NST: November 2023 – Sparkle

Thrifty_Taylor

NSD#11

Had to leave early this morning, to take my car to the garage & get a lift from my work bestie on her way through the village. My timetable was jiggled this morning, due to another member of staff being off, but all went well. Discovered that the elastic had gone in my pants when I arrived at work, so spent the day hoicking them back up again. Thank goodness I was wearing trousers!!! A lift back to the garage afterwards, to collect my car. Needs brake pads ordering, then they're fitting me in just before c-mas. 

Did a Jo Wix exercise routine, as didn't do any this morning. Took washing off the airer & another lot put on, then unpicked a zip, which I replaced after tea. Pinned the skirt & dresses ready for sewing tomorrow night, so I'll have caught up then 😃 (until Saturday when I collect the next lot!)

Grateful for work bestie giving me a lift, getting my car back today, trousers, catching up on sewing jobs, good TV programmes, an early night

Well done @f0xh0les, being 🤥 every now & then doesn't hurt!
Get well soon @weenancyinAmeric a& @grandmanerd

Esmeralda2662

@f0xh0les - had to smile at the thought of Mr.f0xh0les getting away with hoarding because he's cute naked! Maybe a Mr.F 2024 calendar posing naked while doing various crafts/electrical rebuilds ... ? Could be a money spinner! 

Got a puncture wound in my finger at work last week and it will not heal. Think there's a big glass fibre splinter in there so will go to Minor Injuries tomorrow. Driving to work today it bled through the plaster, all over my hand and onto steering wheel. Need to clean it up as car has MOT tomorrow.

Got a lovely bottle of champagne for completing 3 years at work. Will save it for festivities in Dec/Jan.

My friend and I went to our 1st free recycling craft class last Sunday to make decorations for sprout day out of old music sheets. Lovely group and great fun. 2nd class this Sunday making decorations out of tin lids.

Started decluttering the garage (more like an extra kitchen/household storage room where you could park a car if there was space). 1 black bin bag filled and 1 box of items for tip charity shop. Not massive progress but my niece fetched lots of toys she was storing in there and that made a big difference.

Think I'm on NSD5. Bought some food from Icyland on Tuesday and was brave enough to ask for my pensioner 10% discount. £1.64 off so worth it.

Met my friend at her village fair and got a cosy crime novel to read, a fairy ornament for mum's garden and a picture book for my toddler nephew. Coffee and cake to finish. Yum, and all for a good cause.

Grateful for crafting fun, any rubbish/recycling leaving the house, champagne and 4 days off work. X

wishus

@grandmanerd wishing you strength.

@Toni'sfriend totally with you on Indiana Jones. Did a rewatch of them all earlier this year, but it took so long I missed the one in the cinema! It'll have to wait now!

I think this time last year I started rewatching the Die Hards, and it's so tempting again now. OH wants to watch telly with me every night, and then he asks what I want on. Agh, I dunno, I want to go and do other things!

We watched Equals on iPlayer about two friends struck by annoying emotions in an emotionless future who then fall in love. It was pretty good!

NSD scored yesterday. I think my target might get missed because I have an early Christmas present outing tonight that I didn't know about at the start of the month but I will continue to aim for as near perfection as possible. 

And the electric is working again. I see we may have to add some damp proofing to the renovations list in the cellar. But we have planned out 2024 and we can do it! Positivity!

Last night's Jamie Oliver 50/50 Bolognese sauce was tasty. Made enough for 2 more meals.

Right, better go make some bread. Breakfast is going to be plum porridge as we have half a punnet that are not such great eaters now. 

And I am going to see if I can find a bag for the Air Ambulance who are collecting today. Saves me a trip to the chazza on the weekend. 

grandmanerd

The wardrobe, broken bed frame, 'bookcase' (been used outside for the past 2 years) and the headboard have all been collected. The headboard was done at 4 am. I'd brought a wrench and a  ratchet screwdriver with a set of  tops upstairs only to find that the 'knobs' were a weird star shape.  I couldn't budge them but neither could anyone else so I broke the headboard  off (small piece of wood still attached to the bed - 95% gone is better than still  being stuck with it), took it down and wrapped it in 'greenhouse' cover.

I've had  a shower and put ibuprofen gel on my knees as they are still complaining,will postpone doctor's surgery visit until this afternoon. Lots to do in my room starting with a grand rubbish and recycling round up. Plan to move things from the end of the bed (against the wall and is to be the new 'head end') then start making the bed up from that end (may need a bit more cleaning at this end). Stacking all the pillows up and getting the under and over merino wool layers done should free up a lot of floor space and I won't get sunshine in my eyes when sewing or using the laptop.

Going to eat the last of the pasta salad and then make a start.

Grateful for Council collections (can have another free 5 items in 6 months), my niece's house being much lower in price than I expected (might be able to buy my brother out of grandma's house cheaply), getting things done when  not at all well (felt really ill yesterday but it was one of those 'just get it done and it makes things so much better - a pity that DS3 damaged himself so much that he couldn't do the second wardrobe but very happy with what's been done). I now have lots of awkward corners  to clean out, places where random items of furniture were and bits were stuckk under and around them. 

beanielou

That’s an awesome achievement @grandmanerd  🤩

Toni'sfriend

Take care, Grandmanerd

As I expected the plumber didn't arrive yesterday nor has he arrived today. Just phoned and they had a systems failure and the repair hasn't gone through. The girl was extremely apologetic and wanted to get a plumber out tonight as an emergency. Really not necessary so she's arranged for one on Monday which is fine. Kitchen is now looking more organised as everything is back under the sink. 

Got quite a few little jobs done today and more thrown out so progress. Chicken broth in the slow cooker.

Things are going well. xxx

f0xh0les

 How lovely we are all getting things sorted out.
@grandmanerd you could always mention to your neighbours that you need a collection but you have to wait, and if they had only one or two items, could you leave something with their items.  Community Spirit Rules!
Full disclosure : I used to man that council hotline in South Staffs, and you can amend the amount of items/ kind of items  up to the day before collection. 

Toni'sfriend

Absolutely, f0xh0les. The girl from the Council actually recommended at one time that if we were getting a bulk uplift to ask neighbours if they had something they needed collecting. They found that it saved things just being dumped willy nilly. xxx

Toni'sfriend

Weenancy - I'm fascinated that you are a professional genealogist. I've been doing mine on a purely amature basis from 1990. Pen, paper trawling through records in Edinburgh and Glasgow Wandering through graveyards. Asking family about people. Even went to Ireland to see what I could find out. Fascinating! But I've found that with the advent of online records people are not so rigorous. I had one person attach my whole tree to theirs, Totally the wrong person in the beginning. Even when I very politely pointed it out the them they just ignored me, Attached it photographs and all. It really annoys me as it muct do you. xxx

grandmanerd

f0xh0les said:

 How lovely we are all getting things sorted out.
@grandmanerd you could always mention to your neighbours that you need a collection but you have to wait, and if they had only one or two items, could you leave something with their items.  Community Spirit Rules!
Full disclosure : I used to man that council hotline in South Staffs, and you can amend the amount of items/ kind of items  up to the day before collection. 

No it says they will only take the items specified, no substitutions. They have increased it to  2 pick ups a year with 5 items for free but I wanted to get rid of what I could now (I have my sights on a few other things - and a couple of superannuated teenagers).  The yard looks great -  it's basically what I've been working towards for the past couple of months.  There is still more to  do but I can walk straight to the gate (and the bins) without stepping over and round things.

Today I have a clean bed with new linen sheets and pillowcases (next stage is putting pillows, protectors and pillowcases together, then covers to go over me. Large bin bag of rubbish, smaller bags of paper and cans down. I'm going to be very selective about what comes back on the bed with me and hoping some of the lower drawers in 2 sets will  accommodate festive treats and wrapped presents (want cards written and as many presents as possible wrapped by the end of the month. 

I also have boxes to start packing their stuff in. DS3 couldn't get to the wardrobe on the far side of the room and the middle unit with drawers was full of stuff. He said he couldn't pack them as I'd given away their boxes to the lodger. I've been listening to old music to keep me going with my room. Got a little tired of the 50s one and then The Wall came up, so listening to that (45 years on).

Grateful for music, a clean bed, linen sheets.