A Bit Of A Setback

 Just when everything all seemed to be going so well.

We have agreed a tentative completion date with our buyers for our house sale in a couple of weeks and our Advocate has been chasing up a date for the purchase of our new place.  This morning we had a call from the Agent telling us that the bungalow we were buying has now been withdrawn from the market as the vendor's onward purchase has fallen through.

Very slight panic mode ensued.  We may be homeless in two weeks with nowhere to live.

Most of today has been spent frantically calmly trawling property rental sites for houses to rent but there are hardly any suitable ones available.  Holiday lets are also mostly booked up with staycationers or are outrageously expensive.  We have managed to find just one bungalow at a reasonable rent on a 12 month lease so have booked a viewing for Monday morning. Just hope it doesn't get snapped up in the meantime.

As a backup we have enquired about a long term holiday let for a couple of months but are waiting for a quote as to costs.

Meanwhile, the packing of many boxes continues apace.

Serves Me Right

Last night I was too lazy to cook a meal from scratch so I  cheated...again.

There was some leftover chicken from Sunday's roast which I put in the pot with a pack of rice and mixed veg from the freezer and added a jar of Thai green curry paste.

It tasted fine but at 2 a.m. I awoke suddenly with a very painful attack of heartburn, I suspect from the curry paste.

That'll teach me not to cheat.

Swallows And Rain

This weekend so far has been dull, grey, wet and windy.  Oh, and cold too so the heating has been on most of the time.

Saturday morning saw a bank of  heavy, low cloud hanging over us, leaking drizzly wet stuff, but that was the day that the swallows arrived.  Due to the cloud cover, all the flying insects seemed to be quite low down so the swallows were putting on their aerial acrobatic display over our garden, swooping, diving and  performing daredevil stunts in pursuit of all the insect delicacies.

(Please excuse the poor quality video.  They wouldn't stay still)

We had a grand view of their antics from our windows and I spent most of the morning watching them. Not much else to do on such a day anyway.  By the afternoon, the cloud had lifted and so too had the insects so the swallows were, presumably, much higher up and less visible.  Still, it was great entertainment while it lasted.

This morning (Sunday) was also grey, misty and drizzly but I went for a walk with the girls around South Barrule plantation. We only got caught in one brief shower but were able to stand under the trees to miss most of it.  An hour and a half with some steep bits but overall not too strenuous for me.  I was ready for the coffee and cake at the Coffee Cottage in the woods afterwards.

Now, a hot shower and feet up for the afternoon I think.

How I Met P

Responding to my comment on Yorkshire Pudding's recent blog post about "Ordinariness", he recommended a few topics that I may wish to blog about when I suggested that my blog was...well.. just ordinary.  One of the suggested blog post subjects was how His Lordship and I got together.

So, for those who may be interested, this is how it all happened forty years ago.

I had, unwisely, married at age 19 to my first ever boyfriend thinking at that time that nobody else was ever likely to ask me.  We moved from the London suburbs down to the south coast in search of jobs and cheaper accommodation costs.  Within three years I realised that I had made a huge mistake and so the marriage stumbled to a halt.

At the same time P had just moved back to England's south coast from Australia, (where his parents had moved their young family back in the early 1960s as "Ten Pound Poms" in search of a better life).

I was staying with friends who had kindly taken me in when my husband and I split. One evening they took me to their local bar to stop me moping about in their house.  We were having a quiet drink together in the front bar when we became aware that a fight had broken out in the back bar (not as refined as the front bar!).  Their friend, the bar manager, broke up the fight, called the police and ambulance then came to sit with us when everything had calmed down.  He chatted to us, totally oblivious to the blood stains all over his shirt front, and after a while suggested that the four of us go out one evening to try out a new restaurant that had just opened.  

Obviously, that was P. We all went along to the restaurant a few days later and had a very pleasant evening.  He found out where I worked and the next day called my office and asked me to go out for a drink.

And that, my friends, was that.

Very ordinary indeed.

May Bank Holiday Weekend

I seem to be losing track of the year and the public holidays so far.  This one crept up on me suddenly. 

Friday evening we invited our friends over for a takeaway supper. One couple volunteered to pick up our orders on their way over and we were all ready and waiting, beers and bubbles in hand, when the food arrived.  We provided a cheese platter and a fruit salad in case they were still hungry afterwards.  It was a lovely evening with lots of interesting conversation and good humour.

Today (Sunday) I met three of the girls for a walk. It was dry  bright and sunny but with  a cool breeze. Just right for walking.  We walked up the steep lane to Slieau Whallian  then followed the old railway trail back to St John's.

It was only an hour and a half walk but I have been suffering recently with my hay fever so my lungs were a bit congested and couldn't manage any more steep climbs. I managed coffee and cake afterwards at Green's though.

P is taking part in a fell race this afternoon so I have showered and am enjoying a few peaceful hours of solitude .  He had already left before I returned home so I had a brief wander around the garden, checking on the progress of the bluebells and pansies. (Excuse the rubbish photos. I am tired).

I am making a pork and apple casserole this evening which should be quick and easy to prepare. Another "bung it in a pot" meal.

Wake me up when it's time to go to bed.