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

monnagran

All quiet here tonight. DB and SiL gone home after a lovely couple of days, we missed them when they went but we are going up to them for a few days in January.
House still clean and tidy but I know that the status quo will be restored very quickly. Very nearly finished Christmas preps - a couple of days should do it. Still have another stocking to knit as someone missed them at the Christmas Fair and pleaded with me so eloquently that I couldn't say no. I have found that there is a knitting circle at church (Chicks with Sticks) so I might give them a go in the New Year.

I am heartily sick of carols already - what with the church services, special carol services, singing in Homes and Hospital (as if they didn't feel bad enough already!) Singing in the Town, Singing in Sainsbugs (that should send their profits for the year plummeting) and carols every time you switch on TV or radio. Thank heavens for my MP4 player and sound system.

Fuddle - I always used to hate this period before Christmas, usually brought on by exhaustion. You say that there is no reason to feel down. I can think of loads of things that will be on your mind. Be kind to yourself and take things gently. It's OK not to be full of enthusiasm and energy, you don't have to be superwoman, although you usually are. I won't give you a sermon or a lecture (this time) I just want to love you into taking time for yourself and to just BE.

Ivyleaf: Hope the water situation gets sorted out. It's horrid when you can't shower and wash your hair isn't it? Wipes are all very well but they don't leave you feeling very fresh. I relied on them a lot when I was in India but longed to feel water cascading over me.

wonder collie: Everything crossed for the job. The wait for an answer seems endless, doesn't it?

x

Floss

fuddle wrote: »

... I have to say I am feeling very down of late. I can't seem to shake the miseries. It's a very frustrating place to be because there is absolutely nothing wrong! I just don't understand it.

Hope all is ok with everyone.

Nargleblast wrote: »

fuddle I think part of the winter miseries is down to the short days. Here the official time of sunrise is about 08:20 and sunset is about 15:40. We are heading for the darkest time of the year, until the Solstice around the 21st when the days start lengthening again. Maybe it is just psychological, but I do feel better once we get to Solstice.

I was about to add the same - the days are at their shortest until 21st December (a week on Sunday) and then they start to get a bit more daylight in them. Maybe it's this plus a bit of worry about what's going on elsewhere?

Pooky

Evening all

Utterly pooped tonight but need to wait up for DD's to come home (well I don't, they both have keys but it's nicer if I do). DD1 is at work and DD2 is out for a Christmas meal with the village youth club volunteers - nice for her to be out as a grown up (even though she's the youngest volunteer), the eldest is in his 80's with a wide range in between - I'd have been ever so nervous in her position at her age but she was looking forward to it and raring to go.

Your tea sounds fab Fuds - thankfully I bunged some mince, veg and gravy in the slow cooker this morning so just made some dumplings up to add to it - slop it on the plate and scoff with a glass of wine. Was just what I needed this evening.

Kittens are growing at an alarming rate and are just adorable, the fluffy one keeps trying to suckle on anything and everything, we're trying to discourage her but bless her she gets so fixated on it. They've been venturing upstairs more and more and even had a couple of brief sniffs in the garden this week.....but then the wind blew and they ran back inside for cover.....I don't blame them!

Off to Brugges with DD2 on Wednesday for the day - I took DD1 last year - very un-MSE but lovely to build memories with them separately. The coach is cheap, picks up from the village and only take a couple of hours. Makes for a nice day out and it's very, very festive.

ivyleaf

Hi all

just a very quick post to say my op went fine and i'm okay today apart from achy hips and fuzzy brain. Well, even fuzzier than usual I'll post properly when all the sedation's finished wearing off. thanks for your good wishes. I'm reading along in the meantime.

(((HUGS)) to everyone in the meantime, and Sheila I hope your op went well too, been thinking of you xx

camelot1001

ivyleaf, pleased to hear that everything went well, hope your recovery is speedy.
sheila, how are you?
fuddle, I think you are allowed a little down time considering what you have been/are coping with. I hope you feel better very soon.
pooky, your kittens sound like so much fun.

So many of you are having a rough time at the moment, it's a very stressful time of year for many and with the present weather and lack of daytime, it can feel so depressing. Still, not long until the shortest day!

Mrs LW and pooky, I hope you both have wonderful trips, I so wish I could go to the christmas markets abroad but term time work puts paid to that.

I have surprised myself this morning, I took a trip to the big blue and yellow shed and bought some curtains, thermal linings and a curtain pole. I had to shorten the curtains and then sew the linings in as they are for the front door. The pole is up and looks relatively straight, the curtains are finished and hanging well and it is now all warm and cozy! The front door is double glazed but with a window above there is a lot of glass, hoping this makes a difference. One problem - it is now incredibly dark in the hallway, will have to get a brighter lamp!

DD is out for tonight, going out with friends and staying in Glasgow (cheaper than getting a taxi home) so I can do as I please. Tea may be a packet of crisps and a chocolate bar but I don't care!

Hope you all have a safe and enjoyable weekend.

SpikyHedgehog

camelot1001, I've put a curtain up over the front door and over the doorway into the living room (the cat doesn't believe in closed internal doors, so I can't shut the door into the living room :rotfl:) and it is much cosier in there and warmer in the living room and upstairs with the curtains up, but darker, as you found.

I found a plug in nightlight leftover from when the boys were little and put it in the hallway through a timer switch, so it comes on before we get home and stays on till bedtime, making it feel slightly lighter and psychologically warmer . If the hallway were big enough for a side table, I'd put a lamp in there through the timer instead. But it's too tiny for that. I need to put another upstairs now as I've blocked out the streetlights with the curtains, so the landing is too dark for me to find my way to the loo at 3 am unless I put my bedside lamp on

We had pasta and chickpeas tonight, in tomato sauce. Pasta from a pack of gluten free pasta my friend gave me as she doesn't like it, chickpeas from a batch cook-up of dried chickpeas that I weighed out and froze, sauce from garlic and onions, olive oil and pureed roasted tomatoes from a batch I did when I got reduced toms round at MrT's express (inspired by fuddle to roast with onions and olive oil at the bottom of the oven which was on for dinner, pureed and frozen in empty marge tubs). Pleasantly old style and happily minimum effort.

Which was handy as I've been busy today cleaning, tidying and sorting DS2's bedroom. He was out with Scouts at our local Scouts' campsite, planting trees, chopping up deadwood and making fires, minus his base layers which he decided he wouldn't need. I also cleaned the inside of the car, but not the outside as it was too sunny till the sun went down, and then too cold... Got 2 loads of washing on the line, which are now finishing off on the clothes horse.

DS2 is getting very stressed on the way home each evening as there are lots of houses we go past with flashing Christmas lights at the fronts of the houses. It's the first year he's been able to say what was stressing him about them - or previous years, he hasn't had the sensory overload from the visual stuff so much. I found his sunglasses earlier in his room, so will get him to wear them on the way home.

fuddle

Just after I posted yesterday evening I had a call to see if I would cover illness. I really didn't want to but I agreed. Pleased I did as it helped me get out of my low mood. Can't be low when you're helping people to bed that struggle to just be.

Anyway. I should be posting that I have made mince pies and those crackers that I want to do with the kiddies but still haven't done it. We decided, in our fuddle family wisdom, that it would be better for the girls if they had more space and had our room. We're now squished in the back bedroom with them having the master. Both girls have their own space and part of room that they are responsible for in tidying. It should help with their bickering/frustrations and we are pretty happy with our new bijoux cosy digs. The only problem being pink so we will be purchasing white paint tomorrow and whiting it out. White, my wood and my earty blankets... oh, I am very excited to relax in my new space (just hope the boiler isn't too annoying :rotfl: )

For tea we have had hot beef sandwiches. Bit meat and gravy in the slower cooker, whacked in a bun - quicker than a takeaway!

I love winter solstice. It could well be psychological based on the dullness of everything and I do have things on my mind but seem a bit better today.

Dippypud

Mince pies done ...


and DS2 decluttered to the train station as he has a Christmas dinner to attend ...


a dinner suit on the DLR, ( London driverless trains), I hope he'll be Ok ...

Softstuff

Glad to hear the op went well Ivyleaf.

Went to my friends huge family Christmas lunch yesterday. They have it a bit early so everyone can go (there's even some that fly in - including a famous relative from the telly!). It was delightful and they were very welcoming of us, even though we're just friends not family. Must send a thank you card.

Much love to everyone here who's feeling under the weather or under stress.

SpikyHedgehog

Aw, fuddle, bet the girls were so excited at getting a new room! Hope they can share it well. I love being able to pull dinner together quicker than a takeaway.

I'm glad being called into cover sickness at work had a good impact on you. I've realised I often feel rubbish over the summer holidays, & I think it's lack of being at work and being able to help people who need it.

DS2 said he didn't know why I'd sorted his room 'as it will just get messy again'... Thanks for the honesty, sweety! I did suggest he not have it get messy again, &.reminded him that he has more room to play when he keeps his clothes in the chest of drawers instead of spread over the floor...