Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness...and ramping up those Christmas preparations! Countdown to Christmas 2024 (thread 3) (title edited by MNHQ @request of OP)

[NoWordForFluffy]

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(Saves us checking the old thread tomorrow!)

Here goes, folks. New thread to see us through autumn!

Ha! yes I noticed in Wenzels they have "Gingerbread People" but in Greggs they have good ole' "Gingerbread Men"

In our house they are "Gingerbread Mans" after DS when he was little and didn;t twig the plural of Man is Men but to him, Mans

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Love that @70isaLimitNotaTarget - I'm definitely getting some Gingerbread Mans.

Morning!

Blooming freezing here this morning. 0° according to the forecast. It's very misty over the fields opposite!

I love the idea of gingerbread mans too.

Definitely misty!

Beautiful morning @NoWordForFluffy! Frosty here :)

Everyone better here this morning so that's all good :)

That's good news, Hoping. Frosty here too. The dog run was cold! (I had to wear gloves!) FluffyDog bloody loves frosty grass though. My assumption is that it smells different to normal (maybe enhancing smells 🤷‍♀️). He goes loopy sniffing it and snortling afterwards! ❤️

The mist is clearing now.

That’s such a gorgeous view @NoWordForFluffy. I miss the fields and frosts - we barely ever have a frost here. I think I see maybe one a year. So lovely to hear crunching grass.

We are aiming to put decorations up this weekend - no preparation has been done so far. All my fantasies about being super organised - having cleaned where the tree will go, cleaned all windows etc, haven’t happened. The handprints for Christmas cards haven’t happened yet either. I feel like we’re treading water in this house - we manage things on time, but we’re never prepared early. Need to do a few late nights to get things done, but also feel exhausted too. Tricky balancing act!!

We are finally on our way out of being a house full of sickness. LO is fine, I'm almost fine and DH is probably just over halfway through. It's been a rough few days 😷

I have done nothing for Christmas really, except today I went to M&S to pick up a c&c order with my mum (as per tradition) and had a wander around the food hall. Came home with 4 bottles of the much coveted Bucks Fizz (£4 each) - 2 are to give away, 2 are for me

Have agreed with DH for him to take LO for a few hours this weekend so I can order the rest of my Christmas presents. I feel so behind!

Love the photo Fluffy - very wintery!

Hope all those who are poorly feel better soon.

Seems to be a few grouches infiltrating the Christmas boards at the moment 🙄Obviously some don't read what board they are on before commenting.

I have done most of my wrapping today (well what I have so far). Told everyone I intend to be finished by end of November. It won't happen but I can try to get as close to that as I can

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Morning!

I'm on a train to the office, as I have my hospital appointment later, and it's easier to travel from there than home. The card machine wasn't working so I have to pay at destination, and the train was late too. Going very well so far!

Meeces, I'm glad you're getting through the sickness now. And yay for getting the Buck's Fizz!

I'm wrapping on Friday night as the kids are at the in-laws. It's slowly coming together!

I wrapped up the t-shirt for DD from my local Asda. I returned the sweatshirt from the same order immediately because I knew before it arrived I had clicked on the wrong size. Ordered the correct size.
I have also been looking at various rat hammocks and similar on Etsy for DD’s fancy rats. They need to be washed frequently so they always need more.

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Morning!

@Pinkkisugarmouse I am intrigued - when you say "fancy rats" do you actually mean rats?

@NoWordForFluffy hope the appointment went well.

I'm off today so will do some nice present wrapping with bows etc rather than the just cover it up method with the DC's presents. I'm hoping they'll give me a list end of next week so I can finish them off.

Also going to scour the charity shops for suitable planters for my Paperwhites.

Morning all!

Very grey here.

Big Question.....Panettone, yay or nay?

Until last year I was very much in the Nay camp, I thought panettone was just a big dry cake....until I tried some toasted with butter. I am converted,

@MonkeyTennis34 definite yay here, anything festive and cake in the same package gets a yes from me.

Also if you have any leftover, which we always do as I am the only one that eats it, I make a white chocolate and rasberry bread and butter pudding using the pannetone in place of bread.

Nay for pannetone. I'm in the too dry camp! I can make a nice spiced loaf myself as well, so do that if I fancy some Christmassy toast.

Dog took me 7.8km today. Tired!

when you say "fancy rats" do you actually mean rats?

Fancy Rats are pet rats (like Dumbo Rats for example ..that's my knowledge of rats exhausted )
DD and I kept guinea-pigs who have the advantage of being non-climbing and non-very-bright but rats kept properly are very engaging little animals .
I love their paws (not wild about the tails - another Guinea-Pig plus . No tails ) . Guinea paws are leathery and furry on the top , rats paws are intricate and beautiful.

Pannetone - yes . But no butter .
Lemon curd all day ( has to be a plain one , no fruit or chocolate )

@Magnoliasunrise
That recipe sounds extremely delicious, could you send me it?

I've not tried one with chocolate...

Ha! Yes, anything associated with Christmas and cake has to be experienced!

Speaking of which, I made my CC last weekend...think I might have overcooked it so I'm going to have to overfeed it with Amaretto to reclaim the moisture!

My son used to have two rats. They were lovely but I wasn't keen on their tails when they sat on my shoulder and they used to fight all night and keep us awake. We had to put them in the bathroom with the door shut so we couldn't hear them. I much prefer guinea pigs.

If I looked out at that view without my glasses I could pretend to myself I was next to the beach .....

Ha, the sea is to right of me as I take that photo. Couple of miles away. 🏖️ Though the Mersey, and thereafter the Irish Sea, are in the far distance.

I don't mind pet rats either, but also prefer guinea pigs.

Photo - ( rat paw in case you don't want to look )

teeny and sweet and scarily human looking !

That is a cute paw 70.

Fancy rats are yes pet rats. Its strange that I actually added the term fancy because usually I don’t but sometimes people really seem to think that the only difference between them and wild ones is that the pet ones come in different colours. My daughter also does drawings of what our animals might look like as cartoon humans and she has drawn her rats as fancy ladies in bonnet hats, holding parasols. 😆

BTW I actually don’t have a problem with wild rats as such they are after all just living their lives, often making use of the rubbish humans dump. but I don’t think it would be appropriate to stick them in cages, even spacious ones with loads of toys. 😆 I can’t see them being very happy being cuddled either.

People can get weirded out by the tails but on holding the girls I personally like their pretty impressive tails.

But yes I agree that Guinea pigs are much easier to look after and more suitable pets for children under 12. They are more docile and don’t require taming. My daughters now respond to her like she is their mum. She calls “oi” or “come here” and they do respond. Mum’s in charge. 💕 Remember if you have animals in your home every adult is responsible for their care. Especially if their “mummy” or “daddy” human is under 16. They aren’t toys or pieces of tech.

Sorry of topic. I’m done now.

100% agree that the adult/s in the house have the ultimate responsibility . A child cannot legally buy an animal so cannot be responsible but if they want a pet they do the grunt work . If they get bored (as some do) then the adult is responsible for the care , not just putting the pet on Gumtree with a "kids got bored" excuse .
No Pets As Presents or as a result of Pester Power !

When DD and I had the guineas ( 5 was our biggest group , 3 in one herd, 2 in the other ) we shared everything . Though if she was ill or away or had tons of schoolwork I did it all . 2 of them were mine so its just as easy to feed and clean 5 as 2 . Cuddling 5 is not so easy though

Guinea-pigs wouldn't dream about climbing in a hammock though . A folded up fleece blanket or a box of hay is their limit . Our boy had a wooden hidey box with a ramp in his outdoor cage , he was so cute when he leapt in , but had to have a rest after the effort !