What to do on Monday

Oh dear, what am I going to do? I have a guilty secret and have to tell someone before I burst. Right, here goes....I like going to work...no, I LOVE going to work...there, I`ve said it. Today we were told officially that our hours have been cut to save jobs and on Monday I have the day off and will do my normal hours for the rest of the week. The thing is I just don`t know what I`m going to do with myself. I`ll go stir crazy staying at home all day and all I can think of is to do some gardening, weather permitting. Mind you, there`s not much for me to do at the moment, just a bit of tidying up. I`ve already potted up the dahlias and cannas to get them started and I can`t plant any seeds for another fortnight. There`s not a lot of weeds to pull up and I can`t think of anything that needs doing for a while. I suppose I`ll have to catch up with some general housework AND a pile of ironing that won`t get done all weekend. It`s just that I`ll miss being at work, having a laugh and keeping busy. Note to self : Get a life!

The Spring like weather has brought out the customers in droves, a bit of sun and all thoughts turn to the garden and a bit of colour is what many of us need after a cold Winter. I mean, it`s not really Spring yet and even so March is a very unpredictable month so I don`t think we`ve seen the last of Winter just yet. I was born on the 27th and my Dad was always reminding me that the night I was born there was a blizzard and he had to cycle through it to the nearest phonebox dressed in his pyjamas and dressing gown. You`d think it was my fault the weather was like that...lol! As they say, March roars in like a lion and goes out like a lamb....lets hope so.

I went into town with Jim this afternoon to pay a few bills. While I was there I decided to have my rather grubby car cleaned. Well what a transformation, I could hardly believe my eyes. My car had practically changed colour and on the journey home it seemed to drive better now it had taken off its filthy overcoat! The only thing is, the cream upholstery isn`t cream anymore so perhaps I can spend some time cleaning it on Monday. It should take most of the day considering just how dirty it looks...sigh. I know, I DID say I needed something to keep me busy.

Tomorrow morning I have a hairdressers appointment then Jim and I are going to Basingstoke shopping and then we`ll pop into Kerry`s for a cup of tea before returning home again. On Sunday Kerry and Roman are coming here for dinner and then we are going out for the afternoon. It`ll just be the three of us because Slava is working, Jim is going to an annual fishing show that he attends every year....yawn. See what I mean about keeping busy? If I stop I`d probably fall asleep...lol!

The new TV arrived this morning and it`s lovely. It`s like a small cinema screen, at least it is to us. Jim confessed that he wanted it because he loves watching DVD`s and he may as well watch them in style. As I said before, he paid so I`m not arguing. At the moment he`s still sorting out the various things it does. Short of making coffee and vaccuuming the carpets there`s not much it doesn`t do...lol!

Anyway my friends, I hope you all have a lovely weekend.Take care. :o)

Hoping For a Happy Spring

My goodness! I didn`t realise I hadn`t posted since Friday 13th, doesn`t time fly!

Work has been busy now that Spring is approaching and gardening enthusiasts are buying their seeds for their flowers and vegetables. The milder weather is certainly good for business and as I said before, it keeps me busy which is always nice. I`ve even done a bit of gardening myself, tidying up and planting some potted crocuses and hardy cyclamen and snowdrops. I`ve put them around the trees and with luck they should spread out and in a few years time I`ll have a carpet of colour to brighten up the late Winter drabness. Many of the bulbs I planted in my hanging baskets and tubs are in flower and if I may say so, look really pretty. In the next couple of weeks I`ll be planting the seeds for my Summer flowers and vegetables and starting off the dahlias. It`s all very ambitious but hopefully I`ll get good results and will save a lot of money in the meantime.

Kerry is much better after her fainting episode last week though it still worries me that she still has another week to go until her maternity leave begins. She is very uncomfortable this time, much more so than when she was expecting Roman and she has definitely put on more weight. I wonder if she`ll follow in my footsteps and have a big second baby. I can`t see how she can get much bigger but she still has six more weeks to go yet! I`ve started to feel a little excited about the baby now. I hadn`t felt as excited as I was when Kerry was expecting Roman but maybe it was because he was the first grandchild. Anyway I found myself looking at little pink clothes in the children department in Next which is a very good sign. I had vowed not to buy anything pink until the baby is born but just a few things won`t hurt.....will they?

We had Roman to stay over the weekend and he was a really good. I did have a few doubts because he has been giving Kerry a hard time of late but once the ground rules were established ie; Nana`s in charge not Roman...lol!, it went really smoothly. On the Saturday we took him on a train journey into Reading for the day. We didn`t tell him about the train until we reached the station and he was thrilled when we told him about the train. He absolutely loves trains though he was a little disappointed because it wasn`t a steam engine like Thomas Tank Engine! He didn`t ask after his Mum and Dad all day and he kept us and other shoppers amused with his cheeky grin and funny comments for the whole day. While we were out I bought Roman some Disney sunglasses as he says he doesn`t like the sun getting in his eyes and some new Mickey Mouse pants just because he liked them. Roman bought some tiny pink shoes for his little sister which I`ll put by until Kerry brings her home from hospital. Including Roman in the whole process is very important and we don`t want him to feel left out. He actually asked Kerry the other day " Will you send me away to Nana`s when the baby is born?" Kerry reassured him that he will be the big brother to the baby and Mummy and Daddy love him and want him at home with them. I`ve made sure I keep talking to him about Mummy and Daddy and how much they love him, bless him. Anyway, I digress, by the time we got home again he was really tired and when bedtime came at 7pm he didn`t complain at all. In fact he fell asleep while I was reading to him and didn`t wake up until 6am. Even then he climbed into our bed and went straight back to sleep until after 8. Kerry couldn`t belive it when we told her and asked us what our secret was. Just a bit of Nana magic I suppose....lol! I did decide however that having children is strictly for the young. It was lovely to have our little darling for the weekend and I look forward to the next time but it`s lovely to be able to give him back again! Being a grandparent you get the best of both worlds. You get to enjoy them all day and you can give them back to Mum and Dad who can deal with the less than happy times. I throughly recommend it. :o)

We have ordered a new TV and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Jim has wanted one for a long time but I resisted because there was nothing wrong the one we had. But, it has started going wrong and that gave Jim the excuse he needed to buy the one he`s set his heart on...Honestly, I`m starting to wonder if he sabotaged it himself! Anyway, this new one is an all singing, all dancing state-of-the-art 40" flat screen HD thingy. Well he`s paying for it so I`m not bothered because as I said, it doesn`t matter what rubbish is on TV at least we can watch it in style...lol!

Anyway, dear friends, I`m going to try to catch up with some journals, I`m miles behind and need to see what`s been going on. take care and I`ll try to post again soon. :o)

A Bit of A Worry

Oh dear, I had a bit of an upset today. Kerry collapsed at work and was sent home. I didn`t find out until this afternoon when I rang HER..wasn`t she even going to tell me? I know she didn`t want to worry me but I wasn`t at all happy when she said she hadn`t even seen her doctor. "It`s okay Mum, it was just that I felt a bit hot." I told her to make a doctors appointment at once and she did, bless her. When she got back she told me that the Doctor has signed her off work with an accompanying letter to say that she`s suffering from exhaustion and needs several days rest. Good...she does far too much and has too little rest. I know its not easy with having a long drive to work and back, getting up at 4am and dealing with three and a half year old Roman and his boundless energy. I`ll be glad when she finishes work and starts her maternity leave at the end of this month. I digress, the doctor said her blood pressure is normal, in fact everything is normal much to my relief...and hers and Slava`s too.

She told me that she felt ok driving to work but when she boarded the staff bus she started to feel hot and her head was swimming. She managed to shake it off but whilst walking to the office at work she felt `funny` again and everything went black. Apparently she fell backwards against another employee so she didn`t hurt herself. When she came round she saw all these concerned faces looking down at her. Her manager wanted to call the paramedics but she wouldn`t hear of it. After she`d rested for a while she was sent home with instructions to rest and not to come back until she felt better. She should have gone straight to the doctor...silly girl. Anyway, she`s alright and that`s the main thing.

Mind you, I just thought. I`d ordered my 34 yr old daughter to see a doctor ...and she obeyed without so much as a whimper. I wish it had been that easy when she was a teenager...lol! Night, Night. :o)

Rain and Rubbish

Its been over a week since my last entry but I didn`t want to do a posting when I had little to talk about. I decided that after so long I should have something I can say. Right, I`ll begin.


As you know if you live anywhere in the British Isles the weather has been dreadful one way or another. While some of you will have had lots of snow many of us had 24 hrs of rain, I know Jeannette mentioned it in her journal the other day. Getting to work has been a problem lately because if I haven`t been avoiding deep puddles and in some places floods then I have been practically skating on the frozen roads. Yesterday it took me an hour for a journey that usually takes no more than fifteen minutes. The roads were so slippery that there were accidents everywhere and I had to keep turning round to try another route to work.

I`ve had no more silly accidents of my own since my last couple of escapades (fingers crossed!) though at work we have really been going through it the last couple of days. Yesterday a big electrical fault occured and without going into detail we have lighting but no other power at all. Luckily we have one plug socket that works where we can boil a kettle, I don`t know what we would do with a cup of tea or coffee. The tills aren`t working so we are trading manually, a bit of a nuisance but I`m coping. Hopefully it will be repaired by tomorrow. I spent much of the late morning

loading rubbish into the newly delivered skips. We have been waiting for them for over w eek so you can imagine the build up of rubbish. I smelt less than fragrant when I`d finished work and when I got home it was straight into the shower and my work uniform in the washing machine. I really don`t mind doing work like that because physical work has never bothered me and I don`t mind getting my hands dirty. Mind you, seeing as I was wearing gloves my hands weren`t at all dirty, it was just the rest of me...lol!


This Sunday I`m working all day Sunday as we are having a stock take and its all hands on deck so to speak, anyway the extra money will come in handy. As it is my hours have been cut by four hours starting on March 1st but just until the busy season which is in the Spring, hopefully that will be very soon. I`m not bothered about losing the hours either, I`m just grateful to still have a job. So many people are losing theirs as businesses collapse everywhere so I have no intention of complaining about a bit less money a month.


Kerry is doing really well and is getting things ready for the arrival of her new baby. I can`t believe its only a matter of weeks before she is due. Roman is doing well at nursery school and is looking forward to being a big brother. Actually Jim and I are probably even more excited than he is!


Yesterday Jim and I went shopping in the afternoon. I decided it was time to use a giftcard that I was given for Christmas. I originally thought I`d keep it until I needed something but then I thought I`d buy something because I WANTED it, it`s a gift, why not? I bought a nice pair of jeans in sort of dark coffee colour, it might not sound very nice but its a gorgeous colour and I also bought a red v-neck jumper. I don`t usually wear red but I saw this one and fell in love with it and had to have it. I also bought some curtains for my dining room. I bought some a few weeks ago and they just weren`t right. I couldn`t take them back because the shop has now closed down so I`ll have to save them for another time or find someone who wants them. They`re really nice and it would gbe a shame if they don`t get used. The new ones are just right and they were really, really cheap. After all the months of looking and I end up paying a fraction of the price I thought I`d have to pay. If I hadn`t already bought the other pair I`d have been even happier. Maybe I`ll put the other pair up for sale, I could advertise in the local shop and newspaper free ads.


Next weekend Roman will be staying here for the weekend to give his long-suffering Mum and Dad a bit of a break before the baby is born. They don`t get out much so it would be nice for them to be able to go out for an evening together and to be able to have a lie-in in the morning. It`ll be their last chance for some time to come. We are going to take Roman out for the day on the Saturday. Jim has suggested we go to Reading for the day but instead of going by car we`ll take the train, Roman adores trains so he`ll be thrilled when he finds out.





Oh dear, I`ve just seen the weather forecast, apparently we are to expect more snow, not a lot but then they say it will freeze overnight. Oh dear, another slippery journey to work again AND its Friday 13th...am I superstitious? You bet I am! Bye for now. :o)

Snow, Snow and Still More Snow

Early morning and the cars are crawling along at snail pace

This afternoon, the back garden covered with a white woolly blanket

You couldn`t even see the road outside my house this morning


The snow began falling more heavily just after I came home from work.

What a day! Snow fell heavily overnight and I awoke to a blanket of the fluffy white stuff making the world look very bright and very beautiful. Being a lover of snow and Winter I was a little apprehensive of the drive to work. I knew the roads would be treacherous and being the South of England I`ve had little experience driving in snowy conditions. I used a long handed broom to clear the snow from my car and clear the driveway, finishing the job by throwing dishwasher salt everywhere. I actually didn`t have any problems driving apart from a couple of corners where I felt like a contestant from Dancing On Ice. Apart from that and not being able to go any faster than 10 mph the journey was fine as everyone on the road seemed to be behaving themselves for a change. The roads were much clearer on the way home and those drivers who usually behave badly did, especially the one who followed me nearly all the way home. When I stopped at a blind junction he tooted me for not pulling straight out into the main road. If he had been where I was he would have seen the car coming toward us but instead decided to tell me to hurry up...I didn`t , I just took my time and drove even slower once around the corner. The look on his face was a picture...lol!

The other day I mentioned the Green Woodpecker in my neighbours garden. Well since then I`ve seen two more and after me saying that I`ve not seen one around these parts before...unless of course its the same one following me around!

I called Kerry this afternoon and after a brief chat I hear a voice say "Is that Nana? Let me talk to Nana!" No prizes for guessing who that was! Roman told me that he was going outside with Mummy to throw snowballs and build a snowman. He told me that said snowman was going to wear a hat and scarf, have a carrot for a nose. He then told me that he will make sure Mummy doesn`t fall over in the snow and hurt herself, bless him. Sometimes he says the sweetest things.

Oh yes, the spots he had are another type of excema. Kerry has been using several creams and using a potion in the bath and now she says his skin is almost back to normal now. She just has to make sure he has lashings of the cream on every day especially in the Winter when it can at its worst. I remember when Daniel was little his excema was much worse in Winter but once the sun started to shine it cleared up quite quickly again.

It had stopped snowing for a while but the sky is looking very angry and I don`t think it`ll be long before we have another lot fall on us. Hopefully it won`t be too bad and that the local authorities will grit the roads unlike last night. Also I hope Jim might be home from work earlier than usual because most of the flights from Heathrow are cancelled and he`s just sitting around waiting until its time to come home again. He must be really bored.

Anyway, must go. There are journals to read and an evening meal to prepare. Take care, stay safe and keep warm. :o)