I was not enamoured with the alarm going off at 4.30am on Thursday 17th April! Captain Caveman was working all day in the Tunstall office, near Stoke on Trent, so we left Barnes at 5am. I was hungover and tired but we had travel sweets and plenty of water. While Captain Caveman went to work, I was the first in to the Asda cafe. I bought a cup of a Yorkshire tea for £1.30 and found myself a table so that I could do some work. The tables were a bit grubby and the clientele rather dubious but it would do for my office for the day. I had a 45 minute Webinar in the morning after which I decided to treat myself to breakfast. The hangover was getting worse as I ordered another cup of tea and a couple of slices of toast with butter. A bargain £2.60 in total and came with the bare hands of the server who couldn’t find a plate and had my unbuttered toast in the palms of his hands. I was bound to be ill!! Next was our team meeting and an amazing training session with Gold Medal travel. I learned so much and was looking forward to quoting and booking some amazing holidays. They do a Pure Luxury range which is fabulous and I really fancied some of those for myself. In the afternoon, I finished off more work before having a walk to the Tunstall cafe for a much needed bacon & mushroom sandwich with more tea at a cost of £5.70 and they only take cash. I tried to find somewhere else to work but it was the school holidays and everywhere was rammed with screaming kids. I walked back to the Asda carpark, planning on getting some shopping in but I felt rather queasy. Captain Caveman arrived earlier than expected and we drove directly to Chesterfield without stopping at the shops. We arrived empty handed and with me feeling like death at the lovely Becca & Steve’s house. It was like checking in to a hotel and we were really grateful to be staying in their new house for a couple of nights. Becca was like the hostess with mostest and had made us a lasagne. Steve was up and down to make sure we were all happy and had a glass of something, plus the right nibbles! It was so thoughtful of them and we absolutely loved the meal and our evening together. I wasn’t going to ever drink again, red wine was definitely off the cards after last night, but I had a couple of white wines to be sociable. We ended up having a right laugh and watching game shows which Captain Caveman fell asleep during.
Gratitude List 1. Asda being my temporary office 2. Chesterfield check-in 3. Spending time with Becca and Steve.
We had planned some excitement on Wednesday 16th April, as we were off in to London to meet friends after work. Captain Caveman and I both worked all day with various meetings and calls. We had a late lunch of Tesco pizza which were surprisingly good. I finished at 4pm and headed off on my own to meet Clare & Claire at the New Moon pub. Both Captain Caveman and Clare had given me directions meaning I couldn’t fail to find the pub. Of course, I couldn’t find exit 4 and came out of the wrong exit but I did find the pub. It turned out I had been there before, years ago, and it’s quite an impressive place right next to Leadenhall Market. It does allow dogs, I didn’t see any but the house wine was good and only £6.80 for a good measure. Probably the cheapest I’d bought in London. Clare was the next to arrive as she worked not too far away and we had hugs and more wine. A couple of rather large house wines were £19.00 which I didn’t think bad for London. We chatted and waited for Claire to arrive as she had been on a work call until 5pm but arrived soon after that. Again more hugs, Claire was running a marathon soon and not drinking alcohol. That didn’t stop Clare and I as we had another wine. Captain Caveman was last to join us as he’d been working and he also had to be alert for work tomorrow so had a pint of beer. The round of 2 large wines and a beer came to £26.90 so not as expensive as the pubs in Barnes. We had a good laugh and Claire had reviewed my book to say she wished it had been longer and was eagerly awaiting the next one.
Claire had to get back home so she said her farewells and the remaining 3 of us were getting peckish and I was a bit tiddly. At Pizza Express we ordered dough ball starters, pizzas each and a bottle of red wine. The waiter probably thought we were strange as Clare and I took a selfie of us with the book (an original copy). I signed it for her and we ate like kings, Captain Caveman even had a dessert which is unusual.
After saying our farewells it was Captain Caveman’s job to get me back home. He knew the way but we had to stop for a toilet and to get some water to drink. We had enjoyed ourselves so much and it had been great to see the girls but I was already thinking I may have had a bit too much wine!!
Here’s a summary of what I spent on one night in London – it’s a good job it was a rare occasion.
New Moon Round 1, just my wine £6.80 Round 2, 2 large wines £19.00 Round 3, 2 large wines and a pint of beer £26.90
Pizza Express £84
Train £10.50
Sainsbury’s Water, crisps and a sandwich £3.60
Total spent £150.80
Gratitude List 1. Seeing Clare 2. Seeing Claire 3. Having pizza twice in one day.
It was back to work after a rare weekend off together on Monday 14th April. I had muesli for breakfast after a cup of tea in bed from Captain Caveman. He had his morning meeting while I cracked on with Resort Experts work. At lunch time, Captain Caveman and I had a quick walk to the shop where we bought sourdough bread for sandwiches. Then it was back to work for the afternoon. I had my day brightened up so much when 2 of my best mates both sent me (separately) selfies of them with my book. I was looking forward to seeing Caz and Becca at the Easter weekend so I promised to sign their books. For dinner we had more ham hock with potatoes and vegetables and a quiet night in.
Gratitude List 1. Sourdough bread 2. Book selfies from 2 friends 3. More Ham Hock!
It was a busy working day on Tuesday 15th April as I rattled through my To Do list. I also had 2 online meetings in the morning. At lunch time, Captain Caveman was too busy to take a walk so I went by myself to the shops. It was a bit odd as there didn’t seem to be an awful lot of choice and they had run out of some of the items on my list. I had to call Captain Caveman to ask what I should get instead of chicken as there was none! Here’s what I ended up buying, prices in pounds;
Tesco Supermarket Jammie Dodgers 0.95 Fruit Pastilles 1.65 2 Stone baked pizzas 7.50 Total spent £10.10
Morrison’s Express Lucozade, Wine Gums and Sports Mix Total spent £6.05
Barnes Pantry Hummus £1.99
I’d bought the sweet stuff for the journey back up to the North this coming weekend. We had sandwiches for lunch, I had a banana and an apple too as I was conscious I was not sticking to the Slimming World plan. I’d not even written down my food or syns this week and was likely to have put weight on. Back in Sheffield my Dad was having a knee op so I was waiting to hear how that went. All went fine and hopefully he would be going home tomorrow. After work, Captain Caveman suggested a walk to the Brown Dog where we had a pint. I had the Gelato beer which is very nice and then we walked back home. It was really cold after the sun went in so we were both shivering by the time we got ‘home’. The last of the ham was had for dinner and I worked on my laptop in the evening while Captain Caveman watched TV.
Gratitude List 1. Dad finally getting his surgery 2. The Brown Dog 3. More Ham hock!
It was my first time at the Oxford and Cambridge boat race on Sunday 13th April. As Captain Caveman had grown up in Barnes, he had often been a keen observer so I was looking forward to the experience. We even had free tickets to the Bull’s Head where live band, The Brockalites, were playing later on. But first we had a breakfast of champions; beans on toast with bacon and potatoes for me, a full on fry up with uncle Paul’s eggs and some extra black pudding for Captain Caveman. I was glad of it and the 2 cups of tea, as I was a bit woolly headed from the drinks yesterday! Captain Caveman was annoyingly sprightly and even booked my flight back to Turkey for in 10 days time. This meant I was staying longer than I thought I would be but it was going so fast and I still had plenty to keep me occupied in the UK. After being apart for 3 months it was good to spend time together even if it was just for 3 weeks and we were both working.
After making sure all my quotes and social media posts were done we headed out to the River Thames to watch the race. It was quite exciting and I should have put money on Cambridge winning as it was a clean sweep in all the races. We got chatting with some other spectators, had a beer (£6 each) from the Bull’s Head, which I couldn’t finish and gave it to Captain Caveman.
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Captain Caveman’s video
Captain Caveman’s video
After the race it started to rain, the first time it had rained in my 13 days of being in England so we walked quickly to the next nearest pub. At the Sun Inn we met up with an old friend and Aviva colleague, Jacky, who I’d not seen in ages. Jacky was still exactly the same funny guy and he introduced us to his partner, Michael, who was great fun too. We had a fantastic and hilarious afternoon, sheltering from the rain in the pub. I spent £68.70 on a couple of rounds of drinks, Jacky and Michael also got a few rounds in so it was an expensive and fairly merry Sunday but I absolutely loved it. We met a funny local guy and his Australian lady. We nicknamed him Pissy Steve on account of the amount of toilet visits he had. He accused me of being too funny and that I was making him laugh too much – I came to the conclusion he either had a bladder the size of a peanut or a recreational drug habbit. At the bar I bumped in to a young man we had seen at the boat race and he was from Manchester so we got chatting – us northerners always find each other in a London pub! He was only the new brand manager from a well known biscuit company and we discussed the product in-depth! The day was a really lovely one full of more laughter – something I had missed a lot recently. At just after 7pm, as the rain stopped, we all said our goodbyes and we headed to Sainsbury’s for some vegetables. We bought 500g of carrots for a bargain of 60p and splashed out on 120g of green beans for £1.10. I saw that they had Jammy Dodgers on the shelves and sent a photo to Hugo as proof they were available in Barnes. While Captain Caveman rustled us up some potatoes with the ham hock and veg, for dinner, I tried not to eat too many Mini Cheddars (which I had no idea where they had come from)! We were in bed so early as we both had a busy week ahead.
Gratitude List 1. Breakfast of champions 2. The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race 3. Having such a laugh with the fellas in the Sun Inn.
Saturday 12th April was full of surprises and so much laughter. Captain Caveman brought me tea and toast for breakfast in bed then I did a little bit of work. There was a promotion on the Mitsis hotels with Classic Collection which I’d previously attended a training session on so I got busy with that. I’ve often been in countries with a Mitsis but not had the good fortune to stay in one, they looked great and the food choices looked fab. Uncle Paul arrived as he was having a brief visit for a birthday celebration and Captain Caveman was so excited that he had brought fresh eggs from home. Captain Caveman suggested we get the train in to London and we were just wondering what we might do there when I spotted a Facebook status update of a good friend. Becca and Steve were in the rooftop swimming pool of their rather swish hotel near Battersea Power Station. Captain Caveman had worked out we could be there with them within the hour (37 minutes to be precise) so I messaged Becca. Of course, she invited us over and to bring our swimmers. I hadn’t brought any back from Turkey and it wasn’t that warm so we decided to meet up in that area after they had eaten lunch. I wanted to go to the Barnes Farmers market this morning to see if we could get some nice food for tomorrow. We bought a ham hock, black pudding, a sausage roll and a piece of cooked belly pork with crackling, for around £10-£15. The vegetables looked fantastic but were so expensive at £6.50 for a cauliflower (we didn’t buy it). We also resisted all the lovely cakes, cheeses and chocolate which looked amazing, too. I thought we were going back home to eat our sausage roll and belly pork but Captain Caveman had other ideas and wanted us to walk down the street with it to get the train. I had a bite of the sausage roll and realised it might be prudent to avoid so that I didn’t get a poorly tum. Instead, I was trying to break off bits of pork from the crispy crackling in the brown paper bag without being wrist deep in grease! By the time I got on the train we’d managed to eat our very unhealthy lunch and I needed hosing down. I then had to walk past Battersea dog shelter and not go in, which was hard.
Becca and Steve were with her brother, Leon, too so we headed through the amazing shopping precinct at Battersea Power Station. Captain Caveman found them straight away and the 5 of us had hugs all round. I got something in my eye as I’d not seen Becca for some time and there was so much to catch up on. She was in the process of waiting for a kidney transplant and I learned so much in our short walk. The process for not only going through the ordeal of getting a new kidney, but getting people to be tested has its obstacles. It’s not just as simple as shouting out to all and sundry to please give me your kidney – there are rules in place to prevent coercion in to doing that. A couple of her friends had put ourselves up for getting tested but I was not aware of the process particularly. I just knew that it would be good to know if there was even a possibility of helping my friend have a better (longer) life, I couldn’t not at least get the test. We laughed and joked about what is actually such a serious subject but we’ve always been the type of friends who can laugh at anything. As we learned Steve was a match and was going to give a kidney – it was the first time I’d heard of a real life miracle. I’m not good with anything to do with blood so I had to really concentrate on not fainting when Becca got me to put my hand on her dialysis fistula (Google that – it is very interesting). It vibrates and made me feel a bit funny, while Captain Caveman loved it and was now getting in to finding out more. We said our farewells to Leon and decided to take a walk along the river, through the very lovely park. It was a beautiful day and so good to see Becca and Steve.
Of course we had to call for a drink in a couple of pubs where I took no notice of the name of them or how much the rounds cost! I was too busy catching up and enjoying my day off. In one place it was so crowded that we found it difficult to find anywhere to sit. This did not put Captain Caveman off vetting which reserved guests were already 20 minutes late. Sarah at 2pm was still not there so Captain Caveman had turned in to a member of the Punctuality Police and insisted we take the table – we did. It was a brilliant day and I was sad to say goodbye at the end of it. We decided that on our way back up North we would go visit Becca and Steve and they invited us to stay with them, which was lovely.
Back home, Uncle Paul had left a note to say he’d already driven home and wouldn’t be staying after all. Captain Caveman knocked up a sausage casserole for dinner and I fell asleep on the sofa as soon as he put the TV on.
Gratitude List 1. Barnes Farmers market 2. A fantastic and impromptu day with friends in Battersea 3. Knowing that Becca and Steve were a match for the kidney transplant.
Photo credit – Some photos by Captain Caveman and Becca
When Captain Caveman’s alarm went off early on Thursday 10th April, neither of us had slept for long enough. There was washing to do, breakfast to be had and then lots of work/meetings for both of us. I had another Planner Ideation session with the wonderful Claire Clarke and I was really enjoying getting shit done today – the tiredness was not going to get the better of me. I joined a webinar about the Land of Legends in Antalya, Turkey, which looked amazing for families. It was the type of place you could take kids (or adults) who didn’t want to leave the room as it had an iconic Star Trek suite. There was also Paw Patrol, Dora and Ninja Turtles themed rooms for the younger children. It looked amazing and wasn’t that expensive for their All Inclusive packages which I was finding more and more potential customers preferred. I liked my desk in Captain Caveman’s old bedroom and the house was lovely and quiet, ideal to work from. The weather had turned cold though and, because all my clothes were in the wash, I had to wear Captain Caveman’s jacket. At 12.30pm, Captain Caveman took himself off to the shops for a breath of fresh air and to get some provisions. I had a meeting booked in. Here’s what he got, prices in pounds;
It was also the Resort Experts team meeting today and it was great. News of more tech to help us and we had a bit of a mission on social media posts. Captain Caveman and I were so busy that I don’t think we ate lunch, but for dinner Captain Caveman made us a chicken pasta which was very good. We had cheese and crackers for afters but no wine as we were tired and begging for mercy.
Gratitude List 1. Coping with little sleep after getting back from Sheffield very late 2. Getting through all of the important appointments in my diary today 3. Cheese.
On Friday 11th April I started to wonder about booking my flight back to Turkey. Jamie was flying back on the 23rd so we might end up on the same flight, but I got a call for work and we got distracted. I didn’t eat breakfast until 11am as I got busy but then I had to have muesli as we were out of bread. We went for a walk to the shop at lunchtime and I had a bonus £50 in my account from the Nationwide. Captain Caveman and I called at Sainsbury’s to get some ingredients for a Friday night in. Here’s what we bought and the prices in pounds;
Sainsbury’s Supermarket
3 onions 0.60 Wholemeal loaf 1.39 Toothpaste 1.75 6 apples 1.80 Tomatoes 1.95 Butter 1.99 Potatoes 2.00 Coffee 3.65 2 bottles of red wine 14.50 Total spent £29.63
At first I told Captain Caveman to put the small pack of tomatoes back, for 2 quid as I was so shocked, they are so cheap in Dalyan. The wine was the £2 cheaper than last week so we got 2 bottles, it was also cheaper for a whole bottle than a glass down the pub. We both went back to work after a quick sandwich and at 5pm Captain Caveman said we should finish work. I wasn’t used to these ‘early finishes’ but it was nice to have a wander to the Brown Dog and then to the Coach & Horses. We tried to brave sitting in the beer garden, which was rammed but I was too cold, even with a coat on and we had to retreat inside. We had left over chicken with pasta again for dinner and a drop of red wine before bed. Tomorrow I was meant to have been up in Sheffield for a birthday celebration but it clashed with one of the most important events of the year.
Gratitude List 1. My new trainers being super comfy 2. Going to the Brown Dog 3. Captain Caveman planning a great London weekend.
Sunday 6th April would turn out to be quite an expensive day. The Flixbus I had booked for £35 was leaving London Victoria at 1.30pm. Captain Caveman had worked out when we needed to get the bus from Barnes to get there on time. I suggested that, because I walk slower and had my wheelie case with me, we could go earlier ‘just in case’. Captain Caveman wasn’t bothered about getting there too early and we stuck to his original plan. The bus came but we didn’t go the whole distance on it due to a traffic jam and us being stuck not moving for about 20 minutes. We were likely to miss the bus if we didn’t get off and walk but, of course, bus drivers these days will only let you get off at an actual bus stop. When we did eventually get off we had to run through Putney and over the bridge, full of tourists. It was hard work and we made it to a train station just as a football match was starting so it was busy. On the tube we went slightly wrong and had to backtrack but eventually got to Victoria station and ran to the bus station. It was a good job I was a stone or two lighter than I used to be as I would never have managed the run otherwise but I was quite pleased to even keep up. We had a feeling we were going to have missed the bus but still ran in to the Victoria Bus Station where I shouted that I was ‘coming through’ as I ran to the departure lane. There was no Flixbus to be seen so we assumed we had missed it, as we were 5 minutes after the departure time. I went for a pee while Captain Caveman went online to buy new tickets for the next bus. He couldn’t get it to work so he walked off to the ticket office when I returned. I checked my phone and had a text from Flixbus saying it was delayed by 15 minutes so it hadn’t arrived yet!!! I called, text and messaged Captain Caveman but he didn’t answer and came back with 2 National Express tickets for £54, leaving from the opposite end of the station at 2pm. I was a bit peeved we had wasted more money on this but we didn’t see the Flixbus and might have been stuck in London until the evening if we didn’t get the 2pm bus, which we decided to do. The journey went well and we got off in the Sheffield bus station to then have to walk to the Hampton by Hilton at West Bar. It was £59.85 for the 2 of us including breakfast and was very comfortable. Captain Caveman had already set his mind on going to a restaurant in Kelham Island which sold burgers. I’m not a burger fan really so asked if they did anything else. I also pointed out that it might be a bit of a waste of a hotel bed for me to eat a burger as, if I did, there was probably little chance of any romance – for me, burgers are the worst thing to eat on a date night! Captain Caveman was still adamant that he wanted the burger and said I could have cheesy chips, instead. On the way Captain Caveman bought us a pint each and some pork scratchings (back in Yorkshire!) in The Shakespeare. Next, we went to Saw Grinders Union and ordered a pint each and the bacon cheeseburger with fries. I had high hopes for it at £15.50 each, after all we were no longer in London. When it came it looked like a better version of a Big Mac and it tasted pretty good. I don’t understand the need to cover fries in red powdery dust, though. Captain Caveman had another pint and our whole meal came to a whopping £48.50. My stomach issues started before we even left the building and I made full use of the bathroom facilities back at the hotel. I knew I shouldn’t have eaten it – it was a bit of a waste of money too.
Gratitude List 1. Still getting to Sheffield from Barnes 2. The Hampton by Hilton Hotel being very nice 3. Still smiling despite today being a bit of a to-do, costing us £200 and ending on a belly ache!
Both Captain Caveman and I continued to have a busy working day on Friday 4th April. The difference being that I’d got used to working the evenings and weekends so I wasn’t used to logging off at 5pm on a Friday night. Captain Caveman had plans for us and we had also toyed with the idea of catching up with friends in London. I had 2 friends cancel so we decided we would have a night in Barnes rather than heading in to the Big Smoke. My friend and Resort Experts colleague in Majorca, Dagne, had finished my book and sent me a review which I was really pleased with. While Captain Caveman was in his morning meeting, I had my breakfast of beans on wholemeal toast, which I loved! At lunch we both ate at the table together and had sandwiches; mine was cheese and rocket (pickled onions on the side!), his was peanut butter and marmite. We both had meetings or training sessions in the afternoon and I was making progress on my Planner Ideation course.
After work, we walked along the river again and I got a text from one of my old school friends, Joanne, who had bought my book and I was so happy to hear from her. She sent me a fab selfie with the book and it made my day. Captain Caveman took us for a drink in a pub which could have been the White Hart, where he had beer and I had cider for £15. Our next pub was a visit to the really lovely Brown Dog. It was easily my favourite on account of it having several dogs in. I also ended up having a pint of rather strong rhubarb flavoured beer and being a bit tipsy on the walk home. It was £16.50 for 2 pints in there and a bag of crisps were £1.50!! We walked home and, while Captain Caveman made us a chicken pasta dinner, I went back out to the shop to buy bread and wine. It all got a bit complicated at the self scanner when the assistant had to put in a code for me buying alcohol and then didn’t give me the wine back. He had taken the anti-stealing device off but left the wine by the door. I had to check with the Sainsbury’s security guard if it was my wine, he didn’t know, but said to take it. I paid £1.39 for a loaf and £9.50 for the wine. Our dinner was really tasty and we tried to watch Celebrity Big Brother. Unfortunately, even after googling the contestants we only knew a couple of them and thought it was a bit boring.
Gratitude List 1. More great feedback for my book 2. English food 3. Going down the pub on a Friday night.
We had ideas on Saturday 5th April to either go to see a friend presenting at the Ideal Home Exhibition, do a trip to MI5, or spend some time at Richmond park. It was cold and I ended up doing some work, eating beans on toast again and then we didn’t go to any of our ideas. Instead, we decided to visit Marc Bolan’s memorial at the tree where he died in Putney. We decided to have a walk around the area and the sun did come out so it got warmer. We stopped at a cafe in a park for a hot beverage. Loo Loo’s cafe in Putney had homemade sausage rolls which we shared one of, with mint tea for me and a double espresso for Captain Caveman. It came to £10.50 and we sat outside the cafe looking at all the dogs that came in. So many more people in the UK seemed to have dogs than I remembered.
After the park, we walked towards Fulham football ground and, of course, my stomach had started to react badly to the sausage roll. We had to motor on until we found a pub so I could go to the toilet. The Crabtree in Fulham was the busiest pub I’d seen in a long time and there were 3 deep at the bar and queuing in the toilets. I almost shit myself outside a disabled toilet but I managed to make it to the normal toilet. When I got back, Captain Caveman was only just being served and when we found somewhere to sit we realised why it was so busy.
We watched the Grand National where Nick Rocket won and no horses died. We also did some banking while waiting to see if my sausage roll situation was over. It was, so we continued walking along the river and nearly got involved in learning how to argue better. I had a laugh at the Learn to Row poster which I’d pronounced as in arguement, as we didn’t need any help in that area. We saw Hammersmith bridge and then had another drink in the George & Devonshire in Chiswick. Compared to the last pub, it was so quiet but was a lovely pub with comfy seating. We decided to splash out for dinner tonight and get the Indian Dine in deal from Marks & Spencer where we got the following;
M&S Food Starter – Baji, pakora and samosa Chicken Tikka Masala Lamb Rogan Josh Pilau Rice £15 for the Indian meal deal Carton of mixed Crackers £2.90 Brie £2.10 Total spent £20.00
It was a bargain and tasted amazing. I’d not had Indian food for quite a while and I guessed it wouldn’t be my first while in the UK. Captain Caveman drank Guinness with his and I just had tap water. Tonight was our last night in Barnes as we were heading north tomorrow for just a few days.
Gratitude List 1. Having a day off with Captain Caveman 2. Going for a walk around the area 3. Curry for dinner.
Wednesday 2nd April would usually have been weigh day but I was away from Dalyan, and in Barnes. I got weighed on Captain Caveman’s parents’ scales, I weighed 0.7kg (1.5lb) under target and was 1kg (2.2lb) less than last week. I actually didn’t think it would be accurate that I’d lost weight this week but it was good to check. My measurements showed that I had put 1cm on my bust and hips but I had lost 1cm from my waist (all were still under target).
It was a normal working day for both of us, so Captain Caveman went to his parents’ office upstairs and I set up at the desk in Captain Caveman’s old bedroom. We met up for breakfast at 10.30am and had my warmed up pizza from last night. Captain Caveman had lots of meetings while I cracked on with attracting new customers. We had a late lunch where Captain Caveman cooked us a brunch style meal. I had beans on toast with proper butter and 2 pork sausages – it was so good!!! He had egg and tomatoes with his. We both worked the rest of the day, me until 6.30pm. Captain Caveman suggested a walk with a trip to the pub and the supermarket and I was up for that. It was great to see and smell the freshness of Barnes, it was chilly but not raining. There were lots of fancy charity shops, dock leaves in the park and the cinema was finished. I had it on my list to go but at £20 a ticket I decided to leave it. I got a bit of a shock in the Red Lion when I paid for our round of 1 red wine and 1 pint of beer at £18.15. Our next drinks were in the Sun Inn and the same round came to ‘just’ £15.20. On the way home we popped to the shop again to get something for dinner. Here’s what we bought and the prices in pounds;
I was surprised to see that fag shelters had got fancier but the shops didn’t trust us not to steal mince! Captain Caveman knocked up a superb pasta bolognese and we shared a bottle of Primitivo red wine. I fell asleep on the sofa before I’d finished my wine as I was still a bit tired.
Gratitude List 1. A nice desk to work from with views of the garden 2. Going for an after work drink with Captain Caveman. 3. Great food, cooked by Captain Caveman.
Thursday 3rd April was another busy day in our world, we both had a lot on at work so we had arranged to squeeze in a 1 hour lunch date at noon. Cote restaurant was an Ask pizza place the last time I had been in Barnes so it was nice to try out this new place which had a lunch special on. Captain Caveman had a Crab Croque Madame and I had a steak baguette with fries, we both drank tap water and I really enjoyed it. It was quite fancy for a Thursday lunch and we had to rush as we both had meetings and calls from 1pm. The total bill, because of the offer, was only £18.65 for the 2 of us. We discussed plans for the weekend and decided we would travel up to Sheffield, my home town, on Sunday. My afternoon job was to book the bus tickets and find us a hotel to stay in on Sunday night as well as a hotel at Manchester airport for when Captain Caveman flew over to İzmir. I had a bit of time back as my Team Meeting had been postponed. Working for Resort Experts means that we get great prices on hotels so I booked both, including breakfasts, for less than £60 per night. The Flixbus for the 2 of us from Victoria to Meadowhall was a total of £34.98. At 6pm, as agreed, Captain Caveman and I finished work and decided to have a long walk along the River Thames, calling at the Ship Inn. He had a pint of IPA and I had a pint of Aspall’s cider for a total of £13. I was keen to find Pork Scratchings but I had a feeling that Barnes was a bit posh for that kind of snack, and never did. The next pub was the cheapest in the area I’d been in so far. The Hare & Hounds in East Sheen was just £13 for a pint of ale and a large red win. On our way home we called in to Waitrose (it was a sign we were both working now!) and bought provisions;
Waitrose Supermarket Baby potatoes 0.61 1 orange pepper 0.65 Penne pasta 0.75 1 Garlic Baguette 1.25 Wild Rocket 1.49 Pack of pears 2.00 Chicken fillets 3.49 Total spent £10.24
I also bought a folder from a newsagents and it cost a whopping £2.99 but I needed it for the next part of my Planner Ideation course. For dinner, Captain Caveman made a lovely chicken pasta with salad and we finished off the wine from yesterday with it.
Gratitude List 1. A fab lunch date with Captain Caveman 2. An after work walk and a drink along the Thames 3. Great food for dinner.
Where was the time going!? I was finding it hard to believe that it was already Tuesday 1st April and I had so much to do. All with a hangover, too!!!! I still needed to calculate my budget v actual spending at the end of March, I was behind on my blog posts and I hadn’t even checked how many books I had sold in my first full month of trading! All this and we were off to the prison restaurant for a hello/farewell lunch with Jamie and then to the airport for our 2.30pm flight to Gatwick! I’d had a wonderful message from my friend and colleague, Dagne, yesterday but had not had chance to post it on social media. She had finally got her copy of ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’ and was on the beach in Majorca, reading my book. The photo was perfect! I wondered if the British humour would still translate well enough. I needn’t have worried as she was already enjoying it and said she felt like she was getting friendly travel advice from a friend over a glass of wine! Amazing, and that is all I could have wished for! Dagne was also the first person to send me a photo where it was the new version of the book! It was also the first one to be bought in Spain! I think this was the 5th country to have someone reading my book in, and that felt good! When I checked how many books I had sold it wasn’t as many as I had hoped for but it averaged at over 1 per day. Apparently, that is good for a self published one with zero marketing budget/adverts. Still, it meant I had earned less than £150 for the month, which I would not get until the end of May. I needed to sell more and I needed a smarter way to do that. I was grateful for everyone who had bought it already and I needed a way to get it out to more people, particularly who would benefit from the travel advice. I think using Amazon puts some people off, and I’m not a massive fan of it either, but it’s the biggest seller of books in the world. If I couldn’t cut it using Amazon as a free platform, then it wasn’t wise to pay for a different platform. I was also surprised at how few ebook/kindle versions I had sold as I thought that was a popular way to read books these days. I would persevere and hope more people would buy it in the coming weeks and months. I’d already started a list of chapter titles for the next one. My next task was to check the money situation; unsurprisingly I had gone over my £300 budget. In March I had spent a grand total of £370 including bills (but not rent or council tax). I was a bit disappointed at going over by 23% but I had splashed out on my hair this month plus some extra treats. April was going to be tough to set a budget for as I was off to the UK for at least a week and we had a holiday in the İzmir area planned. Captain Caveman was also planning to move out of Sheffield as his 3 months renting in a shared place was up and he had decided to rent a house to himself in a more convenient location for work. I didn’t eat any breakfast on account of feeling sickly from too much booze last night. I’d had a whole bottle of red wine and one whisky and I really felt it!!! I was doing all I could to not be sick by the time Jamie picked us up. Unfortunately, the storm last night had blown the adjacent new build’s roof off, some of it was on our balcony and some in the garden. We drove to the prison and we ordered food, I just copied what Captain Caveman had, köfte, hoping he’d eat some of mine anyway. As Jamie was kind enough to drive us to the airport I bought the lunch which only came to 985 lira (£20) for 3 meals and 3 soft drinks – impressive.
We drove to the airport and said our farewells to Jamie, it felt weird that I was going back to the UK after almost 9 months and I wasn’t sure when I would be back exactly. At the airport they let us go through to the lounge with our water and Captain Caveman went off to do a reccy in the Duty Free. It works out cheaper to get the small wines or spirit miniatures at the Duty Free shop, than buying in the bar but I had no plans on drinking or eating anything. On the easyJet plane, I had a whole row to myself, Captain Caveman was sat in front of me with just 2 of them in a row of 3. We took off on time and then Captain Caveman came and sat in my row, taking the window seat and I had the aisle. Luckily, I had brought chocolate Dido bars for a snack but we didn’t bother buying any food or drink on the entire journey. We were due to land about 5pm and Captain Caveman managed to get quite a bit of sleep.
We landed in to Gatwick airport on time on and got the train to Barnes. Captain Caveman and I were staying at his parents while they were away. We were walking in to the house just before 6pm, having cost £15.60 using my Wise card to get from Gatwick. I was really excited as I had a package, it was 3 copies of my book. It was the first time I’d touched or seen a copy of it and I was actually quite happy with it. It was small enough to fit in to a handbag which was a good selling point. I took a couple of photos and then we unpacked.
Captain Caveman suggested we have a walk around Barnes, get some dinner and do some shoping ready for us both being back to work tomorrow. Barnes was really beautiful and it wasn’t as cold as I thought it was going to be. Captain Caveman treated us to dinner at Base Face Pizza which was just amazing. I wasn’t going to be drinking but I ended up with a red wine and a pizza with ham and pineapple on. Captain Caveman had beer and a spicy pizza. He paid the bill so I wasn’t sure of the exact total but it came to about £50 for the 2 of us, including a drink each. Tap water was free and I just couldn’t get enough of it – it’s one of the things I miss when I’m not in England. Our food was so delicious, the waitress was really good and I took half of my pizza home as I was trying to be good. We saw the sunset over the river Thames and it was so nice to be in London together. Our next stop off was at Sainsbury’s where I was gobsmacked at how much chocolate they had. Cadbury’s Cream Eggs were in abundance at 85p each or 5 for £3 but I resisted the urge to buy any chocolate. Here’s what was in our shopping basket (prices in pounds) and doing the self scan, which Captain Caveman was really good at;
I was shocked at the price of tomatoes and bread but pleased with the baked beans and sausages. We didn’t even watch any TV as we were both tired so we had an early night.
Gratitude List 1. Jamie taking us to the airport 2. Being able to go back to the UK with Captain Caveman 3. A night out with pizza in Barnes.
joloyolo 