From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Thanks for all your well wishes.

Yes, we have now told LG - they packed their "stuff" bag within 5 minutes 🤣

The only reason why there is quite a bit of prep is because we can't really rely on finding somewhere affordable for 'tea' and the 'Sir Lenny's' we're going to has got abysmal reviews for breakfast, so I have to make sure we've something to eat in the morning too.  DH is very much a creature of habit as far as meals/timing is concerned, and LG is becoming that way too.

Right, off to make sangers.  Nearly all done now.

See you soon.  Ta for popping by.

Greying X

redofromstart

Hope you have a lovely trip and that the weather is kind.

rtandon27

oooo - a little holibob - enjoy your time away GP & family!!! - hope the weather is as nice for you as we have today!  I thought of you this morning as I hung the laundry outside in the sunshine and watched it happily steam away in the cool crisp air.

greenbee

Have a lovely holiday!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Thank you all for your lovely wishes.

Our trip away was....OK.  In hindsight, although DH said 'book it', he didn't really want to do anything this HT until he'd done all the DIY that he wants to do 🙄 So we got to the location in good time.  Parked up and paid the £6 parking charge 😕 (granted it was for 24hrs, and it was on tarmac - the other option was £6 to park on boggy grassed areas), which co-incidentally was next to the heritage feature we'd come to see.  We were more or less the first in, so managed to have a whole (ruin) to ourselves 😁To be fair, as the morning wore on the custodians had put on lots to do for the kids for halloween; plus, there was lots of exploring to do, climbing up and down stairs and going along narrow corridors.  However, despite numerous entry/exit signs and numerous 'one way only' directions, it's amazing how many people expected to barge past you on spiral staircases and in narrow stone corridors........................🙄

We exited thru the gift shop and LG asked for one (low cost, and actually quite useful) small gift and they handed in their trail sheet to get the free lolly - which was halloween themed!

As we left the site, the weather started to change (as forecast).  We went around a little craft market - some nice things, but the nice stuff was out of my price range (didn't actually need either), and there was a little local charity selling things, but they hadn't priced anything, so I chose not to ask, as I didn't want to have that 'awkward obligation' feeling 😕

We walked around the town a little.  I went in far more chi-chi gift shops than DH and LG could tolerate, as it had got far too close to lunchtime......🤣  Anyhoo, I did find a little garden centre - essentially someone's townhouse back garden, made into a mini nursery and plant centre - so that was nice to wander through (FoC, but i did put in a small donation, as I got a nice pic of a robin in the garden).  We retired to the car to eat our lunch, there was plenty of seating/picnic benches available, but by lunchtime the wind had really picked up, and whilst it wasn't cold, cold, it just wasn't very pleasant to be sat trying to eat in gusty wind.  After lunch, I went off for a wander by myself (no other takers), and discovered some views and footpaths that we hadn't seen.  I did think about going back to one of the gift shops to get something, but talked myself out of it in the end.  As we got to the PI the rain started, and because of the weather (and clocks change), it went darkish quite quickly, so we hunkered down and broke out the hot chocolate and watched the rugger on TV.  Tea was pizza and pasta from home 😁

We had a good night's sleep and had intended to make a visit to at least one other heritage site yesterday, but the weather was rubbish, and either choice - one 'on the way' home and one 'the other direction and then an alternative route home' didn't appeal in bad weather.  So we left for home, but did have a stop at a walking spot and LG came with me (DH stayed in the car and read his new charity shop book find 🙄), so it was good to get some fresh air - and for the time we were out, the weather was fine (it had poured with rain up until we stopped).  We set off home again, and encountered awful weather - why is it on trunk roads people speed up in the rain, don't have their lights on and risk aquaplaning on standing water........  Thankfully the storm was short-lived.

The weather in Greying Town was lovely when we got back🙄

We ended up having the 'packed lunch' (actually only cup soup made up into a flask and some bread rolls), I had made yesterday morning; at home.  At least I was able to butter the rolls and shove a bit of cheese in too.  But we were pleased that the soup had stayed hot in the flask (I was unsure whether one lot of coffee had gone cooler - but perhaps I hadn't sealed the flask fully), so that is something that we can repeat again for winter picnics.  I have done soup in flasks before - but these are new flasks and aren't 'specifically' food flasks.

DH got up at 'silly o'clock' this morning to begin DIY 🙄  It is dry here, but there is no breeze.  I don't think washing is going to do well this week - although I increasingly have mountains to process.

Tea last night was cheap and cheerful fish fingers, chips and beans. 

Goodness knows what meals we will have today, as DH is working in the kitchen. 

Why didn't I book a week in the Caribbean and let him get on with it 🤔

Need to go into Greying Town today to do the money shuffle.  Don't suppose LG will want to leave their beloved papa's side, although I'm sure DH will want the place to himself 🤣

LG did enjoy our time away.  I think they, like I, were a bit disappointed about not doing alot yesterday.  Sunday was OK, and at least they said they had enjoyed the visit - which was the principle reason for our trip.  It's a beautiful place to visit - particularly in autumn - oh the colours.  We purposely skirted the local university town (thankfully the PI was on the outskirts in a business park), as the traffic system is complicated and prone to congestion.  Unfortunately when we passed the Waitr0se first it was still closed (Sunday) and when we came back, it was heaving and the car park (not huge anyway) was chokka, so I didn't get to have a wander around.  I did spot some bargain potatoes in the local sp*r, but it was when I was on my own, and I didn't fancy lugging kilos of tatties back to the car in increasingly deteriorating weather 😕  But Maris Pipers for something like 26p a kilo 😲

Anyhoo, best shift a tail feather.  Time is ticking.

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

Aw Greying, have a hug (((()))))) I can see how much of a tug there is for your family between family activities and DIY. I feel for all sides in this case - I love a day out, but Mr Cheery will go merrily on excursions from now til the cows come home and no DIY will ever get done, because he doesn't do it when I'm at work either. So I, possibly like Mr Greying, find myself torn on any given non-working day between being fun and actually getting something useful done. It's such a tricky balance, isn't it? Right now I feel like I'd love someone in my house to prioritise DIY (especially if it wasn't me) - but i do realise I'm not also trying to raise and entertain a small person 😕 Is he doing jobs you don't think are necessary? Or does he just not have enough time to fit everything in? Sorry, please don't answer personal questions if you'd rather not, and I hope I don't come across as an interfering so-and-so 😬 I just understand something of being torn between fun and useful and often feeling like I've come down on the wrong side whichever i choose 😕 relationships and DIY are tricky terrain to navigate, in my experience!

Anyway, I am glad you got away 😊 and that your flasks were efficacious, and you had a whole ruin to yourself! As you know, that happened to me recently and it was great 😁

That little garden centre sounded great, I hope another small cheerful happening appears today too 😊

Greying_Pilgrim

Aw, Cheery, no-one could ever accuse you of being an interferring-so-and-so.  You're quite the opposite, a fantastic and supportive chum!  

No DH is (bless him) tackling jobs that need it - ceiling painting, following replastering - and to be fair to him, the kitchen is the last room to tackle.  Mind, once he's done that I know that he will be hankering to do the walls of the whole house, which have gone to look shabby, and whilst no colour in any room is glaringly distasteful, they could probably be a bit more 'cheerful neutral' if that makes sense.  But I'm wanting him to hold off that for a bit longer, just in case replacing the windows does any damage to the plasterwork - some of which is already shonky 🫤 And bless him, he did say from the get-go that he wanted to do some DIY in HT - it's just he has a hard time being present for 'family' stuff if he's got it in his mind that he's got a job to do.  He gave the impression that he'd rather be at home than with us - which wasn't actually what he felt, but it's the vibe that he gave off, because he was preoccupied with the painting.  He always has had a hard time compartmentalising things, and lets work etc gnaw away at him, even if he's at home and there is nothing he can do to affect the outcome.  

Anyway, LG agreed to walk into Greying Town with me, so that was nice.  it was lovely to see the leaves and we were spotting things as we went along and chatting together.  I remembered that the food waste diversion scheme operates out of one of the town centre community places on a Tuesday, so we went in that direction. They had plenty of cooking apples to share, and the volunteer was imploring me to take bread too.  I hope it's OK (not stale) as it's a branded h0v1s large loaf, so I really want to be able to use it.  

We did the money shuffle and then we went to hB.  They actually had the jarred garlic/ginger in, so I picked up some of that and LG wanted to buy a packet of 'posh' biscuits for us all to share, so we stood in the cake aisle for half an hour whilst they decided what to get........ 🤣  We perused the chazzers, but there was nothing worth buying. I do need to refresh my grocery budget though, as there was some foil etc bought on Saturday and a couple of items today.

Walking home LG found a huge sycamore leaf, and was taken with it, and carried it all the way home...... funny what appeals eh?

DH has nearly finished coat one - any decorators will know that the covering everything up takes the most time.  Although I am sure that we had some dust sheets - not too sure where they have gone.  I remember washing them last year - before we moved ?

I have no idea what will be for lunch, as the kitchen is literally 'covered over' - you know how folks do as a prank when their mates have been away on holiday, and come back to a (literal) 'gift wrapped' house 🤣  Today could well have been the day to take LG for lunch, but they are so loyal and wouldn't have wanted their beloved papa to miss out!  So that wouldn't have been a solution 🤣

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Lunch munched.  Unfortunately the loaf was mouldy 😕  No-one's fault, it's impossible to check with modern packaging.  I did notice it was 3 days out of date - which doesn't always mean anything, I appreciate, but I wouldn't usually bother with bread from the food waste diversion scheme.  I need to listen to my own opinion and not be swayed by over-enthusiastic volunteers.  Mouldy food is no good to anyone - no matter how 'free' it is 😕

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening MFW'rs 

And how dark is it 😭  Must look up how many weeks until the Solstice to cheer myself up.

DH has put two coats on the kitchen ceiling.  It's certainly made a difference in terms of light/brightness.  He will probably have to do a third coat as it has come up as a little patchy in places - his own opinion, not my criticism.  I could only see where it was slightly lighter at the edges, so I don't know if he could get away with just doing a 'band' around the room.  He usually rollers the 3rd coat, but obviously you can't get close to the edge with a roller, so it may be worth doing anyway.  But I'm happy - it's hard work, and he's not got the most forgiving back and neck, muscles and joints.  

Tea was pasta and lentil bolognese.  I used lentils and sauce from out of the freezer, and tried to cook everything with minimal steam generation (had the window open) so that it wouldn't cause the paint to react in any negative way.  We had yoghurt and the last of the tinned pineapple for pud.  I'll use the cooking apples I got from the waste divert place to make a crumble (probably) when DH has finished the painting.  He was very good and moved some of the 'protective coverings' so that I could get into cupboards etc, but most is best left in situ until he's truly finished, so for the moment anything more than defrosting and heating thru is off the agenda.

Today I am grateful for free cooking apples, a lovely walk with LG and for a slightly spruced up kitchen. Still a long way to go with the decorating, and frankly, we could do with ripping out the kitchen and starting again - but baby steps and all that.

Greying X

redofromstart

I'm with LG on the leaf skeletons, just the nicest things. I've got one from mine and mr redos first hike together 25 years ago - he hid it in my work bag and I found and dried it.