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

System

Pinksteps wrote: »

I cannot as I am still in receipt of Child Benefit and that oh so helpful (not) man I text you about earlier told me if I give up my CB for Ds to claim anything it will be classed as fraud!!

We were advised to do just that ,we haven't received any tax credits for about 2 yrs now .I claimed ESA for dd as im her appointee ,once the claim had gone through i rang the child benefit line and told them they stopped the CB straight away but there was no problem. Dd gets £56 a week paid every 2 weeks after 14 wks it goes up to around £106 a week.

msgigglewick

Nanamia anytime you need a hand just shout... i've kept it quiet even away from my photo blog which meant i've missed alot of days this year cause i didn't want to bore that side of my life with food photos lol. I've recently taken up walking at least 5 miles a day.. yesterday was 7 so its slowly increasing.. trouble is im now not eating enough to keep my body from losing that last 13lbs lol so i might stay the same weight. we'll see.. my weigh in is on a thursday.

Murie i was going to knit black stockings and place the tescos very plain bag inside, never thought of making the coal as like you said it could be a bit messy. guess until someones tried it we won't know lol

Feisty .. is your new shop in bath? if so i might pop along some time and have a peak oh and to meet you of course i live in yeovil so not too far away and my brother lives in frome and works at bath hospital. Glad to hear your dh is finding something to be excited about and its one of your loves too.. now thats my kind of relationship

Spendless

I have posted here before, though I think only once, spending more of my time on the hamper thread. Glad I'm not the only one with itchy feet about the stores getting their Christmas stuff out and gets fidgety when they don't get their Home Bargains fix.:rotfl: though I re-discovered B&M last year too.:D

I already have my Mums present as this year it's slightly different. She has a beauty advent calendar. Full price it was £75 I think, wayyyy over budget but I bought it 1/2 price and put it away for this year. My Dad has requested a book, but he's going to have to get it as his hobby is clay pigeon shooting and it's just not mainstream enough for you to find gifts for this on the High St. I'm also going to get him a razorpit as he like my husband grumbles like mad about the price of razor blades and hubby swears by his.

girlinayellowdress

Request!!

Does anyone have a recipe for big chewy cookies, the type you can buy from supermarket with choc chunks etc in? I want to make some and freeze but would like a fail safe recipe please. X

MrsHayes

Hi

I have been a reader of this thread and it's predecessors for many years and always found it to be heartwarming and inspiring.

I have finally plucked up the courage to try to get involved this year as I would like this Christmas to be special seeing as last year did not really go to plan as I was suffering quite badly with depression (ending with me having a breakdown in the new year) as well as lots of issues with DH's family.

Just starting to get a few bits for Christmas as we have just heard we are getting £4000 back from NRAM due to our old loan be non compliant with the CCA. Whilst this is going to pay for a new boiler and pay a huge chunk off our credit card it will free up some extra money per month which means I can start my shopping a little bit early ( I had budgeted for starting in Oct)

Anyway i will go back and start catching up on previous posts now, Very much looking forward to getting involved. Please be gentle with me!

Snugglebunny8

Murie Im in fits thinking of people on the phone to the emergency services, eyes trained on the wierd lights bouncing around the park - and videoing your dog to put on Youtube!!!!

maybe green lights would be a good idea next, really freak them all out!

Snugglebunny8

hello and welcome MrsHayes ! am sorry to hear you had an unhappy Christmas last year, I hope we can help make this a very happy one! great news about your money back!x

Snugglebunny8

PS Sainsbugs have the Terry's Chocolate Orange segments in a festive style bag for £1, RRP is £2

quidsy

How about we start a list of foods for the Christmas pantry.

I will start & then the next person copies the existing list & adds their things to it, this will give people inspiration & also help remind us of what we need to get so that there is no last minute panick shops.

Only put things that can be bought, if you buy something to make a receipe then just put "Sausage meat (to make stuffing)" but don't add recipes unless someone asks specifically. This should work in the style of a shopping list.

I'll start with the obvious ones;

Turkey
Beef Joint
Pork Joint
Salmon side
Stuffing mix
Sausage meat (to make stuffing)
Sausages wrapped in bacon (or cocktail sausages & bacon)
Crackers for Cheese
Cheese selection board
Piccalilli
Branston Pickle
Turkey Gravy granules or ready made
Beef Gravy granules or ready made
Mince Pies
Christmas Pudding
Custard
Single cream
Double cream
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Brocolli
Cauliflower
Peas
Carrots
Potatoes (for mash & roast)


That's all I can think of for now

princesskitty29

Hi MrsHayes and welcome! :wave: Sorry to hear you had a tough time of it last Christmas and New Year, may this one be much happier and more positive for you. Do join in on here, it really helps!

Nanamia I hope all goes well with your dear friend and husband. x

Unfortunately I don't think we'll be able to claim anything for the oven, apparantly other people that have bought it have been going round in circles between the oven company selling it and the manufacturers with neither of them accepting liability. Plus it was already there when we bought the house, we have no idea how long the previous owners had it for. So I think we'll just have to get a new one.

I didn't get to look at my Studio catalogue last night between going to the gym, eating dinner, stressing about the oven, watching Emmerdale and GBBO! Hopefully I will get some peace tonight (after clearing the oven of the glass) to sit down and have a good peruse.