November - the end of the birthday month
Mon 21st. Was a bit late getting up today - and then did some stuff on the computer after breakfast and had a chat with Emma - so it was after 10 am when I got out with Suki. Got back just as the rain was starting. Went to Tesco later and got some milk and a tin of Tripe Mix for Suki to try. She absolutely loved it - and even wolfed it down with her pills in it. I was very pleased to have found some proper dog food that she likes - and am hoping I can get her back to eating two small meals in the morning and evening again. I had been putting the dry food down in the morning and leaving it down and she had taken to grazing through the day on it which made her other end a bit unpredictable! I caught up with a couple of blogs in the afternoton. It was very cold and miserable for the afternoon walk with Suki. Went to Guys in the evening for a handbell peal attempt of Lincolnshire with James, Caroline and Ian which was once again unsuccessful! I felt a bit down and had thoughts of giving up altogether - I had been completely thrown and unable to get back on the lines. I took the opportunity to collect my train tickets for the Kettering Christmas Lunch from London Bridge Station. Foul weather when I got back to Turnham Green but luckily the 272 was imminent so I didn't have to walk. Made myself a jacket potato with melted cheese for supper when I got in and had a large glass of wine and felt better about everything. Perhaps I won't give up handbells just yet!
Tues 22nd. Got up early enough to clear away breakfast things and walk Suki before going up to the Chiswick High Road with 40 mins to spare before my 11.30 dentist appointment. Went in to Patisserie Valerie which was totally empty (compared with the heaving Gail's just down the road) and got two delicious looking baguettes for supper. Then went to Holland & Barrett for some cranberries - on their penny sale so got 600g for £5. Then down to Barclays to bank a numbers club cheque - this time without swearing! Popped to the pet shop to stock up on treats for Suki and got to the dentist with 5 mins to spare. Got seen straight away for the check up and then had to wait until 12 for the hygienist appointment. They stung me for £169 - and an appointment next week for a filling to be replaced at a cost of £170! Having resisted for years I decided on the spur of the moment to join their dental plan - which resulted in me only having to pay £10 next week after all the credits and discounts had been applied to today's appointments! When I got home we had another of the new Soulful Pots recipes - Mexican today. Lovely and also very easy to just stick in the microwave and virtually no washing up. Finished reading all my Web User mags in the afternoon and felt very sleepy. Took Suki for a walk and then did some scanning and admin. Mike went to choir early wearing a black shirt for recording of 12 days of Christmas-no further information given! Caught up with another blog leaving only one left to go. Scanned in David Browns munro diary at the same time. Also got engrossed in trying to find good way to move photos from WhatsApp from my phone to the pc. Ended up spending all evening doing all this instead of cross stitch which I had intended to do. It was a productive evening though. I found a good app which seemed to work well. We shall see! Watched episode of QI in bed before a reasonably early night.
Wed 23rd. Met Linda in in the park walking Nevelle's pups and walked round with her. Mike went over to Sunbury for QP to mark 98th birthday of Dennis Brock. Followed by buffet lunch in the church. He brought me back some cakes with icing and cherry on. Thoughtful. And sausage for suki. The QP very quickly became the featured performance on Bell Board - and stayed as such until the weekend - on Saturday it had received over 7500 views! I went to see Keith and went to sainsbury for him and changed his bedding. Managed to find a parking space in larden road thankfully - Valetta Road is still being resurfaced with parking suspended so I had been a bit worried about finding a space but it was fine. Svetla was at the house when I got back. She was being careful with her back but was otherwise much better. She had some of the books I had put out for charity shop. Went to messiah rehearsal in the evening. Got a kebab on the way home - which once again laid heavily on my stomach all night. Why don't I learn! Mike and I worked our way through his 3-bottle craft beer set.
Thurs 24th. Woke at 3 and never really got back to sleep. Made a cup of tea and read my kobo book for a while. I have neglected this book but got back onto it now. Had a rush of blood to the head and booked zumba gold for later. Mike went in to work and I got a lift to Sutton Court Road with him and took Suki for a walk round Chiswick house grounds and then back home - almost exactly 3 miles. Went to Zumba - different leader who changed the steps too often to follow easily but at least I felt I had worked up a bit of a sweat and worked off the kebab! Went for a manicure and pedicure on the way home - new massage chair was a bit fierce! Had some lunch and then took Suki for a walk. Spent the rest of the day cross stitching. A real luxury but I thought I would just have a "me" day. Had an early night and watched first episode of "The Missing" on iPlayer in bed.
Fri 25th. Got up quite late after good nights sleep for a change. It was 11 before I was back from walking Suki. Had a nice chat with Amanda on the phone then went to fitness class. Renewed annual gym membership on Black Friday deal for only £275. After lunch took Suki for a walk and then did some Christmas shopping online. Suki found a comfortable spot to keep Mike company as he worked!
Went to Barnes with Mike intending to cross stitch through the QP but Linda didn't turn up so I ended up ringing in it. Cambridge Major called by Charles. Not very satisfying but we got it. I think I was the only member of the band who didn't make any mistakes and the striking was rough. Rod was having a particularly bad day. The practice was the usual cacophony but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Had cheesy chips in the pub afterwards. Started on the tawny port for a nightcap when we got in.
Sat 26th. Apart from about an hour around 3 am I had a reasonably good night's sleep and struggled to wake up at 7 am. Mike had shower and then went off to run a training day in Hackney all day - taking his evening suit with him so that he could go straight from there to the UL dinner. I had big intentions of refurbishing the utility room today but couldn't get motivated somehow. By the time I had walked Suki it was about 11 am and I then did some stuff on the computer - finally getting up to date with this blog! Very pleased with that achievement. Walked Suki in the afternoon and then had a shower and made my way to Browns in Old Jewry for the UL Dinner. I actually arrived just after 6 pm in plenty of time for the champagne reception - not like me. I prefer to slip in just as everyone is going up to the restaurant to eat and grab a glass of champagne on the way. Mike was already there when I got there thank goodness as there were very few people we actually knew! The one elderly couple in the room soon gravitated towards us, and were actually on our table too, and we found out he had been master of the society in 1955! Adrian and Helen arrived just after 6.30 pm! It was a fun evening as usual - they are all so young and enthusiastic! The meal was tasty but the beef was extremely tough and we did not have steak knives so cutting it was very difficult, as was chewing it. I ate all mine - although my jaw was aching at the end - but Mike couldn't manage his. So we asked for a doggy bag - and when it came we suddenly got all the plates on the table passed down to us with slabs of beef on them to add to it. We had a huge pile of beef at the end - far too much for Suki! The speeches were fun - and quite long this year - and the company was good. After the meal we went downstairs where Mike was whisked away for a dance by some girlies! I managed to stay awake for the final hour before the taxi came - a really nice man with a large car and we were able to give Adrian and Helen a lift to Hammersmith too. We got to bed at 12.30 and I went straight to sleep!
Sun 27th. Managed to get up just before the alarm went off at 6.15 am and took Suki out in the dark! Had time to go to Southfields and do a circuit - just as well as Wendell presumably now locked until 7 am. Did the usual 8 am service, breakfast and ringing circuit then went back to Barnes for a QP to mark 20 years anniversary of ringing for Trisha, Giles and Andrew. Interesting they haven't progressed further - more of a celebration of 20 years service to ringing at the church. We had to stop after a third of the way through because the handbells were in the ringing room and they were needed by the children who had come to practice. So we started again and this time scored it, just before the 12.30 deadline. Didn't really like leaving Suki so long after leaving her for 7 hours last night and leaving her again later in the afternoon but she seemed ok about it :) I put the anniversary QP from 10 years ago on to Bell Board with the photo for completeness. Went to choir practice at 4.30 followed by Advent Carol Service. No professionals this time and I felt needed - even though there were lots of altos. The sopranos suffered from the lack of a reader of music and struggled with some of the exposed bits but all in all it came together for the service. The service was not too long thankfully and we had a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie afterwards - before going home to watch TV (David Attenborough's Planet Earth II) and then have an early night. I read some more of my Kobo book too.
Mon 28th. Had another good night's sleep and really good have stayed in bed longer! But I had to get up reasonably early in order to be back from walking Suki by 10 am because gardener coming. I was actually back by 9.30 am which was just as well as he arrived shortly afterwards. He seemed a lovely man but he wasn't a patch on Lee! He pruned the roses, the clematis and the shrubs very delicately - all the time advising me that it should be done in Spring! He cleared all the leaves up and that was about it for his 3 hours. It did look a lot better - but there are still lots of weeds and clearing of beds to be done and the grass is rather long. He was very reasonable - £85 for 3 hours which is his standard call out rate and I shall definitely use him again in the Spring. I now have the bags of stuff to take to the dump. While he was around I made the cottage pie from the beef we had brought home from the UL dinner - Suki having had several slabs there was still plenty left. I also cut up some stuff ready for a stir fry tomorrow. By the time he had gone the pie was cooked and all the washing up done so it was a very productive morning. I was very pleased with the end result - and it was scruptious! I had 4 portions left over for the freezer too.
Tues 22nd. Got up early enough to clear away breakfast things and walk Suki before going up to the Chiswick High Road with 40 mins to spare before my 11.30 dentist appointment. Went in to Patisserie Valerie which was totally empty (compared with the heaving Gail's just down the road) and got two delicious looking baguettes for supper. Then went to Holland & Barrett for some cranberries - on their penny sale so got 600g for £5. Then down to Barclays to bank a numbers club cheque - this time without swearing! Popped to the pet shop to stock up on treats for Suki and got to the dentist with 5 mins to spare. Got seen straight away for the check up and then had to wait until 12 for the hygienist appointment. They stung me for £169 - and an appointment next week for a filling to be replaced at a cost of £170! Having resisted for years I decided on the spur of the moment to join their dental plan - which resulted in me only having to pay £10 next week after all the credits and discounts had been applied to today's appointments! When I got home we had another of the new Soulful Pots recipes - Mexican today. Lovely and also very easy to just stick in the microwave and virtually no washing up. Finished reading all my Web User mags in the afternoon and felt very sleepy. Took Suki for a walk and then did some scanning and admin. Mike went to choir early wearing a black shirt for recording of 12 days of Christmas-no further information given! Caught up with another blog leaving only one left to go. Scanned in David Browns munro diary at the same time. Also got engrossed in trying to find good way to move photos from WhatsApp from my phone to the pc. Ended up spending all evening doing all this instead of cross stitch which I had intended to do. It was a productive evening though. I found a good app which seemed to work well. We shall see! Watched episode of QI in bed before a reasonably early night.
Wed 23rd. Met Linda in in the park walking Nevelle's pups and walked round with her. Mike went over to Sunbury for QP to mark 98th birthday of Dennis Brock. Followed by buffet lunch in the church. He brought me back some cakes with icing and cherry on. Thoughtful. And sausage for suki. The QP very quickly became the featured performance on Bell Board - and stayed as such until the weekend - on Saturday it had received over 7500 views! I went to see Keith and went to sainsbury for him and changed his bedding. Managed to find a parking space in larden road thankfully - Valetta Road is still being resurfaced with parking suspended so I had been a bit worried about finding a space but it was fine. Svetla was at the house when I got back. She was being careful with her back but was otherwise much better. She had some of the books I had put out for charity shop. Went to messiah rehearsal in the evening. Got a kebab on the way home - which once again laid heavily on my stomach all night. Why don't I learn! Mike and I worked our way through his 3-bottle craft beer set.
Thurs 24th. Woke at 3 and never really got back to sleep. Made a cup of tea and read my kobo book for a while. I have neglected this book but got back onto it now. Had a rush of blood to the head and booked zumba gold for later. Mike went in to work and I got a lift to Sutton Court Road with him and took Suki for a walk round Chiswick house grounds and then back home - almost exactly 3 miles. Went to Zumba - different leader who changed the steps too often to follow easily but at least I felt I had worked up a bit of a sweat and worked off the kebab! Went for a manicure and pedicure on the way home - new massage chair was a bit fierce! Had some lunch and then took Suki for a walk. Spent the rest of the day cross stitching. A real luxury but I thought I would just have a "me" day. Had an early night and watched first episode of "The Missing" on iPlayer in bed.
Fri 25th. Got up quite late after good nights sleep for a change. It was 11 before I was back from walking Suki. Had a nice chat with Amanda on the phone then went to fitness class. Renewed annual gym membership on Black Friday deal for only £275. After lunch took Suki for a walk and then did some Christmas shopping online. Suki found a comfortable spot to keep Mike company as he worked!
Sat 26th. Apart from about an hour around 3 am I had a reasonably good night's sleep and struggled to wake up at 7 am. Mike had shower and then went off to run a training day in Hackney all day - taking his evening suit with him so that he could go straight from there to the UL dinner. I had big intentions of refurbishing the utility room today but couldn't get motivated somehow. By the time I had walked Suki it was about 11 am and I then did some stuff on the computer - finally getting up to date with this blog! Very pleased with that achievement. Walked Suki in the afternoon and then had a shower and made my way to Browns in Old Jewry for the UL Dinner. I actually arrived just after 6 pm in plenty of time for the champagne reception - not like me. I prefer to slip in just as everyone is going up to the restaurant to eat and grab a glass of champagne on the way. Mike was already there when I got there thank goodness as there were very few people we actually knew! The one elderly couple in the room soon gravitated towards us, and were actually on our table too, and we found out he had been master of the society in 1955! Adrian and Helen arrived just after 6.30 pm! It was a fun evening as usual - they are all so young and enthusiastic! The meal was tasty but the beef was extremely tough and we did not have steak knives so cutting it was very difficult, as was chewing it. I ate all mine - although my jaw was aching at the end - but Mike couldn't manage his. So we asked for a doggy bag - and when it came we suddenly got all the plates on the table passed down to us with slabs of beef on them to add to it. We had a huge pile of beef at the end - far too much for Suki! The speeches were fun - and quite long this year - and the company was good. After the meal we went downstairs where Mike was whisked away for a dance by some girlies! I managed to stay awake for the final hour before the taxi came - a really nice man with a large car and we were able to give Adrian and Helen a lift to Hammersmith too. We got to bed at 12.30 and I went straight to sleep!
Mon 28th. Had another good night's sleep and really good have stayed in bed longer! But I had to get up reasonably early in order to be back from walking Suki by 10 am because gardener coming. I was actually back by 9.30 am which was just as well as he arrived shortly afterwards. He seemed a lovely man but he wasn't a patch on Lee! He pruned the roses, the clematis and the shrubs very delicately - all the time advising me that it should be done in Spring! He cleared all the leaves up and that was about it for his 3 hours. It did look a lot better - but there are still lots of weeds and clearing of beds to be done and the grass is rather long. He was very reasonable - £85 for 3 hours which is his standard call out rate and I shall definitely use him again in the Spring. I now have the bags of stuff to take to the dump. While he was around I made the cottage pie from the beef we had brought home from the UL dinner - Suki having had several slabs there was still plenty left. I also cut up some stuff ready for a stir fry tomorrow. By the time he had gone the pie was cooked and all the washing up done so it was a very productive morning. I was very pleased with the end result - and it was scruptious! I had 4 portions left over for the freezer too.
After lunch I chatted to Amanda for a while and then took Suki out. I have started a project to put all the old Barnes QP records prior to 2007 into Bell Board, and I reviewed the ones that were already there and made a list of amendments for submission to the administrator who had offered to do them for me as I did not have access. We went to Chiswick for a handbell session at 6.30 pm and met up with Randy Zak from America who joined us. To begin with we tried our hand at plain hunt royal and plain hunt maximus - and actually got to the end of both with Simon and Randy on inside pairs. Then the three of us rang plain bob major with Monica while Peter, Simon and Richard rang some minor in the "vestry". The practice was well attended - although not much came round. Richard Jones from the congregation came along and had some handling sessions between touches, which seemed to annoy Francis! Randy did not ring but he was good company for Richard when we were ringing, and joined us in the pub afterwards and was very entertaining.
Tues 29th. It was the coldest night of the year so far - but neither of us noticed it! There was quite a frost in the morning but it was beautifully clear and sunny with blue skies and no wind. I had another good night's sleep and only got up just after 7.30 am. Despicable! After walking Suki I did some admin and then went off to the dentist to have a filling replaced. Very uncomfortable and it was some time before I felt able to eat or drink anything. Upset the plans for eating a bit because we were getting a Gousto box today with 3 meals in it, and I had the stir fry stuff cut up ready, and had intended to have stir fry for lunch and a Gousto meal for supper. Did the stir fry anyway for Mike and put mine in the fridge for Thursday. Caught up with some episodes of The Missing which were going to expire at 9 pm. Did the Keralan curry from the Gousto box for supper - my mouth was back to normal by then. It was OK- there was enough to put two meals in fridge for tomorrow - the rice turned to mush but it didn't seem to matter. Mike went to choir and I watched more TV and had an early night. Couldn't cross stitch because had to concentrate on The Missing.
Wed 30th. Very cold this morning with hard frost which stayed around all day. However once again beautiful sunny day crisp and clear with blue skies. Went to see Keith and took him clean sheets, cartridges for fountain pen, new mirror and some handkerchiefs. He was delighted with all of it. Went to Sainsbury for him and got a free trolley coin - at last although it will only last as long as the flimsy key ring holder! Had the rest of the keralan curry for lunch. Did some more admin in the afternoon including adding another year of Barnes QPs to Bell Board. Mike went to ring handbells instead of me in the evening (Kent at Bermondsey with James, Peter and Ian. Failed to ring a peal but rang a QP - Peter's first Kent Major) - which gave me a nice evening in the warm watching more episodes of The Missing - I have caught up now with just the final episode to go (which was broadcast today but I shall catch up with it later). Ate far too many maltesers! Had a nice early night. Got some photos of the work in Bovey from Wayne today - can't believe it will all be ok by Christmas! But it's looking good - I love the skylights!
