*Stop The Cavalry* It's The 2014 Christmas Chatter Thread

mandco

just a quick hi as still no laptop :mad:

belated birthday wishes mrsm
Omo hope they find out whats wrong and fingers gets home soon but sadly can honestly say it doesnt suprise me the treatment you get in a lot of hospitals is shockingly bad

don't mind the sunshine but another one here who hates the humidity its been way too muggy lately and even the rain yesterday hasn't helped. taz has finished for the summer and the others break up this wk so the next few wks will go pretty quickly if expensively and then its back to some real xmas planning as never get much done with prying eyes around.

freespirit how are your challanges going?
nanamia hope your doing ok

tc all and catch up soon

freespirit66

:bdaycake:HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANLEY :bdaycake:

Sorry its so late in the day i just havent been able to get on, but hope you have had a lovely day x

freespirit66

Evening everyone, my worst nightmare came true last night, you all know my absolute fear/terror of rats and mice well im sitting in the LR on my laptop, french doors open in the conservatory which is right next to me, saw something in the corner of my eye move a great big fat black rat came wandering in, i have never screamed so loud, literally threw my laptop, still screaming for DS, woke him up he thought i was being attacked!! I think it just ran out when i screamed but i made DS check about a dozen times, that was it full on migraine all night, ibs pain, all i could dream about was rats arrrghhh!! And boiling hot to boot :mad: today i just couldnt get out of the house quick enough so have been chauffeuring the kids round in DDs car (with air con on full) its so muggy here today it was actually as bad as Miami 25 years ago, i still cant settle everytime i hear or see something move i am so scared it will come back :(:(

CHRISSYG wrote: »

[QUOTE=freespirit66;66056500
CHRISSYG oh dear is DD still being sick, bless her! I hope she recovers soon
I have added Gaviscon into the mix ! she tried one spoonful at bedtime and it did have some effect but not perfect sp last night I gave her 2 and we have all for the first time in about 2 1/2 months had a full nights undisturbed sleep.:j just hoping it lasts
We have lots of lovely rain here at the moment my plants are in heaven.

CHRISSYG ahh that is brilliant news for you all especially DD hope tonight is just as successful

Gettingtherequickly wrote: »

Well, I sat down for a coffee & catchup, so far this morning, I have taken in the washing I did last night, put another load out and another on, emptied the bins, made a Christmas cake and allowed the Egyptian mob loose with my Next password. It is ridiculous, they have a Next near them and their sale prices are more expensive than the original prices here, even allowing for exchange rates.
Ooh, just got first whiff of the cake, should be done in half hour or so. Timings they give on recipes are stupid, apparently it should take 3 1/2 hours, no it won't:mad: Will take about 2hrs 20, then I will have a nice moist cake, helped by the copious amounts of rum it will be fed:D
Weather much more pleasant today, overcast but I can get things done.
OMO, how is Fingers today?

GETTINGTHEREQUICKLY mmm love the smell of christmas cake, sadly i dont make them anymore, no one eats it. It doesnt surprise me about the next prices in egypt. Oh god they really are vile things arent they, they get everywhere

DOODYGIRL i would give you my recipe for mince pies but i have mislaid a christmas pile of recipes, i think it is Sophie Grigsons, and they have cointreau/grand marnier and walnuts in the mincemeat will look for you

PIXTOTTS freespirit66 - thats a nice theory but I like to throw a spanner in the works me, born in May!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

We were meant to have 8 hr storm last night, never happened

MANDCO oops i have been on the naughty step i havent caught up at all with my challenges, i really need to sit down monday and start afresh, i am not giving up nice to see you back on

FeistyFidget

Own_My_Own wrote: »

Just popping quickly. I maybe AWOL for a bit longer. After being told yesterday that Fingers was coming home today, we have now been told he may be in for another 6 weeks. They can't find out what the infection is and without knowing that they can't treat him.
The hospital was in the news this morning as it's death rate is still too high. I think they are panicking incase we complain about the cast going on on Friday.

Hope everyone is well. x

Poor fingers I really hope they find the source of the location soon! Sending you all positive thoughts and hugs xxx

doodygirl wrote: »

Hi all anyone have any really good easy mince pie recipes? And christmas cake? I've just started baking a lot and have decide that I'm going to try home made Xmas cake and mince pies this year instead of buying them it makes it more personal but I need to try them first oh I love Xmas lol

We found this fragipane mine or recipe last year on nigella,s site. I loved it so much I blogged it

http://ramblingsofababymakingaddict.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/scrummy-frangipane-mince-pie-recipe.html

System

wow 11 hrs between posts that must be a record for this thread !

I hope everyone is ok , its never been this quiet.

Gettingtherequickly

Shorter gap to say it was actually 23 hours between Feisty & you CG!

newthrift

GTQ - mmm I love the smell of Christmas cake, this has reminded me I need to get ours made, will do that this week I think.
freespirit - that made me shudder, I cannot STAND rats/mice/frogs anything like that I am terrible with even spiders!! I hope it stops creeping you out when something moves soon though!! Yoga was lovely thanks, I think I do prefer pilates though, I was getting confused with breathing and when to move :doh:

I love the sun (I also love the snow) but I'm not a fan of humidity, it makes every task so much harder. My poor OH looked like someone had chucked water over him Saturday after a day in the garage with this weather!

OH wrote his best man speech yesterday, we just need to print the photo sheets out that he has done to go with it (they are going on each table). We managed to clean the house well yesterday, grouting the shower and such. A nice walk in the evening and then spent the night trying to keep cool :rotfl:My Xmas DVD's that I ordered have arrived :snow_grin Steaks out the freezer defrosting ready for tea later.
Roll on 5pm when I finish work, have a good day everyone :cool:

System

Gettingtherequickly wrote: »

Shorter gap to say it was actually 23 hours between Feisty & you CG!

oops read as pm not am;)

Ruth_honey

Gettingtherequickly wrote: »

Poor Fingers, hope that this is purely a precaution and he will be home sooner rather than later.

Another one who hates the heat, actually, it is the humidity as I love the heat in Egypt. Stuck in office, no air con but fan going like the clappers. To be fair, I have been told to buy a portable air con unit for my office as the other 2 have them, but my office is too small and it makes too much noise.

Went to see The Skylight last night, beamed into local cinema from theatre. Bill Nighy was in it and he was so funny, but worryingly, his character had traits which I could see in me :eek:

Oh, I wanted to see Skylight too. Theatre tickets were too expensive, so thought we'd do the NT live cinema thing, but when it came to it, I just couldn't be bothered to get on the tube and go to the O2 (local cinema is a bit scummy). It was too hot and I know the O2 would be heaving because that Monty Python thing was on, so finding a place to eat there wouldn't be easy. I hope it was good. I love Bill Nighy.

Gettingtherequickly wrote: »

http://www.imaginativeicing.demon.co.uk/ChristmasCakeRecipe.html

I use this one, especially good as it has different tin sizes and whether round or square. Been using it for the last few years, but will say, as per my earlier post today, do not go on the cooking times it gives. Once you start to smell it, check how long it has been in the oven, if alot less than the time given to cook it, give it another 10 mins or so and then skewer test in a couple of places, you can gauge yourself then. Suggest you print it, highlight alternate columns for ease and most importantly, laminate! Spilt cherry goo on it this morning which was solved with a wipe. May be teaching you to suck eggs here, but feed it when cold. My friends & family love this cake. Made one at the beginning of the year for a friends 70th and got so many compliments about how nice & moist it was that it became embarassing:o

Phase 2 of my day involved the general housework and I attacked the airing cupboard. Been putting off all week going through it so that I could sort out stuff for a homeless unit near me, most have come out of care and there until a permanent place can be found, so grateful for bed linen etc. Thank goodness for a 20 mins freshen up wash and dry day, but then I discovered things I shouldn't have been seeing:eek: Remember I had mice a few months ago, well the little s***s made nests amongst the towels, holes in the middle, so had to bin alot also, some had never been used. There had been nothing to indicate they had been in the bathroom. Oh well, at least the airing cupboard is tidy again!

You should've donated the towels to a vets or rescue shelter. The animals wouldn't have minded a few holes in the towels. I hate mice. Horrible things.

freespirit66 wrote: »

:bdaycake:HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANLEY :bdaycake:

Sorry its so late in the day i just havent been able to get on, but hope you have had a lovely day x

Happy birthday Hanley. And to anyone else I've missed since I last popped in.

For those Carole Matthews fans in here, her book 'A Place To Call Home' (non Christmassy) has gone down to £1.99 on kindle. I really enjoyed it and treated myself to it-along with Sunlounger 2 (collection of short stories from some great authors) and The Fault In our Stars. Now I need the brats upstairs to shut up so I can actually concentrate on reading! :mad:

pixtotts

Ruth_honey - I avoided the fault in our stars for ages convinced all the hype was over nothing, but my god, it's brilliant! It's now one of my favourite books that and One Day by David Nicholls
x