Tired Tuesday

Where is the time going , its already nearly the middle of February and I am now where near losing the 3 stone that the physio recommended ( I haven't even lost 3lb! might have actually put that on ), I am trying very hard to do pilates ( as recommended too), and now have a great selection of DVDs to use at home.

I can do this and I will, besides, I have some very pretty summer frocks that I intend to wear, instead of being in leggings all the time.

We are also now only one day away from the start of the T20 series, which will be on when I get home tomorrow night. Will my two faves be in the line up????

Have to wait and see.

I was surprised to see David Willey get the T20 captains job, I had all my money on Tom K-C.

Well Tom has a lot of time in front of him, so maybe better to play the game without the responsibility for a while longer.

I am keeping this short as I have been chattering on't phone this morning and have had some fabulous news, which sorry to say I cannot disclose yet.

I'm late, so out the door I must run.

Have a great day.

Weekend gone in a flash

Well the weekend is over and I managed to finally get things done at The Wickets.

The chimney breast is now a cream colour rather than  horizontal stripes in shades of brown cream and teal.
Not as easy as that sounds, and hindsight being a wonderful thing, means that when I tackle the opposite wall in the same striped wallpaper I will be stripping it off and not trying to cover it with one coat paint.

I have the wallpaper for the bedroom ready to be hung { when I have stripped that wall too} and it is in my  favourite Laura Ashley paper.  I will have this done before the season starts.

I was supposed to be dog sitting Mickey the Cycleshop Border Terrier yesterday but the storm that hit { and is still raging} meant that all plans were cancelled.

In cricket England tied the series after a wash out on Friday.
Now we are down to T20, with my 2 favourites playing.


Interesting to read that Joe Root is saying that they haven't over bowled Archer. I seem to think that you have and its to be hoped that he is fit for the summer.

And I hear that there is an Aussie in the England Lions camp...………..

And with that I am off to brave the roads, parts of where I am heading are flooded so hopefully I can get through.

I do know that there will be emergencies as I've just taken a call to say that  a site is flooded and have sent out 3 engineers already.

Happy Monday

Weekend eve

Well its weekend eve and thoughts are turning to what I will be doing with the weekend, and the winner is ……..painting!

As I haven't yet decided on the wallpaper for the sitting room, I think a tub of one coat paint is called for to deal with the dreaded striped walls.

That should keep me busy for the whole of thee weekend, as I suspect that this wallpaper may beat the one coat paints coverage.

There is cricket today and there is a bit of  crickety news.

Firstly England are in ODI again today.

And it seems that they have well and truly broken Jofra, as he is now out of the Sri Lanka tour.

Hmmmmmm.

Darren Lehmann is not too well and will be having heart surgery this weekend. Will this mean that the Leeds based franchise cricket will be looking for another coach? to be honest I think that he is mad if he attempts to come to coach this season. Health is much more important...………………..watch this space!

Boring Patto has decided not to play T20 this season and so the club are looking for a white ball captain, I'm guessing on Tom K-C.

And with that I am off to take the cinnamon buns out of the oven and head off to the office for the last day of the week.
I have freshly baked goodies for the boys.

Have a great weekend.

How quickly time flies

                                                       

Do you remember,

when you were young,

A week at school was so long

Waiting for weekend fun

The summers were endless

The holidays so long

Winters were snowy

Or my memory is wrong

As the years have passed by

Its scary to see

The months flying by

so very quickly

I think of the 90's

like its yesterday

when if truth be told

Its 30 years away

I wish for the cricket

To arrive with force

In the blink of an eye

September has run its course

One thing is for certain

Through lows and through highs

We can always be sure

How quickly time flies

Midweek

Its midweek , and I am feeling very relaxed this morning, mainly due to going for a massage last night. I experienced a brilliant  massage  which used the Bowen and Emmet technique.

Interesting and very good. 

About this time last year I went off on a jolly and also had a weekend retreat at a Spa, this year I am trying to sort out a cheeky trip to Malaga in about 6 weeks, Whether this comes to fruition is any ones guess. However as there was no Spa weekend on the cards I decided to head off for a massage.

My knee has been playing up a little and I am booked in for an exploratory op, something that I don't really want. In an attempt to sort out the PFPS  ( the problem with my knee) I have even turned to the woman who was the tennis double  for Kirsten Dunst in the film Wimbledon ( as well as training her and Paul Bettany), this is not as off the wall as it seem as she is also the sister of  Jon ( who passed away  last year). She teaches a form of exercise that helps the bodies equilibrium.  

New Age?

Strange?

well I don't care, after the last 7 months I just want to feel better, so combining all of this with physio and pilates I feel that I am finally facing it all head on.

Well before I settle down to the England news, I read yesterday that Liam Plunkett was thinking of a playing for America.

I had to chuckle especially after his tweets of annoyance that he hadn't been selected for any format in the England  team this winter.

To be honest maybe if he hadn't  p***d his career up the wall at Durham he may have had more years in the England fold. He did claw it back when he went to Yorkshire, but he is no spring chicken.

My opinion only

And then there is England, ahhhh, I even get to use my favourite word.

Hubris.

The press big them up, the World Cup champions, and then they get thrashed by South Africa.

And taking nothing away from the hosts, who played a blinder, especially their captain Quinton.

Maybe we should stop resting on our laurels and just play the game.

I appreciate that this was just the first ODI, but after all the fanfare for them, well..........only one word to describe it , Hubris.

And with that I am off to the office.

thought for the day 

When you cant change the direction of the wind, adjust your sails.

Busy, busy

  I would very much like to stay in bed today but sadly it is only Tuesday and it is turning into a busy week already.

After having a full contingent yesterday, I was able to get back to doing what I normally do all day, sadly not filing my nails and looking pretty, but trying to  get a ton of paperwork off my desk and trying to perform miracles.

Failing on both counts so guess I need to go in today and try again.

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who sent messages of congratulations on my exam pass to make me a bone fide Facial Yoga Teacher.

I have to say that I am proud of myself for getting there  despite all the obstacles that have been in my way over the last few months.

Exciting times ahead, and who knows where it might lead.

England are in one day action and much being made in the media about this being the first outing for the World Cup champions.

South Africa are under the leadership of Quinton, Faf is having a break.

I will be keeping an eye on this.

Not much else to report so best get on my way, traffic is a nightmare at the moment due to road closures. The good thing is the mornings and evenings getting lighter.

Always guaranteed to make me smile.

Thought for the day.

If life was easy where would all the adventures be?

here we go

Here we are at Monday again and its been a busy weekend.

On Saturday I headed off to Saltburn to meet up with my lovely friends Jackie and Tony and of course Spike te Border Terrier. It was a glorious day  for the beginning of February, we had a bracing walk on the beach, a spot of lunch and even went on the amusements, Spike wasn't too keen but went with it.

Before I went home Jackie and I headed down to one of the gin bars and very nice it was too.

I was even treated to a little adventure on the way home, as we were taken from Darlington to Lady Laineyville  on the train by a trainee driver.

I have to say that Jackie and Tony have on the 2 occasions that they have stayed in Saltburn found some fabulous places to stay.

Once home, I found that I could hardly keep my eyes open and was in bed before 9pm.

Rock n roll!!!!


Yesterday saw me up early as I headed off to take my Facial yoga exam. Another train trip this time to Newcastle as it meant that I could do some swatting up on the way and have a drink on the way back, however it went.
Well I passed with a distinction and a 99% pass mark.
So time to try to put this to some use.

I have 3 victims volunteers who are trying/ about to start trying  out a series of exercises  for me. so a huge shout out to these 3 for being kind enough to help me out.


There is not much to report in cricket as England were playing their last one day warm up match Root hit 91 and Jonny Bairstow hit a century.

I was interested too see the Paul Stirling is coming back to the UK to play, he will be Northants in the T20 Blast.
Stirling had played for many years for Middlesex before going back to Ireland.

And with that I am off to the office, where if my texts and emails are to be believed I will have a full contingent today.

this should make the week a lot easier than the previous one.


Have a great week

thought for the day,

Today, wherever you go, carry the intention of peace, love, and harmony in your heart.

Tears before bedtime

Well today is the day.
At 11pm tonight we leave the EU, something that I have known for a large part of my life.
I do not make political statements either here or on any of my social media, I prefer to keep my opinions on this to myself.
However this morning I, for the last time woke up a European  & British citizen.

And so we move on.

I was having a catch up with Ben and Tom yesterday as well as booking some time off so that I can go and cheer them on.
I also was doing a bit of 'wheeler dealing' and hopefully if we can pull things together might have some good news for one of them.
They are having a great time in Australia although temperatures are still a lot different from Yorkshire!

They only have a few weeks left before they are due home. I am sure they will try to cram as much in as possible before then.

I have a busy day ahead, no Big Al's today as there are so few in the office, I have however bought a selection of patisseries for us to munch on.
After work there will be a quick trip into Darlo and then home to put my feet up and  some serious napping.

I am very tired!

There is nothing of note in the cricket world so best to head off and get the day done.


Have a fabulous  weekend. I have visiting to do and an exam to take!

I think I'm alone now

Much as this is probably where I would like to be, I am up and ready to head to the office, where I suspect I will be one of about 4, meaning that my office will be empty.

One workshop is closed down due to no workers, the other 2 workshops are just managing ( or were yesterday) and I had to send 2 people home yesterday with the 'sicky' bug.

It would be good to just close down until next week, but that is not going to happen, so I will be answering the phone, doing O & M's , ordering and doing a million other things. I am not a hero, or a martyr to the cause. I have a cold with a raging temperature. I can get work done, so off I go.

In cricket news, it seems that we have broken Jofra Archer...............gosh we must have done that in record time. He is back in the UK trying to get fit.
Mate get back to Sussex before they break you beyond repair.
There is a lot of talk about the team jigsaw pieces now starting to fit, lets hope no one nibbles the edges!

As there is little else to report I am off to the office to see what the damage is today.

I hope that you have a good day where ever you are.

Happy Thursday

Midweek

Wednesday has dawned with me struggling to get up, no change there at the moment, the evenings are getting slightly lighter as I leave work, but the mornings are still very dark,or they are when you get up at stupid o'clock.

2 months until the clocks go forward. Definitely something to look forward to along with a couple of trips away.

There is very little cricket news, apart form how England have finally got the winning team together, well that doesn't bode well for Jimmy does it?
And I do not for one moment believe that Mark Wood will remain fit. I am not being mean just speaking from past seasons.

I see Colleywobble getting himself in the photos with the team and bleating about his part in the winning side, yes, yes we all know how it works, MBE for 17 runs.

The bug at work is taking a real hold, as it rages through the offices and workshop, we have had to ban the lads from site, calling in to pick up anything 'just in case'.

I had a massive sneezing fit yesterday and feared that I may have done some damage to my intercostal muscle, luckily this morning it is not as painful.
So with sore nose, split lip and watery eyes, I am heading out the door to the plague ward.
Those who are off sick are staying home and those of us who are the walking wounded are resharing it with each other everyday.

I am down to 9 out of 23.
see you tomorrow


thought for the day

“If you have the chance
to make someone happy,
just do it.
Sometimes people are struggling silently.
Maybe, your act of kindness
can make their day.”

Temperature Tuesday

Well its Tuesday and I am dreading going to the office, as yesterday we were working on a skeleton staff due to them dropping like flies over the weekend.

There has for the past couple of weeks been some hideous sicky/coldy/flu thing going about and it looks as if 75%  of the office have got it.

Rather they stay at home and get well than continue to share it around the office.

I have enough problems without a sicky/coldy/flu thing.

In our line of work it is not a good idea to come to work with anything sicky as if you go to site and spread it , it can close down a whole system!

I am however  sniffing and have a head ache, luckily though I have no sickness.

In cricket England won the Test series against South Africa.
Its been a rough few months for the Southern Hemisphere team, with changes in management etc. Time for them to now regroup.


Onwards to ODI's

We are getting closer to the cricket season and seeing that chosen  counties are hawking The 100 with gay abandon, I am not at all as excited as normal.
Considering that this is a franchise game, maybe the franchisees should be doing more rather than messing up my time line and email, with the made up game.

At least I can get on with  important things in July like sunbathing in my garden and decorating, it won't be time wasted.

Well time to head out of the door and see if I am last man standing in the office today.

Have a great Tuesday.

thought for the day.

Never put the key to your happiness
in somebody else’s pocket.”

And it begins again

After a very busy weekend, once again I am struggling to get out of bed as a new working week begins.
And I don't see any sign of it being a quiet one, judging from the emails that I have just picked up.

So what has been going on.

Well there was much sorting out of wardrobes { and with 3 double wardrobes which I have managed to fill there was MUCH sorting} and the spare room bed is now laden with things to go on eBay { nearly all unworn}

I was keeping an eye on the cricket and between Stokes letting the hero mask slip and South Africa batting like my granny, I decided that the cinema was the best option.

South Africa start today needing to get 466 runs to win...…………..

Saturday night cinema, then a trip out to the golf club followed by a very late night/ early morning, led to yesterday not being as productive as I had hoped.
I'm struggling to get any wallpaper that I like, Laura Ashley have reverted to flowers and swirls when I want stripes.

I ended up having brunch and then heading to B & Q in the hope that they had  some stripes...………….they did but they all had 'sparkle' and I don't want that either.

And so I start the new week, cramming for my facial yoga exam, trying to get rid of more 'stuff' and  hoping that the new kitchen worktop come soon.
I also start the new week, feeling much more like Lady Lainey, I am wearing proper shoes all the time and not reverting to trainers . This may not seem like much, but to me its a huge step forward {pun intended}.
I'm loving pilates and have even started to have 30 minutes of shut of time most evenings after my 30 minute brisk walk.
All about health and wellbeing.

Have a wonderful day, take care of yourself and be kind to those around you.

Cricket and bacon butty day

Well its a cricket and bacon butty day today, I have the order to put in and as Norty Morty is moving house today the cost will be dramatically lower than last week!

Morty, is actually moving into a caravan on the land where he is building his forever home, he will be living in the caravan for the next 12-18 months and hopefully all will go better than his house sale, which should have happened on 13th December and finally went through on Wednesday.

In other office news, we have just been given the retirement date of  'C Bomb' Bill, who will be leaving after Easter. He will be alternating between his house on the North Yorkshire coast and his house in The Cayman Islands.

Noting what is happening with the two above I have come to the conclusion that I have done something terrible in a past life as I have neither a caravan in Durham City  or a house in the Caymans!!!!!

*note to self, must try harder*

In cricket news, today is the 1st day of the fourth test, with lots of talk about the bounce of the pitch.
Archer and Wood are being made up to be the heroes of the game before it even starts.
Typical British press.

Lets see what happens when it all kicks off later.


I have Rhys the joiner coming this afternoon to start the work in the kitchen. He is an absolute treasure and I'm hoping that within the next few months we will have  most of the work done. {sliding door in the kitchen, new dining room door, upstairs bathroom cladding done.}

I also have a trip to the tip to do this weekend and I am going to be doing some planting in the garden as well a looking for some new pots for the hydrangeas {  have to be cobalt blue pots}.


Does anyone else think that this has been the longest month? It must be at least the 84th of January, and we still have a week to go.

And with that I am off to do half day Friday.

Have a fabulous weekend, and enjoy the cricket.

Getting things moving

Isn't it funny how quickly you fall back into the struggle to get out of bed in the morning, I am at that stage now after my Xmas break, I am waiting for the mornings to get lighter, to help me get moving.

I need to get things moving, I am now expected to do 2.5 hours a week brisk walking, not the gentle amble that I have been doing, the dark nights and mornings seem to be working against me.

I am planning on getting into it this weekend and then hopefully I can break the lazy habit.

Its just over 2 months until the clocks go forward................that's always a huge boost.

It is expected of me that by this time I will have lost some of the weight needed { according to Greg the Physio}.

Pilates last night was great as I get back into the swing of 'sucking my belly button into my spine' and breathing at the same time!

I have been checking up on the cricket and see that as per usual they are racing to get bowlers fit, and are expecting to have Archer back in the attack.
I think that we could see a bit of burn out this summer with Archer, just my personal opinion.

However lets see what tomorrow at Jo'burg  brings.

Just as I was getting things sorted with the trip to Beirut, last night there was major rioting in the city, something that in reality can break out without cause and peace be restored very quickly. Well never a dull moment.

Hopefully no rioting in the office today..................although after a couple of bombshells yesterday I am sure that there may be a few sparks flying.

I think that I may need to provide doughnuts to smooth some ruffled feathers. The Richard Tators love making my job even harder.

Midweek

Here we are at Wednesday and the week is rushing by.

I am tired this morning and need to find some energy as I have Pilates tonight, I am also studying like mad  as I have my exam in Manchester very soon and want so much to pass with a decent score.

I am going in with 97% from my 10 assessments, so fingers crossed.

My website is coming along and I already have about 15 ladies who want to join the facial yoga classes.

I am also heading out in a couple of weeks to take up a Christmas present which was a wine tasting day and on further investigation I saw that I can take wine exams, so I have made enquiries about taking their level one.

For those who don't know me very well /at all, I worked with a wine company for a number of years promoting and selling their wines, they provided amazing training , so I thought it might be good to top this up {excuse the pun}.

In cricket Quinton de Kock has been named as Captain for the ODI series as Faf is not included in the squad, although he will remain Captain in the other two formats.

As the season draws near it is interesting to see that clubs are busy making signings and getting players to remain loyal.

I am busy organising things so that I can have my summer holiday and  see some cricket, but as I have said I am sort of having a year off, I need to concentrate on getting myself really fully fit and well.

However I have been looking at my end of season holiday. Probably not every ones idea of a holiday resort but it is very me, so after much investigation it looks like everything is go for a trip to Beirut.

Fingers crossed! {my original plan of the Europe Med is still roughly in place, but this is the ideal destination}

And with that I am off to Darlo, not quite as exotic and certainly not as warm.

Have a great day.

Cold and dark morning

Well its a cold, dark morning here in the north east of blighty, it looks like it will be another cold day.
Yesterday was the usual freezing Monday in the office { the Dictators switch off the heating on Friday }. Lots of work to do as the auditors are now arriving next week, so there is a on top of everything else, a sense of panic in the air at the top of the tree.

Last night as I was driving home, I watched a young man racing for the bus { he was running towards the bus} he was waving at the driver and was about 4 strides from the bus stop, when I watched the driver drive away.
The young man looked as if he was going to pass out, he had been running quite a distance to get the bus and I could see that he was very distressed, so I pulled out of the turning { I was on the opposite side of road}, told him to get in the car and chased the bus to the town centre { we were are the opposite end of the town} and got the very relieved young man finally on the bus.

I do not normally pick up strangers and I guess that he does not normally get into strange cars but the sheer hopelessness on his face as the bus drove away was too much for me.
He did say that the driver was looking him straight in the face and smiling as he drove away!

At least he finally got the bus which is the main thing.

In cricket England won the third test to go into a lead.
Faf  made it perfectly clear that he will not be retiring at the end of this series and I gave a huge sigh of relief.

And of course we are now going to win this series...………………………….according to the press.

I am now off to sort out my office and get us audit ready { and not to be too smug, we are, I learnt this many years ago and have always tried to keep things in order}.

I hope that it is not too cold with you all

Happy Tuesday

That was the weekend that was

Another weekend over and hard to see where it has gone or what has been achieved not even half of what I wanted to get done that's for sure.

This is due in part to sleeping a lot, doing numerous exercises and chatting with the chums and my lads 'down under'. It didn't take up all the weekend, as some was taken up with washing and tidying up and the usually boring stuff.

Strangely I got a message on Friday evening from an 'old flame' who is out in South Africa for the cricket, I assumed that he was either bored, drunk or both so chose to ignore him { not really me, but he didn't really deserve a response}.

Fast forward Saturday evening with friends, having a spot of food and rather too much champers, and he messages again.

This time I take no prisoners and expected him to crawl back under his stone...…………………….flipping heck, he only messaged me again last night.

And that was my weekend.

In cricket, South Africa were not having a good weekend, and today  they start 6 wickets down.

BBL in Australia is starting to wind down now as it seems to have been going on forever!

Adelaide Strikers won yesterday over Hobart, and Melbourne Renegades beat Brisbane Heat.

And so to the week ahead, well I have work going on at The Wickets and also Pilates as well as the joy of another 4 O &M manuals to get out the door by the end of the month, this will make 14 manuals this month!!!

So I'm keeping it short, I hope that you all have a great start to the week.

Happy Monday 

I've got that Friday feeling

I have indeed got that Friday feeling, but I also am little sad/cross.

Yesterday I was told by Yorkshire that I couldn't sponsor Finlay Bean. They were no longer having sponsors for the Academy side.{after Ive paid the money too}
This was a real blow in my take over plan, however, seriously, I think that they are missing a trick.
Their reason being that if only 2 academy players get sponsors then the other lads may feel left out.
In some ways I see the sense, however it doesn't stop the disappointment.

I think that by next year they will make sponsorship corporate only and I will lose Ben and Tom.
Best get the 'wellness and well being' centre set up.

And so I did end yesterday even more jaded with the club that I love.


In other news, I ache a little today but having had serious pain in my glutes ( my fat a**e in laymans terms) since November and all that went on  then, yesterday and today I no longer have this pain which is probably due to stretching  the muscles in said  fat a**e.
Result!


I will be  going without a 'Big Al's ' today although as suspected the rest of the office have fallen off the diet wagon and are on the double steak burgers this morning.
As I have to lose at least 3 stone ( according to the physio) there is no chance of anything from  the Big Al van.
I will be having weetabix and fruit instead.

England were batting yesterday in day one of the test, they had lost  4wickets by close of play. Stokes and Pope stopped the ship from rocking too much but with the current highest score being 44 its to be hoped that the batting improves down the order.

And now I'm off to finish the week and begin the weekend of painting as I prepare to  paint the airing cupboard and possibly make a start on the boiler cupboard, { which is a huge walk cupboard}
Time to get things  moving.

Have a great weekend.

Tired old Thursday

Wow I am super tired this morning, I opened my eyes at 5.15am and then closed them again until 5.45am, which means that I will now be in total panic as I am half an hour behind!

I am standing and walking after last nights Pilates class which means that it will hit me tomorrow.

And talking about the class, I can see why there is a waiting list, she puts any class I have been to before in the shade.

She also only has 7 people in the class at one time.

She suggested a couple of DVD's to use  in between classes and I am back again next Wednesday.

eventually I am hoping to do 2 classes a week with her.

In cricket news, Jofra Archer is not playing in the 3rd test through injury,

One wonders if he has been over played after all the hype to fast track him?

In other cricket news Yorkshire are continuing to send out emails to members regarding The 100.

WHY???

And apparently if you renew your membership you get discounted tickets...…………….why are they doing this when The 100 is a franchise and not part of Yorkshire, well apart from using Headingley which as a member is where I would expect to see the official Yorkshire CCC team play.

I'm not going to dwell on this as Yorkshire appear to be giving themselves enough rope.

The weather is on the turn here { probably due to Storm Brendon or whatever it was called}, apart from high winds and rain, there is  horribly icy nip in the air and last night coming out of the warmth of the studio it actually took my breath away.

I think that we have got off very lightly with the weather in the last couple of months.

Work is work and starting to ramp up with new jobs coming in and Lainey trying to get at least 6 O & M's out of the door before the end of the month.

so best to get out the door and get to it.

Have a great day.

Pilates day

Well its midweek and it is also the day that I join the proper Pilates class. As you can tell I am super excited about this .

In other news, my fabulous plaque ( above) that was made for me for my birthday , now has a perspex cover which is to be fixed over the front before it is hung.
This was courtesy of Norty Morty and an off cut that he found when they were clearing out one of the workshops, in fact they found that many offcuts that we have been able to use them for an on going job which has proven to be a great money save and highlight that the workshop need to be more aware and not just order new on every job.
oh I got all work ranty there for a little moment!


In cricket news, I am not sure what is happening in South Africa after Jack Leach is sent home due to being ill. So in November he had sepsis, and they still took him onto South Africa where he has suffered gastroenteritis and flu.
The coach himself saying that he hasn't been able to get 100% fit, so I rest my case as to why we are carrying invalids!

All the stupid talk about 4 day tests has been put to rest as The MCC have said it is 5 days and nothing less.
Will this shut up old 'Dolly Hair Vaughan,' I doubt that very much after all he only listens to the sound of his own voice.

'My boys' are still having a blast in Australia although time is counting down to them coming home.
What a great experience for them both.


Rhys the joiner came out last night to sort out some things before he comes to do the kitchen work, I have had to put it off until next week but hopefully this time next week, we will have new kitchen tops and  shelves, as well as a new blind in the downstairs shower room { yes I managed to get one}
and   the airing cupboard upgrade.

I'm so excited, simple things...….