Frump to Fab 2022 - The Big One

chanie

Hi fabbers, 

just caught up with your updates. 

@liberty_lily and @Wednesday2000 great work on the home fabbing.

Between a busy work period and OH being semi mobile, I have been kept on my toes.  Not much to update on otherwise.    Still have managed not to put the heating on yet and I’m determined to hold out until half term.

maman

Same here @chanie, we've only had the heating on for a couple of hours when it was damp and gloomy a week or so ago and that was mainly to check it was working OK. I am using my heated throw in the evenings though and I love it. 🥰

I bought some thermal socks in TKMaxx. I have a pair that I usually wear to football in the winter but they're years old. My plan is to wear them indoors. It's a sad state of affairs, dressing up warmly to stay in. ☹️🤣

Wednesday2000

I do like the sofa Liberty Lily although it is bigger than I realised. It is a large two seater. I haven't used it much yet as we are still set up in the other living room.

I was feeling tired yesterday but we went to the beach as I thought we might not get more weekends like this for a while. I'm glad I did as it was beautiful weather. It was like summer even though it is October. We went to Chalkwell beach which is my favourite around here. I was quite hot on the way home.

It is the total opposite today as it is pouring with rain and quite chilly. I have to fill in some forms, do some more decluttering and tidying and I want to start my book. The Jessica Simpson book. I am going to have a shower, condition my hair and try out my "new" £1 bargain pink fleece top that I got from a chazzer.

As it is colder tonight I am going to test out the heating and I might try my heated throw too Maman. Lots of people on this forum rave about them.

I wear men's sports socks as I find them better quality than women's ones, but the only thing I don't like is how long they take to dry after being washed. I do have a heated airer but I haven't switched it on yet. I could try that tonight too.

helensbiggestfan

Hello lovely ladies.  

I'm loving this wonderful weather. I do love the autumn, the colours, the softer gentler heat and even the crisp cooler mornings and evenings but I must admit this  year I do feel a bit of trepidation for the forthcoming winter.  I am very fortunate that  I do have the wherewithal to pay the bills, but even so, I hope that the weather is kind.  The last thing  we need is a harsh winter.  So many people are going to struggle and even go under.  I don't have a lot of cash to spare at the moment but I'm going to make sure I donate some food each week when I go shopping,  

I have had to start using the central heating,  I am trying to be thrifty but if I get too cold then it affects my fibro and arthritis. My heated sofa throw is my new best friend.  

Well I've had the first part of  my root canal treatment this morning. I guess that counts as  fabbing. 😱😂.   I had my hair cut last week, thankfully with my favourite hairdresser so it looks much better. After that disastrous visit last time I had to let it grow a bit  so she could reshape it.  I have put all my summer clothes away now and I have bought some new bits, some trousers, leggings, sweaters.  I have now lost 10lbs and am able to "shop from my wardrobe" so don't really need much.    

Maman ....at the risk of sounding like a petulant child I tend to agree with you and share your dismay at the thought of having to dress up in so many layers indoors.  I don't expect to be able to set the thermostat to sub tropical temperatures so I can swan around in shorts  and tee shirts in January but I feel so angry when I hear people are having to wear hats and dressing gowns indoors.  That's not progress, it's Dickensian. 🤬. 

Rant over......time for lunch. And then potter in the garden and enjoy the sunshine 

liberty_lily

It's another gorgeous day here today too, but so far I've been stuck indoors - going to head outside with my lunch in a bit 😀

I've been doing some fabbing in the laundry cupboard - working on the splashback at last. I decided to utilise a piece of free sample wallpaper I requested a few months back when trying to choose something for the kitchen chimney breast (it retails af £160 per roll 🙄). A quick bit of paste on the wall and all I need to add now is a bit of tempered glass. The paper fits perfectly both size and colour wise, so I'm delighted!

liberty_lily

Glad you've made a start on your root canal treatment, Helen! You'll feel so much better once you've got that completed, I'm sure 😊

I've always been one for layering up indoors (since the days of living in what my late father called "a big old barn of a place" that I confess was a PITA to heat 🙄😂) so most winters will find me in thermal tights, socks, leggings, at least three layers of knitwear over a thinner thermal layer plus fingerless gloves and sheepskin (faux) uggs....indoors, lol 😆 It's not unheard of for me to drape myself in a throw/blanket too - although I don't recall ever resorting to a hat indoors! I do have a friend in an equally huge, hard-to-heat house who wears a *Wee Willie Winkie* hat to bed in winter, lol, and has done so since her twenties (she's 50 now) 😆

We rarely use our central heating (oil-fired) and apart from weekends only light the woodburners at night 😉 So it's kind of normal for me 🙄

helensbiggestfan

Well on a positive note...central heating does dry things out, good wooden furniture and antiques don't like it much.  And yes,  our skins too, it is very drying.  Joan Collins swears she never uses central heating but then she does swan off to the south of France and the Caribbean. 

Also it is reckoned that if we live in cooler homes then our bodies have to burn more calories to keep us warm.  So, who knows, maybe it will help with my weight loss. 🤞Every cloud has a silver lining.  

I do hope you weren't thinking I was whingeing.  I'm not, I shall be just fine. However,  I don't want to come over as "I'm alright Jack". It's those less fortunate than myself that I was talking about.  What with soaring food prices, mortgage and rent increases, fuel and energy prices and the spectre of failing businesses and job losses, there's a perfect storm looming on the horizon. If we then add (god forbid) a 1963  or 1947 winter into the mix then many people will be done for.  

Governments (of all colours and persuasions) have been warned time and time again about energy and food insecurity and yet here we are - totally unprepared.  Its an outrage that in one of the most advanced economies in the world we are in such a sorry state.  

I can remember as far back as the 1970s environmentalists and scientists were warning about climate change but they were pooh poohed as crackpots.  Even Prince Charles, as he was then, tried to speak up decades ago and was admonished for "interfering in matters in which royals shouldn't meddle".    

It just makes me so angry that here in the U.K. we have some of the brightest minds and the very best technology and yet we are so backward in so many ways. 

  I learned my lesson the hard way back in the early 70s when I lived in an all electric house (in Scotland) and we were subject to daily power cuts, often up to 12 hours a day (3 hrs on, 3 hours off). It was a pretty miserable existence and I swore never again.  Since then I have never relied just on electricity. I don't have a log burner (next house!!) but I do have an open fireplace. I also have both a calor gas heater and a bioethanol burner on standby. They both pong a bit, but they do the job in emergencies.  

maman

helensbiggestfan said:

Joan Collins swears she never uses central heating but then she does swan off to the south of France and the Caribbean. 

I think Joan has the right idea. That's on swanning off to warmer climes in winter, not putting her make up on with a trowel! 🤣

Hope your mouth settles down soon from the dental work @helensbiggestfan. Well done you for biting the bullet (excuse pun😉). And well done on the weightloss! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I've given myself a manicure as my fingernails had got really long all of a sudden. Although I've got painted toenails, I find my fingernails stay healthier left 'au naturel'. 

I cleaned my sandals and put them away today but not wearing 100% winter clothes quite yet. I don't really 'need' to buy anything but there are a very few 'wants' that I'd get if I saw something I really liked. I could do with a coat/jacket that's between a waist length one and a full length. I have a Puffa parka but that's only for quite casual occasions. I browsed in TK Maxx (when I was buying my thermal socks) and quite fancied something like this.
Olive Quilted Jacket - TK Maxx UK

Like you, I can afford the increased prices but I'm still trying to conserve energy where possible from cooking and heating to using public transport when possible. I think a positive that could come from all this is if that all learn to use less energy. Although cost is what will motivate people at the moment, if we all get used to using less then it'll be better for the planet.

We have a lovely guy in our road who collects for a local foodbank. It makes it really easy to drop things off and then he makes a weekly trip with everyone's offerings. Also, we have a FB page for our residents' association where people often put items on which are free but request a donation to the food bank so he uses the donations to shop. 

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

Liberty Lily once you have added the glass, that is going to be a really stylish splash back to complete that room. You have such a great eye and real style. 

I went to watch the film Top Gun Maverick at my local Odeon cinema this afternoon. I had a My Odeon silver screen ticket which only cost me £3.50, and I got a free cup of tea which was worth £2.50.    I really enjoyed this action-packed film. Tom Cruise was a great lead. For me this film was a 9.5/10   

I got my 1st Energy Support Scheme voucher through the post from my energy company today.   I put the £66 on my Gas prepayment card, as I will need the help with my Gas more than my electricity as I will be using a lot of Gas for my central heating this winter. I am trying to wait until the 1st November to start using my central heating. We all have thick dressing gowns with hoods which keep us warm once we are awake and moving around our home. The warm Autumn weather is welcome, as it is keeping our maisonette from being freezing cold. I do not like to wear clothes when I am relaxing at home, but if that means I stay warm enough to not have my central heating on, then needs must. I do not need layers of clothing at home, thank goodness to stay warm.

My arthritis does not like the cold, so it has gotten more painful, and my joints can be less flexible. My knees give way a lot more in cold weather, which means I lose my balance unexpectedly. Nevertheless, I am thankful that I continue to be relatively mobile and can get on with my own life, now that I do not have to be on hand for any of my children on a daily basis, as they are now all capable adults. 

My new heat pump condenser tumble dryer is definitely far more energy efficient. 

chanie

Hi fabbers,

work has been hectic, so I’ve read along, but haven’t posted.

I had a big fabbing fail recently.  As I work from home, I work with my dressing gown on to keep warm (but take it off if I have any online meetings).   A friend came by to see OH and when I opened the door, they said ‘sorry to wake you up’.  I rather sheepishly had to tell them I was working.  

Tomorrow is an office day for me.  We only go in once every few weeks, but it’s nice to get dressed up and see my colleagues (and hit the shops in my lunch break).