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

greenbee

I did my shopping yesterday so I have the laundry stuff. All my washing was done and dried and put away by this morning. I did the ironing last night while watching the last episode of His Dark Materials.

I made a HUGE vat of parsnip soup yesterday, and seasoned some lamb for a tagine.

Friends came over for a dog walk today, so we did 5 miles, and then had lunch (parsnip soup, chicken liver pate, cheese, salad, coffee and cake). It was a good incentive to get the house tidied (although the office is still a tip - I need to get that sorted out by the end of the month) with a deadline.

One friend took the spare wine rack home with her, the other helped me put the rest of the garden furniture away. Unfortunately I've realised that I now can't get to the drawer with the drill in it, and I have shelves to put up...

Tagine was made this evening, and it's delicious. It says it serves six, so I will portion it up carefully - I suspect it will do 8 meals. It used cranberries rather than the usual dates or apricots, which makes it sharp rather than sweet. Yogurt is on order from the milkman for monday.

All the leftover biscuits have been boxed up to take with me when I see my brother tomorrow. He can feed them to the kids... I need to make more soup, and a meal plan for while I'm off sick - or at least, for the time I'm being looked after and the weekend when I can't get out. After that it should be easier.

I was going to send my fairly ancient long black coat to the CS, but after I cleaned it with a lint roller (actually, more than one... I used up the remains of the sticky bits on 3 rollers so need to order replacements!) and tried it on I realised that it is probably still useful for the odd occasion that I might need a long black coat, so will take it to be dry cleaned when I pick up my work stuff on Monday.

I really do need to start taking the Christmas decorations down...

greenbee

My nephew helped me take the decorations down, and get the tree out of the house! I've packed them all up, and they're cluttering up my office, which is a tip, but I'll deal with that over the next few weeks as I have to drill out some wall plugs which will be messy.

Most of the tagine has been frozen. Spanish omelette made and spare portions in fridge. Artichoke and chestnut soup made - some in fridge, some frozen. Cauliflower cheese made and mostly in fridge (I think I overcooked the cauliflower, but it's still nice and used up some cheese!

Dry cleaning has been picked up, and my black coat dropped off.

I'm now off work for a couple of weeks as I'm going in for a minor op - it's a regular thing which I'm now on a 3 year review cycle for, so nothing to worry about, but my consultant likes me to have a decent rest afterwards. As a result I've been tidying, cleaning, making beds, doing laundry etc - I do this every time! Hopefully it'll stay that way.

I've got my lifts organised, and a friend coming to babysit me for the 48 hours I have to be supervised. After that I'm hoping to use the time to rest, read and work my way through a backlog of personal admin and odd jobs (and maybe even do my physio and get some exercise!).

I still have to fill up the kindling and log baskets, pack my hospital bag, remind my brother to pick me up in the morning, take my toenail polish off and put away the remaining laundry.

Karmacat

I'm glad you've been on a bit of a cooking binge and frozen lots of it, then. Best of luck with the hospital stay, I hope it all goes as smoothly as "routine" implies.

I'll be thinking of you - and looking forward to seeing you back here :A

greenbee

Thanks KC. All being well I'll be home tomorrow afternoon. Not allowed to drive a computer for 48 hours, but I don't think MSE counts.

Laundry is pretty much all done, I've talked to my mum, brought in the kindling and logs, loaded the DW, topped up the water in the fridge (can't drink after 6.30 am and I'm thirsty just thinking about it!), set my alarm and am about to take my toenail polish off while watching the last of the royal institution Christmas lectures with Hannah Fry, before packing my bag (I'm not sure I can find one big enough to fit a dressing gown in!).

greenbee

All went well, and i’ve made a long list of things I want to get done in my two weeks off!

greent

glad to hear all went well

Karmacat

I'm very glad to hear it, greenbee, let the healing times commence!

greenbee

Thanks KC. My babysitter leaves today I've been walked daily, done lots of resting (and actually got through a substantial book of a fairly heavyweight book I'm reading for work), started eating properly (I did get worried about bloating yesterday, and then realised that the artichoke soup was probably the culprit!).

We've just remade my bed with clean sheets, I have plenty of food, lots to read, and enough logs and kindling to keep me going.

I hope to get a lot of admin and niggly stuff done while I'm off so I feel more relaxed and in control when I go back to work. That includes a bit more financial sorting. Finances are a bit tight this month - mostly because I put all the expenses payments into savings but the CC bills didn't come through until this month! I've moved money back so I don't go into the red and will have another sort out at the end of the month.

There's quite a bit of spending coming up - dentist, blinds, hopefully some bits of work on the house and garden, tree surgeon etc. Some will hopefully be cashflowed, other stuff will need to be funded from savings, so I need to be careful not to lock too much away. I'll also have the kitchen and installation to pay for at some point over the next few months which will be a big chunk of money.

While there will still be house and garden stuff to do, that'll be the last big piece of work, so hopefully I'll be able to start OPing the mortgage properly in the second half of this year.

I've had a cheque for my birthday from my mum's stepmum, so I've spent half of it on more hedging plants. I'm not sure what I'll spend the rest on.

Karmacat

You're right back in it, aren't you :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

greenbee

It was only a minor procedure, I've had two days rest. So apart from the fact that I need my digestive system to get moving, I'm fine!

I've got a ham out of the freezer to defrost and slow cook... and also the last batch of ham stock, so need to think of a nice soup to make with that. There are a whole lot of small potatoes in the fridge that my mum brought down with her, and this week's veg box had lots of leeks, but I think ham stock needs something a little bit more robust.

My babysitter has left her coconut milk yogurt behind... which is annoying as she'll need it for breakfast, and I don't need it as I have ordinary yogurt this week.

Today I'm still resting (although I did bring some silver photo frames down from upstairs as they definitely need cleaning!) and working through my work book. Tomorrow I'll try to start being a bit more productive. It'll help that garden waste (including the christmas tree) goes tomorrow, so I can start refilling the bags with the vast amounts of bits of hedge that are lying around.