Hi all, its been a busy week at work. One of my colleagues is on compassionate leave at the moment and when I got back after a week's holiday there was a mountain to climb. We've got a new office manager and I've met with her today. I think she's going to be making some changes and to be honest its about time.

Was quite sad to hear that one of the girls has got another job. I'll be sorry to say bye to her but she's promised to keep meeting us for lunch. Mind you quite often when colleagues move on you say these things but then you get into your new working environment and move on. Thats the way of the world I suppose you can't keep in touch with everyone you meet in life.

Going to work in the morning for 1/2 a day then in the afternoon I'm going to get my hair done so should look like a new woman when we got out tomorrow night.

Got another couple of things in the diary this week. Going to go on L's leaving do and then my nieces will be 9 in May (there twins) and my sis is doing a family birthday party for them.

Me and hubby have booked a week away in North Wales and we'll be off there in June. We're going to stop and have a night in Manchester on the way back and I've asked N if her and G would fancy meeting us there on the Friday to stay at the same hotel. Fancy going to Chinatown for a meal and then would like to visit the Lowry Museum the day after. She seemed pretty interested so crossed fingers they'll be coming along.

Got our Kylie concert tickets this week, woopee! so we'll be off to see her in July.

Hubby's having a snooze on the settee at the minute and we might be going to our local pubquiz later on so see you soon and have a good night.

Hi, had a lovely weekend and I hope your's has been good too. Spring cleaned our bedroom on Friday and it looks like a new pin. I had a Delia afternoon as I made two lots of jam (blackcurrant and blackberry)and then made a Victoria sponge which I've not done in years but I thought it'd be nice to use some of the jam and I was right it was delicious.

Saturday morning was lovely, I had a bit of a hangover and we went for a walk nearby which really cleared my head. Then last night we went to see Dave Spikey. If you get chance to see him then GO he was simply brilliant, we laughed and laughed and were still laughing at his jokes when we woke up this morning.

Today we've been to Rother Valley for a walk and then visited Meadowhall to get ma in law's mothers day pressie. To finish off a great weekend we've just been out for a meal and am now languishing on the sofa with a glass of the red stuff.

My ma's back from London and apparently she's had a great time. Me and hubby are thinking about having a few days in North Wales in June and have been surfing the net getting some info.

On the friends front we've got another couple of outings booked in. N&G are coming out to town on Friday as there's a local band on which are really good so we're off to see that with them. I also spoke to R this afternoon and we're going round to theirs in a couple of weeks for something to eat. As I've said before its great to have friends to socialise with and they've really enhanced our lives over the past year.

Last day off tomorrow. Yes the ironing board will be out in the morning, need to do food shopping in the afternoon, my car needs cleaning and then I'll have to get the rubber gloves on again for the weekly bathroom clean. Oh well you can't party all the time. Have a great night.

I feel so sorry for Paul Gascoigne. The bloke is obviously very troubled and it just shows that money and fame doesn't necessarily bring happiness with it. I hope he gets better but feel that he's on the same slippery slope as George Best another brilliant footballer who couldn't deal with normal life.

Took my ma to the train station this morning. Its my little sis's 40th birthday tomorrow and ma's gone with sis and her family to London for the weekend. They're going to see Joseph tomorrow night which I expect will be brilliant.

Me and R went to see Juno yesterday. We went and had some lunch first which was very nice. The film was very good and a good girly film to watch. It was only 11/2 hours in length. Its very well acted and you end up feeling so sympathetic for Juno. Papers this week have been saying that its not true to life but then when is a film ever true to life unless its a documentary?

This morning I've cleaned the fridge and kitchen cupboards. Will be giving my bedroom a good spruce up this afternoon. I've not done a great deal this week and have been chilling out. It has made me feel a bit guilty as hubby's been at work but after all I am on leave so why not, he definitely wouldn't be cleaning the house if he was on holiday.

Apart from seeing Dave Spikey tomorrow I'm not sure what else we're doing this weekend. Hubby's full of cold and I'm skint. Just started reading Mercy by Jodi Picoult. In my opinion she's a great author. My Sister's Keeper is an excellent book by her and really gives you something to think about.

Hope you're all okay and see you soon.

Hi ya all. I'm on leave all this week and am really enjoying my break. Yesterday was doing some spring cleaning, my sofas needed hovering down and they look lovely now. Last night I'd made a shepherd's pie for tea which we had with a cabbage from the allotment. As usual the telly was boring so I read my book.

Today I went to the supermarket, came home and made some parsnip soup for lunch which is delicious. Got on the scales this morning and I've lost a couple of pound this week which is great. Bought a top via ebay which came yesterday and it'll be great for evening time when I'm on holiday.

This afternoon I'm in a quandry as to what to do. Think I'm going to clean the kitchen, there's washing to put out and I might read my book. Tomorrow I'm going to see Juno with R. We're going to have some lunch out first which should make for a nice girly afternoon.

I'm getting exasperated with hubby. As mentioned before his ma is in an old folks home and last time he went she said she needed some new trousers. I suggested we get her some for mother's day and have asked him more than a couple a occasions to text his sis to find out what size we need to buy, has he done it? No. I'm not going to mention it again as I realise there's only so much I can do but he does get annoying.

We're going to see Dave Spikey at the City Hall on Saturday and we're really looking forward to that. It'll be nice for me and hubby to go out without friends for a change. Don't get me wrong I do love our friends but I do like to have hubby to myself sometimes.

I'm feeling lovely and chilled out and less than 9 weeks now before Gran Canaria. Can't wait to get into the lovely sunshine and get rid of the winter woolies even though it'll only be for a week.

See you soon.

Hi all, just been to a local shopping centre and the car park was quite full. I spent a couple of minutes driving round trying to find a space. Eventually noticed someone just getting into their car, there was no-one behind me so I stopped, put on my left hand indicator and patiently waited for the space. A minute later I noticed a estate car behind me and yes I had stopped in the middle of the aisle but I was only going to be there a couple of minutes. The driver behind me became impatient and started hooting for me to pull into the side which seemed silly as the car was about to come out of the space so I ignored it. Impatient driver managed to get round me and went further up managing to park in a space which had just become vacant. I parked mine and got out.

The impatient driver was walking down and she said was it necessary to stick up a finger, which I hadn't, I told her this in no uncertain terms and said was it really necessary to behave so impatiently when the other driver was about to pull out anyway. She shut up at this. Can't believe how angry and impatient someone can get.

Anyway, to update you on my weekend. We went out with N&G on Sat night and had a great time. Curry was a bit of a let down and it had been our choice of restaurant but still. G is very keen for us to book a weekend away with them. Not sure if I've mentioned it but D&R have also mentioned going away with them and I said we would which leaves us in a bit of a situation. We could all go but our friends have met and don't really seem to gel but we'll wait and see what happens.

Yesterday was a quiet one and hubby went down to his allotment for an hour whilst I did some house work. In the afternoon he was watching his team on the telly whilst I read the papers. Last night we watched Just Like Heaven on DVD which is a really nice romantic film, lovely for a feel good Sunday evening watch.

Going to have a look at your blogs now and then I've got to clean the bathrooms - hate that job. C U later.

Hi ya, Hope you've all had a lovely day just like mine has been so far, first though a tale of yesterday.

As mentioned in my last post I went with R and ma to my sister's for lunch yesterday. After agreeing to this invite I had been asked by work if I could do yesterday cos of staffing problems last week. Anyway as much as I could have done with the money I said no cos I'd already made plans and didn't want to disappoint my sister. So got to my ma's yesterday and she seemed ok although still a bit tetchy. Went to my sister's for lunch. I'd expected she'd put on a little bit of a spread but instead we got 2 prawn sanwiches and a piece of fruit flan, not the most extensive lunch but whatever.

Anyway whilst we were there my ma and sister kept having gos at each other and I felt like piggy in the middle trying to soothe the situation. R went to work, my ma and me left half an hour later and went to Aldi for some bits and pieces before taking ma home. We had a coffee and a chat and it came out the reason why she'd been so tetchy all week was that my sister and her had agreed to do something with the kids on Monday and then sis changed her mind which ma was brassed off about. I told ma I wished she'd just tell me what was up rather than me having to put up with her being tetchy.

Came away wishing I'd gone to work after all and by the time I got home was emotionally spent up, I'd soaked all my mother's negativity up and realised she probably felt better and I felt like S..t - promised myself not to do this again.

Thankfully today's been great. Went into Derbyshire with hubby, got togged up as it was freezing but very sunny and had a lovely walk taking about 3 hours. We took our lunch and sat on a ledge looking over the countryside eating our sandwiches. Bliss. Came home, read the papers, and a magazine and have chilled out.

Just about to go in the shower now ready for our night our with N&G. Going on a pub crawl down Kelham Island. Have seen in the local paper that a band's playing in one of the pubs which should be good and we're going to end up having a curry.

I defy anyone to spend a better day. Hope you all have a great night.

Happy Valentine's fellow bloggers. Have you been treated by your loved one today. Me and hubby swapped Valentine's cards but no pressies. We've been out to a local pub for a meal tonight not cos its Valentine's simply just couldn't be bothered to cook. Had a lovely meat and potatoe pie, chips and veg washed down by a glass of the red stuff. mmmmmm

As I said yesterday today was busy at work. Couldn't believe it though cos last night I'd left everything in different piles ready for me to dish out to temps and also work for me to do. Got to work this morning and one of the temps had already messed my system up and one of the bosses had been in and left stuff all over which completely messed things up. Took me half an hour to get my head round everything and get things sorted again.

To make things worse one of the temps rang in sick, aaagh but me and J worked liked slaves today and I was really pleased to leave things in an orderly state ready for Monday when one of my colleagues is back at work.

Just seen in the local paper that Sheff Utd's mgr has resigned which has cheered hubby up no end. I don't really like football but its sad this season that our two Sheffield teams aren't doing too good.

Well I'm on holiday now and don't go back until 26th Feb, faaaaantasic! Got to get up earlish in the morning cos of the dentist appt but after that it'll be lay ins for me, bliss.

Yes we've got a lovely bottle of red wine, hubby's just took the cork out so we'll be having a glass in a short while.

How's your week so far? Mine's been good and have been very busy at work as always. This has been even more so this week as my colleagues have been on leave. One was supposed to be back in tomorrow but her ma's been taken into hospital again so P's taking the rest of the week off. Hope her ma is ok cos P only lost her dad last year after a battle with cancer and I think if anything happens to her ma P will just fall into bits. Anyway our new office manager asked me if I could work Friday this week but had to say no cos I've already made plans. I felt awful but I'm seeing my sister, its her birthday next week and I don't want to cancel.

Going to be a hard day at work tomorrow. I've sorted loads out before I came away tonight and there's a massive pile to get sorted tomorrow. At least our two temp staff will be in tomorrow so that'll be a big help.

As I said I'm going to see my sis on Friday but first thing Friday morning I've got an appt for a check up at the dentist. Oh I hate going and up till a couple of years ago I was always cancelling appts as I was too scared to go but now with it being so difficult to get a NHS dentist I don't want to get struck off his books for bad attendance. Cross fingers I don't have to have any fillings.

Been typing up a list of things to do when I'm off next week. I'm looking forward to the break but it would have been nice if hubby could have had some time off with me but due to his work timetable that's not possible.

Looking forward to our night out on Saturday. We're going to have a pub crawl and then go for an Indian with N&G. The following Saturday me and hubby are going to see Dave Spikey and we're really looking forward to that.

Hi, hope you've had a good weekend. Mine's been very good. The salmon with the mint and pea sauce on Friday was absolutely lovely and will definitely be doing that recipe again.

Went out for the Chinese with D&R last night and had a really good time. The restaurant is only a small one and its a bit cramped but there was a lovely friendly atmosphere and the staff were really eager to please. We had a set meal £18.00 each and there was so much to eat we were absolutely stuffed. We finally got to bed at 1.00 am so we had a bit of a lay in this morning.

Hubby's been to see his ma today and she apparently is loads better then we've been to Meadowhall. Hubby got a new suit, it was his birthday on Monday and he'd got some HMV vouchers so he got some new CD's. I got some books ready for my holiday (10 weeks tomorrow) and I got a lovely red top from Next and hubby got 2 shirts which are really nice. Next is my fav shop.

Popped in to see my ma who was tired and when she's like that she's always grumbly. We only stayed an hour. Got the meat in the oven, hubbys done the veg, and I've got a treacle sponge steaming away (see food talk again I'm besotted).

Got some housework to do tomorrow and then I'm going to get some jam made as I want to clear the freezer as it needed defrosting about six months ago.

Got to work this week and then I'm off for a whole week yipee. Right going to see what you lot have been up to now. Have a nice night.

Hi bloggers, feeling a bit down at the moment. Was supposed to be going to lunch today with an ex colleague but she text me saying she's ill. She probably is but I'm a bit suspect cos each time we've booked to meet up in the last year she's cancelled.

Just rung my ma to see if she fancies lunch on Monday but she's already got plans. Hubby's got footie match tomorrow so I feel like I'm home alone till I go back to work on Tuesday.

Got to work yesterday and yet again my colleague was moaning about the workload, blah, blah, blah. Am having to choose my words carefully but feel like saying if you don't like it then leave. Would leave me in the poo a bit but can't see why she's putting herself through it, her hubby's mega rolling in money and she doesn't need to work and she says theres always 101 things to do at home so why? She says she doesn't know how to stop worrying about it and I said to her well the only one that can do it is you. Think she probably thought I was being a bit sharp but its true. I think she secretly wants me to feel the same way as her but I don't cos after all its only work and the bosses are only bothered about one thing, themselves.

Just been to Morrisons to do the shopping. For dinner we're having salmon steaks, new potatoes, mint and pea sauce (courtesy of Morrisons recipies. For afters we're having baked apples.

Reb made a delicious tea last night. She made a bolognaise sauce, browned some sausagemeat shaped into balls and put them into the sauce. With it we had pancakes and salad. It was really yummy and made a nice change to pasta.

We're out tomorrow night with D&R. Going to a Chinese restaurant at Rotherham for a meal. R mentioned about going with them and another couple for a weekend in Dublin so we're going to have a chat about that.

I'm hoping its nice on Sunday so me and hubby can have a nice walk. Then all the family are in for tea so I've got a turkey joint which we'll have with the usual Sunday dinner accompaniments. I've promised to make a treacle sponge.

Most of my time on blogland seems to be talking about food but I have found that I really like cooking especially when I'm trying a new recipe.

Going to look at what you lot have been up to now before I watch Dublin on Wish you Were here. Have a good weekend.

Not sure if I've mentioned this in any of my other posts but my ma is a 65 year old who became a widow just over 4 years ago. My ma has never been a social kind of person and throughout my life the only friend she ever made was with a next door neighbour although she is still friends with my stepdad's pal.

Anyway, when my stepdad passed away I worried what life was going to be like for my ma cos although I love her to bits I've got my own life, as have my two siblings, and I knew she was bound to get lonely and even more so if she didn't have some kind of life of her own.

For the first couple of years she was still working with my brother in a family business but 13 months ago they decided to sell up and ma retired. At that point I was quite anxious about how she was going to be but a couple of months later she started going to Weightwatchers, at first with my sister but then my sis dropped out but I was amazed that my ma still went. Over the past year she's lost about 24lb which is great and its turned her into a new person.

A couple of months ago when we were chatting she told me that she'd been trying to find some kind of keep fit group for her age group. Through talking with a colleague I found out about a place in town which does all kinds of classes for over 55's. I told ma about it and encouraged her to go but wasn't sure she'd make that step. Anyway she did. I knew that this place also organised trips and I encouraged ma if she got the chance to go on one.

I was amazed to hear on Monday that she'd gone last Wednesday and got chatting to a lady who also had just started going to keep fit. There's a trip to London in April and this lady encouraged my ma to go and guess what ma said YES!! I am so proud of her, its really hard to make yourself a social life but more so as you get older.

I thought I'd let you know about this as sometimes we all need a bit of encouragement and it just goes to show that you can start something new at any age.

Didn't do much yesterday which explains why I had time to write a long blog. Watched the Timewatch programme and really enjoyed it. Cooked a roast chicken dinner last night and it was lovely, there really is a difference in tasting buying free range, there's a bit of chicken left so am going to have it in a sandwich for lunch with some home pickled beetroot.

Hubby's birthday today. I've bought him a 8gb Ipod Nano which replaces his old one which when you compare it to the new nano is like a brick, its amazing how technology can move on in 3 years. Going out for a meal to celebrate tonight, he's paying! Then its back to work tomorrow. Got to do this week and next and then I'm off for a week, yipee.

Eleven weeks to Gran Canaria and I need to start thinking if there's anything I need. Have a £20 M&S voucher and could do with a new skirt or shorts for the daytime so will wait a few weeks till they get more summery clothes in.

Me and hubby have been checking out San Francisco and LA for our silver wedding. With hotels and flights we reckon we could do it for £2,500 plus spending money. If anyone's got any experience of hotels, visits to SF would welcome your comments.

Been watching This Morning whilst I've done my ironing then this afternoon I'm cleaning the oven, going to make a shepherds pie for tomorrow. Then I want to do my exercise DVD before having a shower to make myself beautiful for tonight.

Still no idea what happened with yesterday's stats but have received comments from other bloggers that they've had strange things happen too.

Anyway going to make that sandwich now. Have a nice week. xx

Somethings up somewhere. Just had a look at my stats and today my blog's had 9 visitors and over 3,000 page views. This just doesn't stack up. Anyone else had anything similar happen?

Anyway last night's meal was absolutely great. G said that the soup was the best he'd ever tasted which we had with some lovely french bread courtesy of Morrisons. I even made some butter shapes using my small fluted pastry cutter, very artistic.

We then had the stifado which was just sumptuous (just finished it off with my lunch). I put in 1/2 bottle of a really nice red wine, cinammon stick allspice, bayleaves, beef stock, tomatoe puree, shallots. Honestly I've never tasted anything as good and I was so proud of my culinary skills. The potates and veg were all lovely too.

To finish we had the Waitrose profiteroles which I'd definitely recommend with double cream drizzled over. (Saw they sell Baklava and other greek pastries when I went in).

We had a lovely evening, poor old N had a bad cold though so she wasn't her sparkly usual self. Its G's birthday in a couple of weeks and we're going out for a curry. We're also talking about having a trip to Chatsworth House in the summer - G thinks he can get some tickets via his firm so we'll see what happens. Its great to have such lovely friends.

Anyway we didn't get to bed till 1.30 this morning. Couldn't believe it when I came downstairs at 8.45. Me and N (mostly me) had managed to get through 4 bottles of white wine. Hope she's ok today as it does tend to bring on migraine for her. I've not even got a hangover today just feel a bit tired, hence the reason why I'm sat on my backside writing this.

Going to have a look at your blogs then I'm going on BBCi to watch the Timewatch programme that was on last night about £10 pommies.

Having roast chicken (free range) for dinner tonight which should be quite nice. Tomorrow is hubby's birthday and we're going out for tea, I'll drive as its his birthday but it'll be nice to have my dinner made for a change.

Have a good afternoon bloggers.

Hope you've been having a nice Saturday. Mine's been really good. We woke about 8.00 this morning and had a lovely lay in bed till about 9ish when I got up and made porridge which we had with sultanas, a nice drizzle of honey always complements this but we didn't have any left.

Went to Morrisons and got some more honey along with the usual groceries. Got N&G coming for a meal tonight and so I also got the ingredients needed. We were going to have some bruschetta with tomatoes and basil for the first course but there was no fresh basil so had to think on my feet, literally, and get the ingredients for something else (more later).

Came back home and watched the lovely James on BBC. Oooh he is so lovely, I think he's absolutely gorgeous. After that I cleaned the bathrooms and then we had lunch which consisted of ciabatta with ham and home pickled beetroot, followed by natural yogurt and pineapple.

This afternoon I've been preparing the meal for tonight. The menu is:

Carrot and orange soup (home made) with french bread
Beef stifado, new and roast potatoes, mediterranean veg and brocolli
Profiteroles (courtesy of Waitrose) with cream

Wine, wine and more wine.

The soup is so easy to make. I've never made the stifado before but Bec has and she gave me the recipe. Its currently bubbling away in the oven and smells heavenly.

So what's next. Well, the kitchen needs tidying up. The potatoes and veg have to be prepared and the table needs laying. After which I'll be having a shower and doing my hair ready for our night.

I love cooking different recipes and I find it quite relaxing. I wouldn't fancy working in a restaurant but would quite like to have a business making meals for people who want to eat at home. If anyone has advice on this I would be interested in hearing it.

Not sure yet what we're doing tomorrow but no doubt we'll be a bit tired from tonight. Anyway have a good night and I'll report back on the stifado.

Bye

February 1st and the weather today is appalling. Just had a flurry of snow but mainly its just wet and windy, totally different to last weekend. However, on the positive side we're now out of January and one month of winter before spring time.

Been to the hospital with Bec today. Saw the ENT Consultant who thinks that Bec's problem will eventually go away of its own accord but is going to do some tests to try to find out what's going on. Am relieved as I'd kind of thought he might say its something she'll have to put up with for her lifetime which at the age of 21 isn't a great thing.

After the hospital we went to Waitrose. Wow, I haven't been in before but what a nice shop. Pity its a bit too expensive for me but it was really interesting to look on their fresh meat counter and see things like pigeon and pheasant. In Morrisons duck is a bit of a novelty. Anyway got some fresh profiteroles for when N&G come round tomorrow night.

Bec made us both a lovely bacon sarnie for lunch which we ate whilst watching Loose Women.

Just me and hubby in for tea and we're having turkey and ham pie courtesy of Waitrose. Yes, I could afford a ready made pie!

Done my cleaning and just been writing my shopping list for tomorrow morning.

Hubby's birthday on Monday and we're going to go out for tea. He's got to pay though cos the tax man skinted me this month.

Having a nice weekend and keep warm.