…and on a lighter note.

On Friday I met up with my student, Rachel who I have worked with for three years. She is moving to Manchester and going to finish her degree at Manchester University. I thought I would be sad to have our last coffee/tea but the day was nice. After meeting up in Costa and I having a cappuccino and toasted tea cake, we headed into town and to Leaf, a tea shop in Liverpool! I had not been there before and the cafe/restaurant was very bohemian. The tea we ordered came in neat little pots and it was nice to see fresh ingredients being used.

I had a migraine all evening, probably with all the caffeine. lol

Saturday and David has been working all day on putting his TV on the chimney breast. No DIY job goes smoothly in a 1901 house!!

In the garden. My Azalea is looking wonderful and David’s Acer is sprouting back to life!

For the evening dinner I decided to dress up for the curry we had, and in the garden David took a picture. Do I look like a nymph or an alien??

 

One for Sorrow…

Well the news on David’s car just kept getting better and better!!

Thursday evening, David faced a garage bill of over £1000!! It was not only something to do with the car’s exhaust but the flange that joins both parts of the exhaust together???? Meaning having to replace the whole exhaust system!! My advice never buy a Fiat!

I had had a really nice day on Thursday at work with my student Rachel, revising for her exam on Friday. However coming home to David’s news and a letter from the University of Liverpool saying the course I had enrolled on to become Excel proficient was cancelled, really ‘ground my gears!’ (Line from Family Guy!) How am I to get ahead in the workplace when I can’t even get on an academic course is beyond me? The only good thing is that they are refunding me… Looks likely I’ll be teaching myself!

*sigh*

I only need one more bad thing to happen and that makes three!!

Friday, however was a much better day. David took the car from Quick Fit (why he took it there I don’t know!) and took it to the mechanic he usually goes to (though on Thursday he thought that he was closed!).

The car will remain at the garage over the weekend as the mechanic tries to bring it back to life!

Shopping was a funny affair on Saturday, as David for years has been saying we should walk to the shops as the supermarket is just down the road! However I think he now realises that lugging loads of bags back home is another matter. Burning biceps and cut fingers from where the plastic bags have dug into the skin is no fun!

This weekend was the RSPB’s ‘Big Garden Watch’ 2014. I went into mum’s house next door (as she still has all the feeders) and sat for an hour and counted the birds. Before my count there were lots of Starlings visiting the fat balls, but when I sat for the hour not a single Starling came. All I saw was 9 Goldfinches, 12 Pigeons and 2 Blue Tits. Very sparse this year!

To cheer myself up after all the upset over the car. I decided to cook a salmon teriyaki and vegetable rice for dinner on Saturday. (Thanks to my student Rachel for making me think of this recipe!) I was surprised at how easy it was to make. Boil the rice and then add vegetables, marinate the salmon with the teriyaki sauce and cook for 20 minutes! Voilà! 🙂

A Date is Set and Some Musings….

The date for moving into the new house has been set…  I made an executive decision (as David and I were humming and aahhing for hours!), to name the date for moving in to be the 27th December 2013! I did not want the upheaval over Christmas, so I have chosen a date afterwards.

Other news: I am overjoyed to have successfully booked seats for the forthcoming ‘Twelfth Night‘ at the new Liverpool Everyman Theatre!

http://www.everymanplayhouse.com/show/Twelfth_Night/1031.aspx

I managed to even get front row stalls! I was amazed as I thought that people in the city would have been snapping up the seats readily! I can’t wait to see the new theatre and this production of my favourite Shakespeare play!

Work wise: I did not find myself unemployed for long. Well it was exactly two days! I got a call not long after finishing work at the Royal Hospital from the agency informing me that my student from last year had asked if I could go back to work with her and help with her studies. So that is what I have been doing these past few weeks. There are only two weeks remaining of the University term and then I am looking forward to a nice long holiday over Christmas. A rest is much needed!

Animal matters: There have been many wild birds visiting the garden feeders as the autumn temperatures start to plummet and the dark nights draw in. There have been the usual numerous Goldfinches, Starlings and Pigeons and they have been joined by two Blue Tits and even a shy Robin! But there has been too much activity for the poor Robin to forage at his own pace! I even thought I had seen a brief visitation of the Dunnock, but I could have been mistaken!

My Border Collie Riley has been worrying me a bit today. He has seemed very quiet, has not eaten his evening meal and looks so sad. 😦 I hope he is not sickening for something? He still goes on his walks and wants to play, he just seems under the weather today. Let’s just hope it is just a phase and he is back to his wild, energetic self tomorrow!