to blog so I’m using it.
Got home after a really nice (and very cheap – we only paid the tip!) evening with friends. Lovely curry, lots to drink, a fairly rowdy night with a lot of banter going on with the restauarant staff and people dining at nearby tables which was all quite nice. The friends are a couple who I have known since I was about 8 or 9 and they were 20 ish with a 2yo son. They started off as sort of friends of my parents – Gary is a mechanic and has always fixed our families cars – and in the days of driving old bangers used to supply them too, he also worked for my dad for a time doing bits of decorating work when Dad had a lot on, and Mandy worked weekends in my Mum’s restaurant. Gary even used to take me and Frazer swimming on Saturdays when we were kids. But somehow as I’ve grown up and we ended up buying our house round the corner from theirs, and Ady is the same age as them, that 12 year age gap has closed and they have ended up as our friends. Their kids are 19 and 21 now and their 19yo daughter is pregnant. So they are about to become very young grandparents.
We had nice chats about all sorts of things including a very indepth discussion of HE – which for once was quite well conducted and left them very convinced which was nice 🙂 After several drinks including a very pretty multicoloured shot each which was complementary and included creme de menth, baileys and campari (!) it all got louder! We adjourned to the local pub for one last drink before coming home for coffee.
We arrived to find Mum in Scarlett’s room where she had been for the previous hour trying to placate a not too pleased to see her instead of us small person. She came into the lounge and charmed Gary and Mandy while they had their coffee and then they all left and Ady went to bed. I sat up with her watching Wife Swap on one of the re-run channels ’til she went to sleep at about 1.30am. I was not that tired so it was not that much of a chore and I knew I would be getting a lie in this morning so that was okay 🙂
This morning I arose at about 9am, caught up on the blogring (and forgot to mention at least three people who have been helping keep the ring alive while some people lived it up at CP over on Joyce’s blog 🙁 ) while Ady had a bath which was then hijacked by the kids, then me and Davies went into town shopping. I got myself a couple of warm and snuggly jumpers in the sales for Melrose (have now had at least four people say to me ‘Scotland? At this time of year? Hope you’ve got some warm clothes!’ and raise even more eyebrows when I say it’s a YH which even I am now imagining as drafty and with no electricity barely supplying shelter from the elements!), finallly got my 10% discount card from ELC – where I picked up a few 20% off crafty kits too, got Davies’ DangerMouse eye patch and Scarlett some dolly nappies and Davies some waterproof troouser half price in Woolies and a pair of Incredibles pjs which came with a detachable cloak so he can use for dressing up.
Lunch in McDs for him (and me – urgh!) and then a quick trip to Sainsburys and home. St Johns Ambulance were in town doing a bit of tin rattling and giving away balloons and stickers so I spoke to them about coming to do some first aid training at our HE group and got all the leaflets about their courses and the email address of their education liason officer to contact and then they showed us all inside one of their ambulances – which was very interesting – I’ve never been inside an ambulance before and as SJA folk always seem to take huge amounts of pride in their work we got a very in depth explanation of what it all was for too – which prompted a talk about death certificates and similar on the way back home 🙂 There was also some sort of Sea Cadet group in town playing marching band type music which we stood and listened to for a bit. Davies is very good company when he is on his own – very grown up and really appreciative of the one to one time.
Back home Ady was all depressed cos Portsmouth had lost against arch rivals Southampton in some cup or other and he is also suffering with a cold (and had gone to bed at midnight and been up at 5ish!) but he had managed to do some baking with Scarlett and play drawing with her so she had enjoyed some attention on her own too.
We sort of have plans to excavate the cupboard under the stairs which we both keep finding things to ‘just quickly do first’ and Mum and Dad are coming over for dinner later so I won’t be back ’til tomorrow.
Oh, but you’re right about the YH. Straw mattresses too, outside toilets and no running water. Did no one tell you?
Comment by Barbara — 29 January 2005 @ 4:51 pm
roflmao Barbara!
Comment by jax — 29 January 2005 @ 6:00 pm
It was hot hot hot Last year. The phone I had then had a little thermometer thing on the back (don’t ask me why), and at one point it claimed it was 30C in my room. I could believe it actually, and I had to beg the guy to come and switch off our jammed-on radiator. And it was 12C outside today, so not that cold. Just dark 🙁 Did I mention that I’m longing for daylight?
Comment by Joyce — 29 January 2005 @ 7:41 pm
It was really really hot at Melrose last year – inside, anyway! I’d taken warm jumpers and didn’t wear any of them!
Comment by Sarah — 29 January 2005 @ 8:06 pm
Only a week today Nic!! I can’t tell you how nervous I am. I hope you don’t have any great expectations about our house as the dining room and the living room have not been touched since we moved in here so it is not my taste, the carpets need burning and loads of work to be done before decoration can be attempted – just to forewarn you LOL On the other hand told Steve he was cooking a curry and he has already started panicking about his ingredients LOL
Comment by Karen b — 29 January 2005 @ 10:10 pm
Yep it was boiling inside and not that cold outside. Did get soaked on the Roman walk though LOL!
Comment by Roslyn — 29 January 2005 @ 10:41 pm
well grr… now I’m torn between not wanting to come (incase Barbara *gets* me and I’ve been too disrespectful to Joyce, the beds really are something resembling the Muddlepuddle nativity scene and we get caught in the ‘did you use this knife for non -organic, dairy, wheat, carb, alcohol tainted food prep without disinfecting it with arnica type cross fire while preparing our beef stew, and the whole double packing dilema of warm woolie jumpers and bikinis for sub tropical room temparatures and sub zero dynamic earth trips) and the fact I can’t bloody wait to meet you all / reacquaint myself with everyone.
Karen don’t worry at all – we will take you as we find you and your hospitality is so appreciated that if you live in a shack we will be grateful for putting us up 🙂
Yes, several drinks down and love the whole world. goodnight blogring, goodnight xxx
Comment by Nic — 29 January 2005 @ 10:42 pm
giggle…. its okay. i’m going to ruin it all with sheep dip for all on arrival…
Comment by Merry — 29 January 2005 @ 11:24 pm
ROFL Merry – I’d forgotten your plan of making everyone crawl through disinfectant on their way out of the toilets!
Comment by Alison — 30 January 2005 @ 12:30 am
Excellent idea – not why didn’t *I* think of that.
Comment by Joyce — 30 January 2005 @ 11:41 am
Dunno Joyce, we assumed that’s what you did at home anyway 😉
Comment by Alison — 30 January 2005 @ 11:45 am
What’s up with your blog Alison – have you joined Chris underground or is there 100 from flickr going on to beat us all? 🙂
Comment by Nic — 30 January 2005 @ 1:02 pm
The people have some server problem so there is currently no home-educate.me.uk – and I can’t get any blooming mail either!
Very annoying! Still, it did mean that yesterday afternoon, instead of reading mail and/or blogging I sat on the library website and made long lists of books to read and put loads of hold requests on!
Comment by Alison — 30 January 2005 @ 4:32 pm
ah, that explains the lack of reply from you then, I did think you might not have been getting mail. Will have to make some decisions all by myself then!
Comment by Sarah — 30 January 2005 @ 7:01 pm
Decisions? Intriguing! Site is back up, but no mail yet ….
Comment by Alison — 30 January 2005 @ 7:52 pm