No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

scottishminnie

Thanks FTM - I think I will need to make those very soon, in the interests of research of course:D

I had a busy end to the week and weekend so I'm really just catching up now. We had a dinner party on Saturday evening so the freezer now has slightly more space - as does the wine stash though!

I had an hour in the garden yesterday clearing leaves. 2 stuffed black refuse bags later and there doesn't seem to be much difference so I'll be back at it next weekend. They were quite easy to gather though as they are very wet so don't blow around like normal.

I also had a bit of a clear out and took a fair bit to the local charity shop. There were some very nice Christmas decorations which I simply have too many of so I thought it was a good time to donate them and the lady on duty was delighted. She said they will sell very well. It will be nice if someone else can enjoy them as I always felt so guilty about having too many to display.

I hope you are all dry and not under water as so much of the country seems to be. So far this time we have escaped although I'm sure it will be heading our way soon. In the meantime I'm making the most of the cold and crisp but certainly dry weather.:)

Have a good week all.

flowertotmum

Hello all from a very wet and windy part of the country..no flooding here yet but have a lot of warnings..i just feel so sorry for those have been flooded..i think our local church is making up boxes to send to them to help out..i have donated some blankets,toys and books..not much but might help someone.
Well today is Fern's 7th birthday..i was up at the crack of dawn..with them both...she is one lucky little girl..we got her a tattyteddy peanut house(google it)..on offer bless her..and her big brother got her the matching car..her sisters will be up later today...we spent yesterday making decorations and bunting from coloured card...we are having a very small tea party later..have got her cake ready just need to smother it in choc fudge and flakes all around the edges..yummy...she wanted a tattyteddy cake but i just couldn't in all concience serve a cake covered in grey icing..would have looked a bit gone off to me...so i let her go through my recipe books and she chose a flake cake (good girl)...
I have had a huge clearout of toys and donated them to my local CS..also a young mum near me..think she is having a tough time at the moment...i gave her a bag of good baby toys and some clothes..she was really nice and very pleased..i told her to wrap some as christmas presents..kiddies won't know..
I am almost at bottom of my freezer now..found some pasties..that i had forgot about..might have them tomorrow.
We went to a craft fair on saturday..it was nice bit over priced..and surprise surprise guess who was selling homemade stuff and cakes...yep you got it..that awful woman from playgroup who made me feel like dirt...i was going to be sarcastic but didn't want to sink to her level...however she saw me and came from behind her stall and asked if she could have a word....my dad took the girls away(hot choclate and cookies were on the agenda)..she actually apologized to me..i almost fell over...it seems life has not been kind to her and her husband(redundancy)..had to sell the big house,down grade the car and stop all the extra curricular activities her kiddies did...and she was happier than ever and didn't realize just what a snob and b*tch she had become...it came back to bite her in the bum i think....so i gracefully accepted the apology and she gave me her new number and told me to ring her anytime...shock does not cover it..but in a way i am happy for her..sometimes it takes it a shock to re-evaluate your life and see what others see...i did text her later and say that i was happy she was happy and could she sell me some scrabble letters for a project me and the girls are doing...she rang back and is coming to my house later this morning....i really do hope she has turned her life around and is a nicer person..time will tell...
Right i am off to have a cuppa and sort bits out for tea later...
love to you all
ftm

[Deleted User]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FERN!!!!!!! Hi FTM, hope you are having a lovely tea party and enjoying the Flake Cake (envy felt in deepest darkest Hampshire!!!) and that Fern has enjoyed all her lovely presents, you really are a lovely little family, you make me happy by just being,thank you!!!

It must have been a big shock to have that appology FTM but how nice!!! It sounds as though she has had to really re-evaluate what is a priority in life and what is not, what a good job there are big hearted kind sensible people like you around to show her how it should be done eh? You'll be her role model from now on, just you wait and see.

Hope you are not feeling the effects of all this nasty wet weather and are having a lovely afternoon with your family, Stay warm, stay safe,Cheers Lyn xxx.

flowertotmum

Hi MLW..would send you a piece of flake cake but it might not make it there in one piece...Thank you for your best wishes for Fernip..she is in bed all worn out..we absolutely stuffed ourselves at tea time..can't look at choclate for a while i think...her big sisters spoilt her again..she realizes she is very lucky and has given a toy to Iris..that is sweet and very generous of her..
Well the new woman came around and my o my what a total transformation..complete opposite of what she was...she told me that when her hubby got made redundant she soon found out who her friends were..and that wasn't many..i did feel for her having been in that situation myself.We spent a good hour chatting swapping tips and recipes plus new websites to surf...it was nice..she does a lot of craft fairs and has a little buisness going ..i am so happy for her..
The weather here is freezing..and not very good for the next few days..we are staying inside all cosy and warm...i hope you are too.
Keep warm and stay safe..
love
ftm

[Deleted User]

Morning FTM so glad you all had a lovely day yesterday, how sweet of Fern to give baby sister a toy, she must take after you!!!!!

Really pleased you have been in touch with apology lady and can help her to help herself, if you want a new website to play with try GENERATIONS BEFORE US - by GDONNA it's an american site but the lady could have invented OS!!! I'm fascinated!!!

Hope you are all OK after the terrible rain and winds, we are lucky here as we are s little sheltered by the Isle of Wight and have a quite benign micro climate, but it is cooler today and our trusty woodburner is our very best friend at the moment!! Have a lovely day all of you, Cheers Lyn xxx.

scottishminnie

Well, winter has really arrived now. We had agood 4 inches of snow this morning. Unfortunately it was on top of ice so it's very scary right now and freezing again tonight after a little thaw this afternoon.

I always make sure my bird seed and fat balls are full on a Sunday evening before I go back to work however today I worked from home and had to replenish them around lunchtime as the poor little birds had been so hungry they were all empty. I had the tiniest little bird looking in from my kitchen window sill this morning. I think it was a wren, I was quite captivated at how small and fragile it looked. I haven't been buying peanuts this year as they were almost 4 times the cost of 18 months ago hut I'm now beginning to feel very mean. Is seed and fat balls enough variety or should I be feeding something else?

I need some advice on dying a table cover if any of you can help? It's a beautiful white damask cover however it now has quite a few stains which won't come out (although they are faded I can see them and they are in prominent places) so I wondered if I could dye it a sort of pale blue colour. I've never dyed any fabric before however in the interest of money saving I think I should try it. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure where I would buy Dylon - must look in Mr A at the weekend.

I've spent the last hour writing my Christmas cards. It is my most hated task however the last posting for Australia in on Wednesday so I must have all my overseas ones written and a little news update ready to go in them. I'm ashamed to say my far flung friends and family enclose professional looking updates with photos and so on while they get an A4 sheet from me. I always intend to do something better and I always leave it too late. It's really quite disgracefully bad manners on my part and I'm quite embarrased about it. The other reason I put off writing my cards is that I find some years, this being one of them, that quite a few family members are no longer with us and as I use last years cards to prompt me it just serves as a sad reminder.:(

I've started the Christmas shopping and have been more successful than I'd expected which is good. It's all been stashed away so I need to lay it out and take stock before I do any more. That will have to wait until hubby is out as he is so nosy he will try to see if there is anything for him!

Off for a cup of tea now and to feed my Christmas cake - forgot to do it at the weekend so I will give it extra!

[Deleted User]

Morning SM we have hot and cold running birdies coming to the feeding station too!!! I've noticed this year that there is precious little wild food around and the Holly and Ivy Berries which are usually the last thing to be eaten are nearly gone already and it's only early December. Even the Jays here are burying chestnuts as there are no acorns whatsoever and that is their staple food. I think birdie populations are going to be hard pressed to survive this winter. I am upping the rate I feed at and as well as the seed and fat balls have invested in some dried mealworms for the Robins etc and some suet pieces from the petshop as blackbirds etc will make use of those too. I also put out any stale bread (soaked in water and squeezed out) shrivelled apples cut in half, stale cake, cooked potatoes etc. They all dissapear very quickly and the birds spend ages queueing in the trees to wait their turn, I think they are mighty hungry!! We even had Redwings in the garden at the weekend, unheard of here so the natural food they find must be short on the ground too. I would normally not expect Redwings and Fieldfares in unless we have snow and really hard weather. We must all do what we can to help them, yes?

Hope all is well with you and your folks, and that your nasty icy conditions are copable with, take care, Cheers Lyn xxx.

scottishminnie

Evening all. At last, the snow finally disappeared today, well 90% of it. It was a beautiful day here, bitterly cold and very windy but it made for perfect drying conditions for my bed linen. It only needed 10 minutes in the dryer to finish it off which was great. If anyone had witnessed the antics of me pegging out super king size sheets in a howling gale they would have locked me up though. I was absolutely determined to take advantage of a dry wind though:o

My Christmas preparations are well underway now. I have 75% of the gifts purchased and the cards have all been written and the distant ones posted. I found some second class stamps for those UK ones which I need to post as I'm very careful to usae second class as much as I can these days.
I'm hoping for nice dry weather next weekend and I will hand deliver most of the rest. I've worked out a route which will cover a chunk of them. It's around the 4 mile mark so perfectly reasonable walk on a nice day.
I also made my cranberry and orange relish last night which made the house smell wonderful. If only the scent had lasted a bit longer however my fish and leek pie this afternoon has kind of overpowered it.


My little birds continue to be very hungry Mrs LW so I've taken your advice and supplemented the seed and fat balls with some stale bread which I soaked first. I should be able to find some dried mealworms locally so will pick them up to. The plight of our feathered friends seems to be worldwide. I mentioned it to a friend in Ontario, Canada a few weeks back and she said they were also feeding much more than usual. Yesterday she emailed me a photo of her newest arrival. In one of the outbuildings at her home a little barn owl has taken up residence which she is thrilled about. I've always had a bit of a fascination for owls so I'm very envious, it looks so settled and at home we are both hoping it may be making a home to bring up some young.

Tonight I've baked some cupcakes to take to the office tomorrow. There will be a few left over for hubby so I shouldn't need to bake until mid week. I do need to get the breadmaker going overnight as tomorrow night will be a soup and pudding night (I'm still using up freezer food!).

I hope everyone had a relaxing, warm and peaceful weekend before the madness of the week descends on us all!

flowertotmum

Hello all from flowertot mansion..well its not a mansion but sure feels like one to me...
Its been chaotic here..trying to do schoolwork when hubby is home is impossible...he can't help himself but interfere..grrr!!!!..i know he is poorly but honestly just go lay down on the sofa and leave us alone...pain in the bum..he has gone back to work but just text to say he has thrown up again...bet thats nice yuk...he may have to take the sick note the doctor offered him after all...
I have put up my decorations..made them myself all the paper chains and stars..and all my lovely honeycomb balls are hanging up everywhere..its lovely...me and the girls made snowmen in jars..a glass jam jar,fake snow in the bottom and some tiny snowmen in the bottom of them they look fab with some fairy lights at the back lighting them up.
I have done lots of baking,lemon cakes,ginger cakes,choclate cakes,doughnuts,fudge and mince pies o and mincemeat pinwheels..we are stuffed to the gills with food and i can't stuff anymore in the freezers so i think its enough now..
We have been doing a small study on birds in our garden..so far we have the usual suspects,
sparrows
starlings
blackbirds
blue tits
great tits
coal tits
robin..mr and mrs
wrens johnny and jenny
collared doves
rooks
crows
seagulls...not very often but they do come
and our prize..a red kite..that has taken to swooping down and flying around our area..its beautiful...we watch for him daily or her,not sure which it is..but gorgeous just the same.
For once this christmas its going to be just,me,mr flowertot,teenage flowertot,2 little flowertots...bliss..everyone else is going out or having a day at home...so christmas eve will be busy but thats it...we are sooo looking forward to a quiet christmas...
Right i'm off to make bacon sandwiches for tots and me yummmy...son will have a HM pizza and like it...
love you all
ftm

[Deleted User]

Hello FTM and the Tots, haven't you been busy? I love the sound of the snowmen in jars, so pretty and the decorations sound beautiful, I bet the house looks fantastic!!

Poor old Mr.FTM hope he gets well again soon. When we home schooled DD2 we made certain areas that only one of us taught - He who knows covered maths and anything vaguely scientific, I did language,art,history,music,craft and we shared things like exercise. It meant we each brought a new approach to the different subjects, would that be any use to you with the littlies? It also gave me some time out as the one on one teaching is fairly intense, and although I really enjoyed it, it was nice for DD to have someone else to interact with.

We have hot and cold running birdies here in the garden, they are so hungry this year. I have real envy over your Red Kite though,such a treat, They released some pairs of them in the Reading area some 10 years ago and they have spread considerably in area since then. When I went to DD1 last week I travelled up by train and going towards Swindon there were at least 10 of them swirling around in a group over a small town we passed through, really beautiful. They are unmistakable with the 'Fish Tail' I love them!!!! We have a pair of pied wagtails that come in every day, and some dunnocks and a real treat a couple of days ago a flock of Goldfinches came in and visited all the seedheads on the plants we had left in the borders. Then we have a flock of Long Tailed Tits and Bluetits all mixed together that come a couple of times a week and work their way through the mature Silver Birch trees in next doors garden, it's lovely.

You sound all prepared for christmas, all that lovely baking Mmmmmmmm I hope you all enjoy a peaceful,loving family christmas and that Mr.FTM is feeling so much better by then, take care, Love Lyn xxx.