Yay!! Friday!! And that’s sarcasm for you😉but the plus side, I got a coffee and a chat before work.

Three line chefs and me!! And guess who was running around like a headless chicken?? Yup me 🙄

But I got on with it, and to throw a little extra at me, I got to clean the ice cream machine!!! I clean it…. I fill it…. it doesn’t work!!! I give up!! If I’d been shown properly, then I wouldn’t have walked away in disgust!! Pot wash and salads and prep. I did so much in my allotted time, pretty pleased with my efforts.

Delivery tomorrow, hoping for a dry morning and help 😉

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A pretty miserable day. But I got to grab a quick coffee and chat with a friend, before going to work.

Rained on and off. Delivery was a soggy affair as we had quite a few boxes!!

I really shouldn’t be surprised at how little prep some people do…. I came in next expecting too much done. And so I wasn’t really surprised!!

But by the time I finished work, I’d prepped up the salad fridge. I’d prepped plenty of back up, and still managed to keep pot wash tidy and a few desserts.

And a plus, I got to walk home in the daylight 😊 the new manager decided I wasn’t needed till 5pm, so I went at 3pm.

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My day off today.

A little shopping. Lunch with the BFF 🍽 then off to the local college to get my college learning pack 😊I’m doing an online counselling course. I’ll keep you posted. There was a few courses to choose from, and if i get on ok with this one, I’ll do another.

And a few silly moments in town, which made everyone laugh. Got to do a random day once in while 😂

I love to watch this…. there are a few things I’d like to try. I’ll have to find a willing helper🤪

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Delivery day…..

And guess what …..

It was late!!! So that I meant I had to put the majority of it away on my own!! And the children were playing up again today!! So I just reminded myself that I only worked till 3 today, and just to get on with it.

It amazes me sometimes, how grown people can act like children!!!

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OMG!!!!

Talk about Drama Queens at work today. It was definitely eye rolling time today. Petty squabbles and “he said, she said” moments. I really do work in a crèche.

Had to get rid of a lot of water in the back yard. Opened the drain and pushed water in, it seemed I was out there for hours😉

Pot wash, desserts and salads today. It’s a new scheme the new boss has rolled out!!! We are suppose to work as one team!! It works with certain people, but how long that will last, that’s anyone’s guess.

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A wet and miserable Sunday.

Managed to go visit my daughters grave. Then off to the supermarket to get groceries. Housework done, I got to read and review a few books. Listening to music whilst looking out the window this afternoon.

So a pretty chilled Sunday.

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A busy day today. Had to do delivery on my own!! But got help from 11am onwards. The usual shouting at staff to “scrape and stack” I swear I’m going to get a t-shirt printed with it on😉 kept on my toes for my shift, it felt like I was feeding the five thousand!! And why do guests feel the need to fling food everywhere?!

The walk home had me listening to an audio book.

Food shopping and housework tomorrow, but for now, it’s feet up and chill.

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cheers to all my drinking partners 😉Friday brings lots of different challenges. But first I managed a coffee and a catch up with a friend.

Walk to work was a damp one, not raining but mist in the air. Kept busy with salads, pot wash and desserts. But I managed it 😉

An early start tomorrow. I have the delivery to do, now for the past few weeks I’ve been having help. That’s now stopped!! I can see me doing it all on my own in the morning (lovely, lets hope it gets there before 9) 😂

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Would you believe it, it’s been two days since my last delivery day at work (yes that’s sarcasm) and again, because no one can be bothered, we got a fall back delivery (apparently that’s a delivery we had a few weeks ago) so we got lots of stuff we didn’t need, and nothing we actually needed🙄

But me and Emma (that’s the waitress who is designated to put delivery away, I come in early to help her) got on and put it away.

Kind of a busy day today. Had me running from pot wash and salads (but not really getting very far!!)

interim manager (awaiting new one) is our “mentor” (or whatever title he wants to give himself) Is also looking at moving hours around, changing job titles and generally upsetting the apple cart. People are no long being given a free ride. (Well, if it gets the lazies moving, I’m all for it)

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Brunch with a special friend this morning. popped into the local bookstore. Nothing new to read, but I have a new book ordered for the end of this month.

Today would have been my daughter’s 27th birthday. Unfortunately she died 6 years ago. She’s left such a whole in our lives. Most days it’s not too much of a problem, she’s still the first thing I think of in the morning and my last thought at night. But her birthday is always a little hard.

Went bowling with the family tonight. We had fun and then a burger after (I swear my son has hollow legs!!)

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Grabbing a coffee before work is always a plus. With a dear friend is a bonus. Only downside, sitting outside is a little chilly.

The walk to work was a cold one, and an early one, it’s Tuesday, so it’s delivery day. Wondering where everyone was (well chef) me and Emma (waitress who comes in early on a delivery day to help) got on and started to put delivery away. Realising there isn’t a chef about, we start to prep for lunch (put the chickens into the rotisserie machine, and jacket potato’s into the oven)

Had more fun and games today. Colleagues throwing their toys out of their pram. Others acting like divas. And more rumours and gossip running around the workplace (I swear people have nothing better to do with there time)

Day off tomorrow. Laying flowers on my daughters grave, it would have been her birthday tomorrow. She would have been 27. So Bowling and a family meal to celebrate her birthday.

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Wish I’d taken a photo of the sky this morning. It really was a beautiful sky, different hues of red. The clouds breaking up the colour. By the time I’d gone to the bathroom and grabbed my phone, most of the colour had gone. Grabbed a coffee with a friend this morning, and then set off for work.

That was strange one today. I came into work as normal. But instead of the usual faces, I was greeted with different faces. We had auditors in, apparently our manager has gone!! He is facing a few charges of theft and other charges. So we have a manager to look after us until someone else is ready to take us on.

Another cold day, I’m enjoying the cold as my menopause keeps me warm. But looking forward to seeing the sun.

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Another clear but frosty day. Looking out the window, with the heating on and a coffee in your hand, it looks lovely. The reality hits you straight in the face as you leave the warmth of your home.

Started with a walk to the cemetery to visit my daughter. (We were going to take the car and then drive to the shops, but someone had parked so close to our car, that it was impossible to get out) by the time we got back the obstruction had moved.

Had breakfast at work today. As you know from yesterday we had workmen issues, so I wanted to catch up and see if things had sorted themselves out. And going’s on with the back of house staff (kitchen is where I work)

So …… my kitchen manager and griddle chef have been at loggerheads for a while now. Snipping are each other, and generally behaving like children (I’m often caught saying I work in a crèche) but lately the comments have been getting too personal. So I thought I’d pop in and see how it was (last night the kitchen manager walked out and didn’t come back!!) to say it was frosty was an understatement!! My kitchen manager was working with another member of staff that she doesn’t really get on with (oh I tell you, it all goes on at work) and the griddle chef was out on the restaurant floor (he’s trained to do both front and back of house)

I’m thinking of doing a who’s who one day, and tell everything on here 😉the things that going in there. You don’t need daytime tv.

Finished breakfast and then it’s was off to get shopping. Plenty of fresh fruit and veg this week. (Last week it was sadly lacking)

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A different day today. Started off a cold and slippy walk to work. Delivery was a fairly large one. But as usual myself and my little helper (lovely young man) put it away pretty quick.

We are having repairs on our roof at work at the moment. All was going well, until they put tar on the roof to seal it. The smell was atrocious!!! It gave us headaches and made a few people feel really sick. So we then had to clear the restaurant of guests!! But it made the tidy up go quicker.

Restaurant was reopened for dinner. I made sure pot wash and salad area was ready.

I also had a catch up with an old colleague from my old work place. Had dinner and a catch up.

Sunday is housework and shopping.

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A little celebration of sorts. The son of my friend passed an exam this week. So cheers 🥂

Weather was a little hit and miss today. But it managed to stay dry long enough for a quick coffee with a friend. Then it was off to work.

Rain kept a fair amount of people away today. But enough braved the weather. Not sure if it because I was on my own, we were were busy. But I did keep pretty active.

And I got to clean our ice cream machine today (a very mess job) but oddly satisfying. Then a few tables were cleared. So I’d done my good deed for the day😉

It’s the start of the weekend for some. But my weekend starts with a large delivery tomorrow.

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Delivery day. But first I had an appointment with the asthma nurse. This is my first time with her. So weight, height and blood pressure is taken. We run through a series of questions. Then I’m given a new prescription for a different inhaler. Need to take it for four weeks, then another visit to the nurse, we will see if this benefits me, or a different one.

So I get to work, and delivery is already there, half of the stock has been put away, so it’s really just the fresh stuff to go in my big fridge. Prepping to make sure the evening shift has plenty.

The walk home although wet, I did remain relatively dry. No splashing from cars. Which is always a bonus.

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we watched the first episode…….

The first season follows the story of Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager in New York, who upon meeting Guinevere Beck, an aspiring writer, becomes immediately infatuated with her. To feed his toxic obsession, he uses social media and other technology to track her presence and remove obstacles to their romance.

Have to admit the book was better😉so probably won’t be continuing with the series.

Then we watched …….

Stephanie Smothers is a widowed single mother who runs a vlog crafts and recipes for parents. Emily Nelson is a PR director for a fashion company. The two women become friends when their sons share a play date. Over martinis, they exchange confessions; Stephanie admits to Emily that as a teenager, she had sex with her half-brother Chris. Emily expresses her frustration at the lack of success of her husband, English professor Sean Townsend and their poor financial situation.

Emily has a work crisis and asks Stephanie to babysit her son while Sean is in London attending to his injured mother. After two days with Emily not returning her calls, Stephanie calls Emily’s employer, Dennis Nylon, and is told that Emily is in Miami. Stephanie then calls Sean, who contacts the police. Trying to solve her disappearance, Stephanie looks for answers by sneaking into Emily’s office. After looking around, Stephanie comes across a photo of Emily that was hidden on her desk. Stephanie had wanted to make missing persons flyers but could not find any pictures of Emily until finding this one; she uses it to make the posters.

Detective Summerville reports that Emily lied about flying to Miami and that she rented a car. A fan of Stephanie’s vlog reports seeing Emily in Michigan and Emily’s car is discovered near a summer camp, where police find her drowned body in the lake. Stephanie and Sean bond over their shared grief and begin a sexual relationship. Detective Summerville later reveals to Stephanie that Emily had severe liver damage, and a large amount of heroin in her system and that Sean had recently taken out a $4 million life insurance policy on Emily.

Emily, alive and in hiding, sends Stephanie an insulting message about her tryst with her half-brother, causing Stephanie to recall how her late husband, Davis, suspected her infidelity and may have intentionally caused the car crash that took both his and her half-brother’s lives.

Stephanie investigates Emily’s past, speaking to Diana Hyland, an artist who painted a portrait of Emily. Diana says the girl in the painting is Claudia, her muse and describes her as a con artist has disappeared. Stephanie asks about Michigan, and Diana provides information that leads Stephanie to a yearbook showing that Emily is actually Hope McLanden and that she has an identical twin named Faith McLanden. Stephanie meets with the twins’ mother, Margaret, who explains that when they were 16 years old, the twins set fire to a wing of the house, killing their father. Meanwhile, Emily surprises Sean at their favorite restaurant and tells him about her plan to collect the insurance money to resolve their financial issues and leave the country.

Stephanie lures Emily into meeting her through cryptic messages on her vlog hinting when she would be at Emily’s gravesite. Emily explains that she is Hope and that she and her sister started the fire to kill their abusive father. The two fled and planned to reunite later, but Faith never appeared. Emily worked hard building a career and a family when, 16 years later, Faith contacted her. Now an alcoholic and a heroin addict, Faith attempted to blackmail Emily for a million dollars, threatening to confess about the arson. After agreeing, the two went swimming in the lake and Emily drowned Faith. Emily lies, saying Faith had committed suicide and that Sean planned the insurance scam.

Emily is angered by Sean’s relationship with Stephanie, while Stephanie is angered by Sean’s eagerness to rejoin Emily. Stephanie agrees to help Emily reappear to the public and frame Sean making it look like he was abusing her. Sean is arrested and released on bail. Stephanie has a change of heart and stages a fake argument with Sean in front of Emily to incriminate her, while police-planted microphones are recording. Stephanie then fakes shooting Sean. Emily had predicted their ruse and had found and disabled the microphones. Emily confesses to the crimes, and holds the pair at gunpoint, telling them she will kill them and stage a murder-suicide. She shoots Sean in the shoulder and turns the gun on Stephanie, who reveals that she has a hidden camera live-streaming the entire event on her vlog. Emily is arrested after being struck by a car.

I liked it. The twists keep you guessing.

And today was the day my daughter died. And it’s been 6 years already!! Where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday we said goodbye. So we took flowers up to her grave.

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A wet and windy day. Really miserable weather. But that didn’t stop the delivery from getting to work. I didn’t need to be in till later, but by the time I came in, delivery was only just being delivered (high winds on the motorway) so I gave a hand.

The day was pretty quiet, not many guests wanted to brave the wind, do we got on with cleaning (we have an inspection at some point this month.)

Day off tomorrow, looking for to chilling and spending time with a good friend.

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A bit of a damp day today.

I had a doctors appointment today. It was just to verify I do have asthma, and I’ve got an appointment to see the asthma nurse to try a few new inhalers.

I also got the chance to have a quick coffee with the BFF. Then it was off to work. Weather couldn’t really make up its mind…. We had rain, then wind, then rain and wind! But the rain wasn’t really coming down, it was more of a light drizzle.

Work was steady, think it might have been the fact we were a little short staffed, but I managed to keep it all ticking over nicely.

Wish I could say the same for the walk home. It had started to rain, and what with the wind picking up, it made for a damp walk. But the annoying part, that was being repeatedly soaked by a van and several cars!!!

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Food shopping was a bit of a chore today. You go out meaning to be healthy and stuff, and there’s not much in the fresh fruit and veg aisle!!

Housework and laundry was the order of the day today. Changed bedding ran the hoover round the house. And thought about a few healthy meals for this week.

Then as a reward for all my hard work, I grabbed my new blanket, my penguin pillow and settled down to read. Catching up on the last couple of books in the Drake Sisters Series. Then on the the spin off series. You’ll be pleased to note, I took a bowl of fruit with me, instead of the usual bar of chocolate 😉

And just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who’s liked posts of pages on my blog 💋

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What a long day.

Delivery day as normal. A reasonable size, and I had help. A light drizzle had us making haste. A damp box is an awkward box.

We were short staffed so I said I’d stay for a few hours extra. The day went pretty quick, we were busy and I was kept on my toes with pot wash and salads.

Had a few guests who were a little trying, asking for bowls, and when I told them they had to wait for a waitress I got an eye roll. I had to keep the salad cart topped up, requests for bread rolls and butter was on going.

The walk home was welcoming, I’d worked up a sweat, so walking home gave me a chance to cool down.

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It’s Friday…… it’s almost the weekend….. Cheers 🥂

A stead day at work today. Had a few eye rolling moments today, guests sticking fingers into sauce and kids digging into the pasta and it going everywhere!!

Finished the book I got for Christmas, need to do a review, but I’ll have to review the books before this one.

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Yay

Delivery day ….. did you note the sarcasm?

Walking in the cold wind this morning was a little challenging, it was really strong in places.

I get to work and the delivery lorry is just pulling up. So by the time I get downstairs the delivery guy is opening the back gates and dragging the first of four pallets into the yard.

Delivery was pretty easy to put away. The fridges and freezers were relatively empty, so it was pretty quick work to put it all away. Then getting the salad cart ready for lunch time.

Had a few greedy guests who amazingly fitted a great deal to food in an ordinary sized bowl. Couldn’t believe how much they could fit into their bowl!!

Another cold and windy walk home tonight. And had to judge a few cars with speed and splashing issues (there was a large puddle and the cars seem to want to splash anyone walking past)

Definitely a coffee and a read under my new penguin blanket is in order at some point later.

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How do you organise your books?

I know it’s January, and I know it’s going to be cold for a while, but a little less of a chilly wind would be nice.

Managed to pop into my local bookstore. Always a chuckle if I can get a selfie (it can prove a challenge sometimes.)

Had a couple of hours to myself today, and managed to finish a review, read a book, and start notes for that book.

I also have a Fitbit (not that one) so still getting use to it. Trying to use the other apps on my phone (water and logging food) but mainly tracking my steps (putting my phone down doesn’t help to keep track of all those steps I do) and it’s handy when I get a text. It still makes me jump when I hit the 10,000 steps I do, and I don’t wear it to bed.

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Delivery was a small one. Usually I have help, but she has a bad back at the moment, So instead of help that I was promised as usual I had to do it on my own! Good job I work well unsupervised. And glad it did t rain until later in the day, always makes delivery tricky.

Had my first work review today. I’m an all round good egg 😉 and apparently I won’t need another review for a while.

Day off tomorrow 😀 a little shopping, catching up with my BFF and reading. What a way to spend my day off😀

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That wind was pretty chilly this morning. Gloves, hat and scarf were firmly on.

Saturday’s delivery was a small one, so by Monday, we were running a little low!! Luckily enough we weren’t too busy. But you can guarantee they wanted what I ran out of!!

I did Pot wash as well today. We had a few people off today, should be interesting with close down tonight.

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The only decoration in the house (Kim’s pink tree) is packed away and back in the attic.

The tree at the grave (is still up due to rain/is now home and drying out before being packed away and stored in the attic)

Housework today, with the help of my headphones and Ed Sheeran on my phone. Plastic containers were thrown, cleaned shelves and checked the dates on all the food in the cupboards.

Caught up with my dad and my sisters. 📱Read a little more of the book I got as a Christmas present📖 (this is a series I hope to be reading and reviewing this year on my blog) did a little more washing. And put away some of my Christmas presents.

In the U.K. the holidays are over. Back to school for most office workers on Monday. And hopefully back to some kind of routine.

Third and final episode……

Dracula is seen walking to the beach of Whitby coast and meets Dr. Zoe Van Helsing, who looks like Sister Agatha. Dr. Zoe informs he was dormant for more than a century. He is taken in by the Jonathan Harker Foundation for study. However, he gets out using the legal system. Zoe as a scientist drinks his blood as to know what it means “blood is lives” and syncs with Sister Agatha’s memory. Meanwhile, Dracula finds a bride from a pub who doesn’t care who he is or either death. Sister Agatha is very present in Zoe’s consciousness and converses with her for finding what really are Dracula’s limitations and as an animal what does it fear. They meet at his abode and discusses it. It comes to light that Dracula fears death and he is conditioned over the centuries to fear everything that represents that truth. Zoe who is dying from cancer takes her last breath at Dracula’s home. Dracula who comes to the epiphany commits suicide by drinking Zoe’s blood as it is poisonous for him.

It gave a different spin on the classic Dracula tale. A little camp in places, but I liked it.

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Watched the second episode tonight. I thought it was good. If you read reviews, there was mixed bag of good and bad.

Dracula …. Next episode …. The Dark Compass

Lucy Westenra seems to have it all. A beautiful and popular girl with no shortage of young men in her thrall. Yet Lucy seems to have an emptiness inside her, a longing for something else. Something dark and… other. One might almost say, ‘be careful what you wish for.’ For out of the shadows steps another suitor – with a familiar face! England is an unfamiliar world pulsing with fresh blood and fresh possibilities. There are strange sights and sounds everywhere, and Dracula wastes no time in laying plans to spread his foul vampire contagion in this new larder. After landfall in Whitby, where else to head but the gleaming lights of London? But why does Dracula set his sights on the seemingly ordinary Lucy Westenra? The legacy of Jonathan Harker’s stay in that far off Transylvanian castle comes back to haunt the Count as he finds himself unexpectedly checked by an alliance of formidable foes – one a steely scientist, another a callow young doctor in love with Lucy and determined to thwart the Prince of Darkness in his plans to dominate the world. As the adventure reaches its fevered climax, Dracula appears triumphant. Can anyone – living, dead or undead – stop him?

Walk to work was a dry but chilly one (we are due lots of rain next week) chatting to my friend makes the journey less tedious. I didn’t need to be in early today, so it was a nice change.

As was having no delivery to put away either. I got straight into the fridge and checked to see if I needed to prep anything before I got salad prep out for lunch.

Not an awful lot happened at work today with guests, but there is a little power struggle going on in the background. (In the kitchen part where I work) Things are beginning to happen. One to one meetings are taking place next week, hours are being relocated (chefs mainly)

Dinner, a wash load and a little tv. (As you can see above) catching up with the BFF and then bed. Not very exciting, but who needs excitement, that stuff is exhausting 😉

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Another cold walk to work this morning. Not cold enough for my big coat yet (internal heater doing its job, so I don’t need a big coat yet) but gloves, scarf and hat keep me warm enough.

As you know, it was my day off yesterday, so returning to work I did wonder how much of a delivery we got. And we didn’t have a large amount. So I couldn’t prep too much, but as I was on my own, I had pot wash to keep me occupied.

The next Dracula episode.

Blood Vessel…..

To all appearances, the decrepit Russian ship The Demeter is a perfectly ordinary vessel, but its motley collection of passengers – including a German duchess, an Indian scientist and an English lord, his beautiful bride and their resentful manservant – also boasts a strange cargo: fifty boxes of mouldering Transylvanian soil. Shrouded in a mysterious fog, the Demeter sets sail for Whitby, England, but the voyage is ill-starred from the beginning. Death stalks the ship and before long the crew of the Demeter are locked in a deadly game of cat and mouse with Count Dracula. Can any of them stop the ravenous vampire before he reaches England and sows the seeds of his unholy blood-cult in fresh ground? As the old saying goes: ’The dead travel fast’…

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Day off today. Had some chores to do in town, had time for a little window shopping. Then grabbed lunch for myself and BFF. We took down Xmas decorations and then settled down to watch a new series on the tv…..

This series follows Dracula from his origins in Eastern Europe to his battles with Van Helsing’s descendants and beyond. According to the BBC’s description “The Count Dracula legend transforms with new tales that flesh out the vampire’s gory crimes — and bring his vulnerability into the light.”

It is 1897 and St Mary’s Convent, Budapest plays host to a desiccated husk of a human being, Jonathan Harker; an English lawyer with a strange and unsettling story to tell. Listening in is the kind and inquisitive Sister Agatha, a nun with a more-than-ordinary-interest in the creatures of the night. Invited to Transylvania to meet the reclusive Count Dracula, Harker finds himself trapped in an ancient, terrifying castle, a maze of mouldering corridors and vaults: a prison without locks. It soon becomes clear that he and his client are the only things living in the echoing halls of the moulding pile: and that the Count himself isn’t living at all. In fact, Dracula is a four-hundred-year-old vampire who has grown weary of his own exhausted country and has set his sights on the new world. As the shadows lengthen and Harker’s account unfolds it becomes clear that the remorseless vampire may have unfinished business with his erstwhile guest…

So I’ve set my reading challenge. I’ll keep you posted on how I do😉

And now my daily report😉 cold walk this morning, but a bit of an eye opener…. I came across numerous items of clothing. Bra, two odd shoes, leggings and two pairs of knickers!! I kid you not!! I’m hoping they fell out of a bag on their way home. I could just imagine the chaos it would have caused if the owner of the underwear or leggings decided to take them off then and their!!!

Work was an interesting affair today. We didn’t have a lot of food stock. So this made for an awkward environment, guests were told there was a limited menu, and they weren’t really happy, but what could we do? The ordering still isn’t right, we either have too much, or not enough!!

The day seemed to drag!! I was happy to get home.

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