Locked out.
It was only just after 1pm...it was going to be at least another 4 hours before Nicola and Greg were even setting off.....and we hadn't been out and shopped for tea.
I opened the side gate and ushered the tinlids through it. At least there was a table and chairs in the back yard....and if it rained, we could put the chairs in the wash house and sit in there.
You know what it is like in those few moments after something unexpected happens....you get brain freeze.
Into the backyard we went and a thought occurred to me.
I had been doing the washing for the house, so had been in and out of the back door for most of the morning....so the back door should be unlocked. I only locked the back door when we were going out.
I tried the handle of the back door........ Hooray, it wasn't locked.
Thank goodness for that.
Now I needed to be thinking about giving the tinlids some lunch and getting something for our tea.
I checked the pantry....there was a bag of baking spuds. They weren't overly large so I put four of them in the microwave to part cook........I told the tinlids to go and wash their hands and faces(how do children get dirty faces from watching TV?).
I got the key and my mobile off the sideboard....locked the back door and we went off in search of some lunch.
I had a look in M&S.......bought some salad leaves and some tomatoes(they were both whoops....but as we were going to be eating them for tea, I thought it was a good buy) some coleslaw and potato salad........a couple of sticks of very strong mature cheddar...these were going into the baked spuds with some spring onions which were lurking and looking sad at the bottom of the salad drawer in the fridge.
So that was part of the evening meal sorted.
The tinlids wanted a sausage roll for their lunch....Miss BD also wanted a Rapspberry ripple cupcake, Spindles wanted a lemon drizzle do-nut.......I got Greg a steak bake for his tea......I figured it was something that could be re-heated quickly and with salad and a portion of herby potato wedges....it would fill a hole. There was Rhubarb Crumble and custard for afters too(no not home made - M&S).We were sorted.....Back home we went.
While we had been away, Miss BD had taken to having a cup of tea/coffee each time I had a brew.
We had a lot of milk in the fridge and I asked her if she would like a milky coffee with her lunch. Mmmm, she said.
I put one of the mugs into the microwave with some milk in and heated it up....when the pinger went I took the mug out and looked at the hot milk.......it was in curds and whey.......she looked at it and caught a whiff of the sour milk...and pronounced it 'Yak'.......and said she would have tea after all.
I had enough skimmed milk for our lunchtime brew, but would have to nip out to the convenience store to get some milk for when Ma and Pa arrived....and for breakfast in the morning.
I put the oven on and put the part cooked spuds in to cook properly. I planned to scoop out all the flesh, mash it with butter and cheese and some finely chopped (sad looking) spring onions.
We went out again to the convenience store and bought milk.
The day was still very lacklustre.......but the children still wanted to go down to the beach.
I told them that I would do the spuds and we would see.
I sent Nicola a text message telling her what was for tea and to hurry up and get down here.
Once I had done the spuds, we went out for a last spell on the beach.
It wasn't as busy....the donkeys were still hoofing up and down the sand.
I sat on the concrete slipway and watched while the tinlids searched the pools left by the receding tide.......dug holes in the wet sand, and looked for shells and coloured stones.
A crowd had gathered near the Punch and Judy stand.......all the children were sitting on the floor cross legged, looking expectantly at the box where the show would take place.
I asked the tinlids if they wanted to watch the show...they didn't. What they really wanted to do was go in the Hamster Balls on the pier.
They had been in these earlier in the week...twice.
They loved them and would have had another turn in them but I had not taken much money out with me.......but we went and watched other children having fun in them.
Soon it was time to head back for tea.
They were having Chicken amd Mushroom Risotto......Mushroom fettucine with Salad.......and Fromage Frais for afters...they had both had a big ice cream when we were out...Miss BD - Blue Bubblegum......Spindles - Raspberry ripple.
I just hoped thay hadn't spoiled their appetite for tea.
I need not have worried.
They ate everything in front of them...Miss BD even had the audacity to ask why she didn't get a cheesy baked potato with her salad.....the greedy guts.
Just after the tinlids had had their tea and I was doing the washing up, my phone rang.
Aha, I thought to myself, checking the time...this will be Ma and Pa ringing to say they had set off!
If only!
Come back and read more about 'The fly in the ointment'
It was only just after 1pm...it was going to be at least another 4 hours before Nicola and Greg were even setting off.....and we hadn't been out and shopped for tea.
I opened the side gate and ushered the tinlids through it. At least there was a table and chairs in the back yard....and if it rained, we could put the chairs in the wash house and sit in there.
You know what it is like in those few moments after something unexpected happens....you get brain freeze.
Into the backyard we went and a thought occurred to me.
I had been doing the washing for the house, so had been in and out of the back door for most of the morning....so the back door should be unlocked. I only locked the back door when we were going out.
I tried the handle of the back door........ Hooray, it wasn't locked.
Thank goodness for that.
Now I needed to be thinking about giving the tinlids some lunch and getting something for our tea.
I checked the pantry....there was a bag of baking spuds. They weren't overly large so I put four of them in the microwave to part cook........I told the tinlids to go and wash their hands and faces(how do children get dirty faces from watching TV?).
I got the key and my mobile off the sideboard....locked the back door and we went off in search of some lunch.
I had a look in M&S.......bought some salad leaves and some tomatoes(they were both whoops....but as we were going to be eating them for tea, I thought it was a good buy) some coleslaw and potato salad........a couple of sticks of very strong mature cheddar...these were going into the baked spuds with some spring onions which were lurking and looking sad at the bottom of the salad drawer in the fridge.
So that was part of the evening meal sorted.
The tinlids wanted a sausage roll for their lunch....Miss BD also wanted a Rapspberry ripple cupcake, Spindles wanted a lemon drizzle do-nut.......I got Greg a steak bake for his tea......I figured it was something that could be re-heated quickly and with salad and a portion of herby potato wedges....it would fill a hole. There was Rhubarb Crumble and custard for afters too(no not home made - M&S).We were sorted.....Back home we went.
While we had been away, Miss BD had taken to having a cup of tea/coffee each time I had a brew.
We had a lot of milk in the fridge and I asked her if she would like a milky coffee with her lunch. Mmmm, she said.
I put one of the mugs into the microwave with some milk in and heated it up....when the pinger went I took the mug out and looked at the hot milk.......it was in curds and whey.......she looked at it and caught a whiff of the sour milk...and pronounced it 'Yak'.......and said she would have tea after all.
I had enough skimmed milk for our lunchtime brew, but would have to nip out to the convenience store to get some milk for when Ma and Pa arrived....and for breakfast in the morning.
I put the oven on and put the part cooked spuds in to cook properly. I planned to scoop out all the flesh, mash it with butter and cheese and some finely chopped (sad looking) spring onions.
We went out again to the convenience store and bought milk.
The day was still very lacklustre.......but the children still wanted to go down to the beach.
I told them that I would do the spuds and we would see.
I sent Nicola a text message telling her what was for tea and to hurry up and get down here.
Once I had done the spuds, we went out for a last spell on the beach.
It wasn't as busy....the donkeys were still hoofing up and down the sand.
I sat on the concrete slipway and watched while the tinlids searched the pools left by the receding tide.......dug holes in the wet sand, and looked for shells and coloured stones.
A crowd had gathered near the Punch and Judy stand.......all the children were sitting on the floor cross legged, looking expectantly at the box where the show would take place.
I asked the tinlids if they wanted to watch the show...they didn't. What they really wanted to do was go in the Hamster Balls on the pier.
They had been in these earlier in the week...twice.
They loved them and would have had another turn in them but I had not taken much money out with me.......but we went and watched other children having fun in them.
Soon it was time to head back for tea.
They were having Chicken amd Mushroom Risotto......Mushroom fettucine with Salad.......and Fromage Frais for afters...they had both had a big ice cream when we were out...Miss BD - Blue Bubblegum......Spindles - Raspberry ripple.
I just hoped thay hadn't spoiled their appetite for tea.
I need not have worried.
They ate everything in front of them...Miss BD even had the audacity to ask why she didn't get a cheesy baked potato with her salad.....the greedy guts.
Just after the tinlids had had their tea and I was doing the washing up, my phone rang.
Aha, I thought to myself, checking the time...this will be Ma and Pa ringing to say they had set off!
If only!
Come back and read more about 'The fly in the ointment'
