Betterer

Tonight I decided to go shopping. Perhaps not the best choice you might have thought, given my experiences on Monday. But I headed off to Tesco determined I was not going to get stressed or worked up at all.

I didn't faff that the car park was full and just calmly parked in the first available spot I came to. I strolled around quietly, oblivious to everyone around me and took time to stop and look at things properly, rather than the smash and grab affair that a visit to Tesco usually consists of. I found myself a nice clock for the new kitchen and bought a new outfit for our staff party tomorrow afternoon. I bought some house magazines to look for inspiration and I bought myself some Christmas flowers. I didn't get wound up when the till I was queuing at broke down nor did I get stressed when it finally got to be my turn and the check-out girl had to sign off for her break.

See how much easier that was!?

And look!!

I nearly have a bathroom


















































And I nearly have a kitchen!

And so on to Monday.....

On Monday I went Christmas shopping. I hate shopping. I hate shopping more than anything else I have to do and Christmas shopping is my idea of hell on earth.

I opted to go to Wimbledon rather than Kingston, which was my first mistake. Wimbledon has all the right shops but for some reason they are all the poor relations of their respective chain-store families. Kingston, on the other hand, has all the flagship stores and the best in-town shopping centre for miles. By the time this mistake dawned on me there was no point in trying to get to Kingston because it would be heaving.

My second mistake was not wearing summer clothes. Why do they keep the shops so hot when they know it's raining outside and people will be wearing winter coats!!?? So as the morning progresses, I can't find what I need anywhereI'm getting hotter and hotter and more and more flustered when I finally erupted in Boots. Looking for a particular item, three members of staff told me it was nothing to do with them and I needed to speak to someone else. No helping me look or offering to help me find the right person, all three of them just said "that department's nothing to do with me" and went back to what they were doing. I was furious!! Whatever happened to customer service? I threw my basket on the floor and stormed out muttering like a mad woman...you could see people parting like the Red Sea in front of me!!

Then I headed back to the car park and nearly just collapsed and cried....I couldn't find my car. I knew exactly where I'd left it but it wasn't there. I have a terrible habit of forgetting to lock it and really thought, that's it, it's gone. I walked up and down the rows of cars pressing the remote control button hoping I had just had a memory lapse and I hadn't left it where I thought I had. Nothing.

Then it occurred to me that I was on the Lower Ground level. My car was on the Upper Ground level. I really am starting to worry about the state of my mind.

Fast-forwarding to this morning......I'm looking after my neighbours chickens and put the single egg they'd laid overnight in my pocket. And forgot about it. Until I got to work when it broke in my coat pocket all over two sets of keys! Then I dropped a half-full tin of coffee all over the office floor.

I think I need to go and lie down in a darkened room until I regain some equilibrium. Dakota, I need some of your wise words please!

So, a fraught few days then.

This is likely to get confusing so you might have to make some effort to keep up but I need to get this down so that I can remind myself about how I sometimes just fly off into one...and how little it actually achieves.

It started on Sunday. I was up early as I wanted to get down to the Sunday market before the crowds. 7.45am - all ready to go. I hadn't slept well the night before and was tired and probably already a bit short-tempered. And then I couldn't find my purse. That's not particularly unusual because I always leave things in places where they are not supposed to be left but as long as no-one else moves them I can always work my way backwards to where I left whatever it is and find it. Except this time I couldn't find it and started to have some slight palpitations.

I mentally retraced my steps and knew it had to be either in the office where I had last seen it, or at the cottage, which was the last place I had been. Called my boss, no, she hadn't seen it at the office. Now the palpitations get worse and I start panicking, and I really mean panicking. There was no money in my purse, just my Debit card and, more importantly, Greyhound Gap's Debit card, and that was frightening the life out of me....what if someone had stolen it and taken all the money out of the account? You know how your mind can go from a standing start to total panic in the space of about 2 seconds flat?

On top of that, the veg stall at the market has an ordering system in place for the Christmas period and I had to hand in a list of what veg I want to collect on Christmas Eve. As my boss uses them as well and was working, she had asked me to drop her list in for her. And I'd put her list in my purse thinking that would be sensible and that I wouldn't lose it. Ironic eh? So, before I do anything else, I had to go to the office, photocopy my form and get my boss to fill hers in again. Half way there I realise I haven't picked my list up so scream to a halt.........to the sound of all the boxes of tiles on the back seat of my car sliding into the footwells. Get home and find the list was in my coat pocket the whole time. That makes me spit and curse even more.

All this time, the panicking is getting worse because I keep thinking about the money in the Gap Bank account. So there I am in the office screaming at the photocopier because it is taking so long to warm up and then I'm pacing round my boss's house whilst she fills her list in again and then screaming even more loudly at the silly Sunday morning drivers and panicking because I'm going to be late at the market and it's going to be heaving and I really can't deal with crowds.

You'd think the sensible thing to do would be to cancel the cards but I didn't want to do that until I'd checked everywhere. With hindsight, I can see that some part of my brain was organising me and making me do things in the logical order, which makes me think that I must have slightly obsessive tendencies. For example, if my planned schedule gets changed at short notice or I'm going to be late or if I have to do things in the least logical or slowest way then a switch flicks in my brain and I hit total tantrum/panic/anger mode at train-wreck speed.

Hence me getting vegetable order forms sorted out before checking everywhere first, because that was the logical thing to do as the office is closer to home than the cottage.

Which is a pity really because if I'd checked everywhere first then I would have found my purse at the cottage and wouldn't have got myself into such a state.

No Red

I decided against a dark colour of tile in the bathroom in the end. The room is small and once we have the antique pine wall cupboard up and the shelves fitted and filled with stuff, the dark tiles will just make the room seem like it's collapsing in on itself.

So, I've chosen these three colours instead:










Now the only decision to be made is what pattern we set them up in. At the moment I'm thinking mainly cream with a double row of alternating terracotta and mustard as a border all the way around the area that's being tiled. I think.

Having decided on which floor tiles I wanted, I bought them too. Then started having palpitations when I got back because I'd seen another tile I thought I might like better. OH is being very patient but kept saying "Angela, I can live with whatever you decide. But, please, MAKE A DECISION!".

Ho hum.

I should be grateful that choosing the colour of wall-tiles is the only problem occupying my mind at the moment......well, that and the fact that I haven't started Christmas shopping yet. Others, I know, have more weighty problems and they are in my thoughts.

Onwards....

I am absolutely pooped, it's 10.45 and we've only just eaten dinner and I'm too full to go to bed.

Still, my kitchen arrived this morning and OH has started building it!! It remains to be seen if MFI have managed to get the delivery right first time! The central heating is installed and we're just waiting for the oil tank to be connected to the boiler to check it all works.

We have to get the bathroom tiled this weekend so the plumbers can come back and fit the shower and the basin....and I still haven't chosen what wall tiles I want. We're having dark grey ceramic tiles on the floor and antique cream (off-white to you and me) paint on the walls. So any suggestions? I'm erring towards a burnt red or terracotta at the moment. The tiles will only be in the shower cubicle so I'm thinking a splash of colour would be rather good! Mother, being like most mothers, can't see the problem with plain old white and when I mention red, she reminds me, with a slight "have you completely lost a grip of your senses" tone of voice, that I have to live with these for a long time. Red is looking more and more attractive!!

Quiche?

I never make quiche.

I never make quiche because it always goes wrong. It either curdles, or won't set properly or some other culinary disaster besets it and it turns out rubbish.

So today I made quiche.

And you know what? It all went right! It was all nicely golden brown and it had risen and set and just looked too scrummy to eat.

And then I forgot to turn the oven off.

*note to self* Never make quiche because it always goes wrong.

*werk*

Yesterday I acquired a chicken coop!

I've been muttering about keeping a couple of chickens once we move to the cottage but OH wasn't 100% convinced. Then fate stepped in. A local school rang work the other day to see if we wanted one as they were getting rid of theirs. They didn't but I did! So I went to see it on Monday, it's great, and I'm picking it up on Wednesday.

It was meant to be really!

Nac Mac Feegle

From up near the roofs came the sounds of a conversation.

'Aye, but pigs are no' that interestin.'

'Oh, I dinnae ken aboot that. A verrae useful animal is the pig. You can eat every part o' it, ye ken, except for the squeal'

'Ach, ye're wrong there. Ye can use the squeal'

'Dinnae be daft'

'Aye, ye can so! Ye make up a pie crust, right, an' ye put in a lot o' ham, right, an' then ye catch the squeal, put the top on the pie before he can escape, right, an' bung it straight in the oven'

'I ne'er heard such a thing as that!'

'Have ye no? It's called squeal and ham pie'

*chortles with laughter*....and that's why I love reading Pratchett!

I really wish.....

I really wish that I had some exciting news to impart to you, but I don't.

The parents came up for the weekend.
It rained. A lot.
Lurcher No.2 has a poorly paw again.
I'm still not sleeping well and am very tired. OH's snoring doesn't help so if anyone has any remedies I'd be pleased to hear them!

And that's it! It might be quiet and boring but every now and again, quiet and boring is GOOD!

Up above the streets and houses.......

.....or, more correctly, up above the Common.

On Tuesday afternoon, the sky turned that really foreboding black, pregnant with the rain that's about to burst forth............oh for heaven's sake, Angela, stop with all the dramatic stuff, you'll never be a writer....

What happened was this.....the sky went black, the sun was shining at the same time, there was a windmill and a rainbow to throw into the mix and, once stirred, you end up with something like this:



















Not too bad considering it was shot with work's little Olympus point and shoot as I didn't have my dSLR with me at the crucial moment and nature won't hang around for you to nip home and pick it up.

I haven't given you a cottage update for a while have I!? "No" you cry, "do tell what's occurring". Quite a lot actually. OH has been ploughing on with what he can before the plumbers arrive on 4th December. Walls have been stripped, filled, rubbed down and given a coat of undercoat to help keep the dust at bay. Fireplace has been made good and the mantle piece fixed into place - that's great that is, it's an old oak fence post that OH has cleaned up and oiled and fixed to the wall so it looks like it's hanging there! Aerial man is coming to put in a new aerial and aerial points next week. The kitchen has been paid for and should arrive on 13th December and the delivery of the sofas has been delayed to 8th December - which suits me just fine. Chimney sweep booked for 2nd December and the new wood-burning stove that arrived last week can then be fitted. So it's all moving on slowly and, fingers crossed, we will be installed in the New Year!

Think Fast!

Nicked from Stu!

Think Fast Survey- answer with the first thing that pops into your head DONT CHEAT!!!

1. My ex is still…
....drunk probably.

2. I am listening to…
...the sound of a mini-digger as it demolishes the old stable block next my office.

3. Maybe I should…
....do some work rather than be doing this!

4. I love…
...my Lurchers!

5. My bestfriend(s)….
....is poorly and I can't do anything to help.

6. I dont understand…
.......the minds of some people.

7. I lost respect for…
......my father when he decided his "bit on the side" was more important than his daughter.

9. The meaning of my screen name is…
.....my initials: Angela Oakley Jayne

10. Love is…
....overrated!

11. Somewhere, someone is…
...living my alternative reality.

12. I will always…
.......be me.

13. Forever seems…
.......too close for comfort with so much to cram in!

14. I never ever want to lose…
......sight of the good things.

15. My mobile phone is…
...errrrmmm around somewhere, just not sure where!

16. When I woke up this morning…
...I hit the snooze button and had a cuddle with Lurcher No.2.

17. I get annoyed at…
....incompetent people.

18. Parties are..
...really not my thing.

19. My pets…
...are my life.

20. Kisses are…..
......important.

Marching for Greyhounds

On Saturday I joined about 200 other like-minded people and marched through central London to try and highlight the plight of racing greyhounds. The march was organised following the revelations in the Sunday Times some months ago of the death of thousands of greyhounds at the hands of one man (and I use that term loosely) in Seaham, Co. Durham.

We began the march at Whitehall Place, along Whitehall up to Trafalgar Square and then along Pall Mall and St James's St to Picadilly. From there to Hyde Park Corner and up Park Lane to Speaker's Corner for speeches.

Apparently at Hyde Park Corner we held up the Mayor of London and 5 minutes later the Police Commissioner received an official complaint that the police had allowed us to march that route on a Saturday afternoon. We can only surmise where the complaint came from. How arrogant is that man?

We had one or two famous faces join us, Annette Crosbie and Jaye Griffiths and it was great to have their support.

We can only hope it starts to make a difference. We just all need to keep the momentum going and hopefully, one day, the despicable treatment received by these noble beasts at the hands of the people who are supposed to care for them will be a thing of the past.

A lesson

Here's a lesson for you:

Do not try to pick up a Le Creuset saucepan with one hand.

In particular, do not try to pick up a Le Creuset saucepan in one hand when it has recently boiled water in it.

And even more importantly, do not then drop that Le Creuset saucepan and chuck that recently boiled water all over yourself.

It hurt. Lots.

Zzzzzzz........

On Monday night, I got to sleep just fine. Then I woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep so got up at 4am and started working on the Board minutes.

Last night I couldn't get to sleep and it was 3am before I finally dropped off.

As I'm an 8 hours of sleep a night kind of girl, 8 hours sleep in the last 48 hours might just mean that today gets a bit fraught.

They remember

Lest we Forget

Remembrance Day

For every red poppy
That grows in the field
Marks the bravery of men
That the battle did kill

For every soldier
That lay down his life
He left behind
A family, a life

For every red poppy
That sways in the breeze
Remember the men
Who died for our peace.

By Vicky Poxon (13)

A Girl Night In

OH has gone out with the boys so I cooked myself my favourite dinner (which OH hates) and watched my favourite film.....I defy anyone to watch Steel Magnolias and not ball their eyes out.

Only one thing wrong....I forgot to get in the chocolate *slaps self for being so remiss*

Deck the halls.....

...I've just had my first mince pie of the year. It's all downhill from here really, isn't it!? 46 days to Christmas and counting. If I were reading this blog I'd probably want to shoot me for reminding me of that.

All gone very quiet

Nothing terribly exciting is happening at the moment. OH is cracking on with stuff at the cottage but it's mainly repairing the rotten floor and other little bits and pieces that don't seem to have much to show for them but are important nonetheless. The electrician turned up, went away again and we've only seen him for a day since. To be fair, he's having some health problems and his girlfriend was attacked by a group of hoodies last night.....not a very nice thing to have happen. The cooker and hob have been delivered and seem to be taking up inordinate amounts of room so they are going to keep getting in the way and I dare say I shall be cursed roundly before much longer!

Taps

My taps have arrived and they are each wrapped in their own jersey-cotton drawstring bag....how classy is that!?