5 OS pleasures in your day today - part 3

DigForVictory

Shambles back in, doing my infamous rip van winkle lack of posting for ulp, a month. No excuses, others live far fuller RLs and post while I read (& croon, gasp, wince, cheer) & yet run, so on with the show.
Ooops. It'll have to be a two-parter. The Shame.

Purple kitten - "what is fondly known as bedroom 2" - ahem, yes got a similar garment. Decorations in the loft & ferrets "helping" - sounds wonderful - who is your profile helper? I too worried a bit about where are my stamps but then a fat sheet of All First Class arrived & I stopped worrying. Fngers crossed for you

mhagster - the booster this autumn has been a handy test of are you ready to hibernate? All my team needed at least an afternoon off following! "sat on sofa , read a book and occasionally moved to get more logs"  - Very Quiet but sounds blissful! Then walked into work rather than de-ice the car - there's a commitment to daily exercise. Chips are as cheaper than heating even if fat club might not wholly agree. Delivering Christmas cards does take a while! Love that an NY purchase of the original genuine Disney is now going to a friend's grandson with a stack of Ziploc bags. (They are useful. I couldn't identify assorted tool bits without the identification on the containing Ziploc, and as for sewing machine feet...) Dratted labrynthitis but hurrah Lists!  It is indeed  blinking cold - will the paint dry properly or freeze?

LaineyT - she's beautiful! Do you add Reckitts blue to mane & tail for extra bluewhite gleaming? (Welsh horseman I knew was in regular hot water with his missus for absconding with her supplies.) Loaded veggie nachos sound utterly delicious! pre-covid HIGNFY, wow... Yikes the beautiful off her food, but medication, tearoom & risotto. Glad beautiful one is feeling better. Your accountant self has remembered input tax makes 20% of that reclaimable, (if the lights are not already an asset of the estate) and that advertising Castle Howard as glorious even in winter extends the open to tourist season, and drops hints for Christmas advertising promotional filming? (I was always dubious about the cost of advertising but in this case the TV company was carrying a lot of the cost...) Difficult to go wrong between the covers. The man defrosts your car for you - it really is the little things. Mincemeat flapjacks fills spaces you didn't realise you had! A bird bath filled with warm water - wonderful!

topsyturphy - taking hm food into work is the best way to eat well and save money! Cottage pie type stew sounds ideally warm & comforting. A week off! Mad rush to get Christmas sorted or some planning & more relaxing? Village green in the sun - definitely a pleasure. If DS2 is quick, presumably he has done all the thinking & research ahead of time?

Frith - do footballer donated clothes need a note to explain their illustrious provenance or are they so much warm useful stuff? It is a clear sign to be invited into the loft. I think a childrens' Christmas story is a good way of explaining some of the strange things we do, but how you explain Easter eggs (creme eggs) before epiphany I struggle with. Argh, the to-ing & fro-ing over the house! Huge strength to you! Pewter Christmas decorations? Polish up & are heavy but harder to break than glass.(Says she with a small repurposed-coke-tin angel.) Awed at all the cleaning before the decorations go up. Much amused by the accidental bottle of whiskey. (Add a coin, bread, salt & a lump of coal & send elder son off First Footing? If the Fates are sending you the tools, it's clearly Meant.) Volunteering at the warm bank sounds potentially splendid. Make an interesting change from estate agent numerology! Learning Arabic? Awed.

Highdays - it is good to see the tree go up & the old memories glinting. If brevity is a virtue, I am Sunk. Always reward those who cooperate with photos a bit more - it pays off when they hit teenage even if its more expensive. Has to be cheaper & more in focus than wildlife camera footage. (voice of desperate experience.) I shall pass the recipe around further but one scout mum has already said "Oh, caster sugar!" in gleeful tones and she has a splendid baking reputation already. I wouldn't try too hard to loose weight but I do remember that there are Far fewer calories in champagne than in eggnog....

PaulieHerts - hoping the dental people have done their stuff & you are now ready to gnash at Christmas with confidence?! (Highdays' good word trumps anyhing I could add, my very good experience being over 20 years ago.)  Live music is the business but a hot pad to the knees is also powerful! Hasn't that moon been glorious?! Sainsburys vs the list but you win on good roasts

DundeeDoll - amidst all the tea & walks & tidying, "buff elves" eh? warm  feet, free lunch & rogue heroes - win-win-win! Definitely one upside to working from home is that if the windspeed & forecast allow you can get stuff onto the line. "ate my packed lunch for tea" - some days do that!

VJsmum - if you are going to get lost, get lost in Wales, it's beautiful. Walking The Thames - how do you in Oxford, or has someone decided which of the Cherwell or Isis counts?! Wryly amused by your physio.

ampersand - a stick or twist variant! Oh the gamesmanship... (son has popped up to check my gasping is laughter, all good, he has returned to his HWB at toes) Gosh the spooky voices are potent (who coaches them in the language & the vowel sounds, awed!) & what a glorious moonbow!

Admiral - Eh, BoP you're working too hard. Can't go wrong with a collieflower even if my imagination is hurdling all attempts to restrain it. Best to BoPsie & Jenny & have fun at each window!

Happycas - A string of Christmas lights as scarves sounds wonderful & very appropriate as well as effective! If DH can't find you a bit of dowel, hand him the broom & say take a length off & turn it down to 11mm... Or eye his tools & pick something with the right length handle & smile pointedly. (I did ask for a Bren mk 1 handle for the kettle & it was a wedding anniversary present, but the shock waves rippled through the Bren community - mostly as there was curiosity as to where d'you fit the sights & what's its range.)

SuffolkSue - belated happy would-have-been birthday - what are you giving yourself from him? (You had the time to wean him off giving you domestic tools, so remember the delightful things & extend the idea a bit?) Absolutely dancing (with both left feet) at your good health news!

So, OS Pleasures recently...

Despite the vigorously unmade state of his bed, a son assures me he does not sleep in a non-Euclidian state. I had to Google that to be even partly reassured. Having peered at Wikipedia, I think elliptic more closely resembles the nest he assembles around himself, but at least he sleeps.

Love is taking a bottle of Henderson’s relish (we can only get it from 1 shop in a 30 mile radius this side of the Pennines) to mum, so youngest can cook with it. (Lea & P is good, but he prefers Henderson's.) We’re also taking Eccles cakes, which mum regards as an exotic Northern delicacy, despite them being available in the major supermarkets…

The return of brother Scout leader - proudly showing his constabulary ID & recalling seeing the royal funeral from Blenheim Palace kitchens - career switch just a bit! We all swallowed the obvious comment that after years of shoulder length hair & a forelock that would grace a Shire, he’s all trimmed short (relatively). 

Rousing cheers for Aldi who are open late into the night (well, 10pm) and stock a range of flowers - carnations, roses, decorative shrubbery - it means we can arrive and fill vases before we fill the teapot. 

Saw a chap with a trumpet preparing to mark two minutes. Very rightly done.

Watching mum take curly kale, cook it, blend it & plan soup with it. Glad to see she’s planning the vegetable intake, but also that we now know to (gracefully) avoid soup! [Dodged!]

Hearing dad’s cello bring taken for a test spin by his teacher. Ye gods, the tone & oh my word years of practice just unloosing that glory. Awed. Scrabbling for a handkerchief, but delighted to hear the cello on the loose again. Thank heavens I do a reading Before she plays it at the memorial in January!

DigForVictory

part 2:

Little photo albums, with photos of little people. The baby teeth beaming, the familiar clothing as worn by each son in turn: their father cradling them, teasing them. All photos of moments I’d not recalled in years. Pleasure in careful copy photos on the phone & a clean handkerchief.

There’s an Italian on the radio being asked if stuffing a pepper with cauliflower cheese is heresy “why on earth?… is she a vegetarian?” Gosh, the tender inflection as if this was an embarrassing social ailment! (Turned out the bloke had a book to promote, but for that inflection I laughed for several miles.)

Charity shops are wonderful places, says she cradling a haul of china, Pyrex, books (& very nearly repro terracotta warriors in miniature!). There is a pang at seeing books & films loved by others, but the glee at a good find helps over those lumps.

Oh the in-out-in-out of mum’s chicken! It needs 24 hours to defrost & she’s hauled it out of the freezer on previous visits & we’ve whisked it back in (having other plans - if youngest wants to cook chili, I’ll not stop him & mum enjoys every bite as a novelty She Hasn’t Cooked!) and this time we serenaded it (to the tune if the Hokey Cokey) as it went back into the freezer Again.

Youngest lacks my decades as a pedestrian diving across busy Oxford roads & vented some unfilial language after a masterclass of misconduct. Pleasure that he cares, & that his vocab passable & all familiar.

Chatting later with youngest, he chuckled we should “live steam me” on a tirade “as it’s funny”. As well as being factually accurate - I don’t call prime ministers “unimaginative in their vices” without research, & that wanna-be-Churchillian was just a repetitive bore on several counts… When I’ve found out what livestreaming is & what relation it bears to waterboarding (If Any), I may have an opinion, but right now we’re chuckling. 

Middleson has watered & nurtured all my ongoing herbology while I’ve been nurturing mum. [Ensuring she’s thoroughly fed, mostly.] His opinions of the mango seeds are robust (he’s not impressed) but the lemon seedlings are thriving.

The scout WhatsApp channel has someone doing their good turn - a scout’s new shirt hasn’t arrived in time for the Remembrance Parade & someone else is ironing a spare for them. If I could have put my hand on the bag of shirts, it would have been me. Pleasure is young scout will parade properly attired & already with correct unit markings. [Shirt bag found. Now to check for adequate cleanliness & pass on!]

Almost illicit pleasure: I have arranged that whilst many parents will collect their scouts with congratulations & a warm coat, this year my son will bring a warm coat For Me! [Dear heavens, why did it take me so long?! A warm coat is Glorious!]

I attended an interfaith online chat & someone asked about bindis. The colourful visible wedding mark - so intrigued I googled and what for widows. A blank. No paint, no colour, worse, inauspicious & not invited to festivals etc. Appalled, I went out to the garden to croon to my trees & menfolk, eyed the healthy crop of old man’s beard & that the tayberry & loganberry are still alive. I should prune the berries back so I can catch some spring growth into cuttings.

Put the pebbles from the beach by the lad’s tree, in time for the rain to reveal why Those pebbles. They’ve all got something to attract a magpie, a stripe of quartz or the like to glint. One dry looks like brick & wet like fruit, glossy & edible - it would delight him. We loved beach time, with clothes abandoned as they got closer to the water, til they were paddling in sun hats alone… I learned to have a pack of Woolworths back-to-school underpants for the drive back. Good times, good memories.

I love working from home. I can have an extra hour in bed without worrying about commuter traffic or heating bills. 

Happy scouts! No soldering, no injuries, much curiosity. A good night & if fishing for what to get me this Christmas means I end up with a box of Coop teabags, I’ll be delighted. Far more sociable & better for my liver.

I believe The Last Leg when they say nurses no longer ask dementia patients who is the prime minister. I gurgle with laughter at the idea. 

Got into bed, still felt cold, put a fleece blanket over the duvet & felt warm in seconds. (The cardio of hiking up the stairs to grab the blanket may have defrosted my toes & raised my temperature but I still attribute it to the fleece blanket.) 

Son has figured the microwave & wheat bag  & if I wander off, I come back to find the bag has migrated over to him! (There are two, but he’s not rumbled that.) [I do him an injustice - he has, and it’s warming his toes.] {He then microwaved one too hard & the house tastes a little odd as the wheat burned & he put it out with water. He seems to be successfully drying it on a radiator. Me Baffled.}

Lidl have lumpfish roe “caviar” in! There’s a treat for mum sorted. She still recalls my cooking blini a few years back, proper buckwheat & sour cream & assorted fish & fruits. [Ah, those happy twinkles as she recalls & schemes!]

Oh my scouts! I was shown how to solder & will need to cut, strip, & “tin” a wad of lengths of wire fir next week & our LED powered Christmas decorations! So proud if their enthusiastic ingenuous creativity & quite pleased that I learned so much so fast!

Ye gods, back in Oxford so I’ve not posted in a fortnight! Must Try Harder. Had the slightly Um pleasure of penning a note to an old family friend, burying her daughter. The heartfelt words flow easily - I just hope they bring some small measure of comfort. [Shockingly, seeming so.]

Sat in GP’s waiting room, I showed mum a jigsaw on my phone & she mastered sliding pieces very quickly! How do you say “I’m so proud of you!” to your mum?!

Tasked with finding Christmas figures from the loft, I unwillingly ascended a ladder, checking with Youngest he knew where my Will is. “Are you bring serious or melodramatic?” Sister & mother near wept with laughter as I clung to the ladder, but hurrah the relevant bag was found. Not with the desired “egg people” but several familiar angels, a candle holder & so forth emerged. To the dulcet bickering of “not til December”/“but the first Sunday in Advent is November this year!” etc Joy to the world...

Happily contemplating the advent candle pleasure to come (all hail LaineyT who taught me to check the January sales) & wondering if the smoke detector will kick off. As that would disturb my reflective time & the offspring something severe.

All this “giving is more fun than receiving” is spot on.  Mum was utterly tickled by the series of small things, like a tube of hand cream and her smiles are more precious to me than rubies.

It being the first Sunday in Advent, the tree is up (to the snarks of the sons, as usual), the advent candle is in a candlestick & I am uneasily pondering the ethics of giving home made jam two years running. (I may switch the labels to look prettier.) Youngest has tethered the tree to the window so it can’t fall over & is gluing together a small glass angel (which got snapped when the tree succumbed to impetuous-youth-assisted-gravity last year). 

I would like a Christmas stocking. My sisters are prepared to cooperate, but I now have to find the rugby socks. Glorious hearty scarlet, wonderfully capable of holding generosity! Just somewhere safe right now… whereas note saying “Don’t Forget Caviar” still easily found. Having an unreliable memory makes for interesting paper recycling. [Found The Socks!]

Ah, Only Connect & ye gods “Mothers Ruined” is a lovely team name! I hope their spouses & offspring are suitably impressed & respectful! Enough to do the washing up without asking. (Let’s not set the bar too high.)

Tried to buy nothing in Black Friday - succumbed to Pratchett life with footnotes & utterly enchanted so far. [Still. Oh Rob, what a life, his, theirs, yours!] {This paid employment lark is getting out of hand - what with it & hand stitching I’ve barely had time to read! Still wonderful.} (Oh. Gulps. Stunning read.)

Ah, Scouts! I’m getting Very Slightly better at soldering, being about one circuit ahead of the scouts I cheer onwards. No burns this week (other than of leaders), phew.

Ulp. My sisters are posting advent calendar photos. I shall find a festive spectacle & send the photo to mum ensuring she gets some cheerful Christmas junk mail…

Lighting the advent candle. There’s a health & safety conscious person inside me freaking, and the child me enjoying the light. 

Middleson has ordered, had delivered & issued a brand new HWB per household member. My sons enquire if it is hot as I lurch bedwards. Of course it is (& anyway I have the wheat bag, too.)

Have found wheat supply for Christmas wheat bags at local feed merchant. Now to avoid buying any animals to eat it & get the sewing machine dusted & ready to convert fat quarters into wheat bags! Can contemplate something decorative in fleece as a cover After have made a wheat bag fort to gift this Christmas…

Huge relief - my annual Christmas letter is written, and emailed out. Hopefully in time to insulate us from cards addressed to Himself & the rest of us. It may be hip to deplore “round robins” but these things should cover the areas I missed at the time.

Ironically my stamps sent to swap have arrived! All barcoded, none Christmas, but I can buy a couple of books for the stamp album. Pleasure is I was beginning to wonder & phew!

Found an iPod which was clearly wiped down but not wholly reformatted & I’m listening to the lad’s Christmas playlist. On a device that thinks it’s 2017. Oh, sweetie… That I can’t persuade it to pick up WiFi to be corrected somehow feels characteristic!

Cookbooks “start normal but then they go deep fried pistachio & deionised olives” - poor Youngest trying to figure what to cook beyond our usual (heavily repeated) favourites!

Clothes washer not draining - pleasure is watching son operating hand pump (wonderful squelchy noises) alongside his workmate/fellow engineer guest, who likewise is intrigued by the spectacle. Son peeved mate & I get onto chatting beekeeping in under 60 seconds but I suspect we’re all eccentrics & that’s more important than mother son houseguest dynamics. [It now works as it ought. Hurrah!]

YouTube tempted me with Tarantino tango & I was riveted - this was a completely different dance to Strictly & then I read & realised I’d been watching the footwork & completely missed the hands. Blimey. Pleasure in the daydream my legs could be that length & competent!

As the temperature is forecast to plummet, I am sewing wheat bags to try to keep the lemon seedlings slightly safer through the night, to be tied to their flowerpots. As I think the office temperature will drop below zero overnight & doubt either seedling will appreciate it. One son thinks I’m deranged, the other just glad not to lug! Pleasure is that I am trying. (“Very.” comes sons’ agreement.)

There is snow in the ground but one acorn is extending a cautious rootling in the fridge. How to nurse this premature tree?! Such a joy to see one trying though!

All health, strength love & courage to those who have need, and sufficient HWBs & blankets for those eyeing the heating and the weather forecast warily.

Frith

Now I have to follow a DfV post!

Pleasures for today (Sunday)

1) A lie in.

2) Woke to a couple of cm of snow. 

3) Bigger son reappeared. We went to Sainsburys, Currys and TKMaxx but spent too much time pondering and looking and not enough time actually buying Christmas presents!

4) Dropped my mum's card and birthday presents off.

5) Bigger son's girlfriend came round and we had a mini quiz.

6) Spoke to my school friend on the phone. 

mhagster

Saturday…sigh! Expensive doggy trip to vets, he’s better, they’re richer, I’m poorer but the main bit is he’s better. 

The day had started well with a lovely frosty walk. A trip into town to get something for work,  a tiny chatter at my favourite florist and a nip in to M&S.

Home. Realised he’d had some thing he shouldn’t. Straight to vet. 

An afternoon in front of the fire with a new book. 

A work event in the evening.

Today I had no hot water nor heat. Pressure drop in boiler. So had to clamber over stuff in garage. Sorted. 
Today was not a nice walk. It was pure black ice. 

Today I have scraped ice of my windscreen three times.
Work was worked. Very busy. Nipped home to see to doggy mid morning.

Tips were okay. 

Chat to friend on phone when I got home.
Very cheap and cheerful tea. Had very RTC sausage rolls in the freezer, popped them in the air fryer and had with  beans. 

Finished book ( sat in front of fire.) 
And now bed. 

LaineyT

Oh dear Mhags, am guessing not just socks this time!

For yesterday,

Bitterly cold with freezing fog to boot, heating on all day!

Years ago my DM knitted me an Aran cardie with proper leather buttons and wearing it is like wearing a hug from her, saved for the coldest of days.

A day of listening to the radio, reading and eating, roast chicken dinner and small dog had one too.

The Partridge family came into the garden for some of the bird seed scattered under the apple tree.

Snow fell during the evening so small dog’s last visit to the garden was very quick, as a pup she would love playing in it but now it’s just a quick dash out and back in sharpish!

ampersand

Dfv - So pleased to read that champagne has fewer calories than than eggnog.😁
Hairy times in &land as car is on strike, hopefully temporarily.
Snow overnight, still falling but bin day, if truck manages.

1.  The 🦚Peacocks🏉 were on 21 home matches unbeaten before Saturday, which saw us playing Harpenden, the very team that inflicted that last home defeat, 2 seasons ago.  Hairy it was, both having so much to play for.  We held out, just!  20 - 19+phew!

2.  Arm came off &'s recent lunettes, so unplanned(time+fuel🤨)trek into Town of Horse.  Correct screws inserted, at which point both front indicators started flashing and wouldn't stop.  Still unresolved.  Further unplanned+£s trek, this time over to DMR, for replacement hazard switch and flasher relay unit.  Hazard switch change didn't fix it and flasher relay unit is virtually inaccessible.
https://youtu.be/gric0Z5lbHk
Will try again later, if it's safe outside. 
Not sure why I've garbled that lot out as a pleasure.

3. Reading your news is, S.Sue.😀
It's so good that you weren't spoken down to and what a relief for you and for family!

4.  Kind rides to and from rugby with different families, as & was still on HRH raffle coshing duty for this last home match of year.  Wore suitable chrimbo dress et al, lucky CS finds a fortnight ago.   Everyone was remarkably generous, including visiting supporters. 

5.  Little water-saving wheeze.  Suddenly thought hwb water could be reboiled and have done so since.  Bubble wrapping outside tap, too - old tip from some years ago.
#
Everyone, stay warm safely and as economically as you can.
All blessings, &.

ampersand

Mentioned a yummy Mary Berry use-up-mincemeat recipe a while back.
There are 2 in her 1981 Fast Cakes pb.  Imperial measurements omitted, ditto excess explanation.
#
"Mincemeat Cake.
This is a very light, moist fruit cake and is quite delicious. 

Making time about 5 minutes.
Baking time about 1¾hours.

150gms soft margarine 
150gms light soft brown sugar
2 eggs
225gms self-raising flour 
75gms sultanas 
450gm jar of mincemeat
25gms flaked almonds 

Heat the oven to 325⁰F/160⁰C/gas mark 3.
Grease, then line, a round 20cm cake with greased greaseproof paper. 

Place all ingredients, except flaked almonds, in a large bowl and beat for 1 minute, or until well blended.

Turn into the prepared tin, smooth the top and sprinkle the almonds over.

Bake for about 1¾hrs until the cake is golden brown and shrinking away from the sides of the tin.  Leave to cool in the tin, remove the paper and store in an airtight tin."
#################
"Mincemeat Brownies. 
The addition of mincemeat to brownies gives a lovely flavour. 

Making time 10 minutes. 
Baking time about 40 minutes.

175gms self-raising flour 
50gms soft margarine 
175gms dark soft brown sugar 
1 egg
4 tablespoons mincemeat 

Heat the oven to 350⁰F/160⁰C/gas mark 4.
Grease the base of a 20cm sandwich tin, then line it with greased greaseproof paper.

Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat well for 2-3 minutes, until they are well blended.

Spread the mixture evenly in the tin and bake for about 40 minutes until the brownie is firm in the centre and has shrunk from the sides of the tin.

Cool slightly, then cut into 12 wedges while still warm.  Turn out and leave to cool on a wire rack."
#
& made brownies, doubled recipe to use up an old ½-jar.  Excellent result and 2 larger sandwich trays needed.
Each made 20 pieces easily.  Iced each very differently for novelty.

Suffolksue

Those cakes sound lovely & but doubt they’re SlimmingWorld friendly ,suppose the Brownies would freeze .I do like Mary’s recipes they always work and are straightforward.
pleasures for yesterday and this morning 
1 lovely Christmas lunch out with my Sunday lunch group ,2 nd of three at the same pub ! Luckily they have four choices on their Christmas special menu so I am testing 3 of them 
2 finished cards etc ,last will be posted today ,probably have to push the boat out and send a couple it’s class 
3 read that as there’s 12 days of Christmas ,it doesn’t end until Jan 6 th ! 

4 Took DGS to orthodontist this am and then on to college 20 miles away .roads not as bad as I was expecting,at times a balmy 3* ,when it freezes later it will be lethal ,take care 
5 have had the chatty DGS not the grunting one ,dare I hope that the ‘Kevin’Phase is ending !

Mhags I hope Haggis is recovering again ,probably too much to hope that his doggy brain will realise cause and effect !

Please all take care on the ice and roads ,we don’t want any broken limbs and even if you break nothing ,falls shake you up .

Suffolksue

Lainey love the partridges,but shouldn’t they be under a Pear Tree ,
Frith  hope you won the mini quiz 

Happycas

Good afternoon. Even more brrr today❄

Lainey - love the partridges.but S Sue is right.   A pear tree is needed.

DfV. - lovely post.  And you're right.  A fleece blanket on top of the duvet makes all the difference.  And if you should get too hot, unlikely at the moment, it's easy to kick off.

Mhagster - hope doggy is recovering.

Yoga today.  Our lovely teacher is donating all this week's fees to the local food bank.  Of course, most people paid extra this week so she should have a sizable donation

Two hamburgers left over from bbq season to be used creatively for tea.  I'm thinking meatballs in a sauce using up miserable looking peppers and tomatoes from the fridge.  Hopefully will be better than it sounds!

Amazon Prime has a a new series.  Three Pines based on the Louise Penny books.  Was going to give it a try last night, tentatively, but then Prime wasn't working! Will try again soon.  Watched Strike instead except I went to sleep.( In my defence I'd felt vaguely vertigo-y all day and was wiped out by evening)

Keep warm and snug as possible everyone