NST NIFTY NOVEMBER

Esmeralda2662

Prosecco afternoon tea on Friday with mum, sister, niece and her toddler. We sat in the beautiful hotel conservatory and had gorgeous sandwiches and cakes. It was a belated birthday present for me in June and a belated Christmas present for mum. Took my toddler great-nephew to play in the playground afterwards as he'd been so good.

A fault light came up on mum's car, no idea what it was, so checked manual and it was the tyre pressure sensor system. Took her to pump up tyres at garage and hope that it would switch off. Luckily it did after it read the new pressures. Phew.

Neighbours took us for a pub meal last night for looking after their 4 cats while they were away. Very nice meal and a chance to chat as usually we're like ships in the night. Have agreed to cat sit later this month and again between Christmas and New Year.

Expensive day today buying card, gift cards and treats for niece's 30th Birthday tomorrow. Also got some food shopping and a washing machine cleaner to freshen up WM at home. Managed to resist the fantastic Christmas decorations in The R*nge, although it was tough!

Got slow cooker going with a balti in it to use up some diced beef a bit past it's use by date. Wanted to add carrots but they had gone off. Anyone else noticed how quickly carrots go mouldy these days? Not sure how it will turn out but fingers crossed. X

f0xh0les

The moon tonight was fab.  Had to catch a different bus as I missed the one I usually catch as I left work late, ended up walking up 'the wrong end' of the street, under the railway bridge and up the hill home, and the moon was gorgeous.  Tonight was the first night it has felt properly cold and autumnal.  Not bad for a week into November, can't complain, will have to see if The Winter Coat zips up, always a danger!

Took DH, DS3 and DS4 to town and bought DS4 a new coat and a hoody, and DS3  3 new hoodys because he hated every coat (of course he did, he is 14) but they are as winter ready as I can make them.  Used 20% off employee discount so £80 all in.  Bought falafel wraps from a falafel stall so lunch was £4 each. Then I went to work.  DS2 lent me his bus ticket again.

Gratitudes: supper ready for me when I got home ( that man!!), being asked to work extra hours tomorrow (all ££s for the fund) for the shopping trip only being equivalent to the second circle of hell.

BadBookkeeper

Evening turtles,

Had ds footy match this morning, they won so helps us have a good rest of the day!! 

Took ds to a bowling party, wandered around the local bargains for the home store but wasn’t familiar with their lay out so got a few things off my list but will visit one I go to regularly to have a proper shop!  Bought something I had on the big river shop list £18 cheaper!  

Paid for shopping from various pots and updated my lists 

Planner updated for the week but forgot to make my soup so will do that in the morning.

Big breakfast this morning after footy so didn’t need anything else all day.  Did have a glass of wine this evening.  

Winter coats washed and dried and ready for wearing.

NSDs Still 3/15

Gratitude - DS team winning and our footy team winning. 

Snapped receipts from spends today. 

Thrifty_Taylor

Exercise & yoga ✔️
NSD#4
Hung the washing out, then after breakfast I cleaned the bathroom. Took box of homemade items for friend's pop up shop. Helped her set up for an hour. After dinner DS3 helped me clear a space under the worktop in the shed, then store boxes of books. Moved the boxes of decorations for next month closer to the front of the other shed, & moved some of his drum kit into the new space. Did the ironing, then after tea the dishes, before sewing elves for mum's customer - it's taking longer than I thought it would!! Had a bath with my book.

Grateful for friend giving me the opportunity of stocking my makes in her shop, it staying dry while we moved boxes, a delicious tea (DH cooked a chicken in the slow cooker)

grandmanerd

Had a lovely afternoon with my granddaughter and her parents. Then came home and fell asleep (in my dress) shortly afterwards. I'll be drifting off again soon, just wanted to check in.

f0xh0les

Oh good! glad you made it, I  was worried because you were feeling unwell last time you posted. 

thriftylass

Good morning, 

Had a lazy-ish weekend mainly watching spooky stuff with the kids. Funny how your perception of scary changes from being a kid. DS (11) and DD (8) had to stop watching after a while (it was just the Disn3y Sulphur Springs show). But I guess they'r at that age where imagination goes overdrive. 

Money still looking good this month. Put another £200 aside that I'm trying not to spend and stick on the CC at the end of the month or use for stocking up on Christmas food. God knows what a goose will cost this year. Checked in Aldi and they don't have any yet, although the turkeys are in.

Week 2 shopping done (including cat food and litter) and still only spend £168 out of the £400 budget. (BTW where are all the cool emojis gone that the old forum had?)

@DrCarrie I would love to be able to make sauerkraut. Think I tried once and it got infected by sth. 

grandmanerd

f0xh0les said:

Oh good! glad you made it, I  was worried because you were feeling unwell last time you posted. 

Sorry, there was another post which said I was feeling better but taking it gently, but for some reason it hadn't posted but was still in the message box when I came back - maybe the laptop had cut out .

Yes I did some gentle tidying yesterday morning. My shoulder is nagging and although that's the worst arthritis spot it felt as though I'd 'pulled' something, so I've been reviewing my activities for another that was stopping me getting better. I've decided that both the mattress cover and quilt of heavy merino wool will go on the bed underneath me (the mattress cover worked it's way off the door side of the bed within a few days of me retrieving it from the window side of the bed). They're both so heavy and so large that they've been frustrating my attempts to get the room straight. So in several stages I pulled them both onto and across the bed, put the pillows back and I have sheets and two bedcovers (dark green velvety one and a thick white cotton one) to cover me up and keep me warm.

Once they were not in my way I packed away some plates and other kitchen items in the second of four boxes I've set aside for them, put all the books in order and tackled some of the stuff that was on the floor. A minor mishap during the week - the box holding all the paperwork that hasn't yet been dealt with (archived) tipped up, half went off the bed and ripped all down one corner. I was holding it on the bed with one hand and trying to manoeuvre it back to a stable position with the other. I'd moved it onto the floor before starting the mattress smoothing (still want to steam or spot clean that at some point) but for now my room's much improved. 

I went downstairs with all my things once DS2 had messaged to say they were on the way. DS3 had come up to say I needed to 'deal with my plants' - 3 of the trees have arrived (due from Wednesday onward). By the time I'd put those in the yard, DS2 was coming through the front door.

The Garden Centre was extremely busy (they'd mentioned it to friends who'd warned them). It was much much bigger than when I last visited. After a circuit of the whole car park, they dropped me by one of the entrances while they went to find somewhere (anywhere) to park the car. We couldn't take my walker (pram was in the boot) so I picked a small compact trolley to use instead. I had a look round the food hall and then went 'outside' (open but glassed over) to get a breath of fresh air - I'd worried about the baby getting overwhelmed, it was nearly too much for me. Every junction had to be negotiated with other pram and trolley pushers whether you were trying to turn or go straight ahead.

I went back to the entrance to wait for my family and suggested cutting straight across the the food hall to the outdoor plant area before deciding whether to plunge in or go somewhere else to eat. The 'model village' was set up out here - very detailed tableau of trains (smaller of the model railway gauges), another set up in the 'tender' of a child sized train with a small railway bridge so you could look at it from above, an alpine village with pine trees, skiers and tiny people enjoying the snow. We dipped into the Christmas lights - baby loved all the different coloured twinkly lights and there were snowmen, penguins and gingerbread men nearly as big and bigger than me. Baby was in the baby sling carried by mum and DS2 pushed the pram (they spent two whole weekends researching that pram and the baby prefers not to be in it - this might change once she's old enough to sit up properly).

We stumbled across the food (dining) area (signposting wasn't great, the online map looked sensible but when there are people everywhere it gets more complicated). We found a quiet spot to stand with the pram and trolley whilst baby and mum did the intrepid explorer bit. A larger seating area around the corner, thought it wiser to find a table before queuing for food. They had notices apologising because they were short-staffed and trying to recruit more. A lovely older couple indicated they were about to leave so we hovered by their table, squeezing in as they squeezed out. DS2 went to check out food options and we all decided on the roast dinner. I gave DS2 my card but I don't know if I paid or how much. DS2 said he'd paid for the drinks but he may have paid for the whole thing. 

I'd handed over the little fox in the car (baby's special decoration from me) as she was fretful and DS2 used it to distract her). We talked about Christmas and making new traditions - I'd chosen the fox because I didn't know if they had a 'theme', it was neutral and natural and very cute. We talked about DS1, comparing our recent interactions. When DS1 and his wife met the baby they talked about names they'd chosen for 'when they have children'. So we think DS1 has agreed to babies, once he's feeling secure in this  job (years of short term contract and agency working, two Brexit redundancies and the govt deciding to cut 1 in 5 civil servants the week after you've been told you're finally going to by a permanent employee will unsettle you). I gave them the bandana bibs with built in teething triangle (part of baby's Christmas present but thought they might need them now - poor thing has her fist in her mouth most of the time and very red cheeks). 

We went to look round the Christmas decorations (part of the same room we'd been in but the 'rooms' are all the size of large sports halls or stadiums). They picked 2 new decorations for their tree and insisted on buying me an owl decoration, DS2 showed my at least 2 dozen different owls first and wore me down. I'd played games with baby during lunch and talked about making her a teepee using sweet peas and green beans next year. 'Grandma's' in charge of teaching her about gardening because daddy doesn't have a green thumb (playing in soil has been added to the 'banned during pregnancy' list) and making things (all things crafty). 

We found the tapas bar and went in for snacks. They got our order wrong, luckily the woman whose order it was came over and intervened (table 22 not 12). One man made a lot of fuss and demanded to speak to the manager. Our order came a bit later with profuse apologies and we all felt sorry for the staff - they were only young, must have been on their feet all day due to the volume of customers and put the mistake straight right away. Whilst baby was whisked away for a change, DS2 asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I've asked for a garden bag with pockets for trowels, forks, labels and secateurs (my old one disintegrated at mum's). he tried to persuade me to upgrade to an apron (I thought the chances of impaling myself on the tools as I sat down were high) or a fancy one with a stool (can't sit on low handleless stools and would have been heavier to carry). Baby came back and I got to hold and cuddle her. I was very pleased that I managed to lift her off DS2's lap but gave her back when I felt my arms getting tired (way before there was a chance of dropping her).

We had a quick scan of the cook shop and the baby boutique but didn't buy and then we all went home. I've slept nearly all night (did have a quick read around 4 am) but I'm quite happy where I am for now. I have a list of things I want to do this week. I've looked up the venues for walk in COVID boosters but considering the amount of walking I did yesterday, I'm quite happy to rest and do a bit of gentle pottering and tidying.

Grateful for my little family, all my sons and their partners, grateful that problems seem to have been resolved and hoping we will all have a better future. Grateful that DS1 has told me about their other Christmas Day guests (3 people who were at their wedding, I can cope with 3 extra people for one day, I'll practice my smiling and nodding along).

grandmanerd

Monday 7th November 2022
Home Indeed
Draw up a chair and light a light
And find a book to read.
The heavens are dark and wild the night,
And home is home indeed.
The louder seems the winter's ire
Tonight, the brighter seems the fire;
For when the wintry storms begin
The more comfort here within.

The wind is at the windowpane,
The wind is at the door;
It shakes the house and shakes in vain,
For loud the chimney's roar.
And higher leaps the crimson blaze
In winter than in summer days:
The more the weather is unkind
A greater joy within we find.

The fields in springtime call us forth,
Their rosy paths to roam;
But when the wind is in the north,
We pluck the rose at home.
Perhaps God sends the wintry hours
To show that there are other flowers;
For when a roof and fire you need,
Ah, then home is a home indeed!
(Douglas Malloch)


Thinking of all who are homeless or who have no fire.

thriftylass

Well, I just had a nice surprise. I have a N3ctar account but don't shop in S@insbury's or £bay  much, but my DFD$ account must be linked and booking the last ferry has gone through. Hence, I discovered I have about £40 worth of points. Might put that towards the Christmas food and order some from S@insbury's unless someone has a better idea on how to use them?

Edit: Decided to stock up on some basics for the winter instead: pasta, rice, beans, lentils but also mince, sausages and chicken etc. Just got the £1 saver delivery (don't live anywhere near a S@insbury's so delivery is necessary) and got some SB.