I bought an M+S beauty bag out of sympathy for them...well sort of.

[soupyspoon]

I do like a bargain and I also like shopping, so not saying there was nothing in the act for me.

Thanks 😊

Has anyone noticed the app and website are both currently down. Hopefully be back to normal soon?

Oh for goodness sake. Unless you are vegetarian, you can’t waste preserved lemons on beans dear. A chicken tagine with preserved lemons would be much better. I’m too busy pickling quail eggs at the moment to RTWT …but I’m hoping you’ve taken the bag up the stairs by now???

Nope

Havent even been upstairs yet

OH got home about 9 and has been upstairs several times. Up there now.

Hasnt taken it up.

He wont even have noticed it.

Hope it hasn't been trodden on....

I bet he has as well

😂

I’ve had a pair of boots on my stairs since 2022. I lift them up when I sweep/clean and then put them back down. I can’t decide if they are upstairs boots or downstairs boots. I’d like to get a Beaty box but my M&S sucks the soul out of me so I have to wait until I’m in a jubilant mood so that I leave somber rather than murderous. I’m hoping next Wednesday will be that day. Time will tell.

When DD was six I bought her a sugar mouse, it was very cute. White, with pink eyes and string tail. It was so cute she couldn’t bring herself to eat it so she put it in the fridge ‘for later’. It sat on a little ledge above the light. When we moved house 25 years later it was still there, fused to the shelf… 🐁

Right I am going to bed now so will have to leave you all for now

I am actually going to take it upstairs with me and then unpack it and have a sniff at things.

For a couple of reasons, I dont want to cause more angst in people by them worrying the bag is still there

And as someone has just brought to my attention my OH is likely to tread on it and ruin things in it.

It would be nice to have some more updates by the morning on lemons, biscuits and any more information on people running out of milk. Seems a common theme and funny enough I have had to resort to the emergency UHT milk tonight too. I am out of milk!!!

How very selfless. I did the same. All to keep a national institution going you understand. Also bought some food treats too

Yes, but only because I tried to go online to see what is in the beauty box and what I had to spend etc.

@SheilaWilde I quite like M&S, but a part of me dies every time I have to go in B&Q.

OP @soupyspoon I have been reading your thread in a Scottish accent. Am I right?

(Am Scottish too)

Why do you feel sympathy for Marks & Spencer? Has something bad happened to them?

Oh, this thread is the kind the laugh react was meant for! Loving all the posts, only slightly less for the fact that I can't let you know you made me laugh without posting a string of irritating 😂 replies.

Preserved lemons do add an essential piquancy to North African-style recipes. I use dried lemon powder, which has the same effect but is nowhere near as interesting as the real thing. Enjoy all your treats,OP!

So glad I’m not the only one feeling sorry for M&S. Quite tempted to break out the high five emoji. Got to be honest I’ve never heard of this beauty bag you’re all on about

But I couldn’t collect Sparx points the other day because ‘of what happened recently’. That’s at least what the lady at the till said. She said it in a hushed voice and then I felt even more sorry for them.

But too bad, my MIL specifically gave me her Sparx card as I was nipping into an actual store to buy school uniform. And no I’m not early with buying school uniform I’m late

@soupyspoon at the start I was reading it as spooky spoon from the numberjacks which really took me back as my youngest is 14 now.

Glad it’s not just me!

I did treat them a bit like stunt pineapples for a while, either left out on the side “ oh, the sugar is behind the preserved lemons”, or in the fridge, “ Can you pass me out the ketchup please. You can’t see it? Should be on the middle shelf next to the preserved lemons.”

It must be past my bedtime because I read “serum” as “semen”… Out of interest, have you actually bought knickers from M&S recently? They used to be my go-to for knickers until about 10 years ago when somebody apparently had the bright idea of replacing the elastic with something resembling cheese wire. I’m wondering if they have changed them again recently and are they comfortable?

I do miss the laughing emoji.

I hear that semen is supposed to be good for the skin, but I've never tried it for that purpose.

I bought a packet of plain black knickers in October last year and found them to be comfortable. (I know that it was October, because I booked a last minute Saga holiday. I love the high life, I do.)

I shall add that I once bought a pack of John Lewis's own brand knickers and that there were dire consequences.

That’s always my name but it’s nice to
finally fit in.

Bit surprised how few people use preserved lemons. I recently bought Iranian dried black limes. Found a lovely aubergine stew recipe to use them in.

Also, seems a few people don't know M&S was hacked about two months ago and they've not been able to get their website back up yet - wiped hundreds of millions off their value, they're losing something like £40m a week!

I have a bath tray made from bamboo that has an iPad holder and a place for a glass of wine, sometimes if I’m planning a really long bath I also take wine in a flask so I can top my glass up 😂.
I light a few candles and enjoy the peace and quiet.

The only problem is I fell asleep as I was so relaxed when I got out of the bath and have just woken up hours later still in my robe with a towel on my head. I lay down on the bed for 5 minutes and DP said I looked very peaceful so instead of waking me he lay down next to me and he was also asleep. He has managed to fall back to sleep in a matter of minutes once we properly got into bed and thanks to perimenopause I’ll be wide awake for hours now.

I did NOT know the bag wasn’t available online, it turns out I was looking at the beauty box that had similar items mentioned. Now I have a true dilemma, I have my heart set on the bag now but if I go into M&S it’s likely to cost more if I see more pretty shiny things I like. Is this because of the cyber attack or because they are clever and know if they lure us into store that it’s impossible to not visit the food hall?

Oh well I will probably have the rest of the night to think about it and all the other random thoughts that only seem to occur in the early hours!