Five OS Pleasures in your day today

thriftyscotslass

Thankyou RainyWednesday - I'm finding strength I didn't know I had - it's amazing what's in there when you think you've got nothing left and really have to dig deep.

(((Hugs))) to everyone in need or who would just love a hug.

1. A washload drying on the line today, a good day here with a gorgeous evening.

2. Catching up with a load of outstanding banking and paperwork, feeling relieved that nothing unexpected had cropped up in the last month and that I'd missed it.

3. Spending time with ds and feeling very proud of him as I watched him speak on his own to the man dealing with his benefits. I still have to prime him on what to say though but he is learning and more importantly, coping :T. Eeeeeh, it's funny what this life throws at you.

4. A lovely long walk with a friend tonight catching up.

5. Feeling all lovely and cosy, back in the house after our walk.

Have a good evening everyone, Thriftyxxx

Kittikins

Thanks for the hug Thrifty, I'm of the persuasion that you can never have too many cuddles (and am bringing DD up the same way too )

1. Taking DD into town, we took a packed lunch with us, planning on picnicing on the beach, but ended up sitting just outside shopping centre in the sunshine, listening to some buskers and chatting to strangers.
2. Bought a bottle of water using a M&S gift card - so 'free'
3. Spent some vouchers in a clothes shop, DD 'chose' me a couple of tops and I found a funky scarf, so again - 'free'
4. Bought some gorgeous knee high boots to replace others that are actually falling apart they're so old, and the cheapest ones fit the best.
5. Yippee! Have just sold another book on Amaz*n, more pennies for the mortgage pot

zarazara

1. buying a bunch of flowers
2. telling DH tha I love him
3. coffee and bun in a cafe
4. vaccing and moping and seing how nice the floors lookd aterwards
5. nice hot bath

sparrer

I'm so pleased you and your DD enjoyed the holiday kittikins, now you know you can do it the world's your oyster as you so rightly said
Doesn't that make you want to spit Ollie?! It used to happen to me but like Thrifty I learned to write it up in word first, saved a lot of 'Army' language!
Thrifty I wish you and your family peace, alcoholism is a cunning, baffling and powerful illness that affects everybody in the family. I hope your brother can find his way to recovery :A
Congrats on your No 4 mineallmine, we get taken in so easily by must-haves it's a struggle sometimes to resist, so well done for that :T
Have been thinking of Ampersand, has anybody heard from her at all?

My blessings...

1. The freezer co are now arguing about the cost of removing my broken f/f (their web site said it was free but they say it 'should have been updated' and if I want collection I have to cancel the whole order and start again!) when they deliver the new one so I cancelled collection to save any more hassle and phoned the local council. They collect free for over-60's - it definitely has its advantages!

2. Sorry if this one offends but hearing that a certain pop singer over the age of 60 has been denied the right to adopt a child. Thank goodness someone is seeing sense!

3. A nsd - no point in shopping til I get the new f/f and insurance money - then look out Mr A!

4. DD has a new lens for her camera and has sent me some amazing photos of the DGC to add to the rogues gallery on my stairs

5. Saved the best til last - my step sis hearing she's in the clear after bowel cancer :j:j:j

Night night all n God bless, sweet dreams

S x

Olliebeak

Hello everybody :wave: on a sunny (but decidedly chilly) Liverpool morning - at least we can see the flats the last couple of days .

thriftyscotslass - good to see you posting again - you've definitely done the right thing where your own part of the family group is concerned and I hope that your mum learns to stop enabling your brother. I've been there with my OH and I know exactly what it's like - he's around 13 years dry now. Thanks for the tip - will remember that in future :rolleyes:. Well done to your ds on his progress in the big wide world.
Kittikins - welcome back from your travels and congrats on having such a lovely helpful young lady as your daughter - can see you both having a great relationship as she gets older :j. Well done on getting back ontrack with the diet so quickly.
mineallmine - well done on your swim - not been for years and it IS something that I've missed since putting weight back on again. great self-restraint on putting stuff back on the shelf .
RuiSantos - welcome to '5 pleasures' - that's good news about your friend's job and hope you enjoyed your time with your sister.
Patchwork - :eek: at your exploits up the ladder - thank heavens for the spongey grass :rolleyes:. No wonder the cats and robins were staring at you - for once YOU were in THEIR territory. Well done to your OH on the shelving.
flutterby - sounds like you had a fabulous weekend. Who'd have ever thought that old docklands could be turned into such fabulous accommodation - we've got quite a few on the Mersey and it's so good to see them all being used after years of lying derelict.
newlywed - well done you on your Heritage Tour - amazing how much history lies within a few yards of our own doorsteps .
bella - sounds like both of you are enjoying your OH's retirement .
RainyWednesday - great idea there for you and your friend to share ingredients.
zarazara - erm, if you're looking for floors to sort out ............. :rolleyes::o!
sparrer - ........ it certainly does ! Quite with you on your No.2 - if these wealthy, ageing rockstars suddenly feel concerned about child welfare, why on earth can't they just donate some huge sums of money to child welfare charities to raise the profiles of the charities - I'm certain that NSPCC, Childline, Save the Children, Barnardo's etc would really welcome some financial patronage. Good luck for the future to your step-sis.

My Sunday turned into yet another mad day!

1. DS2 arrived with dgs2 AND dgs3 (don't remember committing myself to childminding on sunday ) so OH and I took them both to the car boot sale - we were there by 10.00am - not normally dressed until 12 on a sunday .

2. McD's for coffee and doughnuts first - I love their coffee and didn't have to pay for mine as I had a 'free drink voucher' .

3. Discovered that DS2 hadn't put any teats in the baby's bag and had to find a shop that sold them (on a sunday morning!) - Superdrug - £2.68 for 2!!!!!

4. I found a Breville Pie Magic (boxed with instructions and cutters) for £1.50 :j:j - plus a microwave rice steamer (50p), two hard-backed Kathy Reichs books (unopened) for 50p each, some lovely children's books (3 for £1) - so quite pleased with my little haul.

5. dgs2 bought 8 WW Wrestling figures for £4.50 - secret is to discreetly walk away while the child haggles - had I stood there, the stallholder would have held out for full price and waited for ME to put my hand in my pocket for the extra cash neeed .

6. Back to McD's for lunch - 2 happy meals and 2 deli sandwich meals for £11 - not too bad in the circumstances. At least the shops are clean, you know what you're getting, nobody complains about you taking prams/kiddies/bootsale bags in there PLUS there's baby-changing facilities :j.

7. Bus trip to a local park and a chance for dgs2 to run off some steam around a swing-park and on the field with a frisbee for a while. Looked at the lake/ducks/geese/swans/terns/squirrels/gardens etc. Even allowed dgs3 out of the pram for a short while to stretch his legs - but the pram kept falling over with the weight of the bag on the back of it .

8. Afternoon tea in the Boat-house cafe (recently re-opened but fondly remembered from my childhood) - very reasonable home-baking .

9. Lovely stroll through a 'Woodland/Wetland Walk' - so cool and shady on a very warm day.

10. Only waited a few minutes for a bus home and got a phonecall from DS2 to say he'd won his Golf Tournament :j.

All-in-all a delightful (and VERY profitable) Sunday.

Monday was fairly quiet in work (:T God!) - don't think I could have coped with a busy day.

Due for a visit from DD sometime this morning - she's still waiting to find out when dgs1 can start his new school - looks like it'll be next Monday.

that's me about done for now. Hope everybody has a good day. ((((BIG HUGS)))) to everybody who needs one (or just wants one) - love Ollie xxx


ps - does anybody on here know how to use a microwave rice steamer ?

Forgot to add - also got a 'plug-in phone' for 50p - in case of powercuts this winter - or I just might use it anyway to reduce the electricity we use .

Primrose

Where does the time go? Always seem to be behind myself in posting here:

1. Garage door lock unjammed and replaced so can now use my car again which was very inconveniently imprisoned inside the garage.

2. Good to see that despite the gloomy economy, so many people on here are managing to find so many simple and diverse pleasures in their lives. Somebody once said to me "If everybody you knew sat in a circle and threw their troubles in a bag into the ring, would you pick up your own bag again or pick somebody else's?" It's an interesting question. Our troubles may be bigger or smaller than somebody elses but they're often different, and no less valid in the distress they cause to the individuals who have them.

3. Our week's menus ahead focusing almost entirely around home grown crops, so a few satisfactory food miles saved
.
4 Giving a bag of home grown crops to a friend.

5. Watching the first falling leaves of autumn blowing in the wind today and realising that however sad it is that summer is now officially over, I must go with the flow of the seasons and enjoy the best of what they offer.

Kittikins

Hi Ollie - I've got a microwave rice steamer, it's fantastic

Put 1 part rice in the colander bit and then pour over 1.5x boiling water, lid on and cook on high for 5 minutes. Take it out, give it a stir, and then cook for another 5-6 minutes (depending on the rice).

Pour the water out straightaway, don't leave it all sitting in together....I made that mistake a couple of times, yuk to soggy rice

Olliebeak

Kittikins wrote: »

Hi Ollie - I've got a microwave rice steamer, it's fantastic

Put 1 part rice in the colander bit and then pour over 1.5x boiling water, lid on and cook on high for 5 minutes. Take it out, give it a stir, and then cook for another 5-6 minutes (depending on the rice).

Pour the water out straightaway, don't leave it all sitting in together....I made that mistake a couple of times, yuk to soggy rice

I just KNEW that somebody on here would have the answer - thanks Kittikins .

newlywed

Here's mine:

1. 5 portions of Leek and Tatty soup (made with basic spuds and aldi cheap leeks) and HM chicken stock.
2. HM bread to go with it.
3. The fact that it is now officially "soup weather"
4. Debating whether to order the Hovis recipe booklet online for £1.50 and finding it in Co-op reduced to 69p
5. Finding a sharwoods naan bread mix (add water and bake your own thing) reduced to 30p.
6. Working out that even though I only have a tenner till payday, there can still be lots of bread treats (vaguely planning to make sundried tomato bread, onion and cheese bread), some cakes (till the eggs run out), fruit crumbles, fruit pies, and twinks hobnobs coz I've got a well stocked baking cupboard. (I'd live off that and soup for the next week but my protein hungry hubby would be disgusted ).

RachelW1987

I only have 3 but its a start

1. Getting £4.20 for some old books in the market today
2. Having HM leftover Chilli for dinner today
3. Making leek and potato soup and going to make up some Veg soup later