Frump to Fab 2017 - A Whole New World

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

Maman it sounds like your daughter had the best birthday surprise she could have wished for. I am glad you all had such a lovely time together. Thank you for your sympathy

I went to the cinema on Tuesday morning to my local Odeon. I saw The Man Who Invented Christmas and was thoroughly entertained by this film. It was the perfect film to watch in the days leading up to Christmas. I would give it 9/10

On Wednesday, I went to take Christmas presents to 2 of my sisters and I also went to visit one of my nephews, his partner and baby boy. I had only seen a couple of photos of that particular great nephew, so it was so good to meet him at 10 months old. It was so much fun interacting with him. My sister took me to a local eat as much as you like Chinese restaurant, but neither of us ate very much. I was not able to eat anything later in the day except 3 clementines.

I had such a good day visiting family, I am planning a day at home today to catch up on washing and drying and then tomorrow I am going to visit one of my brothers to take him his Christmas presents and give him some money to buy his Christmas food. He is on benefits because he has various health issues including skin cancer so some of his siblings always make sure that he has extra money for fresh food and household essentials. He has applied for Personal Independence Payment more than once and been refused, even though his skin cancer will eventually spread to his brain and kill him prematurely. He fights to stay alive and to try to enjoy his life even though he struggles every day. He has a wicked sense of humour and he always has me in fits of laughter when I visit him, so I am looking forward to visiting him.

I hope everyone is looking forward to having a good Christmas surrounded by family. Present giving is not the most important part of Christmas, it is a time for giving of yourself in selfless ways to family and friends.

maman

Glad you enjoyed the film sugarbaby. We enjoyed it too when we went last week.


Great idea to make sure your brother has good food in far better than buying 'stuff'. You're right that it's not presents that make Christmas.


I'm leaving washing until tomorrow as food shopping is on today's agenda. I've done my lists and just hope it'll be straightforward and that I can find everything I want at the first attempt. Although we'll have plenty of treats I'm still very mse when it comes to Christmas food:money:. Most of what I buy is either long life or can be frozen. Generally it's only some salad leaves that might get wasted although I did have braised lettuce at a restaurant recently so I could always try that!:D


I had my nails done in a deep burgundy yesterday so looking very well groomed.


Have a good day all.:)

lessonlearned

Happy Solstice Everyone......I am celebrating by getting down to some housecleaning and cupboard tidying. :rotfl:

Hope you are all well.

Maman...braised lettuce is nice. Depending on which variant it is you can also add to soups etc. Basically I just treat it as I would any other green leaves. I suppose you could even add it to vegetable smoothies.

Lovely birthday surprise for your daughter.

SUgarbaby.....glad to see all is well. Sorry to bear about your brother but I’m sure you will be doing all you can to make his life easier.

I had a letter from a friend who is battling cancer, started with bowel and now has secondaries in her lungs. So so sad, she is such a lovely lady.

Had to cancel my hair appt this morning, just didn’t feel up to it. Still feeling very tired and achey. I don’t think the short dark days help with energy levels. Still today is the turning point, the days will gradually lengthen now that the sun does it’s thing and returns to the northern hemisphere.

chanie

sugar I’m pleased that your brother still has a good sense of humour despite his health. What a lovely gesture you and your siblings do for him. You sound like such a close knit family.

Maman I hope you managed to finish your shopping, today.

Ll sorry to read about your friend, what awful news.

I popped to town today with DD to finalise some presents. I swapped my day off as we have our works Xmas lunch tomorrow. I’ll probably wear my snakeskin print shift dress with some boots, or my playsuit - we’ll be working in the morning, so still need to be reasonably suitable for work.
I’ve been eyeing up some thermal lined trousers and was holding out for the sale. They’ve just been reduced, so I ordered them, in advance of my mum giving me money for Christmas. I guess that’s my first 2018 purchase.

We haven’t done the food shopping yet, but I’m not worried about it, as we don’t go overboard.

indiepanda

Hello all, been meaning to drop in and say hi for a while but the longer I hadn't found time to do it the harder it seemed to work out what to say... not that anything momentous has happened, just that there was plenty of it and its always hard to know what to leave out and put in when you are trying to summarise rather than write an enormous essay!

Anyway, I am now at that point in the year which I always seem to get to - ready for December to be over and done with and looking forward to the fresh clean start of the new year. I always seem to end up a bit tired and jaded this time of year - I don't think the dark nights agree with me and I find resisting the temptation of Christmas food all a bit too much which then adversely affects my energy levels and mood. Work has also been very stressful - still no replacement for the lady who was working for me and went sick in January. I am getting bored of hearing my own voice complaining about it - everyone agrees something needs to be done but no one person seems to be able to make it happen and dealing with it never gets to the top of anyone's priority list.

Fortunately on the food front I am away to family for Christmas day and am away from the office now so I just have to resist the urge to bring it into my own home. Going to M&S later and will stock up on some healthy meals - I could pretend I am going to cook and buy lots of healthy ingredients but when I am feeling lethargic that never happens so it's better to have one of their healthier ready meals than have a bunch of ingredients rotting in the fridge as I order takeout.

Main goal for immediately post Christmas is clearing out - took a car load of stuff to the charity shop recently but can do tons more still. Got to clear out the lounge ready for renovations in January. I will be glad my bedroom is lovely that month as it will become my relaxation zone while the lounge is out of bounds and the dining room is crammed with sofas. I am also thinking about getting a Monday to Friday lodger for my old attic bedroom for once the next round of renovations are done - January is going to be crazy expensive. So far I have lined up a plasterer to do the ceiling, a plaster art expert to replace the cornicing and ceiling rose, a decorator to paint the room and a windows expert to do a number of repairs to my double glazing which is letting in drafts in a number of rooms. I need to line up an electrician and a carpet fitter too.

I have an absolute ton of plans made for the new year already including:-
- hiking in La Palma for a week in March, Lulworth Cove at Easter, Peak District in late May and St Ives in July
- my first Ceroc weekender in March
- The Isle of Wight festival in June
- 2 comedy nights - one with James Acaster (the ginger one on Mock the Week who is hilarious) and one with John Robbins doing his Edinburgh comedy award winning show about his break up with Sara Pascoe
- The Baz Lurhmann film Strictly Ballroom is being turned into a musical and I have tickets
- Lots of interesting talks via Funzing in January, will book more as the year goes on

So lots to look forward to but right now am just feeling a bit flat - neither frugal nor fab, hoping a break from the office will help get me back on track and ready to knuckle down to a healthy diet in January and shift the rest of the weight - be good to be lighter again for my next big hiking trip, made so much difference to my energy levels and ability to get up steep hills on my last trips.

Oh, and I forgot to mention my Florida trip. It was good but timing was dreadful, I had a rotten cough and cold for the whole trip and after I got home and it was a really full on course so I was shattered when I got back to a ton of stress at work. I don't exactly regret going, but I wish I'd left it till the next time they ran the retreat in May when I would be less likely to be run down and not under quite so much pressure at work (we have some regulatory change to deal with for this January which has made the last couple of months especially hard). Anyway, I need to take some time to review all the notes I made and refocus on my goals as with illness and work I've not made much progress lately.

I need to remind myself despite finishing the year feeling a bit flat it's been a pretty good one overall - slimmer and fitter than I've been in over a decade, learned to dance, strengthened relationships with a number of friends and got a gorgeous new bedroom to enjoy. Ok, love life been a bit of a disaster and work has been a bit of a drain, but those are the things I don't have as much control over. At least I've not wasted a ton of time dating Mr Wrong or worked myself to the point of making myself ill with anxiety.... and I've made both of those mistakes in the past!

Anyway, time to go out and grab some lunch and buy tickets for our new year's eve night out.

In case I don't get around to posting before, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year xx

lessonlearned

Hi Indie.....lovely to hear from you. I was wondering where you had got to. Lots going on in your life, as always, not surprised you feel a bit tired and jaded. As you say the long dark nights and short dark days don’t help. Although it is brilliant sunshine here today and surprisingly warm.

I am just back from a shopping trip to Sainsbury’s. I did my big shop on Wednesday and just needed a top up today. It was busy but everyone was in good spirits although I could see that a lot of people did look tired and a tad harassed. I think it’s just the time of year.....which when you think about it is why Christmas was first a pagan festival......something to brighten up the doom and gloom of deep midwinter.

Both my sons seem a bit run down with heavy colds that they can’t shake off and my poor DIL is struggling with sickness and nausea so I think a few days break will do them good. She’s 12 weeks now so hopefully she will feel a bit better soon.

Sainsbury’s have a mega clothing sale at the moment. I picked up two pairs of jeans and a sweater dress. They will come in handy for my holiday. Also went to the chiropodist.

Loving all your plans, Indie. What colour are you doing your lounge. I recently bought a nice throw and some new cushions for mine to give it a bit of a lift. It’s amazing but just a few tweaks here and there can make a huge difference and lift a tired scheme, not that the decorating is tired but I just like to ring the changes. If I don’t move next year I might redo my lounge and dining room. There’s nothing actually wrong with them, and although I like the colours they were my sons choice. I might feminise them a bit. Lol.

I too have started thinking about next year. Lots of plans. Actually I have been approached by one of my old employers, inviting me to come out of retirement. I’m tempted but not sure if I would want permanent full time work, especially in the winter. I fancy short term contracts which I can either renew or take a break when required. I love being on site in the summer but winter isn’t quite so much fun.

I would need to retrain and take a couple of courses, health and safety and probably get up to speed with new technology, building regulations etc. . I said I would think about it and get in touch after my holiday. The more I think about it though, the more I fancy it. I could chose to work during the warmer weather and then swan off to foreign climes in the winter. Perfect.
In the past one of the major drawbacks to my job was that I had to work weekends and bank holidays but now that I live alone that wouldn’t be an issue.

At any rate it was flattering to be asked......

Well I think I’m going to get out and have a stroll in the sunshine. I have taken to taking my mobile with me and photographing the park in changing weather conditions. I take the same views and see how they change over the year. It’s nice and sunny and the light is good today.

indiepanda

lessonlearned wrote: »

Loving all your plans, Indie. What colour are you doing your lounge. I recently bought a nice throw and some new cushions for mine to give it a bit of a lift. It’s amazing but just a few tweaks here and there can make a huge difference and lift a tired scheme, not that the decorating is tired but I just like to ring the changes. If I don’t move next year I might redo my lounge and dining room. There’s nothing actually wrong with them, and although I like the colours they were my sons choice. I might feminise them a bit. Lol.

That's one of my jobs for the break - picking out paint colours. But it won't be radically different to what it was before. It needs to go with the curtains and cushions I have, partly because I don't want to spend any money replacing them (they were nice quality made to measure ones and full length for a bay window so there's a lot of fabric in them) but mainly because I still love them and they are still in good condition so it would be silly to replace. They are a rich chocolate brown with circles embroidered on them in taupe and cream and they go with my light taupe sofas and I have a big oil painting on the wall which also tones with them - got the chocolate and taupe and some gold in it. I also have a couple of other large bold prints in the room by one of my favourite artists, Paul Horton - this is one of them and this is the other.

So with all that colour in the room, basically it will be some variation on cream / taupe. At the moment I have a dark taupe on the chimney breast and a lighter one on the rest of the walls but I might go lighter this time. Will see, need to get some lining paper and test pots and try a few options.

My bedroom I did similar, ended up with almond white on the walls so that I could go for some bold artwork. I transferred from my old bedroom a oil painting - sort of an abtract wave scene in deep teal/peacock blue - very me. I added 3 prints to it from a gallery I visited in Dartmouth earlier this year, Fishing Village III by Gillian McDonald (image top right) and Beach Boys and Alfresco by Lynda Walker (second row, images left and right).

I have some other colour in there - I have a few different sets of bedlinen but they all have a bit of light teal / duck egg blue in and I have a bold teal furry throw on the foot of the bed that my mum and dad got me for my birthday. I am really pleased with how the bedroom has turned out. Every morning when I wake up and see my high ceilings with my lovely crystal chandelier and the lovely cornice and ceiling rose it makes me smile, so pretty and romantic compared to my old room with low plain ceilings and recessed spots. Admittedly that was the old practical thing to do with an attic room - would have looked odd putting cornicing in the sloping eves and danging lights would have led to bruised heads, but I am very glad I made the move.

Floss

Indie I love the seaside Paul Horton print!

indiepanda

Floss wrote: »

Indie I love the seaside Paul Horton print!

thanks, it's one of my favourite too - it is so cheerful. Much as I think I can see me living in London for many years to come there is part of me that dreams of living in a row of terraces by the sea painted in a variety of ice cream shades and that picture is just that. I had a reshuffle of the art work in my home a while ago and moved that into the lounge where I would see it more often.

indiepanda

indiepanda wrote: »

They are a rich chocolate brown with circles embroidered on them in taupe and cream

Had to laugh at myself... the curtains are down at the moment as I didn't want them resting against damp plaster from the damp treatment.... all the same you'd think I'd know they were taupe with chocolate and cream circles rather than chocolate background. Realised that when I looked at one of the matching cushions today. Just goes to show how much we can stop noticing and appreciating our possessions when we are busy!