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!

229

Eurgh slugs <no envy

We have a mahoosive flying ants invasion at the moment . Luckily it only lasts a few days but they are persistent little blighters . Sweep them off the window and a whole new wave of them when I turn my back.

I haven't tried redcurrant jelly , not a cranberry jelly fan though .
I have some strawberry plants on order so we should <fingers crossed> have those .

DH announced yesterday that he would like my assistance sorting out our pots today - I think one of our mini roses might be too far gone to save but maybe a severe pruning might work. I've popped a beef casserole in the slow cooker for lunch so that was easy. Went into the Deli at Trago and they had all kinds of nice sounding cheeses, pickles, flavoured butters and a Boxing Day Chutney! Will check out the use by date on that next weekend (didn't think to do it yesterday) but made a mental note to visit the shop in November to stock up on Xmas bits.

70 We usually have flying ants (and crawling ants) in our conservatory they come up through cracks in the floor we've tried so many ways to stop them but they still appear its horrid and we dread it every year, this year I've put down a different make of bait stations which have worked in the porch so keeping fingers crossed they have worked in the conservatory that will be the first time in 14 years if they do.

I re potted a very sullen looking rose , it's a climber , sat by an arch but it did nothing , woody middle stem, some yellow leaves and the odd sucker shoot .

I thought "Kill or Cure" , cut it right back to about 6" and in a much bigger pot . and re-sited it .
Now it's growing like crazy loads of strong branches and coming into flower .

I'm very much a 'kill or cure', 'everything will either live or die', kind of gardener. I can't be arsed being precious or worried about stuff (and I also don't do 'cosseting' of anything)!

We went for a dog walk, and I also popped into Dobbies as it was 20% off plants this weekend. I got 4 little alpines and then 3 bigger ones, for less than £20, so I'm pleased with that.

Its bloody freezing here and my tomatoes and courgettes dont look happy at all.

I'm working every day next week so today I've made a lasagne, a chilli and a bowl of mash which we will have with air fryer sausages tomorrow so at least the meals are done for 3 days.

My tomatoes are clearly VERY pissed off with me, @Magnoliasunrise! They're boiling in the day and chilly at night. Soooo annoyed with me and looking very sad. Which is tough really as I've no room indoors for them!

I'm off tomorrow, so making a fish pie for two nights. DH will do a curry on Tuesday when I'm in the office. It's nice to get a few dinners prepped ahead of time. We're having a BBQ tonight.

My garden is looking pretty decent. Allotment is a war against slugs still. Tomatoes seem happy enough. I just need to get things established and I think they’ll be ok. I bought a shredder. Much excitement!

228

Morning!

Beautiful day today and GCSE/A level written papers start full on this week so good luck to any DC doing exams.

I can't bring my tomatoes in either @NoWordForFluffy as they're in a big plastic trough. I am crossing my fingers they will cling on.

@FurForksSake your garden looks lovely.

It's wet here. And windy! Meant to be drying from now though, and does appear to be brightening a bit. Rather chilly too, poor tomatoes! 😩

It's my day off today, so I'm visiting the parents, then going to the bank to take the money out to pay the blokes doing our garden next week. Then it's home to do housework. Exciting times! 🤣

Morning. It’s my ‘day off’ today. Weather is looking bright but I have some god awful cold, am full up and sneezing and coughing like mad.
We went away for the weekend so need to put a wash on, unpack and check on my plants (I’m also an ‘if it dies it dies, I’m not faffing’ type of gardener).

Then I’ll be picking up LO at 11:30, going to the craft shop then planning the afternoon based on how LO is.
Also, MIL is unexpectedly staying tonight (was meant to be going home today) which is a bit annoying. Sigh.

227

Morning.

I'm on the train on the way to the office for my penultimate Tuesday. I change teams next month and I'll be in on a Weds instead (twinning with Meeces, I think).

It's nice and bright so far. Breezy too, so a corking drying day. I put a load of washing on first thing, so DH can hang it out later.

We're having some gardening work doing next week, and I had to get cash out to pay the guys doing it yesterday. I was not keen on my walk home with a large amount of cash. Thankfully, I got home OK and it's now in our safe! However, it was much easier to go and get it out in one go than have to do a load of daily visits to the cash point!

Its absolutely freezing here, DH even put gloves on to go to work.

I went to the gym after work and felt so pleased with myself ate 2 portions of dinner and now I can't move. What a waste of the gym.

It’s so cold! I’ve considered putting the heating on.

Our heating switched on early this morning , don't know what the overnight temperature was but it must've dipped !

226

Morning!

Another cold one. I can't look my tomatoes in the eye, they hate me.

Our heating is now totally off but am sure if thermostat was still on it would have come on. I got blankets and hot water bottles out last night.

Mine too, @Magnoliasunrise! 😩

And our heating has been off all this month, but would definitely have come in this week if not too.

I have had my refund for the computer phew I knew that I was protected by the credit card and had done everything right under the warrantee etc. but until the money arrived back there was still the slight worry that they would try and get out of refunding me thankfully its all gone smoothly but now the hunt for a new pc begins again. Going to Costco sometime today haven't been since the fire as we had nowhere to store bulk items, I do love a trip to Costco lol

Enjoy Costco Grace

I need to do an Aldi shop for dishwasher tablets , pizza.chicken and skin-on chips .And a look at the Aisle of Wonder . Random buys last time was a pair of those double walled coffee glasses and a jacket for DS. I know roughly how much I'll spend in there buy Costco can be mind boggling if I pick up some random bargain, (A couple of years ago we did our pre-Christmas shop and I bought a Fender Classic guitar for DS . ). I have to prise DH away from the big tellys !

Another cold one. I can't look my tomatoes in the eye, they hate me tell them that Brussel Sprouts and Sloe Berries need a frost to improve their flavour Magnolia . They won;t believe you but you can try ..

225

Morning!

Only a handful more colder nights, then both days and nights are looking more promising. I don't know if my tomatoes will ever recover forgive me though.

Beautiful dog walk this morning. Lovely and bright. Very sniffy for el doggo!

Thank goodness it's almost the weekend. It's been a tough week this week.

That's a good idea 70 I will give them a talking to shortly.

I agree with you Fluffy with it being a tough week. I am absolutely knackered. I haven't done 5 full days for a few years and it is a shock to the system. Hats off to permanent full timers. I am looking forward to a massive glass or maybe entire bottle of wine.

The weather isn't helping, massive thunder and lightning yesterday and a bit more today.

224
Morning. Weather looks very changeable - we’ve already had a heavy shower and now the sun is shining.

Im watching from the sofa as I’m off work sick 😷 Severe tonsillitis and I feel bloody awful. I did try and battle through for a few days but I’m so tired and struggling to breathe that I’ve given in and taken a few days off.

I was watching instagram videos yesterday and there was a spate of Christmas themed ones - the algorithm scares me for how often it knows the kind of thing I want to watch

Argh , get well soon Meeces , I've not suffered tonsilitis thankfully but my DH did as a child and had his removed . It was more a done thing back then .

You are lucky getting Christmas algorithms , I get mens' pants on my side advert (I have never searched up online except buying some for DS December 1st box and that's from Next)

I have cleaned and defrosted the fridge , got a load of washing on now .
Coffee then start on something else while I'm on a roll.......

Thanks 70
I had a little burst of energy so I put some clothes on to soak (LO came home with a mix of tomato pasta sauce and mud on his tshirt yesterday) and put the dishwasher on. Back o feeling exhausted now 🙄

I don’t think I’ve ever had tonsillitis before. I thought it was Covid for a few days and was just battling through with paracetamol but got
to the point I was struggling to swallow water so thought I should get checked.

At least DH is feeling very sorry for me and I’m too tired to do much so I have a chance to crochet.

My algorithm knows me too well 70 - I get Christmas, things to do with 4yo’s, perimenopause symptoms and American farmhouse renovations 😂

223

Sorry to hear you aren't feeling well Meeces. Tonsillitis is horrible. I used to get it a lot. Regular gargling with salt water isn't nice but it does help relieve the pain.

Its still soooooooo cold. I just hung a wash out though and I've got the beds to change today so hopefully it will all dry.

Off to the gym shortly then supermarket then housework then make a lasagne then FA cup final then Eurovision with LOTS of wine whoop whoop.