5 OS Pleasures in your Day Today part 2

ampersand

Morning all -
1.Just finished call to Mr T. Noticed that Mon's £15 mob.top-up[lasts me ages and I would never want contract]+associated £30 'free' credit had reduced to £26.50 after single txt confirming Spits tmrw.Pourquoi?Passed eventually to nice lady who saw i/net usage, but I have a cheapo mthly bundle. She saw this had been stopped 13/2, dkw,and is restoring+doubling, plus another 150 phone mins. Good result.

2. Call from Spits patron M hier. V. kind of him and I am going,was determined to before his call and will manage. I keep my calls to him brief, business-like, but he was concerned, caring, even if it is good business to be so. He likes, knows and is interested in 'his' people and I appreciated the call.

3. Still can't surely identify little garden bird,wren size but not wren tail, seen during brekkie hier. Nearest is warbler, maybe chiffchaff, but really not either - after much online trawling. Anyway, it came close on low table, with a ginormous long fat green caterpillar in its needle beak and really struggled to work out how to swallow it. Some bashing/mugging was done, but that didn't help. Nor did swinging it about or standing on one end and pulling the other. It flew into millenium oak alongside briefly, for inspiration, but quickly gave up as caterpillar continued to dangle. Why wouldn't it just oblige[although surely mortis by now]and make its own way down? - such seemed to be the wracking of little birdie brain. I watched all of this for over 5 minutes, at each passing one telling self to fetch camera and equally telling self such movement might send little bird away. In the end, it flew off, still with triumphant prize, over into back field and left, beyond my view.

4. Couldn't decide what felt right for brekkers this morning after usual orange and lemon-in-warm water. Hot milk and honey stirred in with NZ matai spindle did. Found Olbas lozenges and they're a soothing help.

5. Finished Clare B last night, reading Clive James' poetry since - 'Opal Sunset'. Very, very good. About to order copy of Clare B for M's b'day in France, was left nonplussed by some ridiculous low-end review comments, truly bizarre and bonkers, NOT merely opinions and tastes differing. Could only wonder if they'd actually read the book.

Need to start prepping. When will this endless grey end?
Like you, sparrer - drifty siestas into dark, but of course, nightie was well and truly on already.
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Seeing Grauniad headline about shark death at Muriwai Beach, clicked to 'other NZ news'and found this thoughtful and sound piece, entirely accurate:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2013/feb/22/paradise-new-zealand-problems

Sorry to add another, but following up on a heads-up from Martin, found this. I love these - in France, too.
http://opensquares.org/en/index.html

oldtractor

talking of courses COURSERA have lots of free online courses available.

mcculloch29

Re courses. I got semi swamped with pmms, I wish work had me on commission!
They cleared me to tutor one of the courses (I won't say which!) but I don't think they have enough work at the moment - I wonder what will happen after the latest rush.

I have been sent an application form by email which I can forward to anyone pmming me their email addy, if you are genuinely interested.

You can only do one course at a time, but they are open to organisations - that was what they were originally designed for.

The age limit is 19 and you can't be in full time education. Open Uni is fine though as it isn't FT.

CCP

Evening all.

1) My manager kindly (and most unusually) allowed me to work from home today, so I spent my afternoon sitting on the sofa with a nice warm laptop, knowing that when I looked up I would have a view of the garden rather than a car park.

2) Treated myself to a big bunch of RTC daffodils which are starting to open already.

3) Received my voucher from W8rose for doing my shopping there over the past few weeks. :money:

4) Broccoli and cheese pasta bake for dinner. :drool: Not the healthiest option when I've spent far too much of today eating as it is (I'm so glad I don't work at home regularly ), but the broccoli and cheese sauce both need using, so that's what it will have to be.

5) Working at home again tomorrow, although it won't be quite as relaxing as planned as I have to take mog to the dreaded v-e-t to get his teeth cleaned. :eek:

Have a nice evening, all.

Chickenopolis

Good evening all !

Mcculloch thank you for taking the time to pm me.

VJsmum - that put a tiger in my tank !!I did laugh - you kill me :rotfl:

5 for today

1. Reeeeaaaaallllllly long day at work - meetings plus plus plus , now stiff as a board and walking like the tin man out of The W.of Oz.Still home now

2.Tiny Terrier waiting for me at the window even though I was hours late getting home .

3. OH is cooking HM chips

4. OH put the hens in and cleaned out poo trays etc.

5. Really looking forward to an early night - might take some accrued flexi tomorrow.

Have a good evening all !

katholicos

1. Sat at kitchen table and planted 'willthiwunnerthi' flower bulbs purchased from trascho last summer when they were selling them off in boxes. They all look either shrivelled and rotty or crispy and crumbly, but at 80p for the lot, i thought i'll take a punt.

2. Sowed a tray of various brassicas into modules.

3. New to me book arrived today. Saw it mentioned on the Old Style forum last week, and was curious about it.... 'The Simple Living Guide'. Only flipped through it so far but looks like it'll be right up my street.

4. Put some washing on line outside back door. And fleetingly felt the suns warmth. It was only momentary but i thought 'oh YES! That is what it feels like. I had forgotten!'

5. Roasted butternut squash and spuds with veggie nuggets for tea.

VJsmum

Oof thank goodness - I am bankrupt in our family game of monopoly so can retire

For today

1. Sunshine
2. lazy soak in bath as OH took DD to school and I didn't have to be in work till late
3. Sausage casserole as "freezer surprise" meal of the day
4. DS got a GCSE grade C in his science work - which is great as he is only in year 9
5. Bankrupt in Monopoly!!!

Night all

Tealady_2

Evening

Frith - Well done to smaller DS just goes to show what they can achieve with the right people around them.
VJsmum - Well done to your DS fantastic achievement

Pleasures for today,
1. Packed lunches and breakfasts for everyone again today
2. low spend day, spent £1.20 on some liquorice for OH. I would normally buy this as part of my shopping but worked out 10p cheaper buying it from works healthy snack box:money:
3. New jacket that ordered for DD arrived. She has really liked it since christmas but I refused to pay £98 :eek: but managed to get it from the outlet store for £35 :money:
4. DD helped prepare dinner and cleared the draining board so I could get on with cooking HM chicken chowmein. There is enough left for my lunch tomorrow as well.
5. Checking what is in the present cupboard and with just a very low spend will have mothers day sorted for my mum and MIL.

Hugs to all who need them

mcculloch29

Chicken, have pmmed you - I can't send the form with a pmm, could you send me your email addy?

1. The warmth of sunshine on my face stepping outside the door. Bliss!
2. Riding down town on the trike in sunshine too. Gloves still needed but no hat.
3. Free books in post and my free air brush came too. Great as I won't worry about them arriving when I'm at the funeral and perhaps being left insecurely.
4. The air brush is wonderful. Used it within 5 minutes of arrival as I'd just washed my hair.
5. More freebies - free buttery spread and free loo rolls as well. Plus YS fruit and veg. What with the BOGOF too I got about £20 worth of stuff for a tenner. YS deals at that time of day aren't massive so that was good going.
6. Cooked an old favourite for tea - sounds horrible but it isn't - breast of lamb on savoury lemon cabbage.
Basically you shred cabbage, pre - cook it for 5 minutes in the micro and in the meantime chop and fry some bacon and onion (about 4 oz bacon, more if it's cheap cooking bacon and 1 large onion) Zest and juice a lemon and add this to the cabbage, along with the cooked bacon/onion and 4 oz porridge oats.
Put into a flat dish and top with breast of lamb, trimmed a bit if you can, and cut into ribs if they are visible.
Cook at 180 deg in fan oven for about an hour and a bit.
The lemon counteracts the greasiness of the meat and it all tastes really nice. It's a recipe of Shirley Goode's from her The Goode Kitchen.
I hadn't cooked it for over 20 years as it was so hard to find breast of lamb. The one I used today was a Mr T. YS bargain. One of her liver recipes will be next.

Kittikins

Mhagster your DS's broken china comment did make me chuckle

1. Briefly saw the sunshine this afternoon, still blooming cold though but at least the yellow round thing was in the sky!!

2. Nice chat with a chum at work - she's going to find out cost of renting her family's tiny holiday cottage over the summer for me and DD

3. Popped in to see a great chum for a cuppa and a catch up whilst DD was at Brownies

4. Made plans for our weekend chez brother - now to include trip to British Museum, hoorah!

5. Have made deeelish soup, spicy coconutty parsnip and spinach (both veggies needed using up so it looks odd but tastes divine!)

6. Am looking forward already to babysitting friends' 3 children next Friday when DD is out at a sleepover - yay, I get to cuddle the baby all evening (Had a quick cuddle with him tonight as well )

7. Lovely cup of tea friend has offered to have DD overnight for me so I can go out to another dinner party at the end of March, hoorah!

8. DD crept in during the night as I had told her she'd be very welcome to do so and we had lovely cuddles and silliness this morning

9. I have found some fabulous plays and events to go to, just need to work out the finances......but Michael Rosen performing some of his poems and stories at Brighton Festival is something we'd love to be at.

10. Croissant for breakfast, nomnomnom......