5 OS pleasures in your day today - part 3
11.7K replies
792.8K views
Quick links
Essential Money | Who & Where are you? | Work & Benefits | Household and travel | Shopping & Freebies | About MSE | The MoneySavers Arms | Covid-19 & Coronavirus Support
Replies
Pleasures for today (Thursday)
1) No lie in, but made a cooked breakfast before bigger son's bike trek.
2) My brother appeared and he and bigger son did the first 25 miles together. My parents met them at my brother's turning round point (their first trip out of the house really, since March, but they were on a canal bank a few miles from where dad grew up).
3) Bigger son continued for another 50 miles and is now wild camping in the Peak District. My brother in law will drive over tomorrow so they can do some climbing.
4) I did lots of tidying and cleaning whilst not being mithered by bigger son! Changed his bed, cleaned the bathroom, hoovered everywhere, tidied...
5) Phoned Autism West Midlands as instructed by CAMHS yesterday (no answer).
6) Phoned special college locally (no answer).
7) Spoke to smaller son's solicitor.
8) Tried to get in touch with district council for the millionth time about the planning over the road where I park my car (no answer).
9) Then... a rare knock at the door! Spent a jolly 45 minutes in the garden talking to the builder who has applied for the planning permission over the road (opposite our row of cottages). A pox on all councils locally - he had received no objections to his earlier proposals, because the council had forgotten to send them to him and attach them to his proposals online! So that was 6 letters of objection from locals he had never received. He had to amend his plans anyway, due to Highways. I then objected again and only when he read it (on Monday) did he realise I was referring to things in my "earlier objection"...
He is now including a pavement round the site (dangerous rural crossroads). This includes dropped kerbs on "my" pavement and the new pavement opposite, so we can cross the road and access our cars. The end planned house has been moved back 5 metres or more and the corner will be turned into a village green including a bench. The 2 houses facing us have had to change to 1.5 storeys (he had to explain this to me - it means the windows of the upstairs stick out of the roof, making it a bit lower overall).
I don't live in a pretty village - it is former mining houses (1840s) and a strange hotch potch of modern houses at jaunty angles inbetween. Our car park is waste ground where there used to be a large pub so there is no pavement or flat grass. He is retaining 18 spaces, although technically he doesn't have to keep any at all, and renting the whole 18 out for £1 per year. He's also going to put tarmac down and painted parking space lines.
Turns out he knows my siblings as he was in the school year between them. He went to the same school and sixth form college as me, but that goes without saying, as they are the only ones. He is also building an autism base at bigger son's school, which I found quite difficult to hear. There was no provision there for smaller son so he had to go to a different high school from bigger son, and what turned out to be a pretty ropey one, leaving him in the predicament he finds himself in today.
10) Smaller son and I went to Sainsburys - his favourite place in the world.
11) Had pizza then Eton Mess for tea.
12) An email from the County Council. They are actually making headway with smaller son's paperwork (it may have had something to do with being contacted by CAMHS and a solicitor...) I have just spent 2 hours correcting their paperwork and emailing it back to them. We shall see.
13) Funny phone calls from bigger son in his tent as his air mattress has a leak!
14) Smaller son is playing online with a friend and guffawing.
15) I will go to bed and watch Ambulance just now.
ETA
16) Sainsburys now stocks a range of sausages where the company name is my surname! It is not a particularly common surname and this has amused us greatly. Photos have been shared and we wonder if we are tasty, or just fatty and greasy!
But baby you're a grand
And I will learn to play the good notes
And tune you up the best I can
so on Wednesday evening I made a very foolish ( and I kind of realised as I was doing it) decision to try and open a tin of paint with the garage key! It of course bent, I tried to bend it back. It bent back. I tried to put it in the lock and it laughed at me and snapped in half ...with the half being stuck in the lock! Managed (somehow) to get that out and was left with two parts of key...messaged son ( who was up mountains) do we have a spare garage key? Nah. Don’t think so. Never seen one. Anyway yesterday morning I went into town and to the locksmith who managed to make a copy. Was cheaper to buy 2. ‘It might not work’ It did work. Hurrah! ( more later)
Whilst in town I popped into M&S and got a black top for £3 and an apricot Swiss roll and some eggs. Admire my restraint! No crisps were purchased.
Sue I hope things are okay with you and yours. Thinking of you all x
Mum, Dad, My sister, BIL . nephew and niece spent the day in their new garden (and myself). They moved about 2 weeks ago. I love their new house. A tad smaller than their last one but feels more like a home. Cannot explain it. It cuts my sister's driving time by about half. Such a great garden, bigger than the last but it's the very mature trees behind that make the whole feel very rural.
Mum got up early and cooked a massive cottage pie, my sister supplied beautiful breads, cheeses, hams, olives etc. I wanted to grab, hug and not let go of all of them..............but didn't. Just seeing them in the flesh was heaven.
My sister has really interesting witty new neighbour. 94 years of age. He joined us for tea in the garden.
Early evening took a train and tram home. Hardly any other people. I was fully masked but some weren't. I made sure I touched very little and sanitised my hands a few times. Tiggy went potty when I came home. She got loads of kisses and cuddles. I missed her too..............
Well, this is becoming interesting. Put the food out about 6.30am. Just went to let Tiggy out and of course on the fence were my family of crows. On their designated table was another one with a white patch on it's breast, not seen before. Clearly from the same family. Am not going to name it as it may have been just a flying visit. tee-hee............
A wonderful day wished for one and all
x
My wish for your (and yours) safety. And a huge hug on it's way.............
x
2. Managed to get my eyes tested- they hadn't changed so will be able to order prescription sunglasses
3. Oestopath appointment in a tent - so relaxing and I feel so much better for it.
4. More accounts done with a glass of wine in the garden
5. DS2 cooked tea
For yesterday,
Bursts of enthusiasm for housework interspersed with wandering around the garden.
Ate our main meal at lunchtime due to beloved’s work commitments, toasted sesame halloumi with a broccoli & courgette salad, delicious.
Mama deer and her fawn were once again in the field, little one noticeably grown in a few days.
Small dog and I sat on the swing seat at twilight, having a cuddle and watching the bats flying around the cottage.
Beloved finally emerged from office at just gone 10pm after a marathon zoom meeting of just under 5 hours!
Dogwalking pleasures - as ever, seeing her catch sight of a big fat crow or pigeon and take off across the park, chasing them with such enthusiasm. The mean devils wait till she's near them then take off. I am sure they are laughing as they do.
Seeing the buddleia bushes in the park all in bloom. A mass of purple. A very heady scent, a little sickly maybe, but anything to attract the bees and butterflies.
Near the buddleias I found an interesting arrangement of a hawthorn bush entwined with a honeysuckle and with some sneaky blackberry branches coming through too. Imagine the combination of berries all in one place.
The smell of home made bread as it bakes. I have found if I make a quantity of dough in the bread maker it makes enough for two loaves, bake one and put the rest in the fridge for a few days ready to bake the second loaf when you're ready,
Collecting a few mange touts every few days and storing them in a box in the freezer. Very disappointed in my courgettes, though, two healthy vigorous plants but no sign of a flower.
Stepmum's 90th birthday today, with her health issues I am surprised she got this far, but all good things to her on this special day,
Anticipating son's birthday tomorrow, presents and card stuff stacking up. He will be 22, where has the time gone?
A snuggly tabby and white kitten/cat sprawled across my lap. He was a cute little thing last November, when he was 11 weeks old. Now he's 10 months old and all fish breath one end and rancid farts the other. Yes, Roger, I'm talking about you.
The sun is shining out there, I must get up and hunt for more pleasures - washing, vacuuming, you know the sort of thing.
Rite Mess!
Had too do this one today!
Frith. Council Woes. Where's me old boots about that!
DfV Proper cricket! Sweet corn. Chick peas are for the birds, not proper food! Y fronts are on!
PK Proper diecast! We is dipping through the After Life!
Now with another version of the Life of BoP's
PM2DD Game On. Raffles is on it and the kittens could be down on this one. That wood sent the fishy forum inn too orbit! One on the radio expressed that he hopes they like playing the #GIMPS. Not that BoP would be biased inn any way! Cheerio Kittens!
Just gets mes elevenses inn. Proper chocolate wafer this day, with loose tea fresh brewed tea. Drinked. Nice inn the day too has the proper stuff. We has a friend who does instant tea. That is for those that never paid the tax on the tea. Not proper!
Watched another flix last nite, a take on Pretty Woman. but I thinks better! The Escort. Too raunchy for & and DfV! Cheese, peanuts and cocoa was consumed. Buttered marmite crumpet was also wolfed down. Be careful of eating peanuts as young people could choke on them and the worlds worst airline don't serve them! Only flewn once with them in thirty years and theys still carp. AVOID!
Was inn front yard this morning sore ting the weeds. I had sum proper exterminator of weeds before, but we are not aloud to sue it any more. So I now has some from a secret supply. Deadly. Please do not sue at home! Will wait until dry spell to use!
Reversion dinner this evening of crumbed prawns, bargies, and chicken bits. Still has some of them buzzard wings for the morrow! Details of the flix tomorrow.
Rites, lunch is the usual, and tart today is the Bakewell's! Nuts of ginger are also available!
That is you're lot!
Imagine that as it goes into the ether again!
Defibrillators Cannot Cure a Heart Attack!
Pleasures for yesterday
1. OH and I did a circuit by the sea - at last!
2. Saw lots of people who seemed pleased we were back
3. Did the garden - the weeds were horrific but fortunately the garden is tiny so was all sorted in a couple of hours
4. watched ambulance - the men were too grumpy after villa drew to concentrate on anything else
5. OH cooked spag bol for tea - that i had with veg rather than spag
And today
1. Cracked on a bit with this batch of marking - the pleasure is getting through it rather than doing it
2. we went to Barmouth - parked the other side of the bridge and walked across
3. washing dried on the line
4. OH cooked spanish chicken and chorizo traybake
5. family film night - OH's choice about someone born into apartheid south africa.
Have a great evening.