The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

Pippilongstocking

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Good Morning :hello:

Well, we were up early Some of us bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, others less so........... Some of us are still releasing our inner *boing*....

So I've come under Pippi's influence, and have a list the sooner I get started, the sooner I can begin to cross things orf!

Tea this evening is '---- with rice' so I'm plumping for Adele McConnell's Smoky Slow-cooked Gumbo. I shan't be cooking it in the slow cooker, because I don't have one, but I thought I would point it out, as i know many MSE'rs do use one It happens to be vegan (as are all Adele's recipes from that book), if anyone is interested.

Phone calls are a must today.

Hopefully the weather will be nice, as it was cold overnight, so let's have some bright sunshine please

I've got to make our money deposit into the CU today - mustn't forget.

And speaking of deposits...... I'm needed elsewhere, by the sounds of it...........

Have a great day.

Greying X

Sounds like that will be super yummy.

As for lists, my new old job new job boss came into the potting shed today to find me sat on the floor with a giant white board on my knees getting to the bottom of what feels like a mega list.

Needless to say she wondered if I was OK and I said, I do like a good list. :rotfl: even by my own proportions it was a bit epic.

Hope yours went well.

Sounding delish at yours photos please.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

As for lists, my new old job new job boss came into the potting shed today .......

:huh: it's me isn't it? Everyone else got that; it's me, isn't it? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Pictures to follow dear heart. Tea at ours weren't half as good as yours sounded though - and you was cooked for :j

So, I think I've done everything on today's list I got in touch with 4 companies in the end. They all want to come around and look, so that is a start I suppose. I dealt with 3 by phone and went into a small 'retail presence' that one of the firms has. I'm wondering whether Baby Greying is going to be quick at weighing people up. They gave me a couple of looks that were rather more mature than their time on this planet, whilst we were being talked at............... :rotfl:

I put the CU money in at the p0st 0ffice and remembered birthday cards for a young adult relative I also dropped on a couple of bits of clothing in a couple of charity shops for Baby Greying - 50p for an unworn pair of jeans from n3xt? Don't mind if I do...... It does remain to see if they fit though. I'm fast learning that clothing for babies is a worse lottery than it is for adults, depending on which retailer you buy from.

I took the bulb back to h0me bargains and got a refund...... well, I should have done - the manageress messed up, (and I hadn't mentally calculated the amount for the shopping I had bought 'against' the cost of the bulb. So I am currently 42p down My fault, I should have been on the ball - especially as I was thinking that I'd not spent £3.99. Still, no good complaining now, my fault; suck it up buttercup.

I bumped into someone on the high street that hadn't known i was pregnant, and was therefore shocked to see 'us'. They are the second person in 2 days. And we'd been talking about both these people only at the weekend. And yes, I did buy a lottery ticket, and no, I didn't win! I only got the 2 lucky stars

I walked back home and was enchanted by some leaves on the floor - they were hawthorn leaves (I think) even though there wasn't a hawthorn hedge obvioulsy near-by - and I was amazed at how they were changing colour. There was infinite variety of yellowing, but this caught my eye;




Tea this evening was indeed slow-cooked vegan gumbo, from Adele McConnell's book. Mmm, not a keeper of a recipe for me I'm afraid. Perhaps I lost something in not making it in the slow-cooker, but it was just too....... ordinary? I mean sure, there was a smoky hit from the paprika, but nothing else, iyswim. I'm not prepared to swap it for Leanne Brown's Gumbo inspired veggie stew, which is on pg 78 of her free PDF cook book' 'From Scratch'. I've made it before and written about it HERE

I served the gumbo with brown rice, broccoli (frozen) and Cauli (frozen). I used passata rather than tinned tomatoes in the gumbo, and mixed frozen peppers rather than individual peppers - as I had a 1/3rd of a bag in the freezer. I did prepare it earlier this afternoon, so the stew did have time to cook and then sit and let flavours meld, before reheating thoroughly when we needed to eat. Not quite the same as slow-cooking, but I gave it my best shot. The recipe IS realtively inexpensive to make, if you have the spices in your store cupboard. It is also very simple to make - slow cooker or no. Picture here;



Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

achievement - nothing earth shattering or life-saving, just getting up and taking part.

a kiss and a hug - second in 2 days (excluding those from my husband and child! :rotfl:)

mother nature - always has something new or different up her sleeve to enchant us

Ta everso for popping in, relating your workplace managerial structures, and for just being YOU

Greying X

PS - the 'deposit' this morning was a false alarm. I got caught out an hour later........ _pale_

PSS - joeyjimbles - mrL (don't know if you have one nearby) have clear glass casseroles on offer this week - either oblong or oval for £2.49 - with a 10year (I think it is) guarantee on them. Actual sizes detailed in their booklet - from tomorrow, I think.

EssexHebridean

Hope you're OK Greying - unusual to not see a post from you in the morning!

Greying_Pilgrim

Oh hey love, no worries. It a 'day of trades' for quotes today. I should have a revolving door fitted! we were due to start from 8.30am, but then there was a delay, so it's been a bit concentrated One more to go and we can relax a bit, until Saturday. Also had to chase around as stuff got left behind unintentionally by the one chap

Right, must go as I need to get a breath of fresh air and get a card in the post. can do the 2 things together, but need to get a shift on, else the next visitor will be here.

Greying X

greenbee

Well done on getting the trades through the door so quickly. I still haven't called the builder...

Greying_Pilgrim

greenbee wrote: »

Well done on getting the trades through the door so quickly. I still haven't called the builder...

Mmm, just luck I think. Two were owner/operators, the other a larger local outfit with a salesperson. Much to think about, there were different approaches, and different personalities. I warmed to one, didn't warm to one and was wary of the other on the basis we can all talk about stuff, but it's what we can do that matters........... ho hum. And Saturday's appt. chap is the one that talked at us and made Baby Greying's b*lls**t detector go off I think........ :rotfl: Happy days :rotfl::rotfl: It began to gently squeak just now..... but for a different reason I think :rotfl::rotfl: Lets all stomp through peoples houses in our workboots........

Right, the house is mine own again, so best get to it and sorted. Tea will not be what was on the planner, I haven't had time to prepare it with all that has been going on. Greying X

greenbee

Did any of them take their boots off at the door? I find that's usually a good indicator of the amount of mess they are likely to make.

They're going to be in your house (no idea how long for, of course) so you need to be able to get on with them. But obviously the quotes will be an important factor. Make sure they are detailed. Some of are just 'redo bathroom £££££££'

Greying_Pilgrim

greenbee wrote: »

Did any of them take their boots off at the door?

The salesman did (And I was duly impressed by that, but then he doesn't do the work......) I have never yet got anyone to do me a detailed quote. I'm so jaded, I'm pleased if they quote an actual figure. I can't fathom firms that come out to see you, spend their time and your time talking and measuring and then you never hear from them again. Although if I don't hear from the one fella, I won't be disappointed....... Half an hour on and his aroma still lingers.........

Right, tea!

Greying X

Pippilongstocking

Ah trades - the last we had in wore those shoe protectors and we've not heard a whiff from him since.

Its pondersome, I've also phoned three painters and none have showed or phoned me back.

Hope tea was delish

to baby G's radar. Babys know stuff.

Cheery_Daff

It really is most vexing isn't it?? I do sympathise. We contacted an actual friend (not a close friend) to do a bit of work for us 'within the next month' - that was the middle of September, and we've only just today got a price, and still not got a date to do it. And people wonder why we've ended up doing most of our house ourselves! :eek: Chasing tradespeople is a full time job!

As for taking shoes off, I generally have to tell people to keep their shoes *on* at the minute so their socks don't get dirty :rotfl: I wouldn't expect people to traipse grubby work boots through a clean house though! :eek: (mind you, maybe they didn't want you to whiff their socks... :eek: )

I also can't be doing with it when people give you a ludicrously expensive quote, so expensive that you know they clearly don't want to do it - why not say that? Grr.

Sorry Greying Ranting on your thread, you touched a raw nerve today! hope you get it all sorted soon. We're fortunate in being able to (mostly) say 'fine! we'll do it ourselves!' but not everyone can do that of course and you're at the mercy of other people!

I'm thinking if my present career ever falls through, I'll set myself up as a really polite, reliable, cheerful plasterer who does all the cleaning up after myself and always responds promptly to inquiries I reckon there's a fortune to be made :rotfl: :rotfl: