Xmas

So here we are post New Year. Xmas and its latter celebrations were exhausting. The wind up to Christmas was not too bad as we food shopped early in the day to avoid the pushing and shoving. A mere ten to lunch xmas day so the turkey got cooked xmas eve. Madame and I opened our presents prior to any arrivals....



Plus an Elliot Rhodes belt and Ted Baker handbag!

Lunch and washing up out of the way and it was time to get the glad rags on and off just out of London to a friends, just nine of us in all. Silly games ensued and much naughty food was consumed.

Got home around 10 am Boxing day morning and straight into lunch preparations for twelve today! With that out of the way the daughter decided that the flu symptoms had got too bad and up the hospital madame went. Luckily they saw her quickly and sent her home with antibiotics and within two or three days she had recovered.

Met up with an ex work colleague during the week for lunch so much gossiping and merriment ensued. A couple of visits to Brent Cross one of which resulted in finding a bargain in Lipsy. As an aquaintance once said... I love Lipsy but would it love me back? Well this one does......



New Years eve brought a nice surprise. All prepared for a quiet night in a late afternoon text from a friend resulted in a trip out to Dolenta's and saw us getting home at 10am New Years Day. I had no sleep at all, 30 hours of it. Peter and Sarah were there, Dolenta got Peter plastered and he went to bed at about 12.30 am in the bed we were to use. Sarah moved him to Dolenta's bed. Dolenta then went to her own bed about 3 am with Peter in it then unbeknown to us he went to the loo and got back into the original bed but he didn't know that madame was in it ! We only found that when Andy went to go to bed about 4.00. Sara and I were going to have the double lilo but decided that 2 or three hours sleep was going to do more harm than good so sat up and chatted and did the washing up !

Not content with all this gadding about the day after New Years Day we are off out again to see friends. More very naughty food and convivial chats sees us in bed at 1.30 am ! My goodness we need a holiday to get some rest.

Been and gone

Well that's Christmas out of the way for another year. Its all sooo tiring. Just the family round xmas and boxing day with the addition of the odd interloper, so cooking for 9 one day and 11 the next.
A trip to Brent Cross the day after boxing day, but we went early and missed all the madness and were back home by 10-10.30. I must admit my wardrobes are overflowing so the sales are a bit of a non event thankfully.
So we get a phone call……. Howard, would madam like to meet him at Tate Britain to see the Turner Prize, no she doesn't want to go. So after he'd gone I said… I should put on a frock and go, so she said why not, so I called him back and said I'd go. Didn't say it would be Ann though ;-) Bus up to Charing Cross, bus up to Tate Britain, afternoon tea and a wander round, came out of Tate Britain, walk along Millbank, over Vauxhall Bridge and into Sainsbury's, buy a couple of bottles of fizz, pick up the car and back home with H !! We never got to see the Turner prize stuff as we were gassing so much we were too late :-) Oooo lush !
Talking of afternoon tea, we were sooo underwhelmed by the Tate's offering. Well the space, considering we were in a premier establishment can only be described as dire, just like a works canteen my dears. Dear H decides he wants tea, a pot of tea. Oh we don't do pots she says only cups and if he wants a mixture of earl grey and English breakfast then he will have to pay double. We get our drinks and scones, what flavours of jam do you have? Strawberry she says, that's it. Do you have clotted cream? No. I mean what sort of afternoon tea is this? Only one sort of jam and no clotted cream :-Must be a sign of times.(
Although we didn't have that much time to look round I must say I was rather, well, underwhelmed with some of the work I saw. True the skill is quite, quite amazing but I do like to be grabbed by the throat and have an invisible arm drag me to a painting and say look at that ! And to be honest, not a lot did. But as I say one melts and goes green with envy at how a canvas, paint and brushes can be used to such amazing effect.
Lunch out yesterday, in the wilds of Hertfordshire, a girl I used to work with and her son. Well my dears I didn't realise that the last time I visited his pub I'd cause such a stir! This place was just outside Potters Bar, well I suppose they'd never seen a 'girl' like me before but supposedly there was quite a commotion after I'd left, who was that? who is it? etc. etc although that said it was all rather complimentary.
So we get home and it hits me. All that stress and work over xmas, the gadding about caught up with me and I was soooo exhausted I just had to succumb to a nana-nap for a couple of hours and manage to feel like death when I awoke.