*The Holly and the Ivy* and the You Know What 2013 Chatter Thread.

mrs-moneypenny

late good afternoon all
hugs to the stressed and the poorly
pigpen hope your DD gets the house moves she needs to be nearer you
OMO hope the texts/calls have stopped and you and your DD are ok
last nights concert was great but loud DS2 was banging on an upturned dustbin with a broom handle (stomp style in one part) and the dancers costumes could have been slightly more demure in church but everyone had a great time and lots of money raised for the school and the church.
i was back in church again this morning as i went down with the primary school for their service, then back to school for christmas dinner - was nice some kind of cheesey veg crumble. so not long got in from 'work' although most of it today was unpaid volunteer stuff.
DD2s partners kiddies loved their little stockings they had tea at ours before the concert and i said if they ate up they could look on the tree for something with their names on. food disappeared pretty fast after that. I even managed to help DD2 with the christmas stocking for her dog, so thats another job done.
I wore my christmas jumper today, but ive taken it off now as i got too warm.
best news today Dh 'expensive' books have arrived at local sorting office, slightly bad news i got stung for customs so have to shell out another £22 before i can get them. still they are way cheaper than what he thinks they are LOL.

not much of the day left now as its getting dark so its almost fairy lighting up time. have a brill weekend all.

my plans are shed roof felters assistant (i think that means hold the ladder pass the nails and make the tea)
get nails painted and out on the razz for DHs christmas do.

Peppapig

Pigpen - keeping everything crossed for DD1 and DGS and the new house, what a weight off your mind that will be and how lovely to have them in the same road.

Freespirit - what a fright, thank goodness it all turned out ok in the end. I must agree with Quidsy though, get yourself some insurance. Do it through MSE so you can find the best deals though, I saved my Mum over £100 on her contents insurance by doing the right comparisons - she pays about £40 a year now.

Chrissy - good luck with the ipad. DD1 and DD2 love theirs and I keep toying with getting one but if I'm honest I only really want it so I can facetime DGD (she's getting an ipod for Christmas so will be wanting to facetime everyone) and it seems a lot of money just for that. I do love the way it opens up so quickly though, my laptop seems to take forever to be ready to use.

Fevertotell - hope DS is better in time to enjoy at least some of his festive activities. I feel for him - when I was at infant/junior school I don't think I got to one school Christmas party because I always seemed to get measles or something just before Christmas!

Bought some Christmas fabric today to make DGD a big sack that she can bring out every year for Father Christmas to put her pressies in. Wow, fabric is very expensive lol. Hope I don't mess it up now. DD2 and DGD will be here next weekend to stay for Christmas - I'm so excited.

Own_My_Own

Calls carried on half the night and then again today. But they have now stopped. ONLY we found out today she had phoned all my friends and dds friends trying to find me. Luckily all my friends know what she is like and most of dds friends didn't know who she was. They just put the phone down on her.

Freespirit My nan was a gypsy, she read tea leafs and cards. .

On Monday night your DD saw a white owl. That means be on guard, back luck is coming.

Last night you spent 2 hours out in the cold while a fire was put out. I would say that was bad luck.

I think you are safe now.

murie

pigpen- fingers crossed for your DD's move,


Freespirit- blimey- close call but you are all safe and at the end of the day bricks and mortar don't count. No wonder you have a bad head- stressed to the hilt after a night like that. I'm not really superstitious- just using Friday 13th as an excuse for the s**t that life is chucking at us today. I would count the incident with the white owl as something of a privilege to witness nature close up (ok maybe too close for comfort!)

blue_eyed_girl

freespirit - so pleased to hear you are safe after that frightening experience.

mrs.mp - sounds as though you have had a lovely day. When we were in Sainsbugs this morning just as we were getting to the checkout, we were entertained by some lovely little ones from the local primary school singing carols. By the time I was leaving I was choked - it was beautiful.

pigpen - fingers crossed dd gets new home close to you.

Got voucher sorted - ty for your assistance everyone. Two polar bears followed me home too. I think they look lovely under my tree - picture will follow soon.

Apart from food shopping this morning I have done very little this afternoon as I was starting to feel a bit yuk (throat and ear). Hope its not going to develop into anything nasty as we are going to carols tomorrow.

Hope you all have a lovely evening.


b_e_g

Ruth_honey

CHRISSYG wrote: »

morning all ,
just ordered the last few bits from Amazon:j. We are going to get the ipad on Tuesday once thats bought theres only a few sweets and the food shop to do.

A quick question to ipad owners , looking online there are lots of add ons are there any that you would say are really needed? ie keyboard etc ?

Arthien wrote: »

I'd definitely say get a case or a cover of some kind! The last thing you'd want after spending that kind of money is a dent or a massive scratch on the screen :eek:
Some of them double as a stand so you can use it for watching videos, but that's your call really. I've never really felt the need for a keyboard or any other accessories though, because the main reason I prefer our ipad 2 over our pc is the fact it is lightweight and not attached to things by a million and one cables. It's so easy to use, I just open the lid of the cover and it's instantly on and ready to use, perfect!

Definatley a good case. I like the ones that make the screen turn off when closed. eBay is a good place for cases.
I've had my iPad two years and I've never needed any other accessory. Had a stylus with this case but only used it once or twice. Don't need speakers as the sound is fine without them. Maybe some headphones if they might want to watch films on it without disturbing anyone? Oh, actually, a screen cleaner is a good idea. We've got one of those cuddly toy ones, but a cloth would work if that's not suitable.

pigpen wrote: »

Fever.. Go with how he is feeling, he may feel up to the Churchy bits.. 2 days is a long time with children!! My son went literally from deaths door to ok in 4 days and my niece from ventilator to running about like a nutter within 8 hours!! I'm the same though, never get anything and I've been ill the last 2 weeks, I think there has been a rise in crazy germs lately.

I have FINALLY got the Xbox One for OH so I am all sorted happy chickens here.. I did order from 3 places mind.. the one I had on preorder since August is not guaranteed until the end of January!!! .. Once again Tesco came up trumps!


My best Christmas present ever.. DD1 is HOPEFULLY getting a house down my street.. she has been living in a hovel the last few years with my grandboy she has no heating or hot water so hopefully for Christmas she will get both.. and get the house here in a much nicer safer area away from her psychotic neighbour who has made threats of violence and is just a scumbag. *everything crossed*

Great news. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the house move happens soon.

So many people feeling poorly at the moment. Sending get well hugs to you all. It horrible being ill at any time, but over Christmas is especially bad. Drs busier, chemist open fewer hours...not good. Stock up with vitamins and painkillers/other meds!

I was supposed to be having a friend over for a festive afternoon tea tomorrow, but she's got a chest infection. She invited me to hers, but I don't want to get ill myself. Besides, you don't want company when you're not well. Hope she's better soon and I can see her before Christmas.

Ruth_honey

Freespirit-just caught up on your news. My goodness what a scary night! So pleased that you're all ok. I'd go with the others and say please get insurance. Worth it for peace of mind.

As for the owl thing, I don't know officially what it means, but when I see an owl (very rarely), it reminds me of my grandma. It does for my mum too. So it's comforting and makes me think she's keeping an eye on us.

Had a nice day today. Cross stitch meet this morning-no stitching for me. I am getting taught how to crochet in the new year, though. Bought some lovely sparkly wool to make a scarf with.
Then off to the pub for a long lunch with the ladies I do water aerobics with. Had loads of us there, including our instructor who has been off for three months, following an op. It was great to see her. Wore my festive jumper, as did another girl there! My friend who hates Christmas (I know-I'm working on it!) gave in and wore a red scarf with her black outfit! Lol! If you can't be festive and sparkly at this time of year, when can you???

FeistyFidget

CHRISSYG wrote: »

morning all ,
just ordered the last few bits from Amazon:j. We are going to get the ipad on Tuesday once thats bought theres only a few sweets and the food shop to do.

A quick question to ipad owners , looking online there are lots of add ons are there any that you would say are really needed? ie keyboard etc ?

The best sta d we have ever had was from pound land! It is literally a metal frame that folds flat, and has different "grooves" in it to set the iPad at different heights. Perfect for watching netflix in the bath our case is also from there

pigpen wrote: »

Fever.. Go with how he is feeling, he may feel up to the Churchy bits.. 2 days is a long time with children!! My son went literally from deaths door to ok in 4 days and my niece from ventilator to running about like a nutter within 8 hours!! I'm the same though, never get anything and I've been ill the last 2 weeks, I think there has been a rise in crazy germs lately.

I have FINALLY got the Xbox One for OH so I am all sorted happy chickens here.. I did order from 3 places mind.. the one I had on preorder since August is not guaranteed until the end of January!!! .. Once again Tesco came up trumps!


My best Christmas present ever.. DD1 is HOPEFULLY getting a house down my street.. she has been living in a hovel the last few years with my grandboy she has no heating or hot water so hopefully for Christmas she will get both.. and get the house here in a much nicer safer area away from her psychotic neighbour who has made threats of violence and is just a scumbag. *everything crossed*

Poor DS, I really hope he improves and I'm keeping it all crossed for your daughter!

freespirit66 wrote: »

Afternoon everyone, i have had a nightmare night, while i was typing post last night i kept hearing weird noises outside like popping and cracking noises, i thought what the hell is ndn doing at this time of night, i pressed send, then got up as i walked through conservatory i saw orange flames, again thought fgs why is he having a bonfire at this time of night and why up near the bungalows, then realised it was a fire in his shed, i heard a lot of shouting and 'they are on their way' so i woke DD1 up then someone was hammering down the door shouting 'fire get out, get out' i just went to mush as usual, DD1 practical as ever, said grab the dog and keys and we went running out, had to move her car onto the green, fire engines arrived, i was beyond terrified that it was going to spread to ours as we are joined, i have no house insurance, and was shaking from head to toe thinking oh god iv lost everything, (thats anxiety for ya) DD1 kept saying mum it doesnt matter we are all out safe thats all that matters!!! we were stuck out on the green for nearly 2 hrs while they put it out, thank god they caught it in time to contain it so it didnt spread, but the roofs of the sheds are made of asbestos :mad: so that was dangerous in itself, finally DD1 went over to firemen and asked if we could go back in they came in and checked house and garden over because fire had gone up telegraph pole and gone bang (ha can you believe i thought oh no i wont be able to talk to my xmas peeps) i thought it was just the phone line but it was electric box, said yes but we would be getting a knock in about 45 mins from electric board to cut off electric, i quickly boiled kettle as smoke had got on my chest and couldnt stop coughing, but bless em they got to it from ndn garden and fixed it so we were only without electric about 1 hr, so by the time we got to sleep it must have been gone 2am, woke up this morning with migraine, went back to bed then banging on door again about 11 :mad: we need to check your garden, omg i could hardly open my eyes and didnt even check who the hell they were :eek: so i am afraid its going to be another afternoon on the sofa watching a xmas film and this time i dont care one jot




So glad you have had a lovely few days, and you managed to get to xmas market with your lovely ndns and DD, i think i embarass my kids a lot too its our job!!



Lovely pics, ooh i cant wait to go to birmingham, we go up sunday and stay overnight and come back monday, i so need this break



Oh FEISTY there is a lot of it going around i thought you were going to say in sheer frustration you lobbed it at the wall but eating it is much better. I know it must be hard to stay positive and god if i was in your shoes it would all have defeated me by now, all you have had to put up with this year, but you arent called FEISTY for nothing, so keep your chin up, and get through it as best you can my lovely
BLUEEYEDGIRL sending you some anti CBA vibes over :rotfl:
QUIDSY hope you and DS have fun making your gingerbread house this weekend
MURIE sending you hugs honey
KISSMENOW sending you some pain free vibes my lovely that sounds blooming painful
FEVERTOTELL hope DS recovers quickly to enjoy his christmassy events

Right sorry i have taken up half a page i feel better now it is off my chest

Free spirit, my heart was in my mouth reading that, I was so worried! I'm so glad everything is okay - house insurance is top of our to get list too (especially with our luck).

Decorations are up, but we've gone for the minimalist look this year as neither of is is really feeling it. For the first time in years I am going out for my birthday tomorrow night. Usually I just have people round, or stay in as I know it's what DH would prefer, but in the spirit of being more selfish I am doing what I want to do

pixtotts

*raises hand* another come down with the CBA-itis...

Christmas shopping 99.9% done, stupidly the only thing left to get which is my responsibility alone is a pair of jeans or something for myself I bought 2 pairs of jeggings today one for me to have now because I bunged all of mine with holes in the rubbish this morning leaving me with just 1 good pair and another for someone to have for Christmas for me to get back and my mum to say she wants both pairs, I've refused... but means I have to go buy her some more. Also treated myself to new knickers, 3for £8 to have mum run off with 2 of the pairs. My mum steals anything bought near Christmas to wrap it, school shirts and batteries used to find their way into our stockings!

Before Tuesday I need to:
- put up decs < We're getting our tree tomorrow!! YAY!
- tidy my room,
- wrap mums presents
- do all my washing which seems to have grown into a mountain
- pack
- bottle off home made wine for Secret Santa

Before the big day
- make Christmas cards
- make truffles
- make squash jalouise
- wrap up secret santa stuff
- finish Chirstmas decopatch
- finish Christmas sewing

While I sit here procrastinating I thought I would share with you our outdoor lights we have a few more to go up yet but we're waiting for Christmas eve trees for them

x

Ruth_honey

Ha ha! My grandma used to do that too. Actually, my mum is doing it now. I bought two bargain jackets early in the year. She bought both of them off me and I had the autumn-y one for my birthday in June and the white furry hooded one for this Christmas (allowed to wear it from December 1st!)

Was just taking a pic of my hubby in his Christmas jumper to tweet for charity (posted about it yesterday if anyone wants to raise some cash very easily) and the cat jumped in the photo too.