"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

greenbee

Getting there slowly... 

Lots of very cheap electricity over the weekend, so lots of electric heating/hot water, laundry (which was tumble dried or put on the electric airer), running of slow cookers and even baking! Two hams cooked (thanks to @EssexHebridean for mentioning doing hers on the Agile thread!), billions of mince pies (have lots of pastry left, but my mincemeat (made last year) is stored in my mum's larder, so need to collect more), lots of soup (broccoli & blue cheese, smoked ham and blue peas, ham and fava bean), roasted veg (parnips, sweet potatoes) and BNS pressure-cooked for Stinky's kongs. Obviously all the cooking has meant running the dishwasher more.

The sitting room is making progress with the bookcases almost done (the ones in the rest of the house are looking a mess now!).

Nipped out to Tesco this morning and stockpiled carrots for Stinky (one a day for teeth-cleaning), and have shoved most of them in the freezer. He's teething at the moment (I keep finding puppy teeth on the floor!), so frozen is particularly good (they also take longer to eat, like the kongs!). Technically today is my last working day, but instead of doing what I'd planned I've spent all morning doing extra admin. So I may do some tonight/tomorrow morning. 

Not much else getting done - work, puppy, my mum needing help following her op, and getting the sitting room back together means not much time for paperwork (I really need to sort out my pensions and S&S ISA) or the garden (I'm very behind on the scything, cleaning the greenhouse, and tidying the veg plot). However, I do have a neighbour booked to fence the back of the garden (having agreed terms with the neighbours, which I need to print and sign and take round), and tree surgeons booked for mid Jan. Garden waste bins are full, and not due to be collected until Jan 2nd. General waste goes out tonight, so I need to have a hunt round to see what I can shove in there!

EssexHebridean

Haha I’m glad someone was happy about the mention of food on there, I spotted a rather sniffy thread-police comment which I hovered over replying to along the lines of “well if people talking about food creeps you out I think that says more about you than me!” then decided it was best completely ignored! 😂

Good point about the rubbish - I spotted that the “changed dates” diary was on the back cover of our local magazine so I tore that out and stuck it to the fridge, but I ought to see what I can get in the rubbish & recycling too…mind you I can never remember which one is due which week and have to wait until our local “binfluencers” across the road put theirs out! Must put the food waste bin out too - it’s actually got some bits in it because the fat from the ham and the onion and bay leaves from the bread sauce went in there. 

badmemory

Our council has an email service which they started once we went on 4 bins with different times between.  So at 1am this morning I would have got an email telling me which bin I need to put out for tomorrow am.  It is very useful as what happens this week will not happen again for another 6 weeks.

greenbee

EssexHebridean said:

Haha I’m glad someone was happy about the mention of food on there, I spotted a rather sniffy thread-police comment which I hovered over replying to along the lines of “well if people talking about food creeps you out I think that says more about you than me!” then decided it was best completely ignored! 😂

Good point about the rubbish - I spotted that the “changed dates” diary was on the back cover of our local magazine so I tore that out and stuck it to the fridge, but I ought to see what I can get in the rubbish & recycling too…mind you I can never remember which one is due which week and have to wait until our local “binfluencers” across the road put theirs out! Must put the food waste bin out too - it’s actually got some bits in it because the fat from the ham and the onion and bay leaves from the bread sauce went in there. 

I nearly put something saying that if they didn't think it was relevant to plan use of oven vs. slowcooker etc then they obviously aren't making the most of the pricing (or thinking about the cooking). There's a lot of speculating and pontificating about pricing, but much less in the way of practical advice as to how to maximise the benefit (unless you have an EV!). 

Our bins are usually collected quite late in the day, so I'm hoping I have time to shove some more stuff in there in the morning. Particularly the kitchen bin which has the ham rind in. 

redofromstart

My lab used to knock the kitchen bin over for anything remotely interesting. We've been out today (2nd day in a row) and Doglet found various things in the upstairs bins 🙄

greenbee

Stinky is NOT allowed upstairs. He's far too stinky. Kitchen bin is built into a cabinet on runners, so hopefully he won't get into that. 

I'm bringing a metal feed bin over from my mum's to store dog food in. Mind you, given that one of the cats is currently trying to break into either the kibble sack or the dreamies packets in the zooplus box, maybe it's not the dog I need to worry about. 

CCW007

greenbee said:

Mind you, given that one of the cats is currently trying to break into either the kibble sack or the dreamies packets in the zooplus box, maybe it's not the dog I need to worry about. 

Our cats will chew through the sack to get at the biscuits - these are the same biscuits in the numerous hoppers around the house. Guess they taste better if you steal them 🤷🏼‍♀️

greenbee

I definitely need to get the feed bin from my mum's moved over here if that's what's going to happen! I no longer free feed the cats biscuits as Fatso is apparently a labrador in cat form and would spend her entire time eating them. Even if they are actually puppy biscuits...

I've had a fairly productive morning - quick dog walk (he met his best friend, a border terrier puppy who he plays with), feeding time (first frozen carrot, pretty funny as it kept escaping on the slippery vinyl floor), finally put the paint away in the workshop, cleared the cardboard from the log store to the greenhouse, the plastic crates from the hall to the shed, flattened the cardboard in the garage ready for recycling in the NY, brought in kindling and logs, tidied the porch and put the ash can and a small spare log store in there and filled the log store (even though it will be damper there than in the main one - it looks nice), put most of the weekend's cooking and more carrots in the freezer, got the stuff out that we need tomorrow, brought the bin in (not properly emptied - the old duvet at the bottom hadn't come out, possibly because it is too light so I've bagged it up and put it back in), emptied the DW, did the washing up, gave the animals lunch and am just having mine while continuing to tidy the kitchen. Two leftover bits of different soup to make a bit of space in the fridge. 

So keeping on with clearing/tidying, doing a bit of wrapping, and maybe putting some decorations up. Stinky will need another walk at some point, but hopefully it won't be too miserable out there when we go. It's currently damp and grey. 

greenbee

Exhausted by Christmas (I was so tired on the way home from my mum's that I missed the turning and had to take the long way round), and by my brother's family visiting afterwards (they stayed with my mum, so I spent a night there, and they then came over here for an afternoon). The miserable weather hasn't helped.

However, the prospect of having my SIL visit did galvanise me to have a proper tidy, so it has paid dividends. All the bedrooms are made up and tidy and I can now visualise how the final bedroom will work - it will fit either a wardrobe or a chest of drawers. I'll try the remaining standalone wardrobe in there, and if it doesn't work I'll put a CoD in there and sell the wardrobe. I do need to get hold of the plumber and plasterer to get them booked in, and also ask the carpet fitter for samples to choose the new carpets. Electricians are starting the next phase in a couple of weeks and I want to have a serious think about options for the bathroom lights. They've suggested replacing the LED downlighters with lower wattage/lumens ones in warm white (currently they are mostly bright white), but I think it might be more sensible to ask them to fit a couple of ceiling roses and get the plasterer to fill the holes and just have bulbs in bulb holders while I look for the right lights. 

I got quite a few more pictures up on the walls, but quite a few more to make decisions about - primarily in the sitting room. I also need to get my clock serviced as the pendulum isn't working properly. Apparently there is someone good locally, but I need to check they'll come and set it up at home once they've serviced it - expensive, but worth it to keep it working. 

My office is the last room that needs sorting, as all the odds and ends that need dealing with have ended up there. I just need to not let them migrate back into the rest of the house. 

We've been under a cloud of damp and mist for days, but it now seems to be lifting. Hopefully gardening weather will return, and the back fence will be installed soon. I've also ordered the hedging for the front of the house. 

One of my Christmas presents was a peening bench (commissioned from a friend!) so I just need to wait for the correct drill bit to arrive and then I can set up the anvil and get back to scything. Hopefully I can remember what I was shown about peening (or maybe I'll have to get @Cheery_Daff to advise, as my go-to scything expert ).

Having read round a few diaries recently I think I probably need to sit down and make a note of all this year's achievements before I make a list of what I want to do next. 

Puppy has had a lovely holiday, but probably done too much and now has a sore paw and is limping, so we're mostly staying inside today. Playing with the ball in the garden has been complicated by one of the cats (the one he is scared of) deciding she wants to chase the ball too. He's far too scared of her to fetch the ball if she's decided that it's hers!

Sun is shining, so I think it's probably time to take him out in the garden again. And then have more coffee and attempt to get some sorting/reading/picture hanging done. 

WelshmansDaughter

I had a scythette and found it useful to sit on my step sharpening it. Never had any problems with the neighbours in those days 😂😂😂