Five OS Pleasures in your day today

Olliebeak

:wave: happy saturday morning to you all (especially those who get the 'day off') - though it isn't a very nice one here today. We had bucketing rain all day and howling winds last night - not very good weather for July !

- Mineallmine - it's horrid when we start to get feelings of insecurity like that (been there myself) but just because she feels that way, doesn't mean that HE does! Just make sure that IF anybody is buttering his ego - its YOU. Nice gestures, let him know he's appreciated (couple of twinks in his lunchpack could go down well to remind him what a clever woman he has while he's at work). If you do happen to meet her anywhere - be strong, take the lead in the talking and be nice (even if it's killing you not to go into attack mode!). Hadn't thought of sprinkling oven chips with spices - good one - thanks for the tip :T.
- Nitha - I'm sure the kids will appreciate their toys much better now. Sometimes good to keep a few out and rotate them from time to time. :T on your honesty - it always comes back to us, one way or another. Well done on the 'veg smuggling' - and ((((special hugs)))) for you.
- zarazara - how brave of you to get rid of the 'one-eyed monster in the corner'. Often day-dreamed about it myself, but then realise I just couldn't manage without my corrie and emmerdale fix . Oooh and BB at the moment :o.
- shopndrop - how true about the rain . The UK is a 'green and pleasant land' and it's that way BECAUSE of the rain. Enjoy your meeting with your friend this weekend . :T to your son's g/f and good luck to them both. Have a great weekend!
- Blimus - thanks for your comment. I've got such a lousy memory that I go through life making notes - so this is an extension of that. Also helps me to stay focused on the 'person behind the postings'. Good luck with your hammock fixing and I DO hope you get the opportunity to use it . Those 'just because' hugs are great aren't they! My dgs1 is 8 and still runs to me in the street for a hug - even in front of his tough mates.
- SunnyGirl - at your ds3's leavers' assembly this week. It was my dgd1's but I couldn't go due to work commitments. DD cried her eyes out! :T for being organised enough to cope with the extra spending that the summer hols bring - hope you enjoy Manchester. Enjoy the film - my OH is taking dgs2 to see Harry Potter today as well.
- thriftyscotslass - dgs1 already receives extra budget for the school to cope with his learning needs, though we think that some of this is being 'diverted' into the main school budget,as he doesn't appear to be getting as much one-to-one as we were promised. They never tell you the figures on these things! Love your no.4 - good for you :T.
- Claire - not surprised you've been feeling a little 'tetchy' - moving house is so stressful. Can you manage yourself a lovely 'pamper' evening - it might help to use up some bath products that will probably 'move house' with you. Few perfumed candles/joss sticks/scented oil burners, nice glass of wine, some choccies (or pieces from a block broken onto a pretty dish instead) and OH to come and 'do your back' (IYKWIM) :rolleyes:. (Phew calm down, Ollie, talking about Claire here - not YOU!:o). :T on your graduation too.
- elf06 - :T on coping so well with your ds being so poorly. And how thoughtful of your parents to bring the takeaway .
- Patchwork - now that's what I call a good evening out - one where you get to SAVE money as well ! Enjoy your trip to the Lakes .
- billy 858 - well done to your dd for looking forward at such a young age. Sounds like a very adventurous/positive young lady you have there.
- bella - ((((hugs)))) on feeling so 'bushed' and :T on stretching that mince soooooooooooooo much . Well done on the marathon baking session .
- sparrer - good luck with the 'breathing course' ; best of british finding a 'suitable' holiday for you and your DM (my DD would tell me she could keep MY costs down by only buying me a one-way ticket :rotfl:); :j on the electric bill.
-kittikins - don't fret about 'falling off the wagon' - it has happened - nothing to be done about it now - but at least you will know in future where your weakness lay (time of stress) and can be prepared if anything similar happens again. Bread is so comforting/squidgy/easy to eat (devil's own food :mad: ) - but as you say, it was at least moneysaving and whoopsied .
- newlywed - well done on getting back to work again - take it easy though - it can take a while to get back into the full swing of things. Enjoy your weekend.
- Reverbe - wow you've got some good ones there . I started doing 'daily clicks' ages ago, but keep forgetting - probably an age thing with me.
- kim85 - :T on graduating - what an achievement!
- Rainbow - what a nice man your builder turned out to be.

1. Had a lovely time with dgd1. Mr McD's for BigMacs (it's only once in a while !) and a free coffee (I love those little stickers - pinch any that I see on cups on tables :rolleyes:). Delighted to find that dgd1 was actually looking for red stickers on coathangers while we were clothes hunting - she's learning! I caught her 'looking longingly' at a white top with a glittery leopard on and managed to sneak it into the basket without her noticing .

2. Some good bargains in Asda - but couldn't concentrate properly due to having dgd with me. Going back later today for a 'proper rummage' - woman on a mission :rolleyes:! Need some baking ingredients - amazing how much stuff you think you have in and then find you haven't .

3. SmartPrice rump steak with oven chips and onion rings for evening meal last night - not bad at all for the price .

4. Ordered a monitor for the new pc late on Thursday afternoon and it was delivered 11.00am Friday - :T to the store and DHL! Now installed and running perfectly. This was a replacement for one that I bought a couple of weeks ago that turned out to be faulty - but decided not to go with the same make.

5. Had a baking session yesterday - two banana loaves (with whoopsied bananas from thursday evening) and a batch of melting moments (spoiled some by playing on the pc instead of watching them properly - should have used the darn timer ).

6. OH is about to take dgs2 to the pictures to see Harry Potter - I'm sure it's because HE wants to see it, but feels he needs an excuse to go :rotfl:!

Hope everybody has a good os/money-saving weekend and that the weather isn't too unkind to us all. Fingers crossed to get some outdoor drying done .

(((((HUGS))))) to all - love Ollie xxx

Claire_Bear

Ollie, that sounds like a lovely suggestion, it's been a long time since I just relaxed and pampered myself. Think I'll do that tomorrow, OH is at work all day and I'm going to a boot sale in the morning, can come home and have a nice long soak in the bath Will probably be knee deep in mud anyway judging by how much rain we've had recently. Glad you had a good time with your Dgd and she's learning some good money saving ways!

billy858

I will add mine for today, before I do the washing up.
1. Washing dried on the line even though the forecast was bad.
2. Horseriding with DD2.
3. Leftover cottage pie for lunch.
4. Watching a DVD with family this evening (after I've done the washing up).
5. Got half of my college work finished. The rest will wait until tomorrow.
Have a lovely evening.

SunnyGirl

Good evening!

Ollie :T That your DGD is picking up some valuable tips on shopping. I smile as my DD often comes back from a shopping trip with DH and proudly shows me the whoopsies she's found - they're mostly on my ongoing list thats on the boiler too

I have had a lovely day today:

1. Seeing the Harry Potter film with Mum, DD, DS3 & his friend was brilliant. I took bags of microwave popcorn that I'd bought earlier in the week (£1.50 for a 6 pack) and bottles of juice from home so the overall price wasn't too shocking The film was brilliant btw!

2. Waking & getting up early again (5am) and making the tea, tidying round, getting the washing done and having some alone time to boot :T

3. Following on from the above I had the spaghetti cooked & in the fridge and the bolognese sauce cooked & in the slow cooker on low so that when we came back from the pictures tea only took 5 minutes to get on the table.

4. Sitting together at the table, which we all do every evening meal time, laughing & talking with the family. The guest of DS3 also joined in and seemed to enjoy herself.

5. I am going to spend some time with my favourite Be-Ro cook book tonight as I'm having a baking day tomorrow & want some ideas. I used this book as a little girl and still love it for baking basics. Your melting moments reminded me Ollie!

A pleasant evening to all & I hope that you are getting some sunshine - it seems to be in very short supply up here at the moment :rolleyes:

thriftyscotslass

I hope everyone is having a lovely Saturday evening, I have just spent an enjoyable 20 mins with a cup of tean and half a cinnamon pastry catching up with yesterday and today's posts.

Oooh where can I start:

1. Dh sitting thoroughly engrossed at the kitchen table making a model tank - he's completely involved and at peace in his world.

2. A toffee crunch ice-cream with ds this afternoon - we both enjoyed it sooooo much.

3. Some stewing beef cooking in the slow cooker - this will be turned into a hm pie for tomorrow night's tea. This is dh favourite tea and I just know I will be his favourite wifey for making it for him :rotfl:

4. The anticipation of a long hot bubble bath as soon as I have finished this post.

5. A long drive out into the country today - it's so long since I have done this, it felt just like a holiday.

Enjoy the rest of your evening and I hope everyone has a good day tomorrow.
Thrifty xxx

Caterina

Hi all,

Missed a few days again, I am not sure whether it is a good thing (not so much on the PC as I used to be and doing more positive outdoor things) or a bad thing (not checking my email and then taking ages to go through 150 spam messages to find a few good ones, not coming here to count my blessing and read your ones).

Anyway, a few things I want to say before I go on my daily five:

I am really in awe of those of you who remember everybody here, it is so kind of you to offer good words to everybody who posts, I get so confused!

Congratulation to the Graduates!

A few personal messages follow, but before those I hope all of you are ok and I am sending hugs and good wishes to all of you who need them.

Reverbe: Sorry you did not make the meet today, it was only two of us but we had a lovely time in the enchanting little garden at the back. Hope you can make the August one if we organise it. Best of luck with your job, hope it happens. What did you think of El Bano del Papa? I found it really weird but also quite heartwarming in a lot of ways.

Ollie, thanks for good wishes for my holiday in Nice, I hope it is going to be, well, nice I suppose hehehr

Kittikins, hope your mum gets better soon.

Thriftyscotslass, I am glad you could sort out your DS situation and also be assertive with your mother. Good on you!

Shopndrop, I hope we will have another OS meet in August, if you go on the thread and let me know when it is ok for you to make it I shall try to arrange it for then!

Sorry if I have forgotten some of you who have sent me messages and kind wishes!

Here are my blessings for today, it would be so much if I had to put my last few days so I shall concentrate on today, great day!

1 - Excellent breakfast in bed courtesy of DH, and it included my special HM baked beans. We both commented that we will never buy tinned again and that it is really worth the little effort to make them at home as they really come out delicious!

2 - As I have a network gold card (yearly travel card) I was able to get a £1 South East network card for my son (it usually costs £25) and booked tickets for him and his friends to go go Canterbury to see a show.

3 - Jumble sale to clear out the jumble sale of two weeks ago - MEGA bargains! Got myself 10 pairs of cropped trousers (share with DD), 1 Tshirt, 2 quilt covers and a lot of bits and pieces for the house.

4 - OS meet, a really great time with LilacLillie at the Blackheath place.

5 - Found a lovely pair of sandals (Rohde, very good quality) reduced to £15, just what I needed.

6 - Loads of gardening done, more lettuce and other veg planted in the back garden.

7 - Rain this evening, no need to water the gardens!

8 - Lovely lentil, barley and veg soup for dinner.

Love to all

Caterina xxx

Claire_Bear

SunnyGirl, I love the Bero book, lovely simple homely cooking. I used to use it to cook when I was a little girl too, first with my mam's guidance and then by myself. We've had the same one in our house for as long as I can remember, most of the pages have fallen out, or are stuck together with dried pastry, but my mam said I could take it for our new house and I was well chuffed!

Anyway, here are my pleasures for today:

1. Bought a massive bag of spuds and sat and peeled them all, boiled them all together and made a massive pot of mash. Some of it is getting used for tea tonight, and the rest is getting frozen in portions for later. It's a small thing but it's the first time I've ever thought of doing this instead of buying one or two spuds as I need them.
2. Also, instead of throwing the peelings away like I'd normally do, I froze them in portions too so I can make little snacky crisps by tossing them in a little oil and some spicy snack sprinkle and baking them in the oven. Yet another thing I've picked up from here!
3. Potato and cheese bread was such a success that OH has demanded I make it again for tea tonight
4. Managed to get my five a day for the first time in ages - apple juice, an apple, some whoopsied strawberries, carrots and onion with tea.
5. Looking forward to going to a car boot sale tomorrow, for the first time in ages, although not looking forward to getting up so early! OH rolled his eyes and said I'd just end up bringing home loads of crap :rolleyes:

Hope everyone is having a lovely Saturday evening :beer:

Patchwork_Quilt

Well, this has been a mixed day. I couldn't go to a meeting at work last week and asked to be e-mailed about it. When I read the e-mail this morning, it turns out that we have all been asked to take a 10% pay cut. Well, since I work for a charity, 10% of my small wages is very little so we will take the cut. What feels worse is that this is the way things are going generally and other people are suffering more. Then, my daughter got fired from her coffee shop job for being on holiday next week (she did tell him about two months ago) so she was in tears.

Having said that (and I wanted to share it, not only because I know people will sympathise but I feel very strongly that we need to be real on this thread) our blessings for today are

1) A lie-in. This does me so much good and it feels like a real luxury
2) Another lovely walk with DH. We actually walked up a stream today - very challenging and I didn't fall in although I lost my nerve once or twice
3) A family meal afterwards. I made a couple of Tesco ready made curry meal bags, which should have served four, feed six.
4) A film and sweeties afterwards, all snuggled up together on various sofas
5) The offer of a bag of wood from a friend when they bring DH's birthday present over

It just goes to show that the free things in life are really what make you happy, I think

Olliebeak

Hi again everybody :wave: - hope you've all had a good day!

- Claire - enjoy your 'car booty day' AND your pamper session afterwards . Another Bero Book fan here too - keep meaning to get another copy of it. Well done on your Potato and Cheese Bread - but you could try teaching your OH how to make it for himself . That's the trouble when you turn into a domestic goddess - they expect everything to turn out perfectly, everytime :rolleyes:!
- billy858 - sounds like you and your family had a great day .
- SunnyGirl - :T on being so organised with your cinema snacks and your evening meal - makes such a difference to a day out. Hope your Melting Moments turn out better than some of my 'burnt offerings'. I tossed half of mine in dessicated coconut and half in porridge oats (it was the oats ones that were [STRIKE]burnt[/STRIKE] slightly overdone :mad:.
- thriftyscotslass - re: your OH - boys and their toys :rotfl: - but if it keeps them out of mischief ........!
- Caterina - well done on your jumble sale bargains and the travel card for your son :T.
- Patchwork - sorry to hear about your pay-cut - I do hope the management are taking the same % cut as the rest of you - these things have to work all round! Can your DD appeal to the local manager/area manager about her sacking - doesn't seem fair as she had asked for the time off. I suppose they're looking for any excuse to save money on wages these days - hope she finds something better soon.

Here's mine for today:

1. Visit from DS2 and his Dg/f with dgs2 and dgs3 this morning. DS2 discovered my stash of Melting Moments - not many left now. They left with half a Banana Loaf as well!
2. OH took dgs2 to see Harry Potter. He forgot to get the sweets BEFORE going into the cinema - what a wally! He's done nothing but moan about the cost of ice cream, drinks and popcorn :eek:.
3. Took myself off to Asda this afternoon for whoopsie hunting. Stocked up on some lovely reduced breads (naans, rustic loaf, petit pains, bagels etc) - all now re-packaged and in the freezer .
4. Some more of the SP Rump Steak for the freezer; whoopsied turkey breast steaks (divided into 2 x 2 portions before freezing); bargain price carrots and SP onions to be prepped tomorrow morning plus some curry ready-meals.
5. Stocked up on baking ingredients - SP self-raising flour, raisins, sultanas, banana chips (to go on top of banana bread), chopped nuts, unsweetened desiccated coconut - forgot the Caster Sugar :doh:.
6. Set of 20 mixed pens for dgd1 for going to 'the big school' - reduced to £2.00 (4 mechanical pencils, 4 coloured ball-points, 2 highlighters, 4 permanent markers, 2 gel pens and 4 ink roller pens) - great vfm .
7. Huggies 'Little Walkers' nappies whoopsied from £5.96 to £3.00 :j.
8. Treated myself to a coffee after shopping and checked my till receipt. Found a few overcharges :mad: - including the nappies at original price and three yoghourts came up at 43p each instead of 9p. Called at Customer Services and got an immediate refund - lovely man :dance:. This is the first time I've ever double-checked the till receipt, but you can guarantee it won't be the last - only did it out of boredom for something to read as there weren't any magazines around!
9. Lovely salad for evening meal tonight and we've got the pleasure of dgs2 (age8) - Dylan the Villain - for the night. He's now busy writing up his own version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - bless! He'll be getting chased to bed in a few minutes - where do they get their energy from ?

Just waiting for the washing machine to finish (Dylan's clothes for morning) and then I'll hit the hay for the night.

Nitey nite all. Peaceful dreams all round - love Ollie xxx

mineallmine

Morning all,

Thanks for your kind words Ollie, you're right about buttering up egos. You get what you give and all that. Always amazed at how you respond to everyone. Hope everyone is ok and that Reverbe's work turns out ok.

1. reading about sunny girls HM meal at the table after the cinema (sounded really lovely). Also love reading about Caterina's food exploits (inspirational).
2. having my loved one bring me toast this morning (without me hinting or asking) - it gave me such a smile
3. Getting the DW and WM on early to clear the decks.
4. Having hot orange drink (squash basically) with ginger and honey.
5. Glancing at Christmas present list/plan this morning and reminding myself not to go mad with spending, and to try pick up bits during the year. :money:


Am off to finish my toast :A have a great day everyone