Moving on

Cherryfudge

Three and a half hours later and there's some progress:

DONE
Pack sunglasses, sun cream (yeah, right!)
Pack D's sunglasses, photo for Aunty
Start a notebook of thoughts about budgeting as a resource for clients
Reactivate my Coop card as that's the nearest shop where we're going
Do Duolingo and Bible reading

DONE (but)
Wash winter coat (but now there are odd marks on both sleeves that weren't there before - investigate)
Turn short dated milk into yogurt (but the Instant Pot yogurt button took a lot of pressing before it took orders. This is new. Quite concerning as I use it for yogurt quite often)
Sort out fridge (but there are plenty of things that probably won't keep till we get back and which fit into one of two camps. 1) Goes into tonight's dinner or 2) I have no idea).

STARTED
Charge toothbrushes and Kindle
Clean my white trainers

STILL TO DO
Make marmalade
Set aside food to take with us
Go to shops for another cheaper hot choc (just the one!) and more cappuccinos if still on offer.
Feed and water houseplants
Wrap A's birthday present and choose a card
Plant up those random cuttings that are rooting in the kitchen
Do a few items of hand washing laundry
Choose a craft to take with me to do in the car
Mend DH's jumper to take with us

KeepOnKnitting

Wow, that's quite a to-do list! I was tired just reading it, let alone tackling it.

Cherryfudge

I feel as if I've done too many things to day though there are still plenty on the list. I'm having a sit down to regroup.

During the afternoon I potted up the spring onions and celery that have been growing roots in jam jars on the draining board. I didn't get as far as the begonias, but had a further hack at the ground elder. Some has grown back in the lawn, but nothing yet on the furthest flung patch. After that I did the edges of the grass by the path before trying to make the most of the food situation.

I found I already had a recipe that was perfect for using up the mushrooms, some onion, carrots and a butternut squash, and the other ingredients were all things we had 'in'. There are three or four portions left over which will have to be negotiated into the freezer. The yogurt is nearly done now, the marmalade got made while the squash was roasting, and there is swede and carrot mash waiting for the freezer.

The white trainers are washed and nearly dry. The laces are rusty because the eyelets stained them so I was going to go over the eyelets with nail varnish but the top wouldn't come off so that pot went in the bin. Then I found a gold nail varnish looks nice on the eyelets so the trainers have had a very minor revamp.

Various laundry has been done, though none by hand. The more urgent shirts were just put in the machine together by DH - if the dye runs, they're the same colour. All ironing is caught up and I've even found an outfit for tomorrow! Pale pink trousers, maroon top and very soft beige cardigan. I love the colours together and if anyone else doesn't, I'm not likely to find out. Oh, and the white trainers. Got to have the white trainers after all that effort.

DH has wrapped the gifts and is shopping for cards and a gift for his niece tomorrow. We don't need to leave till after lunch. We did have a call from Auntie: J and L are staying overnight with her and she needs a lift to the bus station on Sunday but they are going the other way. DH has asked D if he can help as we are going in yet another direction. It's handy having adult children.

Still to do, maybe tomorrow or not at all:

Google for inspiration for coleslaw, cream cheese, half an onion that could have gone in the dinner but I forgot, same goes for cherry tomatoes, half a cucumber. None of these will keep though I could have some at lunch tomorrow.
Pot up yogurt when it's finished.
Trip to buy cappuccino and hot choc - or maybe not?
Find enough space for the rest of the cooked thing in the freezer.
Mend DH's jumper - only a small mend.
Set aside food to take with us.
Feed and water houseplants.
Choose a craft.
Finish packing (part done but need to include sundries including medication.
Charge DH's toothbrush.

I think it's time to wind down and have a bath - but I'm very happy to have made use of all those oddments of food and have somehow managed a no-spend day. And I finally have an outfit for tomorrow, without resorting to buying a dress that I will hardly ever wear.

Cherryfudge

And... I've just had a notification that I have 10,000 posts, though the last one was 10,008 so I'm not sure what's happening there. Perhaps it was a word count for today?  

@KeepOnKnitting, well done on wading through that lot!  

Cherryfudge

Nearly ready to leave. Here's the final view of the list:

Pot up yogurt when it's finished. DONE
Trip to buy cappuccino and hot choc - or maybe not? DONE by DH
Find enough space for the rest of the cooked thing in the freezer. No space - will have to stay in fridge
Mend DH's jumper - only a small mend. DONE
Set aside food to take with us. DONE
Feed and water houseplants. DONE
Choose a craft. - about to do.
Finish packing (part done but need to include sundries including medication. DONE
Charge DH's toothbrush. DONE

Phew!

Pollie

I had some leftover cream cheese which I stirred into some soup.

Cherryfudge

Pollie said:

I had some leftover cream cheese which I stirred into some soup.

I wouldn't have thought of that but I imagine it's really nice in tomato soup, for instance. There was only a bit left so it's in the fridge and if it's all right when we go home, all well and good. If not, not.

The meal last night was really good: 20 family and friends of the couple who married abroad last year, most of whom are blood relatives or partnered with a  blood relative. It was really nice that someone (L, I suspect) tipped the restaurant off that it was A's birthday so they brought him a dish of ice cream with a candle (most of which got eaten by little N), and sang 'Happy Birthday'. I was next to N who whispered to me with a smile that she'd had ice cream. She spent a lot of her time drawing or taking cards out of my purse and passing them to J and L, who made a game of it. I checked and they were all gathered up afterwards! We must have finished about 10 after which J and L set off to his parents (we had a text about half past midnight to say they'd arrived safely) and D and E went off in another direction to a hotel they'd booked somewhere in Wales. As they haven't reappeared, I assume they got there all right.

The meal was paid for by the couple. Very generous as well as tasty!

We breakfasted this morning with Aunty, A, H and the girls and DH took Aunty home afterwards (he's back already). A and H are going to spend the morning with one of the cousins before heading home and we will get lunch here before going on to our Air BnB. So the gathering disperses to the four winds.

I was stunned into silence yesterday by a car journey (as a non-driver, boring) after all that activity, but I'm revived now and looking forward to some time exploring a new place or two.

Expenditure:
Yesterday: diesel, a gift token and 2 cards.
Today: Phone top up again, £3.

Sun_Addict

Sounds like a very pleasant evening was had by all. Enjoy your time away 🙂

Cherryfudge

We've fitted quite a lot into the day, spending the first part of it in Heswall where we discovered a couple of good charity shops were open despite it being Sunday. I now have a vegan cookery book, a dress and a jumper, none of which were needed or planned for. The intention had been to have lunch out and we looked at a few places but decided to try M andS for a meal deal as a cheaper alternative but still a treat. We got fish and chips with veg and a pudding, plus milk and some snacks for lunch. Walking back to the car, I realised we had probably overpaid. Long story short, the shop found we had picked up the wrong vegetables so hadn't actually got the meal deal, and they showed me where to chose a different dish and sorted the money out, saving around £7.50. So kudos to them for first class service, and a total food spend for us that was a lot less than we'd have paid to eat out.

We then had a walk along the estuary front where the old sea wall is so worn down (presumably by generations of pedestrians doing just what I did and walking on the top) that there's a dip along the length of it. It was busy and fairly warm, and we could look over the estuary to Wales, or down at our feet and admire the great variety of dogs all taking their owners for walks. I'm pretty sure I saw some of Hairy McLary's friends. (If you've not read the books, this won't make sense).

Eventually we set off again, arriving in Llangollen about tea time. The cottage is extremely sweet: very old world and artistic, though the twisting staircase might not work for everyone. We had our M andS feast then walked it off by exploring. The river is very dramatic: we stopped for a while to watch a heron, and later a white water canoeist. Further on, where it was quieter, there were mallards and mandarin ducks. I think we will run out of time before we run out of things to do, though there's rain forecast tomorrow, which could reduce the appeal of some activities.

D and E have sent a photo of themselves in a cable car, so they must have arrived safely.

Expenditure:
Book £1
Clothing £11.98
Housekeeping £22.15
Phone top up £3

Cherryfudge

I'm not sure what happened to my sleep pattern last night: I was quite late to bed then woke after a couple of hours and lay there trying to decide if I was slightly cold or slightly hungry. In the end I crept downstairs (braving the ancient triangular stairs) and got a drink and a snack. Eventually I know I couldn't be hungry any more but I was definitely getting cold, so I went back to bed. I think I fell asleep around half past five as the birds were starting to sing.

Dh woke me about half past ten as he was going out for a walk, but that gave me time to get up at a leisurely pace. He had a really good walk and came back with sore feet and some great landscape photos. I didn't bother with breakfast as I was so late, so I had a sort of brunch before we set out again. The idea was to walk to the Horseshoe Falls, which is less than two miles away: a gorgeous walk alongside the Shropshire Union canal. On the way we found the horse-drawn boats, which we'd thought would be a good activity but they don't go as far as we had planned so I stopped to admire the horses and narrow boats then we set off at our own pace. There's a lot of activity on the canal and river, which run roughly parallel. We got talking to a very informative paddle boarder who was going at about our speed along the canal. He told us the end of the canal is free of engine-driven boats and is fed by the river so the water is fresher and cleaner than other canals. It was certainly very picturesque, but my phone camera doesn't cope well with outdoor lighting so I couldn't capture it too well. The woods around the river and canal are full of primroses, wild garlic, bluebells, king cups and violets. The river is just the opposite of the canal: fast and wild. We watched various boats deal with the rapids though later we saw a canoeist do one of those emergency rolls and extricate herself from her canoe, which filled with water and was towed by her companion while she swam to an island in the river. I did wonder if we'd have to ring for help but they had it all under control - though I don't know whether the canoe was damaged.

We also saw the very end of the canal, which stops abruptly at a pumping station. 

This took most of the afternoon, then we went for coffee and cake at the place that does the horse-drawn boat rides, and on into town as I wanted to look at some shops. I've come away with a scarf and a top from a couple of charity shops but the top will go back as it's a poor fit. Then it was on to Home Bargains and Ald!, neither of which we have near home. A kind assistant in HB found hot water bottles in the winter stock, so I won't be cold tonight! I bought quite a few other bits and pieces too, including wooden coat hangers that I can practice pyrography on, and some food. A really good find was a double-sized hot chocolate for about what I'd pay for an ordinary-sized one at home.

Dinner was chicken and chorizo pasta and we ate quite a lot rather than have any left to take home! I've done about 16,000 steps, though, and DH has done a lot more, so I expect we've burnt most of those calorie already.

I'll have to add expenditure tomorrow as I've left the notebook upstairs.