The week started with LB still feeling unwell. I wasn't 100%, I may have got a mild version of what everyone else had, but could still function well enough.
I had a lie in as usual, and then got up and ready and went out to do the weekly shop. I needed quite a bit this week, as we'd run out of a lot of things, but they were mostly inexpensive things for once. I did use a voucher at Sainsburys and got £4.50 off my shop, which was good. I put petrol in the car, as it's always cheaper where I shop.
OH and I are currently burning our way through the second series of The Pitt, which we're really enjoying.
On Tuesday, I went to Zumba as usual, which was good. OH was cycling on and off most of the day at the Velodrome. In the afternoon, I started another alteration of a garment in the wardrobe to make it more wearable and I also started the construction of the skirt by pinning the pattern pieces onto the fabric.
I then decided to go out to my nearest bank branch, to try to get the paperwork done for my pension application. Surprise, surprise, I was thwarted yet again due to the bank not being willing/able to stamp the bank statement I printed off in the branch. I ended up ordering a statement through the post, but I'll have to wait another week for it, before I can get it certified at the post office. Frustration doesn't cover how I felt. I've just parked it for now to protect my sanity.
On Wednesday, it started raining from 9.30am and was forecast for most of the day. I was very happy to get some proper rain. We'd had very little since much earlier in the year. The plants in the garden really needed a good soak.
I finished a sewing alteration today, that I'd started the day before. I had to make further adjustments after trying it on, but I've now got it to how I like it, so I machine sewed the hems and it is now done.
Later in the afternoon, I headed out to meet a couple of friends for supper. It was kind of a celebration of my 60th birthday. We meet periodically through the year. One of my friends turned 60 earlier this year and the other turned 75, so we've all had big birthdays this year. We had a lovely evening catching up with each other's news. I took a bottle of champagne, that we've had since last Christmas and we all shared it. (The restaurant isn't licensed so you can pay corkage and take your own alcohol).
Thursday, I was back at the gym. The teacher changed up the class today, so it was a bit different. I enjoyed it though. LB was working all day, and OH was cycling at the velodrome again for most of the day, so when I got home I had the house to myself. I decided to wash all the dirty garden pots and tidy the greenhouse and garden a little. It was nice and sunny after the rain the day before, so it felt good to get outside and do something productive and tick a job off my list.
In addition to washing the pots, I potted on a few plants, put away the garden furniture and the BBQ and swept up some leaves and bagged them up to create leaf mulch. OH came home for some lunch and helped me clean the patio using his high pressure washer that he uses to clean his bikes. We needed to clear it, as we'll be stacking the greenhouse panels on it when they get delivered next week, until we paint them and assemble it.
I received notification today that one of my pensions will start to be paid to me shortly, but unfortunately they need to tax it until they are notified otherwise by HMRC. As I'm not currently working, I shouldn't be taxed, therefore I had to ring the tax office and let them know. It took a while to get through, as they are always very busy. When I did eventually get through, they couldn't actually do anything about it until I've received my first payment, so I need to call them back once it goes into my bank account. I can see that I'll have to go through this whole process again for the next one when that gets finalised. Anyway, the upside was, that my monthly pension payments and lump sum worked out to be slightly more than I'd been forecast, so I'm not going to argue with that and I can now look forward to actually receiving it.
Once I finally got off the phone, I decided to head to the allotment and harvest the remainder of the beetroot, deadhead my dahlias and pick a few lettuce and tomatoes. I then dug over the beetroot bed and put the bins out ready to be emptied. When I got home, I boiled up and pickled the beetroot along with the previous harvest, so that it is now all processed ready to eat.
I also received some birthday presents by post from family members today. A lovely bunch of flowers and a bottle of prosecco, plus lots of chocolates and biscuits. I feel very spoilt. It was a good day.
Friday was a day of packing, watering plants and generally getting ready to go away for the weekend. OH was working in the morning, so we set off around 1.30pm and headed off to Brighton. We got there around 4pm and went straight to our accommodation which was lovely. It was pretty central, compared to where we'd stayed the last time we visited Brighton. We were just around the corner from a street full of different restaurants of all cuisines.
We relaxed in the house for an hour or so and then headed for a walk and to get a drink in a couple of pubs in the vicinity. We had a nice evening, but we were all tired, so we got takeaways on the way home and ate them back at the house whilst watching Celebrity Traitors. The only down side to the accommodation, was that it was right behind a pub, which stayed open until 2am and which was very noisy, so it took a while until I got to sleep, but it did quieten down by midnight.
On Saturday morning, we had breakfast and then headed out into the town for a wander. We did quite a bit of walking about town and ambling around the Laines, where there are lots of small independent shops and restaurants. I managed to start my Xmas shopping proper and get something for both OH and LB. OH got me some perfume for my birthday, which I was very happy about. I had wanted to find some new trainers, but couldn't find any that I liked, so I asked him for some of my favourite perfume instead, as I haven't had any for over a year.
We also stopped for lunch in a small cafe, which was nice and then saw some Morris dancers, which was fun to watch. Not something you see every day.
Brighton had such a lovely vibe. It's very relaxed, diverse and inclusive. Everyone we came across was very friendly and helpful. We all really liked it and felt very comfortable there. After a full day in town, we returned to the accommodation and watched a movie, before heading out later to a local Indian restaurant for supper. The food was great, although we did eat a little too much.
On Sunday, we had to be out of the accommodation by 11am, so we packed up and headed to Brighton Racecourse, where there was a Car Boot sale to wander around. I didn't buy a whole lot, as I didn't have a lot of cash on me, but I did get more terracotta pots and a patio brush for the garden, plus a couple of bits of clothing.
From there, we drove to the town of Lewes, which was half an hour away, where we had a lovely lunch in the walled garden of a cafe, before exploring the town. We got home around 4pm. We'd had a lovely weekend away, but we were tired and happy to be home again. I had a lovely birthday weekend, couldn't have asked for more.
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