turps

In the space of a few minutes I got an email from Rosie saying class was cancelled today. A message from Kayleigh saying she'd taken Bodhi to nursery, and it was actually closed for a teacher training day, and one from James saying he'd slipped in the toilets at work and banged his head.

So, now I have a free morning but am both expecting a request to Bodhisit, and for James saying he's coming home.

The slip in the toilet annoys me. The disabled toilet James uses also contains a shower the staff can use, and when people do so they never seem to mop the floor properly and leave it slippery, which is a disaster combination. It'll all officially get written up, but whoever decided to put an open shower in the disabled toilet is an idiot. It's not like it's a cubical either, it's literally a shower in the corner of the room surrounded by a curtain.

It was our wedding anniversary yesterday. We don't celebrate as such, but did go out for Sunday lunch to Prego and as always the food was delicious. Apart from that it was the usual grocery shopping and getting ready for the week. I was looking at some of our wedding photos that came up on my phone memories, and so much has changed since then, including the loss of mam, my FiL and nanna. I still laugh at nanna being in every photo, she planted herself in a comfy chair and wasn't about to move, no matter what family grouping was being arranged. But, she was late 90s then, so deserved that chair. I do miss her, she was one of a kind and such a wonderful woman and nanna.

Saturday we went back to Beamish and did the last part we've never walked before. What we didn't know before heading there was it was a big transport event, add that to it being a sunny, warm day and one of the last days of the school half-term holidays. Well, it made for a very busy Beamish. Thankfully, with it being such a big site people spread out and there were only crowds and queues around the main shops/cafes, so we bypassed those altogether. We did get to ride on the steam train, which was a 30-minute queue for a five-minute ride. But, it was fun, and not a hardship to wait.

Saturday evening was the season finale of Doctor Who and all I can say is, I wasn't happy. I watched all the Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith eps, then stopped watching until Ncuti Gatwa who reignited my DW love. So yeah, I didn't enjoy that episode at all, for many reasons.

And, there's the message from James to say he's been sent home. Nothing from Kayleigh yet, so one of them must be off today. Now, lets hope I haven't just jinxed myself.

We went to see Mission Impossible -- The Final Reckoning, yesterday, and it was a ridiculous, OTT, action packed and fitting end to the series I felt. Though, I did see more of Tom Cruise in his undies than I expected.

While at the Metrocentre, I also went to get my monthly eyelash tint, but went to a different branch as the one I've been going to was busy. They actually did a better job in getting the lower lashes, but nearly scrubbed my eyeballs out of my head when getting the dye off at the end. So, not sure which one I'll be going back to next time.

Today we've picked up my MiL as she's staying until Monday, and we've come home because Sunderland are playing at Wembley this afternoon to, hopefully, get back into the Premier League. James has bought himself a EE TV day sports pass so he can watch the match with my MiL, while I'll be casually watching from my desk. So, fingers crossed that they'll win, as it'll be huge for the region to get back into the top league.

Tomorrow the plan is to go out for Sunday dinner, then bank holiday Monday, meet up with Corey somewhere before taking my MiL back home.

Kayleigh and Lucy are having a short break in Kraków, atm -- Bodhi is staying with Lucy's mam and sister. They left Saturday evening and will fly home tomorrow morning, so it really is a short visit. This means I've been on/am on cat and tortoise duty at their house.

Though, the cat looking after isn't as involved as previously ( cut for sad talk about a cat, not Murphy or Kevin. )

Before they went away Kayleigh asked if I wanted a hoover they were going to throw away as they'd bought a new one. I figured it would be perfect to keep in James' craft room, as that's always full of saw dust. I tried it for the first time today and the thing is a beast! It's a Shark brand, and there's not a thing wrong with it, so much so I'm seriously considering keeping it for my main hoover and giving James our usual one. I can't believe they were just going to throw it away.

I usually watch Eurovision, but tapped out halfway through on Saturday night. I just wasn't feeling it, and was tired as we'd taken the bus to Durham for a walk before coming home to take Kayleigh and Lucy to the airport. I did enjoy Doctor Who beforehand though and liked how it tied into Eurovision day.

It was class earlier, and I enjoyed it. Though, had a laugh with my friend as we walked home as Rosie split us up for the circuits, making us feel like we were back at school and had been split up for talking too much. That's not why she did it though, at least, I don't think so. Just, there were new people, and she wanted them to be partnered with old timers. I ended up with a lady coming to her first class, and it was also the first time she'd been out in public for a long time, so I'm glad I could be a friendly face in what had to be a difficult situation.

I enjoyed the wedding on Saturday. It was such a lovely location and the bride and groom were so happy, and both looked amazing.

There was a lot of waiting at first as things had became delayed so the main wedding party were still eating dessert when the evening guests arrived. But, we could wait in a courtyard with an attached bar, and met up with some old friends and just chatted until everyone could go to the main area.

Because of that delay lots of things got pushed back, the photo booth people could only take photos for an hour as they'd turned up at the time they'd been booked from, when the majority of people were still waiting outside. Then the food -- hot rolls, beef in gravy, pork in gravy, vegan sausages in gravy, complete with chips and various sauces, wasn't served until 10:30. Which was good for the main guests who were still eating at seven, but not so much for everyone else. But, there was also a nicely stocked free candy bar, so people were fuelled by sugar.

Funny story, while waiting a lady came rushing over saying, I know you but don't know how! I didn't know how either, though knew her face, so gave a few suggestions, were we at school together? Scout events? ( The bride and groom were both scouts, which is why we were invited, from that connection ) but it actually turned out she works at Company Shop, just neither of us clicked the connection due to being dressed so differently than usual.

She was such a lot of fun though, and insisted on buying a round of shots for everyone while we were waiting. No idea what the shot was, but it tasted good.

Despite the timing issues it was such a good night and if it wasn't such a long drive home we would have stayed even later than we did. If anyone is interested, I posted photos on Insta, here.

Yesterday was class, then Bodhisitting on the afternoon. Lucy did offer to pick me up but I said I'd just walk up after class as it seemed pointless to walk home then be picked up half an hour later. Plus, it was a lovely sunny day, so I enjoyed the walk.

Class was about fibre, which was quite interesting, and the battle ropes and slam ball was out, which I enjoyed. Though, things felt a bit extra challenging after class being off last week and me not doing my usual at home stuff due to not feeling well. After leaving some of the ladies were stopping for a drink at the attached gym cafe and asked me if I wanted to join them, but I couldn't which is a shame. Hopefully, that will happen again as while I've made one friend who I tend to walk home with, it'll be nice to talk to more of the others away from the class setting.

In the last few days I went to see Sinners which I really enjoyed. I'm glad I knew about the extended mid-credit scene which gave new information, as lots of people left well before that.

We also went to You Meow cat café on Sunday, and that was a nice time too. Well, mostly. We hadn't realised there was a big rugby tournament going on in Newcastle, and loads of roads were closed due to various reasons, so it took ages to get there. Plus, You Meow is the only cat café I know that allows young children entry, so it was a bit chaotic and noisy, despite how well the staff were ensuring the cats weren't affected.

That café is more expensive than the others at £11 a person per hour, but you get a drink and some biscuits/fortune cookies included with that. But why it works out best for us is I can get in free as a carer, so in terms of the remaining cat cafés, it's the best value by a long way.

Yesterday it was a bank holiday, so we'd arranged to take my MiL out for a drive. I should have cancelled really as I haven't been feeling my best for a while, and it got much worse yesterday. Nothing serious, just off a bit and what felt like a bad head cold. Of course, it got worse when no doctors were open, but, I remembered about the Pharmacy First scheme and that worked perfectly, even if it did take ages to find a pharmacy that was actually open.

But the pharmacist I saw there was great and quickly diagnosed I have bacterial sinusitis and prescribed antibiotics. There was a slight delay as she wasn't sure if she could prescribe to me due to having had a gastric bypass. But after looking it up said it was fine, just, I may have to go to my own doctor if I'm still not fully well after the course is finished as the antibiotics may not have absorbed as well, and I could need a longer course.

I'm feeling a bit better today, and have no plans for the next three days so hopefully, will feel fully better soon.

intoabar is open for signups and I think I'm going to sign again. It's the only thing that's made me write for the last two years, and I do like the challenge, especially as it's so low stress. Now I need to think who to sign up with. Again, I'm tempted to use Aramis from The Musketeers for the main character, but that does make how he'd meet other characters tricky. Then again, I suppose it's no less tricky than the Neelix from Voyager meeting TK from Lonestar assignment from last year.

I enjoyed weight management class on Monday, especially as it was a beautiful sunny day, so I didn't need to wear a hoodie or cardigan on the way down. We talked about stress and how it affected health, though, I say we, as per usual the last few weeks certain people dominated the conversation.

But, the battle ropes were out again, which was great as I do enjoy using those. Also the three level step complete with 10kg kettlebells to hold while doing the step-ups if you wanted to be spicy. I did want to be spicy, and was spicy, in that I used the kettlebell and also the colour of a spicy red pepper by the time we were done. The place we use for class is attached to the modern gym building, but the actual hall we use is much older, and gets freezing in the colder months and boiling in the warmer ones. As much as I enjoy the warmth and sun, I haven't missed looking like a wrung out rag at the end of class.

Tuesday was a Bodhisitting day, where we spent a good amount of time in the garden as the weather was still beautiful.

Yesterday was one of James' days off so we went to spend some time with Kayleigh, again in the garden, as she has a huge garden with some nice garden furniture. Then went to get rid of more clutter at the tip -- including, finally, the old broken microwave that's been stuck in the greenhouse for months now. Then off to the hospital so James could get his new splint fitted. What I love about that department is they have dedicated parking spots for the patients, so we never have to worry about getting parked, so it was an easy and fast appointment. Plus, James says the splint feels good, strong but lightweight, which is what he wanted.

Today is another gorgeous day, and we did have tickets for Thunderbolts this afternoon, but have just had to change to Saturday as we're still waiting for the alarm person to come -- we've used the cooling-off period to cancel the alarm as it wasn't suiting us, so they're coming to take the equipment this morning some time. Then, tonight, we're meeting up with Pauline and my brother/niece/nephew at the Indian restaurant we like. So, it should be a nice time. But man, I wish that guy had come at the beginning of the time window so we didn't have to change film times.

The Sky tv was also turned off this morning, so we've had to install the new EE TV boxes, which seem fine so far. The interface will take some getting used to, and they don't support the Disney + app, so I'll have to watch that on my PC now. But we do have six months of free Apple TV, so lost one thing, gained another.

And ha, the alarm man has been and gone. Tickets changed again, and we're off to the cinema now :D

On Saturday, I was at Pets at Home, helping out for Consett Cats again. This time I was manning the tombola, and final total raised was £81. Not as much as the week before, but considering the prizes were the usual, not exciting tombola fare, I was pleased with the total. The shop did warn Kay, the main rescue lady, that we had to be careful about people stopping to talk and blocking the aisle. Not just for our day, but the whole fortnight.

This is a year-long partnership, so we'll be back in the summer and before Christmas for two more fortnights of fundraising -- in between they have collection tins out for Consett Cats near the tills, and raise money that way -- and hopefully they'll rearrange, so the table can go in the foyer and not cause bottlenecks.

We ended up staying much longer than originally planned, but again, I got to stroke lots of cute dogs and talk to lots of people, so I enjoyed the day.

If anyone is interested, Kay was recently interviewed for the BBC news, talking about trapping a feral colony. She really is an amazing woman, running the rescue single-handed with the help of volunteers.

Sunday I spent hanging at Kayleigh's as my brother and nephew were going there to put up a shed. It's not often that us sibs can get together for nearly a full day, even if Chris was working for most of it. It was nice to just hang, though man, it was chilly, and in the end Kayleigh switched on the patio heater.

Monday we were supposed to take Bodhi to a Tinkerbell Easter party at Moo Bears, but it was cancelled as Tinkerbell ended up having to be admitted to hospital. Thankfully, Bodhi still doesn't really have any real concept of time, so didn't realise she was missing out. Plus, she had all her eggs to concentrate on, so was happy enough.

I was a bit annoyed at Moos, who only announced the cancellation in a few sentences within their normal daily FB post. If I hadn't read that, we would have turned up to no party. I think, considering the tickets were pre-paid, they should have messaged people individually.

As there was no party, we rearranged plans and did grocery shopping in the morning, dropped off Bodhi's easter basket, then went to Pauline's as she'd asked us to come for lunch. Stayed there for a couple of hours and then headed for Newcastle to drop off Corey's Easter eggs.

Yesterday was supposed to be a no plan day for me, but first thing I got a message from Kayleigh asking, what are your plans today? Which I always know means, something has come up, can you babysit for me? And yep, I was at Kayleigh's from 10 to nearly four as Bodes wasn't feeling well and Kayleigh and Lucy had tattoo appointments booked in. It was all good though, I got to play tea parties and got some sun in the garden, and had a bit of excitement when first, their youngest cat decided to carry in a giant, fat, furry bumblebee. Then a blackbird decided to stroll in the house to get a drink from the cat's waterbowl. That I didn't mind, the bee situation, trying to work out how to get a cat to drop a bee wasn't a good time.

I got excellent mail. Thank you so much ♥

I went to see two films on Friday and Saturday. First was The Minecraft Movie on Fri, and I enjoyed it a lot. Apparently there's a trend of people standing to applaud and shouting out lines at certain points, but we had none of that at our showing, no doubt because it was an early Friday showing and also a school day. I'm sure loads of things would have gone over my head as I've never played Minecraft, but going was worth it for just seeing Jason Momoa hamming it up in his pink leather jacket, never mind everything else.

Saturday we saw Death of a Unicorn, and that was fine. ( cutting for spoilers )

The cinema was buzzing that day, I've never seen it so busy for a long time, or as messy, as popcorn was everywhere in the areas outside the theatre screens.

That day, we also made the decision to ditch Sky and have signed up with EE TV. It was a difficult decision as we've been with Sky for over 25 years, but the price kept going up and up, and when we phoned to see if we could get a deal they said a straight out, nope. So we've cancelled.

The EE modem and tv boxes are coming tomorrow, and the Sky broadband is being switched off Friday. So, hopefully the switch goes smoothly. If not, well if I disappear completely you know something has gone badly wrong.

Monday it was class, and we talked about good and bad fats, and Rosie said she's still looking into a second class, asking if people would be okay going in the evening. Personally, I'd prefer during the day, but I still said yes. But something interesting, a new lady started last week, but I only chatted to her properly on Monday, and she said she has lymphedema too. ( cut for medical stuff )

James was supposed to be at work today, and actually set off there as normal. But what we didn't know was that overnight there had been a multiple vehicle crash, including four police cars that had totally closed the main road to his work in both directions. Normally it's a 45 minutes commute, this morning he was still stuck in traffic after 90 minutes and still nowhere near work. He wasn't the only one, anyone coming from our direction to control was stuck in the same jams, so they all called in late. But for James, sitting still for so long made his back and leg intensely painful. He asked if a team leader would meet him when he finally got to work, to help him out of the car. They did, but also brought the on duty paramedic who said the amount of pain James was in no way could he sit for a ten-hour shift. So, he got sent home and told to call in sick.

Thankfully, it's a day off for him tomorrow, so he should be fine going back Friday.

It's also a Bodhisitting morning tomorrow. The first for a while, so it'll be nice to spend time with her. It's also forecast to be 19C so I can see me sitting in the garden watching her bounce on her trampoline.

It was another lovely spring day yesterday. As James had a day off we headed to Beamish again and continued on our plan to visit the parts of the museum you can only reach by foot. Including yesterday, a restored farmhouse which had the most adorable sunbathing pig, and a field of hens and turkeys. Which led to the turkey situation.

James thinks he can do a great turkey impression. Now, I'm no turkey expert so can't say if it is or not, but it is enthusiastic and loud, and he was talking to the turkeys, causing a little girl who was also watching them to give him a very dubious look. She eventually went off with her dad, and we wandered off too.

Later in the day, got on one of the restored buses, and guess who gets on? The little girl and her dad. Now the buses are small and a lot of people got on, so the dad was practically sitting on my lap next to me with the girl sitting on his knee. James was sitting opposite us, and the dad went, 'oh look, it's the turkey man' Which cracked me up, as the girl still looked very dubious.

Later still, onto a different bus, and who was sitting on the seat opposite? The girl and her dad, I'm sure they must have thought we were stalking them at that point. We had a bit of a chat, and then they got off at the next stop, no doubt hoping they'd never see turkey man again *g*

Another thing that happened yesterday. There was a very loud knock at the door, James looked out the window, and it was a policeman. As it was heading toward seven I was already in my PJs, feet up in the recliner and ready for some TV while James was relaxing too. Of course that changed in an instant because I don't know about others, but seeing the police at the door always makes me think worst case scenarios.

Thankfully, it wasn't. He was there to take a statement about Rosie's window being broken. I was surprised it took so long, or that we weren't given any warning he was coming, but it does sound like they've got the investigation in hand.

To end, have a Kevin photo. This is the view I now get when I'm in the bath. There used to be nice succulents and ornaments up there. ( Now there's Kevin surveying his domain. )

It was a Bodhisitting day today, so we ended up at Moobears, where the mascot of the day was Bluey, which caused great excitement as Bluey is one of Bodhi's favourites right now. Then she got upset when Bingo wasn't there, too. But we did get some good photos, including James dancing with Bodhi and Bluey, which was adorable. We also booked Bodes in for the Easter Monday Tinkerbell party, so that should be fun.

We've been taking advantage of our Unlimited Odeon card and saw Marching Powder last week, which was pretty much Danny Dyer playing Danny Dyer and seemed to have a ratio of one swear word for every four other words. Then yesterday we saw Snow White, which was okay. I enjoyed all the singing and dancing scenes, and it was very pretty to look at, but nothing I'd make an effort to watch again.

Thursday it was another lovely spring day so we took advantage of our yearly pass and headed to Beamish, the open air living museum. This time we walked to a part we normally miss out as it's up a big hill and can only be reached by foot, but we were both glad we'd made the effort as the hall and tavern were lovely to visit. Plus, there were two adorable ginger pigs to admire. By the end of that visit, we'd managed a three-mile walk, which was pleasing.

Nikita from Strictly is doing his solo tour at the moment and reviews have been great. Sadly, it's not coming to Sunderland, and the Newcastle showing is sold out. Which is typical, as the rave reviews make me want tickets so badly. Especially after seeing Nikita give Vito a lap dance as part of his latest show. I mean, come on, that outfit, that dance. I need to see! I even got close to buying tickets for the Edinburgh show, but sadly, that's next week when I'm cat and tortoise sitting, so an overnight stay somewhere isn't possible.

I may have gone to the giant charity shop again, and may have bought more clothes. Included in that was an amazing wool blend coat which is thick, has multiple pockets and is really good quality. Normally I would have passed it by as it was priced at £20, but there was a 25% discount on all the winter coats, so £15 for something that really is good quality was a steal. Though, when I got it home I did discover it's dry-clean only which is a pain.

I also got the greenhouse tidied when it was nice, so everything there is good to go once the weather gets more consistent. Because right now we're having some lovely days, but also frosty nights. But as soon as we're having more sun, the greenhouse is ready.