Further financial faux pas and even more disasterous decisions

moo2moo

Marmalade was a doddle although its more chunky than thick cut. Strawberry jam was a complete disaster and refused to set despite launching itself out of the pan and liberally splattering the hob and worktop. The obvious mistake was relying upon redcurrants to provide enough pectin. May well bung an apple in next time just to be on the safe side. Tastes fab though and make a great ice cream topping.

Finally got round to mopping the kitchen floor which looks much better and makes the whole kitchen look cleaner.

Have an E-bay auction ending tonight which is up to £45. Yesterdays clear out of the DDs rooms has unearthed more stuff to list. Am not in the mood for it today, its far too nice out. Will have an equally good excuse tomorrow and the day after and the day after that.

firesidemaid

my jam-making had been toddling along quite nicely until today, when i was trying to do too many things at once. My redcurrent jelly is like 'no more nails':rotfl:

i also made a banana loaf, which our strict liver-diet only dog managed to snaffle half off before i caught her. it's not been a good day.......

good luck with your auction - i've just listed 20 things on my personal account:)

chevalier

oh dear firesidemaid. sorry to hear things didn't work out on the culinary front today. i guess ref the dog, at least he got 1 or 2 of his 5 a day then...

makeup

Firesidemaid - on the off chance you live anywhere near SE London let me know as I've got quite a few jam jars for jams and chutneys that I don't make......and you could happily rehouse them for me!

moo2moo

Oh no Firesidemaid. Hope the dog isn't suffering too much. Te hound from hell has been much the same this week though. So far shes scoffed two sausages that were cooling on the worktop, drunk the water from the burnt on rice that was soaking in the pan and the pan of watery gravy next to it and then was caught in the sink licking the dross off the dirty plates. Wouldn't mind but she'd just finished scoffing the cats dinner and had a full bowl of her own food. She did redeem herself by waiting patiently by the gate to the road when I went out to the car and forgot to shut her in, its not so long back that she'd have legged it down the road. Obviously I then got a bit carried away and went back into the house for a second trip at which point she decided what I meant by "stay" was actually doggy code for count to ten, lull the two legged thing into a false sense of smugness and then appear miraculously in the boot of the car.

Sold the E-bay item for 32p more than it was listed for the week before with no bidders. Figured £15 would cover postage but the Royal Rip Off Merchants had other ideas. Declined to hand over £20 and went with Parcels Please who offered a next day UPS delivery for £8. Thats one more huge box out of the way.

Got a nicely apologetic e-mail from Parcels2Go over last weeks disasterous parcel complete with a £20 refund. Passed a tenner of that on to the purchaser and blew £6 refunding someone else whose parcel went AWOL in the ordinary post. Am still £4 better off than I was when I woke up yesterday.

Finally got a cheque from Music Magpie for a whopping £6.43 and a p!necone payment for £3 for completing the worlds most pointless survey ever. Still its all cash.

OH went ferreting around in the loft but decided to balance 5 stone of DD1 on his shoulders rather than move the sofa and get out the ladder. Shockingly hes hurt his back and his shoulder and his arm and still had to move the sofa and get the ladder out because she wasn't strong wnough to move the boxes. Muppet. More bits of Landrover have made it into the house but since I arrived home at precisely theright moment have also shoved the unused electric coolbox it was essential we purchased and a whole heap of other stuff up there out of the way.

Managed to get four loads of washing done and dry but changed my mind about stringin up a second line after discovering that DD1s bird box was home to a wasps nest which meant clambering about in that particular tree wasn't the greatest idea in the world. Not that it matters since it looks like being spectacualry sunny again.

Have a leaving bash at school to look forward to complete with live band and late night disco as well as a bring your own bottle kinda bar. Makes up for being tortured by the kids disco 48 hours before it.

Have been offered a whole load of high school uniform for DD1 by someone who is moving up to sixth form over the summer which means I don't need to buy technology aprons or spare ties or winter PE kits. Still going to be rather an expensive shopping trip though, but not one I need to make for at least another month. Both DDs school shoes are knackered but with less than 13 days to the end of term it seems rather pointless, especially when thier feet are guaranteed to grow over the holidays. Thats another expense to look forward to in August along with tax on both cars and insurance for my car and the house insurnace. Guess thats going to be a very expensive month. Oh joy.

moo2moo

Met the new deputy head for the first time last night. Just as the boss was saying "and this is...." DD2 flew through the main doors yelling "mummy, mummy we won the cup, we won the cup" before hurling herself at me in a flying leap and clinging on like a limpet. Introduced her too, followed by the other 30 members of the school athletics team and two very sunburnt teachers. Thankfully the laydee in question has a toddler and is used to such erratic and unpredicatble behaviour.

Arrived home slightly later than normal to find DD1 with a grey face and arm. Turns out she and OH had been spray painting again but she'd forgotten to wear safety goggles. Doubt she'll forget again after the ear bending she and OH were given. Means that two more large chunks of Landie are nearing completion.

Spent yesterday pottering about doing bits and pieces. Things seem to be getting tidier, slowly. Two days of fab weather mean the laundry mountain is humungous again and its nearly all stuff that needs ironing.

Picked another kilo of strawberries so will be transforming them into more jam later on today when OH returns to work. Looks like I'm in for at least another 5kg in the next couple of weeks. Finally lifted enough of the spuds to get the courgettes in. Bit later than I'd like but hopefully the plants are robust enough to withstand the onslaught of both slug and dog. Just need to remember to water them.

Hoping for another week of zero unplanned spends. Hoping to avoid food shopping until next Monday when I'll do a mega shop and use the final money off a £70 Mr T shop. Seems to be cutting our food spends quite considerably and other than running out of squash there haven't been any whinges. Yet.

moo2moo

Finally figured out how I'm going to cram in as many hours as possible at work whilst still spending time with OH and the DDs and having a week off in the autumn and a couple of weeks over Christmas. Its a bit random but it works. Had to fork out £66 for childcare to cover the teacher training days but thats not as bad as it could have been. Cheque duly written. Will book that when I go into work this afternoon.

Decided to wash the blankets which absorb the worst of the dog slobber and protect the sofa from both animals and children. Can't dry them though as OH has added more things to the washing line. Its a bit like a giant game of Buckaroo. At any moment theres liable to be a godawful clatter as a particularly strong gust snaps the line. Will be draping them artfully over the airers.

Lunch and the last fifty or so pages of a book beckon. Tis a hard life.

moo2moo

Have managed to throw a minor spanner in the works of the school governors carefully laid out summer plans. Whilst I'll happily agree the extra cash for cleaning at school three evenings a week is rather nice... it doesn't stop it being a royal pain in the bum if I have to head up there after a day out at 10pm with the DDs in tow, nor is it any fun if I've already done a 12 hour day. Hvae pointed out I don't mind doing some of it but the 95% of it I'm down for because no one else wants to do it either is simply not on. Hoping he comes up with someone else.

Have the oddest of days lined up today as only four classes are in. Everyone elses teachers are on strike. Will be surprised if those classes manage much more than a 50% attendance rate. Makes for a very easy day for me filled with all the things I don't normally get chance to do although I'll be legging it as close to 9am as possible as DD2 is off much to DD1s disgust.

Planning a trip to the park with the hounds and a spot of ironing. Have promised OH I won't do any laundry on the proviso that he finishes painting everything thats on the line today and gets it bubble wrapped. Will get as much stuff washed as possible between that going away and the next lot appearing.

Seem to be back on an even keel after a major barney last weekend when OHs drinking escalated to the door slamming stage. Don't think I was expected to offer to help pack his bags when he announced he was leaving. Hes not had a drink since. Hes comfort shopping instead which is why we're now the slightly bemused owners of a camping stove, one which can heat an entire cup of soup in the time it takes you to say cor blimey governor... thats after you've spent 25 minutes trying to figure out how to put it all together. Still we obviously needed another stove as the other six or so clearly don't quite do the trick. Further random purchases include nine more pieces of Scalectrix track which have been placed on top of the heap of dusty track that haven't seen the light of day since long before the puppy arrived.

moo2moo

Have v. naughtily blown £7.99 of my hoarded Amazon vouchers on the reprinted 1972 book Lets Preserve it! Have to wait until the middle of August for it to arrive by which point I'll have forgotten all about it which will make it even more exciting. I'm easily pleased.

moo2moo

Whooo hooo gave the boss a copy of my planned hours for the summer and he was quite happy with them. He even offered to do a couple of the late night lockups if I'd rather have the evening off and from September I'm due a payrise to cover staying late once a week which means I'll be paid more money for doing what I'm already doing ... which generally involves a leisurely cuppa in peace since its the only time I have a coffee break all week.

Off to do the washing up and hang out what little washing theres space for on the line before pootling off to scoff ice creams in the park. May have to give in and wash the doggy nose prints off the windows when I get back, I suspect it will let a lot more light into the house.