What small DFW things will you do this week - w/c 13th November?

FatVonD

Morning all!

Last day off before three days at work so need to make it count.

Crack on with more clothes washing and check uniform isn't too creased.

Make French onion soup for lunch.

As I slept yesterday afternoon I was up until 2am designing a new item, I have an idea for another that's closely related so will work on that today. I got a quote from a new printer yesterday which is about 20% cheaper than my current one so will try them out with this next batch.

I need to pick up a box of books I have bought on FB primarily for my mum, I will wrap them as a 'surprise' Christmas present as she knows what her main one is going to be. The ones she's unlikely to read I will sell to WBB.

The glazier didn't get back to me so I will look for another.

Photograph and list a couple of new items.

That's about it for me I think, have a good day all

foxgloves

Hi Wednesday People,
Been busy this morning on a research project I volunteered to do, so not much time for my money saving bits yet.....though I haven't been out anywhere to spend anything, that's a start.
*Last of this week's laundry had all dried overnight on the heated airer, so that was good use of the cheaper overnight electricity tariff.
*Jacket potato night tonight - I'm going to make a big salad & have tuna melt on mine. Mr f is making Epic Man Stew. I queried whether this is a sensible option for someone who is working on the opposite side of the county today & won't be home until later, but apparently this is not a barrier to construction of Epic Man Stews. ANY day or situation, it seems, can be Epic Man Stew Day, so I am leaving him to it. It will a) be enormous b) have sprouts in it c)stink out the house but to be fair, he generally puts a portion in the freezer for a packed lunch & he does use up a lot of leftovers, so it's pretty much a money saving activity all round.
*Bake a sour dough loaf - it's on its 2nd proving but takes a lot longer to rise during the colder weather.
*Did a couple of surveys.
*Continue to knit up my yarn stash - currently making tiny Christmas tree decorations for a charity stall. Scrounged a little scrap of red felt off someone so that I don't need to buy a whole square for the titchy piece I actually require to finish off one of the designs.
*Updated my 2018 diary & made sure mr f also has all the dates where I will be negotiating for use of the car that day.
*Scraps & a scoop of porridge oats for the birds.....I used to spend a fortune on specialist bird foods.
OK, that's it for today. I really must get those decorations finished & start the next design. I don't like promising I'll do something, then not delivering, so I will put some catch-up TV on at the same time, make a cafetiere & get my needles clacking.
Love to all,
F xx

La_escocesa

Hi everyone :wave:

Hope everyone is doing well... I've been trying to keep up...

Kinda taken my eye off the ball with being away etc. Quite a bit of food waste going on in this house, which doesn't usually happen... Also spent a small fortune at T's tonight but don't really know which meals I have iykwim... House is a tip to add into the mix!

In small things:
- Got offered cover for job#2 :cool:
- £8 MOC at T's
- Parked in pal's car space - saved £5
- reconciled YNAB
- checked banking
- Got a deal at work for 10 free audio books :T

Lotsa love
xxxx

DawnW

Evening all
Feeling a bit low today, so not much done
This is it, such as it is:
Dog walks x 2
RM surveys stuff
Bit of ironing :eek:
Finished precooking the Xmas puddings we made the other day
Top up shop in Iceland, just bread, bananas and teabags
Made yummy mushroom risotto for dinner, and there is enough left for tomorrow's lunch
Case of wine delivered for Christmas (at least half will go for presents). Used a discount code and got a free big bottle of prosecco (keeping that one :rotfl:)
Took OH for an xray on his back, just blood tests on Friday and MRI scan (hopefully not too long a wait for this) and then hopefully we will know what is wrong with his back and get it treated.

PurpleFairy26

Hope you are ok Dawn hopefully it's just an off spin of a busy few days looking after Mr Dawn and it'll pass. Make sure you get some rest.

foxgloves

Morning Thursday Friends,
Bit of an unrealistic job list today, but I'm making progress on it & some of the jobs are quite pleasant & can be done while listening to my audio book. Here goes with the money saving bits:
*Do a quick round up of veg.....2 half-peppers in the fridge can defo go into tonight's meal, leftover pineapple from making my chutney on Tues will be cut up for dessert.
*Clean all of downstairs using minimal products & washable cloths - am halfway through that. Just left the kitchen bin inserts to bleach. Only bathroom & vacuuming still left to do.
*Changed all kitchen & bathroom linens - all now in washer waiting for a cheap overnight wash.
*Progress on the Christmas gift front, as B-in-L's present arrived in the post.....hadn't realised I'd need to put it together myself, but it looks easy - not sure what he'll make of this gift, but I couldn't resist it. Also ordered 2 gifts for mr f on click & collect, which I can pick up tomorrow. I had ruled out one of the gifts (a brand of fragrance, etc, he really likes) as for such a titchy bottle (50ml), the price seems to have gone up quickly, to a rather silly level.....in that not all that long ago, I could buy it for £35, then £42, now £46, but I noticed that John Lewis is undercutting the brand's own website price by £6, so decided to treat him, as he's not a bad lad, on the whole, lol....... I like click n collect as its free.
*Make tomorrow's packed lunch.
*Bake granary rolls - on their first proving, must sort those out next.
*Did 2 surveys.
*Continue knitting up yarn stash. Still working on the little tree decs I promised for a local charity stall. Learned how to knit a 'cast-off picot edge' last night. Easy peasy as long as you can count to 5 & know your left from your right! Aiming to fly through rest of job list & sit down to a serious knitting session. Am running out of time & wish I'd started them a whole lot earlier. Am enjoying knitting up my stash though. Spending on new yarn has always been a temptation for me but I'd got to the stage where I couldn't get the lid down on my huge yarn box (again!) even though I'd given lots away.
*Make a list of everything I need to do in town tomorrow while I have the car.
*Sorted laundry & ironed first thing - only did what needed it, which wasn't much, so not much energy used....either mine or the paid for kind.
OK, must crack on.
Ziggy & Dawn, hope you are feeling more like it today. We all have those sort of days - I know I do - sometimes you just have to treat yourself kindly & accept that this might not be one of your more productive running-around days.
Love to everyone else too,
F xx

La_escocesa

foxgloves wrote: »

*Continue knitting up yarn stash. Still working on the little tree decs I promised for a local charity stall. Learned how to knit a 'cast-off picot edge' last night. Easy peasy as long as you can count to 5 & know your left from your right! Aiming to fly through rest of job list & sit down to a serious knitting session. Am running out of time & wish I'd started them a whole lot earlier. Am enjoying knitting up my stash though. Spending on new yarn has always been a temptation for me but I'd got to the stage where I couldn't get the lid down on my huge yarn box (again!) even though I'd given lots away.

I need to think about something like this. The problem I have is that so much stuff is different colours/thicknesses that don't really go together so I end up not being able to make anything useful... I see people with gorgeous blankets etc, but mine would never look that good with the mix of rubbish I end up having left... I was doing a CAL nativity set - so my colourful 3 wise men were good stash busters

La_escocesa

Hi everyone :wave:

I'm off work poorly today... Fortunately I'm just the right level of poorliness to still be able to get a few bits and pieces done

Started christmas shopping :dance:

Used £5 free amazon credit for doing the auto top up thing - bought a £25 gift card and they gave me £30 - guess this was just a one-off deal and won't happen all the time... :think:

Got niece a toy that was £30.99, down to £19.99 and then £16.99 as a 'lightening deal'. :dance: Quite happy with it - I am the boring auntie who buys educational toys rather than what she actually asks for :rotfl:

I finally found a natural/organic/vegan and decent hair dye! :T I've not wanted to dye my hair since Jan because of all the nasties so super pleased I found this product. £12.45 rather than my old £6 one but it's exactly what I've been looking for. :cool:

Used bill monitor to check my mobile phone usage - £9 sim-only deal is coming up for renewal... Sis got a £5 sim-only deal so I know there are better deals out there, esp because I have wifi at home and at work! :cool:

Will see if I can sort car insurance later this afternoon...

foxgloves

La E - Yes, you do need to sort your yarn stash out & match up similar weight yarns, I agree. I get small amounts of self-patterning 4-ply sock yarn left, as I knit a lot of socks, for us, for gifts & to sell. I often turn the odds & ends into baby socks, which make a nice gift for a new baby & if I have several pairs, I sometimes advertise them for sale among my Facebook friends. I also have an ongoing project using up every last dreg of sock yarn, as I'm knitting it into tiny mitred squares & crocheting them together into a throw with black. That's a work in progress, but it's going to look really colourful & striking when it's done. I like the fact that mitred squares (where the shaping is done in the centre) come out almost like stripy log-cabin patchwork quilt design. The Christmas tree decorations I'm doing at the moment are using up other 4-ply yarn - bright red, green, natural shade, & I'm trimming the tops of the little bright red stockings with leftover cream DK, so that's another ancient stash relic getting used up. I have a pattern for a star & I think I might try that in some pale purple lace-weight mohair & sew some silver sequins on. I like traditional colours only on my tree, but lots of people do like purples, siilvers & pinks, so I think I'll give it a go. Then I'm going to use the green to knit tiny Christmas trees. I've already knitted their bright red pots. I think that will be all I can fit in before the charity craft stall. Shame, as I also have a pattern for teeny tiny mittens (on strings like when I was at infant school) & equally tiny Christmas jumpers (for elves!). I think next year, I must get started a whole lot earlier. mr f has bought me some glorious yarn for Christmas to knit a big jumper which is kind of a jumper at the top & more sort of poncho-ey at the bottom. It's autumn colours all shot through with purples. I know where he's hidden it & it is taking all of my resolve not to go & open the bag & stroke it (I've only done that once, so far)......
OK, kettle on, then I will knit a bit more stocking.
F x

DawnW

Evening all
Thanks for your good wishes, I do feel better today, though the situation with OH is ongoing and doesn't seem to be getting much better Anyway, he has to go for blood tests tomorrow, but as the radiographer told him yesterday, it is unlikely that anything will shed light till he gets a MRI scan. He can't drive, or walk more than a few steps and is on very strong painkillers.

Anyway, nothing earth shattering today, but I have:
Not spent anything :T
Dog walks x 2
Load of washing and it at least started to dry on the washing line outside - must put it on the airer in a minute.
Started a shopping list, I will need to go tomorrow or Saturday, won't be a big shop
Bit of a tidy up, but no serious housework today - as it was nice this morning I decided to do some gardening instead
Finished off risotto for lunch and chicken and leek pie for dinner. Worked out the smallish free range chicken I bought last weekend made 14 meals
Couple of surveys
Dug up the remaining leeks, due to the midget size of my garden, we don't get big crops. Weeded bed and put compost round the minaret fruit trees at the back. I will sow broad beans in the vacated space The compost was free, made from veg scraps, weeds and other garden waste in one of those plastic dalek things
A few surveys
Banks to check in a minute