Yesterday it was summer all day. The sailing club had their regatta this weekend and I stayed out the way, although I did bake some cakes for the refreshments. Last night after fish & chips for twelve in our garden we went along to the regatta dance at the sailing club, the band was awful. it was stinking hot so four of us girls wandered down to the beach, stripped off and had a midnight swim, it was wonderfully refreshing and very liberating, though fortunately it was very dark and we couldn't be seen from the road:)

August bank holiday weekend is nearly over and tomorrow I will return to work after more than a week's holiday. Steve & I enjoyed our few days away, firstly a little break and luxury in Oxford where we had a relaxing time in a hotel by the Thames. We swam in the pool, wallowed in the spa and were so completely relaxed or was it lazy that we ordered room service instead of dining in the restaurant.

Before going to Bedford we visited Jane & Barry, friends from Clophill and spent a few hours catching up and reminiscing about the days when the children were young and so were we!

It was wonderful, but exhausting to see Matthew. He is so enthused abut his job and talked and talked and talked. We took him out for dinner and after he took us to meet some of his friends. Most of Saturday was spent shopping with Matt, he may be earning, but he desperately needed some decent footwear for work. After traipsing around the shoe shops of Bedford a suitable pair of black size 13 extra wide were found. It was a pleasant surprise to find that when Steve, who had offered to buy them went to pay they had been reduced from £60 to £20.

We arrived in Sheffield early evening. At Ian's house we met his fellow house mates, Palestina, a young woman from Mexico and Vernon who is from South Africa. I understand now why Ian is happy living and working with these two wonderful people. It was lovely to talk to them both, they told of being away from their families for so long and how much they missed their

parents :(

Ian's girlfriend Katie who we have met before came out with us to eat and also for our day out on Sunday. Katie is such good company and fun, she will finish her doctorate in December, three months before Ian . Our day out was to the very impressive country house: ' Chatsworth', it was truly magnificent and the grounds were vast and diverse, we spent two hours in the gardens and saw only a fraction of them. Katie who's subject is 'plants', (although a very small specialised type, I do her an injustice by not remembering exactly the species, it could have been lichens!) was excited and enthusiastic about all the fauna. Our afternoon was ended with refreshments at a country hotel set in Baslow a pretty village in the Derbyshire dales, we had afternoon tea/coffee/ hot choc and cake. Much later & back into the hub of Sheffield we had a Vietnamese meal, we chose the restaurant because it was busy with Vietnamese customers, so we reckoned it must be good and it was.

We left at 9.00 this morning and our drive home was easy, this afternoon I have been sorting out the washing and for some reason I got the urge to bake some cakes, which I did.

Its Saturday evening and I have not long returned from a very long stint of serving refreshments at the sailing club. I stank of the bacon I had been cooking all day, so a soak in the bath and a hair wash was in order. I'm now laying on the sofa with a glass of wine by my side. Dinner will probably be a quick pasta, I don't have the energy to do anything else.
Steve arrived home in the early hours from his weeks sailing in the national championships, he and his crew again did well, they aren't up with the champions, but won the 'endeavour' prize. Along with a rather tacky trophy Steve won a new cover for his boats from 'Laser', the competitions sponsor, so he is delighted.
Were on holiday this week, we plan to make our way up to see Matt at the end of the week and then on to Ian. I'm very excited at the thought of seeing them both. We have booked a night in a hotel in Oxford on the way up and hope to look up some friends in Clophill when we arrive in Bedfordshire.
Tomorrow I will collect my Mother from Southampton airport, she has been to visit a friend in Glasgow for the last ten days. I have invited friends for dinner in the evening and will do a roast, its just not something you can't do for just two people.
Goodnight, my book and bed beckons.

What a relief to finish work today for some annual leave. It will be twelve days before I return to work. Its been very full on recently and I'm looking forward to some relaxation.
Yesterday was a really strange day. The weather was atrocious, heavy rain and severe winds. While driving back to the office after a visit I saw too magpies and immediately thought of the superstition 'one for sorrow, two for joy'. Two minutes later I was proceeding along tree lined Manor way when a huge tree blew down across the road in front of me, If I'd be seconds earlier it would have come down on me and my car! Last night I had to telephone a friend as I inadvertently locked myself in my bedroom. Earlier in the week the outside bedroom door handle had come off and last night I had forgotten to put it into place before I'd gone to bed. I had gone up early to read, Steve was away and its a luxury I enjoy. At about 10.30 I decided to go downstairs and make myself some hot chocolate and that was when I found I was stuck in the bedroom. The predicament was: did I just go to bed and wait until the morning before getting help or did I get help then. I could have managed the night without going anywhere as fortunately we have a little 'en suite', but as my imagination was working overtime( the house could burn down with me in it), I decided to call in the troops . Because Steve is away I had taken both the house phone, a mobile and the house keys up with me. I rang Sandy and she gallantly sent round her husband Paul. I threw the keys out of the bedroom window to Paul who let himself in the front door and released me from my prison.

This evening five girlfriends are coming round for supper. Its funny saying girlfriends when we are all in our 5o's. I'm sure like me, they find it hard to think of themselves as more than middle aged!!! I have prepared ahead a pasta dish, one of Delia's cheats which we will have with home baked garlic bread and a green salad. Jane is bringing a dessert and as I expect from experience it will be creamy and chocolaty, so I have prepared a fruit salad for those of us who want something a little less rich . I have bought a couple of bottles of a sparkling Pink Bellinger which I really like. I know some more bottles will arrive with my guests, but three of us will be working tomorrow, so I'm sure we will be very sensible.

Steve is in Penzance for the week and I'm home alone and loving it! Now don't get me wrong I love Steve and being with him, but the selfish side of me really enjoys a little me time. When the boys were quite young Steve would take the boys away in the summer to his father's home, where they'd meet up with Mike and the cousins and have a great time. There week would be sailing, swimming and barbecues and mine would be quiet, lots or relaxation and doing only what I want to do. I have been on my own since yesterday and although I will be working this week the rest of the times my own. I have been out for coffee with a friend this morning and this afternoon I'm going to watch an old black & white movie on TCM.
Our trip to Salcombe next week has been cancelled and did I cheer loudly? Yes. Steve has also declined going with the group of guys so we have a week together to look forward to. We are planning to see Matt and then Ian at the end of the week which will be the icing on the cake.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed our sailing holiday in Greece last year, I had reluctantly agreed that I would join some friends on their boat and sail to Salcombe. The main reason I didn't want to go was because of the cramped conditions and the lack of privacy, also the weather cannot be relied on and I didn't want to be at sea in a storm on a small vessel. Today while out shopping with a friend, Steve rang me to tell me that the trip had been cancelled. Straight after the phone call Steve sent me a text to say that he had heard me cheer before I had hung up:) He was right I did cheer as I told Elaine of my reprieve!!
At the time of the call I was in TJMax, a shop that until recently I'd had no experience. Wow what a shop, lots of stuff, some rubbish I'm sure but some really good bargains. I bought a set of Champagne glasses for £8.00, they were a well known brand and when I got home I checked them out on the web and they were selling in John Lewis for £34.00, what a bargain.
Ian is excited as he has had another paper published, he's also writing a piece that he hopes will get into New Scientist.
Another 'writer ' in the family e mailed me to tell that her book will be published in September. I was also informed that her second book will include e mails she received from Steve about recent events. I am sure that they will used out of context and not portray truthfully recent happenings. In the same correspondence I am informed that against her 'legal advise' she won't be taking legal action against both my Mother & husband. I cannot stop myself reading this ladies blog, recently she wrote that I was ignoring her, not surprising as not many weeks ago we were threatened that we would be sued for defamation & harassment if we made contact.