Frump to Fab 2019 - Here We Go Again

lessonlearned

Wednesday....what an amazing haul, and change too. Well done. Passion pink sounds fab.

Maman....I've gone with frozen turkey this year too.

They did a turkey tasting on one of the cookery programmes. A very posh one (about £80) I think it was called Black Label or something similar, a fresh Bronze one and then a frozen one from Aldi......the black label came out top as we might expect but the tasting panel all preferred the Aldi frozen one over the Bronze one which cost around 3 times more.

As you say I think it's the way it's cooked with the various accompaniments that make or break it. I picked up a piece of gammon today and, because not all of us like Christmas pudding, I also bought an alternative desert. A "Sicilian" lemon roulade, hopefully it will be nice and zingy.

I'm only feeding them all on Christmas Day so I am trying not to get carried away and overbuy. There are so many tempting goodies out there but we can't eat them all.....well we could but I'd pile all the weight back on if I did.:rotfl:

maddiemay

Lovely to read of everyone's Christmas plans. We are meeting up the the next 2 generations below for lunch in our county town on Monday, 4 of them coming south from Yorkshire and 4 from our county, but about 30 miles from us.

Just OH and me for Christmas here, large gammon joint ordered from local butcher, cake and puddings made and of course will have to provide a traditional sherry trifle for my DOH as he loves it.

sugarbaby I hope that the memory foam mattress meets your needs, OH has one on his bed, but I have traditional sprung mattress with the expensive memory foam topper which we did not need for our latest caravan, very comfy and with a Devon wool duvet and an electric blanket on top I am very snug. Commiserations regarding the fatigue, I can join you as a member of this club, altho' it is one that I am sure neither of us would join from choice:(

I still have horrid cold, add in a nasty bout of IBS and my aged mum being poorly have all pulled me down somewhat, some days I have been able to make a supreme effort with the fabbing, other days I settled for just clean and tidy.

savingfortomorrow

After a bad november healthwise- thankfully i'm on the mend. I developed gi problems that were acute required a few admissions but are not going to be chronic. I had the operation and all the tests came back good to my relief. It was a massive relief to know that I have my health back. It made me reevaluate a lot and reprioritize a lot.

I have not really been fabbing as Ive been recovering and fabbing was a bit limited. I need to get back on track.

it has been great seeing all your plans for christmas

maman

That's great news to know that you're recovering your health sft. :T You shouldn't take on too much at once but as you start to feel better you could start making some fabbing plans for the new year.

Sugarbaby, I saw an offer on Groupon today for Odeon Cinema passes. The ordinary one is about a £50 saving (slightly different if you want the West End too). It might be worth a look.:)

It's my DD1's birthday today. It's low key as it's not a big one. She's coming round after work and we'll have cake and bubbles (she'll have coffee as she's teetotal). So I'll make an effort to look smart rather than my usual house clothes which are OK but not exactly festive and I'll wear light make up too.

I'm still dithering about when to shop for fresh food. I'll probably go tomorrow (not ideal but too much on today). That'll see most of it done but I'll leave bread and salad leaves until the last minute.:xmassmile

It's really bright here and quite mild. I fear it's only a respite before the rain comes again though.:(

Wednesday2000

I used to have a memory foam mattress topper and it was very cosy as I remember.:) I assume the pets must have ruined it and that is why I don't have it anymore.:D

The tops came out okay apart from the one with ruffles as the top dyed pink but the ruffles stayed white! It will probably be okay to wear underneath things.

I realised both the shirts I bought were men's shirts and I thought they looked too pale in that pink shade so I have put them in with the denim shirts to dye them in with the blue dye. I assume the shirts will come out a lighter purple colour now. I put in a grey vest top too.

I just went out for a walk and it is very mild again. I only wore a maxi dress with a jumper and no jacket.

I will see if a Christmas film is on today and have a cup of cocoa watching it.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

Maddiemay, I had a sprung mattress which I then added a memory foam topper to when the mattress was a bit worn for my previous bed. This time around I bought a Silentnight memory foam topped mattress and it has already proven to be the right mattress for me.

I am sorry to hear that you too suffer from fatigue. It slows me down and forces me to rest, so that all my plans have to be postponed or abandoned at times, which can be extremely frustrating.

SFT I am glad that you are finally on the mend health wise and have rejoined this thread as your contributions are always valuable

Maman thanks for the heads up on the Odeon Annual Limitless offer on Groupon. As I already have the West End version and I am not obligated to keep it after January 3rd 2020. I will stick with my monthly subscription as if I do not use it much in 2020, I will cancel it. :cool:

I went to a Christmas Carol Concert at Blackfriars Settlement this afternoon. We had musicians and singers from the Royal Albert Hall and I really enjoying singing the carols with them leading us all. :T We got a lovely souvenir programme as well. Then at the end of the concert we had mince pies and beef or vegetable curry and rice for a late lunch. There was bread and butter pudding on offer as well, but I have never liked it, so I gave it a miss.

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies......

Hi SFT. Good to have you back. Glad you are feeling a bit better. Take care of yourself.

Happy Solstice (tomorrow). Yes the shortest day and the onset of winter but, the sun returns and the days lengthen.

A time for reflection, hunkering dawn and enjoying some serious Hygge. Warmth, good food, rest. Hard maybe over the next days as we prepare for the Christmas festivities. It's a busy time but we mustn't overreach ourselves.

If you want to be a Christmas cracker then dont forget to schedule some time for yourselves, a bit of TLC and some pampering.

Don't make yourself an exhausted wreck at the service of your families....its your Christmas too.

Decorator finished yesterday......everywhere looks lovely. I'm so pleased. A good clean up this weekend and the final touches to the decorations. Shopping all done, presents wrapped. All ready for the man in the red suit.

I will have a break in the new year whilst I sort out accessories and then he will come back and do the kitchen some time in February. Give me chance to finalise what I want to do in there.

Aiming to get everything except the attic bedroom finished by Easter. I will need to replenish the coffers before I tackle that one. It won't come cheap.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

Yesterday afternoon I went to my local Odeon to see the film CATS and I used my Odeon Limitless card to buy the ticket.

ODEON says...
Meet the fabulous felines at the movie’s all-singing/all-dancing heart!

Featuring Lloyd Webber's iconic music and a world-class cast of dancers under the guidance of Tony-winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, In the Heights), the film reimagines the musical for a new generation with spectacular production design, state-of-the-art technology, and dance styles ranging from ballet to contemporary, hip-hop to jazz, street to tap.

I really loved this musical. I loved the cat make up and costumes and the way that the ears and the tails moved. The singing and dancing left me wanting to see more. I would give this film 10/10

lessonlearned

Not feeling even remotely fab. Looks like I have got food poisoning. Chicken.

Just resting. Thankfully everything is done for Christmas and there's a couple of days yet.

maman

Oh dear LL , so sorry to hear that. Generally it clears up quickly. Hope you feel better very soon.:)

That's interesting that you gave the Cats movie 10/10 sugarbaby as the critics have slated it. It wouldn't be the first time they got things wrong though. I remember when Downton Abbey first came out, they didn't like that either but had to eat their words.

I did all my pampering routines this morning. I've even creamed my feet. Nothing special happening today but I changed the bedding and did 2 machine loads of washing so I haven't been idle. We're having a beef in red wine casserole today as we'll have a proper roast on Wednesday. :xmassmile

Actually, the casserole is a bit of a cheat as I use a Tesco wine stockpot instead of the real thing. It tastes good and far fewer calories.

My cold is improving. Today's the first time I haven't woken up with a horrible sinus headache but I still feel chesty and it's making me very tired.