The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

mothernerd

Hi Greying. I was missing you so went to find you and tracked you down (sounds so stalkerish). Have had a number of bugs and have only been keeping up with a couple of threads and only just worked out your posts were the missing ingredient in my day.

I have only just started to read but you asked about painting stairs so thought I would give you the benefit of my vast experience - the sold house had individual balusters and doubled back on itself and the stairs here open onto a bedroom (knocked the landing wall down many years ago to accommodate 3 growing boys) so on one side it goes up to a 9 foot ceiling but then drops all the way to the ground floor.

Use a roller and a brush on the end of a broom handle, firmly taped on (don't rely on just sticking it on the end). Use the small rollers, I think they are meant for behind radiators etc, if the regular one is too heavy. I had a set of children's garden tools (cheapo £ emporium ones) and found the sticks from those very handy as they gave me greater reach without slamming into the wall behind me on every stroke when there wasn't enough manouvre room.

You don't have to lean over dangerous drops, it helps your back because you can do more without bending and it gets the job done quicker. Glossing I did sitting down on the stairs and moving down, painting the step 2 or 3 above me. Only paint one side at a time, let one side dry so you still have a wall or rail to hold onto when walking up and down carrying things (or small people). If you are painting in odd hours, leave the roller and paint brush in the tray of paint and cover the whole thing with a large plastic carrier or bin bag and put it somewhere unobtrusive (some bedrooms have a little tiny wall/ alcove next to the light switch). Put extra bin bag (folded) underneath to prevent drips.

I'm a messy painter so take extra precautions - doesn't help when the cat strolls through the paint tray and you have to grab it before it goes through the kitchen and dining room whilst yelling for someone to come and help (one to hold the cat, one to wipe all the paws, plus the tail if necessary).

Use matt paint (helps disguise the crumbly uneven bits), choose something light but not white (can look cold) and I find buying the more expensive branded products (something a king would wear 'breatheasy' is kind to my hands, lungs) which does the job (mostly/ usually) in one coat is worth paying for.

Be resigned to one room being the 'dumping room' for a while. It's usually my bedroom (spent 3 weeks sleeping wherever there was room with my clothes and important paperwork in 2 boxes and a bag. Clear one room at a time and think about what you put back. It's never too soon to start packing and maybe a good time to consider whether everything needs to move into the new stage in your life.

I'm not suggesting you of have hoards of possessions but it's surprising how much stuff you need if you 'make do and mend' on a regular basis. I have finally taken all my sewing and embroidery stuff out from under the stairs (only dust free place whilst the builders were in) and now have to shoehorn all the tools, painting and garden stuff under there. Plus DS3's beloved and 3 chinchillas (they aren't going to have children so the chinchillas are my grandchildren) moved in two weeks ago - my kitchen has at least 7 new gadgets, none of which I need (no breadmaker or slow cooker). Have been shuffling possessions and making space bit by bit.

DS1 and his gf are saving for a house deposit and I have said that at some point we can go through my tools and he can have any double ups.

Right will go back to reading now.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Wowsers, you go away to cwtch a babs for a minute and everyone pops by

hex2 - I did indeed enjoy my stroll, but found several places where the wind just cut me in two My lips are dry and sore this evening too Thank you for the heads up about the cheese voucher, that will doubtless prove useful. Although I note that mrL have followed the herd and made their 'formerly a 1kg block' into 830g

rtandon - you crack me up :DCan't wait to find out why your OH made a womble

EH - there was an Orinoco 'backpack' in one of our CRUK charity shops a couple of years ago. It was a little pricey, but I so wanted to get it, and send it to our dear friend Pippi to take her pack-up and spare bonios into work. She would have suited it, don't you think?

For the pizza tomato layer, I always cook up some onion, garlic, celery or carrot in olive oil, add in paprika or roasted red peppers. Add in tinned tomatoes or passata and then cook off. I add in a dab of sugar if it really is tart (but normally the cheese offsets tangy tomato), and then any pepper , herbs or other seasonings. Blitz it with the hand blender and then daube on the base. One tin of tomatoes or a box of passata usually does enough for 3 bases.

Beanie - I hates to be the one to break it to you, but the wombles never left the common. Never. There's only one santa too

mothernerd - goodness! That is helpful. I don't think I would have thought of using the smaller rollers - good tip! I don't think that we will bother varnishing/painting the stairs. It is completely carpeted now - with a mank-fest of a carpet that has had thousands of steps on it, wearing a goodly range of footwear and none - I think that i would just carpet it again - it is only one short flight.

Lovely to *see* you by the way

Baby Greying was wrapped up toastily as we wandered around the high street, but several times I had to pull their hood up over their bonnet, due to the swirling wind. Not nice. However, we were extremely lucky to step back inside the house, turn around to close the door, only to see the heavens open, and the rain lash down :eek:

I went to see some artwork at a gallery today - I really like the guy's style. He paints/draws many things, but seems to concentrate on flowers. Absolutely gorgeous. In addition, there was some craftwork on display. Again, it blows you away what people can conceive and produce.

I discovered that you can, in fact add text to a photograph and then have it printed out at somewhere like a high street camera sales and photo printing shop :j It doesn't alter the quality of the picture and doesn't cost any more either Future albums for the non-gardening grandparental will be so much easier to put together, with ready captioned pictures

M&$ foodall was empty again at lunchtime. Very unnerving. They were also out of limes. I can only assume tequila and voddy is on the menu somewhere over the weekend Either that, or there will be 6 boxes of limes on Monday morning, like the last time :rotfl:

Tea this evening was indeed pizza - black olive. I went with buying potatoes, as I have other things that I can do with the remainder out of the bag. The wedges were very well done - not burnt, but definitely browned. Such is life with a small Picture here;



Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

a good friend who is willing to listen to, and forgive a rant - they've enough on their plate, without me going off on one

a reminder from a stranger as to how blessed we are to have such a *good* baby in Baby Greying

for the opportunity to see other people's skill and creativity - rewarding, inspiring and for free........

Thanks for popping in. You know that I appreciate it. Greatly.

Greying X

rtandon27

mmmmm - lovely looking pizza has my mouth watering!

beanielou

Pizza & wedges look very yummy :drool:

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Well, BG was up at the crack of dawn this morning, but luckily DH was super-keen to jump in doing daddy-duty, so I did, indeed get an extra 40 winks :j

A cold start. All the more incentive to get shifting

Curry night tonight. I am definitely going with a thai green curry tofu curry - cold Ron tofu is 'buy one, get one half price' in mrW at the moment, so i got a couple of packets. I have a new 'simple' thai green curry paste recipe that I want to try out. I do need lime for it though Just remembered, I had found another dhal recipe in one of my notebooks that I hadn't tried, so I'll check to see if that would complement the tofu curry or not. Then boil up some basmati too. That will be a curry plate, won't it ?

Right, I've got to finish off our 'thank you' card, now I have the pic. Baby Greying has just fallen asleep on me I'd better finish up very quietly :shhh: And no, I'm not jealous of a baby's ability to instantly fall asleep, no I'm not...........

Thank you for popping in, reading and saying nice things. The wedges were a little lacking in flavour - I think the variety were Estima. I should have looked where they were from. Last weeks potatoes, which were tasty (but I've forgotten the variety, as it wasn't one that i had heard of) were produce of Yorkshire It is very hit and miss with potatoes it seems. Oh for the days of being able to buy a 25kg bag of 'Wilja' for relatively pennies for the lbs.

Right, I'm away to practice standing up out of a chair without moving Is there a (Yoga) app for that? :rotfl:

Greying X

rtandon27

...so when asked WHY? he'd made a w0mble, OH replied 'just because I'd wanted one - back in my day there were no 0rinoco's for sale in the shop':rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

...thinking he was about 9 or 10 at the time, this seemed quite cute...:D:D:D

...did the math...

in 1973 the OH was 17:eek:

...it's still kinda cute though :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

...and he's mighty proud of himself for making it too;)

(eta - story shared with 'the ladies' with OH's permission)

Katzen

Good evening Greying,

It's taken me a few days but I have finally read this thread right through. You have inspired me. I shall be adding some things to the FB basket at my local MrT and finally starting the gratitude log I've been putting off forever. I shall be back regularly for the recipes too, I always need more ideas in the veggie with pulses dinners section of my life. Can I ask, which brand of veggie sausage do you use? I'm a recent convert and mostly avoid processed but sometimes you just need a good sausage!

gallygirl

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

:rotfl: Lawks, we're not even one page on and I've been cut to the quick........ :rotfl::rotfl: I'm choosing to believe that it was the autocorrect wot dunnit and you meant 'Shiney', but I know really you meant whine-y :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Greying X

Just found your Shiny new diary which you dared to start while I was on holiday so I've only just tracked you down .

Am sure there is loads of other stuff for me to prattle on about, but on the subject of auto-correct............. I had a colleague who sent an email that changed 'your Yeovil office' to 'your evil office'. The client replied she thought they had all been really nice to him and what had they done to upset him :rotfl:. That wasn't his biggest faux pas but the best isn't repeatable on a family forum :eek:.

rtandon27

gallygirl wrote: »

Just found your Shiny new diary which you dared to start while I was on holiday so I've only just tracked you down .

:p:p

(never going to live that one down! - really it was the phone!)

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

rtandon27 wrote: »

...so when asked WHY? he'd made a w0mble, OH replied 'just because I'd wanted one - back in my day there were no 0rinoco's for sale in the shop':rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I think that is brill I have no idea if your OH lived anywhere near the sea - Greying Town had sea cadets at one time, but we ain't on the coast, nor in spitting distance of it , but there is a great tradition of sea-farers being avid and competent Knitters and Sewers.

Katzen wrote: »

Can I ask, which brand of veggie sausage do you use? I'm a recent convert and mostly avoid processed but sometimes you just need a good sausage!

Hi Katzen, I use mrT own brand Lincolnshire seasoning veggie sausages (find them in the freezer section - 6 in a bag for £1.50, v. often on special at 2 bags for £2.50). They aren't as good as they used to be - they changed the recipe about 2 or 3 years ago. But they were comparable to cold ron sausages and alot cheaper. Now they are acceptable, and cheaper. I like that they also are good in such things as casseroles, as they act pretty much like a conventional meat sausage. I am not a fan of L. Muck-cart-knee's products, nor Kworn. If mrT adversely mess with the recipe again, I wouldn't hesitate to ditch them from my basket.

gallygirl wrote: »

Just found your Shiny new diary which you dared to start while I was on holiday so I've only just tracked you down .

Thank goodness rtandon didn't congratulate me on my 'pretty' new diary....... :rotfl:

gally, I can't wait until you write your book about your life. It will be a page-turning, belly buster of a laugh from cover to cover

Glad you tracked us down

OK, so who nicked the weekend? We've done tons, been no where and still have tons that we need to complete/would like to complete. *sigh*.

I'm all behind with my recording of 'me tea'. I shall endeavour to catch up.

But for now I shall have to love you and leave you. A veggie cottage pie needs shoving in the oven, and BG needs attending to - as 'the gruffalo' has just finished

Ta for popping in - mucho, mucho appreciated.

Greying X