Daily Project Round 10

@Peridot1 what a saga! Just what you need. Crossing my fingers for you it's nothing serious!!

@Mumtobabyhavoc I would say tending towards milk chocolate. Maybe 65% milk? 😁

🎺 Uniform audit accomplished this morning and much to my relief we are well supplied in everything except PE t-shirts (unless I can do magic with bleach and bicarbonate and vanish and vinegar). Also set aside a large bag of outgrown stuff to pass on.

@WinterFrogs congratulations on getting rid of two boxes! I have five bags waiting for the charity shop, will aim to drop off a couple this afternoon.

Timetables are out for school so much grumbling here.
Paid for piano and tennis, not for me obviously!
Looked up my pensions so we can calculate how long we need to work, dh is 4 years older than me but has had such a rubbish run of health pushing him to retire at 67 would be cruel.
Have spent 45 mins tidying in dc1's room. They mostly sat there whilst i worked away but it does look a little better and the desk is accessible for revision etc.
We are out for desserts this afternoon and the theatre tonight.

Morning all.

Glad the weekend went well @petalpower.

So my plans and week have been derailed somewhat. Two weeks ago we got a new bed for DS. He hasn’t really been happy with it. Thinks it’s too short. His previous bed was Ikea and we didn’t realise that Ikea beds are just a bit longer than UK standard length. It’s also pocket sprung and he doesn’t like the dips that causes in the mattress. Anyway. Yesterday he says he is being badly bitten at night and he thinks the new bed has bed bugs. We were already cleaning his room out so then that turned into moving him into the spare bedroom for a few nights till we sort his room. Which meant tidying that and cleaning it and making up the bed.

Then completely pulling his room apart. I am totally convinced it’s not bed bugs but just in case….. DH and I are being bitten too so I’m pretty sure it’s just mosquitoes. DS doesn’t agree….. although did say there was one in his bathroom last night…..

So. Lots of bedding being washed. Thoroughly vacuuming. Including pulling out all the furniture.

And need to sort the bed/mattress issue….

The whole house needed a deep clean so it looks like I’m starting with bedrooms…..

While trying to keep on top of the usual stuff….

Normal list making will resume tomorrow!

Have a great day all.

I am steadfastly refusing to look at the recipe @Mumtobabyhavoc 😋 😆

I am finally attempting to address the stone that's gone on around my middle in the last year.

Hope you get some rest! I also get anxious about the boxes that i need to tackle. I am hoping that my step by step approach with have it done by the end of the month. I got two boxes of books and CDs posted off yesterday. I am £16.48 better off now! There is also a bit for the charity shop pile so I might stroll into town with a couple of bags full while I'm on a roll.

Chocolatey with bright bits sounds nice @SingleThreadJoiner2

I don't mind my 'silver highlights' too much which is just as well as I'm too tight fisted to pay for professional colouring and I'm allergic to box dyes. Also I swim regularly and my natural hair copes better than my coloured hair ever did.

In other news I got the rest of the house ship shape. Today I plan to make soup in honour of the start of autumn.

I hope you all have a nice day ☕️ (no 🍰 here sadly 😢)

Ah well done @petalpower! Hope it was fun and you're not too shattered. Resting a bit today I hope. Fun can be very wearing I find!

Made it through hosting the family camping weekend! The weather wasn’t great but we managed having everyone inside with the bbq happening in our cartlodge garage. DH has gone back to help with his parents for a few days and I’ve been doing the final clearing up after our last guests left this morning. I’ll be back tomorrow. Hope you’ve all had a good bank holiday weekend!

Flying by! Hair colour is chocolatey with a bit of brightness, perfectly nice and covers up the greys but I think I might try a hint more redness next time! 🦰
On the other hand the ammonia smell gave me a terrible migraine so maybe next time will have to be something less chemical....

Despite the BH builders are here finally ripping out the kitchen 🥳🥳🥳 and despite the chaos we are just so happy and relieved it's finally underway.

Jobs are mainly life admin - topped up school lunches account (now that she's starting y3 we need to pay!) this morning, still need to do the uniform audit!!

Why thank you @Mumtobabyhavoc! I waste so much time on line and I have so much to do building up that my head is becoming frazzled again. So I need to be disciplined. Just having a quick coffee break.

Morning all.

Quick pop in. Trying not to waste too much time on t’internet.

Jobs list:

• dishwasher - done
• laundry - one load on
• change my bed
• walk
• help DS with sorting a shelf unit in his room - we did his desk yesterday
• clear surfaces in utility room
• plant 2 plants into pots
• anything else will be a bonus but should be vacuuming
• start detailed brain dump/house/garden to do list

Have a great day all.

'Despite my wish to be further from other people' @RunningKatie 🫂
I feel you on that! I am grateful for although I live in a terrace, it's mid last century built so we have decent sized gardens, solid walls and a decent amount of room between our houses and the ones opposite. The new builds around here are crammed on top of each other and have paper thin walls. They are also ridiculously priced so all but the social housing ones are standing empty which seems competely mad.

@Mumtobabyhavoc I was doing well just to sweep and occasionally mop hard floors back in the day, and as for looking after your mum and two little ones and still cooking like you do and keeping it wholesome is just epic! Honestly you put me to shame!

My home tends to be 'good enough' 😎 Right now it's not even that, with boxes of mum's stuff filling dining room, one bedroom and currently, the lounge. We are definitely not company ready!

I am going to go for a long walk along the cliffs this morning and try to forget about it for a while. And then I think I will make our bedroom and lounge lovely so that we have a sanctuary.

Hope you are all having a lovely long weekend 😘

Parenting is such a tough job @Mumtobabyhavoc that nobody warns you about. I would love to go back in time to when mine were littlies and we'd go off on adventures like you've done with yours. You're doing amazingly.
Today dc2 and I did a spontaneous adventure, 2+ hrs to the coast to the conservation charity to visit the animals. He had a great time, and I'm shattered.
I've just loaded the washing machine and changed our bed, so excited that the new bathroom is having the airing cupboard put back so we will have storage. Such joy.
We are going for a no bath house @WinterFrogs - bit of a dither over it but I can't see us moving in the next 10 years despite my wish to be further from other people, so we're getting a large shower put in. And I'll just hire holiday cottages with baths for dc2 to take all the ducks to!
I'm going to load a giftcard onto my phone and then make a pot of tea, would rather have a large wine but I'm being wise.

So much so, @Mumtobabyhavoc! I think August mornings often feel quite autumnal but this year so much more so. I met a woman out walking the other day and she said isn't it lovely to have air to breathe, and I totally knew what she meant. It is a relief. And we haven't even had smoke here.

Spot on re burnout and shutdown. I think we're often 'guilty' (for want of a kinder word) of not realising what we're doing whilst in the thick of it. I was fortunate to read a book that my kindle suggested, and the author talked of the power of doing nothing - with the science behind it, and I just though 'what am I doing?' and downed tools (as far as poss) for a month. I've come back with a clearer plan on how to proceed. I didn't even drop any of my actual commitments, but I gave myself space in between them. Dropped being 'perfect' and what people might think, basically. Both are works in progress though.

I feel you about Havoc @Mumtobabyhavoc. In hindsight it goes so fast. I'd sometimes like a do over with my family, knowing what I know now. But despite the chaos, I'm here to tell you it turned out ok 🫂

Bit of gardening calls today I think. I'd go to the tip too, but for probable bank holiday queues.

Have a good one everybody 🌞 🍂

I've been meaning to add a pic taken locally of the lunar eclipse. It's from the bbc site and credited to somebody but now i can't find the page 😞

Soggy doggy must love you @watchPhone 😍 Do you lose your phone as often as your debit card? If not perhaps consider setting it up so you can pay with phone? Samsung wallet or somesuch. I was ahead of you there with your trip, whoops!

@Peridot1 I did similar in garden - propped up a golf umbrella so I could sit outside in the rain. I'd love to get a little kiosk or something in a sheltered corner.

I have a list about as long as yours! Similar things on there too. I have things of mother's to sell and try to increase her savings pot. House is on the market now and I got clearance in for the garage as there was so much in there. And I have become a little overwhelmed with it filling two rooms in my not very big house, so I really must sort it and box it up. The local hospice shop has done quite well out of it too. And I want to give the kitchen a scrub as well.

I keep reminding myself that once it's done, it really is done! This is not long term even though it feels like it. And when it's done I hope to refresh the paintwork which has not been done since 2013, except littlest's bedroom.

I am rather impressed with the 12kg kettlebell! I aspire to catch up with you @Peridot1 I have carried some big boxes lately though 🤔 Gave up the horse volunteering as my knees won't cope with another winter's worth of mud. And also work has got busier, as well as dealing with an extra house.

I am agog about the hair colour now @SingleThreadJoiner2! I am glad you love it. Have you gone short? I'm attempting to grow a pixie cut into a bob, and it's really messy at the moment. I would like it long enough to pin it up when it's windy like today though.

Right, best tidy the kitchen. I've only put a wash on since I got back from work. A Cuckoo's Calling kept me tucked under a blanket with my kindle for a couple of hours. Saw the Strike series on telly but the book has so much more depth. I do love Tom Burke though. He looks a lot like my son in law. My favourite is Ruth Sheen. She's brilliant in everything and she plays a wonderfully feisty part in this.

I have done a brain dump 😳 Or a stream of consciousness 🤭

It's wild here! Hope nobody is blown away, esp @petalpower's party!

morning /afternoon! My trip is next weekend I am just trying to get organised this week (unusually !)

meanwhile I am sitting here idly pondering where my debit card is, and wondering why I am allowing a sopping wet SpiritDoggo to drape herself all over me! As long as she is happy eh?

Go bold @SingleThreadJoiner2!

@WintersFrog - I do sets of 12. At the gym with my PT I use a 12kg kettlebell - she snuck that up from 10 when I wasn’t looking! At home my heaviest weight is 4.5 kg though.

The prawns were good. DH said it “wasn’t bad”. I’m taking that as praise.

@Mumtobabyhavoc - that’s an impressive list!

@petalpower - hope the weekend goes well. Such a shame about the weather.

Wishing you well @watchPhone. Hope it goes well.

@RunningKatie - enjoy your few days off.

Enjoying the rain this morning. Sat outside under cover with a drink first thing and it felt really peaceful and smelt so fresh.

A few bitty things to do today. Didn’t do too much of my list yesterday.

Kitchen needs a good clean. Need to change DS’s bed. Still haven’t de-cobwebbed anywhere. Utility room is a mess. I feel a brain dump list coming on. Have house jobs to do plus garden jobs and sheds to tidy and sort so outdoor furniture can be put away plus the garage needs a good sort out. It will all start to spin around in my head and overwhelm me so I need to get it onto paper and make a plan.

Have a great Saturday all.

I think I am @WintersFrog! Definitely with the length, the colour is nice too but actually wondering if I should have been even bolder...

Crikey you lot are all go! Are you going shower only @RunningKatie? Daft question - presumably you're not going for a wash stand and pitcher....
It seems like 5 minutes since you were all talking about term ending and now here we are!

I'm on it with weights now too @Mumtobabyhavoc. My mum does seated exercises in the care home which i believe also involve resistance bands. She's looking amazing ( although still not very mobile but that's down to having had a stroke) You're multitasking skills are impressive, helping mum at the same time. Great moon pictures!

I think my need to sit in a dark, sm free corner for nearly the whole of August was directly related to several years worth of multitasking, so I am working on alternatives.

How is the hair looking @SingleThreadJoiner2? Are you happy with it?

I hope it stays dry for you this weekend @petalpower 🙏

How were the prawns @Peridot1? I am a bit the same getting fleeting fits of enthusiasm for an afternoon in the kitchen. It soon passes though and then I'm back to functional cooking. Time to ditch the added crisps and coke though.
How many squats in a set do you do? I've just gone up to six with a weight added. Goblet squat or something with 5 kg kettle bell.

@autumnangel that is a long list! Which task did you pick? If any 🫂 I'm quite intrigued by the roller skating session. What's it like? Are you a beginner or experienced? If i get fitter i quite like the look of our local climbing gym. They do lessons there ( and have a crash mat which feels safer than roller skates - though you have knee pads perhaps)

If you're reading @watchPhone good luck this weekend and have a great time! Hope the weather is perfect 🙏

👋 @FourSeasonsLobelia hope all is well.

Right more coffee then must go to work. Just the morning then my peaceful afternoon with a book hopefully.

Have s great day all!

@teachyourself @WideOpenBeaches are you still about? (Says she who ghosted you a 😳)

🫂 to @mumofoneAloneandwell too if you're lurking xx

We had an absolutely amazing thunderstorm last night, the lightning was awesome. So much rain too, Dh slept through it of course.
Really looking forward to a long weekend, I've tacked on a few days of annual leave till the small people go back to school too.
Been to the library today and to the uniform shop which had sold out of jumpers. Which is fine as it's not desperate, they fit, they've just seen better days. I'll order them once the initial chaos has died down.
This weekend I'm going to put suitcases in the loft and declutter the bathroom. It's being ripped out in a few weeks and I don't want to be packing up stuff we don't need. Obviously we do still need 20 bath ducks even though the bath is coming out.