22 Foxhole East

badmemory

Are you sure about the hamster? - they are nocturnal. Believe me lying in bed listening to that wheel at 3am is not conducive to sleep.

They are adorable, which can make their nightime activity forgivable, but only if no-one in the house has extremely good hearing/sleeps badly. Names Bubble and Squeak - nicknames Houdini 1 and Houdini 2. They can climb down curtains, shred carpets, and steal your heart. Also go down stairs. They can open those "homes" you get for them, no idea how but they can.

They also don't get on with one another so don't try putting two together (even siblings). This is a good thing because you are only looking for one escapee at a time! But they are also heartgrabbing.

gallygirl

Well I have been home a week now, little old lady very happy, I took her to town and we did her Christmas shopping and I made sure she had a few treats in, then I found her enormous stash of chocolates, sweets and biscuits. She could be snowed in for months and not run out. For someone who does not eat sweet things, she surely has an enormous pile hidden around the place.

Mr GG's mum phoned once to ask him to get her a box of chocolates. What about the six boxes in the wardrobe he asked. 'They're for emergencies' she said. 'Well this is an emergency as I'm not going so best get one out then' :rotfl:.

f0xh0les wrote: »

I have freecycled for hamster paraphernalia, been to pets at h0me and found out you can rescue a hamster for £5, so our family will be gaining another member soon. Smallest will be 7 on christmas eve eve. Old enough for pets.

DH has fallen in love with golden moles after Earth II last week. He keeps walking into rooms and announcing 'I am the shark of the desert' and leaving again giggling. It is a handy excuse for not doing certain chores, 'sorry, I will get my fur dirty, and my iridescence is part of my charm'. Twit.

If you're thinking of having a house pet and DH likes golden moles......... best make sure he doesn't see Rex rabbits!!!! Coats like velvet.

Bobarella

Foxholes I do love your updates, it's wonderful that your boys are all such great readers.

f0xh0les

And the mortgage now starts with 114! Not sure how much into 114, as I am trying to get them to get me online so I can stalk my mortgage balance......

f0xh0les

DH is utterly unconvinced about Mr Hamster, Badmemory. But 'H' will be in the living room and we will be upstairs, or possibly 'H' will be in the back room, as we are above the living room. If it doesn't work out, well, it is not like we will have a 17 yr old hamster.. and I will have someone else to talk to!

I just picked up a three storey detached residence with two slides, two wheels, two feeding pods and an exercise ball from a lovely girl from Streetlife whose hamster passed away last week. Her mum had told her she was too old for hamsters now (she looked about 19) so I have everything except wood shavings. It is hidden under a blanket in my bedroom. I love this secret squirrel sh*t. DS4 is going to burst with happiness, and I give it 3 days before I surprise DH with a hamster in his hands after the kids go to bed.

Also, a house clearance yesterday led to me picking up 2 armchairs for £0, so I see moving furniture about a bit in my future.....

Bobarella

Hamsters are cute! I hope yours is very happy!

f0xh0les

Found a huge YS bag of wood chippings for hamsters in Mr T last night, reduced from £5 to £2, it is in my boot.

Yesterday was Christmas Decorations day at primary school, so I was helping kids make pictures and after 3 hrs I am not sure if there was more glitter on the pictures or on me. Sparkly!!

Wrapped up all the presents that needed to be sent out of England. Sent them this morning. Job done. Massive tick.

Someone posted on local facebook page this morning about The Twits final dress rehearsal at The Curve theatre, all tickets £1. Bargain. Off we went, jolly good time had by all. Might be worth looking at the facebook pages of your local theatres. This is, apparently, quite normal to find regularly. Give it a go!

Received my £5 Tesco Party food voucher, so I went online to find out what is vegan, it seems their frozen veggie sausage rolls are ok this year, plus some of their indian range. It will all come in handy, but I need to do an inventory before I go shopping tomorrow. Heron had a 3 for £1 on their pastry last week, puff, filo and shortcrust now filling an entire draw of the freezer.

The rear living room is looking a total mess, but the furniture is where it is supposed to be, I just need to thin down the stores of fabric I have accumulated (hoarded!!) and make some cushion covers are mine are looking well past their best. Time for a change that will cost nothing.

Spent one of the wombled gift cards at Argos today on 80 fairy lights - they gave me the change on a gift card! Now the tree is up and I am feeling a little fa-la-la-la-la! now. Poor tree. It has developed a list, about 3 years ago it must have been, as I remember thinking that tree is not straight last year. This year it is still not straight and no amount of sticking a book under any of the legs is helping, the poor thing has a twisted trunk. Will have to check out MASSIVE trees in the sales in the New Year. After all, baubles are 10 for 50p in most of the charity shops, and they have masses. I have to make some Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle baubles - I have the green baubles, and the eyes, I just need a few small pieces of ribbon to make the masks and I am away. Was supposed to do it last year but faffed it. Nobody noticed!

DH has a friend who works in G4mes W0rkshop who is giving him some stuff for free for the 2 eldest! We didn't ask, he just offered, so that is DS1 & 2 sorted now. DS4 is pretty much done for birthday and christmas. DS3 now wants a rabbit (not going to happen - hop it shorty) so he needs one more present and that is him done.

My tree is covered in lights and it makes me happy, but as we were out til afternoon, then tree up time, then humping furniture around the place, supper is going to be pasties I made on Thursday and shoved into the freezer on a baking tray for the times when I go AAAARRRGGGHHH, feeding time again and I haven't made anything.

As I don't have anything to do with my family ( don't ask - manipulative racist nut jobs - it is a good thing) I am overly tolerant of DH's family, and they are very capable of playing on that. I should not have to go down on my knees to thank them for sending my kids £10 at Christmas. Surely a phone call is enough to someone you do not know, have met for an hour once in 7 years, and that you have asked not to send anything, but no, they are chuntering about not receiving thank you letters. Which is obviously because I am the worst mother in the universe (is there a ceremony? do I get a badge??). Will have to try extra hard to make them write a note this year, or I might just have to forge it myself. Either way, I don't think darling M-I-L or F-I-L has spoken to me on the phone since they left here. Small blessings.

f0xh0les

Spent £5 T0sc0 voucher, it was not trouble free but the Till Elf did as he was told and made it work. Food in the freezer. :beer:

I wanted to go to the local city farm on Sunday because Santa was there for 2 hrs, but time got away from me:mad:, so we did baking instead and they were all happy with the results, but still, I feel bad for not making it work. I don't want the kids thinking they are off school for 3 weeks so they can sit on the computers all day. That is the main problem with not having family in the country, there are no planned meet ups or parties or weekends elsewhere, will have to plan some away days..

DH is off to Manchester today for a conference so the kids all wanted the day off school to go back. So.... they are all at school! We lived there for 12 years, the kids were all born there, so I suppose it is natural, but secretly I know what they really miss is the best Falafel cafe in the world... I miss it too! Going to have to find a place in Leicester that does a good sit down falafel & mezze meal. All the boys love a good falafel.

I tried putting up the hamster cage this morning and I have to say I am stumped. There are all these little slide/tunnel things and I don't know how they fit together or how long they are supposed to be, or if they are supposed to be on the inside or outside. To be fair it was a pretty half-hearted attempt, but it is going to be a good deal of fun trying to make this work one night this week once the smalls, and not so smalls, are in bed. :rotfl:

Took DH to 'the best shop in the world ever' the second hand furniture warehouse just down the road. He found a lot of things he liked, and for just about the first time ever, he realised he could afford anything he wanted to buy. Never happened before, loads of lovely old furniture he loved, so it looks like my bedroom may be transformed into a boudoir rather than the storage unit/argos warehouse it looks like at the moment. All looking positive. Now I am thinking I should get a move on with decorating the bedroom and getting a carpet put down before he goes and buys something enormous. I always do things in the wrong order!!!! :o:o

Loving all the MSE updates from other diaries, it is like looking through a snowglobe into other peoples lives and traditions at Christmastime. :xmastree::santa2::rudolf: All my presents are wrapped up, with only a few left to buy. The ones for people who you never see year on year off but you knew years ago and they always send a box of chocolates.

Oooh, while I remember, £land is doing a box of Ashleys licorice pipes for £1, there are only 6 pipes in there, but they kept the boys amused for at least 10 minutes last night while watching Paddington. 'look at me smoking my peep!' they were in hysterics. Even DS2, at 12 was rolling around the sofa giggling. Most excellent stocking filler, and licorice is good for coughs, so it is medicinal too.

The mint/orange/lemon and lime/ coffee cremes are lovely too and all £1, I managed to track down the coffee ones in Iceland, and all the others just across the precinct in £land.:money:

Off to go trawl the charity shops for board games. Keeping it frugal! and keeping my head out of the fridge, this fox is getting fat!

PurpleFairy26

:hello: foxholes. You're doing amazing, your house sounds lovely. Would you mind letting me know where that furniture shop us, I'm not too far from you and I'd like to take a look as I'm looking for a few bits. TIA.

PF.

f0xh0les

[QUOTE Would you mind letting me know where that furniture shop us, I'm not too far from you and I'd like to take a look as I'm looking for a few bits. TIA.

PF.[/QUOTE]

It is The Second Hand Warehouse on Lothair Road, it is really big inside, and you can play hunt the cat - there is a stuffed cat called Trim that was on board the ship that mapped Australia or something(check the sticker on his bottom), he moves around the warehouse every few days. The prices are not fixed, the stickers are more advisory so feel free to haggle.

Delivery seems to be £10 whether you are 2 mins down the road or in Oadby, they always say the same amount! Don't worry about the massive Alsation, his name is Harvey and he is soft as butter but he is enormous.