Weekly Catch Up

It's been a busy week, hence why I didn't really get around to blogging much.  I was managing the shop three days consecutively in the Manager's absence last week and there was just so much work to do.  Unfortunately, it wasn't a good week sales wise, not sure if the weather being so hot has been having an effect and people are going to the parks and doing other things than shopping, so all my efforts didn't seem to be too well rewarded, but I guess some weeks are just like that in retail and let's face it, everyone on the high street seems to be struggling at the moment.

This week didn't get off to a great start yesterday, as I had a bit of an exchange at work, which wasn't pleasant.  When you're working really hard to keep things going and someone comes in and is critical, it's sometimes very hard to swallow. I have to say I had to stand my ground, as I can't physically do more than I'm already doing and yes, as a consequence of being very stretched, I make mistakes sometimes.  Don't we all. I'm probably a bit overly defensive, but I think it's very easy to pick out the negatives and not the positives. Anyway, it's one of my days off today, so I'll talk no more about work.

This weekend was quite leisurely.  I did some more tidying in the garden, cutting back some of the shrubs which grow a bit too vigorously and make it difficult to get around the edges of the garden. Other than this and a bit of cleaning through the main through fares of the house, I didn't do a lot else. I find myself napping a lot in the afternoons of my days off these days.  I think my job is just so physical that I need to do that to recover on my days off, but it means I'm not very productive at home.

Over the next two days, I'm hoping to catch up with laundry and ironing, some personal finances and also do a tip run, as there's lots of stuff in the garden that needs taking.  The allotment is having one of it's regular inspections today, so I won't be going there and there's not much to do at the moment anyway, save watering and harvesting.  I'll probably go tomorrow.

A day trip to the beach has been organised for Saturday, so I'll be driving to a quiet beach near Clacton in Essex with a couple of friends from the gym and we'll be having a picnic lunch together, weather allowing.  It might be just what I need at the moment.

Talking of going to the beach, OH has booked our main summer holiday this week.  We've rented a very private villa in Northern Portugal, which has a pool and garden. It's costing a bit more than we originally wanted to spend, but it will be our main holiday this year, so we'd rather spend a little more and make it a good one.  We've never been to Portugal before, so it should make a nice change. I can't wait. I think now I'm working, I appreciate our holidays much more as they do provide a proper break from work and thinking about work.

We will be taking another week's holiday during the summer holidays, probably in August, but we'll be staying closer to home and staying somewhere in the UK, so that we can take the dog with us. We've not decided on a destination yet though.  What are your holiday plans this year?