22 Foxhole East

kerri_gt

Good luck with the item on the selling page.

crazy_cat_lady

Wow - your lot are back early. I thought dd going in next Thursday was early. I suppose this is the bonus of my finishing so late for the summer. Mind you, I am taking dd to enrol at sixth form today.

f0xh0les

It all went well, because I got up at 6, and so was awake and able to take up the trousers that fit round the waist, but were too long in the leg, rather than the ones that fit him last week, but were too small this morning (well, if they will bl00dy grow what do they expect????) So picked up another 2 pair in Mr T's this morning £11, and then sat in the car for a minute, watching all the dads running out with a twin pack of school trousers and a panicked expression.    

Did look in Herr L's, but you could see through them, the material was that thin. But what do you expect for £1.75

We always start back the Wed before the BH weekend CCL, so they get their timetables and get all the letters and nonsense out of the way to start back into full on teaching before Sept starts.  Half term is 15th Oct and they break for The C Word on 17th Dec.

I am really aware that in one week we are into the last third of the year.  The light has changed, the evenings are being evenings again, and I am not going to bed in broad daylight. It was still light enough at 6 that I did not need the lights on, but that will change suddenly over the next week or two. 

DH is busy with marking all the plagiarism / late submissions / mit circs essays, so it is like living with a grumpy bear.

f0xh0les

I am £50 richer!  The  man (who turned out to be his mother I think) rocked up half an hour late, without any money, asked where the nearest free cashpoint was, went off, got lost, came back, paid, and took it away.  It is not in my house and I have a shiny couple of notes in my purse.  I owned it for 9 months, and only lost £20 on the price I paid in the sale - she got a bargain as it now retails for £99 and it has been very lightly used.

Got up this morning ... (duh duh, duh duh)...cleaned the living room, moved furniture around a bit, hoovered the living room and hall as  those are the bits 'the buyer' would see, took DS3 out to get his  new glasses from Mr Sp0cksavers at 9,  came home, sold the chair, did the washing up, put the laundry out and another load on, watered the plants,  and somehow  it is nearly lunchtime .   Blimey time is flying today - they can have hummus and crackers for lunch with a salsa and cucumbers and lettuce.   I can't be faffed today. 

Want to wander down the road to the Wading Bird shop and have a mooch - there is an internet rumour/ tip off they have v cheap d/f whipping cream in litre cartons for 69p. They don't have to be refrigerated until after they are opened, so they sit in my pantry and I can get away with fruit for pudding or knocking up a batch of scones,  and they  assume I have been slaving away all day over a hot stove.   Also I only have £39 left in the bank until 31st, and I need petrol, so walking is the preferred mode of transport until Tuesday.  I need a loaf of bread or two, and apart from that, I can happily eat from the freezer  and pantry stores.  Waiting for p/a to validate my surveys as I have another £10 in there to cash out when they do.

Surprisingly the sun has come out and it looks nice - at 9 it was cold, grey and had an air of drizzle about it, so the laundry should dry nicely.  Will get on with that, as I have found out DS3 has PE on Tues,Thurs and Fri, and DS4 has PE on Wed and Fri.  Those PE kits are going to take a heck of a bashing! and I have zero school uniform down here for washing from those naughty boys.

2 more of Dr F's  double vaxxed friends tested c+ this week - they went to Lattitude. 

I drove DS2 to the walk in jab clinic for 16-18s on the way home from school, and the idiot refused to get out of the car, said it was up to him when he got his jab, not me, and he would do it when he wanted to.   Dr F is horrified.  I am pretty disgusted with him, to be honest - but they might have a clinic in their college soon, I don't know, he is being squirrelly (I believe the Americans call it).  If he did it to get his dad to shout at him, he  certainly achieved his goal.

Right, on with lunch, and laundry, and seeing if I can find anything else to sell.

apple_muncher

You didn't sell one of your golden thrones did you?!?!?!

f0xh0les

Nooooooo! All golden thrones accounted for, but I did buy one of the child sized ones in grey that DS4 sat in about 3 years ago (the last time I was in 1KEA) completely forgetting that he would have grown in the meantime

So it was a constant source of amusement, even enormous DS1 sat in it, but I could not return after I admitted to myself it was too small (too late to do so) or to give back via their buy-back scheme (as it does not cover chairs/sofas or soft furnishings - boo), so I bought for £69 (maybe?) in a sale (cost £99 usually)and sold after 9 months for £50.  Now I have a bit more room in the living room again, and nobody looks like Gulliver on his travels.

The weather here is odd - honestly one minute it is black and feels like rain, and the next it is blinding sunshine and heatwave.  Laundry load 3 is on the line, loads 1 and 2 are dried in a basket on the kitchen floor.

I have cleared off the sofa I sit on, so that it is completely clear - I am terrible for using it as my desk, so I am pushing towards the back of the house, and my 'paperwork' is in a box on the dining table - will work through that tonight.

The wifi does not work in the dining room and kitchen, as it is on the other side of the pantry, and the signal cannot get through that many load bearing solid brick walls from the upstairs bedroom signal entry point box.  Very annoying, but as they should all come down when we build the extension, then hopefully  the signal will be able to penetrate the back of the house. 

Walked down to the wading bird shop, bought a loaf of bread, some bin bags and some baking parchment - all needed for the weekend, and paid £2.65 from shrapnel at the bottom of my bag.

September should be the first month DS1 is not on the ChB claim, so I have no idea how much I might get. 

We do not know if the ASOS pay will come out, or if the uni have decided not to deduct money from them, as they handed in their marking when the not-a-strike ended. Who knows?

The  amount paid into the bank on Tuesday will be a surprise to us all.

f0xh0les

Just bought 6 boxes of 180 Tw1nings Earl Gray teabags for £6.39  (supermarket cheapest I can find was £5 for 100 bags) with free delivery, 20% off and 8% c/b. paid a few pence over £30.  I should not need to buy tea for the rest of this year.  I stuck it on the cc. Will pay for it next month.  Don't need to worry about running out and drinking inferior blends - I have done this for the last week, and to be perfectly honest, it sucks.    I will not compromise on tea or coffee.  A girl has to draw a line somewhere.

f0xh0les

**********Warning, this post contains SMUGNESS at an offensive level********

I had breakfast with DS3 and DH this morning, mostly  because I laid in wait (and in bed) waiting for DH to wake up (1 and a half hours it took him!!!!!) cos I wanted a cuddle.  Not an 'adult cuddle'   just a normal cuddle.

So we had coffee together with Gary Lineker,  I  put a load of laundry on the line, did another  load, have made a raisin soda bread, rescued all the sad old mangoes from the secondary fruit bowl, cut them up with a tin of peaches ready for a yogurty snack for the kids when they come sniffing around the kitchen, I have made a lasagne that is bubbling away in the oven smelling heavenly,  and I have warned everybody that their supper tonight is a phish finger sandwich, or a sausage sandwich.

Football is on at 2pm, lunch is sorted, supper is planned, and it is nearly soup/stew season.

I think I am feeling autumnal, the equinox has come and gone, just waiting on the Schafenacker to catch up meteorologically.  and...... DH finally shaved off that monstrosity that had been squatting on his face for the last 4 weeks. 

I detest beards (I can't kiss one), I do not mind 3 days of stubble, but anything more on DH and I just think Schnauzer.  But he was not in a good place inside his head, so I considered it a gardening experiment on his part.   Experiment over.

Now in Limbo until payday, bills go out, cc bill is to paid, I have kept myself on a really short rein this month, have moved stuff to savings, paid for DS1 and his uni fripperies, and I am hoping the tide has turned and it will all be lovely from here on in.

Renovation Fund currently sits at £19k on my part, and about £6k on DH's. 

greenbee

@f0xh0les - if you ever get fed up with your family, please come and move in with me and run my life... 

f0xh0les

I am increasing fed up with my family (DS4 is currently being an absolute muppet and DS2 is a tr0ll) however I am not yet ready to hire a skip to put them in. 

I think..... I am going to contact more roofers on Tuesday, the roadworks that have blocked off one end of my road for a fortnight have gone, the roadworks that are from 6pm - 5amclosing off the bottom of my road are due to leave this week, honestly, getting 2 miles up the road has been like a slalom event some days over the last 6 weeks.  Nobody has any exams  for the next 6 months, and DS1 will be moving out, so there will be a spare room for people to move into if ceilings need to be replastered and rooms redecorated.  4 months til the end of the year.

Maybe I need to treat it like a race to victory! Sounds like the Red Baron is chasing me in a biplane.

I am even feeling quite motivated to get back on the diet - soup for lunch makes it so flippin' easy, and a blitzed banana and berries from the freezer with 4lpro coconut milk is a ridiculously low cal/ low point/ high vitamin,  really tasty breakfast shake.  I know how to do this, I have done this before, however my downfall is that I really really like food.