Santa’s challenge 2020 ...

chanie

the site has been a lot quieter since the new forum launch  - I think that many people just gave up.  Its a shame, as there may be lots of people who need support during these difficult times.

I haven't been out since Monday and I am climbing the walls.  OH isn't at work today, so we are going to take  the children for some exercise later.  They aren't really aware of the impact on coronavirus and are pretty happy that they have no school, but they are also getting bored.  Its not easy, as I'm technically working from home, so I don't have time to spend with them.

crazy-cat-lady_2

It’s tough. I thankfully work from home now. (Unbelievable I Started work and a month later, barely having a clue what I’m doing, I now have to work from home!). Nice to have and keep the money but hard with kids out of school. Trying my best but I’m no teacher! The days I work she has to watch films and do anything she can get on with on her own. The days I don’t work, I make her do a lot of school work to make up for it. Mean mummy. She misses her friends but understands there’s a bad cold that makes people very ill, so school has to stop and we have to stay in so people don’t get it. That’s the best we could do! I’m getting plenty reading, craft, gardening, crochet and baking done. And tidying and organising. So in all honesty I’m not minding it so far. Probably ill
say differently after a month or so. 

Happy_Kitties

crazy-cat-lady_2 said:

Not just you!  I can’t use it. I miss the old one. I don’t use it half as much now. The new site is a nightmare for me too. I’ve got my password right and yet it still tells me it’s wrong. 

I had exactly the same problem! I kept having to reset my password everytime I wanted to sign in. If u have a space in ur user name like mine the site has put a _ in that space and u need to actually add the _ to sign in. 
It is definately not an user friendly site at all

Happy_Kitties

I hope everyone is keeping okay and staying safe.
I take my hat off to u chanie and CCL2 working from home and home educating. I think if it was me when DD was younger it would have been a nightmare in the house.
I've actually picked up the iron today to my shock and horror but I do like ironed bedding just not the amount that DD has. She loves bedding  design as much as I like lighting design! Plus I use the iron so infrequently that I'm still sorting and stashing away  Christmas designs
I literally sat in bed and took a shoebox, got everything out, repacked making a list of what was in there and what was lacking watching an episode of Midsommer Murders last night just for the sheer normality and insignificant significance of it all.
I'm gutted that I cant do anymore with my bags of education. Had nearly finished 3 bags.
I've decided to get a birthday present sent off early as I dont think my post office will be open for much longer. I do feel for them as when I went in yesterday they didnt even have any gloves to wear.
I hope everyone is well and staying safe. Take care x

chanie

Happy kitties many charities are suffering at the moment.  Charity shops are shut, so people can’t donate or buy items, the London Marathon is on hold and many charity’s rely on this income.  I used to work for a charity and income has gone through the floor.   Hopefully, Link to Hope can still continue. 

I’m now thinking about DS birthday next month.  I expect we will still be in lockdown, so it means that DS can’t have a party with either his friends or family, for now.  I need to plan some fun for him, whilst social distancing,  We have already bought him some small gifts, but he doesn’t really know what he wants.  Need to get thinking...

Happy_Kitties

Chanie I went to the chemist first thing to get in the queue early for my prescript. Right opposite me was the Red Cross charity shop which I would always pop into on the way back to the car. They had cleared the shop front display. It looked so sad and forlorn.
I've picked up a few nice bits from there. The knock on effects are going  to be terrible.
One charity I'm involved with,we've been allowed to carry on with the online auctions. I had sent the organiser some items but most were for Christmas. It is nice to see some of the items pop up in the auction but people just havent got the money to spend.
I cant pop things in the local animal collection point in Tesc@. One is now a question of access but the staff were also worried about items being stolen out of it .
It is so surreal at the minute.
The only good thing is I managed to get some cat food and bits to be delivered thru Amaz@n for a Cats Protection branch I support.  They ask if supporters will do this instead of Easter eggs. I just managed to order some food for them in time. 
It will def not feel like Easter this year.

I do feel for ur DS and any kids that have birthdays coming up but hopefully once we are out of lockdown and isolation he will be able to have a party that will be extra special for him and everyone I feel.
Hoping to wrap birthday presents and get them sent off tomorrow while I'm on my exercise stint. Well that's the plan.....whether it will happen I dont know 
Stay safe everyone x

Katiehound

Did my weekly shop today- got nearly everything on the list except paracetamol & rape seed oil- Aldi says they haven't had the oil for a  while so will be cooking more with olive oil!

I'm sure anyone with children at home will know that:
 JoeWickes is doing 1/2 hour PE at 9am every weekday.
Carol Vorderman has said that her maths programme for primary children is now free to sign up (she no longer owns it but new owner  who has agreed to her suggestion)
I'm told that zoos, museums, art galleries have virtual tours that you can do online

Don't know if that will help anyone.

I heard that the most important thing is their mental well being- lots of reassurance and keep them away from news broadcasts.

Little bits of my kitchen are looking cleaner and more organised!! Another cupboard tomorrow so that I can store my tinned toms & chick peas!

My password IS being correctly remembered- it's the website that doesn't recognise it. One big pain.

Happy_Kitties

I hope everyone is keeping safe and well.
I dont know what this weekend will hold. We have alot of people on the move here to the beauty hotspots which is causing panic.
It's been a bit of a groundhog week. A few pieces of bad news and a poorly cat hasn't made it a great week.
Totally lost my mojo with presents. Managed to get the birthday presents i needed to send sent off. Sent early. I'm conscious that the person is self isolating and has lost their support network of activities. How I miss parcel tape- just went mad with the sellotape!!
I'm no Katiehound with a sewing machine and havent used mine for years so donated it to a big community group set up making masks, scrubs and visors for our local hospital and care homes.
Just about to hit some more paperwork so I can binge watch more Doc Martin episodes later on. I'm rationing my Midsomer Murders!

Stay safe everyone 

Anglea

hi everyone. Welcome back Katiehound, we were all worried about you. Yes, this new website is a nightmare, I'm getting hundreds of emails and I never had any before apart from if anyone sent a pm.  Happy kitties, I remember having that kind of calming feeling sorting out bits for charity.

Chanie it must be hard to be at home with the children and work.

It's been strange for me because DS2 can't come home (from his group home) so I've been experimenting making videos to send between my email accounts so I can get a decent enough one to send, so far my hands are shaking too much which is strange as that never happened before when I sent videos to a friend in Spain.

Other son is in London, he's setting up dozens of websites for the mutual aid groups and co-ordinating them as well as writing websites for medical virus testing companies (for free) his actual work gave him some time off to do these other projects.

I don't think my mother is grasping the full implications as she asked if the boys are coming for Easter, so far she hasn't had to go to the shops as had bought lots in advance but she's desperate to go for a walk to the shops. Fortunately she's got a huge garden to take her mind off things for the weeks she's stayed home but even at nearly 90 she's probably fitter than me.

My friend and I have talked whether we ought to move in together but it's not that easy with my house of stuff  even in the short term. She stayed for about 3 weeks in December/January and that was just bringing a few bags. It's hard to judge how long this situation is going to go on for.

chanie

Katie thanks for the tips.

angela your son is amazing for all the work he is doing.

I’m now feeling more motivated to continue my Xmas prep.  I’m not going to make many purchases, but I will write lists and plans.   The items I ordered from eBay have been arriving, albeit, slowly.  Luckily, we have a few weeks before DS birthday, so we have plenty of time, but it’s worth bearing that in mind, if you need to order anything.

One of the problems with planning in advance is that if circumstances change, you end up with unnecessary spends.  I started buying items for party bags for DS to give to his class. Luckily, most of the items have a long expiry date, but the chocolate Easter lollies expire at the end of June.  I guess I’ll just have to eat 30 lollies myself  .