Countdown to Christmas 2023: get past the post-Christmas slump by thinking about the next one! (Thread 1.)

[NoWordForFluffy]

364

Morning (just)!

I failed at eating yesterday which meant I got blotto far too early and wasn't well. Oops! 🙈

But we had a great time anyway and I avoided having to tidy up!

Countdown to next year is go go go! 🎄🎅🏻🎄🎅🏻🎄🎅🏻

295

Morning!

Dog has already been walked (bit chilly) and is chilling out chewing some cow ligament now! 😋

I need to go to the allotment now. I'm going to put my bean frame up, I think, plus the pea netting. Might as well get prepared!

fluffy Is the netting chew-proof?

DH really not well. He has had to sleep propped up for 3 nights and is coughing so much his eyes are red. I said I'd go to the GP tomorrow and book him in, he said "it's a virus" 🤷‍♀️ then complains about it hurting his hips and ribs...he won't take paracetomol either.
Seriously, don't tell me you can't see out of one eye again.
I can only help you if you help yourself.
And I'm near the end of the West Wing (Election Night pt 1) and sick of sleeping downstairs, even if I do have the 😺😸 for company. Every time I nod off one of them wants bloody Dreamies and scratches my nose.🤦‍♀️

I was at work this morning, we have a substantial covid outbreak and staff are falling like flies as well as patients. For obvious reasons I am not keen to catch it again and have practically smothered myself in antibacterial hand gel.

That's 💩 why. Give me a shout if you need any errands running. I'm out and about anyway most days and I'm happy to reduce your community exposure it I can.

I finished my latest watch through of the WW this week Puss. I may start again although I do tend to skip through the first few episodes of S1. I don't like the Sam storyline.

Tonight we are having the last of the Christmas turkey and ham although I do have some chunks left to make soup. The house smells amazing. I did offer DH Christmas pudding but he's opted for apple crumble. I'm making room in the freezer.

We are too, Woolly for dog food, so we've had meatballs and will have crumble later.

Good luck in avoiding Covid, Why.

Puss, probs not. Hopefully he'll leave it alone and just help me dig potato trenches! 🤣

Thanks Woolly I will let you know if I need anything.

I cooked gammon in the slow cooker which was fabulous, followed by jam buns with custard. Made using vegan butter by Flora which I recommend for baking.

why I really hope you don't get it again. 🤞

I love the idea that fluffy is training fluffypup to dig in a straight line...I didn't know they did classes for that! 😂

Woolly I'm already planning to start season 1 again. It's addictive.

It is a nightmare that Covid is re-surfacing , we were told that we could stop wearing masks at work though i have kept on wearing .

Just when you think things are turning a corner <sigh>
I haven;t got my sense of taste back from my previous bout over a year ago

I have a couple of days off in March , then in April we have Easter )so a long weekend) in May there's early and late BH then the Coronation BH .
In June I;ve booked some leave ( I have to use up my carried over )

How sad is it that I'm looking at "Oh lovely days off" not "Oh lovely , work says"
Though TBF , there are many , many work days to look forward to .
Devil finds work , and all that !

70 my sense of smell isn't properly back yet (along with all the other shite covid left me with). We haven't stopped wearing masks yet, but I won't stop because I go in to see my elderly parents alot. Not sure we will stop with this latest plague outbreak though.

MN is being weird for me so not sure if I'm missing a post or 2. I can't see a countdown so adding it here just in case
294

Have we all seen the yellow snow & ice warning

How is your DH today puss?

why sending luck your way to avoid Covid. Bloody awful illness.

I've had a strange day. Good news - company wide payrise
Bad news - a favourite higher up is leaving.
Plus, I've somehow seriously hurt my hand. It seems to be somewhere in my thumb and hurts badly in certain positions 🙄

This evening I'm going to seriously look into my garden plan. I've got an A4 notebook, pens and lots of open gardening tabs on the iPad. Don't ever let it be said my evenings are boring! 😂

Evening!

Crazy, we got a pay rise too. Mine was disappointing, given what I need to keep up with the market, but I suppose it was something.

I should plan my allotment really, Crazy. However, I think I'll just wing it. 🤣🤣

Ooh, was your payrise announced today? Mine is ok, gets me to somewhere in the region of market rate for the job. Would still appreciate more though with the way costs are rising!

I'm not sure I can cope with winging the garden Fluffy - I have no idea what I'm doing and feel so much better with a plan
Today I did a little inventory of my plants and pots and noticed that the lemon tree seems to have shot in and my 3 lemons are now a lovely yellow. Fingers crossed it's on the mend.

Aim is to grow food we'll eat, some flowers for the bees and maybe a few pretty flowers for the front garden which is very dark and drab looking at the mo.
Any and all recommendations for easy things to grow accepted as I'm still not great.

Oh and I have a house plant question. What will happen if a plant has grown so much it looks like it needs a bigger pot but you don't want it to be any bigger?
I have a aloe that DH abandoned and almost killed. It was tiny (maybe 5cm tall) when I started looking after it.
Now it's maybe 15cm wide and 10cm tall, keeps growing new leaves(? I call them tentacles) and is starting to spill over the edges of the pot.
I don't want it to be any bigger but don't want to kill it either...

Crazy He's really not well. His voice has pretty much gone, he can't stop coughing, his eyes are gooey and he aches all over and keeps going hot/cold. I went to Morrisons earlier and he now has the stock of a small pharmacy to work through I went through the checkouts 3 times so I could get lemsip, paracetomol and ibuprofen
And he's given it to me. 🙄

Weather looks, erm, interesting. I really would like a blizzard on Sunday please (it's my birthday) but only for an hour or 2. I've got about 15 planters/troughs with spring bulbs just coming through, so I'll move some to under the bench and others to under the tree for a bit of shelter. They look lovely at the mo, it would be such a shame if they got damaged.

It can blizzard all it likes after Saturday seriously I don’t want snow at all. Christmas prep is cancelled until after the coronation then I’ll really get cracking. But already thinking present ideas. Hugs to everyone.

293

Puss Hope you and your DH get over the bug quickly - sounds like your DH has been really struggling.

Crazy I have no idea about house plants (or any plants really) @NoWordForFluffy might know?

The snow is looking like it's going to skip over us - DD is not impressed because she's hoping for a snow day 😊

Evening. Very generous of your DH to share his germs with you puss! I hope you're both on the mend soon.

TribeD I think we're likely to get a small dusting of snow at the most but it is very cold and the gritters are out.

My crafting is on hold while my hand is sore. Still no idea what I've done but it's too painful to crochet and I don't think I've got the concentration for cross stitch at the mo.

Last night I planned the food I want to grow. Tonight I'm looking at flowers and planning which pots I'll be using and what I need.
Very exciting garden centre trip is being planned for Saturday (not sarcasm, I'm genuinely looking forward to it)

🙏🏼you’re not starting with arthritis it’s agony some days I have it in the thumb joint.

292
Good morning from a very snowy part of the country! Woke up with a good inch in the grass and it hasn't stopped snowing since. My Christmas tree outside looks beautiful

Sad news is that DHs school is closed so he's here all day while I'm working.
To offset that though, he's so frustrated at the school being closed when the roads are clear that he's planning to spend the day alternating between working and doing helpful stuff like food shopping, batch cooking and cleaning 👍🏻
I foresee me being very 'busy' and only appearing to be handed food!

No snow here but some over the downs so both dc off school - ds’ closed and DD’s open but the busses aren’t running. Dh managed to go to another job where there isn’t snow so that’s good.

Snow in Somerset this morning, washed away by rain in nearest town.

Ordered hair accessories and lip balms for Christmas stockings today, will collect from local Boots store next week.

We’ve just received our council tax banding for our house and it’s £250 a month 😭 ffs. This is a three bed semi detached house, two bands higher than our old two bed end of terrace. So expensive.

FFS that's ridiculous Wreck. It's £160 here and I think that's extortionate!

It's still snowing here so it's freezing but very pretty. DH is costing us a fortune today by keeping the heating on and it's annoying me.

I'm going to attempt to pick my cross stitch back up later. Hoping my concentration kicks back in once I get going 🤞🏼

Bloody hell, Wreck, that's dear. Are you paying anything in that for the months you weren't billed? I think ours goes up to £172 a month next tax year. I'll find out soon.

I've not done my cross stitch for ages, Crazy. I've lost my mojo.

Oh, and I know nothing about indoor plants, sorry!

Crazy repotting your plant into the same size pot will keep the plant from getting bigger but by refreshing the soil and loosening up the roots it should stop it getting pot bound and help keep it healthy.

It's been snowing steadily here since this afternoon and it's settled. Looks lovely but I'm not looking forward to picking DS up from school tomorrow.