Well done Ann – she passed her Prince 2 Foundation Exam today. So just the Practitioner Exam on Friday left to do now!
Let’s (not) Dance (Week 5 of 7)
The dance-class is probably running tonight, but as Ann was knackered after her ongoing intensive Prince 2 Course and 1 was… well…just lazy… we didn’t go.
Someday, my Prince will Come…
Back to reality with a bump this morning! Ann is in London all week on a five-day intensive Prince 2 Course. …and just to make things even more exciting, there were no trains out of Kettering due to a fire, so Val and Ann drove over to Huntingdon and got a train from there.
Film: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Jo and Janet booked the tickets and we headed off to see the 3.00pm performance of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Great acting, superb special effects and a film that would make watching paint dry more interesting! Too long by about an hour (it weighed in at around two-and-a-quarter), a completely impenetrable story-line and …
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Short break: Portsmouth (Day 4)
I got up at 7 so I’d have time for a shower before heading up the road to get a ticket for the car that we couldn’t park near the hotel last night. Ooooo…I’ve noticed I’m a bit pink this morning after all that exposure to the good weather yesterday – they’ll be no chance …
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Short break: Portsmouth (Day 3)
I didn’t get up until 8am!! Looking out the window, the weather looks good at the moment although the forecast is cloudy. We plan to primarily use today to take photographs and try out our new camcorder. 9.00am. We got down to breakfast and found it a lot quieter than yesterday. The service was still …
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Short break: Portsmouth (Day 2)
6.30am. I was up with the sound of birds and the faint sound of a hovercraft! A bright blue sky outside suggests today might be a fine day weather-wise. 8.30am. Breakfast calls, so it’s a short walk across the road (!) and in through the back-door to the breakfast-room. It wasn’t a very big room, …
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Short break: Portsmouth (Day 1)
We’re off to Portsmouth for a few days. We left around 8.30 and popped into Central Garage on the way out to have a look at their used and new car stock as part of getting a car for Ann. After much discussion with Paul, we narrowed the selection down to possibly a new Fiesta…but …
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Let’s (not) Dance AGAIN! (Week 5 of 7)
We knew we had a bit of catching-up to do as we’d missed last week’s lesson. So, imagine our surprise when we got there tonight, only to find that no-one else was there! It’s been a day full of surprises!
Big Mac and a Big Disappointment
I went for my six-monthly check-up at the local dental practice today. The dentist I saw was new and boy, was he rough – ouch! Last time my mouth was that stretched was back in the 1970s when I used to eat a whole Big-Mac in one mouthful! He looked as serious as hell throughout …
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The patter of tiny…
…tyres! Well, it’s a start. We bought new number plates for Ann’s yet-to-be-sourced new car.
Jo and Janet’s for a takeaway
We popped down to J and J’s for tea tonight – a Chinese takeaway – Scrummy! It was a great opportunity for Ann to let the girls know about her new job!
Car Service
The Mondeo went in for its annual service today to Central Garage. No major problems, just the following: The key-fob has stopped working There is a leak in the water-pump A minor scratch on the rear offside and front nearside alloy Paul is going to keep it in overnight, because the new pump won’t be …
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One for the Sunday Newspapers…
A rather less-than-flattering pic of me uploaded by Bev onto Facebook – Cheers Bev! That’s Bev’s friend Di, in the background, probably having second thoughts about the seating plan!
Humberto in Hospital
Lee rang to tell us that H had been rushed into hospital today. Early days yet, but Lee was told it was possibly a mild heart-attack.
80th Birthday get-together for Denis
We both slept well at L and B’s, although Ann reckons there was a party going on nearby with live singers – I was vaguely aware but it didn’t interrupt me getting off to sleep. In fact, I slept right through to 7.30 (lazy bugger!). I had a quick shower and tucked into brioche and …
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Visit to Lee and Humberto’s
Image via Wikipedia We drove over to Cromer today to catch up with L and B, primarily to get them on-line and into cyberspace! We had a really good journey time – just 2 hours 15 minutes and that included a driver-change just after half way. L and B hadn’t got an internet connection when …
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Meal with Ian and Mags
I met Ian and Mags at Babe Blooz, Market Harborough tonight as part of our normal three-monthly catch-up. Because Ann is still between jobs (but that’ll change on the 10 August), she came along too! – Nice! We hadn’t been there for around 6 years and we were wondering what it would be like as …
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Steve on the Game?
Phew…not quite! Just when I thought I’d have to develop some new skills to supplement our income (and perhaps introduce a comedic element too!) by going ‘on the game’, Ann learned today that she had been successful in getting the job she was interviewed for earlier in the week. That’s good news all round and …
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Look…no brakes!
Today, a real techy-innovation. I’m test-driving the new Volvo XC60 with ‘CitySafe’. It’s an innovative piece of technology that senses a vehicle in front and slows the car down if you don’t! And this is 2009! 👍😉
The Wheatsheaf at Titchmarsh
We decided to act on Steve S’s recommendation and try out The Wheatsheaf at Titchmarsh. We were seated promptly and the restaurant soon filled up. It’s obviously a popular place! We went for starters, mains with a cider each. The food was especially good, although the service was slightly sluggish. All-in-all it’s definitely worth another …
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Let’s (not) Dance (Week 4 of 7)
We didn’t go to the dance-class tonight as I’ve had a really bad headache on-and-off since Sunday night. An early night for me tonight to try and shake it off.
The new ‘Doctor’
Filming is now underway in Cardiff for the fifth series and here is the first photograph of the Doctor (played by Matt Smith) in costume. Also in the pic is his new companion ‘Amy Pond’, played by Karen Gillan. Series 5 starts in 2010. Related stuff Matt Smith in costume as Doctor Who: …
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New Tyres
I took the Mondeo over to Kwik-Fit today to assess the rear tyres. At just under 24000 miles, I knew they were getting close to the legal limit, so it was definitely worth checking them out. As I suspected, they did need replacing. The service was pretty swift and forty-five minutes later, the job was …
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Angela’s 60th Birthday Party
We travelled down to Isleworth today for Angela’s 60th birthday party – yes, I know, her birthday was in February! It’s quite a long drive from home, so we arranged to pick-up Denise and Steve in Bedford who’d also been invited – it would have been daft them doing the journey too as they’re so …
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DVD: Taken (Blu-ray)
We watched Taken with David and Val tonight round at ours tonight. Starring Liam Neeson it was the ‘extended harder cut’ version … (ouch!). Just before we started watching the film, I served my chili-chicken for the main-course and Ann’s served her brioche and butter Apricot pudding about half-way through. The storyline? Neeson’s daughter is …
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Ahoy-there Ship mates…
Just call me Captain Pugwash – yes, it’s Ann and me on a boat! David and Val’s boat to be precise – the good ship Carusa. We nearly didn’t go at all because of the weather – but it started to brighten up and after packing a few provisions, we left around 1pm for Buckden …
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Lunch with Steve S
I drove over to Oundle for lunch with Steve S. We normally catch-up every three months, but for one reason or another, we haven’t seen each other since January. We visited our normal haunt – The Swan Inn just on the outskirts of the town. The service, as always was excellent, and so was the …
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Find the fridge…
..and a freezer…and a cooker! We decided to start the search for all the replacement white-goods for the new kitchen – and just to be awkward, they need to be black! A short drive to Comet at Riverside near Northampton was our first stop. There weren’t many fridges or freezers on show, but Stephen the …
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Walk the Dog…
If we had one! – and we’d never get the cats to move away from their comfy sleeping positions! Yes, we went out for a walk again tonight as it was such a beautiful evening – it’s becoming a habit (that’s twice this week)!!!