Noisy kids non stop for 5+ hours got me to breaking point .... so tea was crisps and ...my favourite choccies. I had to leave the house as they were doing my head in, so I headed for the shop .... that sold sweeties.

Sounds like you deserved crisps and favourite choccies for tea. I think that noisy kids non stop for that long would have sent me reaching for far more than crisps and choccies You could always have a crumpet for supper


Is it like this whenever the weather is good, or was this a one off?

Wow, aren't I the early bird? Morning all

Only early because I will be MIA, had sudden invite to go up to RHS Wisley fort he day, no CFO today unless I bung in the pizza later when I get home

Sun's out & forecast is OK ish

PN, neighbours not got pampas grass in front have they?

LOL. There are no "fronts" to speak of ... doors/windows directly onto access path.

If they did ... at least THOSE balls would be a darned sight quieter

On the fruit wastage prevention today.

I'm picking a lot of strawberries from the garden at the moment - cue for lots getting sliced and stuck in the freezer. Got a pineapple and it's about to "go" - cue for that getting sliced and most of it stuck in the freezer. Bought some blackberries Friday - so they should be fine - but I can see some of them are about to "go" (T*sco I'm looking at you...) and that's some more fruit going in the freezer.

If all else fails as to how to use frozen fruit - I can always shove some in my heavy-duty blender with some yogurt and/or milk and a bit of "sweetening" and just blitz and drink.

Personally - I'd find it a lot harder avoiding waste if I didnt have my freezer and blender and it gives me some time to "wait it out" and not get fed-up with that bane of life for us singles = repetitive eating.

Been sitting here trying to "encourage myself" this morning - otherwise known as watching a suitable cookery programme on tv. That's a Hemsley and Hemsley episode watched and I'm being reminded of recipes I've not tried yet. Looking at the canned coconut milk they're using in a couple of recipes - and that's another problem for singles (ie never wanting a whole can of it - so what to do with the rest?). I found a packet of coconut milk powder the other day in a health food shop - so bought it and will see how it comes out (as I figured I would be able to make up exactly the quantity I want with that).

The alternatives are the powder and the smaller sachets of goo. I've tried/failed to find the powder when I've gone out specifically looking for it. I do own a box of the sachets of goo now though (a gifted item from a sibling's cupboard chuck out)! I've also got a tin for 50p from Home Bargains ... just in case I ever decide to make a whole thing with it in the slow cooker.

But, in the main, many ingredients do stop you starting to cook nice looking things because 2-3 ingredients generate huge leftovers. So if it's not something you regularly use, but "just for this type of recipe" then, over the years, you stop bothering to even think about it and just write those recipes off.

Your thinking about making up how much you want is correct... and that's precisely why I went out looking for the powder about 3 years ago. 4sda allegedly stocked it, but my very largest 4sda didn't - I even asked a staff member.

I think I have a strange rogue batch of crumpets..... from l1dl they call themselves thick/fluffy - and by god they are. Super thick/fluffy. I've bought those packs before and there's been nothing different about them really.... but this specific pack seems to have super-puffed. The colour's a little odd (whiter/lighter and the edges of the holes are black, so they almost look 'mouldy') .... but they're huge and fluffy

Just ONE crumpet for breakfast as it's so big. With marg.

Pleasing thought for the day - and I've just found an organic online shop within delivery distance of me.

Chances are I'll continue to "do the best I can" with T*sco and the nearby health food shops. But it's always handy to know there is a "one stop shop" doing deliveries if need be - if single/no car/poor bus service. Contact details for them duly noted - in case of need ever.

Thankthelawd people have stopped describing the local bus service as "good" to me - I think they've finally realised it's my definition of blimmin' awful.....

They sound lovely. Like you I've tried the super thick/fluffy ones in the past and not found them any different. You will have to keep going back to Lidl now and stand there studying all of the packets of crumpets looking for some that look the same as this packet. I can just imagine the looks that you would get

For "if need be" it's worth checking if "milk and more" deliver in your area. Not organic, but they do deliver the basics without a delivery charge (when I used them for my old mum).

It's like a milkman, but they also drop off other food. Handy between big shops where there are minimum deliveries, if all you want is a pint of fresh milk twice a week and a weekly loaf.

Good morning everyone,
Thankfully after what has been a pretty stressful few days my Dad is now back up and running with a fridge/freezer and all his food has been returned to him this morning...... I'm for a quiet day, as they say about managing a long term condition I've used up all my "spoons" so need to watch what I'm doing for a day or so or I'll knock things back.
I had a nice evening yesterday, my son cooked steaks with salad and jersey royals for us and my sister and we had a good chat and some wine afterwards. It was nice to have company and chill out for a bit.
I'm back to CFO today but not sure yet what I'm having tonight. Bacon and egg for brunch I think. The forcast is lousy for the next 24 hours so a good excuse not to do too much ......

Just had a look at the site and unfortunately not in my area as could be handy for the bits I need other folk to get for me.

Little thought for the day yur - and in case any singles are having difficulty finding suitable size freezer containers for us.

That being the "stack a boxes" that Lakeland does - at £8.69 for a pack of 10 of them.

I find them endlessly useful for a variety of things - having just been using them again this morning for small amounts of fruit to go in the freezer and hauled out another one that I'd put half a can of tomatoes in for the freezer.

Nor mine as I was thinking it would be useful for my parents too.

Good afternoon everyone. Well my son is currently flying at 36,000ft at 626mph having set off from Heathrow at 9am this morning. I don't like flying, I'll do it but I'm not keen, so I'm impressed at him. Especially as he's got another flight from Atlanta to Pittsburgh once he lands.

I am at work again so lunch is a chicken and stuffing sandwich that I liberated from my Mum's fridge last night plus some fruit and a yoghurt. Tea is spag bol and supper will be cornflakes or Weetabix as I have boxes of both in. I don't do breakfast

I have plasterers coming tomorrow and Tuesday to strip back and then re-plaster the kitchen wall so that's going to be messy and dusty. I suspect that the dog, the cat and I will retreat to either the living room or a bedroom Must clear the kitchen worktops and table this evening when I get home in preparation.

MITSTM Would the blocks of coconut butter work? I remember my Mum years ago used to mix them with hot water but may be completely wrong.

PN I have been giggling at the thought of you - with trolley - closely perusing the Lidl crumpets for extra thick ones!

HH I am going to check Asda this week for loose produce but think, like you said, that it will be fairly universal.

Faraway The flower is gorgeous it really made me smile!

Caronc Take it easy for a day or two and recoup your energy

That's about it for me today, I don't really do much at weekends with work but at least its an easy job I do.

I'll just add... NEVER underestimate a workman's sudden need to go somewhere you hadn't even thought of ... with their mucky boots and/or to require a brush/broom/ old plastic bucket, cloth etc.

So try to be prepared for this type of unexpected query too.

There's nothing worse than a workman grabbing Aunty Mary's valuable and genuine Ming vase as they "needed something to catch the dripping water and it looked old". They'll also probably want to poke about anywhere where there's water to be turned off/checked and/or any other piping anywhere .... and they'll want to use your loo (so remove the good towels and stick the cat's towel in there).

I've been 'gardening'. Now, I should explain this activity as it's not like any gardening you've ever seen before. I have loppers, so I cut off a length of bush - that I then drop into a big bucket. Then, I use the loppers to snip every bit of it into tiny pieces, say every 1" of every bit.

I do this because - it means I am then transferring small pieces into rubble sacks, to take to the tip ... and you can get more into the sacks and there are fewer chances for it to get snagged up on other bits if they've all been "hand shredded".

It's a very slow process too as I get dizzy if I bend/stand too much etc.

I've not done much .... but every little helps.

I then had a big fat crumpet - topped with a whole cheese triangle for lunch! I normally split one triangle across two crumpets.

Ooh good thinking Batwoman! I shall make sure that I have old decorating towels, dust sheets (aka old duvet covers and bed sheets), a bucket, mop and dustpan and brush out too. You're spot on about the 'can I just use your loo, love'? type of query too and I have a dark blue carpet on the stairs. At least not too much damage can be done dirt wise downstairs as all the floors are hardwood/laminate and can be mopped.

BTW your method of gardening is ingenious

I'd translate the "where a workman might go (errrr....yep...somehow its always workmen and never workwomen..)" to:
- they always want to know where the fusebox/circuit breaker board is
- they always want to go up into the loft.

These days I tend to save time by just indicating where both are at the outset

Re - plastering. The thought never crossed my mind that any plaster anywhere (except in quirky "historic" buildings) would be anything other than normal standard. Until I landed up with someone who described himself as a plasterer re-plastering my house during Year 1 in current one.

If the thought had struck me that there are indeed plasterers out there that will plaster walls to anything other than a normal standard - I'd have watched him a LOT more closely - rather than assuming "It will all come out in the wash and it will look normal then". Correction - I wouldnt have employed that particular one in the first place...

I'm having a fed up with food day today. Or in other words a CBA day. Breakfast was two bananas because, well because they were to hand and you just peel and eat and there is no washing up/clearing up involved.


For lunch I have just been greedy, and had a tuna and mayo sandwich with some salad, that has got rid of the last of the tuna that had been hanging around for a few days
Then I had a crumpet with loads of butter.


Dinner is going to be a chicken portion with some new potatoes, veg and some stuffing that I have dug out of the freezer.


I think that another crumpet and possibly a scone will also be consumed today.


For some reason I have got the munchies.


Looking back at this, it is a bit carb heavy but never mind.

I had an architect appointment for what I thought was a plot measure up for a small extension .... so I tidied the downstairs .... by putting it all upstairs. There's no work to be done upstairs ... none at all.

So they arrived and there was general chit chat about it being easy to measure up etc ... and you should see some of the houses they go into, sky high with clutter..... and they kept measuring up ..."right, upstairs now" ... WHAT!!!!

So I had to show them upstairs and as I opened the room door I said ".... and now you know where I put all the clutter"

Me too. In the past 30 minutes I have had an apple, banana and almond milk smoothie, a huge bag of salted peanuts and a white chocolate Magnum Ice cream...feeling a bit sick now