The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

wondercollie

First day of Summer! I can see some blue sky!
Got woken up super early for a nonwork Saturday by oldest son not turning off his alarm clock!


Spent days looking at flooring and new doors. Now that hubbie is retired he can be here to supervise the jobs but the prices are horrible. He's not the handiest of men and it's just less stress all around to have the jobs done professionally. But it's time for new flooring in the living room and dining room (not as posh as it sounds). We currently have dove grey wall to wall carpet. Hardwood is just too expensive so I'm looking at laminates. Then do you do the stairs or not?


Front and back door, he wants to replace with newer models but we won't see much change from around $2000 if we do it.


Then you worry about turning the house into a never ending project and money pit.


Sorry to moan but everything he wants to do is going to cost around $10K. A huge chunk of money and he just doesn't get it. I've looked after the bills since day one and planned every change to every house we ever owned. I did the window replacement over 3 years because I didn't want to take a bank loan to do it. So that was $18K but it didn't seem so bad if you know what I mean by doing it gradually.


So he'll be out in the garden all day.


Only real plan for the weekend is Mr. Collies charity dogwalk tomorrow. It raises funds for the SPCA and at one point in his life he was a resident of their shelter. So we give back for helping him find us.

monnagran

Wondercollie: Totally agree about houses. I had to sell my cottage because it was getting too expensive to have repairs done. Not helped by it being listed and once all the historical authorities got involved costs went through the roof. Although it was beautiful I was glad to be shot of it in the end. Still own a house though DS2 is living in it and taking care of repairs etc. Living in the Rev's manse is an absolute joy. Anything that goes wrong just entails a phone call and the church puts it right. YAY!!!!!

Thanks for the pork mince suggestions. I found a nice recipe for pork and herb burgers which I will try next week. We are steadily ploughing through a great multitude of chicken breasts which were obviously on a very special offer at some point. The Rev said that she had no idea how many different ways chicken could be presented. Felt like a change this weekend and planned to indulge in a couple of lamb chops. Once I had recovered from the shock of seeing the prices I remembered why we so seldom ate lamb. Ah well, so it's chicken again then.

It's very hot here today and the Rev has spent all day out in it. As chaplain to the British Legion she has to appear at Armed Forces Day events, and it usually rains. Never mind, tomorrow she has a big parade service but she is spared the marching with drummers drumming, buglers bugling, flags waving etc and can sit in a nice cool church waiting for them all to arrive.

Me? I'm off to find the 101st way of cooking chicken.

x

Knit_Witch

Coronation Chicken and salad Monna?

monnagran

Thanks Knit Witch. Been there. Done that. Have some cream left from when we had strawberries earlier, and also found a tin of condensed Chicken soup lurking in the cupboard so I'll mix the cream, soup, a slug of mayonnaise and a bit of curry paste and cook the chicken in that. It can simmer gently in the oven whille I'm listenning to the Rev doing her bit next door.

x

Knit_Witch

monnagran wrote: »

Thanks Knit Witch. Been there. Done that. Have some cream left from when we had strawberries earlier, and also found a tin of condensed Chicken soup lurking in the cupboard so I'll mix the cream, soup, a slug of mayonnaise and a bit of curry paste and cook the chicken in that. It can simmer gently in the oven whille I'm listenning to the Rev doing her bit next door.

x

Hmm may sound daft but why not look at some of the Quorn pieces recipes and use diced chicken breast instead? Maybe something like THIS, or I have Nick Nairns 100 things to do with Chicken if that would help any

monnagran

Thanks KW, that's a brilliant idea. I'll give it a whirl. At the moment I'm trying to concoct meals using up what I have in the cupboards already as I don't want to have to pack too much when we move. But I don't think a tin of coconut milk is pushing the boat out too much.

x

burtha

All this talk of chicken recipes is making me hungry, even though I am a veggie !
Have worked lots of hours over the last 24 ,doing 3 different jobs ,just in now and quite wash and brush up before we go out for an hour for friends surprise party ...dh out at 5 in the morning as will not be staying out long ,both of us have a lot on tomorrow ...
Still no sign of baby ...
X

Knit_Witch

Hmm not sure what herbs and spices you have but THIS is another good one (we do it with Quorn fillets rather than chicken as I am Vegetarian )

Knit_Witch

burtha wrote: »

All this talk of chicken recipes is making me hungry, even though I am a veggie !
Have worked lots of hours over the last 24 ,doing 3 different jobs ,just in now and quite wash and brush up before we go out for an hour for friends surprise party ...dh out at 5 in the morning as will not be staying out long ,both of us have a lot on tomorrow ...
Still no sign of baby ...
X

Blimey Burtha!, enjoy the party and baby arrival vibes being sent

burtha

Party should be good ,and at least dh can have a couple of pints ,he has just worked 25 days nonestop without a break ...at least we should be able to clear some of the bills that built up when I was off due to crash/tumor .... Hence why both of us are working as much as poss ,I just have to juggle childcare as well ,ho hum