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

[NoWordForFluffy]

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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!

Morning.

Crazy my condolences

LoD was immense on Sunday. I think I might even listen to the podcast to find out more.

Hi folks another glorious day here. I have been washing like a demon. My new cooker should be installed this afternoon.

It was lovely to have a doorstep natter with Woolly this morning.

It was lovely to chat with you why

Yesterday and Sunday were my laundry days. I got a bit of ironing done today and I'll do the last half dozen pieces tomorrow. I'm still working my way through my yarn stash - currently making hats for my sister's great grandsons.

249

Morning!

Sounds like a sneaky mini meet up going on down there! 😁

I meant to get up to go and water the allotment this morning and forgot / failed! Oops.

The kids start back to swimming tonight. Hopefully they'll have an early night afterwards! 😁

Morning. Thanks for the reminder Fluffy - I need to water my strawberries & lavender when it cools down later.

Glad you enjoyed a catch up why & Woolly

I'm over 3/4 of the way through my cross stitch - I want to get all the full stitches done by the end of this weekend, then it'll just be sky left which is all half stitches.
Once that's done I'm going to start some blankets ready for evenings on the patio 🤞🏼 (which has the added benefit of working through some of my stash at the same time).

The 70Cats are in utter outrage this week with the garden being done .
Last night they both wandered down the dug over bit , had a nose touch (sweet ) then he went into his shed .

You could tell there was a lot of "When was this decided? And when were we actually consulted?"

They will love it once it's done I'm sure .
They don't cope with people in their house . So imagine people in their garden?

70 Did you ask them for permission? Did you give them a copy of your plans to sit on look at? Did you ask them which plants they'd like and where they'd like some snoozy-time shade? or some snoozy-time sun?

at least they haven't pooed in it! 💩😹

Well I ran it past them Puss but as you know cats are vair vair busy'n'important so they didn't get back to me !

Once it's all done they can sprawl , pretending to be little forrin street cats in a Greek fishing village

248

Morning!

Cold night here. I used a trick in the greenhouse with candles and a terracotta pot to try to keep it warmer. Apparently according to my new thermometer the minimum temp in there was 5° overnight. My poor little 🌶 seedlings look sad, but there's no room indoors, so they'll have to cope! They do also have a blanket garden fleece over them to protect them from cold air. We'll lose a few, sadly.

It'll be lovely and sunny today, so hopefully they'll perk up in the warmth.

My spuds have been overnighting in the shed. It's fine at the mo (big shed) as the bags aren't that heavy.
Was in B&Q at 7. We managed to get a pressure washer - only a little Karcher one, but if it lasts half as long as the last one (15yrs) it'll do.
DH going to try it out on the bit where the old one expired yesterday it leaked something oily, groaned, then stopped completely
He lifted the box in from the car and handed it to me with a and said "Happy Birthday, Love" 🙄 funny. very funny. He might have got away with that last time, but I bloody paid for both of them!

Morning.

It's to be 15/16 degrees here on Saturday so that means bbq season!

Morning.
70 I'm not surprised your cats are unimpressed. Ddog is very confused about the changes to the garden and I don't think he's happy about them.

Fluffy I know it's not the same but not I have images of chilli plants wrapped in mini blankets, tucked in by candlelight 😂

Power washer is 100% DHs toy in this house puss

It's been sunny here all week Neros - I've been hiding from it after getting sunburnt on the weekend

Long work day here. Also can't remember if I said about ddog - he has an abscess on the root of one tooth so he's on meds and has to have a dental soon which Is a lot for a dog of his age.

Poor DDog Crazy . There was an elderly SBT on Paul O'Grady yesterday ( brindle with a proper white muzzle and arthritic little legs ) he'd been left tied to a railing/gate . He had surgery to remove lumps ( thankfully non malignent )
It is a risk with older animals but weighing up the risk of infection/pain and the effects on his health , I reckon the vet would say go for surgery .

Antibiotics are tough on animals too , they can affect the gut just like people .

I've ordered a BreadMaker , keep thinking should I / shouldn't I ?
I hope to get into adventurous flavoured bread (like the ones I see in store with herbs, sundried tomatoes but they're ££ )
DD and DH like 50:50 . I'm a white loaf type when I do eat it .
And it'll be nice when I can make a fresh loaf for toast instead of thinking "Shops aren't open, I need bread for Sunday but need to buy it on Thursday "
We'll see if my plans work .

Wish me luck

70 I've always said to DH that I'd like to rescue the older dogs, to make sure their last years are spent calm and peaceful. As much as it would break my heart to lose them, I'd like to be able to do that but I don't think DH could take it - in all the years I've known him, I've only ever seen him cry when having dogs pts.

The vet has said essentially ddog needs a dental or the abscess is just going to get bigger and more painful. He seems absolutely fine in himself but he's usually stoic about things so it's hard to tell if he's uncomfortable (when he had the infection in his eye and pancreatitis last year the vet said he'd probably been in pain for days but he didn't show it).

Let us know how you get on with your bread maker - what one did you go for? I swing from being sure I'd use one all the time to thinking it'll be a waste of space....

I'm relaxing with my cross stitch for 15 mins before going into a 3hr meeting 😩

Crazy my DParents adopted Mum's friend retired Guide Dog ( I think she was 10yo or so . City dogs used to retire younger )
They'd known her most of her life and she spent most weekends at Parents so there was no arguement where she was heading .

My Dad saw the (ex) owner onto the bus (she was being met) the (ex) Guide Dog just sat there "Bye , Cheers" and walked home happily with my Dad , not at all fussed

I think they had a couple of years with her . She enjoyed and embraced retirement and though they knew it was only a short time frame they really loved sharing her golden years .
It is hard when they die but those last months of non-work walking , eating and larding about ...
It must be equally rewarding if the dog has always had a home and (maybe through a death) are suddenly in Rescue .
Or a dog who hasn't had a great life .

Our little lardy guinea-pigs (except one) were adults and the cats were 1yo . So young enough to enjoy all their lives (we hope) .

BreadMaker is a Panasonic 27 settings ( like I'll use 27 )

Ooh, 70, you've got one like ours then, I think. We have a Panasonic (the Rolls Royce of bread makers!). We don't use all the settings (does yours also make jam?!).

We made a fruit loaf for DS yesterday. He'd had one with a hint of orange from the shop (reduced section, I wouldn't pay full price!) and really liked it, so I soaked the fruit in orange juice and we subbed some of the water with the juice. He seems to like it and said the fruit tasted like the bought one! Win.

Crazy, I hope your dog is OK. It's so hard when they're old.

247

Morning!

It's vaccine day for me! Booking opened late last night and I got a spot today. 2nd jab on 9 July!

Hopefully I won't have too much of a bad reaction to it. It seems rather variable as to the reactions.

It's meant to be lovely and sunny today too. It's a good day!

Yayyy for the vaccine Fluffy
I had minor side effects (had mine in Jan/Apr) -headache/tired . Nothing bad , and occured 36 hours after the jab.

I got some begonias by post yesterday , still small . I'll pot them on and wait till we're sorted in the garden to decide where they're going . I think I'll keep them in a big pot .

Apparently the after effects are worse if you've had Covid. Which I haven't (as far as I know!). Though Why and my friend had really bad reactions and, coincidentally, are both allergic to penicillin. That is most likely total coincidence though.

I got 40 lavender plug plants, 70. They all got potted on to get some meat on them too!

I have a penicillin allergy too . We had a variety of reactions at work (sore arm, feeling meh through to quite severe)

Lavender isn't welcome in my garden , I was really reactive to the smell of it when I was pg with DS . I had a Hidcote lavender by the door that I'd loved before the hormones hit (it had to go to a good home)
Still cannot bring myself to smell any lavender even now .
It's a shame because they're such beautiful plants .

Morning. It's supposed to be a hot sunny day today so I've put a load of washing on and will hang it out in an hour when it's done.

I have 2 lavender plants I'm trying to keep alive (one at the front door and one in the back garden). It's a shame you can't handle the smell anymore 70. What about jasmine instead?

Fluffy I had a cracking headache after my first jab - fingers crossed you're ok after yours.

I'm v v tired today. I was restless, fidgety and boiling last night, even with summer quilt on and windows open - I ended up sending myself to the spare bed at 3am. I slept but in there the bloody hamster kept waking me up.
Roll on this evening (DH is cooking something nice for tea, I'm going to shower, wear pjs, cross stitch and have an early night) 🥱

Morning.

Do you know which one you're getting fluffy? I had Pfizer. The 1st one I had a really sore arm but the 2nd one I felt awful. I was really tired, achy and chills. But it was only for a couple of days.

AZ as it's the chemist based at the local uni administering it. Only the GP has Pfizer. Suppose it could be Moderna though, but don't know what supplies are like.

Good luck Fluffy. It's AZ at the hubs round here - both DH and I had a mild reaction. I woke up in the middle of the night with chattering teeth feeling a bit fluey and had to get up and take paracetamol - I was fine in the morning apart from feeling a bit washed out. DH had aches and pains for about 48 hours, mainly a sore back.

Anecdotally amongst my friends/relatives I would say that the majority who have reported a reaction have done so after the first AZ with the second being less noticeable. It was the other way round for Pfizer.

I had the AZ jab - I think that's all they offered here until a few weeks ago when they received supplies of Pfizer.

I had a headache and a slightly sore arm. DH has no extra symptoms but he complained about his arm for a few days (unlike him).

How is your stash-busting going Woolly?

I've just had a FaceTime call from my youngest nephew (I think he was picked up the unlocked phone and jabbed at it so called me by accident). I said hello and he laughed at me before saying he wants chocolate and showing me his shoes then hanging up