22 Foxhole East

f0xh0les

Well that was nice, apart from dh shouting at DS4 who was an utter utter swine. It was DS1s birthday today, so as it was not about him, DS4 kicked off about everything. He did not want to go down a mine, he was not sufficiently consulted about what he wanted to eat/ drink/ visit/ where he wanted to sit/ sleep etc. Everything was antagonistic. It is terribly important to have an opinion, when you are the smallest. His opinion was rubbish though. It was very annoying. I was without reliable news coverage for two whole days!! So catching up on Boris-watch tonight.

All the laundry is being done, and I will aim to head off to the seaside tomorrow morning. I am expecting dissent and dirty tricks. DS2 does not want to go, DS1 and DH have work to do, so they can't go. DS2 has to go, but is not beyond co-opting DS3 and 4 into his campaign of passive resistance. Blimey, you would think I was trying to do them harm rather than take them off for the last holiday before the Xmas hols. Ungrateful wretches.

Worst.... Mum...... Ever! apparently.

The caves were great, we had our own personal tour of the Blue John mine, and the kids found some samples on the ground, so the gift shop was not needed. That ended up being over an hour's tour, just us, and we have some great photos. Then we had tea and cake in the carpark - those fabulous travel mugs keep stuff drinkably warm for 3 hours, so I made up some very posh wh1ttards fruit tea punch from very ood stuff they could not give out at the f/b. It was sugar and fruit powder - nothing wrong with it, and the cake I made before we left. Then we went down to Speedwell Cavern, the flooded lead mine with the boat, which the kids loved as it was just such a weird thing to do . There were only 4 other people in the boat with us. The cavern at the end of it was pretty pants, but it was a boat ride in the dark! they learnt some history, and found out about water based diseases, and being a minor miner. And it was a boat ride in the dark! and because it had rained so much lately, they all bumped their heads on the ceiling (they gave us hard hats) so then we went off into Castleton and went to the little shop that sells duck food for 30p a bag, down by the river, and we fed the ducks, who were quite happy to take it out of our hands, there were so few people about, even the chip shop only opens on weekends during the low season.

Then we went to Peak Cavern, which was far too long talking about rope, and then a pretty unspectacular cave after the Blue John one, but on the way out, when you saw the cave mouth from within, it was lovely. It worked out about £50 per cave for the 6 of us. It is not something you do all the time, and it will be the last big expense this year I think before the C word.

Finances are not too bad. I think I can absorb all the cost for this from this month's budget. So no money to come out of next month's pay for this month's credit card bill (due next week). Plus I still have a tenner in my purse.

I have done nothing to prep for the 'C' word.

I know where we are going for the fireworks
We are doing nothing for halloween except watch Brex1t.
What it did though, as we were rocketing about in the mornings, with the mist rising above the trees on Snake Pass, and over the hills, is make me remember how much I absolutely loved living in Sheffield and being 15 minutes away from this lovely countryside with amazing autumnal colours. The berries on the leafless trees were red, the bracken was orange, the trees were all shades from green through yellow and the odd amazing red maples thrown in for good measure. It was utterly gorgeous and one of the prettiest places in the whole world. Yorkshire is gorgeous. Loads of fabulous photos.

Right, bedtime for me. No more laundry will be done tonight. night night.

kerri_gt

Bred!t could be a real life horror movie come 31st anyway....:eek:
Apparently they are close to a deal tonight, supposedly...I mean they've only had three years so what's the rush? :mad:

apple_muncher

Sheffield v Le'shire. There is only 1 winner! The one with hills...

f0xh0les

Apparently I am married to a 'micro-influencer' w(ever)tf that means. Over3k twits follow him and retweet him.

Oh well, that's nice dear.

Just packing my bags and have to do the washing up, then we are off to the seaside. Will take a bobble hat in case anyone else is making up their own I SPY tick list.

f0xh0les

Well most of that was jolly good fun. We got there in 3 hours, they still had warm drinks in their travel mugs, and then we went off to look at the sea for a bit, had some chips, walked back via T0sc0s and bought food for the night and morning, and then checked in. Room was a 6 person room, showers were shared but clean and plenty of hot water. We went back down to the beach, DS3 ran up and down with his kite, took some nice photos, came back, cooked and settled down for the evening. It seems DS3 and 4 like to play pool. One 50p game lasted 2 hours! I watched the news and drank tea instead.

Thursday dawned bright and sunny and we all went off to the beach, DS3 & 4 were running around topless it was so warm. Much splashing about in the sea. Did lots of walking about the place. Did not drive anywhere from pulling into the YHA carpark until we left in the rain on Friday. We did go in the 2p arcades though, and they loved it. I went about £10 over budget though, and then splurged on a chinese for tea. Well, we were on holiday.

So I have mountains of laundry to do.
There was hardly a thing in the house to make a meal from. So had to go shopping at 7pm on a Friday night (how depressing!) and then go out again this morning for all the stuff I could not get last night as the shelves were bare already.
Made fridge bottom soup last night with a handful of barley and a handful of lentils, then reheated it for lunch today. It was really good and so utterly cheap it is ridiculous. Soup is going to make a reappearance on the menu regularly from now on, AND........ I am going to put the heating on timer from Monday. It is now cold enough, single figures at night and not much more during the daytime. There will only be ten days left of October and I am over £250 in credit with the foxyenergypeople who have rubbish customer service but the cheapest price for me. So I can afford to have the heating on for a little bit without worrying. I will stick it on from 6.45 -7.45 in the mornings, and from 4.45- 8.00 that will give me an idea of how much it is going to cost, but the washing line will still be used when it is dry.

Supper tonight is spinach and potato curry and rice - dh has decided he wants to make idli, so who knows what time we will eat. Hopefully before the model railway programme starts. I have stewed some apples with cinnamon and sultanas and we are going to have that with some salted caramel dairy free icecream (the 50p stuff I bought weeks ago - yep, it is still going! I think I have 4 tubs left).
So, B0r1s could not get his rubbish deal past the MPs, and he says he will not ask for an extension. So I guess he is going all out for an election and hope that there are enough Leavers out there willing to put aside their party loyalties to get him back in.

Interesting times.

chumpy45

Indeed who know where it will all end !! Glad the holidays went well, sound fab by the sea. I have yet to put on the heating and am officially known as a "skinflint" by OH and DS4. I care not lol.

f0xh0les

To be honest, I do not put the heating on when the kids are at school, they can have an hour in the morning for when they are running about naked on the landing and then it will come on again about 20 minutes after I finish the afterschool-clubs run. There is no point having it on when there is nobody about the place - I always wonder about people who put it on the thermostat -so if it goes below 16 degrees or something- I mean, what is the point of heating a house if you are not in it? I hear people at the school gates all the time going on about coming home and finding the heating has come on, so it must be getting colder. They could have just paid for 8 hours of heating an empty house! I would be gutted.

Sayschezza

Two ways of looking at that f0xh0les. Back in the dark ages when we were a family of 5 with DC at school and DH at work, unlike most of my friends I ran the heating for me as I was at home most of the day. I didn't/don't understand why it's ok for stay at home mums to go cold all day and can only enjoy being warm when the family are at home. To me it's as if they didn't/ don't think they were worth as much. Nowadays OH and I have the heating on whenever we are cold to help old aching joints but that's another story.

f0xh0les

I think my main problem with heating the house just for me in the daytime is that the c/h cannot be 'zoned' I suppose that was why so many people kept their gas fire in the living room even after they got c/h. I do not see the point in heating the top 2 floors when there is nobody in them, and even if you turn the radiators off at the thermostat on the side, the pipes leading to them all get hot anyway, so it is still warming up the top 2 floors and the living room radiator is the last station on the line. I am often in and out a lot, and it just works for me, but you are right, there is an element of 'I do not think I am worth the cost', but then it would be different if I did not have a 5 bed terrace house with one side empty (so unheated wall on one side).
I would rather fill a hot water bottle if I am going to be sat on the sofa during the day for any length of time- if i was sitting for any length of time it would involve tea anyway. I promise I do not sit with gloves and a woolly hat in the living room, or doing jumping jacks to keep up my temperature :j:j:j:j:j.

As, obviously us stay at home parents spend a lot of time on the sofa during the day:rotfl:.

I treat the laundry and the cleaning and diy and shopping and the cooking and the school run + after school clubs as my day job, which ends when food hits the table at 5.45. Then I get to enjoy the family and relax in the warm, and I do not care if the washing up gets left until I come home after dropping them at school in the morning. The evenings are for spending time with people you enjoy. Even if they are annoying.

Sayschezza

" Even if they are annoying. "

Oh I had a few of those too. Love em.