22 Foxhole East

f0xh0les

Hello!
Well it feels like autumn now doesn't it?
Dark when I get up in the morning, headlights on on the way back from after school clubs. I have just packed DS3 &4 off to bed with hot water bottles (they did happy dances about hot water bottles) and they toddled off to bed happily. No mucking about.
Unsurprisingly, the kids, who happily get up at 6am every single day during the holidays, did not wake up this morning, so I was running up and down the stairs at 7.15 waking everyone up. DS2 went back to sleep and I found him at 7.57 sound asleep in his bed, when we are supposed to leave at 8. He was in the car by 5 past after having had his breakfast and packed his bag.

So, managed to get all the kids to school on time, posted my spyware, did 3 hours heavy lifting at the volunteering place, picked up the last odds and sods on the shopping list, half filled the car with petrol, came home and had breakfast and lunch, washed up, sorted laundry, turned around and went to get the kids.

I simply did not stop today and I am now knackered after 0nly C0nnect and could honestly jump into my bed right now.

DH has just rocked up home after a meeting at work, I have made an apple crumble, as I was reheating some baked potatoes that were in the fridge for him, and I figured if the oven was on anyway......, so, day 1 of school successfully achieved. Pudding for tomorrow sorted, and after dropping the kids at school I am coming home and cleaning the house from top to bottom and hoovering it.
Today I got other things done.

apple_muncher

Is the car key still stuck in the car?

f0xh0les

yes, my locksmith is an unreliable swine. He has disappeared again. He thinks as long as the car goes, it is not urgent.

greent

I'm another one who doesn't tend to have the heating on for just me - seems wasteful. I iron to warm me up if needed ( I like ironing anyway )

f0xh0les

The washing up keeps your hands warm too!

Somehow managed to knock a load of stuff off the list of things to do today. Spent £10.50 in various c/shops over the space of 2 1/2 hours.

I am still within budget (just) and I don't think I need anything else until Friday.

Annoyingly, after counting 12 packets of crisps and needing precisely that amount for lunchboxes, 3 of the kids started a fight over the crisps while I was out getting DS3 from football club, which resulted in punching each other and the rebellious eating of 2 packets. I am not buying any more crisps. They were told not to eat them, they can do without in their lunchboxes now. The fruitbowl is full, and that is what they should be snacking on - they missed the crumble hidden in the oven, so it made a 'ta-da!' appearance after supper. Annoying children.

I had DS2 texting me constantly in the half hour it took to pick up DS3; DS1 punched me, DS4 was trying to smuggle crisps in his pants, DS1 is threatening me, I just punched DS1,

so then, DS1 got in on the act,

DS2 just hit DS4, DS2 is eating the soy whipped cream out of the fridge with a spoon, DS2 is an idiot. I am going to punch him if he is nasty to DS4, etc

Honestly, they were both pathetic. Worse than 5 year olds. And all because DS1 wanted to eat the crisps he was told not to. I might give up buying crisps for November.

And now my nose is sniffly and I don't want to get a cold thanks.
DH is going for promotion at work - he told his boss this week, and his boss apologised and said he should have probably put him forward himself last year. Oh well, just shows everyone knows he is ready.

f0xh0les

Tuesday already, November on Friday, and it seems JC is going to back Boris' election date this afternoon. So we will have a 12th December election. Someone tell Brenda.

Would anyone care to guess the date of dh's work Xmas do? yep. 12th December.

I have 2 days until some more money hits my bank account, so the orange light came on on the dashboard this morning, I stuck £10 of petrol in. That will do until payday when I can fill up. I am glaringly aware of my £15 overspend on the 2p slot machines with the kids at the seaside. grrrr. Still, there is no half term in November, so it is not going to happen again this month, and the cc bill is still under £200, unlike last month. Hopefully it will be a much cheaper month, even with the car key bill.

Just keeping my head down for the next 72 hours and eating from the freezer and pantry. It has to be made in the house, or they do not get it.

So - pudding rice soaking in a pan of milk in the kitchen
Apple puree defrosting in the fridge for a massive apple sponge and a smaller apple crumble.

If in doubt, or debt, make sure there is a pudding. The kids do not give a stuff if they are made to eat something on toast or soup, if there is a big old pudding and custard on display.
The fruit bowl is fully stocked, so the 5 a day can be supplemented by snacking.

I have £2.80 in my pocket and it has to do until payday.
I have transferred £10 from my pending savings account (I am somehow still managing to save £300 a month on top of the mortgage o/p) which I will repay on payday.
Still on track to have £10k savings by the C-word (including kids accounts money that they do not get until they are 17 - until then it is mine, all mine)
So, supper tonight is sausages for 3 and Veggie burgers for 3 ( because that is what I have in the freezer). wedges, baked beans, corn, and h/m coleslaw.

I am constantly amazed at my ability to make a different meal based around carrots, potatoes, peas and gravy.
I mean, I made a layered veg cobbler last night, there is shepherds pie, veg stew, veg soup, pasties, veg pie, and curry (obv minus the gravy), and a savory crumble, plus just as a veg next to sausages. I think I could easily do a whole week's menu with just those ingredients, and I am not sure the kids would even notice they were being fed the same thing in a slightly different hat.

I have discovered the wonder of a thickly sliced vegetable tray bake though - with the addition of a jar of grilled artichokes and half a jar of olives - a tray of potatoes and onions and 10 whole garlic cloves (smashed) and carrots are completely transformed into a wonderful thing (peppers optional) - you use the herbed oil the artichokes come in and just add some more rosemary.

Just another store cupboard experiment that worked!
I have rice noodles and soba noodles in the pantry that need to go into soups this week too.

I think baked potatoes are on the horizon. I still have 8 tins of ys baked beans in the pantry. Well, they were 12p. I could not leave them behind. I am like the marines with a ys bargain I use often.

f0xh0les

Well jolly good morning to you!
Today is Goth Christmas and also payday!!
So, after dropping the smalls (and not so smalls) at school and college, I used the last of my pennies in my pocket to buy 10 lemon-flavoured-paracetamol-based-drinks so we have some in the house - dh is still necking them like crazy -no sign of that cough though, since I pinned him to the bed and gave him a foot rub with V1cks.

Money came in, so I paid off the credit card, paid off the after school clubs, paid of another £25 for DS4s residential next spring (only £100 left to pay) worked out the amount that is left and what else is coming in this month - DH is going to go for promotion, and if he gets it, then we lose some child benefit as he will have to pay it back in extra income tax. What it does mean is that as long as I get a job that pays more than £100 a week, we will be better off.

All the bills go out tomorrow, and I am working on the budget for November- or yes-vember if you are a turtle -

I went a bit cleaning crazy yesterday, all the kids rooms, all their drawers, all the bookcases and I stripped and changed the beds too. Hoovered the lot, cleaned the bathrooms, cleared the hall, all the tat on the stairs, the living room, hoovered that lot too, and then decided I was knackered. So started on the laundry.

I still have the back room, dining room and kitchen to clean, clear, and hoover, and wash the floors where necessary, but today I do not have the impetus. I am off volunteering this afternoon down the f/bank and so I am taking it easy this morning, I've just got my bed to change on Friday and I am already ahead of myself.

So Brexit day has come (although not yet gone) again, we have not exploded (Mark Francois) the election date is at least set, but this is going to get very dirty very quickly.

I have no idea how much the mortgage is, I will have to ring them, but they will not have the figures until about the 4th, but that may or may not include dh's payment - it takes so much longer over a weekend for them to find the balance. Tragic really.

So, the last day of October sees me with money in the bank. There was too much month and not enough money this month, and I am not sure how it happened. Unless it was the £100 for half term accommodation, or the £150 on going down holes in the ground, or the £20 in the penny arcade, but I think we will just call that half term. There will not be too many of those left before DS1 is not coming with us anymore, so I have to make it count. Don't I?

Not that I think they would care if they were just allowed to stay hooked up to their xboxes in their bedrooms <sigh>.
Winning the lottery would be quite nice about now - if anyone is listening -

Renovations budget now stands at £9,400.01
Watch this space for some numbers at the start of next week.........

f0xh0les

Oh gods, forgot to tell you, I opened DS4s bedside cabinet drawer yesterday, and found a bowl and spoon that had been used to smuggle forest fruit crumble and custard upstairs, sometime last week.
Food has been banned (again) from the bedrooms.

Rotten swines. Honestly. Worse than animals.

At least there was no mould yet.....

f0xh0les

I think I have completed the food shop for the next two weeks, bar the occasional loaf of bread and emergency pot of hummus. I have a full pantry and a full freezer - mostly because Her*n have their puff and s/crust pastry offer on - 3 for £1 (jusrol). If nothing else I can make mice pies in December because I have a ys jar of micemeat in the pantry left over. Luckily this year Herr L's shopping emporium seem to have vegan mice pies (favorina brand) and Herr A seem to have the dark choc gingerbread hearts which are ok too. Last year was a bad year for finding suitable foodstuffs. This year it seems to be trendy. Even £land has little tins of danish biscuits that have no milk in.

I was in the little c0-0p by the kids' schools on Friday with a few minutes to spare (don't often go in as it is so expensive) and I found ys wooden skewers, so I think bbq veg and tofu kebabs will make a surprise appearance this week.
So far my plans are:
Sunday lunch - l/o potato and pea curry l/o aubergine curry and rice and a veg soup for dissenters
Sunday evening - Veg and Tofu kebabs and pittas.

Mon - Scrambled tofu or beans on toast
Tues - Toad in't hole and vegetables and gravy

Wed - Gnocchi (one pesto, one tomato sauce)and rocket

Thurs - Sausage rolls, wedges and beans
Fri - Vegetable cobbler

Sat - lunch - Corn and potato chowder
Sat - supper - Artichoke, potato and olive traybake and sausages
Sun - lunch - Vegetable pie and roast potatoes
Sun - evening - tomato and red pepper soup
So I seem quite organised. I have everything I need for the kids lunchboxes - went to the F00dfarm and bought their crates of fizzy drinks (and loo roll) for the month, I have pasties in the freezer to do the week, I have a million packets of pastry to make more pasties with, and I will do some baking tomorrow to pad it all out with. Flapjacks and a chocolate traybake I think.

The back room has been cleaned, tidied and hoovered.

The pantry has been inventorised and hoovered and is very neat and tidy. I could be snowed in and be fine for a fortnight.

It is a dark and rainy night here, I am still drying laundry, and have 2 loads left to wash. I changed my bedding this morning, so there is not a floor in front of the washing machine just yet. That job will be finished tomorrow. The candles are lit and the house is toasty, I have a lot to be grateful for, but I am annoyed that I have barely seen my kids today. They have all taken themselves off to their rooms. I suppose this is just a taste of things to come. It is very boring though. I feel more like a warden than a parent. Can you tell I am grumpy tonight?

I spent my l0ve2shop vouchers on candles, so I have enough to keep me going for the month as well, and I have bought dh 2 plants for his office, one from Herr A, with purple leaves, and one was 50p from Wilk0 reduced section. DH was complaining (in passing) he was bored of his office plants (we do not have any house plants) so I surprised him with two new work dependents. He had to go in to work today for on open day, so I was nice and drove him in to stop him getting soggy, and so he only missed the last 20 minutes of the rugby. Oops, perhaps I should not have mentioned the rugby. Well at least we got Silver.

The tv is dire at the moment. I do not really care about sparkles and sequins, or factors of X, or balls on walls. I might well have to start watching and discarding dvds.

And on Monday I will have to call the locksmith......

greenbee

For a vegan you're very keen on putting mice in pies

You should find lots of vegan goodies - you're now in fashion As for the kids, I suspect you should be grateful they're hiding in their rooms rather than attempting to kill each other. Maybe you should take over one of the rooms as your own and fill it with your candles and other nice things as somewhere that you can hide from the rest of the family if necessary. You may find they don't notice for a year or two