Lessons Have Been Learned!

 

Apologies for no blog yesterday.

It was a full on day, with the funeral of my Monday Recycled Teenager.

I was at church from 8.30am (with a brief dentist check up...right across the road so that was handy!)

until gone 5pm, back home to pack away the left over food, then back out at 7.30pm for our prayer meeting.

So by the time I finally got home I was ready for nothing but bed....which is a shame as I suddenly realised it was my turn for the activity today at Parent and Toddlers, and although I had brought back from church last week, all the essential items to make a snowman, I had forgotten all about it so all the components needed to be cut out.

What a good job the students and Teen One could come to my rescue!

Being so tired you would think I would just drop off to sleep wouldn't you...but nope....at 4am I was still awake!

Grrr!

I must have dozed at some point as I then remember Hubby's alarm sometime after 5am.

So, right now I am barely awake it has to be said and my bed is beckoning!

As for the funeral, well all went ok...ish.

There were a couple of hiccups, one being a mercy dash for the Order of Service which Hubby thought I had and I thought he had with him!

With minutes to spare I made it back in time with them ( and must confess to speeding!)

The other hiccup was the organist playing the wrong tune for our opening hymn.

I am sure all church organists will understand the  embarrassment felt, but as we regularly sing accapello, we weren't phased and Hubby started the hymn off again.

I don't think the mourners worried that much, if at all.

Needless to say, for those of us organising, it was a bit of unnecessary stress and lets just say, in the words of Her Majesty...

"Lessons have been learned!"

 

On the plus side, we had lots of compliments on the food, which kind of becomes the "main event" once the official stuff is out of the way, and its a time when the mourners can relax and be themselves.

As you can see from the top pic, the malteser tray bake came out ok with the white chocolate drizzled on top.

It went down well...which is just as well as it cost a bomb to make!!!

 You may just see my knitting bag photo bombing the picture...but sadly there was no time for any of that, it was all hands to the deck for the entire day.

 

 

 

Last night I gave our student his socks, which he was thrilled with.

He has left them here to wear tomorrow as a special occasion, when they all help us decorate the Christmas tree....who would have thought a pair of socks would need a special occasion aye!

 

 

I cast on the stitches for an inverse pair, for his girlfriend, but I am not loving it to be honest, and I may even unpick it as I think there is enough of the coloured wool to make a small pair exactly the same.

I will sleep on it first though...cant bear to think of the wasted time getting this far!

 

Today was of course Parent and Toddlers, and the snowmen went down well ( forgot to take a pic sorry!) and I may quite possibly have driven everyone mad by singing

"Do you want to build a snowman?"  every time a little one came to the activity table, and then asking them if they wanted to sing it with me....which of course most of them did!

It was a blessing I only know that line, so the singing didn't last too long!

 

 

After dropping Grandma back home, I called in to see Our Dear Friend, who wasn't well enough to come to the funeral yesterday.

I spent an hour with her and gave her a copy of the Order of Service to read through.

Of course we reminisced on our late friend.

 

Finally back home, it was on with the laundry and catching up on jobs neglected in recent days.

I had promised myself forty winks in the afternoon, but ended up just having a leisurely hour or so in front of "Escape to the Country" with a cuppa and some knitting.

Hubby is out for a meal with his "team" at work, a rare event, but means I don't have to bother with a dinner, the kids and I had left overs, so that was quick and simple!

 

The weather has been frrrreeeeezing I must say and I am glad I don't have dogs to walk!

Its also the kind of weather, when I am pegging out/bringing in washing I say to myself
"I am so thankful not to be sleeping on the streets tonight"
Daft really as I wouldn't ever want to sleep on the streets, but the bitter cold really brings it home to you doesn't it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feeling That Sense Of Christmas Panic!

 

This morning I was out bright and early, to get the food in for tomorrow's funeral.

I had hoped to have it all done in an hour....silly me!

By the time I went to M&S ( who didn't have the quiches I wanted!) Morrisons (who aren't currently doing cheese scones because of the Christmas lines) Hobbycraft (as I was in the area...but they didn't have the items I needed) then the marathon Tesco visit (where everything seems to have gone up by a pound!) then dropped it all off at church, arranged the flowers...realised I had forgotten cream cheese for the carrot cake frosting so had to go to the shops again....it was past midday when I finally made it home....in dire need of a cuppa!

 

 

After some toast and a cuppa, washing in and washing out (brrr it was cold!) I just needed to finish off the cakes for tomorrow...so coffee and walnut done...

 

 

 

...carrot cake done...

 

 

...lemon drizzle and banana loaf packed and ready...

 

 

...the malteser tray bake setting and just needing the white chocolate drizzled on top

(really wasn't expecting the chocolate coating to come off the maltesers I must say!)

It was then time....

 

 

 

...to finish off the remaining sock.

I had a pleasant hour, with the woodburner going, a cuppa by my side, dinner in the oven....it was a much needed rest I can tell you!

I have printed off the labels to wrap round the socks and will give them to our student tomorrow.

No doubt I will be casting on another pair tonight, the inverse colours, for his girlfriend....but I have told him not to say a word about it, I would like it to be a Christmas present for her.

 

Thinking of Christmas, when the funeral is all done and dusted, I really need to get back to thinking about it, I have no idea what I have and who is still needing presents and I can feel a sense of panic coming over me already!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our First Black Friday Purchase!

 

Like us, Grandma has a wood burner, and from time to time a neighbour, who is a double glazier, leaves bags of kindling by her door.

At the weekend she discovered this!

A lovely chunky "log" which will burn for some time, with a sweet little message and drawing on it!

It did make her smile...and us too!

Its sadly too wide for her burner, so Hubby will cut it up for her.

 

 

 

 

This morning Teen Two and I had to be in town early for his bi-annual eye test.

I was surprised to hear he needs glasses again, partly for a slight astigmatism and partly for distance.

It was wet and windy, so we didn't linger!

 

 

The one shop I did pop into was Poundland, to buy some maltesers.

A friend mentioned she was making malteser tray bake, which sounded rather yummy, so I thought I would do a batch for the funeral.

It looks pretty basic but I know my lot for sure will love it!

 

 

 

Back home I really felt like a snooze, but decided I would try and work through that sleepy feeling, or I knew I would feel I had wasted the day otherwise.

So, I cracked on with some chores I keep meaning to do, but finding other more interesting things to do.

Firstly was to clear out the top cupboard in the kitchen, which is a "meet and greet" affair...open the door and out falls all the clutter!

Its mainly used for water bottles, flasks, etc, but has been a bit of a dumping ground of late, which means when Hubby and Teen Two go to get their water bottles out for the gym, they have a fight on their hands to keep the rest of the contents in!

But now, its all lovely and clear,with some stuff being chucked  (how many bottle lids did I need?) and some stuff dispersed elsewhere.

I then tackled the dresser cupboard, which is another dumping ground (shame on me!) but today I emptied it ( well the left hand side anyway) and rejiggled it all.

In the clear out I came across an M&S mug cake kit, which I had given Teen One last year...as soon as I called out what I had found, she was straight in the kitchen making herself a sweet snack.

 

 

She thoroughly enjoyed her little break though...she had been many hours solid working.

She has also made it into the 21st century by owning her own laptop!

She wasn't sure if she wanted a laptop at the start of her Uni course, and they are a massive outlay from the meagre student loan, so she hung fire for a while.

She does of course have access to the main PC and Hubby and I have laptops, so there was no shortage of availability, but there is nothing like the convenience of your own possessions is there.

So Hubby did some research over several weeks, to see which one suited her best and finally came up with one.

He is able to get a small discount from Curry's through work, if he buys a gift card, so we did that and then intended buying the laptop at the weekend.

It was only Friday night when all the "Black Friday" hype was on that I wondered if her laptop might possibly be in the sale.

Well it wasn't in the sale, but the next spec up was, so on Saturday for the same money as the original choice, we had an upgraded model saving her over £200.

I must say, the system for buying it was a bit annoying.

In store we were told there were none available and to order it online, when it would then arrive in store the next day (quite why they couldn't do that transaction in store and ensure our custom is beyond me)

So back home, we went online and ordered the machine....then received an email saying the item was available to pick up in store...now!

What?

So it was there all the time!!

What a waste of our time sending us home!

With footy traffic building, we decided to collect it on our way out in the evening.

On arrival we were told they couldn't find it!

Thankfully almost half an hour later they did find it, but honestly, its not what you might call good customer service is it?

Yesterday was spent uploading all the software and today she has been able to read and type up her assignments from the comfort of the sofa.

 

Tonight is looking like an early night as the sleepiness didn't wear off, but I do feel I achieved something today anyway!

 

 

 

 

Weekend Round Up

 

Yesterday morning was a baking fest, starting with apple pie for today's dessert...

 

 

...using the left over pastry I made "Apple Butter" tart...

 

 

 

...using the last of a jar of Apple Butter we bought in New England last year.

Apple butter is basically pureed and spiced apples, used for all manner of things, but mainly, for eating straight out of the jar with a spoon I reckon!

On a trip to a farm in Vermont some years ago, we sampled many fruit butters, and it was on that day I realised it was not "butter" as we English would understand....and the nearest thing we have over here, is peanut butter.

The butters are excellent spread on bread of course too.

I imagine they started off as a way of persevering the bountiful harvest of apples/fruit.

 

 

 

Next up was a lemon drizzle cake for the funeral, sat here soaking in the lemony syrup.

 

 

In between the baking, I made pumpkin soup for lunch...with the addition of some cheese and bacon....Hubby REALLY liked this twist!

 

 

The little part of town we live in has a village feel about it, and as we knew there was a Christmas fayre in the little high street, we set off to explore the stalls.

It was very family friendly and we bumped into lots of folk we knew.

There were some lovely items, and had the Teens been younger, some great craft kits, but we managed to keep hold of our pennies

 

 

 

Back home I put a sausage and dumpling casserole in the oven, then finished an order for ten sets of needles.

 

 

The postie bought my order of Christmas story booklets, at just 50p each, they are excellent value and ideal for little ones...based on "We're going on a bear hunt."

 

In the evening we drove over to Sussex for a Bible study session, receiving a text on the way that one of our students would be stopping over in London and not needing a lift from the train station and bed for the night.

But as we were driving home we had another text to say he had changed his mind and could we get him at 10.30pm....never a dull moment with this lot around!

 

Today has been the usual Sunday, with only one student for dinner as one had gone home for the weekend and the other has exams looming so spent the day studying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waxing Lyrical?

 

Last year  I bought several packs of candle wax sheeting in Tiger, for just £1 each.

I thought it would make a fairly cheap activity for our Friday Club kids sometime, and Christmas seemed as good a time to decorate a candle as any!

 

 

 

 

So armed with the box of candles I had bought in Ikea a while back, I set about thinking of simple ways to decorate the candles.

It soon became obvious I couldn't run with my original idea of making it an advent calender, with 24 markers on the side...as the candles just weren't long enough, plus the cutting up of so many strips was a little daunting to say the least!

 

 

I remembered I had some small Christmas cutters somewhere, but when I found the stash, I further remembered I had had a big sort out last year and passed on to charity a load of cutters...the little ones being amongst them!

I did find this Christmas tree cutter, but it was too wide for the candle..so Teen One set about cutting them out by hand  (with strict instructions to get the most out of the small sheet!)

This was however, very time consuming and she was trying to finish some reading for the next days Uni class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then remembered I had a box of cutters from my days at dabbling with cake decorating...and hey presto, a small flower cutter which was ideal for a star and a ruler which was free from Woman's Weekly in the 80's with the perfect Christmas tree!

 

 

 

After half an hour we had enough trees and stars pressed out and ready for the kids to decorate their candles with

 

 

Apologies for the rubbish photo, but they had a great time with it all tonight, using some of the pink wax to act as tinsel and baubles.

It was well worth the small amount of outlay and slight hassle last night.

I have learnt that I really detest the smell of wax though!

 

 

 

Out of the supermarket trip today I found a dairy free advent calendar for our "free from" student, and also a fun one for out student doctor, who has a Dalmatian dog back home in Malaysia...after all...you're never too old for an advent calendar are you?!

 

 

 

 

When I saw Grandma the other day, she said she had bought me a knitting pattern on her weekend away.

It was only today I got round to looking in the bag she had presented me with.

She had even kindly bought me the wool to go with it!

I did feel a little bad as I already have the pattern, but it is just a copy ( from FQ2FF I believe) but I think these adorable hedgehogs will make a great festive project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His Dream Come True

 

Today has been a pretty normal sort of day...so I'll make it brief!

The morning started with Parent and Toddlers, Grandma then asked me to take her to Tesco (unheard of!) so I enjoyed a mooch round for nothing in particular ( and only spent £6!)

They had a taster table out and we can highly recommend the rhubarb and ginger mince pie alternatives!

Back home I cracked on with some bead making for my needle order...

 

 

...with a brief break when my late neighbour's son came in for a catch up.

He was excited to tell me he has just placed an order for his new toy...

 

 

...a Porsche convertible!

It has been one of his dreams, and being a real petrol head I reckon he really deserves this.

His last few cars have always been with his parents in mind, what was easiest for them to get in and out of etc.

With his inheritance you may remember one of the first things he bought, was a new car for me!

So now, 18mths later he has finally ordered his own and I am thrilled for him.

They are all hand made to order and his arrives mid February....he quipped "if I am still alive by then!"

I do hope so!

 

I have to confess I didn't tell him about my misdemeanour in the car the other week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When A Day Goes To Plan!

 

Today I planned to spend at home and that's exactly what happened....perfect!

I wanted to get some baking done ahead of next week's funeral and managed to get a carrot cake, coffee and walnut cake, banana loaf (in oven) and a dozen and a half scones made.

I just need to make a lemon drizzle cake and if I am inspired by something else then that as well.

Someone else is making a chocolate cake and fruit loaf, so we will be well supplied with home bakes that's for sure.

 

 

 

I spent some time in between the cake making finishing off sock number one, and of course casting on for sock number two!

With the weather being so windy, but bright and dry I managed to get three loads of washing dry on the lines and most of the creases blew right out too so that will reduce the ironing on another day!

 

 

I then cracked on with some more needle making....although I cut them all the same size to start with...look at the length difference by the time I have shaped them! Bizzare aye!

I had hoped to make the bead ends as well, but time ran out.

 

 

I made a butternut squash and smoked basa risotto for tonight's dinner.

I have never eaten basa before, but liking the price on the supermarket shelf, I bought it as an alternative to salmon...although in taste its very similar to cod or haddock, but much cheaper!

It doesn't get a very good write up on line but I couldn't find an up to date article so maybe the concerns some health writers had have now been resolved ( unclean water/antibiotics in water etc)

I am not sure it would put me off buying it anyway to be honest, I imagine the air we breath is pretty toxic anyway!

As far as taste is concerned it was very tasty indeed and I would definitely buy it again

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prayers of Thankfulness!

 

Going back to last night, my Monday Recycled Teenager's family came round, and we got through all the funeral arrangements with ease.

I bought these cookies in Tesco yesterday, for a change,  to go with the coffee when everyone arrived. I was looking forward to the latte ones, but they were rather disappointing, the caramel flavour was rather artificial tasting and the coffee taste not nearly strong enough.

The ginger ones were better but I probably wont buy either again, whereas the M&S orange and cranberry ones I could devour in one sitting!

 

The family are only expecting around 50 for refreshments afterwards, so that's quite manageable.

In talking to Grandma this morning about it, she dropped into the conversation one of her friends at church  had offered to make a fruit loaf for the last funeral but Grandma had refused it on my behalf!!

What????

I would have welcomed it with open arms and now feel I need to phone and apologise in case she thought the refusal was from me!

 

 

I drove over to Hobbycraft this morning, with Grandma, to buy some gifts for our Friday Club kids.

Initial letters are all the rage I noticed a while back, coming in all sizes and styles.

I thought the girls would like to decorate one, so armed with a list of all their names, I bought around 20 letters, some glitter glue, glitter, and will make up little kits with the stash of sequins, beads etc I have had at home/church for years.

 

 

With my trolley loaded with goodies I went to the checkout and half way through starting looking for the money to pay for it.

The money was from church and I had put £100 in an envelope and then written on the front all initial letters I needed.

I emptied the bag several times, but nope, the envelope wasn't there!

I asked the assistant if I had left it in the trolley she was taking items out of, but nope, it wasn't there!

I explained to her the envelope had a wad of money in it and she asked where I had been...she then kindly abandoned the till and came looking with me.

She asked where I had been... well I had been everywhere!!

Including upstairs!

However, on her way to the letters section, she passed the glitter glue aisle and there on the end was my envelope!

I must have put it down as I looked at the packs of glue, looking to see what was inside!

Phew!

She got the biggest hug of the day I reckon!

So, suitably ashamed of myself I then went back to the till to settle the bill and offered a silent prayer of thanks!

I have a little prayer that I, all to often pray...

"Thank you Lord for looking after me, when I wasn't looking after myself!"
The number of times I panic because I cant find my house/car keys, purse or phone and I offer up that prayer

 is becoming slightly embarrassing!

 

With that panic over, I suggested to Grandma we have a coffee in the nearby M&S,

I also indulged in a spiced bun ( well FQ2FF does rave about them!) and mmmm it was delicious, and dare I admit I had some butter on it as well!!

 

 

 

Back home, with some chores out of the way, I cracked on with some knitting needle making.

On online friend has ordered ten pairs for a kit she is putting together.

Rather frustratingly the "wood"kept splitting and when I was sanding them down, the wood split even more...totally useless for anything much less knitting!

So I went to Homebase this time and saw they had pine dowels as well as MDF...which made me realise I had bought MDF (the only dowel on off at B&Q) previously.

So that has made a little dent into my profits sadly, but hey ho, you live and learn!