Good Old EBay!

 

After an uninterrupted nights sleep (rare!) I woke up around 4.45am and was wide awake!

So, soon after 5am I decided it was a waste of time just lying there, I may as well get up and get ahead on some quiet chores.

It would have been nice to see blue skies breaking as the sun rose, but instead it was grey clouds, but with some wind in the air, at 6am I risked putting out the washing, and by 7am it was dry enough to put in the drier for ten minutes to finish off.

I then settled down to some ironing...which is around the time the Teens got up and were more than surprised to see me at the ironing board...usually I am the last up ( so as to let them all have use of the bathrooms of course!)

 

 

I had intended going into town early...last nights armchair shopping was miserably uninspiring!

But just as the school rush was over and I was thinking about going out, a friend sent a text to  say was I going to be in around ten, so I delayed going out and we had a nice catch up over some tea and toast ( well breakfast was VERY early!)

 

 

After some shopping in town, which only solved three of the twenty present ideas I needed, I had a much needed sort out of the receipts section of the filing cabinet...and started tonight's fire with the discarded pile....and have only got half way through the file!

 

 

Before going to town I had bleached the attic shower walls, leaving them to "soak" whilst I was out.

I only noticed an short while ago that I have accidently got bleach on one of my favourite tops!

On the sleeve, as you can see, and all across the front!

That'll teach me for not wearing an apron...or old clothes!

Mind you, it was starting to look a little "loved" as they say...which is what tends to happen with favourite clothes, they wear out quicker than others!

 

 

 

Dinner tonight was from the 4 Ingredients book again...using up the last of the pork from Sunday I used the Pork and Coconut Satay sticks recipe....without the sticks!

I "pulled the pork" then marinade it in the coconut milk, peanut butter and ground coriander ( nearest thing I had to curry powder!)

It was very tasty indeed and as Hubby loves peanut butter, but not so keen on pork, I am hoping this will be acceptable..infact I suspect he could easily mistake it for chicken!

I set aside some of the pork and added BBQ sauce for Teen Two because of his nut allergy.

 

 

This morning I had sent Teen Two out to measure up the rabbit hutch, so as to buy a cover.

The hutch was handmade by the owners of our previous bunnies....which was great, but it is not a standard size I now know!

It is  5cm deeper than conventional hutches!

After checking out Amazon and Online Pet stores, I turned to good old Ebay, and what do you know?

Someone makes them made to measure!

 

Still no news on my dear friend....tomorrow surely will be the day, my heart really goes out to the family whose lives have been on hold for the past week.

 

 

 

 

Monday's Just Arent The Same

 

I had hoped to have my own car back this morning, but as I hadn't had a call from the garage, it was off to Morrisons with the courtesy car.

Mondays are just not the same at the moment....not going to see my Monday Recycled Teenager, not thinking what promise from the Scriptures to take her, not plating up a dinner for her....all those little things I really miss.

Her daughter sent a text to say she is now officially unconscious so it wont be too much longer now I guess.

Grandma wanted some bits and pieces she couldn't buy locally, so I was glad of the company when I went to Morrisons, but Grandma and I shop in very different ways!

We made the usual "see you at the tills" arrangement, where there is a seat either of us can sit on if we are waiting, but as its a small store, we did cross paths a few times.

I couldn't help but notice Grandma had two small bags of sugar at 60p each, and I knew the equivalent weight in a larger bag was only 88p....but when I suggested replacing them for her to save some money so said no, as she preferred the small bags!

However she was very pleased when I showed her Walls had their frozen sausages on offer for £1, she has been complaining she hasn't had a good sausage in a while so hopefully she will enjoy these.

 

 

For several years Teen Two has been using Lidl's shower gels.

At just 33p a bottle they are excellent value and smell good too.

A few weeks ago he came down after his evening shower complaining his face felt tight and we could clearly see his forehead was very red.

We didn't know why of course, but when the same thing happened two more evenings on the trot we knew it had to be something in the shower gel.

So he switched from the blue one to the green one ( both of which he has used before)

Once again, there was  the same reaction.

Yesterday he used the orange gel ( which smells lovely!) and all was fine.

I emailed Lidl this morning asking if they had changed the ingredients, adding that he has not had any issues with any other product before, but has recently had allergic reactions to nuts.

I was very impressed when they sent an email this afternoon asking for LOT numbers on the bottles.

So we shall see if maybe one of the ingredients was changed, otherwise we have no idea why this should happen.

 

 

Teen Two ran a couple of errands locally for me and then had his usual play with the gerbils...

 

 

...as well as their weekly weigh in!

He was a little concerned one of them was getting lighter a while back, so I suggested he weigh them regularly so we can establish a pattern and pick up if anything changes, I suspect there is a spreadsheet for such things!

 

 

The washing machine seems to have been going non stop today, and to add to the usual laundry loads, I decided to  wash the sofa cushion covers....having spotted a little yellow stain, which I guess was courtesy of dear Flora Bunny a few weeks ago!

We did hand wash her little mishaps...but the lovely sunshine streaming through the windows happen to show up this stain, which thankfully didn't smell ( yes I did the nose test!) but didn't look too good.

I covered the bare cushions, to keep them clean and Milly instantly jumped up....anything new or clean she just has to christen!

The covers are now back on, looking so much fresher and giving a lovely aroma to the living room too.

 

 

Teen One was cooking dinner tonight and we both were lacking in inspiration for what to have, so we went through my stash of recipe books and found this one I bought a few years ago at The Works for a couple of pound.

I forgot how many interesting recipes there were!

 

 

 

We went for Sweet and Spicy chicken, which only required marmalade, chilli powder and chicken.

After the allotted cooking time the "sauce" was very watery, so we added some cornflour which made it a much more acceptable consistency.

Even using just one teaspoon of chilli ( the recipe said 1-2) it was still a little on the hot side, so we added some greek yogurt...much better!

She served it with brown rice, peas and broccoli, it was very tasty, but we felt the addition of onions would make it even better.

We are going to rate each recipe we use and add any notes for improvements.

 

 

Last year we went to Longleat's Festival of Lights and really enjoyed it.

We had also visited Winter Wonderland in London and vowed never to return....I cant think of many places I would never want to return, but that was definitely one of them!

We had left it too late to book Longleat through Tesco vouchers last year, so this year when Teen One saw the theme of the lights was Fairy Tales, she was eager to go.

So this afternoon I went online and booked with the Tesco vouchers, making a trip that would have cost £122 in cash, absolutely free!!

I have to say, it was rather a work up though, not one stage was straightforward, but never mind, an hour later I had achieved my goal and we now have a lovely day and evening out to look forward to Christmas weekend.

 

 

With some housework out of the way I decided to tackle the Friday Club Christmas presents.

I had a box full of spare presents from last year, and had hoped I could marry up some of them to this years kids.

I had the forethought last year to make a note of what I gave to who, which has meant no angst on my part of "did she get this last year?"

However there are still as many presents to buy, if not more, so I will have to start looking around to see what I can get on offer.

That's my task tonight I reckon, last year I did well with Hawkins Bazaar and The Book People.

Don't you just love armchair shopping!

 

 

 

The chilly weather has meant the wood burner is now on most evenings, which means marshmallow toasting for the Teens!

We have a lovely supply of free wood which I hope will see us through most of the winter, and some coal to pop on when we are going out and don't want the fire to go out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Cooking A Highlight???

 

 

This morning was Church as usual, followed by the usual roast dinner.

Our Malaysian medical student is a pleasure to have each week, not only impeccable manners, but loves food!

To see him piling his plate high then going back for seconds ( sometimes thirds!) is a real compliment.

Today as we were clearing away he said my Sundays dinners were the highlight of his week!
How lovely was that!

 

 

After the big clear up, I actually picked up my knitting needles!

Not something I have managed in a while...and with our student Abbey playing hymns on the piano, and the fire roaring, it was  very pleasant indeed.

 

 

 

We then had a Scrabble challenge...Oldies versus Young'uns and for the second week we Oldies won.

 

 

 

The bunnies were brought in for their afternoon treat...

...they really do love chilling out on the sofa and Flora hasn't disgraced herself in weeks so we are being brave and not putting an old blanket on the cushions any more.

 

Still no news on my dear Monday Recycled Teenager...this is the fifth day with no fluids, it must be so tough for the family.

 

I am expecting to get my car back tomorrow....it has been good to have the courtesy car for back up, but its not so comfortable to drive and I am paranoid about having a scrape in it!

I am hoping this coming week will be a little calmer than last week.

 

 

 

 

Taking The Day As We Find It.

 

Well Saturday's with no plans are rare, but treasured!

No alarm clock to wake us up, no time restraints...so why did I wake at 5.30am!

Soon after 6am I gave up trying to get to sleep and came downstairs to empty the dishwasher etc...but it had failed to go on properly last night so that task had to wait a little longer!

I sorted the cats out, let the bunnies out of their hutch...knowing Teen Two wouldn't be up as early as usual, and thought how warm it was outside, even though the sun was barely up.

I do love those quiet times of the day and often think I should make the effort to get up early especially to enjoy them more often...but bed is usually so comfortable first thing in the morning!

By this time it was just after 7am, so I made Hubby some breakfast ( well how hard is a bowl of cereal hee hee!) took a cuppa and and of course the ginger biccies, then swanned around in bed, surfing and sipping for the next hour!

 

 

After a leisurely bath and another cuppa ( got to make the most of these rare days!) I made a Dorset Apple cake for tomorrow's dessert...not having any demerara sugar to sprinkle on top, I used dark brown sugar instead...hmm....not such a good look, a bit too dark I think, but nevermind, covered in custard it will be fine!

 

I also made a pan of pumpkin and potato soup for lunch which we enjoyed with a delicious sour dough boule from Lidl's.

 

The rest of the day was spent catching up on paperwork, helping Teen Two dejunk his room  ( two charity bags later we are on a roll!) which was partly inspired by Hubby emptying the entire contents of his wardrobe ( and that was A LOT!) to declutter the number of "work clothes"  (ie clothes that are rather tired looking but fine for painting in etc) He decided five sets was a little over the top!

 

Hubby also painted the bathroom window frame, which has needed doing since the new double glazing went in 18mths ago ( am I patient or am I mad patient!)

And he also painted part of the porch which has needed painting since...well.....lets not go there!

But its a start and I am very thankful, since painting is akin to gardening to me...I only do it when I really really have to!

 

Teen One has been doing course work of course, and we have all enjoyed not having to clock watch.

 

Still no news on my dear friend....someone said it can take weeks even with fluids withdrawn!

The poor family, sat by her bedside just waiting for the inevitable.

 

 

24 = X = Lavender

 

Twenty four years ago today, Hubby and I caused a slight stir in the family, by eloping to Gretna Green!

No Facebook, emails or mobile phones in those days, but oh how those main line phones were buzzing!

I would love to have been a fly on many a wall!

Traditional wedding anniversary presents go up to 20, then 25, 30, 40 etc.

We have always bought each other something small appropriate to the year, but after 20 we had to come up with something ourselves, so we decided to go with the letter corresponding to the number...making this year X.

 Until Teen One presented us with this beautiful hand painted picture of a lavender field, I hadn't realised flowers were also allocated an anniversary year...and 24 is of course lavender.

 

 

 

When I went out shopping on Tuesday for the funeral food, I also took the opportunity to look for something with an "X" in it for Hubby.

I had no idea what I was looking for, thinking maybe something with Xtra on it might be easy to find...

...but I was delighted to see Tesco had a range of glasses and mugs with letters on!

I decided we had enough mugs so went for a glass.

 

 

I also popped into Hobby craft and they had several letter themed items, I thought this would be fun to put on my gallery wall  (whenever I get around to doing it!) as I have seen several hotel gallery walls and they often have a random letter or "&" sign up.

It comes with lights and can be decorated to suit your own décor but I prefer it white.

I have to add...I thought it was metal when I bought it but when Hubby opened it today, its cardboard!

Not sure I would have bought it for £10 had I known it was just card!

 

 

I trawled the food aisles looking for something with X in, but other than Xtra Sour Apple Chewits there which I knew Hubby wouldn't like, there wasn't anything...so I went for looking for anything with 24 in ...and this was the only thing I could find.

Oddly enough Hubby couldn't see the connection when he opened it...just wondered why I had bought so many penguins!!

 

 

 

For a change...I outsmarted him!

He couldn't think of anything with an X in...but I had seen a stall selling handmade toadstools for £1 at the Pumpkin festival the other week...and good old Hubby had sneaked away to buy me one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the blue skies and sun shining, I was enjoying the early morning air whilst I was hanging out the washing.

As usual I could hear kids climbing over a wall that separates our back alley from the road behind, on their shortcut to school.

I don't mind kids using, what is not a public right of way for a short cut, although I understand the original owner of our house used to stand at the garage door and order any straying children away!

Our old neighbour also used to hang around at the end of school time and wag his finger at them as he told them they should walk the long way round and not cut through ( which sometimes provoked them to throw stones at his window sadly)

But this morning I could hear some boys up to no good and was pretty sure I knew what they were doing.

I had left a bag of old jars by my garage door, where most of us leave our "next stop the tip" stuff.

I quickly nipped through the garage and out to the alley in time to see them taking the jars out and throwing them around, smashing them!

Well....I wasn't having any of that.

I am tolerant of most "experimental" escapades boys get up to, after all, that's how they learn,

but wilful damage that can cause harm to other people or animals just makes me see red.

So they got they sharp end of my tongue and I told them I expected them to clear up the mess on their way home from school.

After they had gone I realised they had managed to smash some jars to pieces and that was way too dangerous to leave or allow them to deal with, so I cleared it up myself, and brought the bag inside until we go to the bottle bank.

Needless to say, they found another route home this afternoon!

 

 

 

 

With the boys away with a flea in their ears, it was time to get the cupboards restocked for the weekend. I  drove my courtesy car to Lidl's, feeling a little under par, wondering how my Monday Recycled Teenager was doing,  and was so frustrated to realise as I was walking to get the trolley that I didn't have my trolley token...as I didn't have my own car keys!!

Still with only half a brain on, I thought...thank goodness I keep a pound in the car....doh....I wasn't in my car was I!

Daft how long it takes for the penny to drop!

So what was I going to do?

No way would a basket do, no way could I be bothered to drive all the way home in a car I wasn't 100% comfortable driving, then I remembered I often bumped into one of our mums from Parent and Toddlers, so I thought I would see if she was in and borrow  a pound from her!

Before I went too far I saw the manager and explained my dilemma and wondered if she would be able to lend my a coin/token  (I was prepared to leave my house keys as deposit!) and she happily went to the office and found a token ( With The Range logo on!) and said to just give it back to a till girl (or checkout chick as they call them in Australia!)

Phew, with that sorted I could get on with the shopping.

I saw this autumn themed garden waste bag, which I thought would be ideal for our small garden, clearing up after pruning etc is one of my least favourite parts of gardening ( not that I like many things about gardening!) and this will be ideal for chucking stuff in as I go along.

 

 

 

The bakery section had a new bread....fig and walnut, which was very yummy indeed!

 

 

I had never seen this before, sweet stemmed cauliflower and thought it looked

sooooo pretty I just had to treat us to some for our special day.

It really was very tasty indeed, although I almost ruined it!

I also saw provolone cheese in the "specials" section, and remembering enjoying it in the US I bought some to grate over.

Well...I am glad I tried the cheese first....it was awful!!

Just incase it was my taste buds having a wobbly, I gave everyone else a little chunk...one by one they said "hmm....well its ok...." then as they taste developed in their mouth

both the Teens said...

"Yuk.....its like being sick!"

"Which is exactly what I thought!

So good old cheddar it was, and Hubby braved it with the sicky stuff!

Waste of £1.99 if you ask me!

But I would buy the cauliflower again, not only because it tasted so nice, but was so pretty on the plate...it reminded me of elderflower to look at.

 

Tonight was Friday Club as usual, and with none of our three students able to come, for various reasons, it was hard work, especially with the increase of children we have experienced recently!

 

Back home, its been a chill out on the sofa with a cuppa and some chocolate....whilst wondering how my dear Recycled Teenager is...we haven't heard from the family so she must still be with us...how awful it must be, just waiting there at her bedside, waiting for that last breath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Precious Moments

 

 

After church last night, the young folk came round to our house for a firework supper.

One of the students had bought a firework, the like of which I have never seen before!

 

 

 

My camera wasn't able to capture the beauty of the display....although it was rather noisier than I was expecting...I am a scaredy cat where noisy fireworks are concerned!

 

 

I was most surprised that the "frog" wasn't completely demolished either!

 

 

Not even the top where the "works" were was affected!

 

 

After supper ( where do these youngsters put it all!) it was time for sparklers...never too old for sparklers!

We bought rainbow and coloured sparklers out of intrigue, but  if you blinked you missed the colour change...or colour even!

The Mammoth ones however were good fun.

 

 

I didn't sleep well last night, no doubt my Monday Recycled Teenager on my mind, then when I collected Grandma for Parent and Toddlers, she was upset, regretting she hadn't gone to the hospital with me yesterday.

Teen Two was in the back of the car and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder...which of course made her weep even more!

I sent our friends family a text asking if it would be possible for one more visit, and they were very happy for us to go, saying it would give them a break and they would go for coffee.

So we finished Parent and Toddlers a little early and then whizzed up to the hospital.

Our dear friend had been in pain earlier but was settled and appeared sleeping.

The family went and I spoke to our dear friend...her eyes opened and she gave a knowing nod.

Grandma and I spoke with her and then I attempted to pray...knowing Grandma wanted to but was overcome with emotion.

My emotion was closer to the surface, again, than I expected so it was a short prayer!

I then started to sing ( badly!) a hymn and to our amazement our dear friend started to mouth the words!

That was a thrill, to know she could hear us.

So we spoke some more, saying all those things you often wish you had said but left it too late.

We sang some more ( wondering if it was a comfort or source of pain!) and quoted some scripture.

With a driver having been put in place today, we know the end will not be far away....and once again I said "this is not goodbye, its until we meet again, very soon."

Sigh....these moments are precious...but draining.

 

I came home and just sat with a cuppa and some TV...for some normality.

The garage then came for my car and left me with a sweet Kia Picanto courtesy car, although I suspect I wont go further than the supermarket with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From One Sad Day To Organising Another

 

This morning I was up earlier than usual to get tonight's dinner sorted...in my good old slow cooker.

Today was going to be a busy day but ended up being busier than I had expected.

By 9am I was at church with Grandma, getting the food organised for a funeral of a 92yr old man who had been part of our church for many years.

He was a German prisoner of war who never returned home ( or desired to return ) and settled down here with a wife and children.

It was a small funeral, at his age most of your peers have long since gone.

Everyone appreciate the spread we had put on, but as we were setting it all up, I had a text from my Monday Recycled Teenager's daughter...her mum was on regular  morphine and was  I able to pop up and see her today!

I of course shared the sad news with those around me, and we looked at each other...knowing what we were all thinking.....we will be back here very soon organising another funeral.

 

 

 

With the funeral refreshments all cleared away, I took Grandma home then drove to hospital.

I bumped into the eldest daughter in the corridor, had a catch up, then met another two in the ward day room, who told me the youngest daughter was due to land from the US any time and would hopefully make it from Heathrow in time to see her mum alive.

It certainly is a very sad time, and all one can say is we are praying for them.

I was able to spend a short time alone with my dear friend, she did open her eyes when I held her hand and spoke her name, but unable to respond.

Did she know it was me? I really don't know...did it matter? Probably not.

Knowing that the hearing is one of the last senses to go, I shared with her some thoughts from the Bible which we had at the funeral earlier, thanked her for all her love and kindness over so many years, and prayed with her....I was glad to be alone as my voice wobbled more than I would have liked.

Why do we feel shy to show our emotions at times like this I wonder?

So,with a heavy heart I walked away from my dear old friend for the last time.

But with the heaviness is also the joy of knowing when she leaves us, she will be going to a far better place and in the presence of the Lord and Saviour she has served for so many years.

For now we can just pray she has a peaceful last few hours and the family are comforted at this sad time.