Bricks Not Books

VintageHistorian

South_coast said:

Surely a jigsaw would only ever sound like a jigsaw 🤔? I wonder what they thought it was! 

The only thing I can think of is some kind of loose jewellery. That said, someone I follow on IG had a similar notification only to have their parcel show up a month later perfectly fine, so perhaps I'll end up with a second puzzle in the New Year.

The replacement has arrived though so at least that's come through fine.

Merlin's_Beard said:

A good idea for insurance is to do a video walkthrough on your phone, which then gives you a visual record to jog your memory (especially about brands and amounts).

Yes I need to do that too. Or rather, delegate it to Mr VH next time I take DS out without him 

VintageHistorian

TT of £4.77, very very close to the £30 target for this month!

DS has once again come down with a bad cough but is otherwise a cheerful little soul. We've been out to get his haircut this morning, and then went to Waitrose. Once we'd bought the shopping he wanted to sit in the cafe and since we weren't in a rush I agreed. Bought a cheese twist to share but promptly dropped it on the floor as I tried to carry him to a table, and then had to queue up to buy a replacement as the group in front of me dithered over their order.

What was more annoying was I only bought a cheese twist because it was cheaper than the gingerbread man I'd originally considered (which was probably more expensive due to the Christmas-themed icing on it), but after buying two of the darned things I paid more than one ginger biscuit would have cost.

Despite my annoyance (at my own clumsiness) DS had a nice time sharing pastry with me and watching people around us. He was particularly fascinated by one of the staff cleaning tables. A new development thing we've noticed recently is that he's more interested in "helping" us at the moment, to the point where I'm having to actively plan things to ask him to do so I can handle more fragile things. Case in point, he wanted to help unpack the shopping when we got home so I gave him crumpets and a carton of passata before he could demand anything involving glass.

The only Christmas purchase so far this week is a bag of Toblerone chocolates in the Tesco shop, which I've used a Clubcard voucher for as it was due to expire this week anyway and I don't need more Disney+ vouchers at the moment. But I need to do a Hotel Chocolat order tonight and this weekend I might pop into town to go book hunting for my Dad.

DS has 30 minutes left of his nap, I need to have a shower and photograph a few of his toys to try and sell before Christmas so I'd better get my bum off this sofa.

Dinner tonight is pie and chips. Have a good week everyone!

VintageHistorian

November's OP total finished at £30.93.

December has started with £15.94 (including 24p in ebook sales ). I need to OP £31.64 in total this month to hit my £400 target for the year so that's a good start.

Pretty much finished with Christmas shopping, just need one last thing for my brother. Wrapping it all is the next task. Some decorations are out but not the lights. We don't have a tree so they'll go up on the furniture again.

DS's cough continues. In fact he's coming towards the end of a very disrupted naptime. Gave him some cough medicine at lunch time but it hasn't done much, and he also called out needing a wee about half an hour ago. I suspect I'm in for a grumpy afternoon with him but we'll see what the overall outcome is. But I did have time to eat my lunch and make him a fresh batch of bean casserole. Some of that will be his dinner tonight and the rest will be portioned up for the freezer.

I've had a few more sales of DS's outgrown things this week, one item of clothing and two toys. No money has been exchanged yet, hopefully that will all be sorted out next week. The two toys were quite large so their removal (I've kept them in the office over the weekend) has meant we have more storage space in our hollow footstools, so a couple of less-played-with things have been packed in them. DS will occasionally find them and have another play, but they're not core favourites so I don't need to keep getting them out and putting them away again later.

Now that we're in December I'm starting to think towards next years plans. Writing them down would be helpful but my 2026 planner hasn't arrived yet and the back of my 2025 one is quite full up.

Time to retrieve the barely-napped toddler. I wonder if a hunt for yellowstickers would be fruitful this afternoon, a ride around in a big trolley might be a good distraction for him and if I can get some reduced beef mince then I can restock his cottage pie supplies.

Dinner tonight is oven pizzas (hence lunchtime toddler batch cooking, I'm not putting much effort into dinner tonight!) once we pick up DH from the station, he's been working today. Have a good weekend everyone!

VintageHistorian

DS wasn't too bad yesterday afternoon and only really crashed out when DH came home, probably overwhelmed by tiredness and the presence of Daddy. He slept fairly well but had a coughing fit at 4am so I ended up getting up to give him some more cough medicine. And then got up with him this morning as DH was exhausted from a 6 day working week. Eventually got 20 minutes to myself plus a shower so I'm taking that as a win.

During the Waitrose trip yesterday I picked up a yellowsticker bag of cherry tomatoes, so also grabbed a red pepper and a red onion as we walked around (no mince beef though). Roasted the veg in the oven this morning with garlic, oregano and thyme then cooked it further with some low-salt stock, a squeeze of tomato puree and some split red lentils. Blitzed it up and made some cheese on toast as well for DS, he ate it all quite happily and DH had the rest (bowl and a half) for his own lunch. Quite glad I spotted those tomatoes, DS has been fussy about eating his fruit this past week so I'm pleased I managed to get 4 veggies and some garlic into him.

I have also made a lemon drizzle cake because the oven was already on and I had eggs that needed using up.

I really should have got the Christmas lights up this afternoon but I'm just too tired. DS will love it when they're finally up but the mental energy just isn't here right now. I'm taking DS over to see my parents this afternoon but Mr VH has a list of things to do already and will have no time for the lights. Will I have the energy to do them tonight? Probably not but I'll try to find it.

Dinner tonight is roast chicken in the slow cooker. Potatoes are already peeled and yorkshire puddings are in the freezer. I've peeled extra spuds so a few can be kept to one side for DS to have with his own roast dinner on Tuesday night.

Have a good week everyone!

VintageHistorian

£1.11 TT made this afternoon.

Yesterday we had our little Christmas trip morning out with DS, where he got to see Thomas the Tank Engine, and Percy, Daisy and Toby. We had two rides, one in a carriage pulled by Thomas and one in a truck pulled by Percy. Someone was doing free balloon models so he was given a purple train, I had a delicious waffle with whipped cream, and a purchase was made in the gift shop on the way out. He's definitely of an age where such things are becoming more fascinating and more enjoyable.

I have caught his cold, after he coughed in my face repeatedly last weekend. I think it's moving up, or else I've caught a second cold, as after a week of coughing I'm now finding my sinuses feel very blocked up and I've had a headache for most of the morning. The only upside is that I'm getting it out of the way before Christmas.

All gifts have been purchased and now need to be wrapped. The box of treats for nursery has been finished and I also bought two big boxes of biscuits, one for the office team and one for the staff in the kitchens. I'll take those in tomorrow.

Today I made soup for DH and DS again (think I'm being inspired by @Greying_Pilgrim's frequent soup making). I froze a tray of root vegetables that was yellowstickered in M&S a few weeks ago. It had carrots, parsnips, a chunk of butternut squash and some red onion in it, along with a lump of herby butter. I took out the butter and instead roasted the tray with some olive oil and thyme (it already had rosemary in it), then put it in a saucepan with low-salt chicken stock, a cubed potato, and some split red lentils (potato and lentils to help thicken it). DH and DS both ate it but DS found it a bit of a struggle and DH said it was nice, but his preference is for the tomato soup, so I will keep that in mind for future.

I haven't done any baking as work is doing a festive "bake off" event later this week so I'm hoping I can get my contribution done on Wednesday.

Dinner tonight is leftover toad in the hole with crispy potato slices. I really must remember to make my breakfast and lunch to take to work tomorrow too.

Have a good week everyone!

Greying_Pilgrim

Oh lawks - hope my nattering about soup isn't making extra work for you ☹️  My version for lunch today didn't hit the spot. It wasn't awful, and it was eaten, but I shan't be getting anymore 'soup&stew' grain/pulses mix in a hurry ☹️

Bravo you on taking DS to an event that he enjoyed participating in.  We did a couple of trails when LG was younger - I remember 'Percy the Park keeper' was one.  But it's only in the last couple of years that they've enjoyed Christmas 'adjacent' things - looking at the lights in town, going to a Christmas Tree festival, and last night's tractor run.  It's so much more fun when they enjoy it 😁 Although we can laugh our socks off at LG bursting into tears the moment they saw santa at a 'reverse grotto' (for several years on the trot 😬)... now 🤣

Greying X

beanielou

My DS used to love Thomas & friends. Thanks for sharing that & reminder that that DS loved the Thomas train. 🤗

VintageHistorian

Greying_Pilgrim said:

Oh lawks - hope my nattering about soup isn't making extra work for you ☹️  

Definitely not making extra work GP! It's nice to remember I can get extra veggies into DS. I've been wanting to move him towards other lunch things for a while and a nice homemade soup seems to be hitting the spot.

beanielou said:

My DS used to love Thomas & friends. Thanks for sharing that & reminder that that DS loved the Thomas train. 🤗

Not sure what it is about steam trains nowadays but the stories are nice, if not a little old fashioned (I often give a small shocked chuckle at the idea that Henry *deserved* to be bricked up in a tunnel for daring to disobey his boss!)

VintageHistorian

Did a little OP with a TT of £4.39!

DS's gifts are all wrapped! Mr VH's box of treats has been assembled. The nursery staff gifts have been handed out. I really should be wrapping family gifts right now but I'm feeling tired (hormone joy). Will try to get my Mum's at least done this evening as they're quite easy.

Me and DS still have a cough but it's wearing off, however Mr VH is now coming down with something. Possibly the same thing, possibly something different, who knows! I'm rather regretting not making soup for them both this week but I did make a huge batch of ratatouille, most of it for DS but there's two portions in the freezer for Mr VH to have with roast dinners.

Picky tea food for two days (Boxing Day and one near January) was purchased and shoved in the freezer. More freezer space will be made tomorrow and Tuesday as I'm getting a roast dinner and a pie out. I have overspent on food a little bit, but not as much as I thought I would thanks to the freezer dives. I'm hoping I'll then be able to refill with some post-Christmas yellowstickers but that might depend on DS. Mr VH has to work next Saturday so any shopping trips will involve a toddler. Could be successful, could be a nightmare, we'll only find out on the day!

I did not win anything at the work bake-off competition but I did not bring many slices home and one colleague told me they thought my cake was delicious so I'm happy with that as a win. I also joined in with the Christmas party in DS's nursery room and spent a happy hour playing with him. He did not instantly demand to be taken home, which was nice, and instead we iced and ate biscuits together, played him cooking for me, and read a book together. He did also run around and almost clatter in to other children and adults repeatedly, I'm sure the nursery staff want to have the words "indoor feet" going on a permanent loop over the speakers just for him.

I have two days left of work and then that's it until the New Year. I'm not going to lie, I'm crawling towards Tuesday afternoon. And Mr VH has no time off this year, outside of bank holidays, so it will be me and DS on our own for a lot of it. Not a huge amount of relaxation will be had, but if the weather is dry I might risk a walk around a local nature area with him on one day, and depending on behaviour we could also risk a trip to Costa Coffee as well.

Dinner tonight is chicken and cider crumble with mashed potato. Have a good week everyone!

VintageHistorian

Another TT of £3.21.

We were up at 7 with DS so I took advantage of Mr VH being home and made an early trip to M&S. I got there at 8:15. Car park was busy but not excessively so and everyone was being polite, keeping space etc.

I was shocked at how empty their dessert section was! The festive desserts were well stocked but 70% of the normal desserts were completely empty. Either they're still struggling with some post-hacking logistics or they wanted people to focus more on the festive desserts. Sadly that meant they made less money out of me, I only wanted a small profiterole pot for myself and I wasn't going to pay £15 for a large festive pile instead.

But I did get some good yellow stickers, including a pack of minced beef! I'm going to turn half of it into cottage pies for DS this afternoon and the other half will go in the freezer to make bolognese, once he's mostly finished the meatballs in tomato sauce portions that are currently frozen. I also got some cooked chicken, which Mr VH turned into a large chicken salad for his lunch, and one lasagne and one shepherds pie, which we can have for a freezer dive dinner. Some of these don't have a use by date until the 26th so I don't even need to freezer them immediately, they can go in tomorrow night after I take out some other bits to defrost.

The main reason why I went though was to take advantage of their pizza meal deal, so we have 2 pizzas for dinner tonight and 2 side dishes which will go towards my picky tea plans for Boxing day and the 2nd or 3rd January.

Christmas gifts are all wrapped and the bulk went back to my parents house after my Dad brought DS back home. I assembled the large bowl of festive chocolates for us last night. I need to do a very quick Christmas card for our neighbours but otherwise I think I'm done.

Tonight, if DS will go along with the idea, I'll take us out in the car for a little drive around to see Christmas lights. I would put DS in the pram and walk but it's remarkably chilly (down to 3 degrees!), and it'll have to be closer to bedtime and I don't want to risk him nodding off halfway round. Plus we can get more of the town covered if I drive. Depending on DS's mood and behaviour I might even treat him to a tiny share of hot chocolate when we get home, but he's already requested a treat from the bowl of chocolates so we might just stick to one little thing today.

I must admit that the gift I'm most looking forward to getting tomorrow is my new planner. I have so much to transfer over from the old one for a start, and then thinking of new things for next year is always exciting.

Right, time to dig out the cottage pie recipe. Have a very merry Christmas everyone!