OS Daily Saturday 24 December Christmas Eve

Gers

This is an “over the garden fence” type thread where we chat about everything Old Style and maybe a little bit more. It’s a great, inspiring and motivating thread we start each day to discuss what Old Style things we’re going to do today or what we’ve achieved already. Everyone’s welcome, please do come in, put your feet up (although check the fence hasn’t just been painted first!) and join us for an Old Style natter. The more the merrier!

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Gers

Good morning everyone.

The storm is still raging here. The house is being buffeted by extremely strong winds, the driven rain is bouncing off the windows and lightning has been flashing and cracking most of the night. I'm now totally happy to be staying put.

Some friends came round yesterday to exchange gifts ( think mine is a bottle of gin :j) so we sat and chewed the fat for ages with the fire blazing with the fairy lights twinkling away round the fireplace. I'd put the Christmas cards round the tree which is on the window ledge, for the first time in many years I felt more in the spirit of the time.

I have idea what I'm going to do all day, apart from bringing some logs in and filling up the bird feeders I have nothing planned.

Camelot - hope you feel better soon.

Tru - thanks so much for the Christmas carols /songs since 01 December, I do love them.

Laine - thinking of your DM.

TA - it's good to read that MrTA ia better and so hope that you are on the mend too. You've had a very busy time recently and your body is screaming at you to stop.

Everyone else - perhaps today will be restful, I hope that whatever happens it's not too frantic or stressful.

Happy Christmas Eve to all my virtual chums.

TravellingAbuela

Morning folks and thanks GERS for the thread and your good wishes. It sounds a bit wet and wild outside - don't know if it's the tale end of Barbara or the beginnings of Conor. My thoughts are with those north of the border who are getting it much worse than we are. I am still feeling a bit sorry for myself, throat still red and sore and coughing much gunge up. Last night I felt shivery and took to my bed, only to be woken up at 1.45 a.m., by some bright spark ringing the wrong number! Grrr!

I am just psyching myself up to go out in the cold garage to get out tomorrow's meat and trimmings to defrost. Plus all the other sweet and savoury delicacies to sit in the fridge ready to be picked at! I just have two pots of tuna pate to make. One for us and the other to take to DD's on Boxing Day for the starter for our second Christmas dinner! I have been making this every Christmas since I scrounged the recipe from a B & B owner in Cornwall around 35 years ago. It wouldn't be Christmas without it!

DS is coming over this morning and staying till Tuesday, to save much to-oing and fro-ing for all the family festivities. This lunchtime we are meeting BIL & SIL in town for a bite to eat and a couple of drinks as we do every Christmas Eve. Then late afternoon we are going to DD's for a little party with the DGDs. No cooking involved, we are being lazy and ordering Pizza Hut party boxes and then playing games and opening their Christmas Eve boxes.

Mr TA has to pop down to their house this morning to leave numerous boxes and bags of presents with their neighbour, ready to be taken round later this evening when the girls have gone to bed. The obliging neighbour already has mountains of their presents stored there away from prying eyes!

Have a lovely Christmas Eve folks if you can. Thoughts as always with the poorlies, worried, anxious and sad. LAINEY, LWW, HILSTEP and COXY especially. Take care all xx

lonewhitewolf

Morning all x
Thank you for starting us off Gers x
Well too dark to see what it is like outside at the mo. But will find out soon enough as I'm heading out to Mr M to get the fresh veg. Turkey crown is out of freezer defrosting and so is some more sausage meat for me to turn into sausage rolls.
No housework today as I did it all yesterday.
Have to ice the cake and just prep veg for tomorrow.
Have a good day all
Hugs to all in need xx

tru

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] :xmassmile[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Morning :santa2:
In my calendar – Father Christmas :rudolf:[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Gers[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Aahhh to be sat round the fire with twinkling lights, sounds perfect! I don't have a fireplace, I'm very jealous, lol. Fingers crossed that gin is in that bottle [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I'll run the hoover round first thing (how can a dog shed so much fur and still have so much on his body?! lol) and swish the bathroom. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Family day today. Most of the food is sorted but I'll be turning the oven on for small baked potatoes. They're already done really - halved, scooped out, mashed with cheese and onion and refilled - I just need to sprinkle some grated cheese on top and put them back in to crisp up a bit. Mini sausage rolls are a must so they'll be done at the same time. And even though I don't make my own bread – I buy part baked baguettes - I like to take the bread out of the oven just as people are arriving, because it smells lovely, lol. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The bottles of Christmas cheer are lined up ready All except for one bottle of wine, can you see it? No? That's because I've hidden it very well. That one is mine and there's a very good chance that it'll be opened and half empty before anyone arrives :snow_laug[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Nan couldn't possibly come, there's no way she can manage the stairs up to the bathroom. Then she's looking forward to my party – problem with the stairs? Stairs are no problem, of course I'll be there! Yesterday, she said she might not come, because of the stairs. Today, I may or may not see my nan [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Don't forget to TRACK FATHER CHRISTMAS :snow_grin
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I hope you all have a lovely Christmas xx[/FONT]

:snow_grin :xmassmile :xmastree: :rudolf: :snow_laug :santa2: :xmassign:

dumpling

Good morning everyone :santa2:

It's Christmas Eve :j:j:j. I've been up for a few hours now as my brain is fizzy with all the stuff to remember to do today. We will be having the grandchildren over this morning as well to add to the general chaos :rotfl::rotfl:.

I can hear movement upstairs, think it's hubby as I don't expect to see the girls for a couple of hours yet. They were all up late watching netflix in their rooms last night. I, on the other hand was tucked up in bed by 10 as I felt exhausted.

Tea tonight is just going to be cheese and crackers as we have to make inroads into the cheese mountain currently residing in my fridge. I will also slice up some of the gammon to go with it. Afterwards, the girls and I will prep all the veg and sides ready for tomorrow. It's nice as I put some Christmas songs on and we sing along to them while working together.

Right, I am going to jump in the shower and get dressed ready for the day. Hope you all have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Take care xx

LaineyT

Morning everyone, thanks for the thread Gers, please stay safe and warm m'dear, likewise all of our pals being battered by storms.

Cold but dry here and the winds have eased down from yesterday, drive home from my DB's was rough with lots of flooding on the roads and was glad to get back.
My plan is to stay at home all day today but will obviously depend on how DM is, her brothers came to see her yesterday which was lovely but wore her out so she spent the rest of the day in bed dozing. We picked up a new anti-nausea drug for her as the increased morphine is causing sickness, it does seem to have helped.
Well my DB was given a big turkey and veg box from his work so our smaller crown has been tucked in the freezer for a later date. My aim today is to make mince pies, sausage rolls, ice the cake and just tidy through, bless him my OH has been a complete brick and kept the chores ticking over so the bathrooms etc only need a quick wipe round.
Can't say it won't be nice to be in my own home for the day, just pootling around, hope to get the girls out for a walk in the daylight as have really missed that with all the charging around.

Anyways, tea to drink, hugs to all poorlies and gentle blessings to all with a heavy heart, from my own experience this time of year can seem pretty surreal when going through troubled times so please take care x

camelot1001

Morning All

Well, we didn't get the worst of the storm, Gers, glad you are safe and warm. The weather has been horrible but not as bad here as predicted, just wish it would stop raining!

I think I'm organised, wrapped up DDs stocking last night but really don't have the energy to put up any decorations - my friends bought me a little living tree as they felt sorry for me! If I put any up today I will be fed up with them by boxing day so not really worth it. I just have normal housework to do today.

Struggling with this cold here, had a sneezing fit at 1am which was interesting, did go back to sleep though which was good.

Hope you have a great day JackieO, enjoy the celebrations.
Sounds like you are having a good time Meanmarie, enjoy the warm weather.

Hope you all have a very peaceful Christmas and enjoy whatever you are doing. Take care. XX

nmlc

Morning everyone

Gers - thanks for starting us off, staying put sounds like the best thing to do, keep the fires burning, stay safe and well x

Hugs to those that want/need them x

Happy birthday to those with a birthday x

DH up and gone to work stupid early, I did get up just after him, as I've been to the butchers to collect the fresh meat hamper. The guys in the butchers made me laugh, I'm normally one of the first in the queue when they open on Xmas Eve at 7am, this morning I was a little bit late and quite a queue had already formed before I arrived, so the butcher told me off for being late! Lol, I just told him that the bed was too warm this morning, and I struggled to get up. Hamper now all emptied, everything in the fridge that needs to be, fridge is packed to bursting, had to play a bit of fridge tetris but I managed to get it all in. Both boys still in their pits.

Light here, cold wind but dry underfoot.

Dinner last night was roast chicken pieces, roasted potatoes, carrots, peas and gravy. Tonight myself and the boys will be eating at mum's, DH says he's not coming, so I'll probably do him some egg and bacon on toast before we go.

Yesterday again I was quite productive, I got all the ironing done, and changed our bed, DS1 stripped his bed and re-made his, also asked both of them to tidy their rooms as they are a constant pig sty - eventually after some nagging, it's been done, they're not great but better than they were. I ran the hoover over, but need to do the downstairs again. I did get loads of bits and pieces jobs done, loads of paper shredding, tidying up piles of papers etc.

Shortly I'll be cooking the stock for the gravy, prepping the veg, getting the cloths on the table etc, I do need to cook the ham, and make the apple tart - once we go to mum's tonight with the bits that I need to take, it'll free up some space in the fridge. I'll make a start shortly and just potter along and get the jobs done and marked off the list as I go, would really like to have all the veg prepped and in water, with everything else done too, so when I get up in the morning, it'll be just cooking everything and not too much work.

Keep safe and well x

nmlc x

redruby

Morning all,


Wet and dreary here but storm Barb seems to have missed us, hope you are safe up north x


Log man is coming at 10 and I like to offer him a bacon s/w as its hard heavy work and he is a lovely chap and quite easy on the eye


Today we have to:


hoover through whole house
mop where needed
empty and clean kitchen bin
peel sprouts
wash carrots and see if they need peeling
peel parsnips
peel potatoes
lay Table
arrange lounge to accommodate extra people
Have a flick over bathroom and toilet.


Witting it down makes it seem clearer in my head, it should not take long with the three of us, I absolutely must be sat watching a Christmas film by two this afternoon


Tru thanks for 'Tru's carol corner' its something I look forward to every year, your family party sounds fab, and seeing as we were separated at birth I suppose technically I am family


Jackie have a great day x


Marie enjoy those grandchildren x


Hilstep hugs to you xx


Hope you all have good days and not too stressful x


For those who wont get on tomorrow I hope you have a Happy Christmas and spend some lovely time with your family xx

Hard_Up_Hester

Morning all
I'm not going to do much today, I need to give DD2 a lift at 10 and I need to pop into Mr T, I bought a piece of meat there and it has a sticker on it from an animal rights group, I need to check that there is no chance it's been contaminated!
Apart from that I shall put my feet up and do some crochet, a restful couple of days until I start childcare duties again next week.
I probably will be on here tomorrow as we are having a quiet Christmas.
Have a good day everyone.
Hugs Hester