Old News - Newsletter April 2003

I've had a rather nice month or so since I last wrote. Every weekend except the last one was spent visiting someone! This past weekend I was looking forward to a quiet weekend at home catching up on chores and sleep, and then got completely flattened by a cold... I managed the sleep part anyway! I really did want to go for a walk with my walking club too, as I have only been once and that was 6 weeks ago now. Ah well, maybe next time.

Lets see... about 4 weeks ago I drove through to N and N's in East Croydon on the Friday, and had a lovely evening of far too much food and wine. After a lazy start on Saturday we beetled off for a gentle walk along bridal paths and then a pub lunch, and then went back home for more wine and DVD's. On the Sunday I wended my way home to catch up on some gardening and so on.

The next Saturday I travelled to Hertford to stay with R and S. They took me for a super long walk in the surrounding countryside, and then a drink at their local. And then we had an evening of wine and DVD's. I'm seeing a theme here... And on the Sunday I shot home to catch up on more gardening and some sleep!

The following Friday I went into London and stayed with J and T. We went out for Vietnamese, which could be my latest food passion, and were joined by R and N. The end of the evening is very fuzzy... The following morning we had a slow start, and then T and I went into Bayswater and had a superb shopping spree. I hadn't actually meant to buy anything, but retail therapy is contagious! We had a great day, including Dim Sum for lunch and popping into most shops in Bayswater and Whiteleys. A lovely girly day - I haven't had one of those in a very long time! I caught the train home in the afternoon to - you guessed it - have some sleep and do housey stuff.

Then there was Easter, and I travelled to my Mom's in North Yorkshire. It is either 5 hours driving or 5 hours on the train, and as I hate long-distance driving I took the train. That was pretty much ok, except I had to go via London which is a bit of a pain. Anyway, I had a great 5 days with my Mom, involving lots of food and wine, a little walking, some sightseeing and non-stop chatter. A really nice break. Next time I might drive though, as I'd rather go direct from door to door than lift-train-tube-train-lift at each end!

As you might have noticed I am having fun with my garden. All the bulbs I planted last year came up - I currently have tulips and bluebells up! I've been growing things from seed and seedlings on my windowsills for the past few months, and gradually planting them out into pots, troughs and beds. I planted out linaria (sp?), geraniums and impatiens the week before last, and have now just planted out sweetpeas to grow on the fence. Luckily my garden is actually quite tiny by SA standards (about 4m by 10m I guess) so it's not too much of a bother. And not too bad to mow the lawn either! I'm having loads of fun, as this is really my first garden ever. I think when I buy a place it is going to have to have a garden or huge patio to play with ;-).

Hmm, what else. The weeks are pretty quiet, and I have settled into a routine in the evenings which is quite full. I'm addicted to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", which I am borrowing from a work mate, so I get home, change into gym togs and do a 40min workout on my cross-trainer in front of the TV watching an episode. Then shower, prepare dinner, and while it is cooking I do some jigsaw or email with a G&T. Then eat, while watching another episode. Then it is usually after 9pm, so I retire to bed with my book and read until about 10. I have never been so unstressed, rested and healthy! It probably sounds pretty dull to most of you (especially the ones with social lives), but at the moment it suits me! I'm hoping to get into a bit of sketching in place of the jigsaw now that the evenings are so light, but to be honest I'm scared! I just know that the first few attempts will be depressingly bad, so I'm avoiding it!

I met up with my neighbour the other day for a pub meal. She's a 50 something single-mum teacher, so we don't have very much in common! It was a pleasant evening though, and we have tentative plans to grab a movie sometime. I'm a little short of girlfriends in this neck of the woods, so it would be nice to make a new friend. Another reason to go for another walk with my club too!

Work is going really well. Now that I am happy in my job I realise that I have been unhappy for years! I can't actually get used to looking forward to going to work! It is amazing ;-). They seem to like me too, and I have hit my first deadline so far (and got a little bonus for it - woohoo!). I think this could be the start of a beautiful relationship!

That's about it. The weather is warmish, wettish and sunnyish - perfect April and good for the garden.