22 Foxhole East

crazy_cat_lady

What a palaver with the bank! Ugh!
Hope you had a jolly garden gin afternoon - I certainly did as my poor forty something year old body has reminded me this morning. I used to be able to do all day drinking 20 years ago but I'm not in that place any more at all.

kerri_gt

crazy_cat_lady said:

What a palaver with the bank! Ugh!
Hope you had a jolly garden gin afternoon - I certainly did as my poor forty something year old body has reminded me this morning. I used to be able to do all day drinking 20 years ago but I'm not in that place any more at all.

I struggle with all evening drinking these days 🙈 i tell myself it's not actually because i feel worse, it's because i feel I'm wasting the next day feeling so awful...I'm not entirely sure I've convinced myself let alone anyone else!!

f0xh0les

BadMemory - I didn't read it as a put down at all.   I find it so strange that we get people in who put of coming until there is nothing left in the cupboard, they wind themselves up into a total state as they hate the idea of coming, the fear that they may leave empty handed (nobody leaves without at least 2 bags of food) and then they come in and remember that we are lovely, we practically bend over backwards to help out as much as we can, then they  end up crying all over the place as the stress-release is instant.   It is not who they ever imagined they would be. Foodbanks are for the Victorian destitute, we do get some homeless/ temp accommodation, but most are driving nice - what I would call 'flash' - cars, because up until recently they could easily afford the monthly payments on them.  There are people coming in through our doors who never ever thought they would need this kind of help and would not be seen dead stood around a ys fridge or veg basket.   I would rather they came in the door than rely on the food parcel delivery we are doing. We can give out fresh fruit and veg and toiletries and tailor a bit, the stuff they get.   The box delivery is face-less.   When the Brit1sh gas folk go back to work and people have to come in to collect their parcels, I do not know what the scheduled sessions are going to look like.  Oh well, don't borrow trouble!

I could not believe the pictures of Bournemouth beach yesterday! People are mad.

Today is the end of week 1 of the school run. DS1 is in 4 days a week for 2 hrs each. DS2 is in for 2 hrs 1 x a week.

I have 5 days left of the month and £34 in the budget and £6 in my purse - will use £150 of my £200 birthday money to pay for my car tax demand I just got - There is food in the house, a list made of things I want to do today and over the weekend. 

DH is not feeling well. Apart from the normal daily pain, he is exhausted. He took himself off for a nap yesterday afternoon as he just could not cope with the day.  Will keep an eye on him.

Wore a frock yesterday, am wearing another frock today - I am making my wardrobe work for me.  I will wear it until it flippin' falls apart.  I have summer dresses in the wardrobe, it is summer and my legs are not looking like Mr Tumnus, so I am wearing them. So what if I am not going out anywhere? I have to wear clothes, they dry quickly on the line, so I can hoover just as well in a frock as a pair of jeans.  

in_need_of_direction

love love the mr tumnus comment.  Boo to using birthday money for car tax

mark55man

don't borrow trouble - love that as a saying!

plus my OH volunteers in the local food bank - she would mirror exactly what you have observed - thank you! 

f0xh0les

Well, I wasn't expecting the money, so really I am £50 up with free car tax.

Went back to the Air Ambulance shops and bought the 3 cups with badgers and foxes on £2.95, a terracotta tablewear thing 75p, straw hats for the smallest 2 kids £2 each, and a blue shirt for DS1 £1 - still had the quality control  paper sticky dot on the inside label.  So everyone got something except DS2. Sh0ez0ne has closed down on the precinct!  Where am I going to buy shoes on the way to school from now??? I swear they only opened at 8.30 for the kids who grew overnight and still needed to get to school on time.  Mr T0ssc0's shoes are too narrow for my huge web-footed children (they tell me - I do not believe it).

Right, school run part deux.  It is searingly hot out already. Glad it will all be over by 11.20 and I can concentrate on  just melting at my own pace.  Lunch is a leek and cheese orzotto and steamed kale (red spaghetti and no-meat balls for dissenters). 

I need to do something with the aubergines today or I will lose them....

Baileys_Babe

My ds has very wide feet, they look part troll.

mark55man

We rediscovered aubergines recently, but are quite boring with what we do with them.  Mainly slice them medium thick, then drizzle with olive oil and oven cook for 25 minutes each side (checking a bit earlier, as they can be sensitive to being a bit thinner or the oven being a bit hotter).  I sometimes sprinkle some flavoured salt on them when I turn.

On one occasion which went down quite well, I put a thickish slice of cheese between two rounds and gave them another 5 minutes to make an aubercheese burger - would be very nice on a bun, but we had them alongside a naked burger  but another structural item would do as well

greenbee

Last night I diced aubergine, BNS, red pepper and halloumi, added some olive oil, black pepper and mint and then roasted in the oven for 45 minutes. It was delicious, and perfect for the hot weather with a bit of lettuce.

f0xh0les

Oooh get us, the aubergine lovers! Have you tried slices brushed with a mix of harissa paste and maple syrup on a bbq?  It is flippin' gorgeous, smokey, spicy and sweet, and the texture is amazing.  My next house will have a garden! I miss a barbecue.

That,  a veg traybake,  and a ridiculously spicy coconut tomato curry, and chinese style chili salt fried aubergine is pretty much all we do with it. 

If I roast veg I end up eating it for 3 days, everyone else chooses something else, which is nuts as it is gorgeous. Whole squashed garlic cloves make my veg traybakes a thing of beauty.   BNS and sweet potatoes are the spawn of Satan according to my kids.  Apparently veg should not be sweet.  Inside their tiny tiny minds.