Ho ho ho...here we go round again! Countdown to Christmas 2025, thread 1

[NoWordForFluffy]

365

Evening!

I'm tired after today, but the buffet was a success. Tomorrow it's dinner!

Everyone seems to love their gifts, which is always good. 😊 Bed soon as it's all go again from the morning!

Morning!

It's just started raining here too. Pretty windy with it as well.

I'm going on holiday tomorrow, so today I've got lots to do to prepare. Sadly I'm very tired after two nights out in a row, so motivation is low! 🤣

We went to One Big Weekend yesterday and I (unfortunately) made it onto the TV a few times as we got on the barrier for Biffy (some Tom Grennan fans let us take their spot as we promised to give it back after!).

I caught the drummer's drumstick which he threw into the crowd. (A really solid left-handed catch; I was proud of my abilities!) I gave it away to a girl who clearly really wanted it, as I would've just put it in a box for the rest of my life!

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I caught the drummer's drumstick which he threw into the crowd

Yayyyyyy Go You @NoWordForFluffy it's like catching the bouquet at a wedding .

You could have kept it as used as a garden dibber for planting seeds but you must've made that girls night by giving it to her .

Enjoy your holiday (it;s half term now , hopefully the weather will be good)

Oh Fluffy I absolutely LOVE that - first of all sounds like goalie style catching and second that you gave it away, Angel qualities there, you deserve the best holiday.

I've been in Nottingham with DS for a rowing regatta. It was a loooooooonnnnnngggg day, I gave DS friend a lift home and they sat in the back with a couple of cans of lager to celebrate a good days rowing and getting halfway through GCSE's and it was so nice listening to them chatting. What I thought would be a crap boring drive ended up being a highlight. Will be one of those unexpected little lovely memories.

Enjoy the bank holiday/half term all.

It was funny, I'd been talking earlier that day with my friend about set lists and all the other bits and bobs I'd got from gigs over the years, and how we'd recently just ditched it all, as it was just in a box taking up space. I said I wasn't interested in collecting more.

So when I caught the stick (the girl had scrambled to try to get it), I had a brief 'Yay, go me!' moment, then thought about the earlier convo and decided to give it to her, as she clearly really wanted it, when I'd just happened to be the one who caught it, without any particular desire for it. It just seemed right to hand it over!

Sounds like a lovely day with your DS, Magnolia. 🚣

Happy Rudolph Day! Just realised!!

213

I clean forgot it was Rudolph Day on Sunday ( my bad !)

But In My Defence I have a batch of enriched sweet dough in the bread maker right now to make Cinnamon Buns -it can do all the hard work of kneading and keeping it safe for the first rise then I'll shape it tomorrow .

I made some crushed potatoes (like Jamie Oliver did on his Christmas Cookery programme) . Baby skin on potatoes , steamed then squished flat , olive oil , garlic salt and fresh rosemary . Nice enough but not Christmas Dinner worthy .
Sometimes , only a proper roast potato will do .

I;m off to bed now , just necking another glass of water and watching QVC.

I had a busy day washing and ironing so didn't do any festive planning/organising then we went out for a thai and I had too much wine so didn't do much of anything.

I did find a bag of chocolate coins in the back of the cupboard yesterday and ate them so that counts.

I could get used to this!

It was shitting down as we queued to get on the plane last night in Liverpool. This is very well timed!

I love those Jamie spuds 70

I worked on my cross stitch Christmas card yesterday without realising it was a Rudolph day so that was my festive thing.

Fluffy looks lovely! Hope you have a cocktail in your hands right now 🍹

Weather has been awful here today so we’ve tag teamed - one of us doing some deep cleaning/sorting, the other looking after LO then swapping over.
Managed a wet walk along the river, swimming lesson and out for tea too so all in all, a productive day.

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Happy holidays Fluffy, where are you? It looks lovely.

Well done on the accidental Rudolph Day cross stitching Meeces.

I'm going to be spending the day sorting out stuff for Vinted and pulling errant bamboo runners out of the border. Grrrr........ But off to the gym first.

Am stealing your Jamie spuds recipe 70 for a lunch at the end of this week, so thank you for that 😊

We're in Fuengirola, Magnolia. It's lovely. Already 29° though, so going to be a scorcher! ☀️

Wow Fluffy I am soooooo jealous. I've just come in from my one woman war against bamboo runners and I'm drenched and covered in mud. The kids just looked at me and laughed.

Enjoy the lovely weather Fluffy.

211

I've never been to Fuengirola, , when I had a search , your temperatures are 29-30 this week . Enjoy
We docked in Malaga for one of our trips in Spain , so that was not far from where you are now .Though we were nowhere near 29c , it was more "I wish I'd brought that cardigan now" weather

I;m ignoring the weeds for now , but I'll wander down the garden tomorrow and see what's growing .
We have tomatoes , they are still tiny though !

210 Morning. Quite a slow one here as DH had an appointment and LO has woken up a bit clingy.
Have done a few bits around the house but will be leaving for soft play with ILs soon.

Magnolia you have my sympathy with the bamboo. The people who live behind up planted bamboo to put a screen up between them and the people who lived here before us. They’re wild and send random shoots into our garden that I’m forever pulling out. Infuriating!

No tomatoes here yet 70 but I put mine in very late. Plus I’m experimenting with them in hanging baskets and I’m just not convinced it’s going to work that well…..

Afternoon (well, it is here!).

Last day thank god here. I've arranged a late check out until 6pm as we aren't being collected until 7.50. The kids have been challenging, which they can't help (both autistic), but it gets wearing and stressful dealing with them both (and their different, sometimes opposing, needs).

We're by the pool for the time being, then it'll be back to the room for showers and final packing before going for dinner.

I imagine my tomatoes have drowned. Or they'll be enormous as they're enjoying the fresh rainwater (they're watered from the butt, but it's not the same as fresh).

The lawn has grown loads since the rain started. I think DH was going to strim it as we don't want to damage the new grass which has grown from seed. Our mower can be a bit enthusiastic! 🤣

I've given up my fight with the bamboo - spent 3 hours today pulling out sodding rhizomes and there are more underneath. It's like the weeping angels from Dr Who, every time I blink they get closer. Have bitten the bullet and phoned a company who are going to come and rip it all out. Yay.

But tips for you Meeces - apparently spraying white vinegar regularly on the rhizomes eventually kills them. Or get a Mattock (£10 from amazon) which gets them up quite well and also is a good arm workout. No bingo wings here.

Safe journey home Fluffy.

Hope everyone else is having a nice day 😊

Hi, just dropping in to say hello and catch up with everyone. I had a virus earlier this week and lay on the sofa watching Christmas films that my tv box had decided to record in November.
Hope all is well and will rejoin properly in the summer.

209

We're in the home straits to 200 days now

Hello Constantly LTNS ( as da kidz probably wouldn't say ) did you enjoy your CCF marathon ?

Fluffy is you you and the DC on holiday , is DH looking after FluffyPup ?

Washing/tidying/ferrying people about day today

Afternoon!

We are back home now. Landed at about 00.30 this morning. Got to bed at 3. Lovely peri brain woke me at 7.30. I'm dead! 😩

The kids went to bed at 2. One emerged at 10.30 (7.30 is usually his latest!), the other about 20 minutes ago!

Yes, 70, it was me and the kids. DH on doggo detail! Doggo is also tired today after waking up to welcome us home. We took him to a field this morning as I couldn't face running, and he asked to go home after 20 minutes. 🤣

Constantly, I hope you're well on the mend now.

We have a full line of washing out and another load in the machine, which is almost done. We have Sainsbos arriving shortly, and Ocado a bit later (I only ordered the latter as it was free delivery and 20% off, so I've stocked up on offers which have then been discounted more!).

I've also done some long overdue weeding. I was clipping the grass, but my clippers ran out of battery, so I'll have to complete that task later. I discovered that my second astilbe has come back. It died back over winter and hadn't returned (one had). The recent rain must've given it the impetus needed!

Which book is this recipe in please? 🥰

This one.

Bargain here!

I might have to buy that book , Fluffy
My breadmaker Cinnamon Buns weren't as good as I hoped , they didn't do much in the 2nd rise .

I have a Paul Hollywood recipe ( I know he's Marmite but I kinda like him and he is a Baker my trade ) so might give that a try next
I'll use the stand mixer to do the hard work .

Ahh thank you! I am desperate for a good cinnamon roll recipe. I have found these online: here that claim to be like the american ones and use grams rather than cups but I am going to try them all (inc. hairy bikers) and see which is best for Christmas 😁

JusRoll used to be nice . more like a danish pastry in texture .Then the recipe was "New " and they were sadly doughy .

I need to find a recipe for the Danish type ( they have a yeast dough but you add butter pieces to the rolled dough then roll it over and over , chilling in between. It;s a long process but results are delicious . I made almond and apricot ones years back .

208

Quiet at the moment , apart from the strident miaow of the Female Cat who wants into DD room
Washing is on,
DH is doing the lawn , it has sprung up in a mass of clover and buttercups with the rain last weekend .
I have some Charity Shop recycling to drop off
A mooch about town is in order