5 OS pleasures in your day today - part 3

Purple_kitten

DD, they are lovely pleasures.

1-5 Our little guy who I know hasn’t got long, is recovering a little each day thou which is helping both our hearts. He can even get up and down the stairs now, and is eating and drinking now, not enough yet but it's a start. His background, they live in the house with us, and his daily routine, up until a few days ago is everyday to climb on our bed once he heard us getting up and demand a sip of our bedtime drink, after that, he looks at us and does a weird manoeuvre here he kind of sits up and falls flat on his back, exposing his belly, if you scruffle him, he then goes bouncing off making silly noises.

6 Glad the doctors send a reminder as I always go for my injection at a different office but they changed it, so up and out to that this morning, voted on the way back.

7 Father brown.

8 We went out for some inspiration really but all we found was crowds, we looked at Christmas lights and managed to avoid eating mince pies and rocky road chocolate, although I now plan to make both at some point. We did pick up some nibbly treats some stashed in the freezer and others out of sight.

Frith

Mhags - I always use a strip of firelighter, snapped in half. This and some bits of paper (usually old tissues and receipts!) then some BONE DRY kindling. I do a criss cross pattern with the kindling and then with the wood above it. All air ducts/whirlers open for the first 20 minutes or so. Much easier to light if the chimney is "warm", i.e used within the last few days.


Pleasures for today:


1) Not a bad sleep, though rather short.


2) Got to the polling station at 6.25.


3) Nice people to work with.


4) I am not allowed to say who voted but loads of people I knew, friends of mine, old colleagues, friends of bigger son. Then a taxi driver who took smaller son to school for years - he was nearly overcome meeting me again! So nice to see him.


5) Took nice food - porridge for breakfast, last nights meatballs for lunch then stew for tea.


6) Was contacted by bigger son part way through the day and he got the job!!! He didn't get the French one, but will be working in Shropshire from January onwards! He is very chuffed. He has booked a last minute holiday to Cyprus with 2 school friends, leaving Saturday (or Sunday).


Watching the results come in, disappointing though they are rumoured to be.


1)

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

The Jack Daniels on the card is a little cheaper.

Coming home. More inn the morning.

:heartpuls to the needy.

villagelife

1. Work ok. Worked at a satellite clinic which is always better.

2. Voted and also voted by proxy for DS1. Only very light drizzle on way to polling station. It was definitely quicker walking there than it was driving. The village is a traffic jam at the moment due to temporary traffic lights which are due to be In place for another 4 weeks.

3. Finished the Christmas decorations. Apart from buying some poinsettias.

4. Had a long chat with my parents.

5. Enjoyable evening relaxed.

LaineyT

Many congrats to eldest Frith

Thursday pleasures,

It rained, boy did it rain but guess it’s an incentive to stay indoors and get jobs done.

Parcels delivered by a smiling post lady, just about finished now.

Capt S came home for lunch and we then went to the village hall to vote.

Finally caught up on the latest Dark Materials episode.

Small dog coming to see me with very wet muzzle, apparently a grain of rice had fallen into her water bowl and she decided to go snorkelling to get it!

balabooberlies

Tiggy was not sick during the night so I slept for at least 5 hours straight. She has not eaten her breakfast so time to get thinking cap firmly on.

Well done Frith's son. How exciting.

PK I think your ferrets must have the happiest ferret lives. Going on trips, having morning routines with the humans, run of the house. I would be happy to be that kind of ferret. Lots of love to him.

gran3

Mhags, I wouldn't mind a stinky firefighter! Any port in a storm...… Lol

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

I come home and find that my free broadband is not here. Oh well.

Took off two hours late. Now in taxi. Snores later.

thriftytracey

What a positive thread! Feeling rather down today reasons which are probably pretty obvious, but here are my five. Had to think hard as my mood is low but it is a good exercise.

1. Good session at Pilates class. My core feels good!

2. Bought a good book, pair of almost new Thinsulate gloves and 2 red Price candles for less than a fiver in the local charity shop.

3. Baked a large quantity of liver cookies for the dog walking group we are seeing tomorrow.

4. Put up some minimalist Xmas decorations, the room looks very festive. Bought some cheapo holly wreaths and decorated them with baubles, fairy lights and plastic berries etc. They look very pretty.

5. Read a few Daily Mash articles - they made me laugh ...

Staying away from media for the rest of today and hoping my dark mood will lift soon!

DigForVictory

Of all the days in the year, staggering back in on this Friday the thirteenth might seem ironic. So sorry to have left it so long, just things have Kept Happening. (For any newbies to the thread, my layout is not mandatory or indeed recommended - daily postings of 5 OS pleasures are the point, just I haven't quite got that.)

LaineyT - Northern soul to hoover to? (Must try!) Salt & pepper fried squid with chilli sauce? Cor! You welcome many guests, including woodpeckers and goldfinches. roadside stall carrots and parsnips - yes! Grab them while still fresh out of the earth & flavourful. "remembered hadn’t soaked fruits so added copious amounts of brandy" sounds wholly reasonable. "fenland, big skies and dark earth" vivid! Three cheers for painkillers. "realised nothing in cake tins so baked" - awed! Clean sheets a very special pleasure. "steamy breath cold but the sky was clear and stars out" - some skies are worth the extra layers & daft hat. "robin who keeps us company" - you are just welcoming & they sense it. "apricot sky" - we had one, too, not quite that shade but stunning. If intermittent fasting works for you - but a mug of Bovril sounds the business! Warm scarf a wonderful thing. Persephone just smiles & my credit card melt. Finding shoe & nails - truly a pleasure. A two ball walk sounds wonderful - has small dog trained you carefully?. Farrier timing & confusion on pony face! Sunrise has a magic. Deer will let you get amazingly close on horseback - still more magical. The rain it raineth but only dog would snorkel for a grain of rice.
balabooberlies - a belated welcome & yes, animals are special pleasures! Even when they wake you at 3am. Thank socks for credit cards. What's the tooth fairy rate, these days? Washing machines are potent help. Along with painkillers. Yes, that first brew in that special quiet is wondrous almost beyond words. Attagal Tiggy & "washing machine thanking me" - yes. Christmas songs have a special magic. A trolley is an ally, well done on finding one! Well done taking a box to the carvery, and isn't it nice to make those who couldn't join you happy?! Multiple variant copies available on Amazon if local bookshop cannot oblige? That trench coat was watching for you! Well done on your local grocers - hoping they thrive moving plastic free.
Suffolksue - darlin' girl, you are much in my thoughts. Crown Jewels, eh?! "bare root roses are shooting" - yes! Belated happy birthday Mr.SuffolkSue - that sense of humour must be counted a pleasure. (Big Hugs) Oh my word, an invasion of grandchildren & trying to get a good photo of Everyone - but you did it! Huge breath of relief. So hoping Papworth was helpful.
BoP - bet your cake would fail a breath test! Ah, stew & dumplings. How do you get proper chocolate digestives back out of the house? Postal vote - truly the path of wisdom. Raffles trapped? No wonder it's been raining! "The persuasion worked" - hurrah as a working crapper is a lovesome thing. Ah, w&rs. Still miss ours. Home made burgers are a special pleasure. All this glorious cooking & the gym too. A good van is a joy. Rockport, MA? Have a wonderful time! Is it legal to drink tea in Boston?! Still more in Rockport, then off for haddock & chips. Art purchased? Tell more? You hold BoPsie's purse as she hits Macy's - gurgling with laughter here. Snow?! You step carefully & enjoy the Nutcracker? Some Americans were always more careful of their vets.
DundeeDoll - reading McGonagall. Takes breath control & vast self discipline! Sydney Carter I only know from Lord of the Dance back in Primary, but it has stuck. "decided to go to Alabama" - attagal! In the wet, it is only right to "jump in some puddles" & it's still fun! Rehoming food to where it will be appreciated is wonderful. Long planned meetings cancelled at short notice - oh yes. Holiday! "reflective band" to mark out suitcase - canny! Shame on me, I work in Manchester & didn't know of the exhibition. No "veni veni Emmanuel"? Bewildering. "uni and both cathedrals" - there's the culture vulture picking off the good stuff. A supportive British Rail person is a gladsome thing. Lending a stunning dress is heroic - to quote my mum "you'll go straight up". Awed at nativity rehearsal! (I miss them.) To rediscover lost-touch-with-friend, and meet musicians & walk home in moonlight? Wow! First the fortunately empty flask now the just in case sandwich box - well done! To understand conveyancing hassle is to forgive almost everything? I think I know that tin - with lights in? Must be enchanting!
Purple kitten - you have a Tarantula, too?! Or a somewhat introverted spider? Chicken stock is a culinary secret weapon. 2 ill ferrets? If the Universe cancels exercise class, logically it also cancels the calories in the choccy cake. A local takeaway knows you so well - us too! "excellent taste" re Black Friday - absolutely. "All the Christmas shopping is done" - a festive miracle. So sorry about the house but as you rightly say, onwards. Decorations can be heartwarming and effortful. Can understand animals' bemusement at wrapping things! "found a heroes box" these little distractions can be so much fun. More decorations, more tidying, more decluttering? Is this a virtuous cycle? Poorly animal - thinking of you all. Sure dementia person will appreciate a card even if they misunderstand the ferret bit. Love the idea "his team are cuddled around him". Absolutely right not to let volunteering set terms. Home made rocky road is the business, & much much nicer than shop stuff.
Cottage Economy - another belated welcome, & Edward Rutherford's The Forest has moved onto my to-read list! Sorry you needed the NHS but isn't it wonderful? "Got all of MIL's xmas shopping done for her online in one fell swoop in an hour." Admirable!
Nargleblast - slow cooker French style beef stew? Yum! "a tiny, tabby and white kitten named Roger" - oh he sounds glorious! Had to Google "Eve's pudding" & golly it looks good! Sunrise, singing & being gnawed on. Hope Roger learns soon! You iron son's undercrackers? Blackberry whiskey seems wholly reasonable.
mhagster - days off?! Decorator Done?! "Never ending laundry", oh yes. Son & curtain poles... "three separate bags of what I hope are bolognese" - um? Do you not get mental whiplash texting a friend in Oz in the cold & dark? I saw that sliver of moon too. Utter blast as "decision making appointment" but better done once, right. There is a special place in the garden for the "extra pernickety"... "watch the very mobile baby" unquestionably an act of mercy & a challenge. Could inhume builder alongside extra pernickety? Post certificate. Hurrah tree, and the emotions which are very rightly part. Sounds like you saw a building, a clamor, And a parliament of rooks! All this dark - but soon... Son & dog's huge walk, soaking. "Home in time for strictly" - good - something for you. Haggis walked to avoid mince pie disaster, & ohh good a 50% off code. Ivy is the weed to attack at Christmas. Pliable for decorations, bins easily later. Unexpectedly in work as wood burner going in? Yikes! Oh that builder... Have you tried dry pinecones as a firestarter? (My Scouts 'cheat' & add candlewax so they burn a bit longer, although the Explorers use empty pizza boxes..)
Frith - Lucky Small Museum! A steam mop, operated by child labour? Excellent! Even I have heard of Narraways butchers! "switching on the bubbles of all the jacuzzis!" - I must seek a garden centre to try this. Cooked red cabbage for Christmas Day - another thing I need to try! A free Lego advent calendar... (should have tried harder!) Stocking fillers, no Sinter Klass? Your family have made the most amazing things & let us glimpse at aspects, awed. Thanks to MSE I too have coaxed lads through opening help to buy ISAs. How may posters have been in Manchester & me so blind I didn't see?! We do a cheery market. Awed "green, pink and black mould" I've only managed black so far. Graffiti on billboards, eh? Wreaths - amazing. Fingers crossed for bigger son. Oh gosh - tummy bug timing at its most atrocious. Ah, Sinter Klass being replaced by learning societal norms. Glad bigger son's enjoying it. Thought of you as I puttered into to vote, as my team were chuckling easily. Thirty wreaths?! Awed. Yikes, hope sister at last getting the right meds. The downside of public service is the confidentiality (but also the hours can be brutal.) Hurrah elder son and work in Shropshire, even if blink as he disappears off to Cyprus.
mrs motivated - and again my belated welcome! New vacuum bought? May it serve you long & well. "homemade Baileys Cheesecake" - some colleagues should be cherished! "shall put the tree up on our return" once the painting is complete, a treat in store!
VJsmum - a Ferris wheel is just Fun. A "microcamper for festivals", eh? Canny! "Started Christmas shopping - 2 chocolate oranges"! "quite a game bird" - no question! Soup can be underappreciated "quick and filling and warming" just to start with! Things we do for family harmony, eh? Lemsip oh thank heaven as, ulp, MIL. Shopping with her for a Bee Hotel? So long as it works to entertain, then you & tree can snuggle down while they're off at expensive concert! You can grow into your siblings with time? Oh good, shall hope.
ampersand - welcome back! (If you tire of toxics, let me know? Just one of many who feel thus.) "crackers can't be posted" Properly, not least as they crush something pitiful. Can 'see' Ninou bundled in blanket. Surely smell of oily rag depends on the oil? An honest bronze is glossier than a dirty silver amongst the trophies. "Barbarian Marmalade" - brilliant! Delighted Spits appreciates you & that those of dragon lands ask about motherland & rugby. Fully loaded washing machine also part of the dance. The emporium just a steady source of small grins - you have an amazing way with their ys stuff, relocating it around the county. Cat scale about 6.
Bfh - welcome & yes a real physical book has its own special pleasure.
MrsLurcherwalker - RL has "been uber busy of late" - that's newborn grandchildren, their older siblings, daughters & general Family for you! "blooming like a little flower" - wonderful! Meeting at a garden centre for coffee wholly right!
villagelife - when away, internet free is an additional pleasure. Advent candle! Not just me, then. Oh my yes, the washing & ironing. If the powers want a team-building event, They have to take into account working patterns. Well done proxy voting for DS1!


OS pleasures in the last month (Ye gods really?! I Am remiss..)
Changed gas & electric suppliers - so far, largely painlessly. Love MSE! [Hostage to Fate, now, eh?!]

Son thumped back in after driving lesson increasingly confident about forthcoming test. Mooched about for 10 minutes then off with pals not expected back for food but home before midnight. Teenagers!

Youngest offered “join us antiquing?” & mumbled something about he hoped it wasn’t infectious.

The not-quite-local-enough butcher does an absolutely glorious steak pie. One is enough. (Two would be gluttony but what a way to go!)

Leafing through “Christmas at Booths“ (Waitrose of The North) - a photo fantasy alternative universe of glorious food! With prices.

Son off to see the Lumineers - trying not to feel to jealous! He had a smashing live concert & I got to read the reviews.

Miword fraternal sniping over Who Remembered the family haul south to grandparents - officially advised in September, so someone’s rewriting his social plans a bit.

Another son has just met the discount version still in packaging of the She-Wee & squealed like a girl!

Cats cobras birds & crocodiles - all mummified (centuries ago) & now on display in Cairo. I wonder if they’ll tour that exhibition or if it’s too local, too relevant & too vital to Egypt.

Son enjoying the banter as it is realised he is, once again, wearing socks that do Not Match. I regard it as a relatively harmless amusement, his grandma cackles & his father gets mildly histrionic “why me?”...

A Wigan butty for the evening meal - a pie in bread... Some days the really simple things are a treat!

There are days I laud & revere the inventor of the wire brush. As I pull slivers of wiggly wire out of my foot & sock, I do rather wish said inventor had come up with a manufacturing technique that didn’t shed.

Aw, eldest & his father discussing Christmas “big food! Big food, presents!” - the quality of negotiation is not spectacular, but it’s very sweet.

Scientists researching the blue whale managed to get a heart monitor on one & working - “There were a lot of high fives and victory laps around the lab.” I suppose the prospect of funding, publication & potential tenure can overcome phlegm...

Scanned toy shelves - no new Playmobil for my stocking. Yet...

Ticking off another chunk of mandatory training - the pleasure is I do not have to be on the Naughty List for another 3 years...

The return of ampersand! Safe, notspot not incapacitating, still full of love - rousing hurrahs!

Bumped into an M&S person who is the same lactose intolerant vegan type as sis, & she steered me through the whole festive nosh range, which I then converted to a useful email for mum. Who is awed someone else is “like that” and charmed to be thus guided.

Scheming to get to Waitrose (on flying visit south) to get a freebie calendar. The freebie teabag might be nice but the calendar will brighten our office, as we recall those wonderful years when we had a local Waitrose. [Not a chance. “It was November.” Hey ho.]

Someone found a lightsaber toy amongst the juice at the supermarket (dumped by an irate parent, one presumes) & managed to switch it on & have a few swashes before switching it off & putting it back out of children’s reach. His wife looked just So Resigned.... [Shame on me, I beamed.]

Chuckling over “lamb to lamb combat” as sheep discussed gambolling on TV.

Overheard “seizure”, first aider kicked in, listened more & overheard more law enforcement. Ah.

Gentlemen discussing ukuleles were introduced to a Frozen songbook & recorder gift “for the parent you hate”...

Phrase seen in an email that translates as “it washes or it drowns” in Spanish (cheers google translate) whereas with more effort via Samoan it becomes John 9:5 “as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” The combination of which in relation to a team meeting has me giggling somewhat. I must find a suitable line of Revelations for the next meeting.... [Author came back - he thought it meant “every day is a school day”]

“What a Muppet!” - the joyful snarl of job satisfaction. Team of six clustered around, sharing the rush & satellite onlookers basking in the radiating delight.

Maya Angelou (I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel) is dead right - the lad who said “just call & we’ll shove him in a pool car for you” years ago when I was 9 months pregnant, still makes me smile & still brings back that feeling of “it’ll be OK”. I must tell him some time. [I did - he was charmed, asked how eldest & bump of that time are, gulped at a third son, & turns out not only is he married but in January will become proud father of twin girls!]

Apparently Poundland stocks Barr’s canned pop. Since we only meet this stuff on holiday, I think an exploratory visit is indicated. With a stout bag, in case.

Left office in daylight, waved to tailor! [He keeps much more civilised hours than I do. I should try harder.]

It seems a bit odd that this Friday, a Cambridge based Pole was successfully laying about him against a knife wielding terrorist with a narwhal tusk. This can only be a good thing for would be terrorists to consider - the forces of good will use wall ornaments of long dead species against you (as well as rugby fundamentals). [OK time has passed, facts have clarified, but still yar boo sucks to Americans who think weaponry essential - so did the Narwhal...]

Car all loaded for Rudolph run south. Family bickering already, but have sorted & Black Friday’ed eldest’s & youngest’s Christmas presents! [Cor! Now Delivered!]

Mum’s face as she unwrapped two jars of “caviar”! I love seeing that stunned look segue into anticipatory twinkle...

I think portraiture is massively underestimated as a source of cheerful scurrilous speculation. There’s a diplomat in the Ashmolean, (two of whose sons went on to become Doges), & we reckoned that Dada read The Prince to them as bedtime story lessons, and (whilst he may have been Adored), he may also have inspired domestic terror - it’s a wonderfully ambiguous portrait!

Lady mother bemused at attribution of a portrait & then startled by my use of a smartphone to take an image & zoom in to reveal the family motto that triggered the debate. (Curator, observing me careful to keep a respectful distance, smiled benevolently.) [Frith, are your museum folk keen on good signage to avoid the risk & temptation of mobile photography?]

We survived the run South & back! And now the boot is laden on the return & the hungry stressed travel sickers are settled & fed & happier [me too!] & I have reloaded my dark chocolate stash thoroughly.

Trying to sort out cards & presents from rest of family to my in-laws. Beginning to feel the bitters, the brandy miniatures & the excavated cava are going to be Thoroughly Deserved! But not yet...

Tucked on a train, you get whisked past alternate universes. There’s a “door handle workshop” outside Bradford. My imagination is straining at the leash.

Starbucks freebie filter refill - bless them! It’s being a long day...

The joy of working from home is if I hear hooves, I can look round & see horses trotting last. Amused by the high vis pink which seems to be current rider de rigeur garb but loving the crisp lines & movement of the horses.

Remembered to get another door key cut & then fastened it solidly to the key ring. (The other is plain lost but not fastened to anything identifiable.)

Saw a portly gent with a bag of laundry awaiting the launderette to unlock. Had I seen any red or white clothing I might have fancifully imagined Santa getting his work uniform cleaned.

Google doodle celebrating wellies!

Sage father’s advice “I wouldn't buy a car off a mate, or invade Russia with a land army.” [Son agreed.]

“They do that a lot this program- they have inappropriate pictures.” Talking about machine production there is a clip on assembling a Bren gun which is not applicable but “looks right” only it isn’t. (War Factories)

Oh my beloved Scouts! A good night, filled with triumphs & disasters - “Look!”, “I’ve lost an ear!” & [the classic] “my mum said she’d tell you” (from a Young Leader, poor lamb!)

An entire article on the ethics of walking in cricket - in December as the election raffle gets louder. I *love* this country!

Son has decided the right way to eat Wensleydale with cranberries is as toasted cheese. I can’t say he’s wholly wrong! [And have bought quite a lot more on promotion.]

Son has female friend over, apparently since her skill at keeping her mountain bike in order had him recruiting her to help him build a robot arm. (Assembling a kit, but already she’s checking all the bits & numbers.) [Sibling has blasted him as “Hostest with the Leastest” for not even offering biscuits!]

“Have we enough IrnBru?” “Is this something we should be taking a risk on?” Ah, the philosophical challenges of shopping with youngest.

Oooh my, 'mince pie cookies'! The staff were vehemently positive & I understand why. Plumply. [Resisted buying more, Just.]

Wad of confidential waste binned. Other bag dropped stuff into reverse Advent calendar boxes in the offices. Both bring a glow. [Given today's election results, various friends have decided to step up their food bank donations. I fear they are spot on.]

Just seen new Bond movie trailer - coo-er! Can sense various plot arcs but will there be Enough Q?!

Son initially declined a demi-baguette as he thought it would resist slicing. Then seized a block of Wensleydale & decided the baguette would do...

It is possible my tea stash is too easy to locate but I “showed” a son by gesturing the doorframe & placing my hand where a box of teabags was to be found. Moments later, son clutching correct box reappears.

The full moon. Beautiful.

Son voted using Rock Paper Scissors... [Yes - fear for democracy as we know it. The young are playing by Their Rules.]

Eartha Kitt. A woman who can sing in at least seven languages (the lyric sites simply can't handle it) and who makes me smile, every time. (Although I do understand my mother's opinion that when I married a poor man, she Knew it was Love). Others play Christmas music, I adore Eartha all year round.

Right. Health, strength, love, courage, a supportive Team, the right medication, and warm and waterproof layers to all as have need. The sun has set & it is getting cold, after all. Frankly bring on Yule - these long nights are hard on the system. Of course I'm not "ready" for it, but a few extra minutes daylight would be really appreciated!