NST February 15 for February

greent

Nsd today. Thankful for a warm house, my family, our health, a working car

BadBookkeeper

NSD 6/15
No walk today but DS did his schoolwork all by himself which was great for him (and me).  I’m a bit behind in work, the trouble with WFH is the temptation to not finish on time whereas in the office I had to as I needed to do the school run.  I’m off tomorrow but I know I’ll work for a bit as let’s face it there’s nothing much else to do except housework (thankless task here)!!  

Grateful for DS completing his school work on his own, DH buying a bag of mini creme eggs 😊

Porridgecat

Sorry I've been AWOL, a combination of too much work and not enough time and not really having much happen.
I had a real meltdown this morning, seems silly now but it was over a video on teams. I wasted hours yesterday downloading it and then Mr Porridge also spent ages trying to get it to stop halfway, this morning at seven I went to upload it and it told me 2 hours 16 minutes when the class was at 9.05am.  `ended up in tears ready to go back to bed and tell them to stick the job. Finally gave in an messaged my friend (I was trying not to as she's been ill and under a lot of pressure) she gave me a work around which wasn't what I wanted but would do. I still have a real over emotional headache. I had a four hour online parents evening as well which didn't help. Thankfully tomorrow is a training day and I think it'll turn out to be a turn the camera off and do something else type of day. One think to be grateful for.
Foxholes - we got the celeriac yesterday, great big ones the size of a head. Not enough for each family so we ended up trying to work out which ones would know or find out what to do with them. We've considered printing out 'how to' instructions and recipes for some of the less common ingredients we get but don't know if that would come across as a bit patronising.
Grateful also that I didn't have to drive to work in the snow and cold today.

mothernerd

NSD 8 here. Bright but very chilly, extremely busy day for me. Recycling out, washing on the line (2 sheets, 3 pillowcases, a dress), then later added the quilt and the mattress cover to air and sponged off some marks. Helped mum put her duvet in a cover (that's my scary thing for today as I had to stand on an armchair). Cleared the bed, sponged the top of the mattress, showered and then cleaned the shower screen inside and out, put pillows, cushions and pillowcases in mum's room, brought the washing in, wrangled the mattress cover back on (got stuck between the wall and the mattress at one point with no idea how to get out - arms hurting too much to push myself up). Missing DS3 who's tall enough to shrug duvets into their covers and is an expert mattress wrangler. Layers of sheets, heaps of cased pillows and cushions, finally brought in the quilt. Bed is made (it's quite the most wonderful place to be and will enjoy myself if none of me works tomorrow. Arms feel as though they are coming out at the sockets. Bulbs for my new lamp came and it's wonderful. Bright enough to sew, bright enough to read (had to try 3 books the other evening before I found one that I could see clearly enough to read.

Grateful for my bed and all the lovely clean fresh air smell bedding, my wonderful new lamp and having done lots of work and may give myself a day off tomorrow - and deep heat spray.

I have some things in a basket. A jumper I wanted and have been keeping an eye on is now down to half price (they only took£5 off in the January sale). I had a look and have added some other things to the basket (just so I don't have to hunt for them if I go back to see if they work with my other clothes) but am still thinking about them

facethemusic

Thursday- NSD 8/15, only because the shop was shut by the time I finished work! So I am restricting my tea intake tonight to preserve some milk for breakfast 🤣. I have a (short) list to pick bits up tomorrow, and that should cover me for a few days as the fridge is still quite well stocked. 
Temperature last night was -13, it's not got over -5 all day, but it doesn't feel "that cold", I think because its dry. 
Grateful for waterproof boots, warm clothes, "enough" food in the house and most importantly- so far we still have water (lots of local houses have none at the moment). 

f0xh0les

We got masses of everything today @Porridgecat but so many courgettes and red peppers it just was not funny!

I love celeriac - I don't think it would be patronising to put in a little message in the box  along the lines of  - the veiny looking head shaped thing is called celeriac, it makes a fantastic soup, tastes good roast with potatoes, or grated raw into a coleslaw - I think posh veg boxes sometimes come with a crib sheet as to what to do with the stranger veg.

I have introduced some of the older volunteers to celeriac and they remember the taste from when they were kids but never knew what it was - they are mostly over 70 yrs old.  And the lady I introduced to Thai green curry paste and BNS  soup cannot stop raving about it.   It was one of those 'why has nobody told me this before?' moments.     

What you think is normal to do with food, is not normal to someone who is anxious about not being able to feed  their family.  They just see the  whole vegetable, not what it could be turned into.  I see it week in week out at the f/b.  You end up making spurious conversation and slipping the .. 'ooh, have you tried ...... with .....', or, 'if your kids like X, then you can do the same thing with this Y,' and they just look at you like you have just rocked their world.   Then they come back  and they start asking 'what the heck is that thing, and what can I do with it?'  it is like you have empowered them be brave about new (weird) foods. 

Today was NSD7, had a really busy day volunteering. So glad I baked yesterday as I got away with an easy supper and  then threw the iced buns at them.  They did not notice.  ha ha ha

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Evening, had a spend day today as my online shop arrived, i had to pop out for milk earlier and bought a bunch of daffs too.  Also sent some money to my sis for my niece's birthday next week.  Had a good pilates class via Fb.  Had a meeting re PT role and getting a one off payment for some extra work done which is great news!  On leave now till Tuesday although got a meeting in the morning for self employment role.
gratitudes - extra income on the way; 4 days off from FT job; great pilates class that made me feel stretched and relaxed
Love Deni

Shrewbie

Happy Friday turtles... I loved that Octopus documentary too Calling!

I didn’t check in yesterday, saw a job application that ended up taking up all of my free time to apply for. I got quite excited when I saw it, it is absolutely perfect for me so I am hoping for at least an interview and it’s good to know positions like the one I want do come up occasionally. 

Mothernerd  & Toni's Friend I am also struggling to think of 5 things I do well. That’s terrible isn’t it. I need to work on that if I am going to survive interviews.

I am on NSD 6! Very happy with that and no takeaways! 

Grateful for it being friday, for potential. 

f0xh0les

Today will be NSD 8,

I am cleaning the house and wielding the 'do all your schoolwork so you don't have to do it in the holiday' whip.

Happy Chinese New Year - spring rolls and dumplings going on here tonight.

Happy Half Term to  all the teachers and the parents and the kids.

mothernerd

Toni'sfriend and Shrewbie I think we all tend to assume that if we can do it, anyone can, it's nothing special - another way of putting ourselves down or getting the criticism in first before someone else does it. We take our own talents for granted. Over the last couple of months several people mentioned having carpets replaced and they all paid for fitting (I know some firms include fitting in the price). I've only once paid to have  a carpet laid and that was with wedding present money. Every other time, I've done it myself, from the initial hiring a sander and doing all the upstairs and using my grandma's carpet square in the front room (before fitted carpets people had a large square of carpet in the middle of the room with lino (original linoleum not vinyl) showing at the edges - that carpet was bought for my brother's Christening and was 2 years younger than me, maybe 22/23 when I first got it and I eventually passed it on to someone else who was leaving a domestic situation and had nothing).

We only put carpet in the boys room when the lego situation went bad - bits kept going through the gaps in the floorboards or getting wedged and I was sick of going along with a ruler to get them out. Mainly it consisted of going along to the local carpet warehouse and looking through the room sized ends - if you went at happy hour, 11 am - noon on Sunday morning there was a whole section at £1 a metre or £1 a foot for 13' wide (4 metre), mostly cheap foam backed (fine for childrens rooms) but they did high end stuff and a lot of hotel quality 80% wool stuff. I have also reused other people's old carpets and cut them to fit including taking a front room carpet cutting it into strips (4 different widths) and fitting it on my stairs and landing. 

It's partly through never having much money and the example of older generations. My dad had me mixing sand and cement for him  when I was 8 or 9 (don't think he trusted my brothers to measure and mix properly). My mother and grandma sewed all their own clothes and mine too (I had mini versions of several outfits of my grandma's - made from the bits left over) and at walking day my grandma did my bouquet as well. Apart from my own wedding, I've never bought a buttonhole for a wedding far too expensive and I can do a cruelty free version which means I get to keep the carnations in water for a week.

When my grandfather died (both grandfathers died when I was small) my grandma got rid of her tv so she didn't stay in - she socialised with a group of friends and took up evening classes with a vengeance. We used to have a wooden plant trough she made at woodwork, several copper paintings (copper moulded into an outline - sort of 3D silhouette and then the background painted over in matt black), she made the frames and framed the pictures herself and of course she took lots of tailoring and sewing classes.

I made clothes for my dolls from an early age (plus a waistcoat for my baby brother's teddy) and  made hand made gifts at C***mas. When I made some paper 'bushes' (I put bare twigs in old pots and made paper roses for the ends of the twigs and a few leaves from crepe paper, grandma gave me a book she had on paper flowers and a few proper wire stems and berries. I was given both my grandmas embroidery threads when I stated to be interested in that. I made a cushion for my other grandma when I was 17 and when I was about 40, after both my grandma and the aunt who lived and cared for her had died, I replaced some of the worn and faded threads so that my other aunt could take it home with her.

My mother was trained as a confectioner and from the age of 3, I helped her make wedding cakes for all family weddings and a few paid for by people who knew about her. On Sundays we would make a plate custard tart, a plate jam tart (using pastry leftovers twisted up to make a decorative lattice top, scones, singing lily (a bit like a large flat sweet pastry with currants in it - maybe an Eccles cake), a plate apple pie and scones to make the meagre budget go further (dad kept most of his wage). Not all of them every week but at least 2 or 3. At 4 I was upgraded to catering when my dad went off to the pub on the day of my baby brother's Christening leaving her with 3 small children (I was the eldest) and a buffet tea to make for all our friends and relatives. I was so small she had to stand me on a chair to stir the jelly but as she has frequently said "I had no-one else to help me and I never considered that you wouldn't be able to do anything I asked you to do. We did our own catering, even for my 21st (petrol crisis, food not reaching the shops, no bread, limited quantities of many things) and my wedding (we did have help - mum's cousin and two of her daughters did a full afternoon and part of the evening and a couple of neighbours gave up spare fridge space. I'd asked one and my partner knocked on the wrong neighbour's door and waltzed in and commandeered her fridge). So I'm possibly the only bride in history who didn't 'get an early night' but was still up at 5 am doing something worrisomely complicated (only because of massive quantities) and ended up reading Postman Pat to the 5 yo who was wakened by the noise of the blender.

I've been decorating since I was 11 yo (maybe younger, I just remember the horrible hessian in the house we moved to when I was 10), built small walls and rebuilt several layers of another (still up after nearly 30 years), broken up concrete slabs, put up fence posts and fencing, plastered, taken down an internal wall (if I had a £1 for every man who's immediate response was'i hope it wasn't a supporting wall'), basic electrics, more or less done a whole kitchen, am a world expert in flat pack.

But that's all just basic, lots of measuring, making sure the mix is right, working out how to or getting a book from the library, preferably without spending any money. I didn't have the money to pay anyone so did my best to keep my house patched up  and in reasonable repair. Also relearning how to do most things as various parts of me have stopped working (at least when I twisted my ankle I could shuffle up and down stairs on my bum) an option I miss so very much. There - anyone who can shuffle downstairs on their bum (including toddlers) has a talent that I don't any more.