OS Daily Thread - Thursday 17th December 2009

RosyRed

Happy Birthday Bargain Bird :j

Lowesy-Lovely news,take care.

Slept better last night,but DH got up at 5 to let the dog out and didnt come back to bed.

He's been pricing a job up and the client wants it done for several thousand less,so he had figures going round in his head.I know we all want a bargain,but prices from suppliers can't be cut anymore so all he can reduce is his wages.Our running costs like council tax,heating,food etc dont go down ( though I do my best :rolleyes:)
It makes me mad that people expect us to lower our standard of living even more.He doesnt rip people off and is a damn good builder.The level of responsibility involved should mean he gets a fair price.He would get more working for s.o.else instead of being self employed (if there were any jobs about)This bloke has just had a villa built abroad so isn't short of a bob or 2.
*:o Sorry. Rant over *

I made the 'no knead' bread last night off another thread and it turned out well,really crusty.It just needs to stand there rising for hours and hours,then you cook it in something with a lid on until the last 15 mins.The menfolk devoured it- I usually make brown bread

I'm going to tidy the fridge & freezers,and then make the mince pies for next week and freeze them.
I got my cheese for the cheeseboard from Aldi yesterday so need to hide that away from D Sons otherwise there will be none left!

Hope everyone is well-hugs if you're not.x

Pippa.S

Morning all

Very cold here again was frosty first thing but sun is out now.
WM done its stuff and DW finished so will empty that before we go.

Off out for lunch so not much os'ing being done here today.
Dinner tonight will probably be a sandwich of some sort. Then we are off out to our friends club, they asked us if we would like to so we thought it would be nice to raise a glass or 3 for Christmas :xmassmile

Went over to see DGS last night, he is a happy little chap, gives us a big hug and kiss as soon as we get there and chatters away, can't understand a lot of it though but he makes sure we get the drift
Just found out he loves fruit, bananas and grapes are his fav's, but he happily munchies away on slices of apple and little oranges, so that's me down to Morries to stock up, better for him than sweets

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Bargainbird :bdaycake:have a good one
Diva - hope you can get the tooth sorted soon
Mark/annie - I think you are doing a great job keep up the good work :T
Smoky - :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:love the cartoons

Better go, out at 12 so need to get ready
Have good days all
Anne
x

Sunnyday

Morning peeps :wave:

snow flurries are the norm here today and its mighty cold outside BRRR!
I walked the houndies early this morning and was really glad to get back inside. I put the doggie towels on the radiators to towel the houndies off when we got back and i think that my hands appreciated it more than the houndies lol.

Little oldie is a bit off colour this morning, he didn`t sleep very well last night and was up at 5am so perhaps he will feel a bit better when he has caught up on his sleep - i know how he feels though as i`m shattered now.

I think that i shall put some walking boots in the car before i leave for work later as i`m on the late shift and usually get home around midnight, if we do have lots of snow then i shall be prepared for a long walk home. The de-icer is in my workbag ready so if the car is frozen i`m prepared for that as well.

I`ve just polished off a lovely bowl of tomato soup with warm crusty bread so i could curl up and go to sleep now but i really must run around with the duster and hoover instead.

Happy Birthday Bargainbird :bdaycake:enjoy your day!

Flutterby & N9eav - Happy holidays to both of you.


Tru - Hope that you manage to have a warm house and plenty of hot water today.

Better get my skates on.

Have a good day peeps - keep safe and warm.

SD

zippychick

Purpleivy - pics of my orange slices here and more in the making. I warn you , it is quite addictive. Everyone is taken with them apart from my Mum who just reckons i'm mad I think - but then she is hard to please :rolleyes:

Flutterby - enjoy your trip! Hope I got the name right, going from memory here:j

Bargainbird - Happy birthday!

Redruby - sending hugs for your dad


Hi to everyone else - hugs to those who need. :A

Not sure what I have to report. I have been doing the present wrapping for charity, and tonight am having Mum,brother and Mums partner for dinner as it's Partners birthday. I threw loads of ribs in the SC, and am going to glaze them again with the briwn sugar/orange juice/maple syprup combo as that was simply too tasty. Hope Mum likes them, she was a bit reluctant to say yes to eating them - she is fussy and I don't like making "new" things for her . I attempted a pavalova last night for the first time, but kind of made the recipe up. Started with Delias , then added vinegar salt and can't remember what else. Anyway, made it in the shape of a flower and a pair of boobies to eat last night as a tester. It was lovely but very flat. Delia says to leave it in the oven all night to dry out so put it in tupperware this morning.

Mum said not to bother with desert so it will be a surprise i at least attempted pavlov. Going to get some cream and fruit for it later. Might make bubble and squeak to go with the ribs - but again, if my Mum doesn't like something, she finds it hard to hide - she literally will screw her face up in disgust , so I dunno if I will bother. Plus I have never cooked it before.... and from what Jamie says it's not the most attractive looking food (which again would probably put mum off)

Going to get a Monty python book for my brother today from a lady off freecycle. My Brother offered to go get it and i rang today and asked could he if i gave him directions, bus money etc - but now he can't? He needs to get his christmas shopping finished :rolleyes: . I accidentally brought my bike to work, so now will have to chain it up in town which I don't like doing. It's too far to cycle up there for the book....

Hoping to get stuff today to make Peanut butter cookies for xmas day. I have these little cardboard fudge boxes - like a hexagon shape. I was in bed last night and thought - oh, i might try decopataging (not th e right word but I can't remember the right word :rotfl:)

So i ripped up my wrapping paper into squares , and sat and pasted on the little squares with PVA glue and a paintbrush. It has now all dried and is looking quite pretty? :money:I think I will buy a cheap plain nail varnish to coat it. So am going to do the other 3 boxes and put cookies in them for christmas day presents for Mum, Brother and partner. Brother will probably love the box idea. I can put pics up later if anyone wants? I think the boxes are cute anyway. Very therapeutic doing it. :beer:

Trying to work out my Christmas eve so it is as stress free as it can be. This saturday and sunday i dont have ANY plans but loads to do , the rest of the days right up until christmas I am completely chocka. Will be exhausted come christmas day. So I need to plan my weekend carefully. Will try and keep alcohol out of the equation else I will wates at least a day!

Really wish I could get on with the crocheting. Think i would do better with someone sitting beside me showing me! Plus i'm so tired I can't attempt it when so tired. I strated knitting just to see if i can still do that, and i can knit and pearl so that's a start. Off to look at some wool on Ebay. I think i deserve a treat.:j

This time next week it's Christmas eve! :xmastree::rudolf::xmassmile:xmassign:

mummysaver

Afternoon all!

Been MIA due to general lethargy and stuff happening in the real world! Spent a lot of time thinking and making decisions and sorting stuff out. Anyway I am now hoping to go to uni in Sept to study midwifery, a long held and very old ambition, I figure if I don't do it now I never will, and I don't want to be sitting in my rocking chair looking back with regrets!

Had some bad news, kids dad was made redundant, but is hoping he'll find a similar job fairly quickly. On the bright side, due to OS I know that we will cope even if he doesn't, which is one less worry for me and for him too.

OS stuff today will involve chivvying kids into getting on with their chores and me cooking dinner! Got girls home today, they were all sick, but are all looking much brighter now, so I'm risking taking them into town to finish off the shopping for their friends. Then I have the mum's Christmas dinner at a local hotel - a group of dd3's friends mums have done this since they were very tiny and at mums and tots and nursery together, so it'll be lovely tonight. Was wondering about lifts and stuff last night, but since I can't drink at the mo, still got tablets and can't eat propery, so one glass of wine and I'd fall over, there is no need, I can drive! Looking forward to a bit of dancing though!

Going to have a quick catch up before we head out, hope you all have a good day and hugs to anyone who needs them xx

Paws

Afternoon all MSE OS's :beer:
Dipping my toe into OS for the first time, had a huge bill of 700 which I wasn't expecting, :mad: the next month is going to be very, very hard financially so I will be scouring through the forum and picking tips up. :rolleyes:

I am already pretty frugal and cook batches to freeze etc.

Tonight's task is to go through all the cupboards and write a list of all the food we have in (it's amazing what lingers at the back of the cupboard isn't it?!!!) and do a meal plan for as long into january as possible!

Also need to get my books listed on green metropolis and amazon.

zippychick

welcome Paws and other newbies from the pastfew days.

purpleivy

zippychick wrote: »

Purpleivy - pics of my orange slices here and more in the making. I warn you , it is quite addictive. Everyone is taken with them apart from my Mum who just reckons i'm mad I think - but then she is hard to please :rolleyes:

It was your pictures that inspired me. Fortunately there were only 3 iffy oranges, so about 20+ slices. Wondering about cinnamon sticks as well, the ones I have are old, but probably still ornamental.

zippychick

Oh really? how cool! ?! i was so excited when I made them. The more i make the better they get to be honest! I even found the little glittery things of my name, so made a couple for my tree with "laura" on them . Pics when you are done please! Give the cinammon sticks a go too!

jc2703

zippychick wrote: »

Oh really? how cool! ?! i was so excited when I made them. The more i make the better they get to be honest! I even found the little glittery things of my name, so made a couple for my tree with "laura" on them . Pics when you are done please! Give the cinammon sticks a go too!

Bearing in mind that I can be pretty dense for a smart bird...whats the best/easiest way to dry the slices...I imagine sticky orange juice running down my radiators???