Bedtime
Hurrah for Friday. Was frozen at work. Rather surprised at one woman's reaction to me telling her that the paper is going up by 10c on Monday...rather extreme!

Home & had to tidy ( which would have needed doing anyway but with less time pressure!) as the valuer / estate agents were coming...could just about see the dollar signs ticking over in his eyes. Big, old rambling house on huge corner plot.

Baked; lemon cupcakes, tiny choccy/orange cupcakes , about a million gingerbread men. Empire biscuits. Neighbour handed in some rocky road. Looks delicious.

Eyebrows waxed & salon owner gave me $50 donation which made me cry.

Neighbour came in with her 15 month old girl & Haggis' friend Dusty. They had a lovely time. Baby H loves Haggis and she loved the lights on the tree & nabbed a shiny bauble.

Night

Hugs MHAGS, chin up girlie, you CAN do this!!!

1) Trip into the city mainly successful and I found a super T shirt for the Zebra child with a VW Camper Van on it!!!

2) Found some nice little T shirts for the Oreo child in Primark too, like to get for both!

3) The 2 cups of tea I've just had after walking the hound, I needed them badly.

4) He Who Knows had another nice days fishing, not quite so many fish as last time as it's much cooler but still good.

5) DD1 and the Zebra had loads of fun at the theatre, apparently Zebra got to dance with the Gruffalo , was singing along too and said his auntie can take him to the theatre again if she wants to.....think that's a success then!

56 hours and still no phone call... I phoned this morning and they said they'd phone everyone this afternoon...

1 Whoo hoo it’s poet’s day, I worked from home and I am chuffed with the amount I’ve got done, while avoiding the black Friday school break up traffic.
2 I made a cheeky bacon sarnie with the last of the bread, and bacon bits, rather shocked to find in date unopened brie had gone a rather revolting colour!
3 Changed both the animals and our bedding, which is now hanging out.
4 Beautiful butterflies everywhere, Orange, green and black and white is the extent of my knowledge on them.
5 Dinner was turmeric rice, salad, chicken, and salsa in a wrap.
6 Just popped out to lidl as the weekend food was looking bleak so nicely restocked in fruit and veg, I love the smell of strawberries, they also had the turkey mince on offer and a further 30 percent of that, burgers and prawns, all reduced and that was us happy.

1. School's out for summer!!! It was an emotional day, I said goodbye to fabulous colleagues and 7 of my amazing class....I had more than a bit of grit in my eye at times. It's been the best year since I decided to train as a teacher.

2. Have done my version of packing to go to Welsh Wales tomorrow morning - a heap of clothes on the floor will hopefully magic themselves into bags by the morning

3. Was overwhelmed by the generosity of the children and their parents. I was given some gorgeous presents, both beautifully handmade and thoughtful shop-bought, which I don't deserve; I love teaching and sharing the fun, presents are amazing, but not expected in any way. I will be making thank you cards over the summer to hand out on the first day of term.

4. DD, KW and I went to see a fantastic, you wouldn't believe they're not professional actors, outdoor production of Great Expectations last night. Mummykins was supposed to come, but wasn't well enough Thankfully, KW loves Dickens so was more than happy to take her place! Note to self - take a blooming blanket or two next time!!!

5. Have found lots of apple trees and blackberry bushes on our daily school walk route.

6. A lovely mummy got up at 6am this morning to bake cinnamon buns and Swedish apple cake for all the staff so that we could have a yummy start to the last day of the school year. What a sweetie!! Move over Ikea, Mrs OB has got the cinnamon bun cup

7. I've just bought tickets for DD and I to go and see a Michael Morpurgo play by a theatre company we really enjoyed seeing a different play last year (the night before I met KW!)

8. Am planning on getting tickets for KW and I to go and see a singalong version of Muppet Christmas Carol in December!! It's an 18+ evening......not sure why, it's not the Rocky Horror Show

9. I've got the key to our holiday home and we can arrive before the official 3pm booking time if we like. The plan is to get up *early* and arrive by lunchtime so that we can meet up with one of my BFFs but we shall see how well that goes....

10. I've borrowed a fun DVD for us to watch in between Marvel movies....so not my thing! Bring on the cheese

Pleasures for today (Friday)

1) A lie in! Bigger son woke me up with a cup of tea at 9.40 and smaller son was still asleep.

2) A quiet morning pottering around.

3) Went to parents' after lunch as they were looking after my niece. Took the wooden train track to keep her amused for a bit.

4) Football for smaller son. He got a trophy (they all get one for completing the course) and played through torrential rain.

5) Listening to the John Williams music at the Proms now.

Caught bigger son being naughty earlier. He wanted me to drop his bike off where he was at his friend's house (already 10pm at this point). So I took the bike and waited and waited for him to attach his lights and switch them on. Eventually he did, with much sighing. His 2 friends were on their bikes also.

Anyway, where we are, with no moon, you can barely see your hand in front of your face. No street lights for 7 miles in any direction. I just had a feeling that those lights would not stay on for very long. So I parked up, along the road. Eventually they appeared, weaving about, no lights between the 3 of them. I crept out of the car and said, "PUT YOUR LIGHTS ON! WHY HAS NO ONE GOT ANY LIGHTS?!" Cue much heavy braking and "But they are in my bag!" "GET THEM OUT OF YOUR BAG!" etc. To smaller son's amusement, in the middle of nowhere, a random man had been walking along the path by the road (no torch!) so had nearly fallen into the hedge when I'd started shouting across the road - I hadn't even seen him!

I then waited further along the road again and he had just one light on *sigh* but at that point they got bored of a strange woman shouting from her car and turned back to go to the first friend's house.

Still so word on job. As I have no understanding why people don't do what they say they are going to, and at the times they themselves have stated, probably best that I don't work there!

1) a lie in (wasn't supposed to be but I forgot to set the alarm - it was bliss)
2) lovely dd2 drove me in cos I'd missed my lift and it was raining
3) after work went to friend's house for ceilidh music practice
4) and Chinese
5) then listening to all sorts of music, courtesy of Alexa. She want able to find Annan Water so will now play that on YouTube.

Hugs to MHags sorry to hear about the potential upheaval of a house move, I am sure you and your lovely family will make a home wherever you live and take your memories with you x

I was logged out of MSE too and it took me ages to get back in as I couldn't remember my password !

Frith Sorry to hear about job -seems to be the norm for potential employers not to bother replying these days

KK - did I miss something or is KW formerly known as Chap ???

Pleasures for this week

1. early hospital visit, I arrived before 9am and there were loads of parking spaces - unheard of !

2. visit to hospital finally over and there is nothing they can do for me I have to wait 2-3 years for operation recovery !!! Shocked and upset but at least the long wait for news is over and its not something worse. Have to try omeprazole for 3 months just-in-case acid reflux, doubt it as I have been taking them for ages with my ibuprofen (cue bop rant lol)

3. stair gate collected - they tried to charge me £24.99 but thankfully I had printed the reservation showing the price £16.99. Was told prices go up on a Wednesday ! Got home and couldn't make head nor tail of the instructions so went to online chat and was told they don't sell this particular one any more, even though I had picked it up an hour earlier and they tried to tell me the price had gone up ! Anyway its now in place and hope it lasts as long as yours Lainey

4. put out lots more rubbish including my old patio table for bin men and they took the lot

5. so glad its the weekend. Final push for clearing / puppy proofing as she arrives next week

Morning all.

What a lovely day yesterday was....

DD's graduation in Colchester - she had spent all of her time in Southend and none of us had actually been to Colchester. The university i worked at did their graduations in Birmingham Symphony Hall which is truly stunning, this one was on campus which we felt beforehand was a bit of a let down. We were wrong.

1. Train journey there was good - we had breakfast on the train. We also had very chatty taxi drivers
2. the campus in beautiful. Set in 'grounds' with lawn and lakes and fountains. Truly stunning
3. The graduation ceremony was very short - little over an hour, when i am used to ceremonies nearing three! it was also VERY lively with lots of whooping and hollering. These drama students are so.... DRAMATIC the chancellor of the uni is Shami Chakrabati and she shook hands and gave a few words of congratulation for all.
4. DD's flatmate stole the show. Dressed in a flamingo print shorts jumpsuit (under her robes), flamingo heeled shoes and tights with stockings and suspenders print. When her name was announced she flung back her robes, strutted on, shook hands, donned 'Dame Edna' style sunglasses, pouted into the camera and strode off. Very camp, very funny but still didn't detract from anyone else. She did, however, bring the house down and meant her parents had to buy the DVD
5. Lovely reception after in a marquee. Prosecco flowed, canapes were plentiful.

We had a bit of a getting home issue in that the trains were in chaos due to some poor soul ending it all on the tracks but we were only a little delayed and ended the day at home with a take-away curry and wine.

Today we are having our first saturday at home in over a month. housework beckons but i shall enjoy it nonetheless. Hope you all have a great day too.

me again ! VJsmum well done to your DD on her graduation
Saturday pleasures

1. bacon butty for breakfast

2. tip run done in the rain so no queue !
DS lifted old lawnmower into my car and the lovely tip man lifted it out and got rid of it for me. Also got rid of old tins of dried up paint. lumps of wood and plastic & chopped up wardrobe !

3. rain stopped for about 30 mins and the sun came out so I hung DS's work clothes out to blow in the breeze for a while...

4. ... whilst I scrubbed the patio - need to get a pressure washer !! About 15 minutes after I finished it started raining again so dashed back out and brought washing in to finish on airers. Washing always seems to smell better even if it only has a short blow on the line.

5. ironing done and put away. Now sat with my feet up

1) Just had home done stewed steak for supper with gravy, oh it's a long while since we had gravy!!!

2) I didn't take Cookie today and thus saved myself from a drenching as it's not stopped since lunchtime and it's coming down in stair rods!

3) Trip to the farm shop this morning for some fresh fruit and veg and a coffee in the garden centre on the way home.

4) DD1 just phoned to tell me we have a new Swedish restaurant opened in the city, she read me the menu and it sounds lovely, will go and find it next time I'm there.

5) Tickets for the T20 cricket tomorrow if it's not rained off, forecast is showers followed by continuous rain but we might get lucky, hope so!

Vjsmum, congratulations to your DD on what sounds like a great graduation.

1 A little lay in, with porridge for brekkie and later was a lovely grilled chicken salad for lunch at our fav caf!.

2 We went to the next town over for their wonderful fruit and veg stall, as lidl has outpriced itself on courgettes and a few other things. Wow did they come up trumps, a box of toms as in a big cardboard box of toms I will make into lasagne sauce and salsa, a cauliflower that takes up half of the fridge shelf, courgettes, carrots and she got me a marrow that is ridiculously long I am assuming about 2 ft long, the lot for a fiver. We also picked up lots of needed little bits, bird food, wood wax, descaler, sponges etc, all home bargains direction and saver shops.

3 I made a note of a little table top sale happening around the corner, I spotted the guide dog people butting up signs for it.

4 It’s nice to be back and 2 teas later sitting, using a jingly glove thing to play with the animals.

5 A very tiny bit of tidying done.

6 Just put a slice of from freezer pizza in the oven.

'Tis very early Sunday morning, still dark, very windy but magpies are warbling in the trees out front.

We had our fund raising morning tea with a Christmas in July theme yesterday and have so far raised $450.00. This will go to our oncologist's research at cancer hospital .

I was up early to do a video chat with my great niece ( oh the wonders of technology) , make scones , remake scones as bad dog Haggis ate the first batch! Made a fruit punch with pineapple juice, cranberry juice and ginger ale, orange slices and cinnamon sticks. Set up a gingerbread man icing station. Friend came with her friend who is on holiday from Germany and did a Tupperware display. Friend & her daughter have just started a face painting business and did our party for free which was very kind. I had a sparkly, swirly holly pattern on the side of my face. I had said from 10 am on invite & no one came till 10.30am & I was despairing no one would come & then the hoards appeared and all was well and my house was filled with chatter & laughter & queues for face painting! Final person left at 3.30pm

The mini-est of snoozettes! Just a restorative 20 minutes! Tidied up.
Phone calls with my sister and both sister in laws.

Thai food for tea was very yummy. I realised I'd only had about 2 teeny tiny mince pies all day!

Today is tidy up & put Christmas back in the cupboard! And a big dog walk before the rain comes I think.

A good day's work there, Skint.

Glad your Christmas went well, MHags. Quite fancying gingerbread now!

Pleasures for today (Saturday)

1) A lie in.

2) Croissants for breakfast.

3) Bigger son went to work, smaller son went to watch the football with his friends.

4) Hens well and they are having gone to seed lettuce each day.

5) Made Nadiya's chicken tikka masala for tea with naans and rice, then meringues and raspberries. My brother popped in and had some as well.

Some drama this evening when bigger son, out in his shed, accidentally carved through his finger. He panicked massively, running around the house shouting at me to "stop looking at him". Quite a lot of mopping up to do. :-/ Eventually he fainted on the living room floor (as he does, at times like that) and it is not too bad, bandaged up neatly now!

Happy Christmas mhags that explains why it's so cold here :-(
Congrats on yourdd'sgraduation vjsmum
1) lazy Saturday morning. Bliss
2) Mr piano is teaching someone whose dad is a renowned accordionist. The son is also a dab hand. Apparently I'm using the wrong fingering for the left hand d'oh. More practice needed.
3) dd1, dd2, dm and I went to base of home and bought a cube storage unit, had a cupper at elm of dun, then home to...
4) make a start on the office. They didn't have the 4x4 unit so dd2will get a couple on her way back from Edinburgh Tuesday. I have cut out shapes for the 1, 2 and 4 wide unit and had great fun moving them round the office floor plan.
5) then we all watched batman lego movie. British robots indeed (how the daleks were referred to if you haven't seen it)
Now in bed listening to dads army on iPad, dogs at my feet, tea at my side. Night all

Hi All,

Wish we had done Christmas in July. We did it last year. It was fun!

Recent pleasures.....

1. Chinese takeaway Fri night. Nice way to end a rubbish week!
2. Shopping on my own at Resorts World.
3. Won a prize on spin the wheel promotion for the Genting Casino. Talk of going for works Xmas do, so will save it until December!
4. Flamingo fest.... got flamingo diary and flamingo coasters while out shopping, and DF got me flamingo lights for pet sitting.
5. Managed to sleep all night last night. Woke up with a few good ideas for school in September. May help to make me feel more positive about my new role.

Happy Sunday

Sunday pleasures

Pottered about tidying up.
Christmas stuff away...back to normal. Even though it was only up for 4 days it was nice to put away.
Started a book read a few chapters. ( this is a BIG thing....lost my reading mojo / concentration since OH died)
Snoozette
Lovely chat with friend from home. She phoned me, I phoned her back
Chicken and veg pie for tea.

Hello all - catching 5 mins around house cleaning and tidying and other sorting.

Pleasures for yesterday

1. OH and i went for a spontaneous walk along the canal to a city 8 miles away. beer may have been involved
2. we managed to avoid all rain showers somehow
3. OH cooked roast chicken for dinner - I KNOW, on a saturday too. But DD and i are out tonight so it made sense..
4. I think i have caught up with post holiday sleep deprivation..
5. I slept through a quite good film - according to OH.

DD and i are off to Stratford to see Seth Lakeman at the RSC. Report tomorrow

Time this forum was updated to use IP6. And fixed for modern browsers. Yet again token failed and IP address is banned!

Due to remodeling and a not so helpful internet company I've been forced to find other pursuits. Now that phone line (yes I still have a landline, not just a cell phone...don't completely trust that they will always work) and internet service has been restored, I come back to find you have all moved. But you have been tracked down! Too much good stuff to miss out on here 'bouts!

* Three more rooms finished. Tile guy hired for kitchen backsplash to be done in three weeks. Quality tile guys are busy here. We are on his schedule.

* A feeling of blissful contentment as Thomas (DH) and I kept a gorgeously cuddly 4mo. old last night. She 'talked' and smiled at us until she snuggled down in my arms for her bottle and sleep. Of course I held her until they came home. Little blessings.
Her parents were happy to have a night out for dinner.

* I looked at my calendar and nothing is scheduled for this week. I breathed a sigh of relief.

* Still have the granddawgs. House elf, this Bernie parks himself under one of the refrigerated air vents and doesn't move. He also has a summer haircut. DD1 lives in the high desert so not as hot there and he can spend more time outdoors. He currently is testing out the new hardwood floors in my walk-in closet. Otherwise he is passed out on the tile floor in the kitchen.
I hear the feral cat these dogs so love to chase has been napping with the rabbits while they are here with me.

* It has rained for the second day and smells heavenly. Flowers will bloom in the desert with two days of rain! A respite from watering the yard and garden has Thomas in a good mood.

* So many garden tomatoes! I'm thinking I'll make a pasta dish tonight. Something with tomatoes and balsamic vinegar.

* Huge meat mixture cooked up for future burritos and now portioned in the freezer. I then can take out a container, add beans or potatoes or whatever and cheese of course for scrumptious burritos.

* The pit bull sounds just like Thomas when snoring. I don't know why this is funny to me, but it is.

* Blinis with runny apricot jam that didn't set up. Add sour cream and it's a masterpiece.

* Ability to cut back on sleep meds. Downright happy about this!