Saving the Vorwuls since 3289

It was another lovely spring day yesterday. As James had a day off we headed to Beamish again and continued on our plan to visit the parts of the museum you can only reach by foot. Including yesterday, a restored farmhouse which had the most adorable sunbathing pig, and a field of hens and turkeys. Which led to the turkey situation.

James thinks he can do a great turkey impression. Now, I'm no turkey expert so can't say if it is or not, but it is enthusiastic and loud, and he was talking to the turkeys, causing a little girl who was also watching them to give him a very dubious look. She eventually went off with her dad, and we wandered off too.

Later in the day, got on one of the restored buses, and guess who gets on? The little girl and her dad. Now the buses are small and a lot of people got on, so the dad was practically sitting on my lap next to me with the girl sitting on his knee. James was sitting opposite us, and the dad went, 'oh look, it's the turkey man' Which cracked me up, as the girl still looked very dubious.

Later still, onto a different bus, and who was sitting on the seat opposite? The girl and her dad, I'm sure they must have thought we were stalking them at that point. We had a bit of a chat, and then they got off at the next stop, no doubt hoping they'd never see turkey man again *g*

Another thing that happened yesterday. There was a very loud knock at the door, James looked out the window, and it was a policeman. As it was heading toward seven I was already in my PJs, feet up in the recliner and ready for some TV while James was relaxing too. Of course that changed in an instant because I don't know about others, but seeing the police at the door always makes me think worst case scenarios.

Thankfully, it wasn't. He was there to take a statement about Rosie's window being broken. I was surprised it took so long, or that we weren't given any warning he was coming, but it does sound like they've got the investigation in hand.

To end, have a Kevin photo. This is the view I now get when I'm in the bath. There used to be nice succulents and ornaments up there. ( Collapse )

We went to see Novocaine at Metrocentre on Saturday. It wasn't my choice, and it wouldn't have been my first pick to watch, but it was okay. It was funnier than I thought it would be, but I still spent a lot of time with my eyes shut, and the main plot was very thin. So while it wasn't as bad as I expected, I wouldn't actually want to see it again.

Apparently, one of the ladies from class saw me there, but didn't say hello as I was talking. I just hope I didn't walk past and totally blank her. Sometimes, I'm terrible at not recognising people when they're away from the places I know them from.

Sunday was Mother's Day, so we visited my MiL and went to see Corey. That was an interesting visit as just before we arrived water had started pouring through his bathroom ceiling light. He lives in a house turned into two flats, and it seems the waste pipe had come loose when the family above drained their bath, so the water came through Corey's ceiling. On the plus side, both flats have the same landlord and he had a repairman out within an hour.

The clocks had also gone forward that day, but I don't actually mind the spring forward time change, especially as there was no alarm on a Sunday.

Yesterday, I just wasn't feeling going to class for some reason. I even considered not going but in the end pulled myself together, and as usual enjoyed it, and felt much better for going. The talk bit did overrun by quite a bit, so we only ended up doing 20 mins of exercise, so just two quick circuits. Including the three level step of DOOM!

Walked home and chatted to my friend most of the way -- and the fact I've made a friend there who wants to walk home with me continues to be happy making -- finished tidying when I got back, including drying a wash on the line -- hello warm sunshine, I have missed you -- and was looking forward to a lobster bath when Kayleigh messaged asking if I could watch Bodhi for an hour.

I said yes, but when Kayleigh and Lucy finally brought Bodhi she was exhausted after a full day at nursery, including an early breakfast club start, so she refused to stay and insisted she was going to the shop with her mams. In the end they had to take her, and then Lucy sent me a photo of Bodhi fast asleep in her car seat, saying she'd dropped off literally seconds after being strapped in.

I assume one stayed in the car with B while the other shopped, as they had to go shopping as poor Tiny the tortoise's enclosure had been infested with ants. They think they'd hatched from sand/pulp stuff he lives on, which is a horrible thought. So, they'd gone out to get all new bedding, pulp/sand etc.

It was a Bodhisitting day today, so we ended up at Moobears, where the mascot of the day was Bluey, which caused great excitement as Bluey is one of Bodhi's favourites right now. Then she got upset when Bingo wasn't there, too. But we did get some good photos, including James dancing with Bodhi and Bluey, which was adorable. We also booked Bodes in for the Easter Monday Tinkerbell party, so that should be fun.

We've been taking advantage of our Unlimited Odeon card and saw Marching Powder last week, which was pretty much Danny Dyer playing Danny Dyer and seemed to have a ratio of one swear word for every four other words. Then yesterday we saw Snow White, which was okay. I enjoyed all the singing and dancing scenes, and it was very pretty to look at, but nothing I'd make an effort to watch again.

Thursday it was another lovely spring day so we took advantage of our yearly pass and headed to Beamish, the open air living museum. This time we walked to a part we normally miss out as it's up a big hill and can only be reached by foot, but we were both glad we'd made the effort as the hall and tavern were lovely to visit. Plus, there were two adorable ginger pigs to admire. By the end of that visit, we'd managed a three-mile walk, which was pleasing.

Nikita from Strictly is doing his solo tour at the moment and reviews have been great. Sadly, it's not coming to Sunderland, and the Newcastle showing is sold out. Which is typical, as the rave reviews make me want tickets so badly. Especially after seeing Nikita give Vito a lap dance as part of his latest show. I mean, come on, that outfit, that dance. I need to see! I even got close to buying tickets for the Edinburgh show, but sadly, that's next week when I'm cat and tortoise sitting, so an overnight stay somewhere isn't possible.

I may have gone to the giant charity shop again, and may have bought more clothes. Included in that was an amazing wool blend coat which is thick, has multiple pockets and is really good quality. Normally I would have passed it by as it was priced at £20, but there was a 25% discount on all the winter coats, so £15 for something that really is good quality was a steal. Though, when I got it home I did discover it's dry-clean only which is a pain.

I also got the greenhouse tidied when it was nice, so everything there is good to go once the weather gets more consistent. Because right now we're having some lovely days, but also frosty nights. But as soon as we're having more sun, the greenhouse is ready.

I enjoyed weight management class today, especially the exercise part ( Collapse )

I went to Durham with James on Saturday, taking the bus to get there. It was a chilly but sunny day, and I enjoyed the walk, and couldn't resist a look into the Donkey Sanctuary charity shop where they sell every item for £1. I came out with three new to me long line tops and at this point I really need to go through my wardrobe and sort out my clothes. That or ban myself from charity shop buying.

We decided to eat out, and I had very delicious jackfruit fajitas, then as we had time before the film started, went to the Chinese Supermarket next to Odeon where I continued my kimchi tasting and bought myself some more. I was actually surprised at just how many kinds they had, and was tempted by a radish kimchi, but in the end went for the bargain of a two for one deal. I've tried it since then, and it's not as liquid as the first kind I tried, but still just as delicious.

The film we went to see was Mickey 17 and I liked it for the most part. It was interesting sci-fi and Robert Pattinson was great in it, and the parallels to current politics were obvious, with Mark Ruffalo playing the main idiotic politician with very Trump like mannerisms. The plot got a bit bumpy towards the end, but it kept my attention throughout. What I didn't like was, and I'll cut for ( Collapse )

Rosie the car gets her new glass tomorrow, which I'm glad about as a bin bag and lots of tape doesn't make for a very secure vehicle. Typically though, the appointment to fit it is an hour after the start of a funeral of a neighbour. Technically, we could still go and get back in time, but it would mean leaving as soon as the service was over and hoping there were no delays. Certainly not ideal, but at the same time, I'd like to go pay my respects.

I didn't realise it had been so long since I last updated, but as I've just said elsewhere, it's been a busy few offline weeks.

Of the good. Excellent long walks to High Force and Gibside. I won't talk about them here, but if you want to see photos there are posts on my insta, which is here We went to see The Last Showgirl at the cinema, which was better than I was expecting, and got some good mall walking in that day.

Monday class was good, we talked about the immune system and I partnered with my usual lady as we encouraged each other on. Especially on the three level step complete with carrying a 10kg grab bag, which was one of the stations. I hate it I do.

James' phased return is going nicely, and he's back up to full hours from next week.

The best good, James applied for a grant from his work union to pay for the deposit for our new motability car, and after a lot of waiting, it was approved this week. As the deposit is 1k, as you can imagine, not finding that ourselves has taken a lot of weight from our shoulders. Our new car is actually at the garage now, just waiting to have the adaptions fitted, so soon Rosie will go, and hello, Bluey. (Bodhi picked the name)

Our bank randomly gave its members £50 each. The money isn't in the accounts yet, but will be next month, so that's money to look forward to.

Not good or bad, but why I was offline so much this last week. I've Bodhisat every single day this week, as she wasn't well enough for nursery. I love spending time with her, and she's fun to be with, but still, three-year-olds are like live wires and five days in a row is a lot. Especially so as a few of them I was up there from 7am.

The bad. After years of having cats, Kevin is the first one who has decided to jump up to the bathroom windowsill, and knocked down one of my owl ornaments, smashing it. I've had to take everything off the windowsill, as the thought of lying in the bath and getting hit on the head by a flying T. rex wasn't appealing.

The extra bad, I was Bodhisitting today, James was off work, so the plan was we'd go up there for 7am, then James was taking my SiL to a hospital appointment at 11 while I waited for Kayleigh to come home. Then, this afternoon, we'd planned a walk and maybe a cinema trip.

But, got to the garages, and found out that overnight, someone had broken into our car, and also a neighbours. The whole back window was smashed out, and they'd taken a bag off the back seat. A bag that contained a few pencils and pens James uses when he's drawing.

Obviously, we couldn't drive to Kayleigh and Lucy's, so I called Lucy who agreed to bring Bodhi to our house, leaving James to try to sort out the car. End result of that after a load of calls, because the car is technically driveable, there's no chance of a hire car, and the earliest the glass can be replaced is Tuesday. So, right now the window is covered by a bin bag and a load of tape, and we'll bus it this weekend if we go out. Then, James will have to carefully drive to work on Monday.

James does have his bag back now, because they'd left it at the top of the estate when they realised it contained nothing valuable, but we've still got a £50 glass excess to pay on Tuesday, so hello and goodbye unexpected money. It was nice to enjoy the thought of you for all of a few days.

Catch up tomorrow hopefully, Kayleigh bought me a thank-you bath bomb today, and I intend to lobster bath it and luxuriate knowing I don't have to be up and about early tomorrow morning.

My MiL's visit went nicely, she's pretty easy to host, but still, I was glad to get in my pjs and chill last night after she'd gone home. With James being at work on Thurs and Fri, we stayed in those days. Well, she did, I had to walk to the doctors for my annual blood tests and B12 on the Thursday.

On Saturday we drove over the moors to Barnard Castle where it was market day. But amazingly, we got a prime parking spot, and it was sunny enough to eat outside. We also hit the honesty stall at the farm and came home with three trays of eggs and two bags of potatoes. One of the trays was for us, so plenty of eggs for scrambled eggs for a while.

Yesterday we went to the Italian restaurant on the seafront we like and had a Sunday dinner. Had a bit of a drive after before dropping my MiL off and going for cat litter and then home to a lobster bath and relaxing after reclaiming my recliner.

One bad thing that happened on Saturday night. James had another fall. We'd gone to bed, and he always takes his leg and splint off before doing so. For some reason, he decided to try and move the Alexa around on the chest of drawers in front of our bed, over balanced, bit hard, totally bent the hospital table that was there, knocked the drawers over, which catapulted the tv off the top, which smashed, as did an ornament I kept there.

Thankfully, apart from giving himself a fat lip he was fine physically, and insurance means we can get a new TV, but man, I did not need to hear more sounds like that.

Today was weight management class, and that went nicely. The topic was motivation and we had an interesting talk about what motivates people. The three level step was also there, complete a 8kg kettle bell to hold if you wanted to push yourself while stepping. I swear, that thing will start haunting my dreams soon!

I ended up at Moo Bears both Saturday and Sunday at the weekend. Each visit went well, and helped keep Bodhi entertained, and contained which is important. They had character mascots turn up on both days. Sonic the first day, Dougie from Hey Dougie the second. Bodes was fine for the first, she knows Sonic to look at but has no real emotional attraction to him. But Dougie is one of her favourites and she got a bit overwhelmed seeing him.

I had to laugh on the Saturday visit. Moos have some new staff members atm and they'll still learning the ropes. They'd had Dougie as the mascot on the Friday, too, but instead of putting the costume away behind the scenes had left it in the foyer. As Dougie is a rather rounded shape, it was easy to see him, apparently unskinned and balancing on his head. After a few kids asked why Dougie was there and also upside down, three staff member carried the costume through the café, trying to hide the identity with a carefully held binbag. I was highly amused watching, and bet they never forget to put the costumes away again.

Weight management class yesterday was about metabolism, and was really interesting ( Collapse )

I called into the chemist after class, and they finally had my new compression wraps, it only took nearly two months for them to arrive. So I've been wearing those today.

This morning, it was James' physio appointment at 8:30, a time we'd picked, so there was a chance to get parking, and that worked nicely. As always, I was half expecting him to be discharged from physio, but he's still not there yet. So, next appointment is in six weeks. After leaving the physio dept we headed for the hospital canteen for breakfast, and not going to lie, it was delicious. I love beans that have been stewing away, and the hospital scrambled egg is always tasty.

Then after that I went on a tour of some of the charity shops, and got more dresses in the next size down. Very nice they are too. The biggest charity shop we went to had a fabulous selection, as they've a huge shop over two floors, but strangely, they didn't have a fitting room meaning I had to take a chance on things fitting. Thankfully, three dresses did, and the one that didn't was just a touch too tight. So, for a grand total of £25 I've got seven new to me dresses.

It's been such a nice, sunny day today, it's been good to be out walking around, even if it was just to appointments and shops. Then, when I was taking the recycling out I saw the first daffodil had opened in the garden, a lovely reminder that spring really is close.

Thank you to @misbegotten and @romantical for the cards that arrived yesterday, and the messages inside. Both made me smile.

Also, thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes yesterday, I loved every one ♥

With going out on Sunday, and with having plans for a sibs dinner on Friday, I didn't go out anywhere yesterday apart from to the shops to buy some plain t-shirts to go with the very jazzy cat print trousers James bought for me. I now have four pairs with different prints, and I like every one.

My brother and nephew called with chocolates and flowers, I saw Bodhi, Lucy and Kayleigh, Corey, my in laws and Pauline phoned, so on top of the messages from friends, I felt nicely celebrated.

Today, Kayleigh, Lucy and Bodes have gone away for two nights, so I'm on cat looking after duties. Thankfully, James finishes work at 2 this week, so I'll have a lift to the nighttime visits, but I'll be walking it in the morning. And I say cat looking after duties, I don't remember if I ever said but one of Bodhi's Christmas presents was a baby tortoise, so I need to look after him, too.

Not that he needs much looking after for just two days, just some fresh food mainly and making sure his heater is working properly.

Thank you so much @solariana for the beautiful kitty birthday card. Your timing was pretty perfect. You're the best ♥

I had such a good day yesterday.

I said that Pauline had invited me to lunch, just at hers, but it was nice to hang with her and her daughter for a couple of hours. Plus, I got to cut a cake and be sung to. Not a birthday cake especially, but still, the effort was there.

Went from there for a bit of a drive, and we called into the charity shop where I came out with two new dresses, one of which has leopards on. Quickly called in at my in laws and then went off for tea at an Italian restaurant. The food was delicious, and we had fun chatting to the party that was sat next to us.

Left there, and as there was still an hour before the show, we went to the pub next door to the theatre, had a diet coke each and people watched from a prime spot in the window.

Then it was show time, and oh man, it was fabulous! I was expecting good things and got them. The atmosphere was electric and just everything about the show was perfect for me. The songs, the setting, everyone on their feet toward the end and bouncing. At one point I looked around and James was having a moment with a guy in the row in front of us, both of them singing and rocking out together and it was joyful!

Highlight for me was The Black Parade, I do have a video clip of that, but really, no one needs to hear me wailing away, so if you want to see a version someone else videoed, you can do so here which also shows the set nicely, though we were in the stalls not the balcony, so had a closer view, and Zombie, so good! I've shared the official version from the Orchestra before, but no harm in sharing again.



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Now I'd better get ready as it's class day, then, I'm picking Bodhi up from nursery then watching her until 8. This no Bodhisitting in February is going well as you can see *g*

Briefly as I'm heading out for the cinema soon.

I enjoyed the new Bridget Jones film much more than I expected, it helped it was in my favourite cinema screen too.

The visit to Mog on the Tyne was lovely, but also sad. One of the cats had already gone to its furever home, and two more are going before the official close date. Plus, it was obvious the staff were really sad about things, with the manager especially upset. They did say it's a financial shut-down due to an oversaturated market, which isn't really that surprising with three other cat cafés in the area and a dog café literally next door.

I was looking at photos before I went, and our first visit was Feb 2016, a few months after they first opened. I'll miss them.

Yesterday we went for a visit to Beamish Open Air Museum instead of going swimming. It was bitter cold but instead of getting transport we walked between the different areas, so soon warmed up. I shared a cone of chips and a cup of tea from the fish shop with James, and that was our valentine's meal *g*

As opposed to Kayleigh and Lucy who went the whole hog with their Valentine's Day, candles, electric thank goodness, going up the stairs, rose petals, heart balloons and multiple presents to each other. It was like Valentine's Day had exploded in their house.

Pauline phoned wanting to put on a birthday tea for me. It was going to be Thursday, but has just phoned to say she's realised that's after my birthday, so would tomorrow be okay instead. I said yes, forgetting we're actually going to The Rock Orchestrate by Candlelight at the theatre tomorrow.

Thankfully, she asked us to hers at 3, so there should be time for both. I'm looking forward to the show so much, I mean, look at this setlist from a show a few days ago.

I was curious what MCR song they'd perform and can't be disappointed at Black Parade.

I suppose I should go and get ready to go out. At least the weather isn't as bad as forecast, there was a yellow warning for snow and ice, but that was cancelled overnight and the few snow flurries we had haven't settled. So, big coat time again, but at least no snow.