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

nic2075

Hope you are on the mend freespirit love the centre piece.

We had a nice day at a dance competition with me daughters. It's the last of the season. My eldest (10) won her group and got a nice trophy.
The weather was awful though. It has not stopped raining for 24 hrs at least. Lots of surface water and flooding.

After we watched Elf and the kids went bed, I sat and watched Whire Christmas for the first time. Had a nice cosy weekend.

Mrs_Ryan

Hi all
Been tonight to book our Xmas Day meal. We don't have a cooker and I don't eat turkey so we've decided to let someone else do the cooking
We're going to the lovely Indian restaurant at the top of the street so OH can have a beer with his meal as we can walk back. It was very reasonable- £25 each. OH has chosen chicken tikka, the traditional turkey dinner and cheesecake. I'm having soup, salmon and profiteroles.
We've just bought the last gifts- OH bought some Leicester Tigers joggers for his nephews and I bought OH some jeans in the M&S Black Friday weekend so got money off.
The spare room looks like Santa's grotto because as usual my mum (bless her) has gone utterly OTT with gifts. Trying to carry them home was not fun!
I've got a nasty case of labyrinthitis at the moment so spending most of my time lying on the sofa managed to get round Tesco today though. I'm off to spend some time with a good friend on Monday so hopefully that will cheer me up. Our tree is up and looks amazing- we have a brand new 6ft pre lit one with lovely new silver and blue decorations that I worked very hard to decorate. My friend from church popped by to see me on Thursday and she remarked on what a lovely tree it was so I'm glad that I'm not just biased!

04624181

Hi everyone, 19 sleeps!:j:T

princesskitty29=-NPB sounds lovely I still have not done ours yet,I need to get a move on x
Murie-hope you enjoyed watching elf, it feels like officially christmas when I have watched that and Jingle all the way x My christmas to do watch list this year is white christmas all the way through and its a wonderful life. I have never seen that all the way through either x
kiss_me_now9-hope you had a lovely works do, Hampers sounds lovely x I would love a hamper for christmas x
vulpix-good grief, house trashed by a squirrel, must of been awful but it did make me giggle x
mrsCD- I hope the carol singing was lovely x I have not heard any this year
freespirit66-I do not think for one moment you are being big headed, we are a christmas family on here and share our ideas, accomplishments and sad news x Thank you for sharing as I have now got an idea of what I can do for my table centrepiece.
aliaslotte-Well done, that is fantastic savings x
nic2075-Wow well done to your DD xx Hope you enjoyed white christmas x
Mrs_Ryan-Sounds like you and your hubby will have a lovely christmas day meal x I must admit to having to google labyrinthitis as when I fist saw it I thought of the movie labyrinth with David Bowie ( was a favourite of mine when I was a kid)
Hope you feel better soon x

Well have to dash, Im off to curl my hair before church xxx

FeistyFidget

princesskitty29 wrote: »

_party_ HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY pinknfluffy! I'm glad you had a lovely weekend, it sounds amazing!

vulpix I LOVE that selection box! I am so doing that for people next year!

mandco oh that sounds rubbish for your poor DS, I hope he is on the mend now.

04624181 I hope your DD feels better soon.

whitesatin I have my fingers crossed that your DD has the baby soon!

freespirit oh I do hope that what they've done for your DD is enough and it won't come to her not having a choice with childbirth.

fiesty a card and tipple sound like a good idea for your neighbours. It's awful not getting any sleep, you must take things at your own pace and take care of yourself. Although it's surprising how little sleep you can survive on! I'm glad the move went well and that you're finally in your new home. :T

mrsinvisible oh how rubbish finding mould on the ceiling! I expect that's the last thing you need.

funny bunny I ordered from Tesco Direct a few weeks ago and my order came within a week.

murie ah i'm glad you had a good time at the good food show, hopefully see you there next year! :beer:

Welcome Jobo and Kittins!

Well we had an eventful weekend as Wiggle is ill again. It started when he woke up from his nap on Saturday, he was really hot and very grumpy. We thought it was because there were a few people there for MiL's birthday tea but then Saturday night I ended up only getting about 2 hours sleep! Wiggle kept waking up crying with a temperature, then at 3am he was hysterical and in the end the only thing to calm him down was to sit on my lap and watch the television. So that's where we stayed, he fell alseep on me and I had to stay awake as I was holding him! I did try to move him once when he was sleeping, I thought I could go and put him in his cot but big mistake! It's amazing how rubbish TV is at that time of the morning! We took him to a walk-in centre Sunday morning and they confirmed he's still got an ear infection so he's back on the antibiotics.

We viewed a house that we really liked, but then we also visited a new build site and saw a floorplan for a potential house that we LOVE the look of. We are really keen, but it isn't built yet and won't be available until Sept/Oct next year so we would have to rent in the meantime. I think if the prices are right we are going to go for it. I have heard some people say new builds aren't very sturdy, does anyone on here live in one? I know they're not like the old brick houses but they can't be that bad. We would get so much more space for our money and the next time we move we want to be in it for some years to come.

Our first (and only) rental was a new build flat and we loved it. Our first purchase was also a new build flat and again it was fab! We also bought off plan and it meant that we could choose the finish on bathrooms, kitchens and flooring. A word of caution from someone that has been there is to do your research on the development company. There are a lot out there that have a terrible reputation for cutting corners and producing sub-par work :eek: Our last flat was with one of the better ones and 3 years in it turned out that they had massively cut corners with damp proofing the entire site (hundreds of flats spread over 10 blocks) and so for the last two years we had scaffolding erected and major work being carried out. Our flat wasn't badly effected but we still had a severe case of mold along one external wall. The day we exchanged I remember touching the wall up with paint and trying to dislodge a bit of loose plaster from the mold area only to find my screwdriver sunk in to several cms!!!!! There were a lot of properties that were almost inhabitable due to mold.
After going from a new build (even with problems) to a 30 year old house I can honestly say I prefer the new build. Having everything pristine and finished is amazing and if you have a good residents association on site it is a real bonus! Just be wary about things like maintenance charges and ground rent on new builds as we were misinformed about these costs when we purchased and it was an additional £100 a month to what they had stated! Parking can also be a bit of a nightmare so make sure you have at least one assigned space (I'd demand 2 if buying a house). I hope this helps

mrsinvisible wrote: »

good morning, have just caught up with the posts, such a lot going on with us all! Poor Wiggle, hope he is better soon.
Happysmithy, oh, no, what a rotten thing. hope you get it sorted out.. (my friend says ''if its got tyres or testicl*s it will give you nowt but trouble'').
Free, poor DD hope that it does go, and that the op has done some good.
Pink, so pleased you had a lovely time on your birthday. Yes, it is quality time that is the best gift, isn't it.
Well, b*gger, got roofer Andrew up yesterday, not good, sucking of teeth and sympathetic face, you know its bad news don't you? I need a new roof, but he is busy until well into the new year, so he is coming today or tomorrow (weather dependent) to make it watertight for the winter, and a £5500 estimate for renewal in april. He isn't charging me for the repair tho, so l am not complaining too loudly.
My DSIL is coming to stay for a couple of days today, so l better get her a bed made up and tidy a bedroom for her. We will talk all day and night, and laugh till our ribs ache, as usual.
DGS absolutely loves her, and she loves him too, so he is looking forward to getting in from school. and on that note l had best shake a leg (hope it doesn't drop off) and dig him out of his pit and ready to go.

Oh MrsI that is a horrid shock I really hope the financial burden doesn't cause you too much stress!

whitesatin wrote: »

Just a very quick note to say that my daughter had her baby boy early this morning, so it has been quite a night. No real details yet but he was 9lbs 3oz I think. I have got the boys off to school and am hoping she will be allowed home today. No name yet. x

Big congratulations! Alexander is a lovely name, we are quite taken on the Russian variation Alexi

Peppapig wrote: »

Huge congratulations Whitesatin. :beer: Hope you have a fab time with your friend and enjoy your trip to France.

Feisty hope you're settling into your lovely new home - who could have known this time last year that you'd be getting two of your dearest wishes come true? :j Just an improvement in DHs health to go now.

MrsI I think your friend may have a point lol.

Free I'm sure I was going to say something to you but can't remember what it was so I'll just hope thumper is ok.

Sorry I haven't been posting - have started a couple of long posts but for one reason or another didn't finish them. I'm reading every day though. It's DDs birthday on Friday so her cabinet will be going at last. As soon as that's done the tree will go up and then Christmas begins. I haven't listened to any Christmas music yet so must do that very soon. I have put 'it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas' as the ringtone on my phone though

What a lovely thing to say This really made me feel all warm and fuzzy! Thank you x

04624181 wrote: »

elliew8- Hope you have a fantastic time in London. I know the terrorist attacks are on everyone's minds but we cannot allow a mindless minority stop us from living. I will let you know how the church event goes. Im going dressed in my jeans and my flashing Rudolph jumper lol x It should be fun.


Well my sons Xbox one has just beed delivered so I can now breath a huge sigh of relief! It needs wrapping, putting in a black bag and putting on top of the wardrobe as its not going in the loft! I feel so much better now it is here. I need to just get a few bits. Coca cola are not doing the named bottles this year so Im thinking of maybe printing my own labels for the kids and adults favourite drinks bottles. Need a centrepiece of some sort, need to finish the pizza box style selection boxes, need to get all the bits together and make sure Im not missing something important lol x ( my secret fear is I have missed something major!)
DD will be at school on Monday so need to catch up on my jobs and things needed to be done.

You can buy bottle labels to print yourself quite reasonably on Etsy and Ebay - they have some really cute designs and it saves you the hassle of designing it from scratch

freespirit66 wrote: »

Evening everyone, thankyou for the PM MURIE, and you other lovelies that were wondering where i was, sorry i have been awol but i have gone down with what thumper had, in fact we all have it is really vicious and has knocked me for 6, i think i may be on the road to recovery as i found the energy to load the DW :rotfl:just now! Last night i got about 5 hours sleep from between 10 and 10 this morning :eek: so today i have been even more drained, i have had some pretty nasty nose bleeds and dizzy spells as well! But yesterday i did spend time making my table centrepiece, sorry i am going to bore you all with a piccie will try and catch up tomorrow, hope everyone is ok and nearly ready for the big day!

Poor Free, I really hope you are feeling better now? Your centrepiece is fab! Huge well done I also love your flooring, is it real wood or very impressive laminate?

Well lovelies I have been AWOL but have a very good reason :rotfl:Our 32 week growth scan on Thursday revealed that Jr is very small for their age and I've been put on immediate maternity leave. Having to tell work wasn't fun :eek: Although I had been warned at 28 weeks that this was a possibility, we didn't believe it would happen as the midwife has been happy with my bump measurements. The stress, financial worry and suddenness definitely caused a bout of the black dog to descend I have another scan next Thursday and I've been warned there is a chance I will be admitted to hospital, so currently terrified :eek: The house is in chaos and I can't even get to the baby stuff to start unpacking / washing things and I've had a few meltdowns as family members that were due to help haven't turned up etc :mad:

I'm getting very frustrated as I'm supposed to be taking it easy and there are huge amounts of things that have to be done and not a lot of time to do it in.

I'm afraid to say that Christmas is officially on the back burner in our house

pinknfluffy28

Princesskitty - npb sounds amazing!

Whitesatin - love the name choice.

Free - hope your feeling better now.

Feisty - oh my lovely. I know its easier said than done but please try not to worry/panic. Try to take it easy xx

Thanks all for tge well wishes. Luckily I'm not feeling too bad now the spots have actually come out - just itchy, but I smell all lovely and camomile-y!

3forholidays

Feisty Please stop stressing as it won't be good for Jr! Nothing matters more than you & Jr at the moment. I appreciate that the thought of a hospital admission is terrifying but the doctors are thinking of Jr (& you). Thinking of you.

freespirit66

Afternoon everyone, im still laid up with this blooming cold i dont think i have ever had a cold last this long in my life, im usually a few days all done and dusted kinda gal!! Im beginning to think DD1 was right by saying catching a baby cold is vicious :rotfl:i dont know where she got that one from!! Its just a good job that i am all ready (bar some baking) for christmas otherwise i would be pulling my hair out, at least i have been cosy in bed or on the sofa all wrapped up with christmas films, christmas books and magazines

ALIASLOTTE its great isnt it knowing you have it all sorted, you have made a great saving there by buying throughout the year!

NIC ooh well done and congratulations to your DD :T

MRSRYAN wow that is a fab price for those dinners on christmas day, i would never have known an indian restaurant would be open on christmas day let alone doing christmas food, i hope you enjoy it! Sorry you have been unwell but i hope you feel better so you can spend time with your friend, your tree sounds lovely!

04624181 thankyou my lovely

FEISTY haha no its laminate from B&Q , i hope you have a less stressful week between now and your next scan, please try to rest as much as you can

PINKNFLUFFY thankyou glad you are feeling a bit better now

3FORHOLIDAYS i hope you are well my lovely

3forholidays

Freespirit Hope that you get rid of that rotten cold soon. Love the table centrepiece - you are very talented!

I've just about finished my Christmas shopping - just got scratchcards/vouchers and some sweets to buy, then the cards need written plus the presents also need wrapped and delivered. So still lots to do but I always get there so no panic yet.

vulpix

FF as everyone has said,it WILL be ok in the end,baby will not remember if the skirtings were not painted or what it wore or the million things you want to get sorted.All babies need is a few clothes,food,warmth and love.

Well I have had a spanner thrown in the works Christmaswise.My SIL has invited us all to Christmas lunch.Yipee! Everything I have bought can stay in the freezer for another day.Do I take gifts for them? We have never exchanged gifts before.Do you think a tin of chocs would be ok? I have said I would take desserts of pavlova,tiramisu and possibly a lemon merringue or trifle.

Another one here all done.Cards written,gifts wrapped.I have been surprised to learn that the builder will not be finished until the 18th.No decorations up till after that as I expect everywhere will need a good clean.

Free I love seeing photos,anybodys photos in fact.It's not showing off,it's sharing with your friends.Is there a piece of oasis under your table arrangement? I have got one of those deer and will have a go at making one.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. V x

04624181

Feistyfidget- You poor thing, Its certainly not been easy for you these last couple of months. We are our own worst enemies as we expect nothing but perfection from ourselves. You are making a baby, that is such and amazing but all consuming thing to do and the most important! All the other things are fluff and extras, Yes I know they are important but right now at this moment the most important thing is you and your gorgeous baby. It will all come together, when you hold your gorgeous baby in your arms all this will be a distant memory. Thank you for the tip re etsy.
pinknfluffy28-glad to hear you are doing ok x
freespirit66- hope you feel better soon, these bugs going around seem to be superstrength this year. Stay warm, snuggly and Christmassy x
vulpix- result with the Christmas dinner invite, I think a tin of chocs is more than fine as you do not normally exchange gifts x


Hope everybody else is ok x