Countdown to Christmas 2020 (thread 9): Vibrating beds and tiny choppers!

[NoWordForFluffy]

Here we go. We're still a chatty bunch. We're going to knock any previous thread count into a cocked hat!

Go, go, go...

Morning all. I think i should get my flu jab through work and DS gets it through school so just need to sort out DH.

Off to Tintern today after a lovely day yesterday. This afternoon will be spent getting ready for work/nursery tomorrow.

Starting the Grand Plan this week too! Tidied the back garden yesterday. This week is entryway and lists. Fortunately the builders are doing one last paint of our gates and porches before they leave for good in the couple of weeks so there won't be much to do entryway rise. Lots of lists to do though!

I washed outside ALL the downstairs windows 10 days ago, as part of my front porch chores - as the sun shone through the sitting room yesterday, I saw that they were covered in dust spots and looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in months 😭 I’m leaving the sweeping for another couple of weeks so all the leaves on trees close to the house fall first.

Dd back to school this morning so we started calm and nicely but she’s veered back into stroppy teenager mode again - luckily DH is her current favorite so he will be driving her (I just can’t do anything right, and get the massive eye rolls I’m channelling calm - lotus pose, “om”, deep breaths....aaaaggghhh!!)

Biddy has your DD come out with the immortal phrase "It's so unfair!" yet? It sounds like she is suffering from the "Kevins" although it's you doing the suffering
fluffy and most have a lovely day, I'm cleaning the oven!

Biddy, we have a window cleaner every now and then when he appears 6 weeks and it's lovely for a very brief period!

Enjoy the oven cleaning, Boots!

Good morning all! I am delaying going for a run. Then I need to buy some bits at the garden centre and try making a mask. Late afternoon DH and I are going to the cinema!

Hi, lurker here what was all the business about a 10th thread? I couldn't find it anywhere. Sorry I'm a bit behind, but I was going to stick up for you @NoWordForFluffy

DS isn't back to school until next week, so we are planning a relaxed last week of holidays. He's ready to go back - he said the other day, he's had enough of this long weekend now!

DH got up with him this morning, and I am still lounging in bed 😁, but we're going for a walk and to the park later, and then on Friday, when it should be much quieter, we are all going to the science museum in Rotherham.

It'll be the first time DH has been in a public place since lockdown started. He isn't particularly keen, but I'm putting my foot down. We've hidden in the house for long enough.

Yesterday's infection figures won't have helped my case, but as long as the death figures stay low, we can attribute that to better testing.

I'm going to start the Grand Plan next week after DS is back at school, even if it just involves making lists of jobs for DH to ignore!

What are you seeing, Constantly?

Morning.

What are you going to see constantly?

Fire I'm the same as your Dh. If it was up to me I do t know if I'd leave the house again. I know that is not good for my mh so I do go out.

I was sorting through books yesterday and came across a Mary Berry party planning book. I'll get a good look through it today for any inspiration.

Oven clean well as clean as I can get it without losing a layer of skin so that's one thing ticked off this weeks list of jobs I hate doing the next might be shopping for net curtains bored 🥱 , then defrosting the fridge with a hairdryer...why didn't I marry a millionaire? 🤦‍♀️ I'd have "people" for all this!
Constantly Last time I went to the Cinema it was to see "Bridget Jones Diary" Don't forget to sneak your own silent sweets in
What is this "Grand Plan" you all speak of? I'm guessing it's a huge amount of cleaning, tidying and chucking stuff out - like a pre-Christmas Kondo with added feather dusters and bleach?🤷🏻‍♀️

Pretty much, boots, and some Christmas shopping and card writing to make it all worthwhile

And fairy lights Boots

Thanks to whoever mentioned it was porch week I have now roped in DH to sort ours out. He has agreed to run the leaf vacuum over it which will hopefully get the cobwebs too. (It's an open porch). The cladding at the top needs a scrub but that's a job for someone with two working shoulders and then I'll wash the door and the windowsills. We have a window cleaner who comes regularly so that's the outside taken care of The garden centre at the top of the road are having a half price end of summer sale so DH is spending today putting in our purchases and tidying the garden and planters.

My oven is desperate for a clean but I need it doing professionally I'm lazy so I'll see if any of the local firms are operating and get it booked in.

The second your DH suggests early Christmas lights, jump on it and get them up before he can change his mind Biddy

Teenagers are hard work aren't they? I cringe when I think back to how I was - I found my parents so infuriating, and my friends loved them which somehow made it worse

It's DHs job to do the windows because I hate it I'm not tall enough even for the downstairs ones.

boots what do you use to clean your oven? We have a kit (can't remember what) but the last thing we tried didn't work so it's really gross now.
woolly I think I'd even be too embarrassed to get a professional in.

Ooh what are you going to watch constantly?

Sounds like a nice few days Firefly

Yesterday I was quite productive, we ended up doing a car boot sale to offload some of the stuff we sorted out during lockdown. Sold 3/4 of the stuff and made £100 - not bad for 2 hours.
Did a few house bits (tidied bedroom, emptied the washing basket, cleaned kitchen), walked the dog then settled in and found a few possible Christmas presents online.

Plan today is to finish the rest of the house (Hoover throughout, dust, mop, bathroom, get the cobwebs which seem to appear like magic) and read through the grand plan before going to meet some friends for a first catch up since March. I may also do a quick wander around the big Sainsbury's on the way out as I'm running out of time to buy a birthday present for friends 4yo DS...

Firefly put up the HGP - but for anyone thinking about it, don't get too freaked out by the amount and detail of it. I've been doing it for well over a decade now, I never get to it all, but it's handy to have a list of things, a room to focus on every week to get around the house, and get ahead on Christmas prep (FlyLady had a similar thing to get all Christmas done by 1st Dec, as if you were going away on a cruise and arriving home on Christmas Eve, so you ended up having Dec for the fun and merriment or for the mad year end work stuff and school plays and everything else).

I tend to look ahead a little, and do a good few things on weeks that are quieter, and letting things slip on busier weeks - late August is usually good for clearing up the garden, but if the weather is bad, I may leave that a few weeks and swop with Living room. Mid-term week often means a chance to do extra on Pantry/Closets week when I'm likely to be at home for a day or 2, but Attic week normally coincides with DFIL anniversary AND Cubs overnight hostel trip so I do very little that week.

Crazy, we use Oven Pride (I bulk-bought 5 boxes on Groupon when I had an extra £5-off voucher) and it's best used on warm shelves. I then use Jif it'll never be Cif to me! cream cleaner (or a blag version) to do the glass. That combination works well.

Woolly, my right shoulder has a sickening clicking sound when I do housework with it. I use my left arm more than I ever used to as the sound really is 🤮🤮🤮

Nero, I've not seen that book. Sounds like a good afternoon ahead!

I think I'll paint our porch as it's a bit tired. It won't take long as it's not exactly huge! We DH vacuum it every week though, so it's not too bad.

Crazy Fairy do a spray, so DH uses that on the door. I soak the shelves in the belfast sink they fit perfectly in hot fairy water. Other than that it's just elbow grease and swearing It's not perfect, but it will do.
Woolly our porch is open too, so it gets swept and de-cobwebbed and the door gets wiped when DH does the front lawn - it's recently had a new door mat. The garage door needs a brush as it's spattered with dust after the rain last week. I'm not sure doing it now will mean it's still clean for Christmas - it'll need doing again at least a couple more times.
Biddy I can cross of Attics now - there's one box and 2 suitcases in there and that's all!
One thing I am ahead on is Pigs in Blankets - I bought 2 packs of frozen ones from Sains last week. They're not going to last until Dec 25th

Still not found a cross stitch. Did find this though!

Ooh Christmas Magazine .]fgrin]

I was buying petrol t'other day , there was a small rack of magazines but I thought I'd look a bit barmy if I asked "D'you have any Christmas mags in yet then? "

I'm just thinking about cleaning the downstairs loo , Astonish and steamer , not hot fairy water like boots

Been down a rabbot hole of guitars with my DS ( discussing the merits of Candy Apple Red v 3 Colour Sunburst )

I did suggest I should have a Candy Apple Red KitchenAid mixer , DS was

Well, I was going to give him a Family Heirloom 1963 silver sixpence - originallly to go in the Pudding but we don't want anyone choking or loosing a tooth - Brian May (Queen) uses one instead of a pick.

But the little toad has been put on The Naughty List now

I have a Candy Apple Red KitchenAid. It's a thing of utter beauty and delight!

My DS has a wish list of guitars 70. I'll need a lottery win to fulfil it though. He has already presented me with his Christmas list he's well trained and it mainly consists of pedals and other accessories. I'm planning to get him a plectrum maker for his stocking.

Boots is that Christmas fairies water?! (or am I mixing up tooth fairies and Christmas elves?)

Ah Fluffy his response to my wish for a KitchenAid was "You've got a mixer (its a white Kenwood Chef 1000w) and it makes cakes and pizza dough ok" ............but Kitchen Aids are things of beauty and workhorses .

DS is a good lad , works hard in a louty student way and really doesn't ask for much . Guitar will be his 21st/Christmas combined so I'm scoping out prices .

I'm forever picking up plectrums off his floor . It's like Loom Bands , Bionicals Lego pieces and those tiny little bands from orthodontic braces that never quite manage to reach the bin

I'll have a look online to see what snazzy ones are out there ...

Hot water liberally sprinkled with fairies

Hot water liberally sprinkled with fairies

So do they just dissolve or do you have to grate them ?

Not tried grating them...

Grated fairies - is that how you get fairy dust?! ROFL (to really show how out of touch I am.. )