It's time to begin.....

enthusiasticsaver

You are doing really well.  Very close to that £20k barrier now so it will be awesome to see the figure go below that.  Menu looks great.  

Kakiste

So the food group today has given me 10 asda taste the difference sausages and a bunch of root veg so I'm changing the menu to do bangers and mash tomorrow evening. The scheduled meal is in the freezer anyway so we'll have it for next week's menu. 

Had a lesson observation this morning. Was meant to be 1 of 2 periods. 1st period I had the worst year 10 class for English. (lesson finished with me handing out lunchtime detentions to half the class) Instead they came in to my GCSE history lesson with one of my amazing year 11 groups. They behaved brilliantly, were all engaged and enthusiastic, all on task and showing previous learning. So I've got great feedback from that.
  

Kakiste

Starving today. I've switched to early morning spin classes after going back to work- 6.30am-7.15am- doing three a week at the moment but hoping to build that up. 

Had the sausages with leftover macaroni/cauliflower cheese I made on Sunday. Really good. 
My daughter's ballet class has restarted this week. My dad is lovely and drives up (about 40 minutes) to collect her from school, bring her home to get changed and then to and from ballet every week. This works out brilliantly because the timings of it otherwise would mean that she wouldn't be able to go. 
When he came up this week he brought a load of rhubarb and other fruit from his allotment so I'm going to make another crumble once the kid is in bed.  

Kakiste

Just reading an insane thread on the main DFW board. A bloke (very large income) is complaining that he absolutely needs to keep his 174k of car finance because he needs an absolute top of the line range rover. He said he couldn't dream of trading down to a £10k car as it would be unreliable and a money pit. 
Properly made my jaw hit the floor. There is no way I would describe a 10k car as an unreliable money pit, that's how i'd talk about a car that cost £200.
Puts in perspective how different other people's viewpoints can be.  

Kakiste

Oh and given the new 6 people socialising indoors rules I made the decision to downgrade the sprog's birthday party. I was grimacing a bit about having to spend so much again (last year cost about £200- I had saved for it and paid 50/50 with my husband but It still stung to hand it over.) 
I've told her (excitedly) that she gets to pick her two best friends, she's picked two lovely friends, We're friends with the parents as well and we'll go out for the morning to the local trampoline park and then buy them lunch there. 

Cost breakdown is;
tickets= £44 for the three of them plus me and my husband. 
food= £20 
I've also found her a cake- Morrisons and Asda both do the same cake with Pikachu (her ffavourite) on for £11 and I'll make up some cupcakes and put together two party bags with some sweets and a toy which I reckon will be £6 total 

So £81 for the total costs which will be £40 cost from my 'savings for child birthday' pot. Everything left over will go into the Christmas savings pot. 

Whoop Whoop

Honeysucklelou2

A lesson observation, this close to the beginning of term 😵. Sorry really shocked. We have lesson obs regularly but not until later in the term.

PommeVerte

I also just had the children pick 2 friends for their  birthday parties, it actually made for a lovely cosy intimate little gathering. We sort of got used to it being just us during lockodwn, i quite enjoyed the lack of pressure to socialize tbh ! 
I agree about the car, u could buy a house for that price ! My trusty peugeot 208 has done me proud !

Kakiste

I really like both families and we've been over to each other's gardens a lot during the summer to do playdates so they're people I'm already friends with rather than relative strangers.

There's a lad in her class who she finds funny but he is a little nightmare (speaking as a teacher) so I was hoping she didn't pick him. (Last year when we invited 12 kids He was one, his parents dropped him off and then left (He had just started reception 2 weeks earlier and they'd never met any of us!) making a comment about how he wanted her to be 'his girlfriend' I said "He's 4!" my husband elbowed me to shut me up and then they left. He spend the time shrieking, shoving other kids we didn't know, chanting "we want food" at the staff when they sat down to eat and then asked me where the party bag was as they were leaving, I explained there wasn't one, he said "but I WANT one" His mum nasal laughed and said "Bless him. He knows what he wants" *twitch*

So yes rant over; I'm pleased she's picked two lovely ones. 

@Honeysucklelou2 They were early but school is panicking about Ofsted. We were due in 2020 but covid meant we weren't inspected. it's been concluded we must be first on the list for the area and they're trying to make sure everything is fine. It is and given they were happy with everyone we should be left alone now lesson obs wise until after half term. 

Kakiste

I was given a pineapple from food group last week so I've decided to make a crumble with that and the rhubarb from dad for pudding tonight. It looks very tasty so far. 

This week's menu is;
today - baked potatoes, beans and cheese (& crumble for pudding! )
Sun- Home made bacon and red pepper quiche
Mon- Chinese noodles
Tues- crispy chicken salad wraps
Wed- Veg chow mein
Thurs- Food group surprise (see what We're given and cook what need using that day)
Fri- another food group meal/oven pizza (depending on quantity of ingredients/how tired I am.) 

From this week's menu the baked potatoes, all the veg, beans, pineapple, bacon and chicken have come from food group.
That's meant today I only had to buy; cheese, savory pastry case, wraps, 3 packs noodles and oven pizza to cover the weeks meal. Adding in cat food, top up cleaning supplies and toiletries and a few general groceries we'd run out of (butter, milk, honey etc) shopping came to £21 for the week.

Kakiste

Pineapple and rhubarb crumble was delicious. It was my daughter's suggestion and I would absolutely recommend it. 

Feeling very lucky this morning. I heard a massive bang which woke me up in the early hours but eventually surmised that it must have been from outside. I've come downstairs this morning to find that a hugely heavy wooden framed mirror which hangs over our mantlepiece has come down in the night. The leather cord it was suspended by had snapped. It had hit the mantlepiece,  pivoted and then slammed into one of the side tables. 

Here is the lucky part. It was resting on top end on the table with the other end flush against the mantlepiece. Because the mirror tapers at the top end there was about 2/3 of an inch between it and my husband's Microsoft surface!

Surface wasn't even touched but if it had been maybe 2 or 3 inches over on the table the mirror would have smashed into it, breaking it. Even though it's an old model (bought in 2014) it would still be £500 to get a replacement one. Feeling very thankful this morning!