A week and a half....

Well there's been so much going on it FEELS like a week and a half since my last post. Summary:

Monday - morning - to the Claremont Hospital with the Duchess to see her Consultant re her dodgy hip. Lovely bloke explained everything and put her at her ease - well, pretty much - she is still terrified of hospitals and doctors. The op is scheduled for some time in Mid-September, actual date to be confirmed.

Rest of day spent at work, catching up on the previous weeks activity. The plant had been closed for a week but the work continued to flow in.

Tuesday - passed remarkably quickly with no crises or major events. A "head down, get stuck in" sort of day. In the evening, the Duchess had her Monthly Football League Meeting so I configured the new portable hard drive and  backed up the precious photos and docs.

Wednesday - early start. Drive to Manchester Airport to pick up a visitor who had stayed at the airport Hilton overnight. Full day with a plant tour and lunch, then further discussion before I drove him back to Manchester to the Hilton on Deansgate. Now - if you want an interesting experience, consider being on Deansgate, at 5:10 pm, in a car - and then try to drive back to Sheffield! The traffic was horrendous and it was just about 7:15 pm when I got home!

Thursday - got stuck into paperwork but didn't seem make a lot of progress. That's a facet of my job that I've increasingly noticed over the years. I can work my socks off - phone calls, e-mails, keyboard clobbering, travelling etc., but at the end of it, there's no tangible sign of the effort I've put in. Maybe that's why I enjoy gardening. A couple of hours of trimming and hacking and at the end of it, you can see I've made a difference.

Friday - morning, repeat of Thursday largely but the early finish at 1:30 lifted the mood (as always!) After a quick cuppa at home we went to B&Q to pick up a new light fitting. When we moved to Nortoner Towers, we installed 2 new wall lights in the alcoves either side of the fireplace and a central light which all matched of course. A couple of weeks ago, one of the alcove lights failed. A neighbour/mate - Paul - who is a qualified electrician, had a look and declared it "dead." I must admit I thought our chances of getting a match after 12 years were slim but we succeeded!

Saturday - morning - Supermarket run then after lunch, I cut the grass at the back and made a start on the hedges but had to abort that at about 2:45 because we were off to a World Cup BBQ at my niece's house where beer, burgers and bangers were much in evidence. A good "do" although we only stayed until half time in the England v USA game. The mood was more than a little boisterous, shall we say, and I have to admit, if I was a neighbour, I would have been a bit miffed by the noise and (on occasion) the language!

Nothing else to report. I have noticed this blog is getting a little boring. Promise I will try to "spice it up" over the next couple of weeks but you will have gathered by now that I lead a very mundane life!

Right - Archers Omnnibus on Radio 4 soon...... so I gotta go - see - told you it was mundane.