* Walking in a Winter Wonderland * - It's the 2015 Christmas Chatter Thread

lazysheep

MoneyMission2015 wrote: »

I want to try & find a warm snuggly throw for both my sisters, but at a reasonable price. I'm going to keep looking but if anybody knows of anywhere then please let me know.

I have seen a microfibre comfort blanket in the Lidl leaflet for next week (13 - 19 August) with all the Spanish week offers in. It's 150 x 200 cm according to the advert in bright colour squares for £7.99. Don't know what sort of price you are looking for or what the quality is like yet. Primark also tend to have fleece-type blankets in towards the autumn/winter.

System

Hello all ,
I am finally getting my rear end into Christmas mode.


I have DD's main gifts and know what I'm getting my OH so that's a start.


My DD is going on a supported holiday in Jan so all her requests are holiday based [sun cream /sunglasses/toiletries etc] so I feel a holiday hamper coming on.

Spendless

Have spent some of today whilst DD is at dance camp looking through my present cupboard.

Have enough 'bits' for DD, so if the job situation doesn't improve, can get by here with a main present and some additional stocking fillers.

Looking though the rest of the stuff, I Spent most of the morning, wondering why on earth I'd bought DS who is 15 a batman toothbrush set. Don't get me wrong, he likes the marvel comic characters and I buy them, but bubble gum toothpaste and a kids toothbrush??? By lunchtime I'd realised I hadn't bought this at all, but my in-laws who are notoriously poor at gift buying had and I'd put it away to gift it to a summer fayre or something. There are no younger boys I buy for. Phew, really thought I was losing the plot!

I had a look through the Jack Wills bag. That has far more lovely toiletries in than I had realised, which initially threw me a problem as I don't think DD who is 12 will appreciate/use them, but she heavily hinted at wanting a bag like the one I have and since there are restrictions on what bags she can use from September (no handbag style) this would fit her PE kit in nicely. So, what I've thought is to divide up the toiletries between daughter and Niece and put Niece's into some sort of container or hamper and add to it some stationery I came across, which again won't suit DD but will suit Niece who's a teacher.

I popped in Home Bargains and picked up Chitty Chitty Bang Bang dvd for £2.99. Those who remember me posting on previous years threads, may recall that DD attends drama classes and one of her fellow students is up for a role in this. So depending on if he gets the part will depend on whether I give it DD who may want to watch it ahead of a live show, or to my Mum who says she needs to watch more musicals cos of the drama school productions dd is in and she isn't familiar with them all!

A heads up for anyone who buys Da*id W*lli*ms books as Christmas presents. It is B*llion*ire B*y that will be broadcast this year on tv. I'm not giving away confidential stuff here as it's already been announced but I do know auditions are taking place soon.;) so please excuse the asterisks. :shhh:

Also in HB I picked up an eraser for 39p they had loads of them, all different animals with the TY brand. They do come apart so won't be suitable for very young children. I got DD a Unicorn. She spends half her life wishes she was or owned a Unicorn or Mermaid.

FeistyFidget

freespirit66 wrote: »

Evening everyone,

3FORHOLIDAYS wow that is good going still, 1million for 25 people, there is some dedication going on there

LINZ blimey the advent calendars as well, that is early, i must try and get into town and have a look

PINKNFLUFFY ah bless her, i hope it is a case of onwards and upwards and not downwards when she goes back, i hope going to see her lady is still working for her

SPENDLESS hello, welcome back, i am so sorry about your hours being cut, no wonder you are angry, especially when you cant get the money back for the dancecamps :mad: and these things arent cheap either, i bought the Jack Wills gym set for my DD2 in the sale too, she was so pleased with it, the fragrances are gorgeous.

FEISTY oh my mistake, sorry, i thought it was a half rent half buy scheme and thought they would be half liable

You were not mistaken my lovely, it is shared ownership Housing association do not have an active role in the house, they are just their to collect the rent and will not get involved in anything :mad:

princesskitty29 wrote: »

Hi all, I really don't like going AWOL on here as I miss you guys and then I just don't always have the time to catch up. I know it's going to get some much worse from September onwards with all the Christmas chatter! We've had a hectic week as little Wiggle turned one (cannot believe it!) so we had a birthday day out and a party for him. All went well and I think he enjoyed himself even though he didn't have a clue what was going on! I was very pleased with the cake I made for him, I was worried it was going to be rubbish!



Despite all those goings on I've managed to pick up a few Christmas pressies; sudoko book for mum, mint shower gel for DH's stocking, nail files for MiL, some play mice for my auntie's cat (!) and some popcorn for a little present i'm making for my friends two boys so pleased with my progress. I saw some candy canes in the 95p shop I went into the other day, I wished i'd got them now but I expect there's plenty of time for that. I also saw these in Home Bargains the other day:



I thought they might be good or anyone buying for a girl, they could be filled with little toiletries/make up or sweets?

I bit the bullet last night and bought Marie Kondo's book in the hope it will inspire me to clear up for good as i'm naturally a bit messy and Wiggle's toy stash is spreading - i'm only a few pages in but already raring to go! Are you still following it freespirit?

Anyway I hope everyone is ok, sending lots of hugs to those who need them. I'm ging to mke a real effort to keep up with everyone on here, as I said I don't like to get bhind as I don't always have time to catch up. xx

Fab cake! Well done :T

Well it has been another rotten day in the feisty house. I had a call at work to say my Nan (who had such a hands on role in my upbringing she is always considered my second Mum) was in respiratory and heart failure and to come as soon as possible. She has declined rapidly and the pallitive care nurse is now administering to her. It won't be long now and so naturally we are all devastated. I can't get the time off work this week to sit with her as I'm covering holiday and as I had 6 weeks off with my hospital stay recently I can't push my luck. All I want to do is sit with her and my family and I feel so guilty having to work, but I'm self employed and the only earner in the house, I really can't lose my job.

Oh and we also had a call from the Harley street clinic to say that my results have come back as failed again I don't know what we will do now.

Peppapig

Oh Feisty you're having such a horrible time at the moment, you must be wondering when it will all end. I really can't think of anything to say except that I'll be thinking of you and hoping that things will settle down for you very soon. I'm sure that your Nan, as someone who obviously loves you very much, would completely understand your predicament with work but for your own sake I hope you get to spend a little bit of time with her because it will bring you some comfort later on. Don't feel guilty, you have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. Keep your chin up sweetie. Sending hugs. x

PrincessKitty I can't believe Wiggle is 1 already (Happy Birthday Wiggle!!) Good luck with the Kondo-ing and don't beat yourself up about being awol, just pop in whenever you can.

Everyone seems to be doing really well with pressie buying - it's making me feel even more festive reading about it! I definitely need to start putting things together and getting the odd bits so that I have a few complete pressies rather than lots of work-in-progress ones!

pinknfluffy28

Princesskitty - Thank you for the info re the little milk bottles in hb. Picked up 6 yesterday, going to fill them with sweets and give to neice, 2 nephews, and youngest dd's bestest friends!

Feisty - Praying for your nan, and big hugs to you x

All systems go again on the house move, our offer was formally accepted, and solicitors/mortgage offer are in the process of changing everything over and getting searches etc started.

Just hoping and praying this one goes through, as I really dont think we could pick our selves up a second time and would end up stuck here :-(

Gettingtherequickly

Oh Feisty, that is so unfair. Keep strong.

Spoke to my mum yesterday evening as her neighbour was going to be induced last week. She has 4 boys and the oldest (6) said to her a few weeks ago that he would like a little sister (I imagine that he is tired of the other 3 following him everywhere, got to the stage that he can't even go to my mum for 5 mins peace!) but "you only grow boys mum". She had devastating news, their little girl died 2 hours before she was born. Mum doesn't know what happened, she knows she will find out, but will be told in their own time. Even afterwards, everything seemed to conspire against them. The PM was carried out at another hospital, for obvious reasons and they were supposed to allow her home on Wednesday, with the parents arranging the funeral for Friday. Then they discovered that there was a wedding at the church on the Friday so her funeral was re-arranged for Thursday afternoon. PM was delayed, so she wasn't allowed home until Thursday morning. Mum didn't really want to go to the funeral, let's face it, who would want to, so felt a little better when one of our neighbours rang to say they would pick her up in 10 mins! They were a little bit of security for each other.

She said it was a lovely service, as the baby was named there also, but there is also the funny side of things. Kids always pick a very quiet moment to say something, suddenly one of the twins spotted my mum and announced "oh look, there's No No, can I go to see her?!"

Well, only got an Egyptian for Friday night so not too bad. She will be shopping on Friday, I will meet her on Friday evening, do dinner etc, I imagine another day shopping on Saturday ( I need to think about that, will probably need to be local, as I have the hairdresser at 11 & and a birthday party at 2) but will need to leave for Heathrow with her about 6, so whatever happens we will need to be home about 5 so that she can pack (the second suitcase!!!!!!!). Think I will be playing by ear.

Nephews birthday next week, so must send his present on Thursday. Roll on next week, when I can relax. Oh, sugar, just remembered that I have auditors in at work next week. When is the bank holiday?

newthrift

Free – another 25 books now that is good going!! Thank you for the brownie recipe I will have a go at this.

Chocolatebum – welcome to the festivities, there a lovely bunch on here If I see any activities I will let you know!

Springdreams – Can I ask what was in a snow box surprise? I’m intrigued. Thank you for the Christmas book heads up, I will have a look on my kindle tonight & also for the pre-orders on Yankee, logging in now

Peppa – Hope they get those timetables released for your DD and she can get an action plan in place if the days don’t line up.

Linz – woohoo well done on the big win!!!

Feisty – I am a mixture of excited, saddened and angry for you!! So lovely that you have finally got the keys but so angry and sad that they have left it in such a state. As you have said, thank goodness for wonderful family!! Best of luck getting cleaned and tidied up. Rubber gloves and lots of bleach by the sounds of it!! Keep strong, it will be worth it in the end! BIG BIG HUGS because you really are having a rough time of it at the moment.

Pinknfluffy – Sorry that the first house fell through, but wonderful you seem to of found another and things should still move along quickly.

Princesskitty – WOW where has 1 year gone?? The cake is beautiful and happy birthday to wiggle!! Love the money in a frame idea, I will lock this in my memory store (and hopefully actually remember it when I need to!!)

Spendless – What a fab idea with the jack wills bag, keeps all parties happy then

GTQ – Very sad news and yes children do always pick there moment. Although I think sometimes it can be a small distraction in an awful situation. Not long to the bank holiday

Nothing much to report in here, just very busy cramming everything in. I did a chocolate cake with 2 minions on top which OH loved and the farm themed cupcakes went down a treat for the Christening. I will try and get the pictures posted at somepoint, it's been a while so will have to remind myself

It's a beautiful day here but I think the weather is meant to take a turn for two days Going to try and get the bathroom cleaned and the ironing done when I go home at 5pm as I didn't get chance to cram it in last week and I have a busy day tomorrow.

Big hugs all round

newthrift

Just pre-ordered my Yankee Advent house :j

MoneyMission2015

You really are having a horrible time at the moment Feisty, I hope things start getting better for you soon.

GTQ - that's very sad about your mums neighbour. It must be heartbreaking for the family.

I visited my mum on Monday evening which was nice. She is often unwell so sometimes when I arrange to go visit her she has to cancel at short notice because the problems she has can surface at any time with no real warning. She has regal doctors appointments & tests etc but so far there has been very little they can do apart from trying to control the pain until they know for sure what causes the pains.

I went to Home Bargains in my lunch hour yesterday and picked up quite a few bits for Christmas presents. I ended up spending about £20 but got loads of stuff. So today on my day off I went through everything and added them to my list. Then I started putting together a winter survival kit for my sisters (stole the idea from somebody else on here). So far I have socks, packs of tissues, sachets of latte & hot chocolate, Vaseline lip balm tin, Nivea moisturiser small pot & some chocolates, bubble bath, anti bacterial hand wash & toffifees. I've put the socks, tissues, latte, hot chocolate, Vaseline & Nivea into large mason jars that I bought from HB. I'm thinking I will get small baskets to put the mason jar, bubble bath, toffifees, hand wash & will get the throw I previously spoke about, then I'm going to choose a nice book for both of them. I think that will be them more or less sorted then, I may just grab them a nice top or something if I can find something reasonably priced.

Looking forward to GBBO tonight : )