Ps.

It was Horsey gap !!!

New Year's Eve.

A load of washing done porridge eaten and tea drunk. Then I sat and read for an hour before vacuuming all downstairs and making the bed. We each had a nice cup of coffee from our new machine and I went outside and dried the windows with our new window vacuum. H went up to ride his bike on the turbo and I got ready to go out with my daughter and family to cart gap to see the seals. There are loads again this year. We had a nice walk , we walked 4 miles. It was a nice day,no wind and quite mild. It was freezing last year and the year before. When I got back home we had a glass of wine and I put some tomatoes and a lasagne in the oven for our dinner. I had a bath and washed my hair. I am now going to check out the tele magazine to see what I am watching on television . I want something that will keep me awake till it's time for Londons fireworks 💥
A Very Happy New Year To You All

New Years eves eve.

We both woke up at the same time,came down and had our breakfast. We both had marmalade on toast and a cup of tea. I then dressed and we went shopping. I spent £42.!!! I wish it was like that every week. When we came back we had a cup of coffee made by our new machine and it was lovely. I sat about reading a new book I had for Christmas and at 11.30 we drove to Wells for lunch. It was thick fog all the way there and all the way back. H and I had fish and chips ( H had haddock and I had cod ) our son had chicken. After lunch we went for a short walk but it was pretty cold in the fog. We couldn't believe how busy it was at Wells, the car park was almost full and there were masses of people in all the cafes and shops etc.. When we arrived home we had a nice glass of wine and son and I played our deciding games of cribbage. The games were so close I could feel my blood pressure going up!! Anyway, my dear son won, much to his delight. We are both so competitive I think it made his Christmas. We just had soup and a cup of tea for tea because we were still full from lunch.  Our son didn't have any wine because he is driving back to London this evening, he just had earl grey tea. He is going to have a foggy trip.

Thursday.

I managed to stay in bed till 6.15 this morning, I put on a load of washing and then stacked the dishwasher and put it on before making my porridge. I hung the washing out and we all had a coffee. H went up to have a turbo session so son and I went to Holt park for a walk, it was lovely in the sun but still frozen in the shade. We walked for about an hour and then came back for lunch stopping for milk on the way. We had salad for lunch and then our son went to the climbing centre while I made a cottage pie for dinner. Our daughter rang, she has a cold, she says they will pick me up at around 12.30 on New Year's Eve and we are all going to see the seals, we go every year. H doesn't come, he doesn't like walking and he doesn't like the beach either.

A great day. ( 78 year old ).

My day has been really good. First thing I rang my boss, left a message on his answer phone saying if he can manage without me tomorrow then I would rather not go. I had porridge for breakfast,dressed,made the bed vacuumed and dusted all downstairs. After our son had eaten his breakfast he and I decided to go for a bike ride along the track again.H was going for a Spanish lesson. The fog was really thick and I thought there would not be many people out in it. Well I was wrong,the track was very busy. If you are on a bike it's the best place to be because there is no chance of being hit by a car because of the poor visibility. The fog was heavy and dense so by the time we arrived at Reepham cafe we were quite wet. When we got back home H was there and I made soup for lunch. Son and I then played cribbage and, oh joy, I won 2 games to 1.!!!No sooner had we finished when the phone rang and it was my boss to say he can manage without me tomorrow so now I won't have to go to work until next Tuesday. Being told that and winning made my day. We did well on the bike ride too and managed to do it 10 minutes faster than we did on Boxing Day.

Tuesday

The usual load of washing  when I got up, porridge for breakfast and then I loaded the dishwasher and put that on too. I hung my washing out but it didn't get as dry as yesterday's. When our son had eaten his breakfast he got ready and went to the climbing centre and I went into the back garden and spent several hours clearing up and filling my brown bin. When he came back I got our lunches, H had a bacon sandwich and son and I had a turkey salad. He and I then had 3 games of cribbage. He won the first and I won the second so we had to have a decider which, of course, he won!! We then all had a cup of tea. As I was drinking mine my boss rang and said it will be too frosty for me to work  tomorrow so I don't have to go till Thursday now. I have made turkey stew for dinner tonight but I have frozen all the rest of the turkey so we can have something different tomorrow.

Yesterday.

I forgot to blog yesterday!! It was a lovely day for me, I saw all my family. First H and I had a leisurely breakfast, I did yet another load of washing and the dishwasher went on as well. Our son got up at 9 and had his breakfast, then H got all our mountain bikes out, pumped them up etc. and at 9.45 our eldest son arrived with his bike and we all went of to Marriotts way cycle track to meet our daughter and son in law so we could all ride together. There were 6 of us, we looked almost like a cycle club. The sun was shining and we were sheltered on the track and it came as a shock when we had to ride a short distance on an exposed bit of road at how cold and windy it really was. L & J had to go straight home when our ride was over but S came back for a coffee and some Christmas nibbles.  I made soup for lunch and then we watched Alice through the looking glass in 3 D. It was turkey for dinner again ( it will be today too ). After dinner we watched another film but I kaput dozing off and missed most of it.

Christmas Day.

Well Merry Christmas all who read this. I hope your day has been as nice as mine. We were up around 6.15, had our breakfast then sat about reading and waiting for our son to get up. He came down at 9 so I opened the first bottle of Buck's Fizz. We then opened all our presents and we are so lucky. We have loads of great things, our no 1 son and his wife came round this morning and helped us out with with some of the nuts and chocolates. Our daughter rang for a chat and when S & J left we had a salad for lunch with a delicious Stilton topped pork pie from my lovely butchers. We watched a film this afternoon,H had a turbo session, son went for a run and I just sat and read my book. We had our Christmas dinner this evening and though I say it myself it was perfect. We had turkey, sausages, stuffing, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes and roast sweet potatoes, carrots and sprouts with rich gravy. We had a raspberry, sherry trifle heaped with fresh raspberries and now we are on the wine so I will close while I can still see the keyboard.

Christmas Eve.

I forgot to say yesterday that I lost another pound in weight this week so I was pleased about that. No 2 son came home last night at around 11.20. H and I both got up at 6 this morning and both had toast for breakfast. I put on a load of washing and a load in the dishwasher and then we went off to our butchers. I got some lovely meat. When we got back we had a coffee and I hung out the washing. I sat about for most of the morning but nor until I had put out all our nuts , chocolates and crisps. We had a salad for lunch and then went to our granddaughter and her partners new house, it's very nice. We had eats and drinks and a tour of the house then we left there and went to our grandson and his partners flat which is also very nice. We left when it was time for me to get our dinner. We had fillet steaks, peas and homemade chips, all delicious.

If anybody reads this I would like to wish them a very happy Christmas.

Christmas eves eve.

i was up before 6, had toast and marmalade for breakfast and was at Asda by 7. I got everything I wanted except I forgot my shortbread so I will have to have something else with my Christmas morning sherry. I went to the chicken farm for eggs and hung out my load of washing. I then vacuumed the whole house and dusted. It's all looking like Christmas here. This afternoon I went on the turbo trainer and rode for an hour, I did the best I have ever done, 18.4 miles in an hour. It was really hard but I am glad I did it. When I finished H ran me a bath and I also washed my hair. When I went back downstairs there was a glass of wine waiting for me. Just after 5 pm our daughter,son in law, granddaughter and her friend all came round with our Xmas presents and to take theirs. Hen they left we had our dinner, duck in orange sauce with potatoes and peas, yummy. Lemon cheesecake for pudding. Our no 2 son should be coming home tonight from London but I expect he will be late because the traffic is heavy.

The first day of the Christmas holidays.

I got up at 5.30, it will take me a day or two to unwind and manage to lay in a bit later. I had porridge for breakfast with a mug of tea,and when H got up we had a cup of coffee. I washed all my old working clothes and hung them out. It's a lovely sunny day so they should dry. I washed up and then cleaned my ovens and then the whole kitchen. After that I vacuumed all downstairs and dusted throughout. We had another coffee and put my bike into the garage. I hung up all the cards we received today and made some vegetable soup for lunch, it was very nice. For dinner tonight I am making a pasta thing, it's like a pasta bake but I do it all on the hob. First I fry an onion, then I am going to chop and add 5 quorn sausages, a tin of tomatoes and a couple of handfuls of frozen peas and sweet corn. I cook the pasta in the microwave, add it to my pan, give it a stir, grate some cheese over the top and as it melts dish it up. It's always very tasty. I am doing my Asda shop in the morning and going to the butchers on Saturday for my turkey,sausages and all the rest of my Christmas meat.

Wednesday yippee.

This morning H had to wake me up at 6, I was still sound asleep. I packed a salad and a bottle of water and went to work. I did 8 dozen bunches of carrots and then leeks. I had to help wash everything at lunch time and then walk back to leeks for the rest of the afternoon. When I left off the boss said he could manage without me tomorrow so I don't have to go back till next Wednesday!!! As I left off he handed me a Christmas card with £120 inside, a bottle of wine and a huge box of luxury biscuits, how lucky am I ? I also got my weeks wages which was for last Friday and 3 days this week so that was more than I usually get too. For dinner tonight we had fish pie and garden peas, it was very nice. Tomorrow I will get all my housework done, working all week I haven't had a chance to do much. We will finish our shopping off on Friday as usual.

Tuesday and I worked!

I never work on Tuesdays so now I haven't a clue what day it is. I took a prawn salad for my lunch. I thought if I have to work on a Tuesday I will treat myself to a nice lunch. I had a lovely packet of M & S prawns in the freezer and I ate the lot. I did a load of washing before I went and H managed to get it dry for me. I had to pick 3 sacks of sprouts first and then I spent all the rest of the day on leeks. We had a Cornish pasty for dinner with stir fried leeks, it was lovely. Now last week my boss said, 'I will need you Monday,Tuesday and Wednesday next week Jean'. That was fine by me, 3 days in a row is hard work when you are 78, it's a very manual job and it tires me out. Well this morning he said I don't think I will need you Thursday but I will let you know tomorrow afternoon!! I don't want to go. ,!

Monday

I packed a salad for my lunch with a bottle of water and went to work. I had to fill 10 boxes with loose carrots first and while I was doing that the men were cutting cabbages and cauliflowers. They also did some celeriac. We went down to wash it all and have our coffee break. It took till 11 am to pack it all and then the men dropped me off on the beetroot so I could pick 2 boxes of loose ones. From there I went back to the carrots to do 120 bunches. I then had to pick sprouts till I was picked up. I did a sack and a half. The men were cutting red cabbages and getting a load of swedes so there was enough washing to last me till hometime. I had a lovely cup of tea and then a bath before dinner which was 2 sausages,2 eggs and baked beans with a slice of bread and butter. I have to work again tomorrow so I will try to get an early night.

Sunday.

I managed to stay in bed till 6.40 this morning, then I put on a load of washing and made a bowl of porridge for my breakfast. I always have tea with my breakfast but have a coffee quite soon after on the days I don't work. I went upstairs and dressed, made the bed and then hung out the washing. When I came in again I vacuumed all downstairs and washed the kitchen floor. I wrapped my last present before H went up to ride on his bike on the turbo. W hile he was doing that I went to the garden centre for a few things and to the 'kitchenary' for some coloured icing. When I got back H was still riding so I made some vegetable soup for lunch. After lunch I decorated the Christmas cake. I am pleased with the result. We had a glass of wine and I cooked dinner, a steak and gravy pie cabbage,carrot and mashed potato. Tomorrow I have to work and it's been a very short weekend, also I have to work 3 days in a row so I will be pretty tired by Thursday and doubt I will want to go out on my bike.

Saturday.

It's actually 2.20 am on Sunday morning! But I forgot to post till now. I had a nice day. I put on my usual load of washing and had toast and marmite for breakfast. As soon as I was ready we went shopping. I spent almost £150 in Asda and another £50 in M & S food hall, I love Christmas. We unpacked and put everything away as soon as we got home, H made us a coffee and we changed into our cycle gear so that we were ready for when Louise and James arrived. We all went off together but the two men soon left us and went off to ride an extra 4 miles to Reepham station while Louise and I took the short cut chatting all the way. We only had a coffee at the station because I had bought M & S cakes for when we got back to ours. James had driven them round in his works van and also brought his road bike because he wanted H to make a slight adjustment to his brakes for him so he can use in in the morning with his mates.
We had more Christmas cards today and our house is looking festive. We had soup for lunch and I did nothing all afternoon i was too tired after 3 days work in a row and then a quite hard sticky ride along the track. For dinner tonight we had cottage pie and cauliflower cheese, it was very nice.

Pay day.

this morning I did a load of washing, had porridge for breakfast,toasted 2 slices of bread and made cheese sandwiches for lunch with them. Then I got ready to go to work. I had to do 96 bunches of carrots and then trim leeks till 12.20 when I was taken down to have lunch in the shed with the men!! ,( special treat ) After lunch we washed and packed all the leeks, cleared everything away and all went home. When I got home I had a cup of tea and then a bath. For dinner tonight we are having pork chops, egg, chips and corn on the cob. This morning I weighed myself as I always do first thing Friday morning and I have lost 2 lbs this week. I have now lost 9.5lbs since I changed my diet. I hope my colesterol is going down too because that's the reason for the change of diet, the weight loss is an added bonus.

Thursday

Work again, I took my salad, a small flask of bovril and a bottle of water and off I went. First I had to pick 3 large sacks of sprouts and by thr time I had finished I was wet up to my elbows. I then had to work like that for the rest of the day. I had to do 10 dozen bunches of carrots and 3 boxes of loose ones then walk to leeks. I had to stay in the field to eat my lunch and I was annoyed about that! The men drove to the yard and sat in armchairs while I sat on a box in the mud. As I was already wet I got cold and felt miserable for the rest of the day. I trimmed 6 boxes of leeks, we washed them and then I drove to Morrisons where I met my sister in law and we exchanged presents. When I got home I had a cup of tea and then soaked in the bath until I had warmed up. For dinner tonight we had a jacket potato, cod in breadcrumbs and baked beans. I have to work again tomorrow,it's ages since I worked on a Friday, but I leave off at 2 so it's not so bad. I will have to do my weekly shop on Saturday instead.

Wednesday.

I got up at 5.45, made myself a bowl of porridge, had my breakfast, did a load of washing,made the bed, packed my work bag, dressed and went to work. It was the same order as Mondays, 8 dozen bunches of carrots then Leeks. The men came and took me away at noon and we washed everything. It was lunch then and afterwards I packed everything and walked back to leeks. I spent the rest of the afternoon trimming them. When I left off the boss said I will be picking sprouts tomorrow and he thinks he will need me on Friday as well. We had chicken curry for dinner and while it was cooking I prepared a salad to take to work tomorrow. If I do have to work Friday I am going to treat myself to cheese and tomato sandwiches for my lunch, I haven't had any bread for ages.

Tuesday 13th

I managed to stay in bed till 6am,I came downstairs and put on a load of washing. It was pretty damp outside but I hung it out anyway. I had my usual bowl of porridge for breakfast and H made me a coffee. I washed up all the big things I didn't want to put in the dishwasher and sat and read some of my book. H went up to ride on his turbo trainer because we decided it was too damp to ride outside. When he finished we had another coffee and a pot noodle for lunch. At 2 pm I went up to ride on the turbo. I did just over 20 miles and my average was 16.8 m p h.  I had a bath and then made a beef stew for dinner, it turned out well and was delicious. I have to go to work tomorrow so I have hard boiled 2 eggs for my lunch and I will also take 2 bananas 🍌.

Monday

It was work today so I made myself a salad and a flask of bovril, I took a bottle of water as well but didn't drink much of it because it was a cool day. I had to pick and bunch 8 dozen bunches of carrots and then go to leeks. I trimmed them till I was taken down to wash and pack them all I have finished 4 more rows. When they were all packed Andy and I had to go back to leeks and we both trimmed them till 3.20 when we went down to wash them and I just had time to pack them before hometime. We are now halfway down the next 4 rows. When I got home I had a cup of tea and a soak in the bath before cooking dinner. We had burgers from my butcher, baked beans, a fried egg and chips, it was yummy. I have tomorrow off but have to work on Wednesday. Tomorrow I hope to go out on my bike.

Short blog.

Nothing much happened today, porridge for breakfast, sweeping and washing floors, hanging washing out and getting it in when dry, salad sandwiches for lunch, then icing the Christmas cake and cooking dinner. It was roast chicken with all the trimmings. No 1 son rang for a chat, they are all well. I wrote 3 more Xmas cards, all of which had to have a letter inside so took a while. That's it, now I am just waiting for S C D results.

Exercise Saturday.

I have again had a lovely day. I had a lay in,not getting up till almost 7am. Porridge for breakfast with a huge mug of tea, then I read a chapter of my book while drinking a coffee. I had put on a load of washing when I got up so I hung it out and did a load of dusting. H washed the car and it looks lovely, it's 6 years old but looks like new. At 9.30 we changed into our cycle gear and went for a lovely ride along the track.23 and a bit miles. On the way home we gathered some holly which will look lovely for the holiday season. When we came in I brought the washing in again because it had just begun to rain. H made us another coffee and I got homemade soup for lunch. I had a bath and sorted my holly before cooking dinner. I am going to do jacket potatoes with pizza and corn on the cob. The potatoes are huge so will take ages to bake. H has just poured us both a glass of wine so I will end this and relax.

Friday.

Well it's 16 days to Christmas so after getting up just before 6, putting on a load of washing and having my breakfast I want shopping. I bought my weeks groceries plus wine 🍷, cider, pringles, nuts, dates, tomato juice and chocolates. When we got home again I unpacked it all and took the Christmas things upstairs and placed them all on a shelf in my bedroom, it's now known as my Christmas shelf. I hung my washing out but had to get it in again at 1.30 because I was off to the hairdressers for a colour and a cut. I had 3 inches taken off which is 7.5 centimetres in new money. I had a salad for my lunch before I went. When I got home it was ' wine o'clock ' . For dinner tonight we are having a fish pie with stir fried kale ( which tastes like Chinese seaweed) . This morning is the day of the week I weigh myself. I do it as soon as I get up wearing nothing and when I started I weighed 11stone 2.5 pounds. I now weigh 10 stone 9 pounds. This is the same as last week but I am happy with that because the week included my birthday with extra treats. I am not eating what I do now to loose weight,I am doing it because my colesterol is high, the weight loss is an extra bonus that I had not expected.

Pay day.

I packed cheese and celery for my lunch with 2 bananas 🍌. I had my breakfast, put the dishwasher on, made the bed and went to work. I had to pack up some orders first ready to be delivered. Then I spent all the rest of the day trimming leeks. It has given me a back ache being bent over all day but hopefully it will soon go. At least I have no work tomorrow. I made a spaghetti bolognase for dinner and it was very nice. I fried a leek in olive oil, added mince, a can of tomatoes, some ketchup and an oxo cube. The spaghetti I cooked in the microwave, added it to the sauce and grated cheese over the top, job done. We are shopping tomorrow so I will get a few Christmas nuts and things, it's getting so close so quickly!!!

Wednesday.

I put on a load of washing, had 4 cream crackers with margarine and marmite for breakfast with my mug of tea,made the bed dressed and went to work. I took 2 bananas and 2 hard boiled eggs for my lunch with a bottle of water and a small flask of hot bovril. I had to do 72 bunches of carrots and then leeks. I was  taken down at 12 to wash and pack everything and then walk back to the leeks for the rest of the day. When I got home we had got 3 Christmas cards for me to hang up. I had a nice soak in a hot bath, a cup of tea and dinner, egg, beans, and a jacket potato. It's work again tomorrow so I hope it stays dry.

Another day off.

we woke up this morning to freezing fog. We were going out on our bikes and decided to go at 10 am. I had a bowl of porridge for breakfast and we also had a coffee. Well at 10 it was still foggy and freezing so I decided to do an hour on the turbo trainer.H put my bike on and I did it for just over an hour and rode 18.3 miles. I had a shower and then made soup for dinner. I used an onion,half a celeriac and 3 sticks of celery. I then added 3 veggie oxo cubes and water. It was cooked and ready in 21 minutes and really tastes like celery soup. Normally all my soups taste the same whatever I put in the pan. Anyway it was nice. We had a coffee and the loaf of bread we made turned out nice too. For dinner tonight we are having breaded cod, mushrooms peas and home made chips. I burned 469 calories on the bike ride so I can have a few chips and not worry.

Today got better!

i was up at 5, put on a load of washing, had my breakfast,made myself a salad for lunch, sorted out my work bag sharpened my leek knife made the bed, dressed up nice and warmly and went off to work 8 hours in the field. ( the temperature was -2.5 degrees). When I got to work the boss was waiting for me to say nobody wanted anything and the ground was too hard to get veg out anyway. I can't say I was very happy but he said he would pay me an hour for travel time. It only took me 12 minutes to get there but the traffic had built up and it took me ages to get home again.
H then cheered me up by saying he would take me out to lunch, my birthday treat. We went to Fakenham and I had sausages, eggs, beans and chips, a glass of cider and a knickerbocker glory. We went from there to a furniture store where we ordered a new sofa, huge chair and a coffee table. It's a 12 week wait so we won't have it for Christmas. We have a brown leather suite at the moment, we have had it for ages and it's still perfectly good but we have had it for so long and it's never going to wear up, we are just fed up with it! So as I said the day started off rubbish but got better 😃.

Sunday.

Today has been nice. When I got up H had already stacked and started the dishwasher and made a pot of tea. We had our breakfast and then a coffee.I did a load of washing, hung it out and it dried in the glorious sunshine and slight breeze. I put the marzipan on my Christmas cake and it went well. I made some vegetable soup for lunch and that turned out well too. H had the last piece of my birthday cake for afters. This afternoon I wrapped some more presents and wrote a few more cards. For dinner tonight we had a chicken pie with gravy, mashed potatoes and cabbage.
Tomorrow I have to work again!!! My first day working now I am 78.,!

My birthday.

Today I am 78 and I have had a lovely day. I had toast for breakfast with a cup of tea and then a coffee. I have got loads of cards and fabulous presents.our daughter and son in law came round at 9.30 and we went to Reepham along the cycle track. We had a drink at the station and then rode back.( 22.7 miles ) it was really enjoyable. When we got back we had a cup of tea and a slice of birthday cake, then I opened all my presents. When they left we had soup for lunch and H changed my chain and gear cassette on my mountain bike. Both my sons rang with birthday wishes, no 1 son came round when he knew we were home from our ride and no 2 son who is climbing in the Peak District rang me from half way up a crag. He rang again later to have a longer chat. I did a roast chicken for dinner with roast potatoes, carrots and beetroot. Oh and batter puddings and gravy. My cake was a white chocolate birthday cake from Asda and every one raved about it. It was yummy. I had a bath and washed my hair and now I am upstairs watching strictly come dancing.

Nice day off.

I was  up early and put on a load of washing which was finished before we went shopping. I did our weekly shop at Asda, treated myself to a birthday cake for tomorrow and bought a few Christmas bits and pieces.(£132). As soon as it was all put away I hung out the washing and we had a coffee. H went upstairs to work out on the turbo trainer after he had taken our Christmas tree 🎄 out of the loft so I could put it together and decorate it while he was riding. When he finished we had another coffee and soup for lunch. After lunch H worked on his and my road bikes, he put on new gear cassette 's and new chains. I just sat and wrote Christmas cards, I have written 21 so far and several had to have letters inside  which I wrote as well. For dinner we had duck in a port and orange sauce with potatoes and stir fried kale, it was very nice. Tomorrow is my birthday and I will be 78! My blog will still say 77 because I don't know how to change it, it will have to wait till no 2 son comes home again.

Pay day.

 This morning I couldn't face a salad for work so I took 2 toasted marmite sandwiches. I had to eat in the field again but it wasn't quite as cold today. I had to pick a sack and a half of sprouts and then spent all the rest of the day on leeks apart from the last half hour when I was taken dow to wash and pack them. I was still working when the 4 o'clock pips went and apart from that last half hour I was on my own and didn't see another soul except a woman in the distance walking a dog round the field. When I got home my cup of tea was waiting and after that and my bath I feel human again. We had a pasta bake for dinner, it was nice, sausage, leek and a can of tomatoes with a cheese topping. I am shopping tomorrow and then I will marzipan my Christmas cake.