Countdown to Christmas 2021 (thread 2): the end of winter can't come soon enough!

[NoWordForFluffy]

310

We stayed up watching Sherlock and now I'm wide awake. I'm unimpressed! 😂

At least we finally made it to thread 2...I doubt we will do as many this year!

There's no Easter eggs in my part of the country. Thankfully I've already got ours

Good luck Nero

Fluffy we haven't had issues with peppers here but DH couldn't find strawberries or blueberries in either Aldi or Sainsbury's - but the local greengrocers had loads (and I prefer buying from there as it's owned by a love family).

A thuggish blackbird woolly? I can't imagine that - I love blackbirds.
We have lots of crows here and they're horrible.

I've just been brought tea and toast in bed while watching Greys anatomy 😊
I'll get up soon. We want to get out today but struggling to find somewhere we can go (with ddog) that is unlikely to be overcrowded.

I am now on annual leave till 14th April. Woohoo. I have just ordered a roast dinner to be delivered tomorrow which will be excellent. I have ordered lamb as I am the only person who likes it here and I really fancied it.

Did you find somewhere to go, Crazy? We went to the woods / beach and the kids had a great time on the beach. It was lovely watching DS - who's usually a total wuss - galloping through pools left by the tide going out without caring whether they were too deep or not!

Whoop for time off, Why. Mum & dad are having lamb tomorrow! I'm pretty sure you'd rather not go there though!

I popped into Morrison's this afternoon and they had wonky peppers which weren't green. Some are tiny, but I got two bags to tide us over!

Woolly, we joke that the birds are all sitting on their various perches yelling 'Fuck off!' 'No, you fuck off!' to each other. Bird song is territorial, so it's likely!

We did some errands first - exchanged plant pots at the garden centre, dropped Easter eggs to my sisters and saw the kids for half hour, bought a bottle of gas for the BBQ then picked up some steaks.

After that we went to the boating lake near us but instead of doing the park and lake which were overrun (as expected), we did a muddy path through the woods that runs along the side of the river, then through some fields which are a nature trail then back. Walked from the door too which was nice.

Have potted my last strawberry plant when we got back, put some washing out and hoovered the whole house while DH put together the BBQ. Going to have steaks and a movie night now, watching the newest Wonder Woman film.

I'm glad you found peppers Fluffy and your day out looks and sounds lovely!

Woohoo for time off why - do you have much planned?

I don't have too much planned Crazy. I have my second covid vaccine on Tuesday and will see how I go after that as I was so poorly last time but will probably go for some walks and have tentative plans to meet a former work colleague for cake on 13th April.

Fluffy, you are right about the dinner unsurprisingly.

Enjoy your time off why

I think you can see the sea on your photo Fluffy. Just 🌊

have just ordered a roast dinner to be delivered tomorrow which will be excellent

why there's a thread about Roast Deliveries , the OP has posted'n'run and is having their ase royally handed on a plate .

As we're a mainly vegetarian family ( DS eats chcken but DD, DH and I are vegetarian) we do go out for Carvery meals , I always think "my roast potatoes are better"
As tomorrow is Easter Sunday then the roasties have to be A1 .

I sometimes take DS to the drive through McDonalds via the glass recycle for his fix . There's a KFC 5 minutes walk but he used to work there so he won't darken their door as a customer !.

My roasties are definitely better 70 but no washing up is a total winner and we have had food from the pub delivering before and it is very nice.

Last week I had some baking potatoes left so I roasted them and they're "ok" but not a patch on Maris Pipers .
So tomorrow , I'll steam the potatoes , give them a good shake and (crucually) let them go cold before roasting .

Might rustle up a batch of Yorkshire Puddings, they are contrary little devils but if I do them while the potato oil heats then they'll sit a while and we'll eat them they just go in for a minute to re-heat .
If they don't work I've got Aunt Bessie in the Freezer .

It's like a 2nd Christmas Dinner but no sprouts

266

Happy Easter 🐣

Hope you all have a lovely day.

Morning!

Another gorgeous, albeit cold, day today. It'll heat up later though.

I've made Yorkshires and washed up. We forgot to make bread overnight, so I'll clean the kitchen while we're waiting for a loaf to finish for our bacon sandwiches. Then it's a full day of gardening for me!

Well, that post went well. I've now cleaned the kitchen...stupid MN and it's non-posting of posts!

Bacon and bread are almost ready.

The kids had an egg to accompany their breakfast, obvs. It's the law to eat chocolate for breakfast at Easter!

DH has cleaned the back windows (kitchen, door, conservatory) and all the plastics. I've made us sausage baps and done some freezer tetris - so the small freezer is currently defrosting in the garage.

Hoppy Easter everyone.

Those Yorkshire Puddings are epic Fluffy

My oven has no light inside and a very dodgy fan (one side heats better) so things like this are a bit Russian Roulette .

A new oven is on The List , I keep looking at AO.com, measuring the space Oh I like that one , changing my mind

Happy Easter folks.

This was breakfast - cinnamon bunnies

70 I would only buy electricals from AO. We've had really good service from them in the past.
My "new" oven isn't quite level I think the floor is out of kilter tbh so everything on the right is a bit over done and on the left a bit pale. I just turn the tray/tin around 180 if I remember Yorkshire puds can be a either pancakes or goliath.

Woolly Cinnamon bunnies look yum

They're ace, Woolly! 🐰

I'm just back in from the garden where I:

Painted the fence;
Dug over some of veg patch;
Put my canes in and put pea netting on;
Planted a tray of pea plants out;
Weeded the strawberry bed;
Planted some strawberry runners out;
Dug a load of raspberry runners out;
Sowed a load of bean and sunflower seeds;
Potted my lavender plugs on;
Thrown wildflower seeds on the new flower bed;
Swept the path to clear it;
Cleared some pots full of dead things;
Put the two blueberry bushes (which I'm amazed are growing this year!) into the ground as a kill or cure approach; and
Mowed the lawn.

I'm knackered. And have eaten most of my Easter egg already since coming back inside! 😂😂

fluffy is that all? It doesn't go dark for hours yet...

I'm in my jim jams now. And heading into the lounge to do my cross stitch. 😁

I'm very much done with physical work today!

That' right Puss - there's a good 3 and a half hours before "Line of Duty" , time to fill !

I'm also in jim jams and waiting for LoD cross stitching MNing nearly all backstitch to do, and I do so loathe backstitch.

Oh, 70 and other cat slaves are your feline overlords shedding their claws more at the mo? I've been picking up bits of claw out of the carpet all day, and Charlie seems to be intent of eating his own paw.😺

Haven't noticed any Puss , the Fur OverLords are jet black with white claws , I know our old cat used to shed claws on the stair carpet .
I find the occasional long whisker and excitedly put it in my Whisker Collection Bag on the fridge ( held in a fridge magnet)

The amount of fur these animals are moulting though is unholy

70 tell me about it! I combed Tilly with a human comb this morning and got loads of fur off her - about cricket ball sized - the comb works well as the static pulls the loose bits out of her coat, but doesn't "dig" in.
I also have a collection of whiskers in a pot on the mantlepiece.