Cheers!

It’s been a funny old week, mostly grey, wet and windy.  On Monday, although I was up and about before 5am, I was late leaving the caravan and it was gone half nine by the time I got to the gym.   I was running so late that I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for a workout so I simply had a shower and went home.  I had arranged to meet up with Maddy in the afternoon but when I got back home after DW, I picked up an email from her cancelling me which was a shame.

With plans changed, I was unsure of what to do with myself but in the end, I ended up going to take a look at Weston Favell Shopping Centre.   It’s only about a 10 minute drive from the caravan.  The car-park was horrendously busy but I am guessing that’s just the time of year.   The shopping centre didn’t impress me much and obviously was not a patch on CMK.  They did have a massive Tesco which also had a post office inside but not much else there for me and I don’t think I will be rushing back.  Still at least I have been and seen.

We awoke to howling winds on Tuesday morning and sounds of garden furniture being throw around in next doors garden.  Some of the skirt from the front of the caravan had blown off but that was the only damage we suffered.  I took myself to the gym in Northampton leaving Phil to work on his book.  I did a reasonable circuit in the gym and then it was home for Phil’s home cooked chicken curry.  His curry was tasty just a shame that the coconut milk had split.  This was because we only have one setting on our gas hob and that is very hot even when you turn it down to the low setting.  The same goes for the oven.  Maybe this is a common caravan problem? 

In the afternoon I went to have a look at the Virgin Active Health Club at Riverside Park which is the first stop off the A45.  This is something that I have been meaning to do for ages.   A nice young man made me fill out a form and then he showed me around the club.  I was impressed; really up-to-date gym equipment and I particularly like the ‘women only’ cardio area.   There seemed to be a mixed membership, more than half under 30 but also a few old wrinklies like me, so if I joined I wouldn’t stick out too much.  What I really liked though, was the chill-out-area with lounge recliners where you could chill out and read a book.   The only down side is that an off peak membership is £15 a month more expensive that what I am paying at DW.  Still I haven’t ruled it out; I really don’t like DW in Northampton.  The equipment is dated and the drive through the centre of town is tedious.  I have decided to stick with DW but when we come back in March (after we leave in Jan) then I am going to trial Virgin Active.  The beauty of V-A is that is only 10 minutes away but I wouldn’t want to commit to a 12 month membership without trying it out first. 

On Wednesday morning I left the caravan before half seven leaving Phil fast asleep in bed.  He’d got up at some ridiculous time in the middle of the night and watched telly because he couldn’t sleep.  He came back to bed at 5am and then woke me up.  Of course, once I am awake I can’t go back to sleep so I ended up getting up.   First stop in MK was Newport to drop off some stuff at Sue’s and then after tea and a catch-up, it was off to the gym.  After that it was a trip around Asda.  I really miss Asda. Actually there is a lot that I miss, living here at Overstone. 

I picked up Harriet from the OU and we went to lunch at the Ship Ashore.  This was not perhaps the best idea because the pub was packed with office workers having their Christmas lunch.  We managed to get a table and our lunch was served after about 20 minutes.  We didn’t have to rush our lunch thank goodness and I got Harriet back to work within the hour.  Wednesday afternoon was present shopping at the centre.  Luckily I don’t have to buy many presents this year.  Phil & I don’t bother with each other, Georgina wants cash, Harriet gave me a list and Phil’s mum and dad have said that they don’t want to do presents this year.  This is fine by me;   the only trouble on Wednesday, is that the 2 presents that I had to find were for friends that we don’t see very often.  What do you give?  I did buy a few presents in the end but I am not entirely happy with them.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of the ice ring at the centre and the carrasel in Middleton Hall.

Unfortunately for me, I had an appointment with Tina, my hygienist at Two Mile Ash.  She is always brutal with me and Wednesday was no different.  She said that my top gums are swollen and were bleeding.  She tried to deep clean the pockets of my side molars but the pain was immense.   Tina said that I need to go back in March and if they are no better, then I will have to have a local anaesthetic to do the procedure. A year or so ago, I had to take Harriet to the dentist to have a wisdom tooth out and she had a local anaesthetic.  God she was so funny when she came out, I nearly wet myself.  I almost had to carry her to the car.

On Wednesday evening we stayed at Sue’s.  I dropped Phil off at the pub and went back to Sue’s for supper.  I had cooked a fish pie from a Jamie Oliver recipe and taken it over for me and Sue.  It was okay, a bit dry but I would cook it again but would add a sauce.   Unfortunately it turned out to be a long evening with lots of wine because we stayed up after Phil came back.  Oh dear, felt more than a little foggy yesterday morning and I didn’t make it to the gym as planned.  After tea and toast it was straight back to Overstone as we had Christmas lunch booked at The Griffin.  I really didn’t fancy lunch in a pub but we felt obliged to go because we’d already paid our deposit.  We had the 2 course menu which was very nice, just a shame I was in the slightest bit hungry.  After lunch it was tempting to have a duvet day but I decided to change our bed and because I only have one set of bedding it meant that I had to wash and dry and then iron.  Last night was an early-to-bed one.

We felt the cold this morning and the lounge wasn’t warming even with the gas fire on full.  I saw from Facebook that it was snowing in Milton Keynes.  I didn’t think we had snow but when I opened the blinds I could see that snow on caravan roofs and on to top of the cars.  I am late with the blog today because we had to drive over to Newport Pagnell as Phil had an appointment with the doctor.   It wasn’t a very pleasant drive and it was obvious that MK had had an awful lot more snow than Overstone.   We had planned to go the gym but decided that it was such a horrible day that we would straight back home, also Phil needed to prepare our lunch.  As I type, he is cooking chicken tikka massala and the whole caravan smells of spice.  I can’t wait, I’m starving and my tummy is rumbling.