So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

Baileys_Babe

It sounds like you had a great weekend.

I was pretty excited by your recommendation of Bundobust, as all their locations would be handy, we could all share a vegetarian meal, unfortunately, a third of our group are coeliacs and they didn't have suitable dishes, hey ho we will continue our search.

Our Christmas presents are a mixture of second hand and new from charity shops, homemade and new.

themadvix

That's a pity BB - I'd thought I'd seen quite a few GF options, but I must have been mistaken.

Baileys_Babe

themadvix said:

That's a pity BB - I'd thought I'd seen quite a few GF options, but I must have been mistaken.

I had a look at their online menu and excluded items containing cereal - not what I was looking for but I couldn't find an option to select GF or wheat/barley/rye & oats free and I didn't end up with much 😢

themadvix

If you scroll to the bottom of  the menu page you can download a pdf version - it has quite a few marked as GF!

themadvix

Morning all,

Still here, plodding away, just lacking the enthusiasm for posting at the moment. Have had a few more good finds in charity shops and last bits of presents have been ordered (still a couple more in-store bits to get, but they'll have to wait until the snow clears). Mr MV fitted Hive heating for Mum and Sis yesterday (yes, two houses!) - and Sis fed us, which was nice (she also fed us on Saturday evening, but that was a very nice ramen; this was more fish fingers, chips and s'getti!).

Workwise, it's almost all Cambridge stuff at the moment and am waiting on an email from the person I'm doing some work for there before I can progress. But it's fairly urgent stuff, so will be done/moved on today. In the meantime, I've got the fabric prepped for cutting for the thermal window coverings, but waiting for Mr MV to be free for his opinion on fixings/sizing. (Took a leaf out of Foxgloves' book and used the residual heat in the iron to iron a shirt of Mr MV's.)

Am currently (well clearly not at this exact second), cutting up an old duvet cover to make present bags. Will need to get the sewing machine out later, but may requisition the dining table, rather than trying to do two things at once on my desk.

First in-person evening class since March 2020 tonight - and my friend is (hopefully - weather dependent) picking me up so I can enjoy a festive drink (which is the main reason we're getting together, I suspect little actual learning will be done tonight!)

Again, weather dependent, I'm meant to be out tomorrow with ex-Brownie friends for a trip to an NT place as our Christmas get-together. I need to make biscuits today for their presents. I do have a £10 NT voucher sitting in my inbox, so expect I'll use that for my tea/lunch tomorrow. 

MS things:
* The usual!
* Mr MV signed up for a 2 month free 4pple TV trial and then a 6 month one - it's combined the two so we have free 4pple TV until August! We have watched Spirited (Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell Christmas film) and are enjoying Long Way Up so far.

Gratitudes:
* Beauty of the snow
* Saw Mum, Niece and Sis yesterday, which was nice
* Satisfaction of CS present shopping - both MS and very environmentally friendly. These have mostly been in v good condition/new and/or for children, but a few bits for adults that will challenge their thinking on 'second-hand' hopefully (i.e. Dad and fiancee).

Have a good day all!

Karmacat

Sounding good!  I've literally been doing the same for the cloth for present bags - sounds much posher if you call them by the Japanese name, furoshiki 🤣  That's a lovely week you've got planned, enjoy  

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Thanks Karma - I still have actually made any bags yet (but I did cut the really rubbish bit off the old sheet I'm using). I am nearly there with the first thermal blind, but it's been a very busy few days with Cambridge work. All up to date now and things off my desk, which is a good feeling. Have also finally managed to get some of 'my' work done too. Another bit has arrived, but I'm not going to start that now - it will be a tomorrow job, although with getting out for the last few bits and thinking about Boxing Day, when people are coming for tea (and for which I've not yet had brain space).

Didn't make it to the NT place yesterday - friend wasn't confident driving there and in the end I had too much work to get done in any case. I was a bit gutted about it, but we had a nice lunch at the tapas bar instead. £21 including dessert, so not too spendy.

Am going to head to the allotment very shortly - I haven't been in a while and want to check on the sprouts. Had a huge Olio collection last night and lots of it didn't go because it was too cold and icy for people to want to venture out. I've saved what I can but there was a lot of sushi and sandwiches, which have had to be binned . As it was a large collection, we were able to keep quite a bit, so we're good for fruit for a few days, bread, some cornflakes, pastries, tomatoes etc. etc.

On that note, dinner will be a stir fry with a pack from the collection that no one wanted. 

Thermostat is back down to 16.5 and we've turned the radiator off in the third bedroom (Mr MV's sometime office) and shut the door. Beyond that we're keeping the heating on during the day - the temp drops enough overnight that the 12 frost protection comes on (OK, 12 isn't for frost, but it helps me not be freezing and we have to consider the cats too).

Right, going to enjoy the last of the sunshine and the peace of the allotment. Have a good evening all!

savingholmes

Glad things are going well. 

Good you've had work - and that the Olio collections are helping too.

I think CS can be a good solution - but again so can FB.

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks SH. Olio collections are definitely along the lines of the donor's 'Every little helps'.

I've just submitted a timesheet for 13.5 hours this week - I'm only contracted to do 7 hours! It's a good job my work has been relatively quiet (things have been ticking over, but nothing substantial). I am not planning on doing much Cambridge work today though - I've got some of my work to do and I need to get out if I can or do some sewing...

I've finished the first of the thermal 'blinds'. Basically they are a rectangle of fabric that will fit over the window with a piece of dowel through the top hem that we will attach to the hooks holding the existing bamboo blinds up - nothing fancy at all, but they should keep some warmth in (and give us some privacy in the evenings when the hall light is on!).

I haven't yet started on fabric wrapping bags, but hoping they won't take very long once I start. Not sure how I'm going to wrap stuff in them - i.e. multiple bits in one bag or individual items in each...

MS things:
* Dinner was free stir fry pack no one wanted from Olio
* Oil-filled radiator in living room on for 3 hours during cheap rate electricity kept cats warm overnight and house warm enough that the 12 frost protection didn't kick in - cost about 7p.
* Clicks and HW done
* (Frozen) Sprouts picked for Christmas (not technically a saving for me as MIL will buy them otherwise, but a nice contribution. Still considering cancelling my R'ford order for next week - I don't need more sprouts, or swede or red cabbage, and I suspect there'll be potato-geddon courtesy of Mr T's again for Olioers.... we have enough stuff probably...

Gratitudes:
* No one saw me slip over yesterday on the ice!
* Beautiful walk to allotment (despite the fall)
* Olio flowers

Have a good day all!

Cheery_Daff

Sorry to hear you fell, hope you're not too bruised!

Good to hear you're doing thermal blinds too - are they going to be as well as your bamboo ones? And are they going to be in front or behind if so? I ask as I'm making thermal ones for the kitchen and bedroom - they're basically squares of fabric but because they're several fancy layers and there aren't existing fittings, it feels more complicated 😂 But in the living room we currently have bamboo blinds... It's not as cold in there so not a priority, but I was wondering about doing something more thermal, so I'd be interested to know how you're doing yours 😊