Here we go again...Countdown to Christmas 2026 (Thread 1)

[NoWordForFluffy]

365

Evening!

I'm a bit tipsy and very tired, but it's been a good day.

Round 2 tomorrow with the roast dinner!

🎉 299 🎉

Pinch punch...how is it March already?!

We've been out with the dog and now it's bacon sandwiches, followed by house stuff. Exciting!

Happy St David’s Day 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

We had a glorious day of sunshine, clear sky but crisp cold so after clubs we did a walk with LO on his bike, park and mini picnic before coming home. Was so nice to stretch our legs without needing wellies!
Back to rain today though.

We had a chilled out morning today then went food shopping. Now doing a bit of potching around the house before going to ILs for lunch.

This afternoon will be bit of tidying then sewing (I’ve been promising to take up some trousers for DH for months, plus nephew has asked me to sew a badge on to a bag for him). Exciting stuff!

1st March - Happy St David's Day

No outdoor activity going on here though I do remember taking the DC out to the park or visitors centre in warm waterproofs to get them running about
At the moment , doing half price electricity laundry

I'm roasting some carrots and parsnips ( making vegetarian mince shepherds pie ) and onions roasted to go in the freezer .

We have drab, has been raining , bit windy now weather .
I'm going to cheer myself up looking for Mothers day present ideas to send onto DS .
DD will buy something when she's out .
They are too old for DH to remind them, and I am a 'mare to choose for . I don't drink , no flowers 'cos of the cats and my make-up wearing is nil.
I do like chocolate though

Made those flapjacks yesterday and they are sooooooooo nice. Did double as you said 70 but I don't think they will last till mid week.

I went to church then to the gym now about to start the ironing and the pile is HUGE but DH making curry for dinner so at least that is taken care of.

I've made lasagne and cleaned the kitchen. I took the oven door off and cleaned that properly, as I'm cleaning inside the ovens tomorrow while I'm off. Some of the shelves are in a bag already, and the others will be done overnight.

It was sunny earlier, but grey now. Windy all day though, so the bedding almost dried and was brought in to air on the rack while some blankets were put on the line.

We're just having a cup of tea and then DH will finish the vacuuming and I'll make our bed.

I did two trays ( double the recipe) on Thursday night , it was delicious . Got a tiny bit left !
You could add things , I read about chocolate chips , seeds , nuts, dried fruit , ginger . Not for me , I don;t even add vanilla .
Cooking time is crucial , not to overcook . I set a timer for ten minutes , turn the trays round then another four minutes .

Oven cleaning is a SJ (Shitty Job) but I discovered I could taken out two of the glass door panels (inner and middle) and the outer one stays in the door but much easier to clean them. Top and bottom oven each has three glass panels .
I was unreasonably excited to discover this . Easily entertained , me .

Once the washing load has done , I'll do a cleaning cycle 90c , usually do this 1st of the month . Then do the dishwasher
Roll.'n'Roll lifestyle here

We only have two panels in each oven, but I love that the inner one comes out (really easily too!).

We started to use Calgon in our machine once a week a while ago and it seems to keep it nice and clean. We add it when we do a 60° wash (usually the towel wash).

DH does the dishwasher once a month. Sunday afternoon when we have half price electricity!

There was a thread a while back about "Oh, I didn;t realise I was meant to empty the DW filter" resulting in lots of "me neither" or "pardon me , dishwasher whatty-what-what" and "you utter minger" replies .
I do the filter every week , the rinse aid when the symbol shows and the salt every month at the cleaning cycle but it needs checked in between ,
Washing machine filter I had to brace myself , it's a fairly new machine but I expected it to be full of towel fluff and impossible to open. It was pretty clear thankfully , some hair not much.

After the dishwasher thread I pulled all the shelves out and sprayed the runners with a soapy water solution then round all the seals . Also did the bowl of vinegar in the top rack on a hotwash treatment .

We have hard water so it is a constant battle

We're in a hard water area too, 70. It's bloody awful (hence the Calgon in the washer!).

I use citric acid to descale the kettle at least once a month. Which reminds me, I need to descale the shower heads! It's a non-stop rollercoaster of domestic excitement round here! 🤣

I do the shower head in a plastic jug with a descaler then scrub it when its done .
I had a brainwave to put descaler in plastic bags and use a cable tie to secure , it worked a bit but some escaped while I was securing it . If I'd put more solution in it might've worked ?
I;ve bought some fillable silicone caps to clean now ( I had one before so I know they work ok )

DH is going to paint the bathroom door then I will select some paint for the walls .

This really made me laugh 🤣 @NoWordForFluffy

@70isaLimitNotaTarget Oh Lord, what is this about a dishwasher filter, seriously?! And a washing machine filter? 🙈 MORE JOBS! But now feel like they need my immediate attention!

March already. Love Spring but I feel cheated; we’ve not had a cold, crisp, frosty Winter. I really hope Winter 2026/2027 brings bloody frost some mornings, less rain, more brisk weather!

298

Should I take down my wreath now that its march?!

I grew narcissus on stones for Christmas. Can I trim them and stick them in a paper bag in the garage? I need to do that or compost them or just stick them in a pot.

My chaos hardening means it’s full of bulbs that come up and surprise me 🤣

Against all odds (the bulbs were in the kitchen for far too long and weren't in great shape when planted out) my pots with the bulb lasagne in have loads of shoots coming through. No flowers yet (see: late planting), but I'm hopeful that it'll look amazing soon enough.

I need to weed the front garden soon, though it's covered in young poppy plants which will stay.

I'm heading off to my parents for a bit now. Then home for domestic duties!

Every year I buy a cheap pot of mini daffs from Sainsbury’s, enjoy the flowers then plant the bulbs in one of my garden pots. There’s such a big gap between doing that and them popping back up the following spring that they give me a pleasant surprise each time 😂

Fur my neighbour opposite has a wreath all year long and she changed hers over the weekend from greenery with acorns and berries to daffodils and snowdrops. It looks lovely.
Also, I would put any bulbs into a pot and hope for the best (as previously stated, I’m not a great gardener, I take a ‘chuck it in and if it works great, if it doesn’t, oh well’ approach but this has worked for me the last few years).

My little bulb lasagnes are doing well. So far we have some crocus (white and purple) and some daffs. I also have some big leaves but no flowers and I can’t remember what they are.

It’s my day off. So far I’ve done the dishwasher, tidied up, done some ironing and put a wash on that’s just finished. Had a breakfast/cuppa break and now need to hang the washing up, put ironing away and find a space for some new toys for LO, then do school run, lunch, speech and language appointment for LO, maybe a walk or something then a club. Exciting stuff happening all the time over here!

Just got back from work and feel like I need to deep clean the oven or dishwasher or something!!!!! We are also in a hard water area but had a water softener fitted last year. Its a lot easier to clean everything now.

I do the white vinegar dishwasher clean about once a month but the thing about removing oven doors has me baffled. I don't think I will risk it as I am likely to break the oven.

My wreath is starting to shed its pine needles finally so I think this will be its last week sadly. The bulb lasagne is going nuts though and I have a few flowers coming through. Can't remember what I planted though so I will have to inspect it properly.

It was a LOVELY day today. Has Spring finally sprung?

Many years back our washing machine didn't need a degree in engineering to operate or open the filter !
I had bought a bale of navy towels , they weren't fluffy but they managed to block the filter , foam poured out of the detergent drawer .
The filter was chocked full of blue fluff .

My DC both have brushed cotton bedding and I have white towels that need a hot wash . I dreaded what I'd find but it wasn't too bad !

Dishwasher filters are a world apart

297

Office day today. First time in since accepting the role in the other team, so I may be persona non grata with management! 😬🤣

It's that weather where choosing what to wear is tricky: feels like 2° this morning, but 11° later on. I went for dressing for the warmer weather!

I'm giving blood at lunchtime, so need to keep my fluid intake up. I always struggle with this in the office. Must try harder!

There's a sniffer on my train. FFS, get a tissue, man! 😩

296

Hope it went ok yesterday @NoWordForFluffy when does the new role start?

I HATE sniffers with a passion, once I hear them I cannot concentrate on a single thing other than waiting for the next SNIFF.

I sent my son with an entire tissue box today, he will not sniff!

@NoWordForFluffy hope the new role goes really well and they were nice in the office about it all!

Hope the office day was ok yesterday Fluffy!

It’s my office today and I got a slightly earlier than normal train. Was a mistake - train was smaller but with more people getting on so standing room only. Also the person next to me was just free standing but kept falling all over the place 🙄

Also, hardly anyone has come in today so it’s a bit like working in a ghost town!

I felt like I achieved a fair bit yesterday both in work and at home which is good as I’m out tonight for a meal with a friend.

Someone shout at me tomorrow and remind me I need to see DHs trousers. I keep meaning to but haven’t gotten around to it yet…

See or sew, Meeces?! I sewed a hole in my work cardi on the train yesterday!

Work was fine. The elephant in the room was ignored! I did tell my colleagues though, so management had to listen to us discussing my move.

Oh, I have to work my 'notice' so start on 1 June in the new role.

Oh - sew not see his trousers He has been waiting patiently for a long time but there’s always something else that needs doing!

People are annoyed at the empty office and have been leaving early so there’s even less people in now. I’ll also be making a move in half hour.

Were your colleagues pleased for you? There’s been a bit of a shuffle in my area and some people are really miffed about it 🙄

295
Oooh @NoWordForFluffy
Do you get the key to the Executive Washroom ?

I am going to eat pasta and nice bread then watch this week's Eastenders ,
Thursday Binge

@NoCheesesForUsMeeces Don't forget to see DH trousers.

Enjoy the Stenders catch up 70

I am drinking wine and eating spaghetti. Going to catch up on Bridgerton later.