dark

We gained an extra hour this weekend. So that was nice. I spent mine in bed.

But now it's dark at 5pm.  And I bloody hate cold, dark winters.

So we're off to Greece. Me and my sis and the kids are having a cheeky break in Rhodes. We go on Wednesday. Only till Sunday. But better than Barnard Castle.

Can't. Bloody. Wait.

Auntie Faffy

This is Cathy. We called her Auntie Faffy. She was ace at golf. And had the best smile. She was my very first friend in the world and lived two doors away when we were kids. I went to her funeral on Wednesday. Funerals in a pandemic are even sadder than before. Life is cruel sometimes. And short. Make the most of every day ❤️

moving day 2.0

 We finally moved the Eldest back to Newcastle yesterday, into the new student house she's been paying for since August. We had to leave the Youngest at home. He wouldn't fit in the car. We couldn't squish another single item in there. I travelled the two hour drive with a large box on my knee containing at least 26 plants, 3 pots of pens, makeup brushes, a banana skin (mine) and miscellaneous 'essential items'. I had to sit on 2 fluffy blankets and I had 4 cushions by my feet. And a 4ft shark next to my head. We couldn't even see Jodester in the back seat.

We dumped all her stuff in her new room then legged it to Ikea. (Of course we couldn't buy the shelving units she wanted at the Ikea 10 mins away from home cos there was zero chance of them fitting in my Mini with all her other shizz.) It was Sunday so half the north west also thought Ikea would be a lovely day out. The queue to get in was like Alton Towers. We were starving by the time we made it through the yellow revolving door so we nipped to the restaurant for meatballs. Only nipping doesn't exist any more. We had to book a table for half an hour in the future then use the time to put a load more 'essential items' in our trolley. The restaurant is, of course, no longer the speedy self service experience it used to be. It's now table service only. We waited months for them to bring our order. Then even longer for them to change it when it was all wrong. 

Finally left with the furniture and 'essential items' and called at Asda next door to stock up on 'essential foodstuff' for our little angel. Cos we couldn't buy it before we left home. It wouldn't fit in the car.

Anyways. The OtherHalf built the flatpack without swearing and we left her to it.

I miss her already. She's been home for 7 months. The house is quiet without her. Especially at 3am. The kitchen is tidier though. And my food bill has gone down.

See you at Christmas BabyJodie x

time to hibernate

It was the OtherHalf's birthday yesterday. We decided to push the boat out and go to the pub. Just us two. We aren't allowed to socialise inside with anyone else and it was bloody freezing outside. It was table service only. In the first pub this meant walking to the bar to ask the slack arse bar staff to walk back with us and take our order. In the second pub it meant Neil getting really pissed off when the lack of wifi connection meant he couldn't order through their app. Followed by me walking to the bar to get the bar staff to walk back to our table to take our order. It was last orders at 9.30pm. We didn't stay that late. It was pointless. It's easier to just get a drink from our own fridge.

Time to just hibernate I think.

TwoGymsDawn

 For some reason unknown to mankind they've ditched the yoga classes at my gym.

So I've joined a different gym. 

Until the end of the month I am a member at both.

I am TwoGymsDawn.

dark

7pm: Gets dark.

8pm: The OtherHalf asks if it's nearly bedtime.

Every night.

life as we know it this autumn

It's Autumn.

The first Autumn in the NewNormal.

Hopefully the ONLY Autumn in the NewNormal.

The social distancing continues. The local lockdown is back. I haven't seen my mates since we got back from Portugal. We're not allowed to meet. You can only do stuff with the people you live with. 

The pubs close at 10pm. We don't go. All the joy has been sucked out of it.

I did go to the White Rose shopping centre last week though. (Like a smaller and less popular cousin of the Trafford Centre) I won't be rushing back. The one way system was extreme. If you wanted to go in a shop across the way you had to walk all the way to the end of the mall where there was a human roundabout for you to walk round and go back in the direction you came from. I wasn't even allowed to go through Primark to get to my car, I had to walk back to the human roundabout and exit that way. I only went to take a bloody top back to Zara. I ended up walking 12,397 steps. In a mask.

The brother-in-law developed a cough on Thursday night. He tried to get a test on Friday. The nearest available was in Oldham. Over 30 miles away. He got a postal one instead. The whole family had to self isolate while he waited for the results. For five days. The test was negative to Covid19. It was just a case of ManFlu.

The Youngest's old school has had to go half online because so many teachers have been named on track + trace and they're not allowed in school for two weeks.

News reports don't inspire much confidence. I don't think this shit is gonna end any time soon.

So I spent a zillion quid on the Sweaty Betty website. I don't wear anything else these days. No-one sees me anyway. And it's comfy.

bird spotting

It rained all day Saturday. Like really rained. All day.

It didn't matter. I wasn't going anywhere anyway.

Yesterday it only rained a bit. So in between showers the OtherHalf dragged me to a cricket pitch somewhere near Harwood House to look at a bird that had been spotted hanging about. A fancy bird. A Hoopoe. Apparently the first to be spotted in the UK for 40 years?

Anyway we were very lucky that it turned up only 10 mins after we arrived. It walked about the cricket pitch eating worms while about 157 middle aged and elderly outdoor types (mainly kitted out in camo and accessorised with massive f-off telescopic lenses) all got their knickers in a knot taking photos of it. 

It was very lovely but once you've seen one rare hoopoe eat a worm on a cricket pitch you've seen them all. So I went to wait in the car where it was warm. And less crowded.

My sister said I need to get a life.

(Please note...this isn't the hoopoe. It was much fancier than this chap.)

sept 20

 Nearly forgot to put my month in a pattern on here. This was September 2020...

student life delay

 I was supposed to be taking the Eldest up to Newcastle today to move into her new student house.

Until she got the news yesterday that 2 of her housemates have tested positive and the other 3 are showing symptoms. 

So now they're living in isolation for 2 weeks and the Jodester has to stay at home with us. Living the life of Riley. Staying up all night. Sleeping all day. Cooking at 3am. 

Still, she's been doing that for 6.5 months now, what's another 2 weeks.

I'm just bloody glad we didn't go up yesterday as originally planned. I might've had to isolate with them all and live on Super Noodles for 2 weeks.