Year: 2013

Bargains – Sainsburys Home – Aluminium 24cm Stockpot for £17 at sainsburys.co.uk & Airport Transfer Discount Code – 15% off at resorthoppa.com & North Cyprus Holidays – 1 week 5* all inclusive for £329pp at mercury-direct.co.uk & Boots Beauty – BaByliss 2447U Boutique Deep Waves Hair Styler for £29.99 at boots.com & Bhs Homeware – Circulon Contempo 5 pc Pan Set for £99.99 at bhs.co.uk & Debenhams Sale UK – Kangol Tan Body Bag for £20.80 at debenhams.com & M&S Discount Code – Extra 10% off from www.marksandspencer.com 

We had to make a decision where we spend New Years Eve. It should have been at my nieces along with my sister. There is no way I can drive all that way, in spite of pain killers etc, I still can’t use my left arm properly! So stay in the caravan it is, resting my arm, great start to 2014. In the grand scheme of things I keep telling myself this is nothing!

Mal went over to the office to pay our years fee and bought more gas to keep us going while we stay in!

 

Thought for the Day – “Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

Bargains – Bhs Sale – Connoisseur Red Wine Hamper for £48 at bhs.co.uk & Boots Offers – BaByliss Boutique Deep Waves Hair Styler for £29.99 at boots.com & M&S Home – Small ABS Wave Hard Rollercase for £17.50 at www.marksandspencer.com & Debenhams Cutlery – Judge ‘Durham’ silver 32-piece for £50 at debenhams.com& Sainsbury Home – Vax Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner for £49.99 at sainsburys.co.uk

I slept OK dosed up with pain killers but still can’t lift my left arm properly. We don’t seem to bounce back quite as well the older we get!

Strong winds again this morning.

I had to go for my routine mammogram appointment. As I expected they couldn’t do it as I couldn’t lift my left arm enough! But while I was up there (Westwood), I collected my new reading glasses. I also bought some Voltarol and more Ibuprofen.

In the evening, we arranged to meet Mal’s two sisters and Dave at the Toby Carvery which is just up the road from us. They were already there when we arrived and Dave had been told that there would be an hour and a half wait until we could eat. We know how popular this Toby is, it was packed, so we expected this and relaxed in the bar, catching up and having a few drinks.

We waited the hour and a half and were all getting hungry. Each table had been given electronic buzzers so they could buzz you when your table is ready. No buzz and finally a waiter came to our table in the bar. Great, we were all starving. We hadn’t noticed the place was emptying until the waiter said “Sorry no food, we can’t open the ovens!!!” After waiting an hour and a half and then they didn’t even offer us a complimentary drink. Great customer service Toby! We sat there stunned. In the end we decided we would have to go to Decks, a new restaurant that had opened and was only just down the road. Of course I have contacted Toby Head Office. Decks was very good, we should have gone there in the first place. Even help yourself, as much as you could eat desert which Debbie enjoyed! Mal and I opted out of that one.

Bargains – Bhs Home – Couture Cocktail Shaker & Glass Set for £10.50 at bhs.co.uk & Boots Sale – Diesel Fuel for Life He Eau de Toilette 50ml Gift Set for £25.66 at boots.com & M&S Home – Supersoft Cotton Towel for £1 at marksandspencer.com & Wilkinson Sale – Woodforde’s Real Ale Kit for £15.20 at wilko.com & Fruit Trees For Sale – Mini Orchard Collection for £19.99 at leadthegoodlife.com & Tesco Offers – Jamie Oliver Set of 4 White wine glasses for £7.50 at tesco.com

Frost was on the ground when we woke up. It was still there when we went out about 10 o’clock but by then the sun was out. We decided to go to St Margaret at Cliffe and go for the lovely circular walk and see The Pine Gardens and also Noel Cowards and Ian Flemings cottages. I drove down the steep single track road to the little car park. We were quite surprised that the ticket machine had been covered up and so we didn’t have to pay. I believe  that this is the closest point to France, which we could see across the sea. also both our phones went to French reception!!

We had only walked about 50 feet along the path to the bay when my feet went from under me and my new        camera flew in the air to crash on the concrete. I wasn’t  that interested that Mal told me I slipped on thongweed.  I really hurt my left side, arm and shoulder and cut all my hand open and seemed to have filled it with gravel! Mal was a little concerned as I sat on the floor crying in pain!

I managed to hobble to the ladies and wash some of the mud off. After I got over the shock of it all, I began to drive home but my left arm hurt so much, Mal had to change gear! A great day out, I was glad to be back at the caravan to take some strong pain killers and tweezer all the gravel out of my hand! I hurt!!

 

Bargains – Wilkinson Sale – Tefal Actifry at wilko.com for £100 & Bhs Homeware – Maxwell Williams Set of 4 Sequence Mugs at bhs.co.uk for £11.99 & M&S Discount Code – 10% off at marksandspencer.com & Tesco Sale – Mason Cash Rectangular set of 2 Roasters for £10 at tesco.com & Boots Sale – Champneys Spa Treatments Collection for £12 at boots.com & Premier Travel Inn Sale for 75,000 Rooms for £29 at premierinn.com

The heating in the caravan is calor gas and as it throws out so much moisture we decided to go to Homebase to buy a dehumidifier. Very good it is too. We did have a glance around other sales but bought very little. At least the sun was out so this was followed by a walk along Minnis Bay.

Meanwhile an earthquake in Cyprus!

In the evening we watched Saving Mr Banks. A couple of big kids at heart.

Bargains – Dunelm Sale – 20% off Furniture at dunelm-mill.com & Boots Offers – Sanctuary Luxury Travel Treats at boots.com for £6 & Wilkinson Sale – Home and Kitchen Sale Now On at wilko.com & Bhs Sale – Festive Sparkling Wine Hamper at bhs.co.uk for £40

The gales woke us up during the night again and did they blow, along with more rain! We should have been going to Torin’s but he was not well so we stayed in the warm in the morning. I bought Mal a “onesie” as one of his Christmas presents, as a bit of a joke really but he won’t take it off as it is so warm. What with that and his Christmas pudding jumper that Lou and Rhys bought him, he doesn’t seem to want to wear much else. He even went down to the office in his “onesie” with just a short coat over the top!

I hadn’t looked around the sales and so Mal said he would cook a roast and I went off to look at a couple of shops. Who should I bump into in Matalan but Teresa (from North Cyprus!!) As we both said in all the places in all the world!!! And to be in there at the same time, what a coincidence. A couple of weeks ago we saw each other at Lambousa market, today Matalan , Westwood!

Bargains – Buyagift Discount Code – 20% off at buyagift.co.uk & Amazon Sale – Nivea Men Regime Gift set at amazon.co.uk for £4.99 & Travelodge Sale – Hotel Room Sale for £25 or less at travelodge.co.uk & Brantano Sale – 30% off at brantano.co.uk

We had a lay in until 6.30! Then scrambled egg and smoked salmon for breakfast. No rain and in fact we had sun and so went to Howletts for the day. We did offer to take Josie, Ollie and Oscar with us but Lou has to go to work tomorrow and so wanted to spend the day with them. Mal and I love it there anyway. One of the keepers who obviously drew the short straw (having to work on Boxing Day) seemed to be giving all the talks and we kept bumping into him, so we found out lots more about Howletts and the animals. We really enjoyed talking to him.

We spent a long time at Arina’s cage (the Siberian Tiger Cub). Her keeper is still going in to play with her even though she is 16 months old.

We called in at Lou and Rhys’s on the way home for a cup of tea.
The Turkish lira is weakening (now 3.50 to the pound) and this is why.

Bargains – Cotton Traders Sale – up to 60% off at cottontraders.com & Monarch Airlines Sale 2014 – Cheap Flights from £29.99 & M&S Sale – Marks & Spencer up to 50% off & Whittard of Chelsea Sale with up to 50% off at whittard.co.uk & British Airways Sale – Holidays from £129pp & Boots Discount Code – 10% off at boots.com

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!

We knew with 7 children in the house Lou and Rhys would be up early and believe it or not we drove round there at 5.30am!! Of course they were all up and had started opening their presents. We opened presents and then had some breakfast. I helped Lou get the lunch cooked, well we all mucked in. Very good it was too with loads left over. We ended up having Christmas pudding and trifle much later. Had a fun afternoon playing Pictionary with 4 teams. It became very loud at times but was good fun.