My Birthday

Lewis came down for my birthday weekend and he brought his new girlfriend, Emily, down with him. She seemed very nice and got involved with the family so that was a bonus. They seem happy together. Early days and all that but it was nice to see Lewis relaxed and happy

Weekend went really well – got spoilt.

Went to the golf driving range in the morning to test my new clubs, waited for a while but got in eventually and then went into town in the afternoon to The Varsity Club and had a few beers and nibbles and then to the Crown. Really nice

Back home, meal and Mum came over and then into the bar for cocktail making. Zoe also came over which was nice

It turned out as you’d expect – drunken and partying but it was such a good end to a lovely day. Enjoyed it loads

Relaxed day on Sunday – heavy heads. Meal and walks at home before Lewis and Emily left and then watched a couple of films

Mum up for dinner, not much else to report

Another busy day at work – happy with that, got a lot done and felt positive about it

Could easily have carried on into the evening but Mum was invited up so I had to stop and it was a nice evening.

It was just us and then Jack a bit later. Charlotte was in Cornwall with her friends for the week now.

Mum was fine and it was nice to host, she looks forward to coming over and we look forward to seeing what desert she’s going to bring with her!

Watched some TV – the Repair Shop – and she left at 9.00pm. I was shattered, the late night working last night catching up with me, so I went to bed at 9.15pm – read some of my book and then crashed out!

A nice day all told

Jack lost again

Busy day and then in the evening decided to go and watch Jack play football. Didcot were hosting Kidlington and I got there on time and wandered round and made sure I didn’t need to stand close to anyone.

Jack started and was out wide in quite an attacking position.

It was an even game but Didcot were under pressure a lot and not a surprise when Kiddy scored.

I felt Jack had been playing well so that was positive. Second half they really should have got some goals but failed, Jack going close, and then they were punished and lost 3-0 in the end. A shame.

I’m a little concerned about Jack’s place in the team, he’s not having an impact and is being criticised for goals that I don’t feel were really his issue.

Anyway, I left as soon as I could and then came home and worked until 1.00am on a Data Mining project requested by Hodder – very full on and a bit boring but not going to complain if I am getting paid for it!

Lewis is about to buy a house!!

Woke up on the sofa this morning at 5.30am – heavy head and beer spilled on me!

Got up to bed for a couple more hours sleep and then we needed to get showered and on the road by 8.15am to get up to Manchester

Run up there was only 2.5hrs but it was hard work as we’re experiencing Storm Alex right now meaning it was constant rain but we got there in good time and then went to see the house that Lewis is interested in.

We were shown around and it was nice enough, we both felt it was worth going for and Lewis should put in an offer. It reminded me much like Napier Road, it needs work but it definitely has potential for someone (Lewis and his mates) to do up and make money on it. It was quite exciting and we felt good about the location and build and everything about it.

It’s on the market for £220k, we went and wandered around Cheadle Hulme and got a coffee and I told Lewis to text the Estate Agent and put in an offer of £210k, I felt it would be worth spending the full amount but if he did then he’d not have money for the additional work that’s required, the most pressing being the kitchen made more fit for purpose. We did a but more pottering about and then back to Lewis’s house for a coffee before jumping in the car to come home again – the weather was even worse this time!

About an hour into the journey Lewis called to say they turned down his offer but asked if he would go to £215k which he agreed to – so he’s got the house. We are so pleased for him – very exciting.

How he needs to get his head around the mortgage and all the other work that’s required. But it’s excellent news.

We got home about 4.50pm, after dropping some wine round to Zoe because she’s self-isolating and I slept for 30 mins before we walked down to John and Pauline’s. Had a really nice evening, drank far too much but John made some lovely fried chicken and it was a really nice meal. We then spent time working on a new trip away in view of our Turkey trip being cancelled and we opted for a cottage on the Norfolk Broads – looks really good. Costing more than I’d hoped but there you go!

Jack came down after football – they’d lost 2-1 and he was a bit pissed off. But he caught up with Emily about the house buying process, that was interesting and informative and she’s experiencing a few issues with her brokers but hopefully that will get sorted soon. She’s got plans so should do well.

We stayed until about midnight and then wandered home and I had a coffee and watched the end of a film I’m halfway through

A very full on and tiring day but worth it and so pleased for Lewis.

Meal with Nikki & Gaz

Weird day at work – didn’t get what I wanted to get done achieved. Raised invoices so hopefully those will go through ok!

Dropped Charlotte and Miles at the Crazy Bear in the evening because they were having a meal as part of Charlotte’s birthday, Jack was going to pick them up because we were going out in the evening ourselves.

Got back to home in time to get the 6.30pm bus and down into Jericho to meet Nikki and Gaz in  Jude The Obscure where we had a couple of pints and then wandered along to the Jericho Grill for our meal

The restaurant wasn’t very busy but we had a really nice evening and the food was excellent.

We mentioned that Nik and Gaz were Emily’s parents because the restaurant had contacted her to offer her a free meal and it meant we got the bottle of wine for free so that was nice and worth doing

Incredibly Gaz insisted on paying for the meal (they’d also paid for the drinks at Jude) so we had a completely free night, but know we need to repay them so will start saving for that night too.

We then got our bus home and had a drink in the bar and watched some TV – Tash went to bed but I wanted to stay up and watch the Snow piercer film – really quite good. Enjoyed it.

A nice evening all told.