Progress not Perfection

EssexHebridean

We often melt down old candles to make new ones - we’ve found it’s easiest done by a very low heat and an old stainless steel saucepan. Take a while, but does avoid the risk of melted wax everywhere! (As an aside though, you were possibly lucky - the advice is never to use a microwave on them as they can catch fire! 😱)

foxgloves

I didn't know this until we had our house professionally re-decorated as part of our 2020 - 2022 renovations, but wooden battens should really be used before any curtain poles are fitted. We'd removed our old poles ready for the decorator & asked him to include fitting the new ones we'd bought in his quote. He couldn't believe we'd had our old poles screwed directly into the plaster & insisted on fitting wooden battens even over our small landing window & the front door (where I have a thick curtain). As soon as he'd put them up, painted them & fitted the poles, I could see what he meant about the battens making a much stronger foundation for holding poles & curtains. The battens weren't anything fancy. He just arrived with some long narrow pieces of wood which he sawed to length & fitted with long screws. Fingers crossed no saggy curtain pole brackets since then, even in the lounge where we have heavy floor length velvet curtains.
If you do decide to find a local handyman to do a few annoying house jobs, a batten for helping with those heavy curtains could be well worth adding to the list.
F 

amber03

So far this year I’ve heard a lot of sad news, so it’s nice to hear about your DIL.xx

Sun_Addict

That's Wednesday done. I was in the office this morning and left at lunchtime to finish up at home and avoid the forecast rain after a lovely sunny morning. It was really busy today, looks like everyone's back from Christmas leave now.

The dog got me up just after 4.30 and I decided to stay up as I usually get up at 5-ish anyway. I just had my breakfast and got ready for work as normal and totally forgot I was up a lot earlier. This meant I left the house much earlier so arrived at work before it was open. No wonder the city centre was so quiet! Had to wait until 7 to get into the office. 

Not a NSD, I had to get DD a birthday card as it's her birthday tomorrow. I had ordered a job lot of special birthday cards from a Cornish company over a week ago but they've been sent via RM and won't be delivered in time. I'm just going to put some money in the card and I've got her a bottle of her favourite wine.

As I was passing Lid! I popped in to get a few bits, I'll need to go back tomorrow as I couldn't manage everything as well as carry my work stuff.

Exercise is the walking to/from work plus a live Zumba session at 6. Still without a FitBit but I know it will be over 20,000 steps done today. 

Tonight's dinner is an old favourite recipe Spanish style butterbean stew with veggie chorizo sausages. This will use up leftover butterbeans from the other day. 

In money dealings I've sent an oddment of £5.20 to the Christmas pot and 10p to the 1p a day savings pot (sending random amounts to this depending on what I've got).

milann

Fantastic news about your dil. I wouldn’t have expected excess weight to cause problems like she’s had…..it’s quite scary. Hope it works for her 🤞👍
Dont even get me going on extendable curtain poles and the curtain coming unfastened every time I try to close the curtains. It doesn’t happen when Dh draws them but he’s taller than me and can reach higher. He has bought something to rectify this but it’s still in the box in his bedroom of useful bits (mainly junk) and he bought them in September. Hope the curtains stay in situ for you.

WinterWarrior

I hope work are very impressed with your eagerness to start work 😅

Sun_Addict

WinterWarrior said:

I hope work are very impressed with your eagerness to start work 😅

I wasn’t on my own there was a huge queue. Once the security barriers opened at 7am there was a huge surge of people rushing through like the first day of the Harrods sale 🤣 

WinterWarrior

Amazing 🤣 I’m clearly in the wrong job! 

There’s usually a race into my office when I open the door, but that’s just dog and 2 of the cats who are all convinced that they work there. The cats have their own chair, but usually join me on my desk for the official logging on ceremony (as they like to press the keys, sit on the mouse, shut the lap top, tip the coffee, etc. and cause as much chaos as possible before settling down). I do start early, but the only enthusiasm is for an earlier finish when I’ve got the hours over with 😁
I’m imagining everyone camping outside your doors with deckchairs and flasks 😁

Humdinger1

My adored dog (The Beloved) likes to keep me company under the desk.  I've had to remove my plug-in slippers from his mouth kindly but firmly several times now.  Otherwise, a good boy; a very, very good boy indeed xx

ladyholly

I wish our boy was a good boy.  He may be in the future but at the moment let's just say work in progress.