WooHoo ! We made it!

yesterday we finally made it to The Cheshire Oaks outlet Village over in Ellesmere Port. Oddly enough it has been twenty months since we have been there, couldn't believe that.
Left the house at about twenty to ten and arrived there at around half past ten, so made good time actually. i had been wanting to go there for ages since the op., and it was a sort of goal.Took a lot longer than I would have thought but hey we got there in the end.
It has changed a fair bit. Some stores that we used to go to have gone to be replaced by others. lovely to see a Lulu Guinness shop, and yes I did buy a make up bag for my cosmetics. Would have loved a handbag but didn't see one that I wanted. Maybe next time.
Soaps from the L'Occitane shop which was very busy with Christmas shoppers.
Vin was happy because we had a Costa coffee half way round. it was absolutely heaving in there and we were nearly giving up because we couldn't find anywhere to sit, then Vin asked the girl if there were any seats and she spotted a table for us, so that was good.  We had a really lovely look round, I was surprised just how busy it was, but we went where we wanted to go mostly. Don't like the M&S way too crowded, and you couldn't find anything. Did go into the Bose shop though to have a look at the Solo sound system for our new television which has terrible sound. Bought one! £349 !!! bit dear, but..it makes a heck of a difference. Vin has fixed it up this morning, and it's working great, thank gfoodness.
We  had our lunch in Sainsburys we both had a panini with brie and cranberry, just about the only choice for veggies. then went back to get the bose sound system. Once we got that it was homeward bound.
LOVELY day, and i was pleased with myself for getting round fairly ok. Vin was great though moving the car a couple of times.
Last night we had:
pasta bake with carrots squash and mushrooms.
Tonight we are having:
Something from the freezer with potatoes and mixed veggies.

It's A Wrap!!

Didn't go out today, stopped in to do a few bits and pieces.
Vin wrapped the things for John and Ann's Christmas parcel this morning. He is great at wrapping presents actually, tons better than me, he takes real care getting the paper folded properly and everything. We've sent them a calendar, dvd a book for John and a few little christmas ornaments, all beautifully wrapped in holly paper. Post that tomorrow probably. Also did my Christmas bauble swap, i have sent a villeroy and bosch little teddy bear, a little fridge magnet and a small yankee candle votive candle with a little gloass holder. Hope that's well received. 
Vin is playing about with the old television this afternoon, we have been debating whether to get a sound bar to increase the sound quality on our new television which is a bit tinny to say the least, but he has rigged up some speakers for the moment and they are very good actually. 
Might go to the Cheshire Oaks on Wednesday, we haven't been there for around a year i think. Wonder what has changed? Be interesting to see.
Tonight we are having:
pizza with mushrooms and pepper for Vin
Green salad with avocado and baby plum tomatoes
Potato salad for moi and sweet chilli noodle salad for Vin.

50 Years!

November the 22nd, 1963 President Kennedy was killed. Doesn't seem that long ago at all.  Quite something when it happened. i can remember it clearly, I had come home from night school and John and Ann were in our kitchen at home having just come back from Australia.It seemed to be unbelievable at the time, he was such a charismatic figure.  i suppose the modern generation will remember the 9/11 tragedy which was there on screen for everyone to see.  Then it was the television and very grainy pictures at the time, and patchy information. What a difference 50 years makes.
Today we went off to Formby to get our weekend things, stopped off at Waitrose to get some pasties for tonight and some rice puddings, both of which were on offer. so that was worth it. then on to Tesco for the other things. Went round quite quickly and got everything we had on the list plus a few extra things (as usual) and home for our coffees.
Tonight we are having:
Pasties from Waitrose
green beans and something tomatoey
Rice puddings from Waitrose.

In Today..How Exciting!

No not really.  We have been out for the last two days so it was a stop in day today.
Started off with a big pile of bedding to iron, takes quite a bit of effort to get the creases out too. It's the Egyptian cotton stuff which is gorgeous to sleep on but a pain to iron from the washer and drier. creases like nobody's business. never mind it looks good when done.
Vin did some sorting out, he did the front because there are still some leaves around although they have mostly gone now. Just a few hanging on to the trees.
Nice miid morning coffee to keep us going too, a creme brulee today. Doesn't make a full cup, but tastes nice. Wouldn't have one of those every day though.
Jane hasn't rung for a couple of days, but she is off till thursday so she can get her essay done so didn't expect to.
very quiet today, no post nothing doing except one phone call about boilers this morning. Pain in the neck those. In the middle of the ironing the phone goes so you run to get it, and it is the recorded message shouting at you about boilers Grrrr !
Tonight we are having:
Something from the freezer,
Baby potatoes sliced and sauteed
Remaining veggies from the fridge,
mushroom sauce.

Nice Surprise Today !!

Wednesday today..i wanted to go over to masghull for a while now but we just haven't got round to it. My favourite clothes shop is there (since the Ormskirk one has closed) and I had a catalogue with discount off. The online site is excellent but it is a bit of a faff getting stuff delivered, you can't beat looking in store really. I had seen a nice warmer jumper for the colder weather in the catalogue and a nightdress in fleece that would be ideal. 
So Vin very kindly said he'd drive me over there. It isn't a very good square for shopping in, not pretty or anything and there have been a fair lot of closures lately, but it's ok. Went to   the Bon Marche..had a lovely look round, and bought the exact jumper I had seen online but in a smaller size. Medium now !!! and the nightshirt in the smaller size than I would have ordered online too. Excellent. Vin caught me up outside, and put the stuff in the car whiloe I went into Superdrug for a few things I wanted. He met me outside there to say.."Guess what has opened in the old Blockbuster shop?" Yay!!! A COSTA COFFEE shop!! So that was it. He parked me in the Hallmark shop next door while he parked the car again. I got some lovely christmas cards and a couple of fridge magnets and a small yankee candle to send with my bauble swap.
Then next door for a really nice Costa and shortbread. Made my day that did.  Sad woman I am !!

Home to find Bobby in the same place on the bed than when we went out. No wonder actually, for some reason the electric blanket was still on ! Oh dear..no idea how that happened. No wonder she hadn't moved !!
Tonight we are having:
Pasta with a cheese sauce,
AQ bit of garlic bread for Vin,
A few veggies to go with.

?????

Goodness knows what this site is playing at. seems to have the gremlins today. All I want to do is access my blog as I have done most days for the pastabout four years, and it won't let me. Grrrr !!
proper pain in the neck today. 
Funny today. I had a dream last night about being along a long school corridoe with my bag over my arm. Then I discovered that my bag was open wide, and my purse was missing.  Went back along the corridor amongst some kids and found my purse with my bank card missing.  
We went off to tescos today, mainly because we had a voucher for £5 off £40 so it was a puller. On the way there I checked my purse as I often do to find...my card missing!! odd or what? Vin always puts my card back but for some reason he didn't. Real funny that.
Armed with a list, we did a lot of shopping for bits and pieces and got the veggies for the week. Really busy today for some reason, and the checkouts were heaving. So Vin decided to go through one of the self scan ones. I hate them with their bleeping and bossy woman telling you what to do. It was a stubborn one which threw up a lot of problems today.A LOT of problems the poor girl had to come and put it right a few times, and it wasn't what Vin was doing he is good with them. Then it wouldn't take the vouchers!! Grrr. But, we got there in the end and home for coffee.
Little Rusty is loads better today. Thuis antibio injection seems to have worked really quickly. Well done Tim the Vet.

Tonight we are having:
lemon and black pepper escalope
bread sauce
Stuffing
Baby baked potatoes
vegetables carrots and beans

Monday Monday..

Not much doing today. Didn't go out anywhere, stopped in and did a few things.
We are a bit worried about the sound on our new television. it is a great tele for the vision, with a really good clear picture but the sound is very "tinny". Apparently it is a problem with the flat screen types of televisions where the speakers are below the screen.
So we spent some time this morning looking at soundbars for them.   There are a lot of different ones on the Argos website and it's a bit of a minefield. if you look at the reviews you get very mixed reactions, so it's hard to know which to choose. We have some vouchers for there for £50 plus a bit of extra money left over so it's not the cost, although they can go up to many hundreds of pounds. The decider came when Vin measured them and found they were much wider than the telecvision so that was it really. For the moment we are trying a pair of speakers in front of it which seem to be a bit better.
 had a lovely shower this morning with the L'Occitane shower gel. i love that stuff, it's really gorgeous smell. get it from QVC but we have loads. The liquid soap is the best in the world, and lasts for ages.
Tonight we are having:
Pizza with mushroom and extra cheese
Green salad with avocado and baby plum tomatoes
potato salad for ,oi and sweet chilli noodle salad for Vin.

Formby Tour!

Today we went on a trip around Formby.  First Vin had to take some library books back, and now you can drop them off at any of the borough libraries, so since we were going to tesco we decided to take them there. easy to get to, and you can park right outside which is a bonus..you have to pay at Waterloo now!!! He was in and out in two minutes so that was handy. 
Then it was off to Tesco, expected it to be really busy, well the garage was so we didn't get petrol there, but the shop was fine.  Got round armed with vin's list and our vouchers and got all of our stuff for the weekend quite quickly. Got Jane a voucher for Christmas from there too so she can use that for her shopping during the term.
By the time we had finished it was well past coffee time and the Costa looked very quiet and inviting so we went in there. I had a really nice Americano as did Vin today, and we shared some lovely little shortbread biscuits. very nice too, it's made a real difference to Tesco the Costa has. 
Home via the petrol station, but..the Tesco one was heaving with queues so he went into Foemby again and got some at the Texaco one instead. And, that's our day really, only one letter which was the notification of the heating allowance.. £100 for moi Vin's will come later i expect. We'll use it for buying coal. 
Tonight we are having:
Crustless cheese and onion flan
sauteed mushrooms
Small tin of spaghetti hoops.

Little Rusty..

Little rusty was a bit off colour today and yesterday, so vin rang up the vets and got an appointment for 3.30 this afternoon. So the day centred around that really. She had been a bit wheezy and her nose was giving her trouble too so he thought she needed another of her antibiotic injections.
this morning we just did bits and bobs, bits of ironing and sorting out of things from the cupboards to be thrown out. Spices from 2007 !! Bin day tomorrow so it's a good chance to get rid of stuff.
Had some lunch then off to the vets with Rusty.  She must have got a bit stressed on the way there because her nose was bleeding when we arrived. That wasn't bad actually because the nice vet (Tim) could see more clearly what was going on. he gave her a good examination and another antibiotic injection said she coyuld do with a few days r&r, and we were home by fourish. Pretty good going.
Tonight we are having:
Something from the freezer,
Baby potatoes sliced and sauteed
Mixed vegetables,
White sauce.

Ordinary day..

Well it was an ordinary day today. Not going anywhere and not doing much either.  two deliveries both via the postman. One was a set of screwdrivers that vin had sent for from the Daily express. he was thrilled with them, and tried to tell me all about them..but I think it's a man thing really. :) 
my delivery was a box of gluten free chocolate brownies that I had ordered from QVC who else!! They came beautifully wrapped and can be frozen so that is what we have done with them. Now this is a woman thing! I have ordered them for Christmas, and they will make a lovely desert with a blob of cream or ice cream and a few raspberries. Maybe a dusting of grated chocolate. Yummy.
Vin did a bit of mooching about outside this morning but it's raining now so he is doing bits downstairs. The little cats are ferreting about and as usual little rusty is following him around. Aaah.
Jane hasn't rung up today but she did yesterday. She is having laptop trouble and was going to take it to a computer shop today to see if they can fix it.  I do hope so, she can do without the stress.
Tonight we are having:
pasta of some sort
Asparagus
A bit of garlic bread for Vin.

A Touch of the Draculas!!

Went out for a blood test today to Aintree, should have been done on the 4th but no matter. So, we got up a bit earlier, and the plan was to go to the hospital first to get the blood test done, then go to the M&S in Aintree later for a mooch at their Christmas stuff and have a coffee there.  The blood test took a bit longer today, they were slow movingbut Vin parked in the emergency bay and collected me afterwards.
went off to the retail park where the M&S is which wasn't too bad today. Sometimes it's really busy, but he got a parking space right outside which was good.  Had a bit of a look round but couldn't find the gifts, seems they were upstairs. Time getting on so we went for our coffee upstairs. Not too bad, and not too busy. I found a table right under a fan but when Vin came with the coffees he spotted one of the sofas by the window which was really nice. Funny today we were just given cups and no saucers..apparently the machine that must be used to wash them must be broken! Odd drinking coffee from a cup with no saucer:) I had an Americano and Vin had a flat white. Lovely little shortbread biscuits shaped like little christmas trees.
Had a bit of a mooch then because we found the gifts, but didn't see anything that we wanted just yet. Maybe later so it was off to the food dept to get our veggies, plus other things that we like from there. new York coffee for example.  Used my card and got 15% off the shopping because of the voucher. Not bad eh!
Home for lunch and two little cats waiting for us. Little Rusty usually meets us at the door which is lovely. XXX
Tonight we are having:
Escalope 
baby potatoes baked in the oven
Carrots and beans
White sauce or hollandaise.

Nothing Much!

Nothing doing n the calendar for this week. The only thing I have to do is get a blood test done at Aintree, and I was thinking of doing that today. However, Vin woke up this morning and said he was going on the train to Waterloo to get a new gas poker! So we will go tomorrow instead. no matter. Just means getting up a bit earlier to get organised.
Cats were a bit lively this morning like they have been of late. Rusty seems to become awake quite early and then perches on my hip from some ungodly hour till we move. Every now and again I have to turn over, and she jumps off then jumps back on. Aaah! She is a little sweetie and I wouldn't have it any other way. Vin finally found out what the black and white cat who comes visiting is called. He feeds it with biscuits and it belongs to a woman along the road who works in Waitrose. It's called Sammy..and it has been coming for its biscuits for quite a few years now. must save the woman a fortune. So Sammy it is.
I have ordered the new DVD of the series four of Downton Abbey this morning. Gone up a bit in pricce but it will go in John and Ann's parcel for Christmas. It was a good series and I think they will enjoy it. The series finished last night, which is a shame, but there will be a Christmas special, to look forward to, and I will probably buy that for John's birthday parcelwhich is the beginning of February.
Tonight we are having:
Pizza with cheese and mushrooms
Green salad with baby plum tomatoes and avocado
Potato salad for moi and celery fruit and nut for Vin.

Weekend Stuff..

Off we went to Tesco's today. Mainly because we had more of their vouchers/coupons than anywhere else. It is quite near as well only ten minutes up the road. 
Weather not too bad this morning, coldish but nor raining. making up for it now though..it is absolutely peouring down and grey and miserable. Vin has just come up to say that he was going down for the coal but is leaving it for a bit to see if it clears up a bit. Don't think it will somehow though.
Tesco looked like it was going to be very busy but in actual fact it wasn't too bad inside. We went round with Vin's list and got everythuing on it and finished quite early. The plan was to get a coffee in their Costa, but it was really busy and nowhere nice to sit, so we came home for one frokm the tassimo machine instead. I had a Cafe Hag and Vin had a Jacobs maille..I think that's how it's spelt. 
Tonight we are having:
Fishless fingers with tartare sauce
Chips! 200grms
Butternut squash and mushy peas for vin.

Busy..

Bust today.. did a load of ironing this morning, while I did that Vin brushed a lot of leaves outside, and tidied the back garden ready for the green bin tomorrow.
Had the rest of my delivery from Bullens this morning, pretty good service from them.
Jane just rang up a few minutes ago to say it was freezing there, she was going in to work at Ticketmaster, and on five to ten tonight so not too late. She was going in to get a coffee before she started work. Nice to see she is punctual, something must have rubbed off during her upbringing.
Tonight we are having:
Something from the freezer,
butternut squash and sweet potato,
Potato croquettes,
White sauce or a bread sauce.

Off for a mooch!

Object for the day was to get a garden broom! seriously!!  Vin was doing the leaves yesterday and his brush gave up the ghst.  All these things made in China..don't last don't you know :)  Since there is a lack of places to actually go and get brushes he thought he might get one in Dobbies. So off we went there.
Quite nice actually, it was reasonably quiet, and I had a good look round.
I was looking for a really nice bauble to send for a Secret Santa bauble swap, but couldn't find one, they tend to be very cheap looking.  I miss Past Times for those sort of things.  The Pier was good too but they have both closed. maybe have a look over the way at the other garden centre to see what they have got.
Had a relly nice Americano, Vin bought me, he had a flat white that he had a voucher for, and we take our own biscuits being cheapskates :).
I bought some shortbread and some Yankee candles tea lights in cinnamon stick, really nice, and Vin got his brush/broom. Only a fiver so not too bad.
Tonight we are having:
Baked Potatoes, haven't had them for ages,
Some sliced mushrooms and a bit of cheese to go with. 

Remember Remember the 5th of November...

Firework night tonight, and already it is showing signs of being blowy. The hotel/pub over the road usually has quite a big noisy display, most often on a Saturday, but they are having it tonight.  So we'll have to watch the cats. What we usually do is keep them inside, with a fair bit of noise about so they aren't so aware of the noise. Hope that works.
Stayed in today because I was waiting for a delivery from bullens, did the bedding which was a bit difficult because Bobby had plonked herself right in the middle of the bed and we didn't like to disturb her. got it all off eventually though and remade it so she could settle again. Aaaah !
Vin did quite a lot of tidying up outside this morning because he wanted to move the leaves...green bin week.
Sent my letter off to John and Ann this morning, now need to start the new christmas one!
Tonight we are having:
Escalope with broccoli and cheese
Potato croquettes
Mixed vegetables with a mushroom sauce.

A little tragedy..

I know in the greater scheme of things it isn't that important but it is to me. This little fellow has been in our garden since I retired from school in 2000. I love him..his smiling face always looks out at me from the extension window and when we are sitting in the garden.
Well, Saturday we had terrible gale force winds and storms, and Sunday morning Vin gave me the bad news that he had been blown over in the gale. Apparently he had been lifted off his feet and blown right away even though he is perched in a reasonably protected corner. His arm has broken off. Completely come off at the side. My lovely husband saw it on Saturday night but didn't tell me in case it would upset me before going to bed. I am really upset actually. I just love that little fellow, but he says he will try his best to fix him. Bless him XXXX
Today (Monday) started badly. Couldn't get going at all. Sat on the bed for about ten minutes trying to get a pair of earrings in my ears and gave up in the end. Just couldn't get going. I decided that we would go to Waitrose for our veggies today, thinking that we would get our free coffees there for a change. Vin definitely wasn't keen!!  grumbled about not finding his card and wasn't bothered. But, there were a couple of things i wanted to get from there, and we didn't have vouchers for anywhere else so it was there in the end.
Got all our veggies, must admit I do like their veg, they seem to have a better selection than enywhere else, then we decided to leave our trolley by the cafe and went for our coffees. Pleasantly surprised that they were really nice. All it cost us was a pack of biscuits at 84p. I had a regular black and Vin had a latte. Lovely.
Went to put our groceries through, and the girl said had we got our paper, we hadn't because we didn't know we got one, so he chose a guardian!! Proper little leftie!!!
Home to scan the shopping, and the Heavens opened. An absolute downpour, sleety stuff, and really horrible.
Tonight we are having:
Pizza from last night,
green salad with avocado and baby plum tomatoes
potato salad for moi and sweet chilli noodle salad for Vin.

Ear ! Ear!

Today revolved around an appointment at the Hearin Aid Centre in Southport. it was for a quarter to twelve so ate into the morning a bit. Didn't help that it was pouring down which made the morning grey and miserable.
Fortunately, just as we were about to leave the house, quite literally, the doorbell went and it was the courier with my coat from kaleidoscope. must admit I'm very impressed with them, it was a first order, and I did have a few hiccups along the way because I ordered a size bigger than I actually needed because I thought it looked fitted on the catalogue. It was actually way too big..my fault because I still think I'm that size but I am not any longer. So sent it back by the same courier, and tried to arrange another in the right size. out of stock! But... unlike other firms where you have to wait ages for more stock, they gor some in within a few days.  I was sent an email from their customer services dept., to say they had reordered another in the right size at the earlier discount price. Excellent..Well done kaleidoscope.
So I'm well happy.
Off to Southport in the rain got there dead on time and parked in Sainsbury's over the road. VERY quick appointment..he cleaned my aids, said they were ok and make another appointment for six months which will be may next year.
GOT A FEW BITS FROM sAINSBURY'S AND THEN WENT TO dOBBIES TO HAVE A COFFEE. vIN HAD PACKED A FLASK SO WE DIDN'T ACTUALLY GO INSIDE. Don't know why the printing has gone large and I aint typing it again!!
Left there, and I suggested that we went into Tesco on the way back to get the weekend things which would save Vin going tomorrow. got it all except the potato salad which they had loads of but the sell by date was tomorrow! no good.
Home for lunch and all done.
Tonight we are having:
Cheese and nion pasties from Waitrose,
A few green beans for moi and mushrooms for Vin.
Clotted cream rice puddings.