#WBOYC #WhatsBeenOnYourCalendar
Dear friends. A busy month to share. October included a big birthday for Mr Mutton, a school reunion in Plymouth and seeing the group ABC with an orchestra in Bournemouth. I also started using a personal trainer again, gave blood and did a one day First Aid course.
Read on for TV recommendations.
Weds Oct 1
Good weather. Did bike ride to discharge batteries. May be last one of the year. Made a beef casserole. Started watching The Girlfriend, Prime.
Thurs Oct 2
Sunny intervals. Did a Red Cross First Aid course in Moorgate. It was very good. I feel confident now to help someone needing CPR. We also learned how to deal with many other medical emergencies.
Fri Oct 3
Rainy for first time in ages. Did some admin and a walk in forest. Took bag to charity shop. Started 20 min decluttering, as outlined in Good Housekeeping. Tackled my socks drawer. The first named storm, Amy, arrived. Windier than expected.
Sat Oct 4
Windy but dry. We did a forest walk. In the evening we had a family celebration in London for John's 70th party. Everyone arrived before us, they didn't know if it was a surprise party. Had lovely time.
Sun Oct 5
Christopher and family came round with caterpillar cake, cards and present. Watched their holiday video of France.
Did roast lamb.
Monday Oct 6
John's 70th birthday. Had a card and money from mum (who died in September) which she prepared months ago. He's done very well with cards. Beautiful day, sunny and warm.
Did short bike ride and met R and O for coffee after forest school. Went for jabs but was told when I got there that I didn't qualify. I'd booked on the NHS app. Was story in news as their error affected lots of people!
Tues Oct 7
Cloudy. Met Brenda at the V&A. Had coffee and saw the Cartier exhibition, followed by lunch. I tried to take pictures of the jewels but sparkly things in cases under lights doesn't work!
Booked personal trainer James again for sessions now that we're stopping cycling for a few months.
Weds Oct 8
Cloudy, still warm. Got a lot done in morning: a forest walk, ironing, packing up an eBay parcel. J went to see a bike at Battersea. In the afternoon did more death related admin. Forgot I have a book blog tour tomorrow. Hastily pulled the post together. J booked a self guided cycling tour in May for us in The Trossachs, Scotland.
Thurs Oct 9
Started personal training with James again at the gym. Warm, cloudy.
Friday Oct 10
Had flu jab at local surgery. I'm actually entitled to this one. Then we reverted to another A/W routine, a forest walk followed by Pilates with Hayley at the Orion Harriers. John does this with me.
Watched the first episode of Ravneet Gill's Chop House (UK Food). It's about how local restaurant Gina was conceived, designed and honed.
Saturday Oct 11
Cloudy. Walked to Sainsbury's to get a few bits. These turned out to include a David Bowie t-shirt for £8! Spent nearly 2 hours weeding the rose bed at the front of the house. The weeds just keep coming back....
Sunday Oct 12
Did forest walk, saw the coos in Yates Meadow. Did roast chicken. Hardly ever do a roast nowadays. Started watching The Last Frontier, Apple. Another 2 hours of weeding, this time giving Bob Harris and Sounds of the 70s another try. I enjoyed the music choices, it's definitely reverted to a broader range of 70s music.
Monday Oct 13
Went in town. Had a mooch round the mothership (John Lewis) to look at toasters, and sent photos to J showing the size of their apertures, as we need one that takes larger sourdough slices. Dualit had one with a long opening, perfect. It wasn't in stock so ordered one from Amazon.
Tuesday Oct 14
Cloudy, cooler. We did a short walk. Saw the coos, this time under trees near Chingford Plain. Short list announced for Book Blogger of the Year. I was nominated for the long list but didn't expect to make it any further (and didn't). Used new toaster. Very good. Started chasing laggards about their lunch pre- orders for the school reunion next week.
Weds Oct 15
Did a 3 outfit shoot as I had the muse. See the results here.
Thurs Oct 16
All the reunion pre orders are in, yay, and this was the date I set as a deadline. Did forest walk, different route. Coos still above the Plains. Spent an hour and a half tidying the garden. Saw a robin watching me. Tried to find some worms to throw to him, but garden too dry. Box of bulbs came today. Started new series of The Diplomat.
Friday Oct 17
Still cloudy. Did trainer session and Pilates, a new class by Les Mills. J went to get new bike. He was expecting to ride it home but it needs mudguards fitted so he will return tomorrow.
Sat Oct 18
J went back to the Battersea bike shop and rode the new bike home, but he wasn't very happy with it. I did 5 mile walk and called in at a new market.
Sun Oct 19
Rest day, feeling tired. Had lunch at the Royal Forest. I had cheese souffle and roast chicken. Finished Blue Lights, BBC. Really enjoyed this series.
J discovered the reason the new ebike was riding sluggishly was that it hadn't been prepared properly. His tubeless tyres are leaking and won't adhere to the right pressure.
Mon Oct 20
Did walk, 5 miles. Weather swung between rain and sunshine. Finished a blog post. Went online to order Christmas turkey but M&S already sold out at Ocado!! Managed to get Xmas Eve slot and turkey crown at WR. Phew. J contacted the bike shop to arrange for them to collect it, as it's not rideable.
Tues Oct 21
Had PT at gym. "Choose my dress" post had an excellent response on the blog and on FB and IG.
Weds Oct 22
Had lunch at local restaurant Gina. I had parmesan/truffle risotto, baked hake with oyster sauce, pecan pie with clotted cream. Pictured: John with daughter Rachel.
Thurs Oct 23
Storm Benjamin overnight caused train problems, fortunately resolved by the time I was going to Paddington. Off to Plymouth for big school reunion. M&S at Paddington station was closed for refurbishment. Wanted turkey feast sandwich!
Estate agent did valuation at Mum's house. Watched 90s film Indecent Proposal. Was huddled under mum's furry throw. Colder today. 7 degrees.
Friday Oct 24
Sunny intervals, stayed dry fortunately. Had a lovely day, met up with an old school friend over for the reunion from Canada. We did a memory lane walk. Called in at the heritage room to chat to the Plympton Civic Society and look at maps and photos. Had 3 stops for refreshments: coffee, hot chocolate and cake, tea. In the evening watched film Heretic with Hugh Grant. Interesting and watchable for Hugh's creepy character.
Sat Oct 25
Reunion day! Dry and sunny. Left mum's house at 10.15, wearing her red coat as it was colder than I expected. Met Sue ahead of the rest. She had bought us prefect badges as a joke (we were always livid not to be prefects!). Lunch went v well. Afterwards Anthony secured a lounge at Boringdon Hall and about 20 of us went there for afternoon tea. I was given some flowers and a spa voucher. Got back to Mum's just before it went dark and edited the photos I'd taken.
Sun Oct 26
Train back to London. Had a lot to do before I left Mum's, packing, disposing of my rubbish, tidying. Sun out, quite a lot colder. Pleasant train journey. Bought a birthday card at the station and dropped it off at John's brother in law. Uploaded a presentation with the reunion photos to YouTube.
Monday Oct 27
Windy but dry. Had dental check up. All good, didn't need a scale and polish. Then we did a forest walk. Wrote a blog post.
Tuesday Oct 28
Sunny intervals. Had trainer at 10. Used the sled for the first time. I was killing myself laughing. Before you say, as John did, it wasn't very heavy, let me tell you that the sled weighs 36kg without any weight added! I was pushing 46kg here. I did add another 10 to see if I could push my weight. I could, but it was a lot slower.....
Made sure I was well hydrated as I gave blood in the afternoon. First time since March. Started new series of Dark Winds (Now).
Wednesday Oct 29
Quite a lot of rain in the afternoon. No exercise today as I expected to be tired after donating blood, but I was ok. We lose between 200 - 250 mg of haemoglobin (iron) in a donation and it takes months to replenish the loss. Did a fair bit of cleaning, ironing and washing.
Booked hotel for another trip to Plymouth next month with J to scatter Mum's ashes in a small family gathering.
Thursday Oct 30
Off to Bournemouth by train to meet up with former flat mate Margery. We have a tradition of booking to see 70s or 80s acts at the International Centre, this time ABC, staying the night and having dinner at the centre's brasserie. ABC performed their hit album The Lexicon of Love with a full orchestra.
The first half featured songs we didn't know, which all sounded similar. The second half, devoted to Lexicon, was better and included anecdotes. The orchestra sounded fresh and rich. We looked up the conductor, Anne Dudley, and were astonished to see the very impressive CV of this composer and musician, who's worked with many famous acts. If she was a man, she'd be a household name.
Friday 31 October
Home by 1.20, too late for Pilates but J went in his own. Raining, which put me off doing a walk. Have not exercised as much as usual this week. Put the Halloween pumpkin outside, ready for the onslaught!
WHAT WE'VE BEEN WATCHING
It looks like a very long list but I didn't produce a round-up post in September so it's two months' worth. A few favourites are back, many in their 3rd series.
The Diplomat, series 3, Netflix (5 out of 5 stars)
This political thriller. about the American ambassador to Britain, is truly outstanding. At the end of the last series, Kate Wyler's "loose canon" husband Hal, a former ambassador, was the last person to speak to the US President before he died suddenly. Who will become vice president? Kate wants the job, will she get it? And will her attraction to the British foreign secretary ever lead anywhere?
Blue Lights, BBC iPlayer (5 out of 5 stars)
Also in its 3rd season is this outstanding drama about the police in Belfast. The first two episodes tied up loose ends around a plot from the previous series, and once that was dealt with I was relieved, as I didn't like that particular angle. The situations facing the police in Northern Ireland are both unique and terrifying but as the programme shows, they still have humility and kindness when needed.
Rebecka Martinsson, Prime, 4 out of 5 stars
We enjoy a subtitled Nordic Noir. Rebecka Martinsson is not new but we hadn't seen it before. Rebecka has been promoted to partner at her Swedish law firm, but she has to dash home because of a death and gets embroiled in trying to solve the mystery. It becomes traumatic for her and she delays her return to Stockholm, becoming a local prosecutor and working with police on solving crimes. We've just finished series 1 where Rebecka has to make the decision on returning to Stockholm and her old job and boyfriend, or staying in Kiruna with the "dog man." Based on books by Asa Larsson, the crimes are complex and unusual.
Detective Maria Kallio, Prime, 4 out of 5 stars
The Newsreader, BBC iPlayer, 4 out of 5 stars
The Morning Show, Apple, 3 stars out of 5
The Girlfriend, Prime, 3.5 stars
The Last Frontier, Apple, 3.5 stars
I loved the premise of this: a transport plane full of convicts mysteriously crashes in remote Alaska. The criminals are on the loose. Local police and the CIA clash over the cause of the crash. The first episode was exciting and promised more thrills to come, but to me it deteriorated and the turgid plot has somehow been stretched over 10 episodes. Dominic Cooper stars as a "baddie."
Tried but Didn't Like
Celebrity Traitors, BBC, 2 stars
We've never watched The Traitors but gave the celebrity version a try. Watched a couple of episodes but found it underwhelming. Part of the problem is that the "action" is at the end of each long episode, with several days in between. I didn't find it as fresh or revolutionary as when we saw the first ever episodes of Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here (we stopped watching both a few years ago).
PODCAST PLEASURE
Whoever had the idea to give Bill Nighy a podcast is a genius. In "Ill Advised by Bill Nighy," the laid back and dapper actor offers his advice to questions supplied by listeners. I've learnt that he won't speak to men dressed in linen (I'm with you, Bill) and he also shares my view that shoes without socks are an abomination. He is also a lover of Marmite.
I hope you've found something of interest in my round-up of October. Next month I am 65, and have a few good things in the calendar including a Versace exhibition, the play The Weir, and Good Housekeeping Live.
Do share your thoughts on the TV programmes shared and any hot recommendations.
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