22 Foxhole East

f0xh0les

Anyway, it is another thing off the list, even if I had to put up with a Chuckle Brother.

mark55man

Oh dear FH I feel your pain - our very clever builder managed to fix our shower from the room underneath (the wast pipe had been chewed through by Mr Dave's distant cousin - who somehow got trapped and died there, but took out a whole pipe with his teeth).  However he left a mess and the shower is not draining properly and no access to it without taking down the ceiling plasterboard (again) and giving the replacement pipe a better drainage angle so that we get a decent drainage 

f0xh0les

Oh dear!  Not ideal is it? Hope you get it sorted soon.    I am picturing you, Nigel Lawson style, with your battered red box, writing your annual fiscal statement, by candlelight,  with a brandy glass on the go @mark55man .  Looking forward to it!

Today is Mr Small (DS4)'s 14th birthday.  He got a gaming computer (DH bought a decent second hand office computer and souped up the graphics card and .... something or other else) and a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.  DS3 helpfully bought him a 1000 piece jigsaw of London, because he knows he dislikes jigsaws (£1 charity shop gift) and he is doing his job of being 'annoying older brother' very well indeed.  

So we went out to lunch at a falafel place, which has just taken over the shop next door and restaurant-ified itself.  It was fab, and we all ate like kings for £10 a head.  Mr Small had requested a Victoria Sponge as birthday cake of choice this year, so did that this morning, 6 individual sponges, because there is no room in the fridge for leftovers, one each, job done, all gone.   Tomorrow it will start to be more Christmas food. 

I have raided Mr Alidee yesterday, and for Christmas Eve we are trying their (not) gammon roast, (not) turkey roast, and their Butter(not)Squash (not)Nut roast crown.   I thought why not? If I don't try, I will not know if it is any good. It will soon be y/s anyway.  Bottle #1 of mulled wine will be finished.

 Xmas Day,  DH will make his own beef-style-seitan slab, and we will make a Wellington with whatever mushroom pate we have in the fridge, puff pastry, all the veg,  and a banoffee pie, Christmas Pud, and Christmas Cake.  I have pain au chocolate in a tube for breakfast with nice coffee. Mulled wine bottle #2 will be started - they were left over from last year anyway. 

Stephen's Day Lunch - we have plenty of non-dairy cheese for a cheese and potato pie with broccoli, and the fridge will be much clearer.  Mulled wine bottle #2 will be another dead sailor by bedtime.

We have decided that we will do one soup meal, and one real meal, from Stephen's Day until they go back to school on 9th.  I can't stop them handing over all their money to Mr Pringles, but I can stuff them full of leeks and barley and carrots while I have them at my table, or miso, you could shove any old veg in miso soup and they would eat it.

We will mostly be eating from the pantry in January.  It sounds terribly Victorian, but there is some seriously nice dried goods in my pantry and I need to use them up - after The Bathroom Project (probably end of Feb/March), then the next on the hit list is the Kitchen Project, and so I seriously need to run down stores again.

Tomorrow after checking what I have left over in the shed,  I am off to the Big Orange Warehouse for white wall paint, white bathroom paint, woodworm treatment, brushes and masks.  I quite fancy making a start tomorrow, but I might have to leave it until 26th. But I can make plans and lists to keep me on track. Find clothes only fit for decorating in, etc.

Money should come in on 29th - (early) Child Benefit payment, and on 30th (Saturday next) for housekeeping.  Then I will know better what I will have left over after paying the builder in January, another reason for the Pantry Project Plan.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve - for any fans of Zig and Zag

apple_muncher

Happy birthday to ds4 🍰🍰🍰 here's some more Victoria sponge.

mark55man

i shall endeavour not to disappoint with my humble fiscal murmurings - I shall be channelling Alistair Darling (RIP) not Lawson.  His own favorite saying suits him (NL) as an epitaph - “Tout s’arrange, mais mal” (“Everything will work out, but badly”). 

f0xh0les

Well as long as neither of us are channelling Hunt or Kwarteng we should be ok.  

Mice crumble tart made, scones made, christmas sponge puddings made.  Lunch was mostly made up of raw salad matter, so feel allowed to go on a baking spree, because The Midnight Muncher is back, he totalled half a pot of jam, a quarter of a loaf of bread, and half the whipped cream, so scones will get rid of the rest, and then we can just not have any. Unless they go and buy it themselves. I am getting seriously sick of this.

Presents are wrapped, food is in the oven, it's Christmas Eve babe, in the drunk tank....

badmemory

Bother - you've reminded me I haven't made the mincemeat filo parcels for our traditional Christmas Eve tea.

f0xh0les

I hear filo for Boxing Day is all the rage this  year @badmemory    oops, living up to your name huh?

If anyone is considering buying the Aldi not gammon - DONT DO IT!!  It starts off fine,  salty and smokey, but there suddenly is a nasty taste like burnt oil, very unpleasant.  Everyone liked the butternut squash and chestnut festive ring, which is odd, as the kids don't really like BNS  and they certainly don't like chestnuts the NOT-turkey stuffed crown was quite good though. 

Really not feeling it this year.  I am planning my painting schedule - it might start tomorrow after lunch - a spot of traditional Christmas plaster sealing - it's what Jesus would have wanted. Well he would have if he was my carpenter, they just want me to get on with decorating so they can  bop the skirting on and hang the door the week after next.

badmemory

Filo parcels made & eaten after the prawns, which I did remember.  This is what lists were invented for.  I have just discovered mincemeat on my jawbone right up near my ear!!  It said 10 sheets of filo but their were 13 so we have another 26 parcels to go at some point, probably Boxing day.

KajiKita

Maybe you need to install a lock on the pantry door? 

KK