30th December 2010

Ok, this is going to make me sound like a grumpy old woman, but I really couldn't believe my eyes when I went into Tesco this afternoon and spotted a shelf full of Easter products on sale already! Christmas is barely over and it's not as if Easter is early next year - there's still a good 3-4 months of shopping days left to buy your eggs!

29th December 2010

Our old office chair had definitely seen better days and we'd been talking about replacing it for a while, so it was very exciting to go out today and actually buy a new chair. It's very comfortable though so I'm slightly concerned it will encourage Mr W to spend even more time hidden away upstairs playing on the computer!

28th December 2010

My parents are going off travelling for three months at the beginning of January and so we bought them a Bon Voyage card, together with a jar of Marmite as we weren't sure they would be able to survive without it for that long!

27th December 2010

Today my god-daughter and her sister came over to catch-up and collect their Christmas presents - they're both now so grown-up it makes me feel quite old!

26th December 2010

This morning we headed out to find a puzzle geocache that Dad had challenged us to calculate the co-ordinates for a while ago, unfortunately we were less prepared on where we needed to park to retrieve the cache and so in the end we just enjoyed a lovely walk in the snow and gave up on the search.

25th December 2010

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
Despite being further into our thirties than we'd care to mention, Father Christmas still managed to slip a little something into Mr W's and my stockings this morning!

24th December 2010

This afternoon we drove down to my parents' house in Dorset for Christmas. My godmother and her gorgeous black labrador, Molly, are also staying for Christmas and on being reunited I am not sure who was more excited - Mr W or Molly!!

23rd December 2010

This evening we went for a pre-Christmas meal with Mr W's parents, which was also an opportunity to meet Mr W's brother's Belgian girlfriend for the first time. She is trained in Indian classical dance and very kindly gave us a demonstration before dinner! It was a swirling delight and made me feel dizzy just watching!

22nd December 2010

Nearly a month ago Mr W ordered a new computer gadget to improve our wireless connection at home. Today after one delayed gadget and one incorrect gadget that had to be returned, the right one turned up rather bizarrely in a box that was more than double the size of the gadget itself! I hope Mr W finds that it was worth the wait...

21st December 2010

Having kept poor Mr W awake half the night with my coughing last night I decided this morning to pay a visit our local doctor's surgery to make sure it is nothing more sinister than a lingering cold. The good news is that it isn't, the bad news is I now need to just be patient and wait for it to get better!

20th December 2010

The trouble with being ill and not leaving the house for a couple of days is that there is only limited opportunities for finding a suitable 'photo of the day'. Having been stuck inside with a horrible cold and cough since I got home from work on Friday I finally braved the elements this afternoon to drop a parcel at the post office for Mr W. This is our local alleyway and on the basis of the amount of snow it's hard to believe that the first lot had almost all gone on Friday morning!

19th December 2010

It's not very rock and roll, but when the weather's cold and miserable outside I do like a hot water bottle or two to warm my toes at night!

18th December 2010

It is snowing yet again and so rather than drive to town to go to the gym and collect some parcels from the post office Mr W decided to walk - when he got home he was starting to look something like the abominable snowman!

17th December 2010

In an attempt to beat the cold and cough I've had all week, I today decided to buy some lemon and ginger tea to see if that would help. The jury's still out on how much of a help it is, but at least it tasted nice!

16th December 2010

Mr W is very good at buying treats and the other day he came home with some mini chocolate reindeer for me - yum!

15th December 2010

A couple of months ago when I changed jobs I got given some M&S vouchers as a leaving present, however rather unusually it has taken me until now to start spending them. I have just bought this rather fetching leather overnight bag, although sadly the photo doesn't quite do it justice as in reality it is a lovely bright purple colour!

14th December 2010

The company I work for is 250 years old this year and to celebrate we've all been given a commemorative book documenting Lloyd's Register's history over the last 250 years. It's quite a hefty tome...

13th December 2010

I got home from work today to find a note from the postman saying he'd left a parcel for us in our dustbin. Now, I don't want to sound funny or ungrateful since he's saved us a trip to the sorting office, but I'm really not convinced the dustbin is an appropriate place to leave post - what if it had been bin-day? Needless to say I have contacted Royal Mail to pass on this feedback!

12th December 2010

Less than two weeks until Christmas now and so we decided to put our Christmas tree up this afternoon. We've gone artificial this year, but it still looks pretty with the lights and the lounge still smells all Christmassy thanks to a couple of scented candles!

11th December 2010

Tonight we're off to a wild-west themed party - I've got my outfit sorted, now just need to get showered and ready to go!

10th December 2010

This evening we went along to Honey-Lee's Birthday Bash that is held every December. It's a great evening of dancing with live music from the South London Jazz Orchestra.

9th December 2010

One week since it stopped snowing, but traversing our road is still something of an obstacle course. The easiest place to walk is on the road since the pavement is cluttered with random piles of snow from where the Council cleared the road with their snow plough and people in the street have dug their cars out of their drives. Wish the snow would hurry up and melt!

8th December 2010

It was my work Christmas party tonight and there was supposed be a 'Cocktails and Dreams' 80s theme, so we couldn't quite work out the significance of the flamingos on the tables...
It was a good night though and I ended up staying out much later than I expected to!

7th December 2010

As uncool as they may be, I have been wearing my trusty boots to work this week as not only do they have good grip for walking on the snowy and icy pavements of Orpington, but they also have a fleecy lining to keep my tootsies warm in this bitterly cold weather that we're having!

6th December 2010

Due to the snow we've had no post for the last few days, so we had quite a pile of mail when we got home from work today. Unfortunately though it was all dull stuff like bills and circulars, with no sign of any Christmas cards or more worryingly any of the presents that we've ordered online... maybe tomorrow's post will be more inspiring!

5th December 2010

Today we met up for a Christmas meal with the group of friends that Mr W did his accountancy training with several years ago. This is Oscar the latest recruit to the group!

4th December 2010

Presenting the new Mr and Mrs Duffy...
Thanks to Mr W's hard work shovelling snow yesterday we were able to get the car off the drive and make it to Oxfordshire to help them celebrate their special day. Many congratulations to them both!

3rd December 2010

In an inspired moment whilst buying milk this morning I decided to buy some soup for lunch to warm us up in this cold weather, unfortunately our power went off just before lunch and so I had to ransack the garage to find our camping stove to heat it up! Typically the power was restored shortly after lunch!

2nd December 2010

Still cold and snowy today. Spotted this collection of icicles hanging from our guttering outside our study window - brrr!

1st December 2010

A new month and more snow - it took me an hour and a half to get to work this morning for a meeting and then I headed home straight afterwards to try and avoid chaos on the trains. The plan sort of worked in that the train wasn't rammed full of people but it still took me two hours to get home. Once home I took the opportunity to make a snow angel before getting on with some more work!

30th November 2010

Today we woke up to our first snow of the winter. The garden looks so pretty, but unfortunately the snow does nothing for the trains and getting home from work this evening was a nightmare.

29th November 2010

I had a opthalmologist's appointment at a local hospital this morning and as they often put drops in your eyes to dilate your pupils after which you're not allowed to drive, I decided I would walk to the hospital via Darrick and Newstead Woods. It's generally a very peaceful walk through the trees and avoids the busyness of the main roads, however today I spotted the rather charming sight of a burnt out car in the middle of the school playing fields next to the woods. They'd also clearly done a good few laps of the field before setting light to the car as the grass was all churned-up too - delightful!

28th November 2010

We had some friends round for lunch today and whilst I was flicking through my recipe books looking for something different to make for pudding I was reminded that I had a copy of my gran's cheesecake recipe that I'd never got round to trying. So try it I did and I reckon it turned out pretty well - there certainly wasn't much left on the plate afterwards!

27th November 2010

Today I got up early and braved the icy cold weather to join Mr W on one of his tube runs. I'm not quite as fit as him so he agreed we could just do a short section and we ran the Bank Branch of the Northern Line from London Bridge to Camden Town. It was surprisingly good fun, especially running through the deserted streets of the City that are normally heaving with people during the week. We ran just over 5 miles and were home by 11, I may even be tempted to go again!

26th November 2010

Today we took the day off work to go Christmas shopping. We went to Bluewater, which was busy but not nearly as painfully busy as I'm sure it will be at the weekend. Clearly I can't reveal here what we purchased but I can disclose that we bought a new cross-cut shredder for added security and also because our current shredder sounds distinctly sick everytime we try to use it!

25th November 2010

Until the Tesco delivery arrives later there is a distinct lack of food in our house, so as I was hungry having only had time for a sandwich at lunch, we decided to go for the naughty option and got a chinese takeaway for tea!

24th November 2010

It was announced yesterday that Prince William and Kate Middleton will be getting married on 29 April next year and so the BBC website today saw fit to publish a list of famous April weddings. However
they appear to have missed some key nuptials off their list, for example Mummy and Daddy-cakes - 40 years on 17 April next year - and mine and Mr W's - 7 years on 24 April!

23rd November 2010

Today has been a busy day - work, sweet-making with the Brownies and the running club AGM. Bed is looking even more inviting than usual!

22nd November 2010

It's getting a bit chilly at night now and so I decided it was time to double-up on the duvet when I was changing the sheets this evening. Unfortunately though making the bed is less easy when your hubby decides that it looks soft and inviting for a quick nap!

21st November 2010

Today we visited Mr W's parents for lunch, having stopped on the way over for a couple of quick 'cache and dashes' to reach our 400th find. This is their lovely new kitchen - it's been a long slog but the end is now in sight which is why Mummy W is looking so smiley!

20th November 2010

Whilst Mr W was running the Bakerloo line this morning, I headed out early to try and find some more geocaches to help us reach our goal of 400 by tomorrow. My jaunt took me to Downe where Charles Darwin lived for many years and although he is buried in Westminster Abbey there is a sundial and plaque on the side of St Mary's Church in Downe. I've run past the church many times but never taken the time to stop and look at this memorial to the great naturalist.

19th November 2010

I'm on a bit of a mission to find 400 geocaches by the second anniversary of us starting geocaching in November 2008. Unfortunately though we've still got six to find before Sunday and so today I went out at lunch time in search of an 'easy' one close to my office. The hint was that it was behind the face in the railings, unfortunately there were rather a lot of faces and so as I was starting to look a bit suspicious walking up and down the street I had to give up... Looks like I will be out again looking for some local ones tomorrow morning!

18th November 2010

I still wasn't feeling well this morning so as we had no food in the house Mr W popped out to the shops before work to get me some supplies for lunch. Not quite sure how much soup he thinks one girl can eat but I was definitely excited by the mini Battenburgs at the top of the soup tower!

17th November 2010

Had to take a sick day today as my head was full of cold, consequently there weren't many photo opportunities as I spent most of the day sleeping, reading and finishing off a puzzle game on my DS.

16th November 2010

Today was the day that we all took our knitted squares into Brownies. However before Carol collected them all up, we laid them all out to see how big a blanket they would make.

15th November 2010

As it wasn't raining for once I went for a walk at lunchtime today and my route took me past Trinity Square Gardens near the Tower of London, within which you can find the Tower Hill Memorial which commemorates the many thousands of men and women of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who died in both World Wars and who have no known grave. It having been Remembrance Sunday yesterday there were lots of poppy wreaths laid by the Memorial, but even more touching were the small remembrance crosses scribed with individual names that had been tacked next to the relevant name on the bronze plaques listing all the seafarers who lost their lives during the two conflicts.

14th November 2010

Today we went for lunch with friends and afterwards their three-year old son was introducing Mr W to all the fun apps on his Dad's iPad. He was also demonstrating what happens to your eyes if you watch too much TV or spend too much time on a computer!

13th November 2010

Mr W has a new challenge - he wants to run the routes of all the London tube lines visiting every station along on the way and raising money for Sands. He's calculated that it will involve over 300 miles of running and he's set himself the ambitious target of completing it within 9 months. This morning he set off early on his second run - last week he did the Victoria line and today he tackled the southern section of the Jubilee line. You can read about his exploits on his blog and if you're feeling generous sponsor him here: http://www.justgiving.com/runningthetubelines

12th November 2010

The desk of one of my colleagues overlooks an atrium area on the ground floor occupied by another company - the two armchairs have been there for ages and in two months I never seen anyone sitting in them. However even more bizarrely this morning a giant swordfish appeared next to them...

11th November 2010

Every week our work canteen posts the menu for the forthcoming week in our coffee areas so we know what to expect when we head up there at lunchtime. Tomorrow's main course sounds exciting, but I bet it was a bit tricky to catch!