#WBOYC
Dear friends. November is my birthday month. Quite a lot was occurring, including a nasty old virus.
Saturday Nov 1
Versace exhibition and lunch with some Kettlewell Colour Club friends. The exhibition was better than expected.
Sunday Nov 2
Wet start. Brightened up. Did forest walk. Planted front pots with tulips. Did roast chicken. Started feeling unwell - achy. Went to bed early.
Monday Nov 3
Woke up feeling poorly. After a bath and rest, felt a little better. Got up and had an easy day reading and writing a blog post.
Tuesday Nov 4
Felt a lot better. Did walk, J did part of it. Saw the longhorn cattle.
Weds Nov 5
Did walk with J, pace was quite brisk. Felt tired afterwards. Got progressively more tired. Think I may have a cold now, damn it. It was so warm today I was walking in a t-shirt!
Thurs Nov 6
Not a very good Samsung energy score, still feel a bit rundown. Decided not to walk or do any sport. Planted tulips until it started raining. Did blog maintenance and some tidying. New tote bag came from Nephele Bags, made with offcuts. Been wanting a red one for ages.
Fri Nov 7
My birthday! 65. Had some lovely presents from J including a ring, trainers and a purple handbag. Card with money from Mum. Almost afraid to open it. Hand made cards from grandchildren Rosie and Olive.
Went to Pilates. Had dinner at 45 Jermyn St (Fortnum and Mason). Dressed crab followed by sole Meniere with chips. Delicious. Dessert menu was tempting but had no room!
Then saw The Weir with Brendan Gleeson. V good. It's set in a pub on a stormy night in Ireland, with a cast of five.
Sat Nov 8
My cold is now manifesting which is a shame as we'd planned a "discharge battery" bike ride.
Sun Nov 9
Determined to do a decent walk. Weather quite good. Walked 5 miles in forest. Met children and grandchildren for lunch at local pub. Roast beef. Was very busy as it's next to the war memorial where there is always a big parade for Remembrance.
Mon Nov 10
Rainy. Went in town but discovered I had left phone behind. It meant I missed an appointment because I couldn't remember the number of the building, and although I walked up and down the very long road a few times, I couldn't recognise it. Aaargh.
Tues Nov 11
The air is stiff with disapproval because I turned down a bike ride. I'm seeing personal trainer. I was urged to cancel but I can't, I cancelled last week when I was unwell and can't let him down again.
Weds Nov 12
Very mild. Did bike ride to Lee Valley to discharge battery. Saw a field full of goats. Very low today thinking about mum.
Thurs Nov 13
Did walk. Had try on of 4 pairs of trousers. Shared it on Stories. They all got sent back.
Disaster with food shopping delivery. Used a different supplier - a well known prestigious brand. Was notified it was running late but then no updates and by now it was 2.5 hours over the slot. Rang retailer, they couldn't seem to track the driver. Had to get fish and chips. Expect the delivery to be rescheduled tomorrow.
Friday Nov 14
Refund now pending for shopping delivery and no slots available till 6pm so will have to do shopping in person. That's a throwback! Went to Epping and Tesco, it was pouring with rain.
Saturday Nov 15
Went to Good Housekeeping Live at the Business Design Centre. It was bigger and better than last year except for the speaker programme, which was more tempting during the week when I guess they have fewer visitors. Had a fun day with Annemarie, starting with my makeup being done in a session I booked with L'Oreal. Bought a couple of things from the Christmas market for gifts.
Sunday Nov 16
Did roast lamb, which took longer than expected as it hadn't been precooked sous vide, so lunch was later. Did a shortish walk as I'm still a bit under the weather. Started two re-watches, Strike and Slow Horses. Both excellent series's.
Monday Nov 17
Had to let Penny down, was going to meet her and Bill at Tate Britain but I’m not very good company. Sad as I haven't seen her for probably a year.
Tuesday Nov 18
More energy today. Had good session with trainer at gym. Now up to 82.5kgs of weight on the sled, which I push and pull, trying not to look like a dressage horse!
Went into London for Harley Street appointment. Had Profhilo in face and neck. It's lots of eye watering injections which stimulate collagen production. Saw visible results after the first session. Below: Christmas lights in Marylebone
Big Cloudflare outage means my blog's link-up didn't work for much of the day. These outages (I always think of it as an outrage) are more and more frequent.
Weds Nov 19
Cold with sleet. Wore new puffer coat for first time on walk to South Woodford (3 miles) to get a few groceries. Wrote my list for our two night stay in Plymouth. We're driving down tomorrow. On Friday we'll scatter Mum's ashes followed by dinner with my brother and his family.
Thurs Nov 20
Long drive to Plymouth. Quite a bad bruise from the Profhilo on chin. Staying at Boringdon Hall, looking very festive. Poor weather. Bit of an issue with EV charging. Somehow missed the entrance to charging at Leigh Delamere. Then, at Exeter Services, which has a lot of chargers, most of them were roped off for roadworks. Cars were driving round looking for chargers. Fortunately the workmen opened up some of them. A bit stressful as we were desperate for a charge at that point.
Dined in Brasserie, had wagyu burger with truffle chips, and a rather disappointing black forest cheesecake.
Fri Nov 21
Slept poorly, too hot. Dreading today. Had a massage in the morning. Day seemed to drag until it was time to go to the old crematorium (now closed). Stopped off at Mum's house to pick up a few mementos. The actual scattering of her ashes was easier than I expected. The lovely funeral director scattered them in the shape of a cross. She had specifically wanted to be scattered in the Garden of Remembrance, with my late brother. It's a lovely sheltered spot. We had a pleasant family dinner in the evening.
Saturday Nov 22
Pouring with rain. Left at 9.45, home by 4. Had coffee and did a quick charge at Salmon's Leap, Buckfastleigh, which has a lovely farm shop. Bought some bacon for tomorrow. Driving conditions atrocious. Did second charge and had a hot chocolate at Reading (another favourite). Home at 4pm. Watched Slow Horses, Pluribus and Furia.
Sunday Nov 23
Sunshine after the rain! Went for 5 mile walk, great to do after 3 days' inactivity. Christmas tree is up in the nearby high street, next to the new sign.
Had lunch at the King's Head, roast turkey.
Monday Nov 24
Read an interesting post by Erin at Cracker Crumb life about her 10 modern classics. Added some to my Amazon book list. Did walk. Didn't manage to do a shoot as I waited until afternoon and the light was too poor by then, so didn't have a style blog post ready for tomorrow.
Tuesday Nov 25
Sunny intervals, cold. Went to the gym. Lots of shoulder exercises. Pulled the equivalent of 14 stone (88kg) on the sled. Managed to produce a style post, published a bit later than normal with the link-up.
Weds Nov 26
Had hair coloured and cut. Asked for it to be less blonde now summer is over, but emerged with it a bit darker than I expected.
Thursday Nov 27
Washed hair as I didn't like the blow dry very much. It looks lighter than it did yesterday. Relieved. Did a blog shoot on the subject of trending colour Brown and then ironing. So dreary outside I stayed in all day.
What We've Been Watching
Down Cemetery Road (Apple) - 3 out of 5 stars
Starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, this is based on the book by Mick Herron (Slow Horses). I am not very keen TBH. It's a convoluted but unsatisfying plot; some of the characters seem cartoon-esque while others are taking it seriously, and it seems to move at a glacial pace. A bit meh, although husband likes it.
Pluribus (Apple) - 4 out of 5 stars
If you don't have Apple and want some ROI to justify it, this, plus Slow Horses, The Morning Show (first series) and Blackbird make it worthwhile.
Pluribus, or as I like to call it "Plur 1 Bus" (look at the graphic) gets right down to business within minutes. Individuals no longer exist, we are all part of a hive mindset with shared knowledge and memories. Millions died as this happened, globally. Just a handful of people are impervious to the virus, or whatever caused it. One of them is the bad tempered and cynical writer Carol (Rhea Seehorn). I was initially sceptical as to how several episodes could be squeezed out of this, once Carol met the rest of the world's unaffected, but it continues to grip us.
Furia (Prime) - 4 out of 5 stars
Not new but a good discovery. This is a classy Norwegian thriller funded by several countries. Ragna is a fiercely courageous cop who infiltrates a nationalistic subculture following a killing in Norway. Ragna's journey pulls her into a spiral of hatred while a terrorist plot targeting the heart of Europe is revealed. Fast moving and stylish.
Dark Winds (Now) - 4 out of 5 stars
Second series of the 1970s drama focused on a small tribal team policing the Navajo, sometimes working uncomfortably with the Sheriff's team. Sensitively handled with a charismatic performance from Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn. There's a fantastic episode where Leaphorn, one arm out of action, drags a younger, violent suspect across the desert on foot. Leaphorn suspects this man was involved in the murder of his son several years ago.
The Eubanks, BBC iPlayer - 4 out of 5 stars
A documentary which preceded the boxing rematch between Nigel Benn Jnr and Chris Eubank Jnr. It's painful to watch the proud Eubank Snr struggle with the knowledge that his son has to lose a dangerous amount of weight through dehydration to qualify for the match. Last time he nearly died. Another son died a few years ago. Eubank Snr has been relentless in campaigning to stop matches when a competitor is injured. He is haunted by what happened in one of his own matches. I'm always amazed that boxing still exists, and that celebrities swarm the bouts.
How was your month? What do you think of my TV opinions? Do share in the comments.
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