Santa’s challenge 2020 ...

Happy_Kitties

Thought I had better check in as it has been ages and I’ve still been rubbish!!

Katiehound one day u will have a smooth journey. I cannot promise when as ur journey’s home always sound horrific tbh…..I would be at my wits end if I had to do any journey like that.
Great news on the more monies made from the doggy quilts.

Well I’ve been rubbish. Real life has  well and truly got in the way, lost one of my cats which was a traumatic time and very expensive.
I want to finish off a shoebox but keep eating the chocolate and I’m late sending two birthday presents and forgot to send a card to a friend. Plus I have items out to send to a small fundraising group, meant to send a couple of months ago but that was when real life really stepped up a gear so I will do that this weekend and reclaim the bed. I feel very disorganised at the minute bec I’m so focused on other things so need to get back on track.
Haven’t  bought or seen any presents at all that I have caught my interest, all very quiet but I do like I quick mooch round a shop if I have the time. I will prob start paying more attention now it’s July.
I hope everyone is doing okay with everything that was going on in people’s life’s, there was lots of activity in previous posts, everyone keeping very occupied with real life

chanie

@Happy_Kitties sorry to hear about your cat.

I’m another one who has well and truly fallen off the Xmas prep wagon this year and I haven’t done any prep in ages.  We also have birthdays coming up and I’d normally have either Xmas or birthday presents sorted by this point, but here I am…. Nada.

Our extension is finished, but we have a lot of work still to do, in terms of decorating and organising, so preparing has taken a backseat. We are making good progress, so we should hopefully have things sorted by the end of the summer holidays.

my link boxes are stored safely in the loft, so all I need to do, is add the chocolate and package them up, so I guess that’s one positive.

Katiehound

 

Katiehound one day u will have a smooth journey.  

 

I sniggered when I read that  cos it didn't happen  only this time it was the outward journey.

left Stockport just before 10pm for the 02.15 Holyhead ferry.
I'll cut the story as short as I can

This is what happened:

Unfortunately I was not aware that there was night working on M56 and that it was closed.

 The diversion took me round a badly marked route into Manchester Airport and then up to the M62. It turned out the diversion was intended to go off at junction 10, southbound down the M6.

That would have been fine except M6 junction 10 was closed that night and no further diversions were in place. So I was stranded on the M62 with no satnav & no idea of how to get on the correct road south.

At junction 8 services a helpful motorist told me there was a new toll bridge at Runcorn. I looked at a map and saw a possible route through Warrington. Found the road. Drove through the centre of Warrington & then lost the road. 

However somehow I managed to get to the MerseyFlow bridge and crossed it just before midnight. It had taken 2 hours to get there. 

Now midnight, have to get to ferry by 01.40 or wait another 6 hours with dogs in the car. talk about stressful.
 I was the last car on the ship.

Clocked a speed camera on the A55 through the very long road works..........

£100 fine & speed awareness course!

Struggling with the print size & font now: because I cheated and cut & pasted!!

need to go out with hounds , now bedtime and write more another day...
 

 

Happy_Kitties

Katiehound that sounds an absolute nightmare, I would of had a meltdown……one day u will get ur dream journey…..one day!!!

Chanie while I like it when the building work is completed, I hate the mess and chaos of it all. It sounds like it has been worth it, especially when u have decorated and get everything organised the way u want it. I bet it will be amazing. 

Ive completed my first link box…..but only one. I feel so behind this year and so disorganised. When the penny actually dropped that we were coming to the end of July I sent of two boxes of auction/raffle prizes to two charity groups. I parcelled up another two boxes of items early on in the year and just stored them away so will get them out ready to send.
I also need to go through the Christmas presents I have, send the very belated birthday presents and generally just get organised!

Katiehound

yesterday found shampoo in Wilko- their own - reduced to 25 pence. Okay, a bit bigger than allowed, but as a 'felon' I will ignore those instructions!
Also managed to find wind-up torches online at a very good price so bought for next year too! they also had solar powered calculators.
3 pairs out of 8 now knitted, but not sewn.
Also 8 needle cases made & 5 hair scrunchies.

I plan to go to Norfolk (please- a good journey!!) next month & my friend will get roped in to knit mittens!

'Celebrated' my birthday by spending £95 on the speed awareness course for early Sept. It would have been £5 cheaper from own county but those centres much further away. Can't do the course online as firstly need  reliable broadband- it's not.

Katiehound

Quick update
My parking fine has been cancelled
I appealed and it was upheld so Euros 40 saved.
I  noticed when I was trying to pay that the ticket was issued to A.N.other vehicle.
Mine contains an O & 0 but the scanner read them both as 000s.
Parking ticket therefore null & void: I should have noticed that at outset!! 

Parcel from the Range finally came- courier said it was too badly damaged & therefore delayed, some contents might be missing. yes, the box was damaged but the contents were all there including wind up torches & solar calculators for my boxes, oh & small reels of thread. Whew , panic over.
Bought a few small ink pads- good value. A lot of mine (quite elderly) have had to be binned as, no, the ink hasn't dried up, the foam has perished! I really wanted silicone glue- only available in store.

chanie

I’m back from my holiday.   The break was lovely and well needed, although it is also nice to come back home.

I just had a look at my Xmas prep list and I’m horrified at how little progress I have made and still have lots to buy.  I did have a little look for gift ideas whilst on holiday, but sadly, there wasn’t anything decent. 

I’ll be doing a HB and B&M run this weekend, so hopefully, I’ll be able to grab a few bargains.

@Katiehound what a good result on your parking fine - it’s not often we get to win against the parking companies 😉.

Katiehound

Packing a Christmas present & birthday (Jan) as well- for delivery at the end of the week. These are the fiver challenge.
Found some great bargains over the last few months-
3 Aldi 'sell-offs!' includes a T-shirt to embroider, a looks new p/b by Anton Dubek for 43 pence,   some silly , cheap Valentine's bits from Mr T.  and was given a music themed tea cloth & apron-new- which would have been expensive items. Huge bottle of shower creme- Dove? Nivea? in a foreign language- clearly a cancelled export order. The 2 boxes are well filled. Might have spent a teeny bit more!

Anglea

Hi everyone. Wow, Katiehound, you certainly must be very patient to still be sane after all those stressful journeys.

I loved reading everyone's updates.

Since I last posted I have stopped seeing my friend, I was finding everything between us too stressful. She's distraught about my decision  but I know it was the right thing for my own peace of mind.

I'm going to cancel the next DS2 visit because it's going to be very hot at the weekend and I'm going to hospital this week so don't know if I'll feel well enough.

The other son was supposed to be moving into his new house recently. He was awol for months as he went to Mexico for one of his inventing contests and won it and is on the verge of getting a pilot's licence and had a lot of trouble with the final stages of the house so  I only heard from him a few weeks ago.

It's my male friend's birthday next week that's taking me to hospital, it seems that every time I go to the shops he's with me so I haven't had a chance to get him a  card yet and I'm not sure the next time I'll get to the shop because of hospital. In the past I've made him digital cards with a selection of images that relate directly to him made into a collage with text but this time I was hoping to buy a card so I'll have to see if I get an opportunity, let alone get a gift as I don't do online shopping.

On my last hospital trip it was Summer Solstice so we made  a detour to a beautiful spot called Goblin Coombe just to sit in nature (we both had trouble getting back up).

We celebrated Lammas day (1st August) by a lovely countryside walk.

I'll return later in the week to reply to your posts.

Happy_Kitties

Not much happening with me. I was panicking over the weekend. I was working away and said to a friend, it’s August and I haven’t started wrapping properly, esp as I have a glut of birthdays from one side of the family altogether and I need to think about dropping them off to Duncles next month for him to give them out on the birthdays- he always forgets one. So I plan to get started on that the end of this week. Plus I still haven’t sent a birthday present from March. 

I’ve only done one shoebox with another to finish off, I feel really behind this year, I’ve usually wrapped a lot by now.
I have packed another box of extra bits to go to the main charity I support for auctions after getting a couple of bargains in Boots, but bargains have been thin on the ground.
Great work on the five pound challenge and ur bargains Katiehound, u sound a lot more organised than the rest of us!

Chanie, I know exactly what u mean. One bargain I got for DD from the Boots very mini haul I stashed in the bag I keep her presents in, one word pitiful. I’ve hardly anything for her, usually have so much more by now but haven’t seen anything she would like.

Anglea, however hard the outcomes of some decisions are, u have to do right by urself, and make sure that u are okay. I hope hospital is going okay for u. How lovely with the Summer Solstice just being able to sit in nature, that’s my sort of thing. Ur DS1 sounds incredibly busy, I got tired just reading everything he is doing. Much respect to him. 

Im thinking that if I am actually organised tonight, I might go to bed early, do some wrapping and update my present book which has lacked attention and needs updating