Come and tell us your dull and unexciting news 33: 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's a link to the prior thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5219345-come-and-tell-us-your-dull-and-unexciting-news-32-calmly-through-the-day?reply=140159580

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

Welcome, @Lost20211, and thanks for sharing your grooming news. Had it been a while since you last shaved? I usually wear trousers to work, so I'm not obsessive about it either.

Math, as usual, we're getting your weather system two days later. Lots of wind and rain in the forecast for tomorrow.

Havoc, that's a bit more rhododendron than I had in mind. How on earth did they grow it so large?

The plumber was here today replacing the gas pipes in the basement and running new ones for the tumble dryer and stove. The cats were not amused by the banging and drilling this required.

100 years, Miss. Apparently the area is ideal geographically.

Thank you Havoc, I have enjoyed the rhododendron* *story this morning. I don't like rhododendron generally so it feeds into my prejudice and belief that they are nasty entrapping plants. I do like hydrangea, and sometimes it feels as though you can only be team hydrangea or team rhododendron.

Did I mention that my son cleaned and reorganised both my spice drawer and my cutlery drawer while I was away? I am a little torn between feeling pride in my ability to bring up such a domesticated human and feeling slightly judged. I think the truth is that we are lapsing into a division of labour that sees me leading on day to day cleaning and his leading on organisation and deep cleaning.

It's a beautiful sunny day here and I am enjoying a coffee in the bay window before swinging into action. Today I am starting to paint the new loft room. Have lovely Sunday everyone.

@Mumtobabyhavoc I now want cake. They look luscious!

Bit of a more chilled day today. Will shortly throw chilli ingredients into the shoe cooker, go and get some guacamole and sour cream to go with it, then tidy my office in preparation for back to work tomorrow. Have washed towels and they're out on the washing line.

I'm really chuffed with myself with what I've achieved in the house lately. Nearly 2 years ago, Mum died and everything just stood still. I'm really re-emerging from that funk now. Mum would be chuffed with me too.

Happy Sunday, everyone. I hope it's a lovely one.

Thank you, MissConductUS.

Eh, about a month. It was equal parts curiosity and laziness. I told DH was conducting an experiment. I couldn’t take it anymore (am like a Chia Pet).

Went to see my best friend yesterday. We had a Lebanese mezze but forgot to ask for.thr baklava that was included. We went to the theatre to see a brilliant show and then went back to hers for wine and chat till the early hours.

Today we had a terrible pub lunch and then chatted a lot more. I fixed her heating clock and timer on her boiler then we bought biscuits which promised more than they gave. I drove home and I'm ensconced in front of the TV. No commitments tomorrow so I will sleep in.

I’ve managed to clear out my bedroom chest of drawers and fill a bag for recycling. I’ve ordered some lovely looking sausages for the weekend as well. I’m debating whether or not to go out for lunch on Wednesday with some friends. It’s a fair distance to walk from the car to the restaurant, the alternative is my wheelchair or a walker and I’m embarrassed using either. I’ll wait until nearer the time I think.

Ahsheeit - condolences. It must feel good to have the cloud lift a bit.

We had a raw day with sleety snow blowing sideways after high winds yesterday. The temperature dropped more hen 30 degrees F. DD was planning to walk home from her Sunday morning job but her umbrella was destroyed by the wind as soon as she left work, so she skedaddled back in and called me.

Uman, nice to see you again. ☺️ I hope you will give it a go to meet your friends. Courage. 💕
Math, you are definitely getting winter's last hurrah!
Myrtle, what made the pub lunch awful? I hate when my meal is bad. 😔 Why didn't you get your dessert? Why did you have to ask if it was supposed to be included?

We went to a Lebanese restaurant and ordered the mezze for two which was a lot of food. They wanted to clear the rice and meat platter but we hadn't finished. We talk a lot! As it was dusk a lot of people came in for iftar, breaking their Ramadan fast, so service was slow and we had to get to the theatre. So we just got up, paid and left and forgot that we hadn't had the baklava.

The lunch was roast beef with vegetables and Yorkshire pudding. The knives were blunt and not steak knives. The meat was very fatty and tough. The vegetables were awful - the peas looked wrinkled which told me they were not frozen but were probably from a can. They were overboiled and bland. We were not offered mustard or horseradish which would have made it more edible.

Myrtle, ugh. 😔 That pub meal would give me rage. If I didn't send it back for something else I'd write a review. It's very offensive to serve bad food and expect payment.

In Canadian news.... our 350 year old department store, The Bay is closing. It's quite sad. Unable to compete and $1b of debt, apparently.

It was particularly rubbish, but my friend had suggested the food wouldn't be great. I much prefer never to darken their door again. I don't know why I didn't send it back, except I was brought up to eat what I was given and be grateful, so maybe that was it.

I'm so sorry that The Bay is shutting.

I have a friend like that, too. Like you, I wouldn't go back. We have an iconic diner chain here and I used to go regularly until food quality and service started to decline. When I was pregnant I went several times, though, for a burger/fries and it was "okay."
Another diner, very well- known by locals, has some strange rules and rude staff. Several years ago now, a bunch of us met up there on a very bad snow day when it was deserted everywhere. One person messaged might not make it. So we were a group of 4, I think and got seated. Then the other person showed up after we ordered, I think, and staff refused to seat her with us saying we were at a table for four, not 5. They wouldn't bring a chair over, wouldn't move us and seated our friend alone at the counter which was for single parties. 😂😂😂
The restaurant was empty save a table of two beside us.
After a hugs fuss, and me talking across the restaurant to my friend to make a point, they finally let her sit with us. I think the couple at the table beside us said something, too.
I've never been back. I'm still holding a grudge. It was bizarre and beyond rude. I still don't understand it.
(Looking at you Tomahawk, N Van)

To be honest if it had been me, I would said we are definitely not going to the pub because it's shit. She just said, it's not a gastro pub.

I love the way you made your point!

Math, we got over an inch of rain last night and it was so windy, the noise woke me up this morning.

One of our local diners changed ownership about a year ago. The new owners own a "gastro diner" in a nearby city. The food is so much better now, it's like a posh restaurant but with a diner menu and more reasonable prices. It was one of our favorite places to eat out during the kitchen remodel.

It was such a nice surprise to see a place like that go uphill instead of downhill.

I remember, too, they wouldn't even seat us as we said we were a party of 5 and awaiting the 5th to arrive. 😳They told us we'd have to wait to be seated until our 5th person showed up.
So, we stood around in the lobby. ⏳
I texted my friend who said she might not make it and to go ahead and get seated. The hostess queried, are you sure? You're now just 4? We said it looked like our friend might not make it. That's when we got seated at the Table For Four. 😂

We can be very British here at times.... 😁
(It was utterly ridiculous...)🙄

Sorry about your terrible lunch MyrtleLion To be fair you could have just said there was no horseradish and I would have been appalled; but the blunt knives and tinned peas really set the scene!
And Havoc, thisstory has made me chuckle. How ridiculous and so, so rude. Laughably rude.

It's been another busy day here. I've tidied the box room, started moving stuff out of my sewing room and into the eaves storage in the new loft, and packed up eight bags of clothes for a charity collection tomorrow morning.

The carpenters are back tomorrow to carry on with the door replacement project. Things are moving forward.

Shame your roast meal was shite.

I went down for three days over weekend to stay with a friend. Enjoyed myself immensely. Saturday was home cooked fish lasagne night. Sunday we went to a pub as they always go o a Sunday/ I had the nut roast though I could have had a fish or pasta dish but I wanted the roast potatoes with it and gravy. It was delish!

I was supposed to go out on a coach trip once down in Hampshire as I was booked to go to the Cotswolds for a day trip but it got cancelled due to lack of bums on seats. Never mind! That morning I went with another Hampshire friend to Otters Nursey. My friend had a few vouchers from there to spend and got everything she wanted and we had tea and a slice of Victoria sponge which was delicious!

My friend's partner has moved in with her now (they are in their 70/80s) and he brought with him quite a lot of tat but thank goodness hi s mini freezer was taken by a charity. My friend took it round in the car and asked two strong men working about in the flats to take it in for her! Glad men have their uses!!!

Everybody is doing so well with all the household organising. No one tells you how much of being an adult is deciding what to keep/donate. I have a pile of old sports equipment that needs listing for sale. None worth much but not the sort of thing a charity shop would take. I think they gave up 2 years ago but I haven’t got round to it yet.
I had a wonderful fried brunch yesterday at our local pub/cafe. We are lucky at the moment to have that place for cheaper meals and a very good more upmarket pub nearby. Hate it when I eat out and end up wishing I had cooked at home. Peas definitely shouldn’t be wrinkled and bland.

Sorry to hear of the disappointing dinner, and also the bizarre experience with the 'table for four'.

I had a fabled massive salad for dinner today - spinach salad with rotisserie chicken chunks. DD had said she was hungry but had a better offer from a friend, so off she skipped to pizza and a movie, leaving the salad to me. There's enough left for tomorrow.

@mathanxiety me, too (with left-over salmon). And choc chip pancakes for breakfast. 😋

I finished my booknook yesterday.

And this is the new one I'm starting today.

It's shorter in height than the previous two, but looks suitably complex.

That's fantastic MyrtleLion! I'm very jealous of this both as a skill and as a lovely thing to look at and daydream. I am inspired and I would love to make one myself but the sad truth is that I am too short of shelf space at the moment - maybe after the next book clear out...