Another long weekend over. I had the day off on Friday and I had intended to do so much in the morning but as it was raining I decided to stay in. It was wet most of the day. In the afternoon, we went to visit a friend. It seemed lovely when we got out of the car at the car park so we decided not to take coats and umbrellas, etc. Not long after it started raining again. It was torrential sometimes with thunder and lightning. We did some shopping while we were in town. It’s surprising how quickly the bill adds up even if it is just from Primark! All of our shopping was in their lovely brown paper bags but we had bought another bag which luckily was big enough to hold all of the other shopping. Then on to Jane Norman where they had a 70% off sale.
On Saturday, we cycled out to Ruckinge. It was a good route with only one major up on the way there. I don’t like Church Hill but I did it this time without getting off and pushing. I might have done it last time too if a car hadn’t come along just as I had to go round a parked car. I think I’ve only pushed up hills two or three times so far. Once was in Hastingleigh and even walking I was wheezing and puffing. That was “very” up. The other time my chain had come off so I had to phone Dave and ask him to wait to help me get it back on.
Once in Ruckinge we soon discovered that the Blue Anchor was not doing food today as they had a wedding party to cater for later. So after a quick drink and some crisps we went on a short ride up the road to the White Horse. I had a lovely ham baguette with my half of mild. Then from there to the Good Intent for “half of dessert”. Another good ride out that we will have to do again one day.
When we got back, I noticed that the freezer had been left open so I decided to defrost it. It’s surprising how much ice generates inside. I removed two bucket fulls of ice which I arranged around the water features in the garden so that it melted into the reservoir. I’m sure it’s definitely not a recommended way to defrost the freezer and I didn’t do it completely. There is still ice at the top wedging in the big ice packs. This time I used a sharp knife and a metal slotted spoon. You have to be extremely careful with the sharp knife of course, taking care not to damage the lining of the freezer as well as your fingers. It is so satisfying when big chunks come away even if they do shoot down your top! Starting with the top 2 shelves empty and working down. Banging and scraping out the ice with the spoon. Moving the food up as you work down. It’s still cooler in there than anywhere else.
In the evening, we went to Chris’s. We watched “Underworld 3: The Rise of the Lycans” which was good. Although it was an 18 it didn’t upset me too much. Or maybe I’ve hardened to blood since I’ve had to deal with a deep flesh wound as a first aid emergency. (Maybe I’ll tell you about it sometime. Just remembered that I still haven’t cleaned all of the blood off the car door). The second film was “Taken” which was good too. It would have been better if it had subtitles when they weren’t speaking English. May have made it a bit easier to follow.
Today we didn’t have anything planned. I spent the morning printing out letters for candle party promotions. (Tonight I found that a lot of them had printed crooked so I had to re do them L) After lunch I suggested a walk around the Singleton Environment Centre. I’d seen it advertised and wondered what was here. Not a lot generally it would seem but they do have “events” on. The most exciting thing was spotting the signs for the woods and trying to work out the maps. For all that the names of the woods boast, we didn’t see a single squirrel, lizard, fox, robin, etc. There was more wildlife to be found down at the woods we went on to near Shadoxhurst. I’m hoping that the pictures of butterflies that I took will come out ok. They look ok on the phone.
On the way home, we went to Tesco for parsnips, tweezers and several other bits and pieces. Why would you pay nearly £6 for tweezers when the smart price ones are 47p when they are in stock. I bought a little set that had tweezers, an emery board and some nail scissors for about 99p.
Once home it was roast lamb for dinner. The lamb had been in the freezer for a while taking up lots of space. I had put it on to cook before we went out for our walk. It was lovely.
Then on to bowling. It was one of those nights that I wished I hadn’t bothered. At least it wasn’t a league game. On the last game, I got so many splits that I decided to aim to get splits. When trying to get them, I didn’t and my score went up a bit.
Time for sleep. No time to check my photos out now. I’ll have to have a look later.
Events at the Singleton Environment Centre - http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/kent_singleton_events
