Sentence a Day, August 2018

Welcome to my month of August!

Weds 1
Bad cough. Working from home. J fell off his bike, but, every cloud - by the roadside he found a pair of cutters on the road.  I picked some blackberries from the wasteground at the back of the house, but forgot they were stewing and burnt the saucepan.

Thurs 2
Back in office.

Fri 3
Day off: we are heading down to the seaside town of Whitstable for the wedding of John's daughter Rachel to Sean. Left for Whitstable at 1.15, car loaded with wine. It was very hot so as soon as we got them I swam in the sea (stubbed toe). Met up with some of the party for dinner.

Sat 4
The big day! Weather still beautiful.  Went for a walk around the town and found some earrings that matched my dress perfectly. Around 1.30, John dropped me off at the venue at the harbour to pick up Rachel. Wonderful day.

Sun 5
After breakfast left Whitstable and back home by 11.30. Did the shopping.

Mon 6
In office. Tomorrow my company has a major event in the centre of Cambridge. Went on a recce as I'm co-ordinating the filming of around 30 videos. Took a leisurely walk back to the office, passed the river Cam and tourists punting.

Tues 7
Left home around 6.30am but then had a call from J to say I'd left my notes behind. Had to turn round to fetch them. Then the motorway was busy. Was panicking in case I was late.  Fortunately got to Cambridge in time. Filming went smoothly.

Weds 8
Even earlier start today. Left house just before 6.  On the plus side, able to leave around 3pm. Fitted in some pruning and weeding. Garden looking a bit jaded now

Thurs 9th
The busiest day at the event for me. Left home 6.35. Finished with filming of 13 videos. Exhausted. Poured with rain in the afternoon.

Fri 10th
Working from home.  J is getting packed and ready for his 15 day holiday cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats, over 800 miles. He has started what I call his nervous "panther pacing." We watched the European championship athletics.

Sat 11th
Sunny but not so hot.  Did yoga, went to Epping to food shopping and then a garden centre. Got a penstemon and some dianthus to fill late summer gaps.

Sun 12
J was mansplaining about my tyre pressures saying he would show me how to do it.  Called him out. How long have I been driving and checking my tyre pressures?!

Had roast beef. No guests today. Rachel and Sean are honeymooning in America, and coincidentally, John's son Christopher and his wife Katie are also on holiday in America - they're taking in New Orleans and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to name a couple of places.

Mon 13
In office.  Booked some fun activities for next weekend when I'm going to Mum's in Plymouth.

Tues 14
At home. Busy.

Weds 15
In office. Tyre has puncture. Booked in for Fri.

Thurs 16
Bit stressed today. So much work to do. Thought yoga might help but was mortified by knees cracking and being asked if it was me!

Fri 17
Cambridge. Tyre. Didn't take too long. As it's our last night together for a fortnight we went out and had Wagyu burgers.

Sat 18
We were both heading for the Westcountry but at different times and with different modes of transport. I left at 4.30am by car, but the closure of part of the M25 meant I got delayed anyway. Got to Mum's around 10. My brother was there. J and his bike, meanwhile, were travelling by train to Penzance ready for the start of his cycling holiday.

Sun 19
Cloudy start. Took Mum to a pretty place, the Horn of Plenty, on Dartmoor, for lunch. The sat nav decided to take me down terrible windy lanes.

My starter of mackeral pate 

Main course of belly pork with dauphinoise potatoes 

We were too full for a pudding but the petits four made up for it. Drove home the long way. No twisty country lanes!

Mon 20
Mum and I went into Plymouth on the bus. Had a mooch round the shops first. Sad to see House of Fraser,  the city's flagship department store, looking so dilapidated. The chain has recently been taken over by Sports Direct but I fear the worst for its future. I had a very happy time there when I was a sixth former and working on Saturdays in the first floor coffee lounge.

 Lunch at Quay 33 on the Barbican. Mum was wearing one of her trademark scarves. I got her this one.

 John, on his cycling holiday,  made friends with a Dartmoor pony. I would be very wary, seeing as I was bitten in the Lake District by a similar looking equine!

Tues 21
The long drive back to London, via Swindon where I used to work. I met up with former colleagues  Jill and Caty for lunch. We had some brilliant times.

Weds 22
Working from home. Collected my new green sequinned shoes from the post office. Couldn't resist them.  Felt good to be back in the gym. Have probably put on five pounds!

Thurs 23
Working at home. It's been a good year for my sweet peas. They're the perennial, "ever lasting" sort, so they don't have any scent sadly.

John arrived in a place called Clun and had to go to a launderette called Rub A Dub Dub to do his washing. Of course he had no coins or powder, but someone helped him out

Fri 24
Working from home. Went to Body Pump.  Watched film Finding Your Feet with Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton and Celia Imrie. Very enjoyable.

Sat 25
Warm and sunny. Went into London to do some shopping. Bought a green jumper and pair of black trousers (pants).

Sun 26th
Set off early to the famous Columbia Road Flower Market in East London. Have always wanted to go there! Beautiful – narrow street lined with flower stalls. Bought three massive stems of hydrangea - see them on my Instagram - and some dried lavender. Got home before the rain set in. Poor John is cycling 80 miles today in the north of England – very wet and windy!

Dried lavender at Columbia Road flower market 

Sunflower display 

Mon 27th
Bank (public) holiday - day off. Up early as usual. Yoga class, then did a lot of cleaning which was very satisfying.

Tues 28th
Working from home as I have an evening blogger event in London. Yay! It's only my third one, because I'm either not available because of working, or not invited :-)  I met up with Laurie from Vanity and Me (right)  and Ashley from Lazy Daisy Jones (centre, in the pink blouse) which was lovely. More on the shoe event here.

Weds 29th
Went to the office, gloomy autumnal day although it brightened up later. Sold on ebay the mint green dress I wore to Rachel's wedding. I loved it, but it's so distinctive I don't feel I could wear it again.

Thurs 30th
Working from home. Trying to keep up a regime of going to the gym every day for a class or Power Plate ---- on holiday from the end of next week and now frantically trying to lose the pounds gained down at Mum's! John reached Inverness after the most strenuous day of uphill cycling.

Fri 31st
A couple of exciting deliveries from Charlotte Tilbury  (ooh!) and John Lewis - slightly less exciting, silk pillow cases and lap trays!

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