22 Foxhole East

f0xh0les

I am having a (mostly) lovely day. Took the kids to school, wandered the streets doing the c/shops, picked up some bits and bobs that have been on many lists for too  long a time.  Got a glass chandelier light fitting thing, for £3.  It does not look like anything special when it is in your hand, but I rigged it up with an elastic band through the three rings and fitted it to the ceiling wire and it actually looks fab.   Really quite expensive looking.

Got 2 picture frames. One is really lovely brushed old gold style , the other one is for DS3 to put DHs present in and is also very nice but much more modern.

Found a geometric cage structure (£1.50) for the difficult light fitting on the top landing.  It will do.  It will not annoy me every time I see a bare bulb and wire.

Got a nice greenery garland in a c/s for £5 that has tarted up the top landing beautifully.  Still needs a string of lights, but I want the fat mistletoe berry kind, and they were only half price in Mr T this morning, will see how much further they go down to.

Scored 2 lovely big fluffy dressing gowns for DS3 and DS4. They were £22 but 25% off with a clobcard, and I had a £6 off voucher.  Lots of lovely savings.

One wreath is up on the wall .  Got one Sproutmas Cake decorated (Snowman face with a woolly hat - nothing  artistic or fancy) brandy cake with marzipan and fondant icing.  Could not do the naked fruit and nut topped Rum cake, as the jar of apricot jam has disappeared.  I remember buying it.   It exists, it is just not here. Schoedingers Apricot Jam.  As long as I do not open the pantry, it is there.  B*st*rd Jam.  Can't glue my fruit on with no glue.   Will buy another pot tomorrow morning and get the job finished.  Sooooo annoying.  Not going to steam my puddings tonight or it will end up being another midnight cooking session. Will set them off tomorrow morning before heading out on the apricot jam hunt.  

DS2 is being horrifically horrible.  DS1 is coming home tomorrow.  DH has finished his course of meds, and has been off them for 3 days.  The first 2 days he was pretty grumpy and irritable, but today he has said more to me than he has in the last fortnight. So I guess he is coming back to himself.   Thank god. 

Supper was lovely,  mushrooms and asparagus on sourdough toast.

Got a load of sheets and duvets dry on the line, and a mattress topper mostly dry, so it is over the middle landing and will be dry by morning  Hooray!!

Also bought the  festive tv mag.   Really looking forward to reading on the sofa, not doing the school run,  not baking sausage rolls at 6am every day,  and hopefully getting to see an otter.  Someone posted a video of the otter splashing about in the river this morning. 

apple_muncher

Yay! to being on holibobs. Enjoy.

mark55man

enjoy as much of a break as you can with 4 kids (at heart) over xmas - may favourite week of the year is the week between boxing day and day after new year's day 

f0xh0les

DS1 managed to miss his coach due to industrial action at the tube station, then his next coach was delayed due to anti vaxx protest in the centre of town around  Traf Sq.  which if it had been a little earlier, would have delayed his  first coach coming in and he could have caught it.  Now it is delayed again due to diversions and road closures around Maison du Johnson, so I won't see him before 7.

Found a string of white lights on the sofa (how did I miss those? answers on a postcard) so strung those along the top 2 stair flights, also have 3 sheets drying over the balcony - they dry in less than an hour with the central heating floating up the stairs.  Also darling man DH found the plug in whatnot for the ugly fibre optic led tree the kids love, so that is on the first landing on a box, and the living room is mostly clean and tidy, and ready for sociability.

This morning I found Schrodingers Jam in the pantry, and decorated the naked cake with dried fruits and nuts.  2 Sproutmas puddings have been steamed, but I am really not sure about the recipe, and I still have half my p-ssed fruit mix left, so might steam another 2 tomorrow  with another recipe, and use the rest of the fruit mixed with shop bought mice pie filling and bake some of those too.

Its beginning to feel a bit like festivities.  I was wondering the other day, musing really, what other day  you are socially permitted  to drink wine at breakfast time, without being  labelled an alcoholic,  and apart from your wedding day, I could not think of one.  

And another thing, while I am at it, when did Bucks Fizz become a Mimosa?  Shrinkflation or what?

f0xh0les

Herr Al'Dee festive offerings are all 19 p now for

1 kg carrots

2kg spuds

500g parsnips

500g sprouts

whole red cabbage

a swede;

Herr Lee DL  are doing pretty  the same, for the same price, but are stating all will be BRITISH in that odd way some German supermarkets have. 

Mr T's are doing 39p big fluffy caulis, most of their offerings are 29--49p

I will be buying a lot of spuds and decanting them into brown paper sacks.. .. ho ho ho.

Cornish_mum

Morning Foxholes hope DS1 made it home ok.  MrS are matching HerrA 19p veggies. Hope you and yours have a great Sunday  CM

f0xh0les

Eventually he made it. So we are all safe and sound under one roof, and DS1 and DS3 are doing daily LFTs.  

DS1 and DS4 are getting jabbed on 23rd. That will be another stress removed (well, kicked further down the road anyway). 

My house is starting to look twinkley.

Had to do an emergency run to Mr T's for laundry powder and crusty bread, and french bread, and part bake bread - at the same time got lots of ys floppy white bread and sourdough.

Lunch was a 'bendy veg stew' courtesy of the bottom  drawer of the fridge.  Supper tonight will consist of a sausage or bacon french bread sandwich. 

Tomorrow's lunch after I come back from volunteering  will include crostini, and a lot of the end of jars of pickles and olives and whatever fake meat slices I find in the fridge, with salad.  Yesterday to use up a load of sad veg, I made a chilli and stuffed 2 small pumpkins with it and baked it all.  It was gorgeous and I still have half of one left, so that can get reheated as well. 2 portions of excess chilli in the freezer to go with baked potatoes one lunchtime.

Nearly half of  one of the Xmas cakese has been eaten (I must say it is rather disappointing - dry and crumbly instead of moist and lovely.  Not sure what happened, unless the recipe was relying on feeding it a shed load more booze to rehydrate it?  Anyway, it is tasty enough, just not what I wanted it to be.  Not that the kids give a stuff, it is made of cake so down it goes!

Was just saying to DH I am not going to pin my hopes on the week of work for graduation in January, as I am not sure it is going to be able to go ahead at this rate.

mark55man

sounds like a very large amount of Christmas spirit and sparkle is at home with you.  we really rocked yuletide today and had 2 mince pies today, EACH!!. 

I think you are very wise not to get your hopes up post Jan 1st - I'm an optimistic person and even I think its going to be a complete sit-show - especially with the more realistic papers highlighting Omicron is not covid-lite 

crazy_cat_lady

F0xh0les - you put my non existent efforts to shame. I need some of your festive spirit. Not the bucks fizz - just the motivation...  

f0xh0les

I need your shiny new bathroom !!