I have lost my OS ways, help!

Caterina

Good morning,

Bella enjoy your knitting, it's the right weather for it.

Villagelife good luck with the declutter, it is a long slog but worthwhile in the end (says she who has yet to start).

Today's OS plan:

Breakfast and DH's packed lunch sorted. Online 0cad0 shop done using a 20% off voucher, some of the items came up cheaper than A!di, I chose offer stuff and added the discount. Other stuff such as tofu I got because I can't find it in discount supermarkets. Very pleased, £40 bought me a lot of stuff and stocked up on dishwasher tablets.

Next, pick up hammer in shop for friend's birthday present (his request, a big OSer!), then off to do some admin errands.

While out I shall also pick up some picnic items for tonight, as DH and I are going to the theatre, got two free tickets for Made In Dagenham and as it is Friday no restaurant discounts are available, so we have a snack picnic and then soup on our return. Nice and cheap. And we might stretch to a pint out before the theatre.

Have a good OS day.

moments_of_sanity

Good Afternoon All,

I had a lovely relaxing day yesterday and did absolutely nothing, apart from cooking dinner last night. Today I had to take the car into the garage as the blue tooth part of the radio had stopped working but replaced under warranty so I cannot fault the service. We have a Hyundai IX35 and the radio and sat nav are all part of the same unit so we not only get a new radio but we get an brand new up to date sat nav as well

Whilst I was out, I also popped into M&S as I bought a Groupon deal some weeks ago, paid £6 for a £10 voucher so I have been waiting for the Dine in for £10 offer to come along. We have a huge chicken, potato and onion bakes, a large Apple pie and a bottle of wine all for £6 so a lovely treat for this weekend, DH will be pleased.

I have a mountain of paperwork to catch up on as my DD keeps house rabbits and their indoor house makes it difficult to get to the filing cabinet but DH moved them for me this morning and I can now get on with that, let's hope I find all our birth certificates and the change of name deed for my girls as i couldn't find them last time I looked for them! :eek:

Wishing you a lovely OS day x

villagelife

Today I have stayed in so far will have to go out soon to collect DS2 and then DH both from the same station but at different times!

I have made soup today ready to freeze for lunches next week.I'm about to make meatballs for tea.

Have cleaned the house and thrown out some stuff that we don't need and can't be recycled or given away.

Spent time in the garden and planted some onion sets, sorted out the compost heap and cleaned out my chickens.

moments_of_sanity

Evening All, it's been a bit quiet on this thread for a couple of days so hope everyone is OK.

A nice quiet weekend for us and I only popped out for a couple of hours to see my Aunt and Uncle, DH popped out to Ald!'s this morning to get a couple of Christmas decorations as he likes to have lights outside but didn't spend too much at all.

DD2's Birthday yesterday and as we couldn't be with her we arranged for her BF to take her to Boulevard Brasserie in Convent Garden, bill for us was £50 which I was really surprised about! It is a lot to spend for a meal out but I prefer celebrating Birthdays rather than Christmas as they seem more personal. I got a text from them both saying the food was amazing and so much of it

I need to do a meal plan for next week and don't need to buy anything at all as I have everything in that we would need and anything we don't have will be left off the menu. Dinner today is pulled pork and the smell from the slow cooker is delicious, can't wait to eat it. The pork joint was from Ald!'s a couple of weeks ago when they had pork on offer so cost us £2.89 but this will easily do 6 meals so not too bad price wise.

I have had to switch the heating on as our bedroom which is an extension over the garage is getting damp. I like a cold room but everything seems damp or cold, I have switched off all other radiators as the rest of the house is warm enough. I have set the thermostat to 16 degrees which has made a huge difference already! :j

I have only got a couple of Christmas presents left to by so will try and do that in the next week or so, although DH will end up with nothing if he doesn't give me some idea of what he would like! :mad:

Hope you all have a lovely OS Sunday evening x

Caterina

Good evening,

MOS great bargain on groupon, and happy belated birthday to your DD!

Villagelife well done on your cleaning, you have inspired me so I have done some today too.

After a really lazy morning with a lie in that stretched into the afternoon (in bed watching the Wartime Kitchen and Garden on iPad) I got up, made lunch then did a lot of bits and pieces of housework, tidied laundry and ironed the last 3 shirts. A first, no ironing mountain! But a laundry one that needs tackling, just waiting that all the other stuff dries so I have space to hang the next load.

Then I prepared dinner. The men did such good work in the kitchen with their DIY, finally I have doors on my cupboards and a metal hanging rack for pots pans and drying herbs. It is really taking shape.

So I wanted to cook them something nice. I made a vege mince and tatties pie, gravy and saut!ed broccoli, then stewed Apple and berries with custard. They loved it.

Then while they finished their DIY I scrubbed the cooker clean, all the little burnt bits on the cooking rings, the hood, wiped the inside of the oven doors, it looks really good now. I also did a great load of dishwashing as I finished the dishwasher tablets and they are due to arrive with the Tuesday delivery. As I explained to DS, nobody has ever died of washing dishes by hand!

Then DH and I watched War Horse on TV.

Naturally, a NSD today. Not counting the hooks DS bought in the DIY shop, I give up, there is always something, screws, drill bits, you name it. They are out of a bottomless "building" budget and not covered by my jurisdiction, so I don't count them as regular spends.

Hope you all had a good OS weekend, good night.

clutterydrawer

Hi all

A bit late to this thread but hope I can be vaguely encouraging to any one who still doesn't have a kitchen (hopefully not the OP as it's been a while!)...I don't have a kitchen and won't have for at least another year as I'm a student living in a very questionable bedsit.

I have a microwave and a hotplate. Any washing up has to be done in a bowl in my room with water carried from the (shared) bathroom which is almost always in use, which is why I'm even more reluctant to wash up than I was previously!

For this reason I have lived almost entirely off salads incorporating tinned pulses. Now it is winter I've been making a lot of one pot soups/stews of no particular recipe. Also kedgeree, stir fry, pancakes stuffed with things, microwaved sweet potatoes with salad...and some other things which I forget.

Anyway I know all this is not exactly groundbreaking but I wanted to prove that you can be OS with no kitchen! Although I must confess that I completely failed this afternoon, and bought chips instead. Whoops.

Caterina

Good morning,

A warm welcome to Clutterydrawer, thank you for the encouragement re. no kitchen! Luckily as you say mine is finally functional, although it took more than 5 months and we still have problems left by the electrician from hell! But these are being addressed and I have a fully working kitchen.

I think the problem is more for a family with small children, like Icey77 with a toddler and a baby. I had just 3 adults so we managed OK with 2 hotplates. But not having my kitchen space and relying on quick carby meals put me on a stone which now I am struggling to lose again.

My OS plan for today goes like this:

Put a load of laundry on, then go to tai chi in the park (if teacher there) or gym (if he is not in the park). Then a spot of shopping, need eggs and salad stuff, then back home for lunch and DS asked me for help filling job applications.

Hang laundry.

3.30 pm work with the boys, pick up from school and give them dinner. Back home cook and have dinner with my men, then babysitting.

Not wildly exciting but hey ho, I am content! Sometimes I wish I still had a career then remember the office politics, the line managers, having to ask permission to take holidays, the struggle with stupid, rude and obstinate people in a place of "power" (or that's what they thought) and I thank God a million times and more that I am finally able to be out of that mayhem! Ah, I forget, the commute! I feel more than lucky, I feel blessed.

My work at the moment consists of a few hours of babysitting and I have recently registered as self employed to increase my mystery shopping activities. I have registered with a few agencies and get regular assignments. They only bring few pounds in but it's a job and I have no managers breathing down my neck. I do my job conscientiously and stick to agreed times so I have no problems with the agencies.

I would love to do a few demos of products in supermarkets but am not sure I could stand up for 8 hours at a stretch. I will explore this to find out if there are shorter shifts.

Have a good OS day.

Icey77

I've not been around for weeks

I have a kitchen ... sort of! It is a working kitchen by night but during the day I have to share it with builders, electricians, plumbers and soon painters! I have to admit, as nice as they all are, I'm fed up of them all and I want my house back to myself. We've come to the conclusion that we may have a finished house by Christmas but it won't be a decorated or re-carpeted/floored house. Hey ho!!

NSD are rare as hens teeth here at the moment, every day we have to shell out for the build in some way. Or even in unexpected spends for things like calpol which I "know" I have tons of but as it's all packed away in the Room of Doom I can't find it so have to buy more (Frog woke up with painful ears today and after a visit to the Drs calpol and nurofen are the order of day)

I have pages and pages to catch up on so will start now xx

tatabubbly

Had a few OS days here, charity shop books for me and I mended my OH trousers and managed to alter a dress I bought in new look for pittance! Delighted with myself!

Only €20 left in the bank account and its a week to pay day now! Have a buy 1 get one free voucher for the restaurant at the weekend so I've only to pay for drinks!!

Determined to start December right! Got a few cheapie Xmas bits for around the house and a lovely friend gave me some handmade tree decorations!

moments_of_sanity

Evening All,

I think I am having a bad case of brain fog here at the moment as I visited 3 shops last week that would have all sold rinse aid for the dishwasher and every time I have got home and then remembered I had forgotten to buy it, so tonight I have asked DH if he would pop in and get some....let's hope he doesn't forget it either! :eek:

This afternoon I made a German spiced apple cake in my Bundt tin but I think I was a bit enthusiastic in trying to get it out as it now looks like a flat mess but I am sure when covered up with custard no one will notice, it tastes nice though

Other than making the cake it has been a very quiet and relaxing day, tonight's dinner is HM chicken and mushroom pie (although I am cheating with the pastry as i don't think my arms or hands are up to making any), we will have that with cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, cabbage and mash which is all prepped and ready to go once DH comes home.

DD has taken the youngest dog for a walk as we can only walk one at a time, they weigh 55kgs between them and pull like steam trains and with her being a little over 5ft and a size 6 she doesn't really stand much chance of remaining upright, when walked on their own they walk lovely, no pulling or anything! :mad:

I hope you all have a lovely OS evening and stay nice and warm as it feels like the temperature has dropped very quickly here x