5 OS Pleasures in your Day Today part 2

sunflower76

1) A lovely day yesterday with lots of nice presents. I had three recipe books; the Curry Bible, Delias Happy Christmas and a James Martin one. All three have got some fab looking meal ideas in.
2) Ordering from Lakeland, Boots and Next sales. I've ordered most of my 2010 Christmas and birthday gifts AND the furniture for our front room that I've been hanging my nose over for ages - all at half price.
3) My uncle getting enganged yesterday to a lovely lady
4) Being invited out for tonights dinner and the following two nights. As we were out yesterday too that's no cooking for me for four days!
5)Chocolate biscuits for breakfast - naughty but yum

Kitchenbunny

Good Morning, everyone, and Merry Christmas - hope everyone had a lovely day. Back now after visiting relatives for a few days and looking forward to a nice relaxing day now. Outside, the snow turned to sheet ice a few days ago and is now semi melting. As long as we get a bit of cloud cover later to keep the heat in, it should melt. I really hate walking on the ice. Only one major disaster to report, and that was yesterday. On Wednesday I made a coconut cake for MIL and the family, and I forgot to wrap it up. I just put it in the microwave to keep it until I could get the chance to wrap it, and I forgot. DH got into a bit of a mood about it, and I did have a really big crying session while he briefly went out. Anyway, it eventually got sorted and I had to chuck the cake as it was unusable. But, my pleasures for the last few days are:

1) Being taught how to play cribbage on Christmas Eve by Mum and Dad while watching Victorian Farm Christmas - that was really nice and special and felt like we bonded a bit more.
2) How well my stuffing balls were received by the family
3) Using leftover bits from Mum and Dad's Christmas dinner and the food hamper I was given to make a yummy tomato, bacon and chorizo pasta salad for tea. There's still most of it left, which will have cheese melted on it and baked as a pasta bake for tonight. Low effort, maximum taste. Just what I like on Boxing Day
4) Getting a food hamper from my sister as a Christmas gift. I asked for something like this, but with pasta, garlic powder, passata, chorizo, risotto rice, chocolate (naturally ), dried mushrooms and tomatoes and a few other bits and pieces, and it has really made me smile. There's enough there to give me and DH quite a few really good meals, which is a great present at Christmas (particularly not having to go out in this ice!).
5) Playing Just Dance on the Wii with the family. Oh my, that game is such a laugh!
6) Now, there have been quite a few NSDs. I might make my grocery challenge budget after all
7) Christmas Eve at work playing games and getting tidied up. Apart from the really awful hill covered in ice to get up and down, Christmas Eve has been the best fun all around in years.
8) Planning New Years resolutions with the best of intentions. The feeling of turning a page and reafffirming your goals is always good.
9) I've still got all my vouchers left to go shopping with, so the first shop of the year will be free!
10) A nice relaxing lay in this morning with DH. We didn't get chance yesterday due to an airbed we didn't inflate enough and a few other reasons, but there's nothing like your own bed.

Have a nice Boxing Day everyone!

Kitchenbunny xx

poppy-glos

has to be the big bottle of booze, the one i buy for myself when i run out, suggested to family i have something i will consume rather than more 'stuff' for my already overful house. That's about £20 saved off next months food challenge!

also, enjoyed day spent with tv off and playing games, we did uno extreme, pass the bomb, and a new one i haven't played before which was gender 'challenge?', boys against girls, girls won! ya hey!

Olliebeak

Good morning and to you all. Most of our ice/snow/slush has now melted and we even had any overnight 'freezes' for the last couple of nights - phew!

Rummer - Merry Christmas to you too, hun - . What a considerate grandma you've got - and how romantic for you and your OH to 'get smoochy' in the snow.
Reverbe - Oh dear, fingers crossed that they worked out OK this time. Have to confess that I've never tried to make truffles OR fudge myself - maybe the New Year will be the time for me to become a little more experimental/adventurous with my cooking.
grandmasam - welcome back from your travels - thank you for your sentiment about us all finding 'increasing pleasures' in our lives - hear hear:T.
scotrae - what a lovely family day at your mil's and wd you on providing your Home-Made gifts/contributions. I would have asked about the l/o veggies too - lol. Congrats on having two such sweet and appreciative ds's.
nuttybabe - your dk's didn't surface till 8.00am :eek: - I've crawled into bed at 3.00 to hear mine open their bedroom doors minutes later - in that ridiculous way that kids have when trying to be quiet. Now I just get the 4.00am phone call from my DD telling me that if she isn't allowed a lie-in, then I'm not either :rotfl:!
bella - awwwwwww sorry to hear about your cold and your fall - what a way to start Christmas - extra special for you. Good to see that, in the circumstances, you had a fairly relaxing Christmas Day. Good Luck with today's family event .
nic1lou2 - Your Christmas Day sounds absolutely wonderful - what lovely dd's you have and how thoughtful of the family to prevent you from 'getting stuck in'.
sunflower - wow - you're starting early for next year - wtg on getting bargain prices in the sales too - I can quite understand the chocolate biccies for breakfast - why ever not .
Kitchenbunny - such a shame about your Coconut Cake . Well done you on your cribbage session with Mum and Dad - good to bond at anytime, but specially at Christmas .
poppy-glos - Hi poppy - well done on your family giving you something that will save you money as well as being enjoyed. True MSE/OS .

Mine for yesterday:

1. Up early on my own for a short while to make a start on Turkey etc. - letting it come up to room temp, stuffing the neck end with some delicious chestnut, apple and cranberry stuffing, cavity with quartered lemon and onions, making sure that the oven was correct temp - amazing how long all that actually took.

2. Opened my gifts from some of my tenants - really thoughtful presents
including a bottle of wine and some chocolates .

3. DD, b/f and dgk's arrived around midday for present giving and we managed to get them calmed down a little for a change - so much better behaved than last year . DD's b/f was delighted with the jeans that I got for him and amazed that I got the size correct (obviously due to her telling me ). DD delighted with her new pj's and top that I got her - bought her a coat a few weeks ago, so she wasn't expecting anything else.

4. Managed to get some beautiful photos of the grandchildren before they were all taken to their dads.

5. My Turkey Dinner was very appreciated as was the trifle that we had about an hour and a half later.

6. Got a phonecall from cousin in the US just as I was serving up the meal, so asked her if I could call her back later. Rang back around 12.30 our time and she had just got back home from having lunch with her son's g/f's family - had a lovely chat and caught up with what we'd both been doing. We've been writing and phoning each other for 50yrs this year - so it's a long-standing friendship.

7. Settled down to watch the remainder of 'Speed' and promptly fell asleep on the sofa - woke around 3.30am with a crick in the neck - that'll teach me to go to bed when I'm tired :rotfl:.

8. Expecting lots of visitors in/out today. Mum, sis, bil, niece and b/f due around 1.00pm en route to visiting bil's sister and my other sis. DS2, g/f and dgs2&3 due around 1.30pm. for buffet lunch - will be good if those two groups can meet up. DS1, g/f and her son due around 5.30pm for evening meal.

9. Just going to put two Lemon Drizzle Cakes in the oven and then getting in the shower.

Hope everybody has another great day spent with people they care about. Speak again later - love Ollie xxx

sparrer

I agree with others, the candle idea is very special. I didn't get to light mine til after church (1.30am'ish) but was a really warm feeling to just sit and look at it and reflect. Brownie points to you, Broomstick

1. It's all gone :j! That awful grey/white slippy stuff has at last disappeared from my garden - there's still some on the road outside but as the sun is shining hopefully it won't be there long
2. Had a really lovely day yesterday with DD and the family, I thought I'd be on my own but they were having none of it, bless them :A. She's a wonderful cook so although she'd made enough to feed an army there was very little left. Like Ollie we had trifle much later, when the two other courses had gone down.
3. Lots of super pressies including more £'s towards the shed fund. If this keeps up it'll be the fanciest little shed in town:rotfl:
4. Got home just after six having watched The Gruffalo...what a lovely, innocent, gentle, funny little film. Such a nice change from all the usual drama, blood and gore (though admit I did enjoy seeing Archie Mitchell getting his just desserts later )
5. Got back and put the kettle on, it promptly blew the fuse. Tried another socket, same again. Tried the toaster, no problem so it's definitely the kettle. Oh goody, I wanted a new one to match the kitchen but couldn't justify replacing something that was working perfectly well. I'm off to the sales, catch you later!

savingforoz

Hope all my OS friends on here had a lovely Christmas, ((())) hugs to you all :grouphug:

My 5 are:

1. Best Xmas day for a long time, with a delicious meal first with family, then spending the evening with friends and having a second Christmas meal. Because I am a gannet and a foodie I managed to do justice to both of them!

2. A lovely long lie in this morning - first time I've done that for ages.

3. A beautiful bright Christmas day here in Bristol, and the same today for Boxing Day.

4. Getting some lovely and unexpected pressies yesterday.

5. Seeing my brother happy with his new girlfriend. They seem pretty loved up!

Frith

5 for Christmas Day:

1) Watching the boys open their presents. The Scalextric was their favourite :-)

2) Having lunch at mum and dad's with my brother, sister and my Grandma.

3) Grandma being on top form and chatting well and being "with it" enough to phone her daughter and her siblings while she was at mum and dad's.

4) Going for a walk with brother's dog.

5) Sitting in the evening eating my own weight in chocolates and watching the television.

Today hasn't been bad either but I shall update later! Oh 6) would be the rain! Finally the roads are not a death trap of snow and ice.

L

Broomstick

Lovely, peaceful, stress-free Christmas and Boxing Days - here's five of my pleasures:

1. Happy, happy children who were very pleased with everything they were given and have been busily occupied with it all the time.

2. Phone calls with the extended family.

3. Getting good prezzies myself, everything I got was wanted, OS and will get used. The very posh furry slipper boots that my mum bought me have barely left my feet - very welcome and warm on the stone floors.

4. Catching up on Victorian Farm on iplayer and seeing the Victorian shops at Blists Hill again. ('Santa' did some bits of shopping there in the spring which was a bit of a coincidence. :rolleyes:)

5. Resting, chatting, snoozing, reading, knitting, doing sudokus and crosswords, eating treatsy food - all guilt-free.

Bunny too, Ollie and Sparrer, glad you liked the candle idea. If you are around, we (and anyone else ) could always see in the New Year by candelight if you fancy the idea - just a thought.

Have a good evening

B xxx

bellaquidsin

Even though my nose has never stopped dripping all day, the day went quite well.

1. My sometimes 'prickly' batchelor son was on form today and made us all laugh. I love it when he joins in.

2. The DGK's enjoyed the pressies we gave them.

3. I was very 'happy' cooking our salmon dinner, think I overdid it with the mulled wine.

4. Played games with the children this afternoon.

5. No-one wanted tea but somehow managed to do justice to a chicken salad.

Need to sleep it all off now.

Bella.

morag1202

Feel I just have to share my Christmas Day pleasures.........

1. Waking up naturally (and rather late!) in my own bed, with clean sheets

2. A pair of earings with huge history from my DD. These were originally given to me by my DH and were aquamarines in a chunky yellow gold setting which I seldom wore cos I'm a white gold girl (wedding ring, engagement ring, watch, etc all white metals). Anyway, a couple of years after DH died I gave them to DD for her 21st but she too is a white gold girl and never really wore them. This year, she had them rhodium plated and gave them back to me!!! Now why did I not think of that? They look sooo much better

3. 2 candlesticks from my DS bought on ebay to match the one I already have. We, like Broomstick have a candlelight tradition, but we light the candle for DH and have it on the table whilst we eat. This year was our first Christmas without my mum and another loved one so we had the 3 candles burning

4. The most amazing meal cooked from scratch by DD and Sil2b, with the clearing and washing up done by DS and Dil2b followed by a wonderful evening of laughter and silly games

5. Not having to taxi myself or anyone else all day, so enjoying a snowball whilst opening presents and wine and bailey's with the meal

I'm so proud of and gratefull for my family. Hugs to all who, for whatever reason, were not able to be with their loved ones this year.