5 OS pleasures in your day today - part 3

Purple_kitten

1 A bity day, a bit of weeding, a bit of washing, a bit of cooking.

2 The vets have very kindly given us a big prescription and allowed it to repeat, that helps with a few pennies.

3 I have started bits on my to-do list but not completed any of it, started on tidying the freezer, achieved one drawer, started on tidying out clothes achieved one small bag, it’s all a start.

4 Cooked up a wagyu burger, topped with mature cheddar and lettuce with onion rings and prawns for tonight tea.

5 C0stco sent through their magazine and DH wants to try the salad recipes in there, half we have, and I’ve added the other half to a list to pick up.

Frith

Pleasures for today (Saturday)

1) Not a bad sleep.

2) Managed to get to the football by bus (car still stuck near the garage). It cost £6 and took 45 minutes!

3) Pie and mash at the football then our team won 4-1. 

4) Got a few jobs done and bigger son's duvet is in the washing machine, now he has gone.

5) Double bill of Casualty. 

DundeeDoll

Wigan had only 1 shot on target yet won 2-1. Go figure. 😡😡😡
1) woke at 6am - guess I'm still on French time - meant I could have a nice lie-in listening to the radio, definitely one of life's mse pleasures
2) porridge with apple and cinnamon for breakfast then a soak in the bath and finished my book Deadly Cross very good - bath may not be so mse, but book was a loan from gbf
3) walked into work so I could use 2 monitors as need to get handbooks signed off before I go on annual leave. Had a good non-work online committee meeting first at 10. Had taken lunch, left-overs from last night .
4) walked to hairdresser's new abode (30 mins fast walk) - he was running late and I got to read some of my new book with a cup cake and flute of pink prosecco
5) gbf picked me up, cups of tea at mine then we walked the dogs and had more tea.
Then made leek and pea risotto (yummy, 2 portions left for tomorrow) while watching the 100 final, very good (sadly missed the women's), walked the dogs and now it's time for bed. 

LaineyT

Love the sound of your hairdresser DD!

For yesterday,

Went back to bed after breakfast and managed another hour or so, sleep is v bad at the moment.

Sorted through my yard box, cleaned it out and tidied everything out, saddle cloth put in wash & tack cleaned.

Listened to the footie, another win for Utd.

Early evening walk around the fields, just got in as the heavens opened.

The treat of a Chinese takeaway for tea, also watched the 100 final.

villagelife

1. A lie in for me.

2. Went food shopping and spent more than usual but it was planned. I have 10% discount in Asda at moment and it is stopping end of October so starting to make more use of it and sticking up. It was fairly quiet too.

3. Some gardening done and it looks much better. Also spread compost about from the composter. 

4. Went to Sissinghurst for a walk around. I do love the separate garden areas.

5. Arranged a date to meet up with DS1 and girlfriend.

DigForVictory

I can only plead RL & Events... I never Mean to write an epic!

MandM90 - back & with an 8 month old - congratulations on the full cellar & the blackberry cobbler!

LaineyT - family gatherings playing grab-that-fast-moving-small-person - yes, it's a very special pleasure! Yeay Quizzing Mondays back! Car insurance is getting to be one of the bills you hope might go down. So sorry old yard owner being a pain. That's a lot of weight to lose but at least big box relocated and Capt S survived. Tack cleaned -  it's a real pleasure to get hands on with all the leather & feel it respond.

Suffolksue - losing weight & seriously clean kitchen & roses - wow!

Highdays - aimless snarling snapping and being mardy is allowed amidst the pleasures of grandson & not having to cook meals for everyone! What an Intelligent 7 year old - getting the most fun for the least bad choices! Of course the bowl for nuts twangs a heart-string, but how wonderful DH generally says the right thing!

mhagster -   life’s rich tapestry definitely includes wee, dinner and cuddles. No need to hate the dark for long... Yeay 2 clematis for the garden but ulp 4 am start. Sounds the new security protocols for moving money are underfoot - it'll be less fuss once you've done it fully awake once or twice! A day spent in the garden is usually a good day. Autumn wreath up in place - deserved!

Frith - bigger son OK back in work - phew. Just bouncing on my chair at Smaller Sons results - wa-hey All your work & if there are a few proud damp sniffs from school, why not?! Love the farewell tour of relatives. Yikes brakes & impending expenditure and inconvenience & Wow, Auntie & as you say What a week. Hoping a piano finds its way to you soon. Gf should have done a farewell tour. Glad you're both still getting to the football.

DundeeDoll - your conferences are so exciting! You do pecha kucha? Awed!  They think they can stop autoimmune hepatitis? Hurrah! Cor what a journey home and well done lass visiting granddad. Home cooking & church candles - there's a splendid combination. Miword what a hairdresser!

villagelife - I love Highgrove as an example not to spray things! Huge congratulations telling a consultant to do the right thing & it happening! Yikes long detour. Hurrah pub quiz victory! You did a bedding wash with an eye on the weather forecast too?! 10% off at Asda? Definitely make it hustle. Extra duvets?

Happycas - well done oiling the bench - done once really thoroughly, you shouldn't need to repeat it (Learned from a unit armourer!) Handbags a-go-go - well done! Home made cookies - I'm getting youngest to chop up dad's stash of dark chocolate bars to cook with - delicious! Tickled by the idea of  sorry for themselves lemons - now drizzle cake in the freezer.

Admiral - I am so tempted by prawn poodles. I remember decades ago when poodles were not only clipped in silly shapes, they were tinted too. I saw one clamber out of a brook & realised from the lines it's a hunting dog, just the decorative trim hid that. You're back at the salt mine, but with one eye strictly on the money? Makes sense, but Kitty will be peeved her staff are AWOL. Silly boo tick, missing out on your coinage.

Purple kitten - love MIA at steam fair! "Rhubarb and custard immediately dunking themselves in the water trough" - yes, my sons do that too! Then use almost all bath towels. Well done on 75% off and isn't Lucifer a pleasure! The Cranberry chicken salad does look good!

Broomstick - book buying embargo - Are You Well?! Much smitten with the sole Morris Dancer  in full regalia playing a melodeon - had he just stumbled out of a fairy mound? Aw, planning knitting for pup!

VJsmum - after all the exciting travels, your own bed is a very special pleasure! Then the laundry and the exhaustion, but at least in your own home,

PaulieHerts - hurrah a happy family gathering & well done including All generations!

OS Pleasure recently

“I’m bringing my own soap. That green thing scared me.” Young man wants to wash, encourage him!

One sister pleased to see me as I’ve brought the hair scissors down (she wants a trim without the expense of the hairdresser & fair enough), the other pleased as she wanted Cadfael & I’ve a memory stick loaded.

Blessed are the Registrars - I have yet to meet a brusque one. That we then got 4 certificates into hands or recorded delivery within 5 hours is a huge pleasure & relief.

Further hurrahs for Tell Us Once (which is one of the few effective bits of joined-up-government!) a rather strange pleasure, that saves Hours on the phone!

There’s a new family game “identify that sender” and so far, using the ancestry app, I’ve tagged three relatives! [One sister added a (niece of X) & two others didn’t - if in doubt, I’ll be putting my name in full somewhere. Pleasure in adding full names & addresses in pencil so mum can reply.

Pleasure in hearing sisters squawk at this “swap existing unused postage stamps for new bar-coded ones before Christmas”, then Start Planning - it isn’t news, but it had slipped down the ‘to do’ list & has snapped back up.

Youngest cooked a shepherds pie of great flavour & comfort, and there’s a second smaller one in the freezer. (He thinks granny is too thin & is quietly Taking Steps.)

Having successfully registered one death, my professional declutterer sister wanted to put her hands on the relevant documents for our mother. I was sent to order a replacement birth certificate & did battle with the General Register Office. Three hours later, sis looked “in the place you first thought of” Harder & lo, among a stack of defunct passports, the live one and the birth certificate were safely ensconced. Pleasure I can feel various vertebrae unclench…

Mum has a fold out sofa bed & its cover was a bit lopsided. Enough to annoy. Despite sisters’ efforts. So she sat where she could see the angles & I seized the loose cover & heaved, & it didn’t tear (hurrah!) & it did ‘hang’ more symmetrically after. Pleasure in seeing mum smile at it being right!

I am trying to untangle my fathers relationship with the telephone. As his daughter I have some traction but my sister is adamant I have no legal authority. [An executor has said quietly to “get on with it”, & I have.]

Absolutely whoop-tee-do at Frith’s news & vicariously so proud of the whole family!

Personal triumph - I used my chase bank account to pay for fuel when I forgot my usual bank card! Problem solving on the frantic hop….

Aunt left rucksack on towpath & it walked. Today, phone all from coffee barge on canal asked if we knew her, as had rucksack handed in with phone & car keys - forwarded all this to aunt who double checked number to confirm but was dancing a gleeful fandango as she did!

LaineyT for a moment I thought they’d taken Ambridge & nearly fell off my chair. Umbridge they can take & keep, so long as no harm befalls.

My mum’s face when I gave her a new hairbrush. She’s convinced it was hideously expensive - possibly as she had the previous brush (same make & model) for over 50 years, and a good 30 of them Showed. Pleasure in seeing that delighted smile.

Family Mah Jongg first! In four games, the middle two were played to Noone Going Mah Jongg. Nor having such a dire hand it has its own score & recognition. Good times!

I have never seen Crab Football before, (let alone played with a windfall apple) but a fit lad, a yoga teacher, & a healthy living chap made it Look Easy. That my arms were easily 4” too short got me a cheer for trying, (which was sweet of them!) & I hoisted the lad up to pick some whopping baking apples - everyone happy at home grown fresh cooking for pud!

Youngest has deftly presented mum with “the soup menu” - a list of her tins to pick which she fancies, & which he’ll serve with the croutons. [She is being steadily coaxed into regaining some needed weight - the pleasure is she’s eating up every plateful.]

After tears tantrums and some revisiting of old shirts, all my sisters are almost agreed on what can go (of one cupboard.) Suddenly I feel relaxed that I’ve not even started on Himself’s socks!

The list of things we didn’t do runs a bit but things we have done are helpful, supportive & we’ve plans for more things on the next run down (I’ve set up a bag of stuff, specifically!)

Youngest has just landed a freshly cooked pizza in front of me. I’m delighted, hungry & mindful I need to wean him off the “feed ‘em up” policy of the last fortnight! Pleasure is it’s delicious & if I can leave a big enough bit, there’ll be another meal sorted. [breakfast!]

Sudden memory of asking Dad what a word in Russian meant &, although I mangled the pronunciation, he recognized it & broke into the song I recalled: “Svyegda” - “Always”. Pleasure in memory & checking with google translate.

There is a cow mooing disconsolately. As I pack my bag to go into work (for the first time in months), I grin at the noise & agree rather. Then grin further - I’ve missed my colleagues & want to get back into the fun! [Great to see them but now tired! Still, locker stuffed with techie kit so won’t need to carry that around.]

Trying to get the lads thinking about fuel costs & heated fleeces & they’re all “we have (ordinary) fleeces, we don’t need this”. Pleasure will be snuggling in mine & inviting them to join me under it, as I plan to hide the boiler control…

Drove Middleson at ye gods o clock to Preston & he pointed out cheap fuel. Me so happily filling up, never saw him switch from T shirt to work shirt - amused at his distract & do his own thing ploy. 

Bought my final wedding anniversary present, a dwarf plum Opal bush (Opal anniversary) - pleasure will be seeing if the gift survives my ruthless gardening techniques. Plant it & hope!

Youngest, having helped me make my bed with proper hospital corners, said “good night in your Tudor bed…” I don’t think he values linen as I do & adores his fitted sheet as simplicity itself. Himself & I made a palliasse but couldn’t find enough Our Lady’s Bedstraw (galium verum) to stuff it with. I think we used heather bracken & some herbs & it was wonderful for one night but you did wonder how squishy & ‘unoccupied’ it would feel after a week. Youngest doesn’t remember that!

Loafing though Danish silver assay marks to try to identify who made the dove brooch my grandmother gave mum. All decorative but no matches as yet! Pleasure is just in looking and admiring the individuality of the marks.

Light bulb was flickering - Youngest fetched the ladder, cleared the floor, collected the old bulb, found the new one & it's all clear & bright & LED! 

Health strength love & courage to all as have need, & may I recommend taking a waterproof layer in case before leaving the home?

MandM90

Wow Dig what a lovely post. I wish I had the memory to respond to everyone but I love reading the posts 

My pleasures for this weekend:

I found us all Christmas PJs on Vinted. I wanted a matching set last year and spent a fortune at M&S only for them not to deliver one pair due to stock issues so I returned them all. I managed to get us all Next tartan PJs including delivery for £41 - we are a family of five and all the pairs are either new or lightly worn so I consider that a win! I know they are frivolous but they will 

2yo DS is obsessed with blackberry picking at the moment. We had a blackberry and apple lattice pie made by DD14 last night and have 600g in the freezer. They should keep coming every day now for a while. I'm going to get some little bottles and make crème de mûre for Christmas again. Yum.

Managed to prep dinner for tonight, lunch for Mon/Tues and will prep dinner for tomorrow night too so I shouldn't need to cook until Tuesday night. Takes the pressure off as mat leave ends tomorrow (sob!).

Lunch went down well. It was only sweet potato soup but everyone enjoyed it and it was wholesome and cheap.

Baby girl is finally properly sitting up so she and the toddler can play together properly. What a joy!

Watching Game of Thrones last night with eldest and DH. None of us have watched it all the way through, though I've read the books, so we are starting from scratch.

Highdays

Hi, everyone

As in real life, there are ups and downs here in our little gang.

DfV - I have total respect for you and how you cope with some unimaginable situations, hope you don't mind me saying that you have been such a positive example to me since I discovered these boards.

Lainey - the 'stress diet' is not to be recommended, effective though it might be. This nasty time will pass and you will soon be settled again, confrontation is a horrid thing to have to deal with.

Some nice pleasures over the last day or so:

1) Trip to an up-market food shop resulted in some nice treats for the weekend.

2) Lovely, gentle early autumn days, soft sunshine but still some warmth there.

3) Pina coladas in my bairn's garden room were yummy (but potent and, no doubt, very calorific). Luckily we only have to stagger next door at the end of the evening!

4) Lovely afternoon at our local town's show, think its the first one since we moved here because of lockdown. We have moved from a very 'genteel' city to a much more 'gritty' and multi-cultural area, all reflected in the stalls and entertainment. Very refreshing. Some great street food and music, lots of people there so it was well-supported.

5) Got some information on some volunteering opportunities in the area. Now we don't have such draining and time-consuming commitments, I am starting to feel there is a vacuum that needs to be filled and I would also like to get more involved in the local community. I can start on an ad hoc basis, which is good as I don't feel I want too regular a commitment at the moment. Will have a read and a think, need to look to the future a bit now.

Hop everyone has a peaceful Sunday evening and a good week.

mhagster

And another shift down…three to go ( plus a big catering event but I’m not including that 😆) 

Lovely walk with my doggy this morning. Oddly weathered! Very windy ( though warm) and rainy ( so needed hood but twas warm!) but absolutely just us! 

Son phoned whilst we walked but I called him back as it was too windy to hear properly. He’s doing alright.

Then to work. Which passed by in an alright fashion. Not too busy just about right and great company!

And decent enough tips. 

And home and hot shower ( then cold shower) and a snoozette! And jammies now on…will do the doggy walk later when no one can see me! 

And from a very wet and wild start to the day it’s turned into a lovely evening.  

Frith

Pleasures for today (Sunday)

1) A lie in.

2) Watched Have I Got News For You.

3) Cleaned the bathroom and most of the kitchen.

4) Chopped up various things for the freezer and made sausages and roast veg for tea plus a blackcurrant flan (aiming for the small fruit flans you get in Ikea). 

5) Can't think of a 5 but a pleasant, if rather quiet day. Very much looking forward to getting my car mended!