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!

We all had a lovely Christmas and the food timings etc worked but I’ve done it for years so it’s not difficult.
My only problem was having spent, literally, over 2 hours prepping veg on Christmas Eve (plus dehydrated beef joint and made sausagemeat stuffing), I was a bit jaded by the time I was doing Christmas Eve buffet.
My wrist was sore (nasty fall in May) and by the time I had cooked dinner on the big day it was painful.
I then had all the kitchen to clear and that took 90 minutes. The literally dozed for the rest of the day.
So next year I am going to ask for some help and not be a martyr.

358

Happy New Year Fellow Count-Downers
I managed to stay awake for the Bells (not on TV , I went up to bed and listened to LBC Radio)
Neighbours fireworks were so loud , it was like they were outside our front door .

It is very breezy here , I'll need to keep an eye on anything not secured -might need to send DS out to shift things about .

We're having Vegetarian HotPot , I'll make chips and Yorkshires for DS and whatever main course he wants .
Then I have some apples which are lounging about waiting to turn into crumble

Some cleaning (vacuum, not laundry , it;s not done on NYD !)
Recycling
Then some essential body maintenance - hair ( Olaplex) face mask , nice shower products . I'll be a New Woman .

Happy New Year too!!

Had a lovely seeing in of the New Year and the black forest pannetone trifle was a roaring success. In fact I may have already had some for breakfast.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget great idea re the body maintenance, I feel like a pamper afternoon is in order once I get rid of the waifs and strays that slept over.

I made a lasagne yesterday so we'll have that with salad and garlic bread for a late lunch this afternoon as I don't expect my gang will be stirring any time soon.

I'm just watching the wind also and hoping nothing will blow away.

Happy New Year! 🥳

We stayed up to see the new year in. The display of fireworks we could see was disappointing, but the weather was diabolical. It was shitting down at midnight! So I think we were lucky to see any!

We do washing on NYD. I've just heard DH put our second load on! It's dry and windy today, so it's needed!

I might take the trees down later. Still need to walk the pooch first though.

Back to work tomorrow. Dreading it after 3 weeks off, and I'm not sure how well I'll be able to type yet!

Happy New Year 🥳

We watched the London fireworks on tv while listening to the local ones going off from about 11:45 to 12:30. Some folks need new watches next year! In keeping with tradition the local FB has kicked off this morning - it's like MN the way you can predict what will happen on a certain day.

Yes I thought the neighbours fireworks were unusually loud last night. And they seem to of been able to keep it going till early hours of this morning.
I felt lucky that our dog is a gun dog and is now use to hearing loud bangs so was unfazed. Unlike one of my children who woke up screaming.

Going have to check my garden for debris this morning.

Just going off to bowling with the children this morning. We shall be having a curry tonight for dinner

Happy New Year!
We saw the new year in while sat in bed eating the last of the Christmas snacks

70 I have similar plans for this evening - hot shower with face mask, posh moisturiser, spend a bit of time to do my nails etc.

How is your arm doing post-op Fluffy?
We do washing too. It's desperately needed here - I didn't do any Christmas Day and Boxing Day and now I'm struggling to catch up!

It's been windy and raining heavily since about 9pm last night and it's still going.
We've had a morning of trading off LO while the other does house jobs before leaving to ILs for lunch. No idea what he's cooking.

Afternoon will likely be more of the same.
Totally random as my house is Christmas free but I feel nicely festive
Treated myself to 2 dressing gowns yesterday - fleecey one from Matalan and thin one from Sainsbury's and will finish my Christmas sale shopping by ordering cross stitch cards later.

Happy New Year everyone 🥳🥂

Just had a small beef dinner - not as big Christmas lol
I'm getting a bit of cabin fever now as been in since the 27th December. Been decorating 🤦‍♀️ Hoping to sell up this year and move house - all being well.

Definitely hitting the shops tomorrow. I need a 12 piece dining set 😆👍

Meeces, I have a load of cross stitch card kits in my basket on Very Crafty. I can't help but think I can get them cheaper though, so need to investigate all possible sites!

My wrist is still painful at the extremes of movement and it still hurts around the incision site as well (the same kind of pain as if you've skinned your palm when falling over), and it feels tight. I'll start massaging it soon to hopefully help with that.

My fingers are fine and non-'fluffy' now, except for the ones which my neck affects.

We were forecast dry all day, but there are intermittent showers. For now the wind is stronger than the rain, however, so the washing is drying!

I said to DH on Christmas day that I wasn't doing any washing.....well I ended up putting a load in! 🙈 I can never seem to get on top of it apart from the summer as I can hang outside in the garden. We haven't got a drier so have to hang it around the house and use a dehumidifier to get it dry.

Cinema with DS today which was nice as it was so quiet!

Yes it had forecast a dry day after 9am today but it's been on and off rain all day.

Last of the Christmas food used up today, some pigs in blankets as an afternoon snack!

Sounds like a few of you are planning a pamper session, enjoy! I had a face mask the other night, one of those peel off ones, I've a drawer full of face masks so need to start actually using them!

Fluffy the post op pain sounds quite annoying and unpleasant. Are you sure you're ready to go back to work?

Also, what sites do you use for cross stitch? I have Love Crafts, Very Crafty and Cotton Club crafts but none are overly cheap 🤔

who I'm similar with the washing. Was much easier to control when it was just the 2 of us but LO generates washing like I've never seen before. It's bloody endless!
We use radiators and rails in the utility room in winter and a line any other time we can.

I think I'm going to have to abandon part of my pamper plan. Things overran and now I can't jump in the shower as it shares a wall with LO and will def wake them up 🙄
Will do the thorough cleanse, mask and moisturise regardless though. Will save the nails until tomorrow- mostly because I can't be bothered now.

357 DH and DS were back to work today so it feels as if we are coming out of our Christmas bubble. Decorations and tree will stay up for a few more days (the magi haven't reached the stable in my nativity set yet!) and then I go back to work on Monday.
I am trying to reach the bottom of the laundry basket, but without success.
I have been writing up notes for next year. I bought less food, but need to cut back further next Christmas, as we have lots of nice snacks (and wine!) left and I need to get back to healthier eating and exercise!

Evening!

What a bloody long day today...but I've broken the back of 300 emails and 80+ tasks. Getting there! It's interesting to see just how many people don't read out of office messages though...chasing me despite being told I'm not in. 🙄

Meeces, my hand / wrist actually held up better than I thought it would. It was interesting to compare to the symptoms in the left side which are ongoing.

The scar is looking loads better today and feels smoother too. It's been plagued by dry skin since the plasters came off, but that seems to have resolved, finally.

Small children do create a lot of washing, disproportionate to their size, I find!

356

Morning!

Got all the decorations away yesterday. As we took yet another box upstairs DH said (hopefully) "I don't think you need to buy any more decorations next Christmas" I said "I really don't know what that means" 😂

Tree today (boo hoo) so I'm just enjoying a coffee by the lovely lights for the last time. Would leave till 12th night but that's Sunday and back to work Monday so I'll get it done today.

Morning everyone, can I join in again? Although I might drop off again if life gets too hectic.

I've made a start on this year - jar of coffee in the stash box, couple of stocking fillers & a couple of random things I think the girls will like. Off for a lone wander in town tomorrow to see what I can find.

Good morning!! I'm getting towards the end of an enormous work project, another couple of weeks and it will be over!

My house is looking a bit chaotic, so looking forward to getting it sorted, deep cleaned, and ready for 2025 (only slightly late)

hope you're all having a good day and that it's not too cold where you are

I always want to join this thread and post in January then fall off again 🙈 I am really keen to try the Rudolph Day each month and do something in advance for Christmas or organise something.

We're on a no buy mission for the first part of the year (want to pay off credit card) so I've been trying hard not to buy anything for Christmas in the sales 🥴 but wonder what things we can do in advance this first half of the year that doesn't cost anything!

I have started making sure that I save nice jars ready to make jams and chutneys for Christmas gifts and home made hampers. I think that the first Rudolph day will be an inventory of them

I always start January with a Christmas NoteBook ( I have to buy one for 2025 ) and write down things as I think of them. Sometimes it is just a page of random scribbling

And a page of "What I Won't Do Next Christmas"

I didn't make a cake ( even though I was tempted by all the posts on here ) as only I eat it and TBH , I won't finish it .

I won't buy the same Christmas Pudding

If I see anything that I think my DD would like then I keep a note ( if I buy it or if I intend to)

Any films I want to see ,

I really miss doing the £2 tins , pre-covid when we used cash we'd collect all our £2 coins in a tin that had to be opened with a can opener , then have the count up and take to the bank that had a cash counter ( if its your bank they don't charge unlike the supermarket ones ) but of course now , pretty much card use .
Rudolph Day can be things like try a recipe out or search up things to do over Christmas ?

I’ve lurked this thread for a while but I’ve never posted, now seems like the best time to start.
We did hampers for Christmas this year, I know they aren’t the most sentimental of gifts but I save that stuff for birthdays. I still tried to pick out bits that I know everyone would like and they went down a treat. I think we will do them again next year so I’ve been keeping an eye out in the sales for anything I can include in them.
Managed to get some nice Christmas cards for £1 too.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget I made a cake, DMum cut it on Christmas Day, and I think I've had 1 slice; there's over half of it left and to be honest it's going in the bin tomorrow - not worth the time or money!

They're expensive to make aren't they !
I do love home made marzipan but I reckon I could get my marzipan and fruit fix with a Stollen ( bread maker will knead and prove the dough then I can add a handfull of sultanas , cherries, nuts and marzipan)

I think DH and DD would try it .

@70isaLimitNotaTarget I really like this idea thank you.
I found my ideas list the other day and I've recieved a beautiful diary/ planner for Christmas so I'm going to use part of that for my Christmas ramblings that eventually turn into sense.

Already started planning Xmas 2025 here too! The tree is down, and the house is relatively back to normal. We are all craving our usual routine though! I'm loving being in the post-Christmas ruthless decluttering mindset. Went down to Asda today for a mooch as I had seen some Christmas bed sets in there for £2.50 the other day - alas, they were gone! There were some foodie bargains, but none with a decent date on, other than the Bisto turkey gravy which was 50p; grabbed two of those!

No starts on presents just yet, but I've already got the ideas whirring! Happy New Year everyone!

It will last ages yet assuming it’s a fruit cake?