Countdown to Christmas 2021: the one where autumn starts (and Strictly - whoop!). Thread 5

[NoWordForFluffy]

119 (for ease tomorrow!)

Here we go. Couldn't think of a witty thread title. Soz!

Bills are BONKERS at the moment. My house is empty while I get it ready to rent out so I only have the heating coming on when it drops below 14-ish, just to keep damp at bay. And my bill for 3 months was STILL well in to three figures. Crazy.

I should be moving in to my new place around the end of November, so just enough time to get it looking sparkly before Christmas - and, more importantly, MY OWN KITCHEN for Christmas prep. Heaven! Just ordered the BBC Good Food Homemade Christmas mag in celebration!

@TheLovelinessOfDemons I'm so sorry. I find MN hard enough to be on sometimes just as someone with trans friends, I can't imagine how difficult it must be when it's your child. Sending you love and solidarity.

I'm also hoping some Christmassy things will be happening again this year. We usually go to our local folk museum's Victorian Christmas evening which is lovely - carols in the old chapel, people doing blacksmithing and weaving, open houses where re-enactors are making bread etc - it's great. There's also a light festival on nearby this year which I'm definitely going to. DD is 3.5 so this will be the first year she's properly excited about Santa so I'll definitely be making a visit somewhere!

We don't discuss trans issues on this thread. It's very much a place where we try to not discuss divisive matters.

FWIW, being gender critical does NOT equate to being transphobic, thank you all the same. But I suggest we draw a line under that and other contentious issues right now.

Morning! We're having a lazy morning after a busy weekend (my best mate came to visit with her daughter for the day, then we went to a wedding party on Saturday, then yesterday we went to the local park with nieces, FILs for lunch then to my friends house for wine last night).
I think I had the same feeling as Woolly at the wedding. There were so many friends there I haven't seen in over a year, it was really lovely to see them all.

No heating on here yet. No idea what the temp in the house is but the most I've needed is to put a cardigan on.
The bills going up annoys me - I bet even if the prices for customers stayed the same, no energy company would report a loss at the end of the year 😡

Welcome new posters 👋 Always nice to have new ideas / traditions to steal hear about. Would agree with Fluffy about the thread though - we try and keep any contentious issues away (from the Christmas board as a whole tbh) because it's the most friendly MN corner

We don't discuss trans issues on this thread. It's very much a place where we try to not discuss divisive matters

This is a politics (big and small P) free thread.

MN can be critical, harsh and shouty but the Christmas Boards and Threads are thankfully none of those things (except, perhaps for Fridge Jenga.. )

I'm not going to lie, I'm looking forward to the Fridge Jenga threads

The bargain thread once got het up over a cow cookie jar, I believe.

Oh yes, that thread took a weird, virtue-signalling, turn last year, lachy! 😱

sprinkles glitter and splashes cinnamon apple smells

Very chilly here in the Dales - only about 15 degrees. Fortunately that's pretty perfect for us. Means DD won't overheat or get sunburn.

We were left... drumroll please...2.5 loo rolls. Only one loo, though, upstairs. That's taking some getting used to. I brought 4 rolls, so it's looking good

They also provided washing up liquid, soap in the bathroom and kitchen and antibacterial gel. And the towels are sooooo fluffy! It's very luxurious!

We headed for Aysgarth Falls yesterday, but we couldn't get parked so we sacked it off and headed to Hawes. Definitely the right decision.

It was absolutely heaving, but we were lucky enough to find a table outside for Sunday lunch at a pub though they and I have very different ideas of what constitutes a 'large' portion!! then we wandered around a bit, found a waterfall to paddle in, played in the playground and took two very tired children home.

The water level in the river was very low where we were paddling, and the tour guide at the saw mill said he's never known it be so low. They usually get loads of rain, but this year there's been very little.

Lachy I forgot about the fridge Jenga threads and how ridiculous they become 🙄

Me and DH are having an old school date this afternoon (after we walk the dog) - cinema and a pub meal then a chilled out evening. Im looking forward to it 😋

Despite being on MN for over 10 years now, I usually disappear from mid-December to February, so I'd never seen the Fridge Jenga thread until someone resurrected it last week.

I get that some people might find it upsetting or tacky, but then as with everything else on MN, there is the option to just ignore it!!

I vaguely remember the cookie jar debacle, and wasn't there something similar with slippers a few years after? And then the poster who asked us all to stop chatting on the thread and stick to posting bargains

You only need to look at some of the Christmas Eve Hamper/Stocking/EotS thread (usually on Chat /AIBU) posters pile on with the

"Whhhhhaaat more plastic tat" / "WHat next ? Boxing Day hampers?" / "Is this A thing now ?"
The force that they are so superior because they don't give into their DC demands
Add in Christmas is too commercialised and Its only one day FFS
and It's August

I sometimes drift onto the Feminism threads if there's something in Trending I click on. Have a read and leave . I have my own personal views but they are just that -personal .

I have kept off the advent Beauty Calender threads except to say how good the H&B one was last year . I read the M&S unveiling out of noseyness
But some of these are priced at £100+ /£200+ .
They would be a present in their own right not an add on.
I know loads of them are trying to be recycleable , and it is good to try new things , especially very ££ that you wouldn't buy in full size .
The competition to secure one , waiting lists , the "I'm having the F&M and Jo Malone and maybe a Cult Beauty " ............... probably from the same people who are "Whhhaaatt" at the thought of Christmas pyjamas

How the fuck did I just spend £100 in Aldi?! Still need to go to Sainsbury's for coffee.

Has anyone heard of Tiger and co candles? They're apparently lovely and are releasing their Christmas scents in a few days

I’ve lurked for a couple of years (maybe more ) on and off. I love how productive everyone is on this thread - most have jobs, families to look after, parents to care for (I often read about Mum and Bob). There’s gardening, growing vegetables, cross stitching. Preparing for holidays, school, birthdays, and CHRISTMAS. Garden photos and holiday photos. Everyone is busy and there’s hustle and bustle, and I enjoy reading it all.

I was going to join in last year, when I was pregnant. But it was a high risk pregnancy, big risk of premature birth, and someone here was due to the sameish time. So I stood back - I couldn’t face comparison. My DS was born early, but thankfully all was fine in the end.

I’m a big fan of Fluffy, which I mentioned before. Seeing your comment above “FWIW” - great.

Is the person with the small fridge, eating out at Sainsburys a lot, still here? I enjoyed reading about lunch! And also, to another, how is Mum and Bob?

Look what I see!

I should have taken a photo of my fridge on Saturday before my family BBQ started. Salad drawers stuffed full, burgers, chicken, sausages, ribs, a boneless leg of lamb plus boxes and boxes of strawberries and tubs of cream. There was barely a space for the beer and wine. I had to deploy the tin drinks tub filled with ice for the drinks.

It looks like the day after Boxing Day in there now 😂

I bought that on Saturday, Wreck!

@WreckTangled Oooooooh exciting! Mine is due to be dispatched tomorrow. Will arrive just in time for a first of September treat with a glass of red wine! I love autumn.

IGuess hello
That has reminded me , there's no ChristmasThreadBaby this year ? No-one has Taken One For The Team?

I've seen the Mum&Bob poster on another thread recently
Not seen the Sainsbury Breakfast poster in a while (may have namechanged thugh)
Won't say the NN though they might not want ID 'd

Christmas Fridge Thread recently was posters piled on with the How could you BE so insensitive there are people on here with an empty fridge , slice of bread and half a spoonful of buttery spread

My fridge , not Christmassey but one shelf full of Tropicana and Alpro soya after a Costco trip .

I keep thinking should I make a cake ? No marzipan or icing though , just a fruit cake . An iced cake is a blighter to store , I put a big plastic bowl over the plate .
I might do the James Martin one ? Keep it wrapped in parchment and foil and have with Wendsleydale .

70 What is EotS?? (End of the Sunday?) 🤷🏻‍♀️
Wreck there's a shortage of coffee, apparently. Vietnam have closed their port so there are no "robusta" beans... bbc report here.

@pussycatlickinglollyices, Elf on the Shelf.

Wreck, just spotted £100 in Aldi! Did you bother leaving any stock for anybody else?! 🤣🤣

Ah, Elf, gotcha...that wasn't a "thing" when I was a girl in the 70s. We just had the Muppets and Cinderella Fairy Lights.

Speaking of Christmas cakes... what IS the best recipe? This will be my first year making one...

Oh, and I've bought tubs of Quality Street for Christmas...any guesses how long 2 tubs will last? DH has a dental appt at the end of Sept

I'm guessing about 10 days before the appointment!