The word is a very exciting place

 April finally brought Spring weather, albeit with a lot of rain. But I wasn't going to complain, it was nice to have some time in the garden, and it was nice to be able to spend time outside properly for a change. Husky didn't seem to agree, and I came home from work one day to find him in my hoodie!

I think March may have been the quietest month I had ever had. I just didn't seem to do anything or really go anywhere, I'm not quite sure why! I think part of it was to do with the week of night shifts I did at the start to get everything into Spring layout. Which involved moving pretty much everything on the ambient department. Most of it went without a hitch, but it was alcohol, particularly wines that just took forever. Every bottle had to move, red and white wines swapped places, every shelf had to be cleaned, dusty bottles wiped down, and everything moved. It took me and my trusty sidekick Mel a lifetime to do it, and incredibly, we didn't break a single bottle. That was a new record! We also got these new navigation boxes to help customer find particular national wines, and we had a laugh doing it as well. So the end result was worth it.

 February was otherwise a quiet month, I came back from our holiday and went straight back to work. The month passed fast though, I'm sure that's because although it's only a couple of days shorter than January, life returns to normal again in February. Christmas and New Years is finished with, and February is just a month about getting on with things while awaiting for Spring. At least to me it is!

 February brought horrific news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and with it, a scramble to do something. While the actual invasion was a surprise to many, it was merely a continuation of what had begun in 2014, when Russia had invaded and taken over Eastern Ukraine and the Crimea. I felt a sense of frustration in that people said they weren't expecting it. I think we all knew it was going to happen at some point, but when it actually happened, the speed at which it happened was the surprise. However, Ukraine staged a ferocious defence, pushing Russia back on many fronts.

 It was our final day of holiday, I know I say this every time, but why does the time go so fast? Yes, we had only been away for a few days because of covid at the start, so comparing it to the almost two weeks we normally get, it was short. But anyway, we were determined to enjoy the last day and for once, we were doing something more recent than the Dissolution of the Monasteries!

 We had a bit of a drive from Retford, where we had stayed the night, down to Birmingham, where we had booked a couple of nights in a hotel there. James wanted to spend some time with his parents, as he hadn't been able to see them much recently, due to the pandemic. They live in Birmingham, and the second he returns to the city his Brummie accent returns. There is no longer any S sounds, everything just sounds like a Z!

 I had visited Nottingham as a child, and had been fascinated by the fact they were building a tram line there. There seems to be a growing trend across the UK of reintroducing trams, which is understandable, as they are cleaner, provide better capacity than buses and seem to run better. The trouble is it cost's money, something we are always being told is not available, despite throwing money at HS2, the Trident program and paying for MP's second homes & expenses. But I digress.

 Thankfully I was soon testing negative for covid, and after 5 days of being negative, I could finally leave my bedroom! Hurrah! It did mean however that most of the two weeks I had booked off as holiday had already gone. Isn't that just bloody typical? Anyway, we decided to make the most of what was left, and got planning that night. 

 The rest of January brought a well deserved weekend off, and I was determined to have a good one, and get rid of those pesky christmas vibes. And what better, than to have a weekend in London? I swear a weekend in London can be a tonic for all sorts of maladies. Post christmas exhaustion? Weekend in London. Bad breakup? Weekend in London. Looming despair at life? Weekend in London. Fixed.