No Children - Day 3!

I have had a really, really lazy day today. After doing boring laundry, I popped out to drop a birthday present round to Emily's friend and that's pretty much all I have done! I did intend to make some cards, but there's always tomorrow (or the next day)!!

I watched Panic Room (very young Kristen Stewart), and crocheted my blanket. I did manage to push the Hoover around for a bit. This afternoon a colleague from work came round to pick up a card that I had made for her (which she loved) and that is pretty much my day.

I have been feeling very headachy - I think weather wise it is a bit hot and humid, maybe it's that.

Because I haven't really done anything today, I decided to take a photo of one of my pots which is looking very pretty at the moment, and of my orchid, which is also looking pretty spectacular.

Well, the children are in Folkestone with Mum and Dad, back at their house tomorrow night. Mark and I are off for a meal out with the mother-in-law to celebrate her birthday and that my friends is that!

M x

No Children - Day 2!

Today started better than yesterday. I actually got to have a lay-in until 8.15am which is not that late, but it is a first so far this holiday. Had a nice relaxing bath - finished the ridiculous book I was reading - The Seven Year Itch. Didn't really care what happened in the end, but at least I finished it.

Whilst the bed was clear, I took a photo of my hexagon blanket now that I have finished the 6th round. Sophie was being difficult and kept laying on it! Got there in the end.

Today the only plan I had was to make the card for Janet McGee's new grandchild - I promised her it would be ready for tomorrow. Typical of me, I decided to watch a film first - talk about procrastination! Anyway, really enjoyed Confessions of a Shopaholic (don't tell Emily I watched it without her, she'll be cross!!). I was worried that I wouldn't like it because I really enjoyed the books, and they have changed loads for the film, but it was alright - made better by Hugh Dancy!

Finally decided I had better make the card - I had an hour to get started til there was a craft programme on QVC. Could I find the stamp I wanted? It wasn't where it should have been, I finally unearthed it in a box under a chair in the dining room. Anyway I made a start with the embossing and all went well. Stopped for an hour whilst I watched QVC and then got on with it. I'm really pleased with the end result - looks bright and fresh. Hope Janet likes it.

OMG - my typing has been shocking today - I think it's because my nails are too long, they are getting on my nerves!

Spent the rest of the afternoon crocheting my blanket and watching the TV - watched a film What Happens in Vegas - it was OK, and chatting on the phone to Rosemary Bolton. A very lazy day indeed - heigh ho!

M x

A Great Start!

Today is the start of my week without the children, who have gone to their grandparents until Saturday. I have been looking forward to this week for ages, to have a bit of peace and quiet and "me" time.

Well after a pretty sleepless night (note to self - no coffee or coke before bedtime!), I got downstairs to find the mangled remains of a bird - not talking to Sophie today, and no Sky!! I can only hope the day improves, but this is fairly typical of the way life is. We will see how the day progresses - I am off for my Petite Pedicure at 10.30 - will get back to you!

Am back from my pedicure and my toe nails are now a gorgeous shade of dark blue.

I have booked my Mini Manicure for Thursday after my doctor's appointment. Don't know if to try and have them a matching blue, or to have a clear polish.

Whilst I was in town I bought two books with my book voucher from school - I got a new Maeve Binchy and a new Catherine Alliot. On a whim I decided to pop into the Oxfam bookshop and bought the hardback of Breaking Dawn for £3.99. I am bitterly disappointed that the paperback won't be out til next year, so I have succumbed to the hardback, which I will recycle once the paperback comes out!

After leaving the Sky box unplugged for a while, it has come back on - thank goodness. Otherwise the day I have planned would have been spoiled.

I have spent the afternoon watching films (Parenthood and Made of Honour) and crocheting my blanket. I have almost finished the 6th round which I only started on Friday. I am planning to post a photo of it tomorrow. See you then.

M x

Stratford upon Avon

After breakfast on the final day of our trip, we packed up the car and headed off for Stratford upon Avon. I haven't been there since I was 15 or 16, on an O Level school trip to see The Merchant of Venice.

It took us about an hour to get there from Uttoxeter. The children caught up with some more sleep in the car - Alton Towers must have really worn them out!

Stratford is a really pretty town, with some really great shops. We managed to get parked in a car park right in the town.

Emily and I popped into Lush to look at all there lovely fresh products. We decided to buy a couple of the fresh face mask but planned to pick them up on the way back to the car park.

We headed towards the river and the RSC, which is undergoing a massive refurbishment and covered in scaffolding.

We sat by the river watching the swans, and saw a boat going through the lock.

We got an ice cream and then took a little boat trip down the river. It only lasted 15 minutes, but it was really pleasant sitting on the boat in the sunshine.

After the boat trip, we picked up a sandwich at Greggs and headed back to the car, via Lush, and then headed home. We had a good trip and got home just before 4pm.

We have had a brilliant three days away, and we are looking forward to our next trip to Durham in a couple of weeks time. I am happy that we have been able to fulfil our promise to the children to take them to Alton Towers, and despite some really dodgy weather we all had a fab time!

M x

A fab time at Alton Towers! (Part 2)

After a very, very wet day yesterday, we could only keep our fingers crossed for today. The forecast was promising, dry with patchy showers. We left the hotel in sunshine, just after 9.00am, and got to Alton Towers around 9.30. Another ride on the annoying Jelly Bean train (we would not be getting that on the way home!) and we arrived about 9.40.

There was a small crowd of people waiting by the lake to enter the grounds, which we joined, until Mark spotted a sign that said Annual Pass holders could enter ahead of everyone else - result!

We headed straight down to Oblivion, which Emily persuaded Mark to go on (no thanks said I!). They didn't even have to queue,just walked straight on the ride.

I thought Mark would hate it, but he really enjoyed it and Emily thought it was brilliant!

We then headed off to Rita Queen of Speed, but had a little sidetrack for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The first bit was a boat ride, which took you through the chocolate river where Augustus Gloop got sucked up the pipe, then it carried on through the juicer bit where Violet Beauregard ate the bubblegum and the squirrel part where Veruca Salt wanted the squirrel. We got off the boat and into a viewing area for a short film clip about Mike Teevee. Finally we ended up in the Great Glass Elevator for a very clever simulated ride. It was the best part of the ride.

Then onto Rita! I went on with Emily first. The whole thing from joining the queue to finishing the ride took 10 minutes! Oh My God - it was fast. It was like being fired out of a gun. I couldn't walk in a straight line when I got off - it was brilliant!!

While we were on that Mark took Edward to the Peugeot Driving School (yet another driving licence!).

Then it was Mark's turn to go on Rita. We didn't tell him how fast it was, we wanted him to be surprised (or shocked). At that point was the first downpour of the day. Edward and I sheltered at the driving school whist Mark and Emily went off to Rita. When it stopped we went down to watch them. They were nearly at the head of the queue - in the front seat queue - Emily wanted to go at the front.

Emily really enjoyed it again and Mark thought it was great.

Mark and I then did Hex. The children were going to come on it with us, but Edward was really nervous so Emily took him out and they waited for us to finish. It was OK, the end bit was the best, the rest was a bit tedious really.

After that Emily and Mark went on Air and then Nemesis. Edward and I went on Duel again and then we stopped and had coffee and cake while we waiting. Then we all went back on the Runaway Mine Train again.

After that we went back on Congo River Rapids. I was determined not to get a wet bottom this time, so I bought myself (and Edward) the Alton Towers rain ponchos (with 20% discount!). We had to queue for quite a while and it rained whilst we were queueing, but I was dry in my groovy purple poncho. The ride was fun as usual - we really like this one.

We packed so much into the day, not just to make up for the day before, but because the queues weren't really too bad. We did whatever we fancied. We went on the Flume where you sit in bathtubs - that was great fun. Edward and Mark got the wettest because they were up the front. The wettest we all got was on the Pirate Galleons. You ride on a boat round the lake shooting others with water whilst they are shooting you. The spectators and people queueing can also squirt you - and they did! We all got absolutely drenched, even though we were wearing raincoats, ponchos etc. I had water go up the sleeve of my raincoat!

Emily decided that she wanted one more ride on Air before we left, so she and Mark headed off in that direction, whilst Edward and I had our final ride on the Runaway Mine Train. We went to meet them at the photo shop for Air, but they were ages. The ride had broken down whilst they were queuing! Nemesis had also broken down and people had to disembark half way up the chain lift - rather them than me!

We decided to call it a day at this point, as we had done so much and everyone had had a really great time. We had one final ride on Duel, Edward bought his turtles in the Sea Life Centre shop, we picked up some doughnuts and a cookie for Edward and then headed off. We got the Daisy Train back to the car park this time, the poor Jelly Bean had been sidelined - ha ha!

Yet again, lovely warm baths back at the hotel, then dinner at Frankie and Benny's in Uttoxeter (not much else on offer apart from KFC).

We were all pretty pooped from such a full-on day - but we had a really great time.

M x

A fab time at Alton Towers! (Part 1)

I think today I will blog in stages. Having been away for three days, there is too much to post at one time - it will be boring to write, never mind read.

On Wednesday we left bright and early - well we left at 8.45am and it was raining! It pretty much carried on raining all day. We arrived at Alton Towers bang on 10.00am which was excellent. We had anticipated the journey taking three hours. The children both caught up on some sleep in the car and I confess to nodding off for a time! Poor Mark, we weren't very sociable!

The car parks at Alton Towers weren't as crowded as we thought they would be - I think the weather put a lot of people off. Anyway it was on with the waterproofs and off we went towards the monorail. We got the one decorated with strawberries to go into the park. It was raining so hard, that I had to put all of our phones, cameras, purses etc in a carrier bag (clever me!) inside the rucksack, which was already soaked.

Once as we got into the park we decided to head straight for Spinball Whizzer which we we could all go on and which was closest. Unfortunately lots of other people had the same idea! We queued for about an hour in very heavy rain. Slightly concerning when the ride broke down half way through the queueing process (we must be jinxed!), but it was soon up and running. We had to go in separate cars - I went with Emily and Mark went with Edward (who was very nervous). Good grief, it was fast - it literally shot you around like a pinball! It was good fun though!

We then made our way to Duel. This was right up Edward's street - laser gun! It's a ride set in the old Haunted House and you ride around in the dark shooting things - it made me scream a couple of times when things jumped out at us (which made Emily laugh!). After a quick snack, we went on it again. Not good for the hands, those laser guns are really heavy, and my hands were aching after the second time.

Went on the Runaway Mine Train after that- I remember going on this ride years ago and it is still good fun. I liked the bit when you go through the tunnel and the track rides close to the Congo River Rapids. Lots of shrieking and laughing!

We decided that as we were already soaking wet, a little bit more water wouldn't hurt - the Congo River Rapids were calling! This is a really great ride, and because there was no queue, they let us stay on for a second go. I thought I couldn't get any wetter - how wrong was I! We were wet everywhere, we literally squelched when we walked - it was a tad uncomfortable!

After a Burger King for the children, some doughnuts for us and a quick trot around the Sea Life Centre, we decided to call it a day! It was about 2.45 by this point, and we had stuck it out gamely under very trying circumstances - enough was enough. We caught the Jelly Bean train back to the car park and headed off for the hotel.

Hot baths and showers for all was the order of the day, and a bit of a chill out, before we went down to dinner in the hotel. Nice meal, though the service was a bit slow. Lots of families were there all with the same idea as us - the hotel is ideally situated for Alton Towers.

We all read for a bit and had an early night, ready for the next day which we hoped would be drier than today had been!

(P.S. Am reading The Seven Year Itch - not a great book, writing style is tedious and I wouldn't recommend it. Will be glad when I have finished it).

M x

Busy Weekend

Today I feel really tired. The weekend was so busy, that I need a day to catch up. Don't know why, but I am not really sleeping very well, and certainly am not able to sleep in - which is a tad annoying given that it is the summer holiday. Although having said that, the weather is certainly not summery - another day of rain (getting slightly tedious now!).

On Saturday we went up to Milton Keynes for my niece's 13th birthday. We went up early to do a couple of jobs before the party. We went to Ikea to get the small bookcase and a spare shelf for Edward's bookcase. Then we went to Costco to stock up on essentials, before calling in at Borders so that I could browse in Paperchase. Also tried to find out some info from a very helpful chap about Breaking Dawn - he couldn't find out any info about the paperback launch either - drat!

After that we headed off to my sister's house where we had a very nice time. Drank quite a lot of champagne sangria (far to nice) and had lots of delicious food. Mum made a Charis a great birthday cake.

Charis with her cake

We stayed until about 9pm, then made a move to go home. I was planning for us to go to Legoland the next day, so didn't want to be too late. We were all pretty tired by the time we got home, so didn't unpack all our goodies from the car - who wants to be carrying bookcases about at that time of night!

We got up really early the next day and left by 8.30 to go to Legoland. Luckily the weather looked quite promising so off we went. We got to Legoland just before 10am. It looked quite busy, but with our Merlin passes we avoided the queues (and saved ourselves over £100!).

We had a really great day and went on everything we wanted to go on. Slight problem with Tomb Raiders that broke down just as we were about to get on it (after queueing for 45 minutes!). It was sorted pretty quickly, so we did get to go on the ride - much to Ed's relief. We got a bit wet on the Viking river ride, and the Pirate Falls, but nowhere as wet as we did on Tidal Wave at Thorpe Parke! Ed was a bit nervous at the Jungle Coaster and the Dragon ride but he really enjoyed it.

Em and Ed at the Driving School

We had a really nice lunch in the pizza and pasta restaurant, made even better by getting 20% off with our Merlin passes!

We finally left to go home around 6.45. We did think that the traffic on the M4 and M25 was going to be a problem, but we decided to head towards Beaconsfield, Amersham and Chesham and were home at 8.30 - not bad at all. We all had a really great day.

Today, we are having a lazy day. As I write, Mark has taken Ed to see Transformers 2 (rather him than me, I had to endure the first one!), and Em is still in bed . She is going to start her homework today, not that she is too keen. We are off to Buntingford to see the Mother-in-Law and have dinner there. Apart from that, it will be catching up on some jobs and building a bookcase. Sounds like fun!

M x