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)!!!
The Lost Day
7.00am. What a right pain in the posterior! Just when I was getting ahead and I had nothing pressing to do work-wise, I discovered that for some unknown reason, my NetBook was booting-up and then freezing. Several re-boots later, nothing much had changed, so it was obviously something serious! After a bit of detective work …
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Let’s Dance (Week 3 of 7)
Thankfully it was a lot cooler tonight so that made the activity more a little more enjoyable! So, just call me ‘Matilda’ as tonight we practised our waltz. The good news was that I didn’t pulverise Ann’s feet as much as last week; the bad news, I still haven’t quite perfected the moves. More especially, …
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DVD: The International (Blu-Ray)
We watched The International tonight and it was excellent! It’s also the first DVD we’ve bought that features ‘BD-Live‘ (more about that later). Starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, the story centres around a group of internationally corrupt bankers (very topical!) and Clive Owen’s attempt to bring them down. Initially a bit of a slow-burner, …
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Nice Kitchen
We had a look at David and Val’s new kitchen. It’s coming on a treat!
Walkies…
Shock horror, I joined Ann and Jo for walk tonight. I’ll be going to dancing lessons next…oh that’s tomorrow!
Gill’s 50th
We drove over to Gill’s for her 50th lunch buffet and got there about 12.45. About 40-50 people came in total, but we only really knew Steve and Denise. It was a good lunch spread with plenty of variety. We met Gill’s Mum, Joan, who I’d met many years ago- but couldn’t remember where or …
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Oundle Festival: The Bootleg Beatles
Nicki drove up to us in the morning and got to us around 11. The weather was a bit unpredictable, but hey, as Jo said: “what’s the worst that can happen?”. Mum decided to stay at home, because of the threatened bad weather. So, Jo, Janet, Nicki, Ann and I, stocked-up with enough food for …
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TV: Doctor Who trailer – ‘The Waters of Mars’
Here we are then…. ..and I’m sure the title is an anagram featuring the word ‘The Master’ – ooo errr!
TV: Torchwood – ‘Children of Earth’ (Episode 5 – Final episode)
A great final episode to the series. It was full of some truly suspenseful moments as well as some very sad ones – Imagine the moral dilemma – you have to kill a young child to save the World. Difficult choice ehh? Now imagine that the child is your grandson! Surely the hardest decision ever?, …
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Cats in… Mum out…Jo & Janet up
Biscuit and Bon-Bon went in for their six-weekly service with Patsy today. We popped into Waitrose on the way back for a few bits for the picnic tomorrow. We took Mum down to The Star at Geddington for lunch. Once again the portions were massive and none of us could manage dessert nor coffee! The …
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TV: Torchwood – ‘Children of Earth’ (Episode 4)
Oh yes, very good – and the scene inside the aliens’ ‘cubicle’ was particularly spooky! …but it looks like they’ve killed off Ianto (you wouldn’t want to work for Torchwood – 60% of the staff have been killed recently!)
TV: Torchwood – ‘Children of Earth’ (Episode 3)
Mmmm…not quite up to the action-packed style of the previous two episodes – but good special effects.