A new royal start

TallGirl

QueenJess said:

Ooh - I just remembered, but I treated myself to a thyme plant from the supermarket. I seem to remember they pack them in too tight, which is I assume why they never survive? I split it into two plants, but am wondering if I should have done 3. I have a very sunny kitchen windowsill that is perfect for them, so in theory I should be able to keep them alive. Any tips?

Thyme loves sun and do not mind getting dried out a bit. I have mine in a pot on the patio all year round and I always have loads of it. Make sure you trim it as it can get woody otherwise. Maybe put one outside and keep on inside. As for splitting them I think that is more basil and chives as far as I know thyme is more of an actual one stemmed plant if that makes sense. Lovely herb I use it is lots of things. 

QueenJess

TallGirl said:

QueenJess said:

Ooh - I just remembered, but I treated myself to a thyme plant from the supermarket. I seem to remember they pack them in too tight, which is I assume why they never survive? I split it into two plants, but am wondering if I should have done 3. I have a very sunny kitchen windowsill that is perfect for them, so in theory I should be able to keep them alive. Any tips?

Thyme loves sun and do not mind getting dried out a bit. I have mine in a pot on the patio all year round and I always have loads of it. Make sure you trim it as it can get woody otherwise. Maybe put one outside and keep on inside. As for splitting them I think that is more basil and chives as far as I know thyme is more of an actual one stemmed plant if that makes sense. Lovely herb I use it is lots of things. 

Ah yes - it must be basil I was thinking about.  Thanks Still looked too rammed in to me and looks lovely in two pots, so should have room to grow.  Hoping to use it often so it should gets lots of trimming   I'd like more herbs, but will see if I can keep this one alive first!

QueenJess

Whoops! Just got lost in a sea of recipes online and now have a big list of new things to try out. It’s nice to try new things though right? Plus as always I decide on the recipe based on what is in the fridge.

Lazy pesto pasta tonight with lots of fridge veg to use up (red peppers, mushrooms, red onion, spinach and courgette). Dessert is the spiced pear cake with Greek yogurt. The cake is lovely, but I didn’t grind the cardamom up quite small enough in all cases. A pestle and mortar is on my Xmas wish list for this year!

Lunch today was kale and tomatoes cooked in smoked paprika and frajita spices with poached eggs, pumpkin seeds and brown toast. Was a total experiment, but actually was quite nice.

QueenJess

Checked out the budget in more detail today and it just isn't going to work.  I've therefore increased the amount that will go into the joint account from next month.  Then I sorted out how to split my current pay between some pension payments, spending and some saving (for emergencies).  I then moved my current immediate emergency cash fund to a better rate savings account as I'll likely need it if I am not working in December.

From September I now need to be more sensible with the budget, which I am hoping is achievable given DS is back at school and I am working full time.

I am on my own here as DH is out with DS and then later DH is going out for a meal with his friends.  Lunch was garlic mushrooms and spinach on toast with fresh thyme and sesame seeds (was really nice and would work for a breakfast as well).  Dinner will be split as we have enough leftover pizza and pasta for the kids later.  So I will make myself a big salad with some brie and seeds, followed by the really nice spiced pear cake and greek yogurt.  Breakfast was leftover apple pancakes with blueberries and a dollop of yogurt.

Riverford order is all away and I am puzzling as to why we have leftover carrots.  I don't think that's ever happened before!  I think the carrot rolls will be back on the agenda in the next few days and I can provide the kids carrot sticks later.

Right - better get back to work!

South_coast

Ooh, a salad with brie sounds lovely 😋 I do love a halloumi salad, but never thought about using brie....

QueenJess

It's September and baby steps of trying to grapple control of my budget (since work is going to be manic pretty soon).  I discovered I could get 6% off grocery gift cards with work and so bought one for my shopping this week.  I then found out we've spent so much on our joint credit card that I had £50 worth of points!  I've now exchanged that for a grocery gift card as well.

Just spotted some nursery tops/jumpers on my local Buy Nothing that I have asked to be considered for (I'm not the only one, so may not be picked). This could save me a bit as DD really needs some more as she's so mucky!  I still don't really agree with the nursery uniform thing for the year before school; it's just an extra expense people really don't need.  However, I do understand that it's a step closer to school and it's part of their prep.

Not much else happening although I logged back into Prolific and have £9.67 in there.  Will try to get it over £10 this week and cash out - it'll pay for my gym class this evening.

Had my dinner early today because of gym - you definitely don't want to jump around, spin around and go upside down with tons of food in your stomach!  I made a quick tomato pasta (with a side of spinach leaves) and then everyone else can reheat theirs later.  Dessert is yummy gingerbread men that I made yesterday and then decorated them with the kids.

Dreading this week as there is so much going on and work is going to get busy at the same time.  Aim is to survive the week relatively unscathed and hopefully not get too far behind on life admin.  Still need to label DS's school stuff before he goes back on Thursday...  I also need to pick up some socks for DS - after realising he has grown a whole shoe size in 8 weeks I did get him more shoes, but then realised his socks will all be slightly too small. So more expense.... I found some he liked for school and ordered them to a local shop so I didn't have to pay postage.  Just need to find some non school ones for him, but no huge rush for those.

Bluegreen143

My top tip is that ALL my DS’s socks are ribbed navy ones he can wear to school, but also wears outside school, and ALL my DD’s socks are frilly white ankle ones, also school appropriate (though she gets chilly so usually prefers wearing tights with dresses/pinafores year round). They are bought from our local Tescos so I can get them easily. 

This means that ALL their socks match so no odd socks any more and I can at a glance distinguish which belongs to which child. Not sure what I’d have done if they were the same gender though! 

It’s the little things which make life so much easier 🤣

QueenJess

Bluegreen143 said:

My top tip is that ALL my DS’s socks are ribbed navy ones he can wear to school, but also wears outside school, and ALL my DD’s socks are frilly white ankle ones, also school appropriate (though she gets chilly so usually prefers wearing tights with dresses/pinafores year round). They are bought from our local Tescos so I can get them easily. 

This means that ALL their socks match so no odd socks any more and I can at a glance distinguish which belongs to which child. Not sure what I’d have done if they were the same gender though! 

It’s the little things which make life so much easier 🤣

Luckily my kids have widely different sizes due to their age difference so I can’t mix them up yet (although when they both need black socks that’s going to be fun…) Plus their tastes are very different! 

DS wouldn’t be seen dead with boring black socks outside of school, so I bought 5 pairs for school as the minimum I thought I could get away with and then will buy less than that for non school. If he runs out he’ll have to use school ones. I did get ones with colours on the heel/toe so I can pair them up.

Bluegreen143

I think my kids have the same age gap (or ours is 3y exactly?). But my 8yo DS is complaining a lot that, to his horror, his 5yo sister is rapidly catching him up in height and size (seriously there’s not much in their height, though she is slighter than him as she’s very slim - she’s moving into 6-7 clothes and he still wears 7-8 with room to spare!) 🤣😆 he’s been eating a lot and I told him he must be having a growth spurt and he said plaintively “I hope so mummy, I really hope so” 🤣

QueenJess

Bluegreen143 said:

I think my kids have the same age gap (or ours is 3y exactly?). But my 8yo DS is complaining a lot that, to his horror, his 5yo sister is rapidly catching him up in height and size (seriously there’s not much in their height, though she is slighter than him as she’s very slim - she’s moving into 6-7 clothes and he still wears 7-8 with room to spare!) 🤣😆 he’s been eating a lot and I told him he must be having a growth spurt and he said plaintively “I hope so mummy, I really hope so” 🤣

😂 They definitely do have growth spurts at different ages. Mine have a 4 year gap, but DD was significantly bigger when born than DS so I think she’s going to be bigger than him. I’m tiny, so I wasn’t surprised with a small DS, but when DD was born the first thing I thought was “are you sure she’s mine; she’s huge!”