Frump to Fab 2022 - The Big One

Wednesday2000

I put up my xmas decs mid Nov.☺️ I have a small tree too.

 I hope your hubbie feels better soon Chanie.

I went to Cardiff for the gig this week. I thought it was lovely there. I have been to Wales once before.

Cardiff Bay pic before the early morning Wales match. It was sunny at that point.

liberty_lily

Your decs look very pretty and cheerful, Wednesday 😊 Glad you had a nice time in Cardiff - I confess that despite living in Wales for almost five years now, we've only made the one hour journey to (the outskirts of) Cardiff a few times...to go to Ikea 🙄 We did visit the city about fifteen years ago and I've wanted to visit the castle ever since but haven't found the time...yet!

Chanie, it's good that your husband is gradually recovering from his accident and that he'll be able to get on with your DIY ahead of Christmas 🙂

I know, Sugarbaby - I don't know how we find the energy or enthusiasm sometimes, lol 😆 We got more plastering done over the weekend (the ceiling is now half way!), repositioned the wiring for the new ceiling light fitting and I did a few odd bits such as re-fabbing a rather rusty looking candelabra/chandelier that was an auction bargain about six years back. Now it's less tatty I'm planning to get some blue candles and hang it above the Christmas dinner table.

We bought our - real - tree at the weekend. It's 8'+ tall and will stand by the new windows in the extension. I've some vintage garlands with faux fruits and some more recent jewel colour lights for the fireplace at the 'snug' end plus some other things to brighten up elsewhere. The boxes of decs are all down from the attic and although it's not yet December I'm itching to put them up - I'm not usually this excited either (our usual date is around 16th which would've been my mum's birthday although we've been getting gradually earlier over the past couple of years!), but think that finally having a decent living room again five years after selling our fab old house is really making me feel the Christmassy love 😄

If everything goes according to plan we'll put the tree and other decs up on 18th...hopefully that gives us time to finish the plastering, let it dry, mist coat then two coats of emulsion. There's a few other bits to do too (finish tidying the fireplace area, some copper pipe to run for the cast iron radiator, plastic pipe for the cloakroom macerator and repair a few areas of the subfloor) before we can even think about getting the furniture back in and putting the decs up 😂

My Black Friday bargainicious Farrow & Ball paint (emulsion and eggshell) is due to be delivered today too!

maman

Like @chanie, I've been reading along but not posting. 😊

I'm no Scrooge but I get tired of the Christmas decorations if I put them up too early. My elder DD has a birthday on December 20th so I've always aimed for that date to get the decorating done. From then until Twelfth Night is long enough for me. 

I like your fireplace @Wednesday2000. I focus my decorations around ours too. 😊

This week I will put out my perpetual advent calendar and start using my Christmas tea towels and tea cosy. 

We're going to Bath for a couple of days on Thursday so will check out the Christmas market. That should start off the festive season nicely. We have a good local one in Winchester so that might be worth a trip. It's not that I have any particular purchases in mind but it's good to soak up the atmosphere. Then we have various lunches and dinners out plus some dances for me leading up to Christmas. This starts tonight with one group of friends. I'm planning to wear a velvet wrap around dress.
Topshop Velvet Wrap Dress Size 8 Floral | eBay
Mine has black ties and it's a midi version rather than the mini. I'll be wearing it layered over a black top, leggings and black suede boots. 

You really should try and visit Cardiff @liberty_lily. Like you I've never visited the castle as I never seem to have long enough to do it justice. I have been to Castell Coch (on the outskirts of the city) though which has similar kitsch revival decor as it was also owned by the Marquess of Bute. The Museum of Wales is definitely worth a visit. I've been there several times as, like any gallery, there's too much to take in at once. I particularly like some of the art work and the ceramics.

🤞🏼 all goes smoothly with your house move @helensbiggestfan.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

I realised there was a 40% discount on Picturehouse membership for a year which would save me £21, so I bought the membership yesterday online. I used £10.50 of my Tesco Clubcard vouchers to buy £31.50 of Picturehouse vouchers, as the year's membership cost £31.20.  I get 5 free tickets to use whenever I want and discounted tickets throughout the year, free hot drinks before 5pm until January 2023 and discounts on food and drink purchases at Picturehouse cinemas. There are also Discover and Re-Discover film which are free for members throughout the year. I no longer have to pay online booking fees for the year.

I booked my 1st discounted cinema ticket to watch the film She Said this afternoon. It is the story of how the New York Times broke the story of Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment, rape and unwanted groping of women over a number of decades. Thankfully, the story opened the floodgates for other women to come forward and tell their stories, which ultimately led to Harvey Weinstein being arrested, charged and found guilty. I am glad there was no reenactment of the rape scenes being disclosed to the journalists. I cannot say that I enjoyed the film, as the subject matter made it a difficult watch for me. This film was a 7/10 for me. 

Floss

Cardiff is a lovely city, it feels quite continental with its wide streets. The ex-husband worked & lived there for 9 months back in 2009 so I spent some time there. 

I've got my sons & lovely daughter-in-law coming for Christmas and my brother, sister-in-law and niece coming for Christmas Dinner. Big clean will happen this weekend and deccies will go up next weekend when I get them out of the attic. 

liberty_lily

I've been doing more book fabbing today as earlier in the week I found a large Ikea Besta shelving unit plus a matching smaller one in as new condition on ebay for just £15 (the two would retail at £175!). These are the same colour etc as our wall of Besta storage (with doors) in the upstairs hallway so - being local enough for DH to collect on his way home yesterday - I snapped them up 😃

Having put the larger one together last night, today I've been positioning the shelves and filling them with books. The good news is that there's a couple of empty shelves so I can get more books! This is a temporary fix till we turn a bedroom into an office/little library space....hopefully next year. 

I've also put up the advent calendar and swapped out our autumn apple wreath on the front door for the Christmas star 🌟 🤩 🌟

Tonight the huge plastering push continues!

Wednesday2000

I'm in a very good mood. The Weeknd tickets came out yesterday on presale and we couldn't get them, but today my husband managed to get us some! I went out while he tried to buy them and there were 32,000 people in front of him in the queue when I left! I didn't think we had a chance but he called me when I was in a shop to say he got them.

We got a hotel for the night too as it is at the Stratford stadium. They are the most expensive tickets I have ever bought, but I am such a fan of Abel Tesfaye.

I am getting some money back which will take some of the sting of how much it is costing. We are getting the refund for the train tickets because of the strike and the money from the energy comapny. I found a letter from the council from the borough where we used to live and they owed us £200. I had totally forgotten about it so we are getting that money back too. Quite handy!

I also have plans to go out on NYE. I haven't been out on NYE since 2008. It is only to a bar, but I'm quite looking forward to it. I will definitely buy a new outfit for that. Maybe something sparkly.:)

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

Wednesday, I am sure you will enjoy seeing the Weekend. 


On Tuesday afternoon, I took my son to the Ant House restaurant for lunch. I had a Groupon that I paid £15 for which entitled us to £40 worth of food and drink.   We had starters of vegetable spring rolls and chicken wing skewers, both of which were served with salad vegetables and dips that tasted delicious. For our mains, my son had chicken Bahn Mi and I had a honey roasted chicken leg with egg fried rice and salad. My son had a can of coke, and I had a small bottle of sparkling water to drink. 

On Wednesday, I was singing in the intergenerational choir in the foyer of The Old Vic Theatre. We sang 6 carols: Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, Silent Night, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, White Christmas and It Feels Like Christmas (from the Muppet Christmas Carol). I was told by one of the theatre staff that I had a lovely singing voice when we had finished singing. I thanked her for the compliment.   We also did a carol sing-along with the audience when we had finished performing. It was an event filled with good cheer and tuneful singing.   My son and daughter came to watch me sing and my son recorded some of the choir's carols.

I slept for over 11 hours last night and still woke up feeling absolutely exhausted. I have a sore throat and feel a bit run down, so I hope I am not getting a cold or the flu. My Arthritis is also giving me a lot of pain. 

I do not have any cinema or theatre tickets booked until Monday, so I will rest for the next few days and hope I feel a lot better soon.  

cbsexec

Hope you feel better soon Sugarbaby

sugarbaby125

cbsexec said:

Hope you feel better soon Sugarbaby

Thank you. I have not developed a fever, so it is just a bad cold. Lots of rest and Lemsip capsules should do the trick.