Moving on

Cherryfudge

 Justcrackingonwithit said:

I’m still thinking what I’m going to do with the parsnips I bought!

Have a lovely rest of the day x

Thank you! A walk to the kitchen certainly has its appeal... especially if kettle and/or biscuits are waiting.

There are a few online recipes for curried parsnip soup and if you like warm spicy food, that's a good one to use up parsnips. Mine is very simple (oil, onion, parsnips, garlic, curry powder, stock, cook, optional yogurt or cream, blend) but there are versions with coconut and apple that sound interesting.

The coat is looking a lot better, thanks, but will need more day light to finish, and meantime the clippers are recharging. A small spillage of juice has side tracked into cleaning the downstairs carpets again. I only did them a little while ago but they needed it and even now I can see more is needed! At least the printing ink mark in the dining room is almost gone. Meanwhile new year's resolutions keep popping into my head, unbidden. I'd better write a few down because come New Year's Eve, they elude me.

Sun_Addict

Parsnips make good chips. Or crisps if you slice them thinly and air fry them. Or mash. I went off them for a while when I made parsnip soup from a Jamie Oliver recipe. It used 2 bags and was overwhelmingly parsnipy. 

Cherryfudge

I love them roasted with honey, but as I'm the only one will eat them, it seems like a waste of power.

If I could work out where to put it, I'd get an air fryer which I think would make small batches of all sorts of things thus saving a fortune in heating the oven. DH would probably use it a lot too. Then I could have parsnip chips, roast parsnips or even crisps! I've not tried the Jamie recipe but 2 bags is a lot of parsnips. 

Cherryfudge

Today I am having a major procrastinate. So far I've tracked it down to: too many things to wrap (DH has kindly taken this on for me), bits of shopping still to do (might see if there are more nice socks for sticking fillers) and a couple of meals out that are looming larger than they should. It's as if, having identified that meals out can be a problem, they've all queued up in the 'problem' queue, whether they really are or not.

I'm also actively putting off tallying receipts. It took me several goes to turn round and pick a pen out of the pot and a couple of hours later, it's still next to me on the table, unused. Definitely not a good day for getting things done so I'm glad of DH's company and his help.

I finished the roast veg, a banana and a mince pie for lunch (fridge space!) and dinner will be chicken pie to use up more of the Christmas chicken.

The family WhatsApp was silent yesterday, so I expect everyone else has gone to ground, too, and today the weather is fog and more fog, so not conducive to going anywhere. We might go out for a coffee just to cheer the day up: DH's volunteering gave him a coffee shop voucher for Christmas.

As usual, I'll report back when there's something to report about.

in_need_of_direction

Is there a reason you can’t just give yourself a day off?

Cherryfudge

in_need_of_direction said:

Is there a reason you can’t just give yourself a day off?

Um... I had one yesterday?  Also pressure of time as the family meets on Sunday to exchange gifts. However, DH has kindly made a dent in the wrapping and I've chased up one that's not arrived. It's for one of the little girls and the message on the website is apologetic and says the new delivery date is 30th or I can ask for a refund. I'll see if it comes tomorrow but if not, I might speak to her parents and suggest I give it later in the year - a birthday just before Christmas and a gift that I think is slightly old for her, mean that might be more appropriate. In fact the girls have such a lot that I'm wondering about giving an experience rather than 'things' as they get older. There will still be things from us to open.

I've sorted out some receipts! Phew. Yesterday's spending, while I remember: Clothing £3, Gift £3, Housekeeping £25.35 (a new bottle of brandy set aside for future Christmas cake).

Justcrackingonwithit

I had a day like that @Cherryfudge lots to do but no energy and just, well I couldn’t be bothered. Woke up feeling more motivated today. Thanks for all the parsnip inspo. Will do something with them today! 

Sun_Addict

I had to double check the date when you mentioned you were wrapping presents 🤣 

I find I’m not as organised when I’m off work. I haven’t checked the finances for a few days although I know everything is fine and ticking along until payday next week so not an issue. 

Cherryfudge

Yes, it's one of those things that I completely avoid if possible - along with writing cards. Oddly, I love buying and giving presents, it's probably because the wrapping seems like a huge job and no fun.

I've just bought some more, too! Once we knew what was happening about the family get-together, I stopped thinking I had to get everything ready before Christmas Day and saved it for the sales. So people have more luxurious socks this year! (So have I, I treated myself and they feel very comfortable). I was also able to get something I'd already tried to buy as a gift but which wasn't being stocked a month ago.

A bit of a glitch with the pre-school admin: I sent out the usual messages about this week's session and added one for the new people about what to do if there's a fire alarm, then heard back that the procedure had been discussed and the version I'd just put out is no longer the right one. They'd just not told me, which doesn't really help. Anyway, I've raised the concerns and they are noted, so there's not much else I can do apart from wait to see what happens.

I've remembered some more 'must do' things: end of month financial things, and three craft projects intended for Christmas that aren't completed! There is one of those I can prioritise, so I'll focus on that.

Expenditure:
Gifts £17.75+
Clothing £3.15
Stationery £1
Hobbies £1.50

Cherryfudge

The sun is trying to get through! After all the fog it's so nice to see. I'm also watching the wild birds come for their regular mid-morning shopping: peanuts continue to be the favourite. If they are bothered by the fog dripping off the feeder, it doesn't stop them.

We had the log burner on last night. The central heating was up to 19 degrees which is a little more than we usually have it, but it just didn't feel quite warm enough, possibly because of the damp outside. The fire did the trick, though. Now we need to bring some more logs in to dry out. I also saw a news story about flights being cancelled so I put Flight Radar on this morning and spent a while watching an airbus 350 trying to land at Manchester. After a thirteen and a half hour flight, it got to within about 600 feet of the ground and pulled out of the landing. I can only imagine it was a bit murky, but it circled and came in okay second time round. Looking back over its flight path was a thing of romance with so many wonderful-sounding remote places and so many planes tracing invisible roads in the sky over places I may never see but which are ordinary life to millions of people...

Meanwhile, back in North Yorkshire, which admittedly is a place of romance and dreams for many, the sky is blue above the last of the fog. DH has wrapped a few more presents then gone out for a couple of errands. I threw out a handful of papers we don't need. I've decided to do some laundry rather than wait for a dry day, and wash my hair and have yet another check of where I'm up to with prep for Christmas presents that will be handed over tomorrow if all goes to plan. That's if we hear back from DS2 what time they want us to arrive. After that I could do some work on the craft projects with the aim of having something to hand over.

Our main meal will be plaice from the freezer with potatoes and veg from the Christmas stash.

I'm also thinking up New Year's Resolutions. I keep making them in the hope it will put me a little more along the path to achieving some. I'm thinking of going back to running, which I've not needed in the past year as having effectively two cleaning jobs has kept me fit and I've lost a little weight. I know I'm a lot healthier than many of the people who work in the offices I clean and apart from earning less I feel I have all the benefits and almost no disadvantages. So possibly running... also sewing. This year I've got as far as setting the sewing machine up on a table of its own. It's a nightmare to thread though and at present lots of stuff is dumped around the table so no more progress has been made. I've done well for repairing clothes that needed repairs, though there are some larger projects in the mending pile. I've done well with the Fashion on the Ration 'coupons'. Out of 68 available to spend, I have 30 left, and what's more, I've not bought so much second hand this year. Just because it's cheap and nice doesn't mean I need it! Two notable bargain exceptions were a cashmere jumper and a Sea_salt dress. So continuing with Fashion on the Ration is a must, if only because I would greatly miss Mending on the Borrow where we all hang out.  

Weight loss: oh yes. At least I'm lower than I was, by about half a stone which I'm happy with. Further loss would really help.

The garden needs resolutions: I think I decided last year to do at least two hours a week and I've not kept that up but I could go for it again. Something is still better than nothing.

There are a few never-nevers, like learning to drive. I always get told how much I'm missing by not driving, but it doesn't feel like that. However, with DD living in another town and her baby due in four months, I look back at the drama over DGD2's arrival and the fact my son's driving saved the day (or night), and I do look thoughtful. Taking the proofreading course is another never-never, which just feels too big even if it's supposed only to take about 10 hours to get started.

Well, that's enough pondering for now. There will be plenty more coming to mind but they can wait. I have washing to do.