No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

charlies-aunt

Woke up to a very frosty morning today - although I have a week off this week so was able to have an extra hour in my "flea pit" before braving the cold :eek:

Lots of plans for today and this week - mainly doing winter prep and getting the house snug for the cold weather and giving it a good deep clean and declutter.

First job is to get the curtains changed over to winter ones and get some door curtains up to stop the draughts - tried lining the doors with insulating tape - which worked really well except you needed te strength of ten to force it open and shut!

Onwards and upwards

candlelight_2013

SM I am in the process of making the candy sleighs as well ( think I found it on the Christmas thread) I found choc santas in Mr.T for £1.50 each. I know it might seem a lot, but I usually buy small table presents anyway, but thought this was a lovely idea.

I am in the process of emptying my freezer. I estimate by the end of this week it should be almost empty. I then want to clean it out and start re-stocking for Christmas. I have just cooked some beautiful blackberries I had from the summer and put them in a jelly.

Have a good week everyone.

Candlelight xx

katep23

Good luck with emptying the freezer candelight, we have 3 freezers and need to empty and switch off one but it never seems to happen! There's only 2 of us here!

Our friends who keep their own pigs offered us some more pork last weekend (organically raised but not registered) which is amazingly good meat and only £4 per kg but we had to turn it down as we have no room in the freezers.

It's really windy and rainy here, sat in the living room with the heating on as I feel a bit under the weather and cold. We rarely have the heating on for more than an hour and it is usually between 14 and 17 degrees here in winter - today it is 20 degrees in the living room but I can't warm up. Got candles lit as well.

It was my last day at my old company today - I worked there for 11.5 years before then left for 9 months then have been back there as a contractor for 5 months. Unsurprisingly I feel a little emotional - more so than last time because when I left last year I was still shell-shocked that I had actually left!

OH is out tonight as he is finishing up at the job he has been working at for the last 6 weeks. Then we have 4 glorious days off together - starting with lunch tomorrow and hopefully some relaxing times as well as all the practical things we need to do.

Had a nice easy dinner tonight from the freezer (see, I'm starting to empty it!) of veg chilli and microwave pilau rice - very lazy and decadent but exactly what I needed as I have the energy levels of a slug.

Hope you are all keeping well, love to all x

[Deleted User]

Hello all, was away with DD1 for the weekend and seem to have caught her virus so I'm feeling less than well at the moment, my get up and go got up and went!!! Poor lurcher is all up in the air with fireworks and being very neurotic about life in general once it gets dark in the evenings. He won't be in the lounge and won't let us both sit there together he wants one of us in the study with him and just keeps wandering in and tapping me with a paw if I'm sitting in the lounge, poor old boy. I hate this time of year for his sake but it seems to have been less noisy this year, trouble is once he hears the first big bang he is a shaking little wreck until it all stops. Let's hope the season is a short one this year, Lyn xxx.

katep23

Oh MrsL, I hope both you and Docky feel better and recover soon.

Our cats haven't seemed too bothered by the fireworks although there were a few close ones yesterday that had Charlie looking around in alarm but overall not too distressing but I remember our dogs growing up could get really upset and they were gundogs so used to loud sudden noise.

I do wish it could be limited to just one or two nights and only at registered displays although our friends had a display on Saturday night for the 40th birthday and chose quieter fireworks due to the children but it still really upset the dogs which were present.

Still, it's nowhere near as bad here as when I lived in Slough - that was weeks of fireworks, weekdays and weekends.

[Deleted User]

Hi KATE thanks love, I'm sure my virus will go of its' own accord and Docky will be fine when the fireworks season ends, until New Years Eve when he'll get another dose. I wish they'd limit it by law to the day itself, and one weekend either side of it for the big bangers. He doesn't like the whizzers but they don't upset him for long like the big thumps do. Still it's the one positive side to the recession that people don't seem to be buying the great big ones this year quite so much, Lyn xxx.

katep23

I hadn't thought of that aspect re the recession but that makes sense. It's such an amazing amount of money to spend on something which literally goes up in smoke. Ridiculous when you think about it!

candlelight_2013

Good afternoon everyone,

We had torrential rain last night, but today is really not bad at all, cloudy but no rain.

Kate, 3 freezers!!! I sometimes wish I had enough room for one more. Almost empty now, thank goodness. I have a gammon joint, bag of peas, couple of chicken breasts and a bag of peppers. Hope to cook the gammon at the weekend, and that will last us 2 or 3 days, so can then switch off and clean out.

Mrs LW sorry you and Docky are under the weather, hope you both feel better soon.

Charlies-Aunt hope you are succeeding in your winter preps. Yesterday was so cold here, yet today is quite the opposite.

FTM hope you and yours are all well. Are the girls making a nature table? I used to love doing that with my girls, pretty leaves, acorns and conkers.

Well I am off to the NEC Craft show tomorrow with my DGD, really looking forward to it. Managed to save a few pennies as well, so if I see anything I really want I can have it. There are 2 Halls, one for crafts and art and the other for gifts, so I might pick up a few gifts as well, although to be honest I have bought most of the presents.

I think that is all my news for the moment.

Take care everyone,

Candlelight xx

katep23

Enjoy the craft show Candlelight.

We've got a fire going and a glass of homemade wine, lovely!

scottishminnie

Evening all. Bit wet and windy tonight so I'm cosied up inside - hubby is out and I have full TV access and the laptop - what luxury!!

Candlelight - it's been years since I heard anyone mention a nature table - what happy memories that brought back. I currently have around a dozen chestnuts "planted" to see what happens. Some indoors and some outdoors. May come to nothing but I figured it was worth a try. I'm sad that there are so few of the "traditional" trees I remember from my childhood. I guess in people don't have so much space to have them in gardens now and also they take many years to grow where everyone seems to want instant results now.

I think we must all be working on running down freezers - some more successfully than others:o

MrsLW - I have felt rubbish all week. Nothing that really came to a head but just gritty throat, sore head and general aches and pains. I'm impatient, I wish it would either disappear or come on fully so I can get it over with! Hope both you and Docky are feeling better.

You are all quite right about the fireworks - there were definitely much less this year. Although, after seeing the price of them I marvel at how families can afford them anyway.

Kate - enjoy your last few days off before the new job. I have Monday and Tuesday off and no plans at the moment which is a wonderful feeling. I've no doubt I will find lots to do but just the thought of pleasing myself is making me very happy!