Countdown to Christmas 2023: launching into summer with more Christmas planning (thread 2)

[NoWordForFluffy]

Here's our new thread. Almost missed that it was needed!

Can somebody add the countdown again please, as I've no clue! 🤣🤣

@CrazyBaubles what sort of things do you plant in a winter garden? My garden looks bleak in winter

Oops, and 128

Rain is finished here and beautiful sunny day...so I am mopping floors properly (pulling out furniture not just going around it) and then plan to clean outside of windows. And blanch some French beans for freezing.

I ended up getting into all the nooks and crannies as it was good and bright - so did a deep clean of the kitchen/diner/living space (of the"pull everything out from the wall" variety) and left the other jobs for tomorrow as I was a sweaty puddle when that was done. But that's a few big jobs ticked off my HGP 😁

2 loads of washing done then DS and I cleaned the downstairs loo in preparation for DH to paint over the Bank Holiday .

I had a batch of Cookie Dough in the freezer that I cooked this morning (Martha Stewart Chewy & Crispry) they were delicious .

One for The List of what to cook over Christmas

127

And now I have to go to sleep for I am old and jiggered !

I only had 5 hours' sleep Fri/Sat, so I was asleep before 11 last night, I think! I'd been busy as well as I'd walked the dog, walked to town and back to have a massage and then gone on the cross trainer in the evening. I also squeezed cleaning the bathroom into the day.

Today is allotment day. Which means more tomatoes. Yay! 🤣🤣 It's been sunny this week too, so we will have a few.

Good luck with the tomatoes Fluffy. I harvested my cooking apple yesterday. Three years in and a total of one from 2 trees.

😂 I read through the first part of that sentence and thought you'd missed the "s" until I got to the last part. Fingers crossed for a better harvest next year.

I went shopping with DD2 yesterday. I was only going for something from the M&S food hall and some toy stuffing from Hobbycraft. How naive 😂

I returned with some nice bits from M&S for me, a shed load of stuff from Hobbycraft (including Christmas ribbons) and PJs for my DDs that are their traditional Christmas Eve gift.

No Bucks Fizz yet!

I am watching the supermarkets to see when they start doing offers on chocolates. Not the tubs as they are already starting to come in but things like boxes of Ferrero Rocher, chocolate oranges and cartons of Celebrations/Heroes. I need them as filling for some of the Christmas crafts I'm making.

The problem with buying chocolate oranges is that I have to get them and hide them - they are very popular with my DC.

Ooh, I hope you have something nice planned for that bountiful harvest Constantly 🤣 Fi mg era crossed that now 1 tree has figured out what to do, it will do better next year and tell its neighbour.

Sounds like a nice shopping day Bucktoothed - and no fizz means an excuse for another (bad influence 🤫).

My plan today is starting in the spare room now that a load of laundry is on to be dried before the rain this afternoon, and maybe get the windows done before then too. I need to drop a present to a cousin who turned 18 during the week, and have just been invited for a gathering this evening which would be fun.

Today's tomato haul!

My cooking apple trees I bought a few years ago do bog all, it has to be said. The tree of unknown variety (which we use as cooking apples!) is heavily laden for its second year. It's way older though; must be a good decade or so.

I had to spend a good hour tying my tomato plants to their stakes. It's the first time I've been capable since the op today and they didn't need doing before. In a fortnight, I'm going to have more tomatoes than Sainsbury's! 🍅 🍅 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅 That's going to be fun. 🤣

That's just showing off fluffy

I am here to show off also, my blogging on IG has been doing really well recently and I have just been offered a set of tickets to the Christmas craft show at the NEC - will be going with DM and leaving the children behind!!

Are tomatoes easy to grow I might try them next year although i am the only one in my house who eats them!

Very easy, Hairspray.

I plant mine in the greenhouse in bags of compost cut in half and stuck on a couple of these, fill with water about once a week, occasionally remember to add feed to the tray, and we get loads! I sometimes remove suckers and sometimes don't 🤷 The only issue I have is that I have loads of unripe fruits at the end of the season, but I either make green tomato chutney or put them in a paper bag with a banana and they ripen. I find them one of the easiest things to grow, but I've never had an issue with blight.

we have greenhouse we inherited with the house but i have to say it has been empty since we moved in - I bought a bag of potting soil with lots of good intentions and then never did anything with it!

I planted out a load of spring bulbs at the weekend too, home bargains had lots for 99p to plant august to oct so hopefully I'll get some good spring colour!

also - who is launching the poncetastic thread this year?

I am spending the day emptying and feeding the freezer - blanching beans (some from my and some from DDad's garden), cauliflower (from organic farm near DDad) and even made a batch of cauli cheese. I have a large tub of blackberries from the field beside DDad mostly, and torn between making some jam or whizzing them up and freezing in ice cube trays for winter smoothies.

Now I need to do some food shopping before the other 2 get home from work.

I think VivaJen has done it the last couple.

I'm just waiting for my train to go to Liverpool for physio. I do love a nice train trip to the hospital!

How did your physio go, Fluffy?

Quick! 3 hour round trip for a 10 minute appt! 🤣

We're moving onto strength now, as movement is good. So that's a positive step!

It took a turn when he tied a resistance band around my wrists! 😳🤣 But it's needed for this lot of exercises.

125 I hope you told him you're not that kind of girl 😉

How's everyone doing with the summer holidays? I'm enjoying the nice weather and extra time with the kids (the 2 days a week I don't work, not all 5, before you think I've lost my marbles!) but there's part of me that can't wait for them to be over, everything back to 'normal' and the run up to Christmas. And be able to clean my house and not turn around and have it be just as bad!!!

Well, I willingly held my wrists out to be tied! Not quite sure whether that conveyed the 'not like that' message. 🤔🤣

The kids are back in 2 weeks here. Thank the lord!

Back to school 2 weeks tomorrow here. I'm slowly but surely stocking DS up with all his stationery supplies. Today's not-so-subtle reminder that back to school is coming was a packet of pencils and a box of glue sticks. I spoil him 😂

🤣 you really are too kind!

I've not really had anything to buy. DS is still at primary so no stationery, I already have the next size up shoes (bought at the same time as his last pair), he doesn't want a new bag or lunchbox (although his is grubby so if it doesn't come clean in the washing machine I will buy him a new one anyway). I'm just waiting for the easy fit trousers to come back in stock at Asda (we have issues with the normal ones staying up 🙄) and then I'm ready to shove him out of the door.