Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 27: Calmly through the day

[MissConductUS]

I've started a new one. Please join us and share the boring and mundane things happening in your world. It will be calming for all.

Here is the link to the prior thread:

Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 26: Calmly through the day

Welcome to all regulars, lurkers, and new contributors! Everyone is welcome to join.

Christmas tree and decs out for her to potter with!

MissC ..there is always a fly in the ointment when it comes to weddings x.

Hope it can be sorted out 💐 x

@bizzey

(waves) Hey Neighbour!

I have a beef stew on the hob simmering away .... through I think it should be re named as....
Hunt for the beef stew !!

I am lazy and used frozen mixed casserole veg .

I accidentally tipped the whole bag in the pan !!

Still it will bulk it out 🤣.

I still have to add the potatoes.

I do them separately and add for last 45 mins or so.

I am hoping I will get some leftover to freeze for mam ...but that is not always guaranteed when D's gets in from work 🤣.

I made a big pasta Bolognese the other day .
Had his portion set aside ...
and was going to freeze the spare Bolognese sauce....

He added the spare sauce to what I had left out for him 🤣😅😭😭😭😭!

I suppose I should be glad that my food is edible though ...ha ha !

That's so lovely of you to do all that for your Mum Bizzey

Hope it's not too expensive for computer fix Matthew

DH managed to get Sainsbury's order and is now attempting to fix headlights. Hope he can do it so we can go swimming tonight but he's not great at repairs nor admitting he can't do something.

I have put a little hair dye on, have to be careful as can react badly to them. Thankfully don't have too much not original colour.

Just had snacky things for lunch, cheddar cheese with onion in, pickled onion, pickled cabbage and figs and 4 mini gingerbread men. I love pickles.

Yikes !!

I have only just realised the dates and calendar days 🤦‍♀️!

I phoned up my butchers to ask why they don't have their Christmas meat prices on their website.
They don't bother now as they get so many regulars (like me !) they don't advertise?

Anyhow....meat is ordered ...and for the 1st time....they are going to deliver it ... yippee!

I must get flagged up as a 10 year plus customer on the phone line ...as they didn't even want a deposit..
I will pay in full next Friday ... delivery Saturday.

Hope my fridge will behave next weekend !

Very ...very ...VERY ...tempted to buy a bigger slow cooker than I have , to get the gammon in over night.

I have one ...but it is small.

Even this stew I have got on the hob right now would not be big enough, for the stew I have in it.

I was thinking....overnight gammon ...in coke ?
Then a blast in the oven when turkey is done ??

I am not very good at multitasking and remembering thing 😅!

And I have a small oven !!

Yes it's so close to Christmas, our lane now looks like the scene from a Christmas film as if Santa is about to land.

Moved my TV down for DS as I barely use it and he must have broken his. Tidied a bit. Went swimming and did 100 lengths, jacuzzi, steam room and sauna and coffee with DH, it was just me in there a lot. Love that.

Got about 7 hours sleep last night!!!! 🥳🥳
managed to get Havoc to school again, too. So, feeling like I've won today. 😁
Made penne with scallops, prawns, sun dried tomatoes, anchovy and egg whisked with finely ground pecorino (for sauce) for lunch. Despite tempering the egg with hot pasta water I still managed to scramble the egg when I mixed it into the pasta because I didn't turn the heat off first. 🤦‍♀️ Taste was still good, though.
Havoc not wanting to fall asleep for nap and it's been an hour, but is content talking to and cuddling stuffed animals.
I just finished watching another Jamie Oliver Christmas cooking show. Felling inspired. Have also been obsessive about YouTube cooking vids for duck recipes. I've only cooked duck breast, not whole duck, so want to get it right. Every recipe I've found says 350f for about 2 hours. Some score the skin, others don't. I'll likely score, baste halfway, have orange, onions, cranberries, garlic and ginger underneath with some inside cavity and season inside and out. I'm planning Chinese 5 spice, s&p, a bit of clove and orange slices. Sauce made from pan juices adding a slurry, butter, OJ and a bit of brandy. Will also make a cranberry sauce with orange juice and a bit of brandy and cinnamon (and sugar). Just rambling now, I think...🤷‍♀️🫣

Silkie, I like grazing/variety for a meal, too.
Bizzey, your dinner sounds good. Stew in fall/winter is so comforting.
I could go for a decent Irish stew, actually... 😋😋😋
oh! Havoc is asleep!!!! 👏👏👏

I’ve still got some tricky presents to buy and am freaking out calmly on this thread about the remaining Christmas prep. Don’t finish work until the 20th and will be pretty shattered by that point. Watching Last Leg with DH, I’d normally be in bed by now…

DD4 and I went out last evening to find The Tree, but by the time we got to the lot in heavy traffic, it was getting dark and hard to see much.

So we went out again today, and the result is sitting in its stand in the sitting room with Dcat snoozing on the tree skirt. I need to test the lights, and we'll decorate tomorrow if the lights work.

Ohh ..I think I am the last on this thread ....and in fact on all my social media .... to do my tree 🎄🎄!! 😅😅!!

It is still just staring at me from it's box ha ha !!

DS1 dropped a bombshell on me yesterday.

He might not be home for Christmas 😭😭😭!

He is in a bit of a quandary re his
gf's working shifts.

If he comes home she will be alone in Christmas day .

I am pleased he is being caring and considerate to her ...as he should be ...and it is how I would want him to be in his relationship...

Buuuuuttttttt!!!

It just won't be the same 😭😭😭!!

He is planning on coming up , possibly boxing day...?late?

So I will just have to tell Santa to come a few days later 🤣🤣!

Which did NOT please ds3 !!...😅

Ds2 ...well he won't care ...all he wants is his Roast Dinner !!

I knew our Christmas 's would change as they got older...and stuff ..
But I still do the silly tradition of no presents under the tree ...and then ..TA..TAAAA ...in Christmas morning there are loads of presents under the tree 😅😅!

Even though I know they lie in bed , listening to me huffing and puffing and swearing dragging all the presents downstairs at 2am 🤣🤣🤣..

I will let ds2 and ds3 open something on Christmas morning...
Just the boring ones ...like socks and pants !

Still ...Ce la vie !!

Bizzey, I don't think you sleep... 😂

@IWanderedLonely
Bubble tea kit?
Where did you get that please?

Welcome, @matthewstone. I hope your laptop is doing better. Before taking it to the shop, try downloading and running Malwarebytes. It's free to use temporarily. Then it will nag you to upgrade to the paid version. If the problem is solved you can uninstall it.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/solutions/windows-10-antivirus

Well done on the tree, Math. If you have old lights, it may be worth replacing them with the LED variety, which never burn out. Even CVS sells them this time of year.

It's good to see so much holiday cooking and decorating going on. DD's birthday is Monday, so we have that to prepare for. I've been wrapping presents like a madwoman, and there's a large pile of them under the tree.

I've not heard anything else from my SIL and not getting a save-the-date card for the wedding, so I'm hopeful she's realized how ridiculous it would be to complain about not getting one.

Tilllly it was from bubblepanda https://bubblepanda.com/products/christmas-fruit-mega-bundle

Hope you could get some more rest Havoc before the baby arrives.

End of term for DD is 20th as well Helena seems late but probably what it always is. DD takes herself to school so date makes no difference to me now. Hope you can get rest of Christmas sorted, must be full on with a busy job and a big family Christmas.

Hope you got the decs up OK today Math

Very organised and sensible to be wrapping already MissC Always think I am done but forget about wrapping until 24th.

Quietish day here. DD went to work but came back early to rest, its been so full on for her she needs a good rest. DS just gaming but have noticed more disappearing from the Christmas hamper which will be DS but good he's eating more. He seems fine with all things Christmas. Did some sorting of coop for chickens. Took DSs broken TV and my old broken laptop to Currys for their free recycling service, esp glad to get rid of DSs old TV as it was big and the one he has now is smaller and fits better. Collected Dunelm order and the Mauritius photos that I took with the underwater disposable camera. The underwater ones aren't great but other ones are nice though make me wish I was there now.

Have changed my duvet to a robin one. Floof is now on it with me.

Floof chilling

I think I've everything bought at this stage for Christmas..
still need to do the wrapping but the main bits are done.
I always make a hamper for my Dad so I will do a shop for that next weekend so the contents will be fresher. And will try to wrap a few presents each evening this week. Not finished until Friday so will see how the evenings go!
Had a lovely day with DS today - got our jobs out of the way then we went to a food truck for lunch and had hot chocolate after.. DS was most impressed to discover he could have a white hot chocolate so he really enjoyed it.
It really is the little things.

Havoc 🤣🤣🤣!! I do sleep ...just not always at the right times 🤣!

DS phoned me this morning.
If gf is in agreement with what I have suggested....they can both come for Christmas 🎁🎁!! Yippee !!

I didn't realise how much it was affecting me till now .

Gf has to work afternoon of boxing day.

I have offered her a cab to get to coach station boxing day morning.

It is doable money to have ds home and gf as well .
£40 .

DS will stay on for a few more days and get train back and have NY where they are .

It will make my mam so happy ..and me obviously!!

Now.....to sort out a VEGAN option for Christmas Dinner 😏😏😅!

So far the poor girl has roast potatoes and roasted parsnips!

And veg in vegan butter?

DS has all these wonderful ideas that they have bought before ....I had to remind him how small nannies oven is !

Sooo happy ....if they agree to it ...

I feel a Christmas tree and decorations spurt is on the cards !!

Ohh and they got burgled 😞😞..
bastards !
not much ...but still a sick feeling.

They took the projector....but not the controls ....D's said it won't work without the controls 😅.

I am off to re-arrange my sitting room !🌲🌟🌟

I have got Frankincense flavour ! " " Purdy and Figg" ..

Smells amazing !!

For those who don't know my obsession!!

I am the worst homemaker ever invented!

But I bought these new products...and I actually look forward to cleaning now 😅😅

I'm propped up on the settee with a cushion behind me-I was painting the hallway and fell off a small stepladder (2 steps) and landed hard on my back/bottom. My lower back is throbbing like mad. I've taken some painkillers, and will have a hot bath later. If it's no better tomorrow, I'll go to the walk-in centre.
Has anyone else done this, and what was the result?

Sue, you might have just gotten bruised, or worst case, you might have fractured something. I'd go to the walk-in center tomorrow regardless. They will probably want to have an X-ray done.

I found two more presents lurking in the back of my closet that I had forgotten to wrap, so I wrapped them and put them under the tree. I think I'm almost done at this point.

We have some of the Boston family in town this weekend, so we're going to my brother's house shortly for lunch and to help with his tree decorations.

It's hard to see in the picture, but the plate on the wall to the right of the tree is a souvenir from Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub in London DH acquired while livening there. It shows Samuel Johnson drinking ale and saying something profound, no doubt.

I've decided it's wouldn't be fair not to share a better picture of the one bit of British culture in my house, so here it its.

Ohh Sue...if it is the coxcyt you have damaged....that flipping hurts for ages !
Sympathy with you .

I have got serious tree envy , looking at these trees 😅!

I am nearly done.

But going a bit minimalistic this year..... though when I said that to ds ...he did ask if I understood what it meant! 😅!

I am walking around with a Santa's hat on and tinsel in my hair...

And the whole place covered in Santas and snowmen 😅