis club isn't so popular these days, it is still a cricket field with regular matches played, but the clubhouse was destroyed in a fire a couple of months ago, and they are struggling nowadays I think.Shame really, they had beautiful grass courts and always very well looked after. I don't even think there is a groundsman now.
After a conflab as to where to go, we went to Sainsburys in Walton this morning. it takes twenty minutes to get there, but it is a good store, and we usually quite enjoy getting the weekend things there. Very quiet today actually, and at least you can walk up and down the aisles without being obstructed.
We got everythin g we needed, not much choice of evocados so got a couple that I will ripen in a bag with a couple of bananas, hope they will be ok for Sunday.We buy a banana just for ripening the avocados which is stupid really. noone eats bananas, i quite like them but can't eat them because of the potassium.
Very chatty little checkout girl today, she was chatting away to us..well to VT really since she was softly spoken, and I couldn't hear her. It is so difficult not being able to hear properly. Although I have been deaf all of my life, it really isn't any easier these days with modern hearuing aids. You still don't get clarity of speech particularly when someone is quietly spoken. VT is immensely patient and never seems to mind repeating what he has said, but it must be a trial sometimes. I wonder what it is like to have good hearing? I was watching a programme about vaccinations the other day, especially TB which they reckon is on the increase in this country now, probably with the influx of migrants. I got TB absesses in my ears when a baby from untreated milk apparently. Wouldn't happen now. Three of us had the milk and the other two died so I suppose i was lucky to have got away with just being deaf.
Hospital appointment on Monday. They are often a trial because the Doctor often speaks to their computer, and then if you ask them to speak up they shout! You can't win. So i say, you don't need to shout, just speak clearly, then they think you are being stroppy!!! Ah Well!
Tonight we are having:
Fishless fingers,
tartare sauce and Chips!! Big treat,
Mushy peas for VT and green beans for moi..I love them he doesn't!

In Which VT decides to clear Up Again..

One of the problems of living in a small terraced house is that eventually you do run out of space..you do. Especially when you are married to a lifelong hoarder. We don't have a garage, so a lot of things that a man keeps in his garage are kept in the house somewhere..often hidden..well sort of. But, then you run out of hiding places so it gets into view. This morning he decided to clear out his side of the bedroom which had become so full of stuff that he had a job to get to his side of the bed. We have a phone in the bedroom but at present it is buried under seven glasses cases!!!When I go in there to see what he is doing, I'm told that I'm not being positive!!and of course I'm stopping his progress. Is it something that creeps up on you this hoarding thing, or is it always there. There does come a point when you just have to say enough and start moving it on. I think you get to a stage when you realize that you just don't need everything that you possess, things get stuck and don't move on. No wonder the Charity Shops are crammed with things. Probably if you could look back in your life and see just how much you had spent on the things you had accumulated you would be horrified.
Must be the Spring in the air!! Ah well at least he has started.
Very little happening otherwise today, the bedroom curtains were washed and hung out only for it to rain later. Cleared up now though. I couldn't see the rain, but noticed Bobby who was sat on top of the little hut, suddenly jump down and go inside. better than a weather vane that cat.

Their little hut is just in front of the garden shed,
We gave the little ginger girl some of our cats chicken at lunchtime because they had a rather big portion, and she really enjoyed that. She must have thought it was Christmas. i so hope she goes to a good home somewhere.
Tonight we are having:
A pasta bake
Some green vegetables
A little garlic bread.

Warming Up!

Bit wartmer today, so we went out for a bit of fresh air. We had to go and get some chicken for the babies anyway or they would have been wondering what was going on at half past one when they assemble for their daily dose of chicken treat!It's my fault really, years ago I bought them some reduced chicken from ASDA I think it was, and ever since they come into the kitchen at our lunchtime and wait patiently for their daily dose of chicken treat.
So, we decided to go to Dobbies and get our coffees for the month and some bedding plants for a few pots at the back, and one at the front. Must admit, we weren't very inspired by the bedding plants..they had plenty of them, but they are all well, a bit boring. i did spot some lovely marroon and yellow striped petunias in some hanging baskets, but they didn't sell those separately..wouldn't you know it. So we had our coffees then VT went off in search of his plants and I went round the food hall. Only bought some mints and a box of shortbread biscuits..very restrained.
Bother, I have just remembered that I wanted to get a purple plant pot that I have had my eye on to put our Orchid in and I've forgotten it. Never mind I'll get it next time.
Called in at Tescaw on the way home..can't believe I have been in there twice in one week!!!! got their chicky and some water and diet lemonade for us, we seem to go through an aawful lot of soft drinks at mealtimes. I hate drinking water..I know it is good for you but I find it so bland. I remember when I had the Colonostomy I had to drink two litres of water in the day, and it was Hell.
Letter from John and Ann when we got home, that had only taken five days to get here from their house to ours, that's Perth in Australia to here, not bad going. She had received all the birthday gifts so I'm glad they had arrived safely, you never know with Australia customs. They did say that their next door neighbour had been killed in a road accident on the Beverley/Perth road, and they were quite shocked about that. She can't have been that old because they were talking about her 40th birthday a while ago. Such tragedies..
Poor little ginger girl is at the front and back of our house, it hears our car and comes running..i so hope she gets a good home somewhere.
Tonight we are having:
Linda McCartney sausage rolls
Some small potatoes sliced and sauteed
A small tin of something saucey.

Spring Clean??

If it's Tuesday it must be ironing day for moi. There was a big pile looking at me in the kitchen, so set about doing that while VT went recycling. i sometimes wonder what we did before recycling, we must have filled up the bins I suppose, what with jars and tins and plastic bottles he seems to go every other day.
Then he set about the windows, which were in need of doing. You can't seem to get window cleaners for love nor money these days, we used to have a good lot called "Monsieur Corners" but they disappeared and we never saw them again. Two of the terraced houses in the block had their windows redone with twee little "cottagey sort of style windows" probably too time consuming to do. Sp that was it. So VT bought a long handled squeegee type of thing which is vvery good actually. He has made such a good job of them it will probably rain now!!
Bit warmer today, and the sun is shining a fair bit. He is out in the garden zapping some weeds. Why is it that weeds grow faster than anything else I wonder.
He was chatting to our neighbour last night, and she is having to move. She has had one terrible year really, firstly her husbands illness at the back end of last summer, then his sudden deterioration just after Christmas when they were on holiday in Chichester and his passing away in January down there. So, she has to move, mainly because the rent is probably too much. Poor woman. She can't take Ginger girl with her so she says that it will have to go back to the Animal rescue Centre. Poor little thing, VT is quite upset about it, he has got really attached to it with looking after it and feeding it. She follows him down to the paper shop as well, and sits miaowing outside.. Heartbreaking. We couldn't take it in mainly because of little Rusty, she is such a timid little thing it wouldn't be fair. i just hope she finds a good home.
Jane has just rung up to thank me for the dose of cash..and to say that she is clearing out her room. She is throwing aa lot away, and taking stuff to the charity shops. She was wondering if we wanted to swap our television for hers..no thanks, hers is huge, it would swamp our little living room. Anyway, she has gone for a rest now.
Tonight we are having:
Not exactly sure.. Maybe a garlic kiev and potato croquettes
Mixed vegetables.

Gone...Goodness Knows Where..

Yesterday afternoon I spent quite a long time actually doing my entry for the day. I did a longish one in the end, and when finished I pressed the "publish post" button, only for the whole thing to disappear never to be seen again. Found the draft of it eventually, but for some reason there was only the forst line. So, all my wise words for the day have gone into the Mists of Time somewhere..Ah Well! I know I should have copied it, but it is one of those things you just don't get round to, maybe next time, or this time even!
yesterday, was so cold we had little heaters on everywhere we went, really breezy and drizzly all day, and the little cats didn't venture out much at all. VT has been looking at our Home Insurance for the last week, since we had a quote from the AA who we usually go with which had gone up dramatically. So he went online to the Go Compare website, entered our details and got a list of quotes from a variety of companies. The top ones were worth looking at, especially since they were half of what we had been quoted from the AA. In the end he decided to go with the Liverpool Victoria, an established name and they were offering a replacement housing feature if something dire happens which makes the house uninhabitable, plus a discount on legal fees too. All the same as the AA for half of the amount! So he was well chuffedd, he saved £200 by shopping around. Martin Lewis would be proud of him. So often you just accept the quote given and renew it, especially if you are on automated debit, and end up paying the increases without realising. So, the AA have lost our business, and for that matter his car insurance too which he got much cheaper through SAGA.
Bit brighter today, but still cool, not warm enough for me without a coat. We had to go into Formby to pay some money into Jane's bank account. The idea is to clear her overdraft..I certainly didn't think we would still be bank rolling her at 28!! They say you are never finished with kids!
Luckily we parked right outside the bank, then we went down to Waitrose to get our veggies for the week. Plenty of parking spaces there today, but the store was so cold. I think they had the air con on, going round the chilled freezers were really cold. VT was hurrying me round mainly because he wanted to get back for his coffee I think!

Tonight we are having:
Lemon and Black Pepper escalope
bread sauce
little baked potatoes
Mixedf vegetables..chanterey carrots and broccoli.

It's The Weekend Again..

They seem to come round with a monotonous regularity. Saturdays and Sundays are just another two days now. It used to be that the weekends were special. Days of rest and relaxation, or for doing catch up houseworky things. This is all spread out through the week now though so not concentrated to the weekend days alone.
VT is in the garden with his cup of tea, and the sun is out a bit. He went to get some petrol this morning, and ended up in Maghull, where he said it was a bit rainy, but it didn't last. There is an animal rescue stall in the town square each week, and quite a while ago now he told me of a lovely little kitten with big huge eyes and a collar that stuck out of the side of its head. Sounded gorgeous, and it's been there ages. Anyway, he said today that the picture had gone so it must have found a home. They do a terrific job these animal rescue centres. We got all of our cats from them. Bobby and Rusty from the Freshfiels one in Ince Blundell, which has been going for years. We always make sure that we give our secondhand books to them, so at least we do our bit. Just given three carrier bags to them after our clear out, so that should give them a bit of money.
VT was listening to the radio last night as he does most evenings, and occasionally he tells me of something he has heard, maybe on the news or on one of the talk programmes he listens to. Anyway, last night the subject apparently was funny names for pairs of people, and he said someone had rung up to suggest.."Noddy Clegg and Big Ears Osborne", really made me laugh, and woke me up somewhat..had this image of the two of them as Noddy and Big Ears!! Still chuckling now..just caught my fancy that one.
Tonight we are having:
Chinese Spring Rolls,
Fried rice 1/2 a packet
Stir fry mushoom vegetables
Plum and ginger sauce.

Tescaw....

That is such an irritating advert..the woman, I think it is Jane Horrocks who says "Tescaw..Every little helps"..Yes make them richer by the second.
Anyway, because we haven't spent any money in Tescaw, they sent me a voucher for £6 off £40 last week, so we decided to bite the bullet and do our weekend shopping there today. It is actually our nearest supermarket, and only takes about ten minutes to get there. The only trouble with going there is that we don't know where anything is so we spend ages just looking for things. We did get quite a number of things that we don't get in other stores,so we stocked up a bit.
I wonder why the chilled food aisles are so cold? i am always frozen when I go down them..good job i had a light coat on. The cats had nearly a bag full of their own, with cat food, cat milk and other items like their chicken..we always keep that separate so it doesn't infest our food! Ah well, we spent well over the £40..in fact, nearly the same again..so that will do us for the next year. I just don't like tescaws really..I think it is their takeover everywhere thing. And their salads are rubbish, we had to call in at Waitrose on the way home to get our egg and potato salads!
Jane rang up last night, full of her woes, no money etc., off work again because of her shoulder problem so was looking for a "loan" to ease the overdraft. Like I was writing yesterday, her career path has been a long and arduous one, i certainly thought that by 28 she would be in a settled job with good pay, especially given the good education she has had, but not yet..Maybe one day.
Tonight we are having:
Pasties from Waitrose..VTs favourite,
Mushroom gravy
Rice Puddings again from Waitrose, absolutely gorgeous.

Career Paths...

Isn't it odd how your life pans out. When I was at school I always wanted to be a Domestic Science teacher..never wanted to do anything else. now i went to a Secondary Modern School where you didnt't do things like go to University or College, you were factory fodder or at best became an apprentice..and I don't mean like Alan Sugar's ones either.
I can remember seeing the Youth Employment Officer at age 14 and saying that I wanted to be a D S teacher. he laughed and said I have a good job here as a Hospital Cook. Then we had the opportunity to do some ULCI exams and a couple of O Levels. We were the first to stay on to do those in our school. Went to Southport Tech College, and got a couple more, then got a job in the School Meals Service running a jkitchen. Decided to go to teachers training College, and off my own bat applied to one in Liverpool that specialised in Domestic Science. So I got there in the end..34 years of teaching later, I reckon it was a good decision.
Daughter hasn't been so lucky. She went to a good Private School..got a raft of GCSEs and A Levels and decided she wanted to do Theology. Totally the wrong decision..wouldn't listen to us and stubbornly went her own way. Didn't finish her three years and although she has grafted in a variety of full time and part time jobs she is now aiming to get a science A level and do a course in Radiography. Hope she gets there in the end.
VT's career path would have been so different if he had gone to the same school as Jane went to, he is such a clever man, and I am sure he would have made a good Pharmacist or something similar..but the opportunities weren't there for him. You always hope that your children do better than you did, but as the saying goes..You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink! So true.

He has been pl;anting today. He has done two beautiful hanging baskets for the back, and one with gorgeous little blue/purple flowers at the front. He went out to get some compost this morning and came back with a strawberry plant!! that's a first..Oooh I am really looking forward to my first bowl of strawberries with cream!! Yum Yum..
Tonight we are having:
Almost cheeseless pasta with butternut squash and spinach.
A little bit of garlic bread.

Blooming Lovely!!

Went over the bypass to the garden centre this morning. The idea was to look for some plants for our three hanging baskets, two at the back that we look at through the kitchen window, and one at the front "for show".. Very mixed weather, sunny, cloudy, sunny and quite cool actually. Way too much choice in the garden centre, plants everywhere you look with their unpronouncable names in Latin or whatever. hard to make a choice. We eventually found some trays of mixed hanging basket plants so chose two of those, and one already planted up with a beautiful little flower called "Campanula..Blue Star" which is almost purple..Hooray! So we got those.
Had our free coffees for the month in their excellent cafe, inside, it was a bit dodgy to sit outside. Lots of older couples stuffing themselves it always amazes me where they put it all!
Went from there to Waitrose..car park with spaces..What's going on? wish it was like that all the time. Got my tomatoesand VT took the chance to get his favourite pasties and rice puddings!!. Bought some nice Madagascan vanilla ice cream too for a treat..I do love Vanilla.
Caught some Jackie Evancho this morning on TV. Blown away by the voice. And what a gorgeous little girl. Only ten when she came second in the America's Got Talent show, she is just eleven now and has the most amazing voice you have ever heard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVGrcy8wQHk
Such a sweet girl too, very ordinary and not at all precocious like a lot of American child stars are. Wonderful.
Tonight we are having:
Gruyere quiche
Greek salad with feta and black olives
Potato salad for moi
Spinach and pesto salad for VT.

The Big Hunt!!!

When I went to the hospital yesterday, unfortunately I lost an earring. One of a new pair that I had only received a few days ago. Wasn''t best pleased so decided to return them to the QVC company. Problem...could I find the receipt with the return label on it..No I couldn't. So the big hunt started this morning..I looked everywhere that I normally put receipts from them. Found every single one, except the one that I needed.. Looked in things, under things, on top of things..no joy at all. VT was getting grumpier by the minute as he does, because of course he can turn his hand to any receipt since the year dot..no kidding! It's amazing how many places that you can put things, I can only assume that it has been thrown out accidentally. Said countless prayers to St. Anthony but even that didn't work..
St Anthony, St Anthony there's a good man,
Please find me my .... as quick as you can...
Usually works..always did when I was young..and older. But not this time..maybe I aint holy enough now!
Anyway, sent an email to the firm, who replied within the morning, and they are sending me a returns label, so no problem now. What a good firm.
VT nipped into Crosby this morning to get some of his QT,,thank goodness, I hate doing teabags..hate the smell of them. At least that got him out of the way for a little bit. He was in the garden this afternoon while there was some sun, it had been raining earlier, funny day weatherwise, very mixed.
Tonight we are having:
Escalope with mozzarella and pesto
Squashed potatoes
Mixed vegetabless
Mushroom sauce.

All Clear!!

Five years ago, I had a discoloured toenail that the Chiropodist on a routine appointment picked up on. She referred me to the local hospital and after seeing a variety of different specialisms I was told it was a Melanoma, and I had tohave my toe removed. Hence the jenny nine toes of my title.
Bit of a battle to begin with, but we got there in the end and after going for follow up appointments for the last five years, I am now all clear. You do hear terrible stories about melanomas, but I was lucky, not so Bob marley. he died of a melanoma on his toe! Good job done NHS.
We had a different day today because of my appointment at Aintree Hospital at 3 O'Clock. killed two birds with one stone though because I had the blood test done for the renal clinic in about a fortnight. Drawn out afternoon, waiting, and seen for about two minutes, then off to M&S for a few veggies. All done!
Tonight we had:
Pizza from last night
Salad with avocado
potato salad and pasta salad
very yummy !!!

Weekends...

Weekends don't really mean that much these days when you don't go out to work. Your routine alters, because there isn't the need to go out food or clothes shopping as there was when at work. Saturdays, VT and I would very often go out on a day trip, we would go all over the accessable parts of our area, into Wales on the Lake District or the Peak District. We'd go somewhere most Saturdays. Nowadays of course it would be a battle of the traffic really, I don't think there would be much pleasure in going out to those places for a day. Shame really, especially now we have the time and the money to do that.
Sundays used to be schoolwork, or washing/ironing and general catch up on what you didn't do during the week. used to hate the last day of the half term, you'd know the term would be stretching before you with all the paperwork. No more thank goodness.
Today has been our usual routine with the papers, and the crosswords, make a pizza dough and VT having a mooch out and I have a go on the computer. Makes a nice change from washing Jane's school clothes and ironing school shirts and blouses and that awful pleated skirt she used to wear. Those days are long gone thank goodness.
Tonight we are having:
Pizza with pesto and tomato and portobello mushrooms
Egg salad with baby plum tomatoes and avocado
potato salad for moi and pasta salad for VT

Another Hot One..

Saturday dawns, and it seems that we are in for another sunny day today. The weather forecast yesterday, said that it was going to be ten degrees cooler, but there isn't any sign of that. The cats are mostly inside or in the cool, but Bobby does go out in the sun, she is a real little sun baby that one. Rusty went out earlier and then went into their hut, I think for a bit of shade.
VT went off to Maghull this morning, and came back with a tale of woe from the Home and Bargain shop. It seems that a woman had dropped a jar of beetroot in the checkout aisle, so that had to be cleared up, and another woman had dropped a jar of pickled cabbage in the aise. He said that ooked like a bloodbath, and it had splashed all of the woman's beige trousers too. Good luck to her getting that off. It stains like mad.
He is out in the garden this afternoon, I can hear him watering the plants which will be very dry. he came in for a pair of shorts, which looked good on him, once I told him to take his socks off that is. What is it with men and their need to wear socks with shorts!Looks awful.
Tonight we are having:
Camembert tarts from Waitrose,
greek salad with new potato salad.

Wow..What a Difference a Day Makes...

Absolutely beautiful today, the sun is blazing down, and everything is looking dry, like it needs a lot of rain.
We went over to Ormskirk to have a change,VT took a load of my books to the Animal rescue shop, don't mind them having the books, since we got Rusty and Bobby from there.
very warm out, all the summer dresses and shorts are coming out today, but the town centre was quite quiet actually. We went to M&S to get our salads, but they didn't have the one we like, probably a run on them today. Did get some other things we wanted though, but didn't spend much for a change.
Then walked down to Morrisons, and had our coffee there. Very quiet there too, lots of empty tables,people sitting outside for about the first time this year.
Got most of our weekend things there though, they are cheap for groceries, and always have a good choice. I still miss the Morrisons in Formby that morphed into the Waitrose..too poncey in there.
Not much sign of the cats today, I think it is too warm for them, little Rusty was in her basket in the middle room, but the sun is blazing through the window, and she jusmped down after a bit..must be too hot in a furry coat!!
VT was in the garden, but he came in as well, saying it was too hot for him! He will probably go out later to water the plants. He didn't even have his baked beans with his Quorn sausage rolls for his lunch said it was too warm for those. So he had some of my egg salad instead!!!!! Wonders will never cease!!
Tonight we are having:
Fishless fingers,
A few chips,
tartare sauce,
Green beans for moi and mushy peas for VT.

A Long Journey...

Begins with a small step as the Chinese say..
I am married to a hoarder..he collects everything, and finds it very difficult to throw things away. We have a small three bedroomed terraced house, and the third bedroom, or small back bedroom many years ago became a study. It had been somewhat of a junk room, with a bed in there that was always covered with...stuff! so we took out the bed and put a desk in there. I used it for my st=udying when I did my Open University degree, and VT took it over when he went to the Liverpool Poly to do his Economics degree. Bit of a mistake really, since it became "his" room, he has... well tended to fill it with his posessions. I went in there last night, which is something I rarely do, and we had well...a discussion about it last night.
So, this morning he set about clearing it out. I do have to say he has made a valiant effort to start sorting it out, we have a bit of a pathway into the room now!!
I did my bit, sorting out an absolute load of books that I had in the bedroom, I now have three carrier bags full to take to the charity shop, and another to give to our neighbour next door to see if she wants them. We usually catch a property show or two during the week, and the houses are always so immaculate. Where do people put their junk..papers? magazines? documents? things that are useful, or m,ight be some day? They are always so pristine.Never anything out of place. Maybe everything is collected and put into storage? I wonder...
Tonight we are having:
Pasta, maybe a light sort of macaroni cheese,
Green veggies to go with
A little bit of garlic bread.

Appointments...

VT woke up early this morning..maybe one or other of the cats was jumping on him en route to the windowsill. So, he got up to make a coffee for us. Too early to get up, neither of us being early risers, so we turned over for a quick snooze. Fatal!! didn't wake up again till twenty to eleven!! Consequently it has been one of those days when we have only done bits and pieces.
VT has done bits of his paperwork, and I rang up for my appointment at the Plastics clinic. This is a follow yup from my toe removal almost five years ago now. You have a follow up every year for five apparently to check for lumps and bumps etc. Seem to have got away with that one anyway just a bit unusual having a skin melanoma on a toe..Hence jenny nine toes!!
Anyhow when I rang the call centre number and waiting for an age on hold got through and was given an appointment for next Monday!! Very surprised at that since you usually have to wait a couple of months. I also have to have a blood test next week for the Renal clinic, so fortunately I can Kill two Birds with one Stone as they say. Saves on two lots of parking fees too. which is quite an item these days.
This afternoon VT has gone into the garden to clear up some stuff, and I have just had sweet little Rusty jump up on my knee. It's funny the way she does that, because she is so quiet you don't hear her coming, then you get a little tapping on your knee, and a tiny bit of a squawk and she jumps up, tail wagging and looking at the mouse movement on the computer. Of course it is quite difficult trying to type round four little legs, but she doesn't seem to mind. Oh I love cats, they are so loyal. Bobby is having a great time at the moment attacking the new catmint, she gets it all over her chops and shakes her head hilarious to watch.
Tonight we are having:
Quiche..Cheese and onion or Broccoli and tomato,
Small tin of something saucey and tomatoey,
A few sliced and sauteed potatoes.