NST June 2023 Flotsam and Jetsam

f0xh0les

ldee2111 said:

Sometimes I look at things around the house and really want to upgrade them - the kettle with the wonky button, the bent colander, the scraped plates. And I have to remind myself that they do their jobs and I’ve bigger goals than pretty plates.

Make a list and buy yourself one thing every two months, whether new, or charity shop new or £land new,  or when someone asks what you want for your birthday/Christmas. 

I don't think anyone who has been there would fail to understand  how mismatched/chipped/scratched plates just weigh on you every time you eat, or wash up, or put away, or look at them.   It is a daily disappointment. I am currently using dead step-gran's plates which I really dislike, but at least they match, and they will just get smashed anyway, and I need at least an 8 person set of everything and that is just not cheap .  I know where you are coming from. Keep an eye out on local selling/gifting pages just in case a cafe/restaurant goes bust,  and they sell off cheap - Hospice shops are a total treasure trove, as are the shops that some rubbish tips have in them. Charity shops often have sets still in their boxes (what is that even about?? who buys a whole set and never uses them??).............  and I am sorry, but a kettle is an essential piece of kit and you should rejoice every time you hit that button. Life is too short to be dealing with a wonky kettle, get a glass one that lights up when it boils.  It is a delight, and around £17.  -  get p/academic to pay for it if you can't justify it from the housekeeping budget.

It is a death by a thousand cuts  @ldee2111

KajiKita

Idee (can’t tag you for some reason) I’m with F0xh0les on this - the things I ‘touch every day’ have to be nice to interact with / work properly / look and feel good. I have a particular fussiness about door handles that Mr KK is very patient about …😉 Things that look ugly, feel unpleasant, don’t work properly are a constant irritant / depressant and energy drain, probably far more than we realise. I like F0xh0les plan and I reckon you get unopened sets in charity shops because they are unwanted wedding presents. Good hunting! 😊

KK

Toni'sfriend

It's been so hot and muggy here over the last few days. I confess, I'm struggling a bit. It's taking me all my time just to the bare minimum. I'm in awe of all you turtles who manage to keep on going, doing the garden, etc.

But, apart from that, things are good. We must be grateful for what we have. xxxx

f0xh0les

Confession time.

I have just bought a bag of ice cubes.  I think it is the third time in my life I have ever succumbed - £1.15 for 2kg.  I could not physically keep up with making them at the rate we are using them.  It is bliss to have a properly cold drink right now. It is 26 degrees and so humid.  Also did the big shop and lunchboxes are sorted for next week.

Toni'sfriend

I buy bags of ice cubes when we're on holiday. If I had room in the freezer I'd be buying them now. A necessity in this weather I would say.

KajiKita

I’ve made a discovery ……

You can put little pots of chopped fruit in juice in the freezer and then eat them like a containerised popsicle with a spoon. Lush! ❤️😊

KK

pollyanna_26

I always kept trays of ice cubes in the big chest freeer in the garage but it's something I've forgotten over the past few years. I was the idiot when we had the heatwave a few years ago who spent the day cooking for the freezer.i was glad I'd done it but vowed never again.

I do like the idea of a containerised popsicle. I've never thought of that. After too many days of thunder and lightening it's so hot and humid I'm wondering if a rather wonky rain dance may help but can't summon up the energy to try.

i had a  favourite poem in childhood when a storm was heading  in. A few days ago I remebered the poets name and the last line being the rain the welcome rain. i used to lie in bed during a storm saying that out loud as I knew when the rain arrived the storm would move away.

I can't remember the name of the poem or the poet though I could a few days ago. I do know I don't cope well in heat. I was always the one travelling around the Uk especialy the lakes and Scotland while others were flying abroad.

pollyx

ldee2111

@f0xh0les & @KajiKita - thank you for your encouragement. I am going to take a wee look at new kettles 👀 The current kettle says “let me rest in pieces.”

DS and I had a speedy declutter today - it consisted of every item of clothing he has being tried on, pulled off and put in piles. Some to the CS, some listed on V!ntd, and some to the recycling. I also dropped off a canister of helium to a person living nearby (had advertised it on a local forum as free and was inundated with instant requests), and posted another V!ntd sale.

Washed bedding because I sneezed and spilled my tea on it this morning. Bloomin’ hay fever! 

Grateful today for a decent declutter, OH making dinner, and getting bedding washed and dried thanks to the warm wind.

KajiKita

@ldee2111 - happy kettle hunting and bravo on the interactive DS decluttering! 😊👏

KK

Thrifty_Taylor

Ginger cat woke me at 3am, playing with an Orkney Vole in the bathroom. I didn't get up, but was woken another 2 times with him crashing about. Needless to say, I felt like s zombie when the alarm rang to wake DS1 up fur work. Managed to nod off for another hour.

Went to town, dropped the one item if sewing off that I've done this week, then had a look in a couple of CS's with mum. Bought a book, a bag, a couple of magazines, & a game with Del Boy to put away for sproutmas. The pet shop was closed for dinner, so had to wait for it to open in order to get more mice for DS1's snake. Drove home eating my free muffin. Put the dough on for pizzas, had dinner, then went for a nap. Put shopping away, made DS1's pizza before he went to work, then painted 2 sides of the shed, whilst DS2 weeded the attached trough, which I then planted up with sweet peas, as a surprise for DH when he comes home at the end of this or next week. Made pizzas for me & DS3, phoned DH, then it was dishes & more rug making.

Grateful for the rain holding off, planting the sweet peas, catching up on sleep, bargains!