Five OS Pleasures in your day today

Caterina

Hi everybody!

Mineallmine, I hope you really enjoy the book, let me know what you think, perhaps we can inspire others to read it too! I lived the "one pound a day" book, passed it on to another OSer after reading it in fact!

Welcome to Purpledreams, Morag1202 and firstyearisthehardest (interesting name BTW!), hope you will love it here as much as I do!

Bella, I hope you enjoy your hols and not worry too much about OS, you have another year to catch up and make up, treat yourself! Interesting that you manage to get a lot of OS pleasures in as well, it sort of becomes second nature after a while, don't you think?

Reverbe, wot, no pennies? You're losing the magic touch, sister!;)

Anyway, what a lovely day, only just 4 pm and so many good things already happened!

1 - Woke up at 6:30, by 7 I was up and showered (unheard of!)

2 - After shower I had a short session of yoga in my bedroom, which I used to do but had lost the discipline. Really glad I managed and also threw in a few minutes meditation (am I gonna turn into a saint and you all will have to kiss my hem soon? :rotfl:)

3 - Breakfast with DS: omelette with courgettes from garden, onions and potatoes. Yummy!

4 - Aerobics session followed by some weights, with a friend

5 - Tea with friend (from .4 above) in a nice cafe in a small local park

6 - Spectacularly tasty lunch of pasta with cauliflower (fried in garlic with sage from garden), cherries and yogurt, together with DS, DD and DD's BF.

7 - Started increasing my hours at work and managed to finish all the updates for May. Long way to go but feels good to have started.

8 - In the post I have already started receiving company/corporate gifts for my birthday: AVEDA voucher, 50p off soya milk voucher. Nice!

9 - Really anticipating evening out with DD, going to see a (free preview) film (Home - I think is an eco-film of sorts) and then cheapo chinese meal!

Edited to add 10 - How could I forget? A lovely OSer has offered to send me kefir grains! As soon as I have some spares I shall hopefully return the kindness and share my surplus with other OSers. Thank you, you know who you are! xxx

I hope you are all well and enjoying this beautiful life!

Caterina xxx

Courgette

Thanks for being so nice to me, everyone

My five for today:

1. got myself out of bed at a decent time when all I wanted to do was lie there and cry
2. DS, aged 11, came back from his dad's and gave me a massive cuddle
3. made flapjacks with DS, they're lovely too
4. moved the CD player from our room into DS's. He is soooooo pleased and even did a 'Thriller' dance for me which was hilarious!
5. Read through the 'feed a family of 4 for a month for £20' thread which was really inspirational and has given me the idea of having a rummage through our cupboards
6. Yesterday, on our walk, I found some thistle type flowers dumped by the roadside. I've brought them home and put them in a vase and they look ace. They would have cost at least £1 per stem on the market

shopndrop

Purpledreams – welcome. Hope you will love this site as much as we all do.
Kiwiblue – how nice of the “tearaways” to offer you the use of their shelter. I know it is difficult not to but we shouldn’t always judge a book by its cover as you have found in this instance to your pleasure.
Olliebeak – how lovely to go “bimbling” through the cheapie shops. Never heard of this expression before but I hope to go to same shops plus T J Hughes in London Road later in the week as DS is moving and needs some new bits and I can get them so much cheaper up North than he can down in London.
Morag1202 – well done on your DD finding “her” dress and within her budget. I am sure she will look a million dollars.
Bellaquidsin – lucky you in Devon. We are off to Devon at the beginning of September. Can’t wait. Well done on making your holiday so OS. Enjoy the rest of your time there.
Reverbe – you are slipping – what’s happened to your pennies finds?
Newlywed – your chicken thighs wrapped in bacon sound delicious. Might try something like that later in the week.
Firstyearisthehardest – what a lovely name and welcome to this thread.
Savingforoz – well done for letting things go mostly over your head at work. I also have a stressful situation at work and know how hard it can be sometimes not to let things get on top of you.
Louba – maybe your helmet wasn’t OS but safety is more important in this instance.
Bitsy Beans – isn’t it a lovely feeling growing your own veg. I feel so proud when I go into the garden and get some salad/veg for tea and know how much cheaper it is than the supermarket.
Caterina – oh how I would love to have the discipline to do yoga before work in the morning. 5 more minutes in bed or get up and do some yoga? I know what I should do but …..
Courgette – well done for getting out of bed despite not feeling like.

• Took a HM cake into work today which was well received by all except one person.
• Catching up with another colleague who was on holiday last week.
• As we had cake in the office this afternoon, I wasn’t hungry at teatime so just had egg on toast, most enjoyable and quite cheap too.

Sorry can’t find 5 today as had a really stressful/horrible day at work. Never mind, I am sure tomorrow will be better.

Kittikins

Another nice day
1. Getting the washing dry on the line in today's glorious sunshine and DD being the "peg nurse" and taking it all off this evening. Not sure why she's a "nurse", think it might be akin to being a scrub nurse in an operating theatre handing me pegs...funny girl!
2. Going for my first swim in 2 weeks as my cold is much better
3. DD and I going for a REALLY long walk this evening and foraging for apples, pine cones, blackberries and discovering a gorgeous plum tree that is nearly ready.
4. Buying some very cheap and fruiting nicely strawberry plants on F0cus - 99p each if there's a shop near you.
5. Sponsoring 2 friends who are doing big sporting events for charity, rather them than me with the organised sport. I'm more of a yoga/meditation/swim girl

[Deleted User]

Hi everyone
shopndrop Hope that today is a lot better for you.

RE the 'tearaways', it must be hard to be the local bad boys in a tiny village, automatically they are blamed if anything goes wrong. Against the advice of just about everyone here, I rented my little cottage to a local 'bad lad', and everything worked out very well for the two years he remained in the village, and we parted on great terms, I now get huge hugs whenever we meet - which also causes some raised eyebrows, so I am now known as one who will treat them reasonably.

My five:

1. Not very OS but I ordered some new cheese moulds from the USA. Tired of only having a couple, and they are sooooooooo expensive to buy here.

2. Definitely think that Spring is on the way, very windy but sunny, so I will find a sheltered place to garden. With gardens all around the 1 acre property we live on, there is always somewhere out of the wind.

3. Tried a new bread recipe and it was ok, trying to find a recipe that doesn't use oil, butter or marg so I can make a low calorie loaf. Will keep researching I think.

4. Managed to get up to date with the ironing, its one task that seems to just pile up until the basket overflows.

5. Warmer weather means that I am not lighting the fire during the day, so our firewood stack will see us through winter.

Blessings be

Jennie

Patchwork_Quilt

Good evening and welcome to all newbies!

1) Planting out the runners from my (free) allotment strawberries in the garden, next to the rhubarb. I do hope this is going to be a fruity garden
2) Making some rhubarb jam by a different method and it seems to have set! I was feeling rather a failure before I checked it this evening.
3) Cupboard mining - we have a huge cupboard upstairs which is so full you need a canary and a lamp to get right into it. Got rid of three boxes of stuff
4) Going to the tip with garden rubbish and right there, in the rubble skip, were six whole terracotta pots. One of them was almost too heavy to lift. I came in for some teasing from the men at the tip but I got them in the car.
5) DS brought a very nice young lady home. I hope we see her again.

Sleep well, everyone and I hope tomorrow works out better Shopndrop

scrummy-mummy

Evening everyone!

Had the most wonderful day. My children generously afforded me a lie in and i woke up feeling like a new woman, from then on in, everything looked brighter.

My pleasures today

1. Giving DS his dreamfeed last night, meaning he slept through until 0730. I then 'convinced' him to go back to sleep, we didn't wake up until 0945 :eek:
2. Despite our late rise, getting us all dressed and ready to go out for 1100 (this is good for us, lately, had a lot of PJ days when i was feeling blue).
3. Hanging out my washing on the line (it's so good to have the sun back).
4. A good brisk walk into town (good for my diet) and paid in £300 at the bank (£50 profit) from the sale of a buggy on ebay (i bought it before DS was born in the sales and in the interim before him being born, DD decided she didn't like riding in a buggy anymore).
5. A trip to the park with DD on the way home.
6. Leftovers for lunch, an old student favourite of mine, baked potatoes, beans and cheese, even better DD loved it (she is normally a very fussy eater).
7. Another trip to the park this afternoon after finishing my household chores.
8. Took a flask of tea and a magazine to the park and DS slept whilst DD played so i had some opportunistic 'me' time.
9. Leftovers for dinner, Roast Lamb and Potatoes (normally i would have eaten the lot at first sitting but am trying out smaller portions and was surprised to see my extras stretching to feed both myself and DD - eek).
10. Batch cooking Fish Pie and Lasagne this evening (ready meals to last the month all done now).
11. Two free TIGI hair conditioners from Magazines i asked DH to pick up on his way home from work after reading the tip on these boards.

11 pleasures, either i was very greedy today, or the world just seemed a nicer place because i'd had enough sleep for once

G'night all
xxx

Olliebeak

Evening all (Oh heck, I sound like Dixon of Dock Green )

bella - I know what you mean when you find somewhere that you adore for holidays. Ours is absolute paradise for us, but it's so pricey in high season that we usually go September or May - the bonus is that it's much less crowded and so are the other places that we visit. I'll be booking next year's trip this month (to take advantage of this year's prices ). Hope you and your family continue to enjoy the remainder of your holiday.
Reverbe - lol at 'bacon and honey fudge' on Simpsons :rotfl:. So glad you had the chance to chat with your OH on Saturday :happyhear.
newlywed - good luck to your OH on his healthy eating plans and enjoy your book-reading. I love mystery walks too :j.
firstyearisthehardest - mmmmm ultimate decadence - cheese and onion crisp butties :drool:
savingforoz - :T well done on the soya yoghurt making. Keep your chin up where work is concerned - big deep breath and 'locate another place' in your mind that you can take yourself off to in times of stress.
Louba - your new motorcycle helmet sounds fabulous - about time these things were made 'girlie'!
BitsyBeans - two kids, buggy and shopping - sounds oh-so-familiar! Hard work at the time, but it doesn't last forever -yipee! The blessing of the buggy/pram is that the little darlings can be fastened in and you don't have to 'round 'em up' at the end of the shopping session .
Caterina - what a lovely blessed day you've had there :T.
Courgette - well done on being able to make a start to the day even though you didn't feel like it - and congratulations on that considerate young man of yours. It's great when our DS's show their sensitive side .
shopndrop - so sorry to hear that work was stressful today - not nice for the morale at all. Shame about the person who didn't appreciate your HM cake - phrase for that around here 'tough t1tty' :rotfl: - all the more for the rest of you .
Kittikins - lol at the 'peg nurse' - bless her! Lucky you - a plum tree on your travels. I adore the 'soft' summer fruits - much prefer them to apples, oranges etc.
kiwiblue - isn't it great when our trust in somebody is rewarded - everybody benefits!
PatchworkQuilt - well done on the jam making and wtg on the terracotta pot :j.
scrummymummy - what a wonderful day with your children! Love the image of you sitting there with a sleeping child, flask and magazine while the other little one played nicely .


My day didn't get off to a very good start today. One tenant lost her son over the weekend (48yrs old) and another tenant was diagnosed with cancer on friday. Visited them both for a chat. Not the best part of my job, but I was just happy to be able to offer a friendly face to talk to.


1. Another visit from DD - more phone calls and she has got three houses to view this week - all within her range of Housing Benefit - so it's fingers crossed. She's also going for a scan tomorrow (has waited quite a few weeks for this to happen).
2. Rang my mum today - going to stay with her at the weekend. She lives with my sister a bit of a distance from me and sis is going away on Wednesday. DS1 will be taking me on Friday evening, so I'm looking forward to this little holiday and also to spending time with mum.
3. Used up leftover mash, carrots, peas, stuffing and gravy for lunch (mashed it all together and then browned in a frying pan before putting under the grill to crisp up properly - delicious!).
4. Being able to help one lady to sort out an on-going problem with her gas supplier. Negotiated a bill of £870 down to £346 :j - I'm on double brownie-points for that one .
5. Ham salad with home-grown lettuce for evening meal tonight. OH passed comment on how good the lettuce tasted .
6. OH managed to mow half of the garden today before dgk's arrived at lunchtime - no chance of anything after that ! Since then it's rained - so now he's got an excuse for NOT finishing it tomorrow :mad:!
7. Visited a quite a few of my tenants today with some 'little gadgets' for them - grabbers/aids for ring-pull cans etc. Their faces said it all - so delighted.

Feels like quite a positive day - despite the rotten start. Hopefully DD will be able to take one of the properties that she's showing an interest in - it will be such a relief to see her settled again.

I'm off to bed now - still ploughing through my Agatha Christie . Nitey nite to all - love Ollie xxx

sparrer

Just a quickie as I'm (pleasantly) weary tonight. Welcome to the new posters, great to see you and hope you keep coming back

Monday blessings...

1. Woke up at 6.30am, the sun was shining so decided not to waste the day and was in the garden at 8am. Lovely neighbour cut back some overhanging branches from the orchard beyond my back wall after I mentioned I was going to get someone in to do it. Goodness knows how much that remark saved me :T
2. Weighed myself and have lost another 1lb (yes I know I shouldn't weigh mid week but I'm impatient :rolleyes:). Low fat seems to suit me better that counting calories, it's easier and I think less expensive as I'm using all fresh, home prepared food

3. A NSD - if I can discount the subs for my fellowship meeting this evening?

4. A free pack of 10 teabags, from which I'll get 25 cups of tea, and a money off coupon - bit miffed that I only got one money off coupon and they sent Reverbe 2!

5. Hearing Billy Fury singing Halfway to Paradise on someone's car radio outside my meeting, he was my idol when I was (very much) younger :rotfl:

Night night all, hugs and sweet dreams
S x

bellaquidsin

Louba- you're right, it is a lovely holiday, might not be everyone's cup of tea but we are happy. Ollie, you are so right about high season, it's always under consideration now that DH has retired but to come out of season would be to come without DD and family and you can't put a price on family can you? If we keep our spends low and OS like made back home we m-i-g-h-t be able to come again. scummy-mummy sounds like you are doing really well, just don't expect too much of yourself at the mo.

Here are my OS holiday pleasures for yesterday, it was a wet and grey day so we:-

1. Enjoyed a free swim in the pool on site.

2. Trawled the local charity shops and only spent a couple of £££'s on DVD's for the DGK's.

3. Had afternoon tea in the car.

4. Made dinner of LO lamb from Sunday -

5 Followed it with mini Magnum ice creams BOGOF in Mr. M.

Caterina as you said OS becomes second nature after a while and I've been at it so long it is well and truly ingrained. Seems I have ingrained it in DD as well, as it was she who provided the afternoon tea in the car.

An even greyer and wetter day today, so I'm off to work at today's OS holiday pleasures.

Bella.