Peace & Quiet at Home… NOT!!!

Phone call last week:

“Can we stay a night at yours? We’re off down to London… ?” It was Martin, Chris’ friend who lives in Scotland. He and his wife Gail were meeting up with his family and friends and were also going to see a show.

This is a very small bedroom and we don’t have much room so Chris got the small caravan organised for them to stay in it. He put the little electric heater in on a low setting a couple of days before they were due to arrive. They, typically, arrived at 5.30am Friday morning! The outside lights came on and the dogs barked so I got out of bed to look… It was them.

I went to welcome them as I saw Chris go outside to bring them in. I had to detour straight into the bathroom. It was another bad morning for me and my tummy! Chris made them a cup of tea as I went back to my bedroom to take some tablets. I was then in and out of the bathroom for the next half an hour and only managed a quick ‘Hello!’ between trips.

It was the first time I had met Gail. She’s a lovely girl born and bred in Glasgow. They departed to the caravan for some sleep after telling us that their first hour of driving had been in driving snow so it was slow going to start with.

They came back into the house around the middle of the afternoon where Martin cooked them both bacon and eggs. Martin has stayed with us enough times now that I am happy for him to take over my kitchen when he wants to.

The day before I had cooked a lovely stew of beef in red wine sauce… After we had eaten, it went into the fridge. I knew they’d eat it later… which they did. In fact there was still enough for us all to have some. Why is a meal like that always better the following day?

Mean while as I explained in an earlier blog, I had a plumber in and out trying to fix the radiators. After the second visit, I thought they were fixed… but as luck would have it. They weren’t. The top half of most of the radiators were cool to cold while the bottom half were quite hot! So there was still air in them… Something was wrong.

Dave rang the firm up… They are due to arrive at any minute… today Monday. Fingers crossed they solve the problem this time.

Martin and Gail took off for London on Saturday morning. Peace and quiet at last. I love having them here… but the place is so small and Martin is so tall – well over 6 foot – there really isn’t much room if we are all in the same one!

To Drink or Not To Drink…

Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I have always enjoyed a glass of wine in the evening or when out with friends. I seldom drank more than one glass here at home… But I did enjoy it. Months ago, I went right off it. In fact, over Christmas I had a small glass of Baileys, and that’s all.

I love the taste of Baileys and discovered that our local Co-op sells a similar drink for a good few pounds cheaper. So I bought a bottle or two. Dave likes the odd glass and Chris, who doesn’t normally drink, also likes a shot in a cup of coffee. Over the last week, I’ve had some and while Martin and Gail were here, I had a couple of glasses too.

I noticed that my tummy was very bad every morning for consecutive days but I hadn’t been having a dreadfully swollen tummy in the evenings. Most odd? I wondered if the little drink might have had anything to do with it? After all, it’s very rich, sweet and creamy. So for the last two evenings, I haven’t had a drink of it. And Martin – bless him – bought me two bottles of the stuff as a thank you for letting them stay.

My tummy has been fine for the last two days… Since not having a drink at night. I have no real stress either as Dearly Beloved has been fine and hasn’t had a mood swing since coming out of hospital. Not sure of his mood today though. He’s a little upset that the plumber still hasn’t arrived! He’s just rung the firm. They said he is coming today! It’s 4.10pm as I write this… So there isn’t much of today - in work hours - left now!

Chris is about to take off down to London to meet Martin and Gail and other friends. He does this every now and again… But he’ll be back late tonight or tomorrow morning before it’s light. He never leaves his dogs for too long.

If this plumber would just come… fix the problem and go… We will have a very nice quiet evening with no arguments as to which channel to watch! I shall take control of the remote… LOL