Like many of my fellow bloggers of late, I thought it was time for a ‘Day in the life of...’ post. So here goes!
6:05 A tiny miaow starts my Thursday, same time every day. It’s my three legged cat Ebbie who shares our bed and very politely asking to be let out. He knows I’m a light sleeper ( thank you children) and I will lift him down off the bed and let him out. He can jump down but much prefers the regal treatment. He’s been our bed companion for some time and loves to purr us to sleep at night :) I go back to sleep until the front door closing, heralds the departure of my youngest to work. My better half (mbh) at this point stirs and goes to make breakfast.
7:15 Breakfast arrives; muesli, fruit and lady Grey tea this morning. Yes I am pampered but mbh discovered many years ago that I wasn’t a morning person. Giving me breakfast in bed at least gave the day a good chance to survive. Now it has become a tradition and his one spot of catering in the day, so don’t feel too sorry for him!
8:00 After perusing my iPad , checking news and a few rounds of 'Words With Friends', I run a bath; it’s my morning for the Georgian National Trust house in town. Choosing an outfit for the day has become so much easier since my grand sort out. I even choose my vintage flowery shirt with denim leggings and short boots. Hand made socks of course to tone in!
9:00 Downstairs I check my phone for battery life. It’s a hand me down from my eldest son, so quite geriatric now. I’d downloaded a new car park app for paying for parking yesterday. Our regular car park has recently changed over to new technology. To my dismay the battery life on the phone is low so I plug it in and sort myself for departure. Normally I catch a bus but mbh is on a course at the public library about family history research, so we decide to go by car. As we leave I collect my phone only to discover a loose wire and that it has now plummeted to 10% as it wasn’t charging at all. Harrumph. Not impressed I rummage around and find some pay cards instead. Old technology but at least it doesn’t run out of battery.
9:45 We park in town and head down the hill to our various destinations. At the Georgian house I am greeted by a totally smoke filled kitchen. We have a living history kitchen with a range and all the trimmings, including a cook in Georgian costume. She is responsible for getting the range going each day. Clearly the wind is in the wrong direction today and I cough and splutter my way through to the shop where I work. Once sorted I go and see if I can help. I am chief apron dooer upper as well as lighter of candles. Today I had coal to fetch as well. All is organised and a quick coffee grabbed before the house is opened and we prepare for business. Within minutes our first customers arrive. Due to the smoke I direct them straight upstairs to give it chance to settle.
11:00. The first hour at the house is relatively quiet. A few National Trust UK members arrive as well as a few paying customers. Shortly after eleven a large group arrive from the cruise liner moored out in the bay. They seem to mostly have American accents and the cruise it seems started in Montreal and is covering the northern hemisphere in 60 days. Sounds exhausting to me ! They return to New York once they have travelled down the coast of France, Spain and Portugal. They were a lovely bunch and wanted to know something that was truly local to buy as a souvenir. Black Butter was suggested, a relish made from slowly stewed apples, spices and sugar. It is made once a year in Jersey households.
11:00 No sooner were the large group of cruise passengers despatched when another group of German speaking tourists arrived. Translated scripts were found for them and they too were ushered into our 1815 kitchen to meet the delights of Louisa the cook. No one dares ask her a question about anything later than 1815 because she tells them she wouldn’t know, so totally in role is she.
The morning flew by, chatting to visitors, answering questions and swapping stories about different properties we had visited. There was a lovely lady telling me about her father who worked on the coal barges on the canal in the midlands . You learn so much doing this job.
1:00 At one the afternoon lady arrived to replace me so I headed down to the bus station to catch the 1:15 bus. En route I paused at the Cornish pasty shop to collect two traditional pasties for lunch. The smell as I sat on the bus heading home was mouth watering. I felt quite sorry for the other passengers that they couldn’t partake too.
Once home the pasties were quickly eaten while I heard about the public library and what it had to offer. It seems that the morning went well and mbh has lots of tips to further our research.
2:00 The decision was made for an afternoon walk. The forecast for tomorrow is not good so we thought we would seize the moment. We set off by car, as we had dry cleaning to collect for youngest son and a couple of items of food to buy. Once purchased we headed for St Brelade's Bay. You can tell the season is ending when we head to such touristy beaches.
We climbed onwards past the church and headed up the steep hill behind; always an effort that one, but worth the view at the top. Peeling off onto the cliff path we climbed over the headland with views back to the bay we’d just walked. By now the sea appeared more turquoise and a watery sun was doing its best. Sadly no photos as I had left the camera at home. Just a couple on my now recharged phone.
We circuited down a stony path back to the church and returned along the waters edge. I reminded myself that I need to come back to run this beach soon.
4:00 The drive back through town was relatively car free, we clearly hit a good time. Views across St Aubin’s bay gave us a glimpse of the cruise ship majestically sitting at anchor, no doubt waiting for passengers to return. Once home I set about domestic jobs. Replacing cat litter and checking on how table cloths were faring that I had dyed earlier. Not sure about the colour, it looked a little more muddy than I had hoped. I set the machine on to another wash and got busy photographing the garden while the weather still held.
5:30. Time to start dinner. The remains of last night’s roast chicken carcass needed sorting. The plan was for chicken curry with lentils. On exploring the cupboard I realised I was out of lentils. No matter there was plenty of chicken so decided to improvise. Cut up extra carrots , celery and added sultanas and chopped apple as well. The rice was placed in the rice cooker. This device is a donation from my son's partner who is Chinese. I was slightly dubious at first but now I couldn’t live without it. Once loaded with rice and water you just shut the lid and switch on. So easy , perfect rice every time
6:30 Table is set, candles lit and time for dinner. My favourite time of the day around the kitchen table. Oh the tales my table could tell of the conversations and meals eaten here. Youngest joins us and we discuss the film 'Victoria and Abdul' that we’d seen at the cinema last night. My youngest hadn’t joined us but was amused with the anecdotes we had to relate. After the meal we shared the tidying, before heading for separate rooms.
7:30 Opening my laptop I downloaded the photos from the garden and spent a while fiddling with sizing. Using google photos I selected the ones I wanted and created several collages. This is something I’ve only just discovered, a free resource particularly now pic monkey is no longer free.
9:00 We all settle down to watch the new Simon Reeves programme about Russia. Always love watching his travel shows and this one doesn’t disappoint. His warnings about global warming, as always, are worrying.
10:00. The news is on but I spend the time reading blogs on my iPad . I prefer to just keep half an ear open , in case there is anything of import, usually not. Wizard is sharing the sofa next to me, purring happily.
I make the decision to get a cup of tea and head up to bed with my book. "The World Before Us" by Aislinn Hunter. Ebbie is already settled on the bed waiting for me.
Another busy day, how did I ever manage to work?
Barbara xxx
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