Keeping up appearances.......

Honey_Bear

*taps watch and sighs* It's just not the same without you posting, and, feeling lonely, I headed for the hobnob jar. It blame the depletion of the stocks entirely on you.


I'm so glad you had a lovely Mothering Sunday weekend, and I realised that with bulk visitors your attention was focussed on them. Chocolate and cake sounds absolutely perfect - you've spent so much energy hammering the numbers down that an entire weekend of indulgence is well-earned and thoroughly deserved.


I have not really sinned financially, and more to the point, I have being doing sums and discovered that owning a dog is more expensive than a car! I've taken the decision to foster rather than adopt and am now waiting for the final check which I'm told will be a formality because I've adopted through this charity before. Hurrah! We'll see how that goes for a bit and if I hate seeing them off to their new homes I'll rethink it, but it can't be as painful (or expensive) as having to make 'that' decision.

• Three no spend days in a row!
• Zero alcohol.
• Monday - sultanas, beetroot juice, apricots, dried peaches, tomatoes. Probably too much fruit.
• Three mugs of fruit tea. Not enough fruit tea. I can't win really.
• Hobnobs. Again.
• Serious flying on Saturday, so the house is looking rather better than normal.
• Really surprised at how pragmatic I can be when needs must, and I feel really, really good about the foster decision.
• Lined up four phone calls to be made today. I hate cold calling.
• Spider was played to give me some thinking time (yeah, right).

Honey_Bear

And a bar of milk chocolate I found lurking in a cupboard. Eating it was just decluttering the cupboard, really, so it counts as Flying. Yesssss!

HappyNow

Honey_Bear wrote: »

*taps watch and sighs* It's just not the same without you posting, and, feeling lonely, I headed for the hobnob jar. It blame the depletion of the stocks entirely on you.
Sorry. I accept full responsibility and will try harder for the rest of March. Then I feel an 'All-You-Can-Eat-April' coming on

I'm so glad you had a lovely Mothering Sunday weekend, and I realised that with bulk visitors your attention was focussed on them. Chocolate and cake sounds absolutely perfect - you've spent so much energy hammering the numbers down that an entire weekend of indulgence is well-earned and thoroughly deserved.
Have to admit, it was fun being surrounded by my favourite people with a houseful of foodie goodies. Once or twice a year is fine - medicinal almost!

I have not really sinned financially, and more to the point, I have being doing sums and discovered that owning a dog is more expensive than a car! I've taken the decision to foster rather than adopt and am now waiting for the final check which I'm told will be a formality because I've adopted through this charity before. Hurrah! We'll see how that goes for a bit and if I hate seeing them off to their new homes I'll rethink it, but it can't be as painful (or expensive) as having to make 'that' decision.
Sounds completely sensible. That way you get to help lots of dogs - and I daresay that if you find yourself fostering 'the one' there will be a scope for YOU to become the adopter.

• Three no spend days in a row! Yay!
• Zero alcohol. Yay
• Monday - sultanas, beetroot juice, apricots, dried peaches, tomatoes. Probably too much fruit. I have never tried beetroot juice - not even seen it in the shops - but as you seem to love it I'm going to try and access some
• Three mugs of fruit tea. Not enough fruit tea. I can't win really. Go for it today - remember how much better it makes you feel
• Hobnobs. Again. Whoops!
• Serious flying on Saturday, so the house is looking rather better than normal. Well done, it's such a great feeling
• Really surprised at how pragmatic I can be when needs must, and I feel really, really good about the foster decision.:)
• Lined up four phone calls to be made today. I hate cold calling. I would too, but needs must. Did you do them?
• Spider was played to give me some thinking time (yeah, right).

Honey_Bear wrote: »

And a bar of milk chocolate I found lurking in a cupboard. Eating it was just decluttering the cupboard, really, so it counts as Flying. Yesssss!
Ooh, thanks for that, I hadn't realised it counted. I have decluttered two cupboards and a fridge *feeling smug*

* embarrassed shuffling of feet *. Well, from a Magic March perspective yesterday was so rubbish I can't even bring myself to write it down! I am going to pretend it didn't happen and I slept through the entire 24 hours, and start again today . Today will DEFINITELY be easier because I am working from home and there is no yummy sweet stuff left in the house after my feeding frenzy of the last few days. I just need someone to hide my car keys now and I've cracked it!

Honey_Bear

*shoves Happy's car keys, and the spare set, under a cushion knowing they'll be safely hidden as no flying seems to be occurring*

Ah, beetroot juice. To be honest, although I like to think I'm not affected by rubbish news stories, the whole sugar in fruit juice thing got to me. I also found that although orange juice is loaded with the stuff, it tastes pretty bitter to me and sets my teeth on edge. So, apart from guava juice which I adore as a real treat, I stopped drinking fruit juice as one of my five a day a while ago. Morrison's sells beetroot juice - it happens to be organic, so pretty expensive but I absolutely love it. It's also made me realise I love, love, love beetroot, but not that vacuum packed stuff, only fresh, roasted or baked which I do when the oven's on for baking Twink's.


And while we're on a confession jag, no, the cold calls weren't made because I am a cowardly person. I may just call yesterday a duvet day, too. Oh. Yeah, I found another bar of milk chocolate that got decluttered. Definitely a duvet day.

Honey_Bear

I think I must be going senile. For some reason, Happy Now, I've been referring to you as Keeping or Keeping up Appearances. Sorry sorry sorry.

It's like referring to Charles Dickens as Oliver Twist.

Honey_Bear

• Ooooh, now four no spend days in a row!
• Zero alcohol.
• Parsnip soup, sweet potato, onion, peas, apricots, peach halves and prune juice - because OH thought the beetroot juice was too expensive and got me prune juice instead. 7. Very happy with that, but I'll stock up on beetroot juice when I go shopping tomorrow.
• Three mugs of fruit tea.
• Hobnobs. Again. I wouldn't have, but OH wanted one after dinner, and while I was washing up ....
• No Fly Zone.
• Still waiting for the homecheck.
• Still haven't made the phone calls.
• I played a bit of Spider and then did quite a bit on two half-finished tasks that have been irritating me. I should finish both of them tomorrow. I may have said before that 2015 is my 'finishing' year, so that the stack of half done jobs stops irritating me every time I see them. Several done, three more started. *sigh*

I wanted to have peas with the cheese and onion flan tonight, but I couldn't find any in the freezer. First thought was to nip down to the corner shop (rather a large, good Co-0p) and get some, but then I remembered we had some dried ones because I wanted to make pea ham soup a while back, but we ate the ham. After a soak this morning I boiled them for about 20 minutes so they still had a bit of crunch and then added a couple of teaspoons of pesto after I'd reheated them. Result! I'll defo do that again. Really pleased with myself.

HappyNow

Yesterday was a better day:

• Zero spends (can't find my car keys anywhere)
• Zero alcohol
• Four F & V (orange juice, coleslaw, beans, apple)
• Only two glasses of water for no good reason
• Two chocolate biscuits, rest of food was healthy-ish
• Tidied up a bit in case the plumber called (he didn't)
• Played a couple of games of Words but nothing excessive

So mostly back on track and feeling optimistic for today

HappyNow

Honey_Bear wrote: »

For some reason, Happy Now, I've been referring to you as Keeping or Keeping up Appearances. Sorry sorry sorry.
It's like referring to Charles Dickens as Oliver Twist.

I thought it sounded quite nice! The first time I noticed it was when you referred to Mr Happy as 'Mr KUA' and my brain read that as Mr Kumal, and I thought you were on the wrong diary . Anyway, between you and me, HappyNow isn't even my real name :rotfl:

Honey_Bear wrote: »

I wanted to have peas with the cheese and onion flan tonight, but I couldn't find any in the freezer. First thought was to nip down to the corner shop (rather a large, good Co-0p) and get some, but then I remembered we had some dried ones because I wanted to make pea ham soup a while back, but we ate the ham. After a soak this morning I boiled them for about 20 minutes so they still had a bit of crunch and then added a couple of teaspoons of pesto after I'd reheated them. Result! I'll defo do that again. Really pleased with myself.

I will nick that idea. I remember my mum soaking peas when I was a kid. They came in a box with a big white tablet which was probably bicarb of soda and she boiled them forever to make mushy peas. I love mushy peas (with lots of mint sauce, yum)but I always use tinned nowadays. Time to try soaked ones again I think.

Honey_Bear

HappyNow wrote: »

Yesterday was a better day:

• Zero spends (can't find my car keys anywhere)I might, inadvertently, let slip where I put them. I've moved them, so you really won't be able to find them now.
• Zero alcohol
• Four F & V (orange juice, coleslaw, beans, apple)
• Only two glasses of water for no good reason Odd, isn't it, how difficult it is to stick to something really, really simple.
• Two chocolate biscuits, rest of food was healthy-ish Please can I have a dish of -ish? It sounds very tempting.
• Tidied up a bit in case the plumber called (he didn't)
• Played a couple of games of Words but nothing excessive

So mostly back on track and feeling optimistic for today

Good to see you posting again, Happy. During your absence it felt as is I was highjacking your thread a bit!

Honey_Bear

HappyNow wrote: »

Anyway, between you and me, HappyNow isn't even my real name :rotfl:


I feel duped! I had no idea.

I will nick that idea. I remember my mum soaking peas when I was a kid. They came in a box with a big white tablet which was probably bicarb of soda and she boiled them forever to make mushy peas. I love mushy peas (with lots of mint sauce, yum)but I always use tinned nowadays. Time to try soaked ones again I think.

Are you a veggie, Happy? I could do with some info on pulses generally, because every time I go searching for it, it seems to take an age to get a clear answer. The pea-soaking thing is such a case - some internet sites said you don't need to bother, others said it cuts the cooking time by 10 minutes. And adding bicarb is just such an issue. Nigella says adding it to chickpeas during soaking for her fabulous hummus recipie conditions the chickpeas but elsewhere I've heard it destroys the vitamins.


Anyway, I rinsed them about a million times, soaked them in tepid water for two hours and simmered them for 20 minutes so they retained their shape and crunch, as we had mashed sweet potato and I didn't want two sloppy veg with the meal. (And then worried for quite a while after we ate that I'd done something injurious to our health eating partially cooked dried peas, another bit of information I can't find. We were fine.)