GOING OUT!!

Having my hair done this morning and then the match this afternoon. While I'm out this morning I'm going to suggest that Charles uses this laptop instead of one of his other three. Let's see how he gets on with it. It's only taken ten minutes to get a connection this morning after all. He'll probably just tell me to be more patient.

JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW...

... that this laptop is rubbish. It has become so unstable, that I hardly ever have a sustained connection to the internet and have to wait around for ages until a microsecond's connectivity occurs. Useless. Charles tells me to be patient. Yeah right. I'd like to see him using it.

HAD A REALLY GOOD SORT OUT...

... in the utility room and the kitchen yesterday. It had got to the point where I hadn't got a clue what stocks I had (hence the beans mountain mentioned on facebook) and. knowing that there is going to be a clearout of the shed on Sunday, I decided to get ahead of the game a bit by making a start on the two rooms inside that cause me the most grief! I've ended up with a much more rational system of storage and have altered the nature of the utility room a bit so that it is now more like a walk in larder. PLUS - and this is really important - I've cleared the worktop out there and now have a brilliant surface for rolling out sugarpaste with no overhead cupboards to get in the way when transferring it to a cake! RESULT!!! I lov it when we sort stuff out. It always makes me feel really well organised - in a smug sort of way!!

COUPLE OF DAYS OFF!!

Yep!! Tomorrow I just need to deliver the Minion cake and go to Applebys with their order and then I don't have a delivery until Monday. In fact, I shall probably make a carrot cake and a chocolate cake to go in the freezer, but that should be about it, so a nice relaxed couple of days for me then. Except I actually find those days pretty stressful and am never sure how to go about relaxing. Mind you I'm at SAKs on Saturday morning having my colour done and then it's the match - so that's not exactly relaxing. Sunday has been designated Shed Clearing Day - and I'm actually looking forward to this!! So maybe the couple of days off won't be as stressfully quiet as I imagine!!

THIS IS WHAT I MADE THIS MORNING!

Actually managed to get it right this time. The rest of the day has been spent getting the Centurion order ready and avoiding watching the crap performance by Newcastle at Morecambe. I can, however, still hear the commentary. It just seems to revolve around the Ameobi brothers names, followed by a collective groan from our supporters. Nowt new there then.

SO ANGRY!!

We've had a fab day in Durham. The Lindisfarne Gospel exhibition is simply incredible. The city is quite delightful. It was great to be with helen and Bill - AND Bill's Dad, Grandad Billy. Came home at teatime and got straight on with the order for Radcliffes tomorrow and THEN decided to cover the wretched Minion cake that's going out on Friday. This was completely disastrous and I've ended up scooping four layers of chocolate sponge into the bin and starting all over again. It's 8.30 and I've still got chocolate sponge in the oven. I'm dreading tomorrow because I just don't know how I'm going to get it to work!

BANK HOLIDAY!

Not usually a great one for going out on a Bank Holiday - too many other people on the roads and making you queue up for stuff - but today has been brilliant. It's all been about the timing I think. We got to Belsay Hall before it opened. Helen and Bill arrived with Tex. We had a quiet and leisurely stroll through the Quarry Garden to the castle, marvelling at the dramatic and amazing foliage on the way. We had coffee in the shade under the trees, fortunately getting there just before the crowds started to gather. A quick road trip to Bolam Lake - no traffic to speak of - and another stunning walk, followed by lunch outside at the Dyke Neuk. Now we're all collapsed in the lounge at home - looking forward to our day in Durham tomorrow!!

FEEL REALLY DOWN AGAIN TODAY.

Quite tearful for no apparent reason. I haven't really pushed myself today and I have no delivery tomorrow, so I don't know what's going on. Maybe it's an accumulation of little stresses that is manifesting itself in one big stress! Mind you, we've got two good days to look forward to so I should be okay really. We're going for a tramp about at Belsay with the dogs tomorrow. Love those quarry gardens - AND the coffee shop! And then on Tuesday were off to see the Lindisfarne Gospels. Can't wait for that. To be honest I feel under pressure from Charles who wants us to go to Cyprus in October.It'll mean coming to some sort of arrangement with the coffee shops to make sure they have enough supplies to keep them going and that in itself could be pretty stressful. Also I have nobody to look after he girls and I really cannot bring myself to leave them in kennels. (Charles wouldn't do that anyway - it would cost too much!!) So we are at loggerheads I'm afraid. Maybe THAT'S the cause of my present tension...

OKAY, COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE...

... but not much. We ended up with a 0 - 0 draw and never looked like threatening the goal, although I did think we played with a little more determination than on Monday. However, had that been one of the bigger clubs, we would have been turned right over. Still no Cabaye. Apparently he's refusing to play. Well, dock his wages then if that's the way he wants to play it. He's no bigger than the club as they say. Of course Pardew is putting his usual spin on things and seems to be saying that we played well, particularly in defemce, but that we need to sharpen up at the front. Er yes... I honestly think that I would have stood a better chance of scoring than Cisse did this afternoon. So, sort it Ashley. You've not got many days left.

TOORROW'S...

... now today - and I don't feel any better about the match. So sad about our club. Looking forward to meeting up with Matthew and James of course. Fujiyamas will be great a usual. But other than that I have no great hopes of anything coming out of the game today.

FIRST HOME GAME OF THE SEASON TOMORROW...

... and I'm not exactly looking forward to it. Don't feel any excitement, just a sense of dread. We've got Paul coming all the way from Brackley to go to the match as well, so they'd better put in a bit more effort than the showed on Monday. Actually, I've almost got a weekend off now. We're eating out at Marabini's tonight, having lunch at Fujiyama's tomorrow and then a takeaway after the match. Probably no good for us at all, but right now I don't really care. It'll just be good to get out of the kitchen for a couple of days. AND I've just remembered something to look forward to on Tuesday. We're going to see the Lindisfarne Gospels with Helen and Bill. Now I AM excited about that!!

9.30PM

And I have just about finished for the day!! I'm just waiting for the lardy cakes to finish proving and then they need to bake for 20 mins, but other than that I'm done - and done in to be honest!! We've done deliveries to Applebys and Centurion, got the order ready for Radcliffes tomorrow, completed a separate customer order and continued to do a bit more on the Minions, Then I've started on replacing flapjacks, carrot cake, caramel shortcake, fruit scones and, obviously, lardys. We've also managed to fit in a quick visit to town to try to buy some storage boxes for all my cake decorating stuff, but failed n our mission and will end up ordering them online. We even had time for a coffee. I had a cheese scone and Charles had caramel shortcake. Ha ha ha!!!

ALAN PARDEW ASKS FANS TO BE...

... PATIENT. WHAT???? FOR HOW MUCH LONGER EXACTLY?

VERY TARDY TODAY...

... in the blogging department. It's been a pretty hectic day mind you. Lots of baking as usual. Centurion rang their order through this afternoon, just as I was about to start on the family dinner, so I had a bit of a paddy about that, but managed to get everything done, with just a few finishing touches to add tomorrow. I've made a fruit cake for Claire's Dad's birthday and was going to make a start on the Minion characters,but didn't have enough time to really concentrate on them, so I'll leave them until over the weekend. Actually, Paul's coming for the weekend, so maybe I won't. He's coming up for the match on Saturday. Foolish, I think. I honestly cannot work up any enthusiasm at all for it.

CHARLES COMES HOME TODAY!

Should be back in time for dinner this evening. In the meantime, it's same old, same old for me. Going shopping in a while for supplies and stuff to make a roast chicken dinner for tomorrow night at James's request. Then, hopefully, the order for Centurion will come through this morning so I can get on with that. Wonder how it's going at Radcliffes this week with Willies being closed for a refurb. Hope they are feeling the benefit and have lots of new customers they can draw in!! Not going to go into the debacle that was last night's match. I have no enthusiasm whatsoever for this season. Predict we will see much more of what we saw last night and feel totally let down by everyone at NUFC. Pathetic.

PLEASED TO SAY...

... Christina is calm and much more positive today. She's much more relaxed and consequently , so am I. It's been a busy start to the week. I had a huge delivery for Radcliffes, then needed to go to the bank and the supermarket in Gosforth, before calling into Morpeth on the way home. Have just demolished a bowlful of Alpen with added blueberries in the hope that my brainpower will be boosted by about 5pm. (Not that I'm planning on doing anything that needs much in the way of thought at that time, but you never know) Now I'm going to make a start on Bakewell slices and brownies.

I THINK...

... that Christina is building up to a bit of a crisis. It would happen when we're on our own.

JUST HAD A PHONECALL...

... from good friends of ours in Oxfordshire who would like a bad for the night before the Great North Run. Not that Su and Pete are running in it themselves, but their son-in-law is. The last time we saw them was for James and Claire's wedding. Before that it was for the funeral of their daughter. She took her own life. They lost their other two children in tragic circumstances. Their eldest son died in a motor accident. The youngest took his own life at Beachy Head Some people have more than their fair share of grief. Just stop and think about that for a while.

WHILE CHARLES IS ON HIS HOLS...

... I've been up since 7.00, cleaned the house, done two loads of washing, walked the dogs, made a carrot cake, two dozen scones and enough chilli for 16 customers and am just about to do the ironing. Where did I go wrong?

BEEN OUT TO...

... Pizza Express with Christina this evening. Obviously we're living it up while Charles is away and sparing no expense. Actually it was pretty rubbish - at least the pizzas were. The starters and puds were delicious. The pizza was like cardboard. Very poor. Won't be going back there.

YEAH - THAT WOULD BE RIGHT...

... post-natal depression! Of course. I suffered really badly with it after Christina was born and it obviously hasn't cleared up yet. Silly me. Why didn't I think of this?

BILLY NO MATES!!

That's what I feel like today. Charles left the house at 8.00 this morning for his little holiday away with his Mum and brother. Christina has been out all morning and just rushed in a while ago to prepare a sandwich to take to work this afternoon. James and Claire are going to a wedding. Hope it stays dry. The girls are both fast asleep. I've made two quiche, a bakewell traybake, chocolate cake and coffee and walnut cake. Now feel a bit fed up and close to tears. What is wrong with me?

STARTING TO GET...

... a bit too casual about this blogging business. I used to have a bit of a routine going on, but now it's just a and when I remember. I suppose that's how it should be really. In fact it may be better if I just blogged when there was really something worth blogging about, instead of feeling that I have to make a daily post - but that's where being a bit OCD comes in!! We're having a very lazy afternoon here (We being the girls and myself.) Charles is over at Lionheart, so we've got him on the radio. Looking forward to hearing from Sean later, always assuming I'm going to be able to stay awake as it's a very warm afternoon, I'm settling down with my Kindle and things are feeling pretty soporific around here...zzzzz

HAD A REQUEST FOR CHILLI...

... from Radcliffes today. Not JUST chilli of course, but an additional item to be added to the menu next week while Willie's is closed. I don't mind - it's dead easy and quick. I've had a productive day in the kitchen today and have managed to replace everything that's going out tomorrow so I should have a relatively easy weekend. The girls are going to be pretty unsettled as Charles is going to be away for a few days with his Mum and brother. They hate it when he's away - especially Lily, she'll be miserable!!

NO TIME FOR THIS BLOGGING LARK...

... today. Did the Centurion delivery first thing. The girls in the kitchen were all over the place because Robson green had just dropped in for coffee!! Damn we missed him. Helen had come along too so we went into town to have a look for her Mother of the Bride outfit. Saw lots of possibilities, so it was worth going, even though we spent most of out money buying baking equipment in Lakeland!! Came back home, I got lunch ready while Helen searched for potential preises that would acommodate the four of us in separate apartments, plus Mum, plus provide enough letting rooms to make a living through bed and breakfast - and she found the perfect property in Alnwick. So we spent the rest of the afternoon trying to think of a way of raising half a million quid legally - but sadly didn't come up with anything so just have to continue to dream. They left for home late on this afternoon, leaving Charles and I to do a thorough clean round, change the beds etc, before starting preparation for the evening meal. James and Claire are joining us. I don't have a delivery until Friday, so tomorrow morning we MIGHT just get a bit of a lie in. Fingers firmly crossed!!

WHERE SHOULD WE GO FOR DINNER?

This is the all important question!! I'm all cooked out today to be honest. I've completed two orders today. One for Applebys and the other for Centurion. Helen and Bill went out for the day and met up with Bill's Dad in Durham. We've looked after Tex and he's been really good, but is beginning to get a bit restless now, despite a couple of good walks. I think he's missing Bill! Hopefully they'll be back pretty soon. Not sure what the plan for tomorrow will be although it will certainly involve a trip to town in the morning to do the Centurion drop. Also, I've just remembered that James and Claire are coming round for dinner in the evening - I've thought about the main course - fish, but must think of a pud!!

SO TIRED!!

There I was, hoping that this weekend coming I might be able to take a couple of day's holiday and I discover that the coffee shop down the road from Radcliffes is going to be closed from Saturday and Kevin is expecting a huge influx of customers as a result. So no holiday for me then. To be honest, I could have wept! I just need to recharge my batteries a bit and all I seem to do at the moment is chase my tail. Not good.

BETWEEN YOU AND ME...

... this is the face that tells me that Charles actually knows that he was in the wrong this morning, but doesn't want to admit it in front of Helen and Bill.

8.48AM

Okay I've now been up for over three hours. I've got most of the order ready for tomorrow, cleaned the house, done the washing, made everyone breakfast, eaten breakfast... ... and all I really want to do right now is to crawl back into bed.

SUNDAY MORNING...

... and I've been up since 5,30. Great. Thanks Charles. I get up with the girls and sort them out every single night and the one time you decide to see to them you let them do something different resulting in me STILL having to get up, Bill having to take Tex out for a walk and being up for the day at this ungodly hour - while you go back to bed as if nothing has happened. Absolutely fantastic. Thank you SO much.

STUFFED!!

Just back from the Village Inn where we've had a pretty good meal actually. I went for two starters instead of a main, but have come home feeling uncomfortably full, despite the brisk walk. We've decided to go to a food and wine fair over at Corbridge tomorrow. Hopefully by then I won't feel so stuffed!!

GOING OUT FOR BREAKFAST WITH MY BOY!!

We do this from time to time and I really look forward to it. It's a real treat. We're off to Jesmond I think this morning. After that I need to shop for the makings of quiche so that I can get a few made for the freezer ready for delivery next week. Helen and Bill my go off for the day or Bill might organise it so that he can spend the day watching the cricket!! Right. I'm going to get organised for meeting James...

A DAY OUT AT LOW NEWTON

What a lovely day we've had. Coffee at the Ship Inn, followed by a beach walk with the dogs. Tex found it a bit of a challenge as he's getting to be an old man now, but he managed nevertheless. Lunch at the Joiners in Low Newton. This was a first for us but cetainly won't be the last. We all enjoyed the most delicious fish and chips. Dessert followed a little while later at Morwick ice cream farm. I had the rum and raisin and hazlenut. Scrummy!! (Rose got to lick round the tub at the end!)

GETTING READY FOR BED...

... after a long day. But we've had a lovely evening with Helen, Bill and Hannah. Shame there's a delivery to do in the morning. Could have done with a lie in really! It's Charles's birthday tomorrow - well today actually - and we're eating out at Electric East in the evening. We've not been there before, but it's supposed to be pretty good. Thai tapas? Sounds interesting.

ACTUALLY DISCOVERED...

... that I liked driving a Freelander... ... very much!!

BUSY START TO THE DAY!!

Up early. House work done. All beds changed. Two big deliveries ready to go to Morpeth and Newcastle. After doing those I need to go into town for some things for the birthday boy and then apparently we're test-driving a Freelander at 11.30 This could be interesting!! After that I need to get a few groceries and then it's back home to get ready for the Radcliffes delivery tomorrow and to wait for Helen and Bill who are coming to us for a couple of weeks holiday! No rest for the wicked then.

HAD A BIT OF A NASTY...

... slanging match in our house this morning - all over nothing in particular, but upsetting nevertheless. Things are calmer now and apologies have been made.

HMM, THIS ISN'T GOOD...

... I don't think I've blogged at all today, mainly because I've been pretty much on the go non-stop since I got up. Charles did the delivery this morning, but dropped me in Morpeth to do the shopping. (Maximising time!!) I've baked from 12.00 until 8.00 with only a brief break to throw some food down my neck at tea time. Typically, as soon as I relaxed and went to check my emails I found an order from Applebys so had to start thinking about that when all I really wanted to do was to chill. Helen and Bill are coming to stay for a few days later in the week. I am hoping that we will spend a lot of time out and about and that meals will either be takeaways, BBQs or eating out to give me a bit of a break. Tomorrow morning I need to make at least five large quiche and loads of scones, but first I need to get more supplies in. Oh, and I also need to start thinking about Charles's birthday on Thursday!! At the moment I'm nor doing a very good job of that.

I MAY REGRET SAYING THIS...

... but we are having a lovely, settled time with Christina at the moment. She is calm, funny, relaxed, positive and generally aware of others around her, which is not the case when she's poorly. It's lovely to have times like this. Very precious. Sadly though, there's always the dark side of her illness waiting to attack.

APPEAR TO HAVE...

... a bit of a mini-break this weekend! Thanks to Radcliffes being extremely quiet during the summer hols I don't think I'll need to take another delivery until Tuesday. The freezers are stuffed full so I can't make anything else to put away, so I'm a bit stuck really. I'm not too sure that I like enforced rest though, it makes me a bit edgy. Charles is going to finish painting the fence while I take Christina into Morpeth this morning and then I think we might start on the back fence together. There - sorted! That'll give me something to do!!

SHHHHHH...

... there just MIGHT be some good news for NUFC fans. That's all.

BUSY MORNING!

Setting off to take the Mercedes to the garage in Amble for a service. Obviously we both have to go as we need a car to come back in, but we're actually going to ba taking the Radcliffe delivery on a little tour of Northumberland before setting off for Jesmond once we've left the car. The only slight problem is that it's still very warm, the cakes are quite fragile as a result and there isn't a straight road between Longfram and Amble. Just need to drive extremely slowly then.

MIGRAINE!!

Am just getting over a really nasty migraine. It started a couple of hours ago, so I took migraleve straight away, but still needed extra strong pain-killers as well. It's beginning to clear now - I can read again and see the telly. James is coming round at about 7.00. Hopefully it'll be completely gone by then. I seem to have had a few migraines recently. Perhaps I should keep a note of them.

HOW COULD I HAVE DOUBTED...

... Charles? He was out there in the heat and humidity, with his paint pot, roller and brush when I got back from SAKs. Doing a grand job of the front fencing. All the areas that the girls had scratched when they were puppies have been painted over and blended in with the rest. Looks really smart now. As James would say, "As smart as a carrot," although quite where he has got that expression from I have no idea as I cannot for the life of me think of a carrot as being smart. In fact, is it 'smart' as in well turned out or as in a bit of a clever clogs. Who knows? It would make a huge difference!

I'M GOING TO GO OUT SHORTLY...

... to have my hair done. While I'm out Charles is supposed to be going to paint the fence. We shall see.