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

silvasava

Fuddle - I just keep a small plastic pint bottle of semi skimmed 'just in case' I havn't had any problems with the bottle splitting either. Just make sure you either defrost at room temp or if in a hurry I put it in a bowl of cold water. DONT defrost in the microwave!! (but you knew that;))

monnagran

Fuddle: 'Unplug the Christmas Machine' is about how Christmas has become commercialised and goes right back to pre-Victorian times to trace how we've reached the madness that goes on today. When I've finished reading it I'll send it on to you.

There is nothing more OS than having stuff delivered. When I was growing up absolutely everything was delivered. Remember, hardly anyone had a car and although every street had a corner shop it was usually only used for the rations. Milk, fish, vegetables, and bread (sh! in a horse and cart) were delivered as a matter of course, and when rationing had eased Mum used to take her order up to the grocers and it was put together and delivered. My first Saturday job was putting up the weekly orders in an 'Open All Hours' type of shop. The meat was delivered by a boy on a bicycle with an enormous basket in front of the handlebars.

You carry on getting stuff delivered.

Possession: Yeah, some days are just like that. Just put on your blinkers and concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other until it's time to crawl into bed and pray that tomorrow will be be different.

Nursemaggie: Your christmasses sound very much like mine were. I remember a rather clumsily built wooden scooter - yes, even the wheels. Boy, was that scooter heavy! I also remember the Christmas Mum queued for a couple of hours to get me a bar of chocolate for my stocking. There was an alert during the night and we all, including my stocking secreted under Aunty's dressing gown, spent the night in the cellar. When we emerged on Christmas morning a mouse had nibbled right through the stocking AND through my precious bar of chocolate. Mum was so distraught that she cut all round the hole and I ate the outside edges of the choc bar. She was horrified when recounting this story in later years and wondered how she could have done such a thing.
I nearly told this tale when I was doing my Health & Hygiene course but I think the shock might have been fatal to the examiner.

Who started me off on this?
Maggie! It's your fault.

Goo'night.

x

stiltwalker

savingqueen wrote: »

This year I am making teachers a tiny gift instead of buying, first year for that. I like the "thinking of other"s part, being cosy and having some downtime with people you love, eating a little special food, the decorations, carols etc but the commercial side, the competitive side (who has the biggest light display type of thing), the need to be nice to people you don't like.... all that I detest. We can all make our own Christmas, winter solstice or whatever celebration we like at that time of year.

At the end of the summer term rather than doing individual pressies (which would have cost me a fortune with 1 teacher, 1 class TA, 3 current support TAs and 1 who had supported DD for 2 terms of the year) I sent a platter of tapas style treats on the Monday of that last week of term for all staff to snack on in the staff room - both my parents were teachers and TBH there are only so many ornaments/mugs/chocs they can cope with - treats for the last week of term went down very well and I think I may be very unpopular if I don't repeat it next year! I did a jar of olives/jar sun dried toms/couple of packs nice savoury biscuits/couple of cheese/couple of packs of Spanish deli sliced meats/cheese straws (all on offer in Mr T as it was summer offers stuff), the Christmas equivalent is prob biscuits/chocs/nuts and a cheap nutcracker and a bag of satsumas arranged prettily on a disposable (or charity shop cheap) tray.


Take care all - Hx

mardatha

Woke up at 6 with what seems to be an abcess building on my front top tooth. Waiting for the dentist to open now so I can phone. Then have to make the RV drive me all the way down there and listen to him moaning about diesel...

kezlou

ouch mar that sounds painful

We used to get deliveries where we used to live, but then i cancelled them. Kept getting stolen, always had it replaced though. The milkman was so funny, used to buy bread and eggs off him. Had to cancel unfortunately in the end, the price went up £14.95 a week for 14 pints. Couldnt afford it as we sometimes go through 4 pints a day with OH and the kids.

Organic veg used to be delivered but then it tripled in price and i couldn't afford.

Felt so guilty stopping it all, but what could i do.

Found a local grocer who delivers so will be starting orders for that next week.

We always used to have our shopping delivered right up until about 1995, then the owners retired and new owners stopped deliveries. Everyone loved the service and the shop was veyr popular. New owners took over and that was it, closed in 2003 due to lack of custom. Such a shame.

silvasava

Oooh - what a nostalgic lot you are! Monna - my job was checking Mum's deliveries of groceries against her list in her little book & woe betide any thing left off or substituted (especially if it was more expensive!) I too had some home made christmas presents. A beautiful bungalow when I was about 6 that you lifted the roof off by the chimney to get at the rooms - all made out of cardboard. It had parquet flooring, bay windows and a metal front door. I think my mum may have designed it! I also had a wooden sewing box when I was about 10 that had a lift out tray. Both long gone as my mum was definitely NOT a hoarder - shame.
Nostalgia aint what it used to be - haha

silvasava

Mardy - ouch! Hope you can get it sorted quickly x

FairyPrincessk

Morning all,

Oh, Mar that sounds painful. Perhaps your glare of doom will silence the RV.

SQ--big hugs. Hang in there.

I had a very full day yesterday, but met some lovely students who all seem enthusiastic. Back onto working from home today, and my first day back at the gym for about a month now. I feel mostly better, but will still take it easy and see how I get on.

OH had started dinner and surprised me with a cake last night. He made it from a wright's bag and it was lovely. It was his first time baking, apart from pizza dough.

I always wanted milk delivered in glass bottles. We don't use enough or have a reason to justify it, and it is increasingly hard to find glass delivery, so we don't.

Fuddle-I say go for the delivery. If it keeps your family fed, helps your life run smoothly and takes some stress out of the every day then I think it is well worth it. The important thing is that you know that if something did change and you needed to go without you could. No sense in making life harder just for the sake of it!

Possession

Hope you get it better quickly Mar.
Stilty I love the sound of your tapas plate. My parents were both teachers and would have loved it. I already have xmas Cath Kidston mugs from when they were cheap last year so will be using those up (although DD's teacher is a man so might not appreciate it so much ha ha!).
DS still poorly but not too poorly to watch Doctor Who.
Toy/rubbish clearance of his room ongoing. It's peculiar though, he has gone from a boy who never wanted to get rid of anything to saying he barely wants to keep anything. I'm not arguing but I hope he doesn't regret it. At this rate we'll have nothing left in the house.

kezlou

SQ how are you doing chick?
Its hard but you'll get through it.
It wasn't my birthday, just a friend saw a bracelet and decided to get me it it. Its purple with dragonflys all around it.

its weird outside, pretty sure its going to lash it down. Yesterday was lovely and the sky went so dark about half six. Rained a little and i managed to get ds2 to play in the rain. His sensory issues stop him. He started saying "mammy mammy the rains warm" He then ran in got changed and snuggled up to piggy and raffe.

Lil bro didn't go to therapy, i was fuming, but thought well thats life. So spent 30 minutes reading while waiting for ds2 to finish football. Didn't get home till half five, went dizzy and faint, so ended up in a$da buying fresh basic 12" pizza for £2 for 2 (bargain) and huge bag of potato croquettes for a £1. OH didn't get back till 9. Poor bloke is shattered.

Yesterday i spent the running around like blue as$$ed fly. Had to go to the bank, therapy for lil bro, meetings at school and again at bank. Das enjoying his dementia therapy session, so really happy about that.

My glasses broke so had to go and order another pair.Paid and ordered two new pairs of glasses £85 luckily they were buy one get one free.So at least have two pairs now.

Have to admit christmas for starts on 1st December with hot choccy and christmas film. WE celebrate christmas, but for us especially we do little things every day right up till christmas. We make decorations, bake things for christmas. Bake gifts for teachers and make a special hot chocolate mug with marshmallows and sprinkles.Teachers enjoy it, i think lol

But as for presents generally myself and OH make presents for the kids. They have a stocking which we fill. But we don't go mental. Dont do christmas cards, dont see the point. Instead the children draw pictures an individual poems to grandparents.
We celebrate solstice, collect pine cones ready for decorating. For us its more about spending time together as a family and connecting with one another. Christmas Day we have a dinner, which ds1 adores, ds2 is happy with cranberry sauce, stuffing and puddings lol

But yes everything is stripped back to basics.
Middle of december we take a trip for the christmas tree, ds1 and 2 assist OH with picking and chopping the tree themselves. Come back decorate it switch of all the lights and bask in the glow.
All very chilled out and relaxing.
We decided a long time ago to leave the commercialism behind and to be honest our children love it and really enjoy our old style traditional holiday.

Last year we had a two headed tree lol:rotfl:
Who knows what we'll find this year what can i say were an odd lot. Nothing is coordinated, chaotic looking but we love it. Its what makes life so good.

Doped up today so better get off my backside and wash breakfast pots up. Hate cleaning