Greying's Gaining Ground - with Gratitude & Grace

Greying_Pilgrim

badmemory - we do make use of educational programming.  But you're right, I've never used TV as a baby-sitter, and that's been our choice, not any comment of what others do.

Well, free fun was had by DH and LG, courtesy of the white stuff.  Memories made, captured on film and stored in our hearts for a long time 🥰  We also spotted a group of redwings at the edge of the garden too - making use of a municipal tree 😁  So pretty.  And whilst not rare, not an everyday occurence either, so a good thing for us all to see.  And because I watched 'Winterwatch' I'm pretty sure they were making use of the load of calories available in ivy berries - who knew?

Lunch was a homemade soup, heavily influenced by Jack Monroe's Fiesty Soup It used up some itty bits of veg, a couple of tins of chopped toms and some out-of-date korean chilli paste.  I finished off the soup with a swirl of greek yoghurt and some chipotle chilli flakes.

Greying X

greenbee

Lunch sounds fabulous. I had 'green soup' from the freezer (my soups are generally made each week with the bits from the old veg box when the new one arrives and come in green/red/yellow and now that jerusalem artichokes are in season, sludge-colour. I should probably start making more of an effort. 

I've made a vat of mince with added red lentils, using up a box of frozen tomatoes and peppers from the freezer. Obviously I'll have more to put back in the freezer than I took out of it... 

Good to hear that LG had a lovely time in the snow.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening!

I've slightly got out of the habit of soup-making, but the weather has been much more conducive to eating soup, so it's back on the menu!  Tuesday has been resurrected as 'soup fer tea' day too - as a cost minimising mission 😁

Tea was OK, but I decided to use up the 'branded name' fish filet pieces for children - that LG has eaten, but itsn't overly keen on.  By us all having them, it finished off the box.  It's my fault really - whilst the size of each 'filet'  is good for littlies, I hadn't thought through the purchase, and of course, they were battered filets.  They were a bit greasy and a bit mushy.  I won't buy them again (they weren't that cheap actually - despite coming from H3r0n), but at least they were all eaten - and LG did eat one tonight, so no waste, but lesson learnt.  We prefer stuff breadcrumbed.  We had a modest amount of oven chips each (I had got too lazy and would just empty a 800g bag onto the tray, so have railed back - better for waistlines and bank balances!), and some mushy peas.  I am delighted to report that LG now eats up their mushy peas with aplomb 😁

I had a lovely texted 'convo' with a long-distance chum, which gladdened my heart 🥰   Plus a texted convo with a 'local' chum, which was as rewarding as ever - they are super with their humour and their support.  

Plenty to be super-grateful for today, but I'll plump for these 3;

1) My team-player DH who always tries very hard to shoulder responsibilities, and who had great fun in the process of being principal carer today 😊  Smiles and giggles all round.....
2)  Chums near and far, and their cheery pictures of utterly joyful things 😎
3)  Mother nature who came to ours; as we had no place to go......... 😉

Ta for popping by.  Appreciated.  Very much.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning!

Visiting the school of life this morning and have just returned from a dental appointment.  Hoorah for the dentists that are open and working with all their support staff.  Their system felt extremely safe - first time I've been temperature 'zapped' - and they clearly had put alot of thought into patient visits, and it was all very well rehearsed.  Bravo for Dental Practices!  Of course, it didn't dawn on me until last night that I have to pay for this visit - so that is £24 on the cc that wasn't anticipated.  Having said that, it is only once a year, and I haven't got any hairdresser expenses at the mo, so it'll be recoverable/even out in the wash..... i hope....... 

Had another text chat with my long-distance chum this morning.  Gosh, they told me a story that made me laugh out loud!  Aren't chums the best?!  Never underestimate the restorative power of a good auld guffaw, or a giggle! 😊  Plus the sun is shining brightly, so that's a real mood enhancer if ever there was one 😊

Tea this evening was going to be 'omlette &', but I used the last tin of beans on Saturday, so I may well have to have a bit of a re-think/tinker with the planner.  We've got all the food - just not necessarily in the right order......... 😉  The Redwings are back this morning - it's definitely the ivy berries they're feasting on.  SUCH pretty birds.

Can't think of owt else MSE/MFW to mention, and not had time to look at the property pages yet.

Ta for popping by.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening!

Well, today has been great!  I know I have been something of a Myrtle moan-a-lottle of late, so it's important to remember that life has ups and downs and it's as important to chronicle the good stuff as the not-so-good - if for nowt else, to achieve balance.

LG has been a star today, and I know I am biased, but I am one proud mumma 😍  I do like it when they are themselves with other people - and charm them within an instant, by being chatty or polite or whatever.  It's such a good reflection of how LG actually is.

Tea was a bit of a cobble.  I had a pot of lentil dhal left in the freezer, so I thought that i would use that in lieu of baked beans.  As I got the pot out of the freezer, LG identified it, and asked to have some for tea!  (knock me over with a feather!) as they said they liked lentil dhal.........  So they did have some, with a few grains of rice and a tiny amount of cauliflower - along with some other things that they like to eat.  Our tea was steamed rice, cauliflower, lentil dhal, and omlette.  Not the best looking plate of food - I will be the first to admit, but the taste was there, and I think it was reasonably balanced nutritionally.  LG had some greek yoghurt and there may have been a small treat of a few (literally a few) smArt1es from their Christmas pack. 

No new listings in the property pages.   

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

1)  Professionalism
2) small expansive steps into 'liked' food territory by LG
3)  chums 🥰

Ta for popping in.  Appreciated.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning!

Thank goodness for husbandios.  I was awake at 2am again this morning - it's a routine appt I have with wide-awakeness 🙄  And whilst thankfully I did get back to sleep about an hour later - of course, then I end up sleeping through the alarm 😏  So DH has picked up the slack this morning - so for that I am already grateful 🥰

Soup for tea tonight - Roasted carrot and red lentil - courtesy of leftovers from the freezer.

Today should be a nsd - we don't need owt and I'm saving the remaining pennies of my grocery budget for milk buying later in the week. 

Can't think of anything else MSE/MFW, so I'll shuffle orf.

Ta for popping by.  Appreciated.

Greying X

maddiemay

Good morning Greying, so pleased that you had a better day yesterday after your few duff ones, agree with your comments about friends far and near. My best friend has been just that in the times we lived in the same county and in our 30 year stay in The West Country, a few years she reminded me that we celebrate our golden anniversary in early November and remembered occurrences, people from that time. I had been going through a grotty few days and our chatting and giggling about those times bucked me up no end. These past 9 years OH and I are back in my home county and an hour away from B, one of the true delights of my retirement.
Have a good day, stay safe. x

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening

Oh maddiemay - that is brilliant that you have a golden anniversary in a friendship, so valuable!  Yes, chumships have been my saviour - and MSE represent, so THANK YOU to you, y'all know who you are, whether here or over in RL 😉

Today was a perfectly fine day.  No triumphs, but no tragedy either, so win in my book 😁  I had some precious moments with LG.  They started up a conversation, apropos of nothing, of memories from some time that we spent on 'holiday' about 18 months ago.  They remembered things that I had forgotten, they remembered the folk we'd met (what have I just been saying 'bout MSE chums...... 😉), and the simple pleasures of building sandcastles and playing in a play area.  Actually all very simple things, and actually, all reasonably low cost activities too.........  Later we spent some time looking at photographs, which made LG laugh with delight, and made me think how quickly time flies......

Today was a NSD - not an achievement really, as I had no where to go, no necessities to buy and very little moolah to buy anything with, so not really onerous to keep my finances under tight control; more a dollop of necessity born out of situation 🤔

Nowt new on the property pages. 

Tea was roasted carrot and lentil soup.  It was OK, but I am glad that it's finished.  It was a bit of a 'made up' soup, when carrots were in plentiful supply.  I think I over egged the lentils a bit, and it was a tad 'worthy'.  Still, it was filling, has provided a tea and made space in the freezer, so......

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

1)   an compliment regarding LG's conduct from an unexpected source
2)  memories
3)  help that was given freely and swiftly, and people taking the time and trouble to deliver enquiries to the relevant professional.  

Ta for popping in and for your ongoing support.  I remain mucho grateful.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning!

Although I'm definitely not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I have to report that I slept from 9pm - the.whole.night.through 👏  That will resonate with all the ladies of a certain age....... (soz chaps).

Moving on 😊

So today is another nsd by necessity (sounds like a fashion accessory, doesn't it? 😂)  Tea this evening will be Quorn mediterranean stew.  The quorn chunks were on offer in the c0-0p several months ago.  The veg quotient will be a bit thin, but I shall see what I can rustle up out of the deepest, darkest depths of fridges and freezers.  I'm also going to try to make a cake today.  I was considering the MSE 'never fail' Pineapple cake (scroll down to post 3 on the page) ....... but now I can't remember if you have to leave the fruit overnight once you have boiled it - or just to cool.  Will have to check. [EDIT: you just have to let the boiled fruit cool, so the cake baking should be on!]

I really can't think of anything else MSE/MFW to add.

Ta for popping by.  Appreciated.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning!

Soz I didn't come back on last night.  Time ran away and then I ended up watching 'Winterwatch'...

Tea ended up being a bit different, as I had four, "hours out of date" eggs to use up.  I had 'assumed' I would use them all up in the cake, but only needed 2.  So I did the 'float' test and 3 were really 'pirouetting' and one was on it's way to pirouetting.  i'm always disappointed with the 'age' of eggs, and obviously would have disregarded the eggs had they floated.  However, the 2 remaining eggs were 'good enough' yesterday, so I incorporated them into us tea, rather than waste them by trying to keep them a day or 2 longer.  So for tea we had; baked potato, 1 egg omlette, 1 'stray' veggie sausage (LG had 2 and ate them ALL up!), and HM 'baked' beans (a misnomer really, it was a tin of black beans added to some HM tomato/vegetable sauce.......).  The Quorn may well make an appearance for tonight's tea, but we still have farcically low levels of veg available for a vegetarian household........

We got out for a good walk yesterday and although it remains like piccadilly circus out there, we had a good stretch and saw some lovely things - including the most fluffy hazel catkins  🥰

There was only one property added (in our bracket) yesterday.  It was in the middle of our budget, but would require updating.  I should imagine for inside £20k you would end up with a pretty nice house - with a reasonable size garden, but that would lumber us with a quite large mortgage at the wrong time of our lives, and it was in a 'outlying' community, which is perfectly fine, but does present access issues/traffic jams etc.  And whilst traffic levels may be light at the mo, I don't think it will remain like that for the next 10 years+  So really not worth pursuing.

Yesterday I was very grateful for; encouragement, that LG's efforts were acknowledged and HM cake 

Right, I best vamooose.

Ta for popping in.  Appreciated.

Greying X