Simplifying Life

annelouise_2

Had just another pre move turf out today.

1 x bag school clothes for family of 6
1 x bag of assorted clothes for another family
1 x bag of girls party dresses for neighbour who is over here for 2 weeks tomorrow
1 x bob the builder bike for friend
2 x bags assorted clothes for me to bring back to UK for another friend
1 x bag for clothes bank

Getting boxes tomorrow from computer shop so will get a few more bits organised.

OH Important job interview next Thursday so we are flying out from here Weds night,staying in the hotel that interviews are held in and we should know that day - Hurray fingers crossed.

Have 2 cases and 2 hand luggage filled with stuff that is coming back to UK and our interview outfits so OH has less to cram in car when he drives it back over - poor love.

annelouise

mary43

Oh annelouise - I hang my head in shame as I look as the mess thats covering my desk, let alone the floor............lol Still, some of it is stuff thats due for the charity shop having been on freecycle and no takers and the box I covered will go upstairs to the 'christmas stuff room' tomorrow before I get out my new little weeny hoover and glide effortlessly around the floor.............lol I've a friend calling in the afternoon.........I did warn her that we're knee deep in muck due to hoover breaking down (something else on freecycle in the hope that someone may need it for spares) so I could give her a pleasant surprise by wafting the duster around and doing the floor..........not that she'd notice..........she always says she comes to see me not the house...............(just as well !)
Spoke to son and wished him Happy 40th Birthday.........he was all choked up as his teenage twins (who live with their mum) had turned up with a pressie and card, just when he thought they'd forgotten ..............lol Then he found his current partner had booked the Magical Mystery Tour in Liverpool next week when they spend a few days there of Beatlemania..........and a bit of Culture we hope...........lol

Good luck to OH with his job interview..................:T

EagerLearner

Hi everyone I am reading the book 'Home Comforts' which is very good and it has me thinking more about my linen and to have good quality rather than lots of lower quality items.

Can anyone recommend a good company to buy from online? In Summer we like cotton and winter we like flanelette. Right now I'd be keen to get some cotton at a lower cost, ready for next spring/summer if possible but I want it to be good quality?

mary43

EL - can't help you there I'm afraid............always been a bit of 'cheapskate' on virtually everything..............lol Get a lot of bedding from charity shops.......some of it looks and feels unused so for £2 plus a bit it lasts me a while. Haven't bought flannelete sheets for some years now but got the feeling this winter I just might need to and they really ought to be good quality if they're to last.
I think a lot of stores are having sales on so you may well be able to pick some linen up at a good price.

Tried out my new weeny vaccum cleaner this morning...........couldn't believe I could actually use it without backache (well have to admit to minor twinge but nothing by comparison to normal).........needs emptying quite often but then thats a small price to pay for actually being able to use it.
Kids are being a pain - youngest one was supposed to be on youth club trip
but went off to the playing field instead so missed the mini bus ! Still, he came back, mooched about a bit and went off with his mates instead.
Older lad went for a job interview (so he said anyway) but just came back -said he didn't get it as his accent was 'inappropriate'...........not sure what they call the kind of speech when every sentence ends with 'innit !'
Had pleasant afternoon with my friend.............she came with two guitars..........one for OH to have a play with (he wants to see if he can master it) and the out ex foster lads friend may well be able to fix the other and have it himself. He's very good with anything musical.
So, clutter is building up around me.........why on earth 'stuff' has to be put in me little den is beyond me but it seems anything due for freecycle or charity shops or en route to anywhere else ends up in here !
OH collected a wardrobe from freecycler this morning...........so far thats been stuck in the front room and got no further and I ain't having it in here.........no way ! The garage is the place for it until out building site room no longer resembles a building site, then I can get creative on it with my paint brush...............:j

2cats1kid

Hi all. I've just had a pleasant day pottering in the kitchen, making apple and blackberry leather (DD loves those fruit winder things, but they are so full of rubbish I pretty much refuse to buy them for her, so hopefully these will go down well). I've also just racked my first attempt at blackberry wine and had a sip and it is lovely already. It's supposed to be left to mature for 3 or 4 months, so it should be fab by then. And I've put a batch of herbal tea bag wine (cheap and cheerful!) on to ferment. I'm hoping to have a nice little stash of wine by Christmas, so that will be the festive plonk on the cheap.

I used leftover chicken in a chicken and lentil curry tonight - gave DH a normal portion of everything, DD a portion of chicken with just a coating of sauce (she remains to be convinced that lentils are edible LOL) and I had the sauce only and rice. It was really nice. I hardly ever use lentils, so I must use them more. I'll never get my family to be vegetarian (sorry Ceridwen!), but I've decided in my new meal plan there will be one veggie dinner a week, and some of the meat on other days will be padded out with lentils etc.

And I've been feeling a little guilty at the lack of "fun" things I've been doing with DD this holidays (although I think the cooking we have done together will prove important in the future, and we have enjoyed doing that together) so we played badminton in the garden this afternoon, and are playing tennis tomorrow morning at the tennis club (first visit) and then badminton in the afternoon at the leisure centre. So I won't be able to move by this time tomorrow LOL.

mary43

2cats - you have been busy and I have to ask...........whats apple & blackberry leather ??? Don't remember hearing of that before.

Well my life seems most 'unsimplified' at the minute when I look around at all the 'stuff to do'...............wardrobe to go in building site room, building site room needing to be turned into a 'room' or at least have some paint sloshed on the walls............2 guitars my friend brought over yesterday as her daughter had a clear out. OH decided he wanted to have a go at teaching himself (ear plugs must be bought !) and the other one might be of some use to a lad at music college (he's just made a mandolin - beautiful it is) to restore or something, failing that freecycle or charity shop.
Seem to have 'mislaid' something I created to go in christmas hamper and its bugging me to find it !! Trouble is, I think of all these things to do for christmas pressies and instead on concentrating on one project at a time I have half a dozen 'half done' bits of an idea around me !!!:eek:
So - this afternoon, once kids are out of the way I shall plough into my spare room upstairs and see exactly what I''ve got, who its for, and put it in an approproate box or basket..........put in a 'project' pile 'stuff to do' -separate box for that I think..........and make list of what I need to get to finish off all this stuff.
My idea of getting Christmas literally wrapped up by the end of August is fast becoming a non-event ! Plus side............all Christmas cards are made and pressies bought (I think)...............know better when I've done the equivalent of a 'stock check'............................lol
Must start and wear 'efficiency' hat :j

ceridwen

Well - I'll answer that query re apple and blackberry leather....its a fruit leather made of apples and blackberries.

Basically - fruit leathers are a "raw food" recipe - ie food prepared without cooking (or at any rate "cooking" at an extremely low temperature - so as not to destroy enzymes contained in the food). Fruit leathers is one thing one can do with fruit - as in drying them in a dehydrator (ie suitable very low temperature).

mary43

ceridwen - thanks for that info.

Mislaid item got found and pressies sorted into respective piles........so thats something thats made life easier.
Had a productive time in the garden getting more beans in, pulling up a few weeds and cutting back the overflowering mint that was attracting flies like there's no tomorrow !:eek:

Made a list of stuff to get for bits and pieces I want to 'concoct/create' for christmas so I can get them done and out of the way........I'll take some of the freecycle offers to the charity shops while I'm at it so that'll clear a bit more of the floor space..............daren't touch the guitars though...........not yet anyway.

Wardrobe for 'building site room' has now moved from front room to kitchen ! I get the feeling it will stay there until the building site is transformed into some sort of 'room'....................methinks I must as ex foster lad if he fancies earning a few pence/quid sloshing some paint on for us...........:o

2cats1kid

Thanks, Ceridwen. Been in and out today, but not really checking threads.

The leather is very tasty, but I have to say a lot of work for what it is! I'm trying to find tasty healthy snacks for DD as she comes out of school starving hungry, and it's so easy to give her a bag of crisps or something. It's all well and good me doing this stuff in the holidays, but I really can't see me going for all that faffing about once she's back at school and I'm back at work. Nice idea though.

Mary, you always seem so busy - you must fair buzz about that house!

I am collapsed tonight - no cooking for me! Played tennis with the DD for an hour this morning (last played 30 years ago!) and then badminton for an hour this afternoon (last played about 15 years ago!) and I hurt LOL. I could barely lift my feet by the end of the badminton. DD wants to make it a regular thing, and I really ought to, as I struggle with things to do with her now - it was so easy when she was little and a walk to the swings was a big deal.

mary43

2cats - wouldn't say I 'buzz' about exactly..............most activities are based around sitting down................lol
Having played with the weeny hoover yesterday (no ill effects on the back thank goodness) I bet todays pulling up and cutting back will take it's toll tomorrow..........................:rolleyes:
Now, it's getting to 'comfy sofa' time.....................lol:rotfl: