Jamie, Drew and the 3 nephews were off to the waterpark on Thursday 15th August so I was happy to agree to a bit of dog sitting over the lunch time period. My day started with bread, cheese spread and Yorkshire tea then working all morning. I had some chicken casserole for lunch and popped the rest in the freezer, before heading over to see Norman and Edna. They were both asleep but I managed to coax Edna out for a wee. Norman did not wake up for a while, and when he did he looked at me and went back to sleep. The electric went off so I ended up being there for 2.5 hours and had to contact Jamie to be able to get the key to manually get out of the electric gate. It was hot, I had prescription sunglasses and a hat on and was in a kerfuffle trying to bend down, see what I was doing and listen to Jamie’s instructions. I called round to the shop as I needed an onion and ended up buying 2 onions, some bread, 2 lemon sodas and a piece of Turkish salami for a total of 200 lira (£4.65). The shop was very nice and I helped some holiday makers who were confused about bags for the bread and which was the butter. Back to work in the afternoon, once I had chucked the ingredients for a curry in the slow cooker and realised the chickpeas were actually beans but had tipped them in anyway. I worked all afternoon and stopped, very much looking forward to my curry. I didn’t enjoy the curry as much as I hoped I would, probably due to the chickpea/bean mix up.
I was invited round to Jamie & Drew’s for a BBQ with the boys and Nanny Kay after work on Friday 16th August. It looked to be quite an eventful weekend in Dalyan as I had plans for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I started the day with bread, cheese spread and Yorkshire tea before cracking on with some work. I was meant to be meeting a friend, and her friend who owned a hotel in the town centre of Dalyan, so that I could check it out for when I needed to move out of my parents’ place. We moved the meeting to next week as I was ok for now but it was likely that I would need somewhere for a few days in September. I had a couple of plums and a quick break, for my lunch I had some chicken casserole and a nectarine. After work, I popped to the Yaman Büfe Off-licence where I got some bargain bottles of wine for the BBQ. I paid 279 lira for the white Angora, which I know Jamie likes, I also bought an İdol rosé for 215 lira and a Rituel red for only 172 lira. It worked out at £15.51 for the 3 bottles in total and I was pleased with that. We had a really good night and I enjoyed the burgers, meat and salad plus a drop of wine with Nanny Kay. Jamie and Drew are so hospitable and we always have a laugh with Nanny Kay. I was meant to be being good but the cheese cake was hard to resist and I had to have a slice. The nephews were very well behaved too so the BBQ night was very lovely and I was happy to be invited.
There was lots of packing activity in the morning of Sunday 11th August and it wasn’t just me! Clare was off to meet her friend in London so was planning to get the mid-morning train. She had very kindly offered to take some of my clothes to alleviate me of the extra 2kg I had in my suitcase. Clare has always been one of those friends that is super reliable and solutions driven when it comes to any issues and she had me sorted right out these last few days. She took the warmer clothes and some PJs so I had some clothes in Rhodes and it was even more of an incentive to join her there on holiday next month. In the end, she took 2.5kg and I was so grateful for the help. Claire and Mark were also packing as they were expecting all 4 kids back this afternoon and were off on a holiday tomorrow morning. What should have been a busy family day, didn’t prevent my hosts being so hospitable and Mark made us a full English breakfast with the right amount of builder’s tea. After the gorgeous breakfast, Claire and I walked Clare to Otford train station and said our goodbyes, I was desperately hoping that I would make it to Rhodes to see her again. Back home, Bee was the first of the children to arrive back at the house and it was great to see that she had really enjoyed her holiday to Turkey. I hadn’t seen her since she was about 2 years old so she didn’t recognise me. I did some work as I would be travelling later and may not be able to work tomorrow. For lunch we had a bit of a picnic with hummus, carrots, corn, pitta and even a sausage and some chicken. This was my last meal with Claire as we were leaving for the airport in a few hours. The rest of the family returned and went straight to their rooms to chill out, pack and repack for their holiday. I briefly met them to say ‘hi’ and give Bee some ‘borrowed’ face decorations from The Bull to play with Ivy. I weighed my suitcase and found that it was bang on the 20kg allowance, thanks to Clare and that I had managed to snaffle the Mini Cheddars and a bar of Dairy Milk. At 4.30pm I said my goodbyes after an amazing week in Otford and Claire drove me to Gatwick airport. I was surprised to see that they charge to drop off there and for a few minutes it was £6. We hugged and I started to get emotional, made worse by the fact we didn’t know when we would see each other again. Before I could cry too much Claire said to get in the airport as if we cried much longer (over 10 minutes) the drop off fee went up to £26 and we didn’t love each other that much! I walked in to the airport, pushing the cumbersome trolley, laughing and crying at the same time. I was early for my flight but I was glad as the airport was absolutely rammed, mostly with families some of who were quite challenging. Once I’d dropped the suitcase off I went through security and didn’t even have to take out my laptop which was handy. I headed to the Whetherspoon’s pub and ordered using the QR reader app. I spent £20.95 on a mushroom pizza and a glass of rose wine, which wasn’t too bad for an airport. Through to the gate we were delayed and it was very busy but I got in quickly. Interestingly, there were 2 queues and the one for the people with special assistance or lanyards was very long. I was the only one in my queue and went straight through where I found a seat and got a water to use up some of my English change. It cost £2.80 from the machine and was nice and cold. The queue to get on the plane seemed to take far too long to go down and lots of people were sweating a lot as it was almost 30 degrees at 9pm. We boarded late and I fell asleep on take-off. I was so grateful to have had the past 5 weeks in England with so many friends and family, I almost didn’t want to leave but I had a birthday party in Dalyan to get to!
Saturday 10th August was my last official full day and night in England and the girls had plans to really make sure I enjoyed it to the fullest. I had once again declined the kind offer of an outdoor fitness session in favour of getting a bit of work done before the fun began. My legs still ached from the last one and the top up of impromptu dance moves last night. One of our other friends, Liz, was driving to Otford today to meet up and was already on her way by the time I met Claire and Clare for breakfast. Sally’s Café Emporium in Otford is absolutely amazing and, before I’d even tasted the food, it was going on to my list of favourites. The amount of cakes they had was immense and we were going to have breakfast there first, then take cakes away. I ordered pancakes with fruit and honey, Clare had eggs benedict and Claire had the fantastic combination of porridge, fruit and a hash brown. The tea, of which they had lots of different ones, came in china teapots and cups with saucers and our breakfast was a veritable treat. We paid for breakfast, which was reasonably priced and then got in the queue for the cakes. Claire, Clare and I chose fruit scones with butter, jam and clotted cream to take away, we got one for Liz and a brownie for Mark. The 5 cakes only cost about £20 and were massive. Back at the house, I was still fuming about the Nationwide bank issue and Clare, who uses the same bank, transferred £50 in and I gave it her in cash. That way, if I couldn’t get it sorted before the next £13 charge, and because I wouldn’t be in the country from Monday, it wouldn’t incur more charges. My mom would bring my card out before the end of September and I could use the online banking to close the account. Clare and I also decided that I was going to send another strongly worded complaint to them in an effort to close the account and be done with it.
Liz arrived in the afternoon and made it into the town centre car park so that she could charge her electric car. Claire went to collect her and there were tears when we hugged each other. It had been such a long time since we last saw each other and I was really looking forward to spending time with Liz. Claire had prepared the spare room for her to stay over, I’d put the duvet and pillow cases on, and Mark had the heavy job of sorting the sofa bed out. Unfortunately, though, Liz was unable to stay and would have to drive home after dinner. I was sad that she couldn’t stay longer but at least we had the day together – it was a travesty that she would miss the Kake & Karaoke night which Claire had booked us in to tonight. Meanwhile, our other friend, Kelly, was on her sick bed and couldn’t make the weekend either and was feeling rather sorry for herself to be missing out. Lunchtime was great and we had a chicken caesar salad with edamame beans in and then it was time for tea and the scones. It was the first time in my 5 weeks of being in England that I had eaten them and it was well worth the wait – there was even a proper tea pot and tea cosy. In the afternoon, we had a wander to Otford town to pick up Liz’s car and called in to the antique shop for a quick look around. A drink was had in The Bull where last night’s dance floor had turned back into a dining room for pub food customers and we sat outside in the sun. It was a glorious day, ideal for getting me ready for the Turkish temperatures I would soon be enduring. Mark and Claire put on another BBQ and I’m sure they were getting even tastier each time. I ate sausage, chicken, pork, sweetcorn, feta salad and baby new potatoes. The pink fizz was flowing for the girls who didn’t have to drive and Mark joined us with beer. Poor Reg, the dog, had a long lesson in patience as he tried his best to get in on the meat action. It was sad saying bye to Liz, although there was a chance I would see her, Clare, Kelly and Louisa in Rhodes next month, if all went well with my residency renewal. I checked in online for my flight from Gatwick, leaving the next day at just before 9pm and would arrive at Dalaman at 3am. The rest of the evening was spent playing cards, something I rarely do as I’m not good at concentrating on the game. Mark taught us a game I had never played before, called Cheat, and I loved it. It was really funny playing with friends we know so well and a man I had only known for a few days with a lengthy career in the police force. Of course, it was absolutely hilarious and we sacked off going to the Karaoke night in favour of playing Cards Against Humanity – one of my favourite card games.
When Claire, Clare and I started the day on Friday 9th August, none of us had any idea that we would be part of an event that might go down in the history of Otford. I started the day with a short spell of work and a warmed up leftover chicken tikka masala, rice and garlic naan, washed down with a cup of tea for my breakfast. The girls were good and had protein shakes after they came back from the fitness class in the park, the one I was still aching from! While Claire had meetings and work to get through, Clare and I took ourselves off on a little adventure. We walked to the train station and got a ticket to Sevenoaks. I even managed to operate a ticket machine and pay on card the £6.40 for 2 of us, before the train arrived so my skills were improving in the somewhat cashless UK. The walk up the hill in to the town was a killer on my legs and even Clare welcomed the stop off in Marks & Spencer’s. We had a good old look around and Clare found something to buy while I resisted. It had been so many years since I’d shopped willy-nilly that I now had the default setting of not getting anything. When we got to the town we located the Nationwide and I stood in the lengthy queue to close my account, for the upteenth time. I didn’t mind that the queue was made up of the old and disabled and was extremely slow moving as I felt like today would be my lucky day. I’d even had a message from my Mom to say my new bank card had arrived back in Sheffield and the old PIN was still active. When I finally got to the front, the lady explained that she wouldn’t be able to close the account as it was £3.54 overdrawn so I needed to pay that in to close it. I tried to remain calm but in the end I gave her a £20 note and told her to put £5 in and then close it, the balance could be transferred in to my other account. She paid £5 in and then said the system wouldn’t allow her to close it, and maybe there were more charges to come, which she might not be able to see. I asked her to check and she said the account looked fine, with a £13 fee due at the end of August so she didn’t know why it wouldn’t close. I left very annoyed, Clare took me for a cup of tea in a nearby café and listened to me rant on about what a ‘useless set of twats’ the Nationwide were being. Her Dad in Canada had experienced a similar predicament with the same bank but he had got his account closed and all the fees and charges refunded. We decided we needed wine to sort out a plan! After a little detour for me to pick up a small gift for Claire for hosting me (and her forthcoming birthday) we found wine in a very nice pub. The man serving behind the bar at The Restoration welcomed cash which was great, including 50 pound notes. He even told me of an incident last week of one of their other pubs having to close when they had a system failure and couldn’t take card. Clare and I discovered they had a rather nice Pinot Grigio which we had with soda and I splashed out on some pork scratchings and spent about £20 in total and we’re there a while. I only had 3 days left in England so I was sure that I was going to miss pork products like the scratchings, until I broke my tooth on one. Claire joined us after a trip to the opticians and getting her new glasses which looked great. We drove back to Otford via the Sainsbury’s where I treated myself to new PJs for £7.50. Mark was in charge of the BBQ once again that evening and we had a fab feast of meat, salad and rice before getting our gladrags on for an evening with a bit of a difference.
One of the local pubs, The Bull, in Otford was hosting a Gay Pride night on Friday 9th August and Claire, Clare & I were off to support it. Each of us had a bright outfit on and I was grateful to have brought my £6 multi-coloured long sleeved shorts suit with back fastening. On arrival at The Bull, we were greeted by friendly staff and decided to try their Rum Punch special cocktails. They were strong but good and we bumped in to a guy who looked like he’d just clocked off work and was having a pint of Carlsberg. The guy was from Leeds so he and I instantly had that Yorkshire bond and became buddies straight away. The girls and I discovered sticky jewels for faces and that a bottle of decent wine was on offer at £18 so more than one of those was enjoyed. The do was quite quiet, as I’m not sure Otford was yet the hub of the gay scene, or even had many open supporters, so we gave it a go at keeping it lively. I suspected an old couple who’d come out for their dinner, had to rush their pud to make sure they were out of the way of any of this sort of shenanigans in their local on a Friday night! By 9.20am, I was dancing like a bad Rick Coffey (Google him, he’s one of my idols) on a carpeted corner of a dancefloor, giving it everything I had, including a solo chair dance performance to Lady Marmalade! We had such a great night and my aching leg muscles from the fitness class had only just started to loosen up. I met Guy, a gay from Otford, who personally thanked me for supporting Gay Pride at The Bull and emotionally shared that he had never imagined such a thing would ever be happening in this fairly traditional village of Otford. I assured him that he really wasn’t going to be the only gay in the village now and then broke in to a dance with Mr Leeds. My choice of outfit had proved itself troublesome with the double button fastening at the back when I had to take the whole thing down for toilet visits. I did manage to keep my sleeves dry and I knew my Mom would be proud I’d not peed on them. It was after midnight when we got home and Claire, Clare and I were shattered after such a memorable night. I had loved it and knew I’d sleep well that night and probably ache a lot tomorrow!
Claire and I had exciting plans on Wednesday 7th August as she had to be up north for work and I had agreed to keep her company. I could hardly get out of bed and my whole body ached from yesterday’s workout. I got on Claire’s scales to find I had put on 0.7kg (1.5lb) which was not bad, considering what I had consumed. My measurements were much less favourable having put 2cm on my bust, and 1cm on both waist and hips. I now needed to lose 4.7kg (10lb) to get to target and that was going to be difficult. I had my tea and toast for breakfast and decided that it would be something to worry about next week! I had a message from our Estate Agent in Dalyan to tell me there was an incident at Captain Caveman’s apartment complex and someone had left the outside tap on. The pool had overflowed badly, the road was covered in flood water which the gardeners said wasn’t them. It turned out it was probably our pool and garden company and I, as well as our tenants, were so impressed that they had turned up and put the hose on that we were willing to overlook the tap incident, mistakes do happen. However when the agent got there to speak to the Gardening company, they said it definitely wasn’t them!! I think it was. Claire and I worked from home in the morning and then drove from Otford to Knutsford. On the way, we stopped at services to grab some lunch. Claire had another wrap and some crisps, while I went for the New York Deli Pastrami M&S sandwich deal with a brownie. We both ignored the money saving tip for the drink and just got water – but Claire was wearing white trousers. I was having trouble with the new style plastic water bottle tops which stay attached to the bottle. We arrived at Cottons Hotel & Spa in Knutsford quite late as it had been a long drive and I’d done my best to keep Claire entertained and fed with wine gums. We had to log on to do some work emails and then we popped on our swimmers and decided to make use of the spa facilities. We had a sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and some swimming which was so lovely before going back to the room for a nice glass of wine and some nibbles while lounging in our room. Claire arranged for us to meet a colleague for dinner and we ordered food in the bar which was very nice. I had (yet another) steak and ale pie which would more than likely be my last one in a while. Back in the room, we finished some wine and nibbles and put some weird jelly-like patches under our eyes. I’m not quite sure what they were for, but it’s some strange beauty phenomena which had become popular in the UK since I’d been away and we didn’t have any cucumber slices. I fell asleep while watching a very peculiar dating TV programme called Naked Attraction – it involved contestants who have trouble meeting people romantically but are not shy at exposing themselves to all and sundry on national TV.
Monday 5th August at Claire’s was really nice, I had tea and toast for breakfast and gave Reg, the dog, some attention. All the kids were away now and Mark had gone to work so Reg was finding the house rather quiet. Both Claire and I had work so she took to her desk in the office and I used the dining table. I called Herdy back about my broken Herdy bag and the nice person asked me to email photos and organised a new one to be sent to Claire’s address this week. I offered to post the old bag back but they were happy with just photos and didn’t want me faffing around. I was very impressed with their customer service so can highly recommend them if you happen to be in the Lake District any time soon. At lunchtime Claire and I broke off from work for a quick trip to Sainsbury’s. I needed an adapter plug for my Turkish laptop to charge it up and Claire had found a pack of 3 for £11.99, they didn’t do just one. For lunch Claire made us a rather lovely chicken caesar salad and we had strawberries, blueberries and raspberries afterward. I was being good until tea break when I had a cup of Yorkshire tea and 4 biscuits. I was already on over 350 syns for this week with a couple of days to go to weigh day so I was not doing too well. After work, we walked Reg and I saw how pretty the village of Otford was, then Mark and Claire cooked an absolute feast of a BBQ and we sat in the garden with a cider or 2. I had chicken legs, vegetables and rice and it was so tasty. In the evening we lounged, chatted and ate some chocolate.
Claire had very kindly booked me in for a class on Tuesday 6th August, first thing in the morning. She regularly does a class in the nearby park and had invited me along. Claire’s also training to run another marathon so, as you can imagine, the class was way beyond my (lack of) fitness capabilities. There was a beep test and floor exercises and running – quite frankly, it nearly killed me for about 45 minutes. I also ruined any good work I had done by having a sausage sandwich with my cup of tea for breakfast as soon as we got home. Even in the shower my legs were like jelly and I knew I was going to ache tomorrow. I did a couple of hours work before Captain Cavemen called, he was doing his next Oxalis briefing in a few hours. For lunch Claire and I had chicken, cheese and sweetcorn pittas followed by a chocolate rice cake and another cup of tea. More work was done before getting ready for an evening out in Bromley – it had been a while since I’d last visited. Upstairs I found a new friend in Dave, the cat, who had been napping on my bed after I had left the bedroom door open. He did not want to move so I left him there while Claire and I nipped off to the cinema. Bromley did not look like it had changed too much and we managed to get parked on a side street and find a supermarket to get our cinema snacks from. Tesco definitely had a better choice of Meal Deal items and I treated us both to ‘dinner’ for just £6.80 as Claire had paid for the tickets to see Longlegs. I opted for a Katsu chicken wrap, a Naked Blue Machine smoothie and a Wall’s pork sausage roll while Claire chose a spicy bean wrap, a protein bar and a chocolate milkshake. I’d been reading tips from a money saving expert about how never to buy water or crisps on the meal deal as you’re not getting the best value. It was an absolute bargain as the non-deal price was £13.30. We had really good seats which reclined and were super comfy. The film, starring Nicholas Cage as a nutter, was pretty scary and jumpy. I’d say worth a watch but don’t have a blueberry smoothie open at the scary bits! We didn’t have any popcorn but we did take a packet of Minstrels in from Claire’s and ate a few but were full from our lovely meal deals. I had finished the week on 450 syns and was quite glad that I would not be going near Carol’s Fat Club scales tomorrow. I was intending to face them the following week, though.
I’d taken the day off work on Sunday 4th August as I was leaving Sheffield and going to visit Claire in Sevenoaks for a week, before flying back to Turkey in 8 days’ time. Claire had already offered to take me to Gatwick airport when I left so that I could get back in time for Nanny Kay’s birthday meal on the 12th. Even though my National Express bus from Sheffield bus station was at 12.45pm, I had decided to go early because of the delays we had with Captain Caveman’s departure. At 10am I was outside the garage door with my suitcase, waiting for my parents to lock up and come with me. Dad had my rucksack, complete with teabags and wine bucket – it was finally leaving Mosborough! We arrived in to the bus station before 11am and decided to walk over to the nearby train station. None of us had eaten breakfast but when I take a bus I refrain from it so that I don’t have a bad stomach. While Ma went and got her and Pa bacon sandwiches and coffee at the Starbucks, I bought a bottle of water for £2.49 in WH Smiths – how much!? I should’ve brought tap water but I didn’t have a bottle to put it in. When the Sheffield Tap opened (at 11am) my parents were still eating their bacon sandwiches as there had been a long queue. We decided to have a pint in the pub before it was time for me to walk back to the bus station. A pint of pale ale, a stout and a cider cost me about £15 – better value than bottled water! We walked back to the National Express stop where there were 2 buses and I said my goodbyes and thanks to my parents. I got on the second bus which wouldn’t be stopping at Golders Green but going directly to Victoria, just what I wanted. I sat about 3 seats from the front next to a man who, when he was on the phone was quiet, so I liked that. The drivers were not quiet, however, and we had to listen to endless drivel about their colleagues and political opinions all the way. We stopped off at Northampton services for a toilet break and I bought some sweets and some chocolate as I was peckish. £5.50 for 2 bags was a bit of an extravagance but that included a supposed £2.48 discount and I did have to use a self-scan check-out. We arrived in to London Victoria bus station on time at 5.15pm and I had a train to Otford due at 5.42pm. I went straight for the information desk and they told me which platform. Captain Caveman had already bought me the train ticket when he bought me the bus one and I just made the train. By the time we were pulling in to Otford station I didn’t even realise mine was that stop but saw Claire waiting on the platform. It was great to see her after what we think is probably over 5 years! We got to her house and was met by Reg, the cute pup. I met 3 of the 4 kids as Bee, ironically, was in Turkey and Mark for the first time. The Prosecco was opened and an amazing roast pork Sunday dinner was dished up – my first since being in England! We had a great night, drinking fizz and later rum while catching up and I felt like we’d not really been apart. My bedroom was so lovely with a comfy bed and I slept so well that night.
My original plan was to be leaving Sheffield on Saturday 3rd August but things were a bit fluid on the arrangements for various reasons. Ma & Pa had a great idea that they wanted to celebrate me leaving Sheffield and, as they had not fancied joining us last night, suggested we go to The British Oak later and I was definitely up for that. I had a tea and buttered crumpet for breakfast then I got everything packed and weighed. Dad had to help lift my suitcase which was 22kg – 2kg over! But my hand luggage, with 500 teabags in a wine bucket inside, was surprisingly bulky but underweight. I still had a week down south but it did mean I couldn’t put any more into my luggage. My new Herdy backpack had ripped so I called the shop to let them know. Kathy, the assistant, remembered Captain Caveman and I and said to call back on Monday to get a replacement sent, which was great service – Nationwide could certainly learn a lot! I did 6 hours of work as I knew that tomorrow I would be on a bus and I had my leftover curry for lunch followed by a chocolate bar I’d never tried before – a caramel KitKat. We booked the table at the British Oak for 7pm but Dad was ready early and we decided a drink in the bar first was a good idea. I got a couple of rounds in, and was surprised that 4 pints and 2 halves of cider came to only £22. For dinner we ordered a nice bottle of red wine and starters of calamari for Mom and tomato soup for Dad and me. The soup was overly peppery but Dad was convinced it had chillies in it and that I would be ill but all was good and I quite enjoyed it. For mains I was torn between having pork or a pie, neither of which I will eat back in Turkey so I went for the steak pie. Dad went for the pork and Mom had a crispy lamb dish. All the food was excellent and probably the best I’ve had in there, ever. Dad ordered well this time and I was even envious of his big rib. The total bill came to £89.10 and included a bottle of Merlot and a large glass of Chardonnay. I tried to contribute and suggested I get the wine but my parents insisted they treat me for my final supper! It was a fabulous evening and a small miracle occurred; I got a wonderful photo of my parents where Dad wasn’t larking about and my Mom wasn’t looking away. The walk back at 9.30pm was so cold that we were all shivering and it had dropped down to 17.5 degrees! Back home, Mom and I had a Baileys and Dad had a wine nightcap. We all agreed we would get up early tomorrow as Ma & Pa had decided to come in to town with me to see me off!
I got up really early on Friday 2nd August so that I could do some work before Mom got up, as she had kindly offered to take me shopping to Aldi before I left. I’d had to amend my shopping list as I didn’t want to be struggling to carry everything. At one point there was a suggestion from me that the wine bucket in my hand luggage was perhaps over ambitious but I feared that if it didn’t go this time, it would be at the charity shop or tip very soon. We didn’t stop out long as I needed to be out in the afternoon because I was having some leaving drinks in Sheffield later. There is a new Aldi near my parents’ house so we went there and I was very impressed. Here’s what I bought, prices in pounds;
Aldi Supermarket 1 packet mix £0.36 Cream Crackers £0.49 Garam Masala powder £0.75 Sandwich bags £1.15 2 packs of vegetable stock cubes £1.30 Antihistamine tablets (2 packs) £1.58 Marmite £2.99 Yorkshire Teabags £5.49 Total spent £14.11
On the way back, I was going to pop in to say bye to my sister, brother-in-law and nieces as they were off on holiday this weekend, but Gayle was at the gym. Instead, we went back home and I had a cheese sandwich and some pickled onions for lunch. That afternoon, I caught the bus in to town and wandered via the bank to put in the £50 I had been told I needed to do to close my bank account. Unfortunately, the guy at the counter told me I was mistaken and that the charges had all been removed and left the balance with £2 something in. I made him print it out and check 3 times because I didn’t actually believe him. The print out showed it was no longer in a negative balance so I asked to close it. Unfortunately, the man at the counter couldn’t do that as Jeff does that job but only works Monday to Wednesday. I was fuming and left, knowing another charge would be on it later in the month of £13 which would make me overdrawn again! I was told to come back Monday but I knew I would be in London so made a note to find a branch down south to try again.
I’d arranged to meet friends at The Grapes where they still operate an old style boozer; the bar staff chat pleasantries, add up in their head, top your drink up and let you pay by cash – marvellous. Becca and Steve, who make my face ache from laughing so much, were already there, Steve got me a cider and we went to the beer garden at the back. Before long we weren’t absolutely howling with hysterics as I confused Steve about anything to do with my itinerary. They had just moved house so none of us were familiar with bus routes round that area and weren’t sure of the last bus back. They don’t use cash much so I gave them some and they transferred to my Wise account to make it easier. Next to arrive was Holly, who I knew from when she worked at Easy Tiger in Phong Nha, Vietnam, and had recently moved to Mosborough – what a freaky coincidence and good to see her again. Paul & Natalie arrived and they were shocked at the no card rule so I got the drinks in and they could get the next one in my second venue choice.
We met Louisa, Linda, Martin, Adam, Kerrie, Paul, Nikola and Tom at Fagan’s as I thought it would be a good place to go before our curry. It was so good to see everyone and I didn’t even realise that some of the crowd from the old Aviva times, I hadn’t met up with for almost 10 years! We even established that I’d known Natalie’s Paul the longest and I was a bit gutted that I couldn’t see even more people while I was back but it was the school holidays and people were already busy with other plans. I needed to appreciate more that it’s not all about me, sometimes!
The time went so quickly that I almost felt bad that I had booked a table for a curry at Butler’s Balti for 8pm. Everyone was invited but most people were only able to come for drinks. I didn’t know if it might be my last proper Indian meal for a while. I said my goodbyes but not without some amazing photos in front of The Snog – a Pete McKee picture with Frank & Joy and one of my favourites. It was only right that Kerrie should take the photos as she has a connection to Pete.
At Butler’s there were Louisa, Linda, Martin, Adam and later Rachel joined us, after getting the kids to bed. The meal turned out to be quite pricey but delicious and I did have a bit left over for tomorrow. We had 2 poppadoms each and a pickle tray, I had veggie samosas to start, a chicken tikka masala for main, shared some rice, a garlic naan and I had a glass of the bottle of red wine. We nearly got another bottle when it didn’t stretch to 8 glasses but I still had to get the last bus home so was happy with the one. We were quite a walk from Pond Street bus station and I was bound to need a wee. As I was due to leave, the usual shenanigans of it not being enough money to cover the bill occurred and it took a lot of faffing about. I put £32 in which should have covered the tip as well but it didn’t and Rach ended up putting £15 in for a chicken pakora starter and a pint of lager. After saying final farewells and legging it for the bus with Rach, we reached Norfolk Street out of breath and desperate for a pee. We decided we would have a swift half and a pee in the Brown Bear, while I called Mom to tell her I had missed the last bus and might only be able to get as far as Birley or Halfway and to not lock me out of the gate if they went to bed. The Brown Bear was now a Digital Detox Pub with a strongly upheld No Swearing Policy! FFS! I couldn’t believe it and I got told off for using my phone! With a water bottle full of cider we headed for a bus, dodging the Spice heads on route. I made it to the bus station unscathed as I looked like a mental person carrying a bottle of piss! I finally got home, phone on silent so had not noticed Louisa checking I was home! What a great Sheffield send off and tomorrow would sadly be time to say bye to my parents.
It was another busy day on Tuesday 30th July, I did a couple of hours work before breakfast of cereals and a cup of Yorkshire tea. I got the bus in to town to go meet another friend, Helen H. I’m not sure how long it’d been since I saw her but she hadn’t changed and still looked classy and very well. We’d chosen Lloyds, another Wetherspoons, and Helen had been lucky to find a seat in a shady spot – it was certainly too warm for a pashmina. I was desperate for a drink after walking from the bus station so went inside to grab a menu and help myself to the free iced water at the end of the bar – impressive. As it happened, it was Steak Tuesday today so I had steak with a jacket potato and Helen had a chicken salad. Even Helen was doing what Louisa had done and using the app on her phone to order food and drink. We both had a glass of wine and I was impressed that it had only cost me £11 for my meal and drink. I wasn’t expecting much from the meal but I was very impressed with how nicely cooked the steak was and how soft the inside of my potato was. We had a great catch up, reminiscing of all the ‘fun’ times when we worked together and all the laughs. After lunch, we said our farewells as I needed to sort something with my bank, which had been an ongoing saga and ultimate nightmare.
I had an old account I set up years ago that I’d been trying to close since Covid times when I found out they were charging me £13 a month for an unused account which had since got to almost £500 overdrawn. I did keep contacting them to sort it but, for various ridiculous reasons, it never got resolved and I got told it would have to be sorted out in person at the branch. I was at the branch and a lovely lady there tried to help but couldn’t so put me on the phone to the head office call centre, the same place I had spoken to many times without successful resolution. I explained everything again and there was nothing the woman could do except to refer to her manager. At last it was being escalated and I expected a call back later this afternoon. I left the bank, bumping in to my sister and April. April had just passed her driving theory test so was pleased and ready to go for her test. I had to dash as I was off to meet more friends for drinks at Kelham Island. I was going to walk it but then thought better of it and got the tram, unfortunately I shouldn’t have bothered as it wasn’t any quicker and they overcharged me. It was only £2.80 instead of £2.40 but it meant I had to have a purse full of coins because of changing a £20 note, when I’d only had £2.50 in change. I queried it but the conducted insisted he was right and I was wrong. Obviously, I found out much later on that I was right when I got charged £2.40 on the return journey. As I approached the entrance to Kelham Island Tavern, my phone rang and it was the bank. The same woman I had spoken to less than 1 hour ago had called me back, profusely apologised it had come to this and explained her manager had agreed to remove all the charges up to 21st August 2021. This came to £450 approximately so meant I would need to put in £50. I wasn’t happy at having to do that, given £50 was put in in January 2023 and got eaten by fees and charges. Nevertheless I agreed just to get the bloody account back to zero so that I could close it. She advised I had to do it well before the end of August as the next £13 charge would be due again. I was late so Linda had been waiting on her own for a while and I felt bad, Louisa was also late but arrived not long after with Charlie. I felt like one of those aunties who comments on how much kids had grown since last seeing them, but my gosh Charlie really had. He was a man now and looked like he worked out! We had a drink in the Kelham Island Tavern and celebrated him recently graduating with a first, while we waited for Kerrie to come down after work. It was good to catch up and our next stop was the Fat Cat. It was beer garden weather and we had a good laugh, before Kerrie had to leave. Our final pub was The Wellington, one of mine and Captain Caveman’s favourites. There was talk of us getting a takeaway at one point, but I was good and went home, getting in to town about 8.30pm. I should’ve got a day ticket as I’d ended up wasting £9.20 on bus and tram fares today but I’d not really known exactly how I was going to be travelling. Back home, I was delighted to find that Ma had made a sweet and sour chicken and had saved me some. It was so tasty and just what I needed.
Wednesday 31st July was meant to be a productive day because I’d promised my Mom I would stay at home today to sort out the rest of my stuff from the loft. My first job though was to get weighed and measured. To my amazement, I was the same weight as last week despite having 383 syns. I’d lost 1cm from my bust and waist and 2cm from my hips. I have no idea how. I had beans on toast and a hot chocolate for breakfast then I did 5.5 hours work with a break in the middle. I managed to find my school certificates, pension documents, as well as birth, marriage and divorce documents. The tenants in Dalyan complained about the disappearing gardener again and I asked him to cut the bush as they were getting spiked coming in the gate. I was still fed up of our bloke but was even more cheesed off when he posted photos of a fab looking complex on his business page. I took a screenshot of it and sent it to him saying ‘why can’t you make our complex as nice as this is!!?’ He didn’t reply but he did get the bougainvillea bushes tended to. I didn’t have time for lunch but did eat some crisps and a Double Decker chocolate bar while sifting through paperwork to shred. For dinner my Mom made sausages with potatoes and vegetables and I really enjoyed it. We had some wine and then played Scrabble outside.
I woke up to a message from Captain Caveman on Monday 29th July who had booked me a National Express bus. I would be leaving at the weekend and going from Sheffield to London by coach for less than £10. The train would’ve cost around £70 so I was pleased with that bargain and that I would be able to get my heavy bags to Claire’s without any hassle. I had tea and a toasted teacake for breakfast and did just an hour of work as I was off on a family walk today. Gayle and Neil had invited Ma, Pa, me and their kids on a walk in Derbyshire with lunch at The Maynard Arms. I’d not been since my old boss, Lindsey, got married there so it was definitely a while ago and they had renovated it again since. Me, Ma & Pa got in the car which Neil was driving and had Sumo in, while Gayle came in Morgan’s car with April. The route we walked was familiar to the rest of the family whereas I didn’t really recognise it. It was a nice walk which finished with a hill to reach the pub. It was a warm sunny day and none of the outdoor tables had full shade so Neil and I had to take the sunny seats – I didn’t think I’d be needing sun cream on in England. I’d forgotten to bring my phone as I’d left it on charge so Mom lent me hers to take a few photos, which was good. Dad and I ordered the steak sandwich, Mom chose duck, Neil I think had a burger, Gayle ordered a poke bowl, and the girls went mad with a greek sharing plate, extra chips and extra halloumi. We shared some bread and olives to start with. The food was very nice and I really enjoyed my steak sandwich which came with cheese and fig chutney. I also had a glass of red wine and we had a laugh at Gayle and April who were arguing, mainly because they were both hangry. It got very sunny and even Mom was in the sun by the end of the meal. When I went inside to go to the loo and get the bill, we found out that Neil had quietly already gone in and paid. What a treat and to give an idea of cost as I didn’t see the final bill here’s what I had with the prices in pounds; Steak sandwich £12.95 Skinny fries £4.50 Tap water Free 1 large red wine £8.00 Total £25.45
As April had to get to work, we all decided what a good idea it would be to go to the pub where she works. Gayle had to pick up her car from the garage too so she was going to do that and meet us at the Queen’s Head. I got my emergency midget gems out in the car on the way back and we shared them. Sumo was super tired and was trying not to fall asleep as he put his head on my lap. When we arrived at the pub, I got the first round in; Mom had a pint of John Smith’s, Dad a cider, Neil a Moretti shandy and me a Coors – it was only £17 for the 4 drinks. Morgan arrived after and April twisted he arm to have an Aperol Spritz which I bought for £8 (not bad for a cocktail). When Gayle arrived, I asked if she wanted a soft drink or an Aperol Spritz and she said yes to the cocktail and Neil had another shandy but neither drank them straight away because they realised Gayle’s car had been pranged and they had to take it back to the garage. We stayed in the beer garden for more drinks as Mom wanted to get another round in and we also got some pork scratchings and crisps between us all. It had turned out quite an expensive day for Gayle and Neil as we said bye and Neil dropped us off. We sat in the garden, Dad had to get the cushions out again, and we had some wine meaning I was on 320 syns for the week already and still had one more day to go before weigh day!
Gayle & Neil were throwing a party for April’s 18th birthday on Saturday 27th July from 2pm. My parents and I were all excited and there was talk of what we were wearing, how we were getting there and even which door we would be leaving from. I carried on trying to get as much work done as possible but I could tell Dad was excited to be going. Before we left for the walk up the hill, wearing sandals, out of the garage door, I had some beans on toast (I was too busy for breakfast) and had a quick video call with Captain Caveman who had returned from the cave yesterday. At Gayle and Neil’s we were unfashionably bang on time and the birthday girl was still getting ready. It wasn’t her actual birthday yet so we put the presents and card on a table to be opened another time and admired the lengths my sister had gone to, to trim up the house. It reminded me of when I see American’s having a party as there were nicely arranged balloons and a light up massive number 18 in the living room. The table was ladened with treats and nibbles, outside was fizz in an ice bucket and more garlands/swathes of balloons on the pergola. The kitchen was jam packed with so much food that I wondered who was coming to ‘the small party just for close family’. We all had a glass of champagne, avoiding the larger champagne flutes which Gayle went for. April came out to say hello and fixed herself an Aperol spritz while Gayle, in her lovely summery dress, wrestled with Sumo, the dog, over a cardboard box for empties. Morgan and her boyfriend, Harry, joined April and Harley and I got to meet Harry for the first time. I was already eyeing up the beautifully presented charcuterie board and macaroons while I helped myself to a top up of Prosecco. By 3.20pm I was in the kitchen videoing the extravaganza as Gayle did some last minute preparation while chatting on. There was lots of red wine I noticed too and I was intrigued as to what the shell full of blue balloons was for – maybe a party game was coming later!
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Video of all the food in the kitchen
Neil’s parents, Susan & David, and their 2 dogs arrived who I don’t think I’d seen since Gayle and Neil got married over 20 years ago. I got Sue a fizz, Dave was driving, and the adults went to sit on the decking area while I chatted about music with the kids. I noticed Gayle had accidentally on purpose got herself a bit tiddly with the extra large champagne flute of champers and she flashed her knickers. She decided that she would take her dress off as she was too cold. Just as we were getting comfy there was a bit of excitement as it was time to have a go on the piñata. Much hilarity ensued and the funniest people to have a go were my Dad and Neil. Poor Neil seemed like he might’ve been working out some stress or anger and we all couldn’t stop laughing!!!
April, before the piñata bashing started
April V Piñata
Dad V Piñata
Neil V Piñata (1)
Neil V Piñata (2)
Jill and Rita, our aunties, arrived just after we had finished the piñata. They brought their new dog, Seacole, who joined Sumo, Milly and Holly. Neil was on with the massive BBQ mission and the food was fantastic. My diet was once again on hold as I wolfed down a burger and a hot dog. I got caught out by the chillies in the rice and had to have more Prosecco to get over it. By this time Dad had switched up to a larger champagne flute and I noticed Mom had slowed down on the booze. I went on to red wine as I ploughed through the cheeses and meats. Around 7.30pm I realised we hadn’t taken any birthday photos so we did our best to get a few group and individual photos. Of course, I took so many where Dad was messing about and would not face the camera.
Gayle had done some games, with prizes, to see how well we knew April with some hilarious answers that even April didn’t know. It was funny and tricky to concentrate as Sumo had taken a romantic interest in Seacole and we had to keep them separate which was hard to do. Harley did a really good music quiz and I teamed up with Neil and Jill. We did well but didn’t win, which was a shame. It was easily gone 9pm by the time any one left and my sister dished out food to take away as they had so much left. It would have been prudent for my parents and I to have taken a doggy bag and walked home too but we’re not well known for having sensible family shindigs. Gayle had asked us before we came if we wanted to stay over and my Mom had said no. I also had to work tomorrow so would rather get a good night’s sleep and be up early at my parents’ house, where my laptop was. Some sausages were warmed up for a midnight snack and I knew Dad was drunk when he ate 2, with onions on, and didn’t mention eating late or indigestion. Mom and I also had a hot dog and I had another red wine. As Dad was getting more merry I could see that Mom was considering staying over but she didn’t want me to walk home on my own and I couldn’t because she knew the alarm system which was on and I didn’t. To me, it seemed silly for me to stay over to wake up really early tomorrow morning to go to my parents’ house to still not be able to go in because of the alarm so I insisted I would leave that night. I didn’t realise it would take so long to walk home as Dad kept trying to walk on the road and take his sandals off. Mom was in a right mood with him and it was such hard work trying to get him to walk home properly without putting himself in danger. We eventually got in and messaged Gayle to say we made it in one piece (only just, for Dad) and I was gutted we forgot our leftovers. 12 hours after the party started, I was finally in bed having had a great day and night.
Briony’s plane was delayed by at least a couple of hours on Thursday 25th July so I got on with work until I heard from her to set off to go to meet her. I’d also bought a bottle of pink prosecco and a punnet of strawberries to welcome her for just £10 from M&S. I knew she’d be jetlagged and possibly hungover or hungry. Louisa was on standby to meet as she had the day off and we were all just waiting excitedly on Briony’s arrival. I eventually went to the Mercure hotel to meet Briony and she looked so good. America had been kind to her, her hair was a different colour and looked great. She had got a taxi from the train station as her suitcase was so heavy. We drank some Prosecco and ate a few strawberries as we messaged Louisa to say to come join us. She had missed a bus so had to drive and we said we would meet her at the car park. As we shared how excited we were to be drinking tap water again, Louisa was on her way and we walked towards a strange looking multi story car park. It was very windy and really cold for both me and Briony so we messaged Louisa to say we had gone to find a warm pub. Once again, I found myself in town looking for a pub that was open in the day time on a Thursday. Briony and I could only remember the Benjamin Huntsman as we’d had many a cheap drink in there over the years so we headed there. I dont think Louisa was enamoured with the choice of bar but Briony and I were very pleasantly surprised. You can pay cash, they have wine on tap and the prices are good as it’s a Wetherspoons. This time it was Briony’s turn to go for a pie, I chose the curry deal that is on the Thursday Curry Club and I had the spinach and chickpea curry with rice, poppadoms and a naan bread, plus another wine for £11. Louisa went for a coke, some chicken nuggets and onion rings and ordered it all on an App where the order arrives, miraculously, to your table. Time went too fast as my alarm went off to tell me I needed to go get the bus. I’d arranged to meet Chris & Amanda at The Alma tonight so I needed to get back. I said my goodbyes with promises of meeting up again and hurried for the bus. I got to The Alma a bit late, Amanda and Chris were already there and had got the drinks in, including for my parents who I joined along the walk from the bus stop. They remembered what we drank which was really kind but they hadn’t brought the dogs this time. We had a great catch up and such a laugh trying to remember everyone we used to work with back in my Aviva days. It was such a good couple of hours and I was a bit tipsy by the time we left to go for fish and chips at Tony’s. We only just made it to the chip shop before it closed, too. My parents took their’s back home but I joined Chris and Amanda as I wanted to see the dogs and Amanda had some clothes for me to try on. The dogs were so fussy but soon calmed down when they saw me putting a bit of fish to one side for them to have when I had finished my dinner. The fish and chips are just so good and it’s a good job I don’t live in that area as I would be too tempted to eat them more often. Trying clothes on after fish and chips and several ciders wasn’t the best idea but I went for it. Amanda knew I’d been feeling the cold and had no clothes with me so gave me 3 pairs of jeans, a T-Shirt, a shirt and a jumper. I loved the clothes and they all fit really well so I was happy. Downstairs I caused havoc when I threw the ball for the dogs in the lounge, which isn’t allowed so it was time to leave before Bruno or Ted damaged something.
On Friday 26th July I was working very early so that I could finish at lunch time. The jeweller at Crystal Peaks had let me know that they needed to send my G-Shock watch off to be fixed and it could take up to a month to come back but would most likely be as good as new for £60. I agreed and he asked me to call in to get the necessary paperwork and receipt so that my Mom could collect it when it was fixed. While we were at Crystal Peaks, Mom picked up a couple of things and then I popped to Beres sandwich shop. I got 3 roast pork sandwiches for £3.90 each and we took them home for lunch. Dad was in a better mood on our return this time, but we hadn’t been out long. I carried on with some work emails until it was time to meet Briony. Even though she didn’t have a phone SIM while in the UK, she had decided she would chance getting on a bus to Mosborough and I would meet her at the bus stop. It was a nice day, my parents had already gone for a walk so they had declined to come and meet Briony with me. She managed the bus fine and we had a wander around Mosborough while chatting. It was just like old times even though it was now 10 years since her and husband had got married, then moved to the USA. We walked via the kid’s park then we had a drink in the British Oak where we sat outside but got moved due to a private party coming at 4pm when it was 2.30pm. The round of 2 halves came to £6.40 and it was quite pleasant sat outside chatting about anything and everything. Our next stop was at The Alma beer garden where 2 pints came to £9.60 and the weather was pretty nice. We turned the Mosborough walk in to a pub crawl and finished off at Craftworks. Here we discovered the Fuggle Bunny Jammy Dodger ruby ale which was only £2.60 for ⅔ of a pint. We had 2 of these each and then missed the bus Briony was thinking of getting. After seeing Briony on to the later bus, I walked home to find Mom had saved me some dinner, another favourite of chicken fajitas. We had also forgotten about the strawberries and cream we bought in Sainsbury’s so I had some of those saved for me too. I’d really enjoyed today but as the weekend approached, I still needed to fit in a bit more work this week to make up for doing a few hours less last week.
While Captain Caveman had gone back in to his next Son Doong cave tour on Tuesday 23rd July, I did a morning of work. I had Shreddies and a cup of tea for breakfast and cracked on until just before lunch time. My Mom had kindly offered to take me to Crystal Peaks so that we could do a bit of shopping. We called at the Charity shop for me to drop off a load of old CDs which I was getting rid of from the loft stuff. When we got there, one of the boxes was of my own photos – it was a good job it was spotted and I put them back in the boot. Our first stop was Asda supermarket where I bought the following; 2 packs of Ibuprofen 0.78 Pickled onions 1.00 Crisps 1.35 Midget Gems 1.35 Posh crisps 1.50 Dairy Milk 1.75 Birthday card 2.28 4 packet mix sauces 3.05 2 blocks of cheese 5.50 Sleeveless play suit 10.00 Total spent £28.56
I would have bought more clothes there but there were no changing rooms and I put most of the stuff I’d picked up, back on the shelves. Next, we drove to the Crystal Peaks shopping centre and had some lunch. Mom chose MacDonald’s for the quickest and I paid as a treat, seeing as my parents had been feeding me and putting me up for almost a week now. I’d also dropped the bombshell that I was planning to stay another 2 weeks too. I was surprised that it wasn’t more expensive to be honest as it was only £12.78 for a chicken sandwich meal and a Big Mac meal. I was able to order at the counter and also was successful in getting Mom’s meal without mayonnaise. My diet was already screwed and I actually enjoyed my meal which had hot chips. With full bellies, we went to look at clothes in Sainsbury’s where Mom and I picked up loads of bargains. Again, there were no longer any changing rooms so Mom and I decided to try stuff on over our clothes on the homewares aisle so that we could look in the mirrors. This was a great idea until halfway through our activity, lots of customers suddenly needed the mirrors and book sections of the store! Mom and I couldn’t stop laughing. Here’s what I bought at Sainsbury’s, prices in £;
Single cream 0.99 400g strawberries 2.00 1 vest top 3.00 Socks 3.50 1 mouse (for laptop) 5.99 Printed long sleeve play suit 6.00 Blondie T-shirt 9.80 2 bottles of Prosecco 13.50 Total spent £44.28
I was pleased with my purchases and even had some size 12 items which actually fitted. The next shops were to look for a birthday gift for my niece’s 18th birthday and I had a bit of an idea. On the way, mom and I found a 2025 diary in the market for £1 and bought one each. I took my G-Shock watch to the jewellers to see if they could fix it and the nice young man in F. Hinds said they would have a look. I bought a couple of trinkets in Card Factory for £3.49 and then found a useful gift for April. I decided an Air Tag with matching key ring so that she can connect it to her keys and track with her phone. I did keep the receipt in case it wasn’t suitable. Back home, Dad was out of sorts and moody but I’m guessing it was because we had been out having fun without him. We had invited him but he didn’t want to come and even when Mom cooked a nice dinner he was being a bit odd and wouldn’t speak to us. I did more work in the afternoon while mom chopped the vegetables. Dinner was amazing and we had pork with vegetables – I was on 558 syns for the week, though, so I was definitely going to have put on weight tomorrow.
I got weighed on my parents scales on Wednesday 24th July to find I had put on just 0.15kg (0.3lb). This was amazing, given the amount of eating and drinking of unhealthy proportions I had been doing. My measurements were not quite as lenient but still not what I was expecting or deserved; Bust and waist – no change, Hips +3cm! I sang ‘My Hips don’t Lie’ by Shakira and decided the prawn fried rice I’d forgotten about yesterday would be an ideal breakfast choice. I also calculated my spending and really needed to reign it in a bit. I’d got some foreign currency but I really wanted to save that to meet my minimum amount for residency in to my Turkish bank account. I knew August was going to be my tightest month in a while and September would be the highest for paying for stuff. I worked from 8am until 1pm as Ma & Pa had invited me out for a walk with them. Compared to when they are in Dalyan, they don’t really go out to pubs much so this was going to be a nice treat for them. They had suggested we go on a walk, as the weather was still fairly nice, to Ridgeway and have a late lunch at The Bridge Inn. The walk there was lovely and when we got to the bar I ordered a Guiness but the pump wasn’t working, so I asked for cider and that was off too. Remembering I had tried Madri lager before, I had that and we sat down to peruse the menu. I chose unwisely for my Slimming World plan, with a steak and ale pie, Mom went for steak and Dad plumped for salmon. When the food came, it was so delicious and I loved that pie! We were joking about fitting in a pudding as I was stuffed but Mom ordered me a sticky toffee pudding and Dad an apple pie. I thought she would share mine but she didn’t but I did manage to eat it all – it was amazing! The prices weren’t bad either; my pie was £12.95, Mom’s steak was £19.50 and Dad’s salmon £16.95. The puds were £5.95 and £6.50 which were the most expensive desserts on the menu but they were huge portions and really should’ve been shared. The pump was back on so Dad and I got a cider to round off a brilliant lunch which my parents very kindly treated me to. Back home, we rounded off the afternoon with wine. At dinner time, I was too full for anything proper so I opened the pickled onions I’d bought and had them with some cheese and a mini sausage roll. Tomorrow I had more excitement planned as my friend, Briony, was currently on a flight from America and we had planned to meet up in Sheffield.
On Saturday 20th July the weather was glorious which was a shame as I was catching up on work, having taken yesterday off. I’d done 2 hours work before Ma got up and I was having Shreddies and a cup of Yorkshire tea for breakfast. Ma and Pa had no set plans for the weekend but we were thinking we might see Gayle and family as Neil, her husband, was back from working in Scotland. Ma got the washing out as the sun was out and ideal for getting the bedding dry. Lunch time bacon sandwiches from Mom were much appreciated even though I was on 50% more syns than at the same time last week. I managed to get 7 hours of work under my belt before the garden furniture cushions needed putting out. Gayle was popping over for a cup of tea but I knew what that really meant. Dad had already been checking the wine stocks in each fridge. Captain Caveman was getting his flight from Heathrow at 5pm and had already checked in when Gayle arrived with cakes for the cup of tea. I don’t think she even got offered a tea as I cracked open the Prosecco, another thing on the must do list. We all sat outside, ate the cakes, drank the fizz, went on to the other wine and then started snacking on mini cheddars or Seabrook’s salt and vinegar crisps. There was discussions about an impromptu BBQ or pizza for dinner but with Gayle being coeliac Ma wasn’t sure if she had any suitable foods in. She decided we should ring Neil and the kids and see if they fancied an Indian at The Vine in Mosborough. Before Dad could enquire about whether he should open the Chardonnay, we were booked in and it was all systems go as we needed to get there. April was working and couldn’t make it, but Morgan and Neil didn’t need asking twice.
The Vine was absolutely packed full and we had been lucky to get a table for the 6 of us. The food was amazing, both Gayle and I tried something different due to us being a bit tiddly. We all had drinks, starters, mains and sides and it came to £35 per person, which was the most expensive meal I’d paid for so far but I did get a really good doggy bag to take home and I’d thoroughly enjoyed my 4th curry in the 12 days of being in England.
It was Captain Caveman’s last day off on Sunday 21st July as he landed in Saigon just before midday. He had his next Oxalis briefing tomorrow evening and I think he was happy to be going back for his final few weeks of this year’s season. The UK is 6 hours behind Vietnam so he had already landed before I woke up. There was some issue with his flight from Saigon to Dong Hoi that afternoon being cancelled, meaning he had to stay overnight in Saigon. I was a bit hungover and I just had tea and toast for breakfast. I’d been invited to a music event in Leopold Square in Sheffield but I was working today so I declined. My parents were invited but they prefer not to go in to town and didn’t accept either. For lunch I had my left over curry which was still as delicious as last night. For dinner Mom cooked pizzas and garlic bread which were very nice but I was now on 430 syns for the week already and it was still Sunday. At 7.15pm I met my friend, Kerrie, who I hadn’t seen for 2.5 years but it felt like longer. I was still hungover and she was driving so I had a nice cup of tea and then we went on to the alcohol free Erdinger beer which was only £3.50 for 500ml. We had a good catch up and a laugh while reminiscing and then it was time to say bye but with plans to meet up again. I wrote down Kerrie’s availability for the next week or so which I could refer to as she’s usually such a busy person. It wasn’t a late one as we both had work in the morning and I’d got plans to go clothes shopping in the afternoon.
joloyolo 