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!

Morning!

Meeces, I hope that you're starting to feel better. I used to have throat infections, but not tonsillitis, and they were grim. It's harder being ill when you have small people too.

It's not terribly cold here, but not exactly warm. It's warming next week though, thankfully, so hopefully the tomatoes will start their journey of forgiveness then! 🤣

I'm not a Eurovision fan, it has to be said. We also don't have a TV licence anymore, so couldn't watch it even if we wanted to!

222

A nice even number for you 70

I am very tired this morning having stayed up late watching Eurovision. I am normally bad at picking the winner but I had Bulgaria down as my favourite and it won!! I also had Lithuania as a favourite and didn't really like Israels song so I guess I wasn't that good.

Off to the gym shortly then off to SIL for lunch later which will be lovely.

I watched Eurovision once a couple of years ago (under duress after niece begged). I don’t have the patience for it (I am the same with Strictly, I can only watch once it’s finished so I can fast forward all the prep videos and the talking and just watch the dancing).

I am slowly on the mend. Yesterday I managed without a nap but at 6am today I coughed myself sick 😩 so another slow day for me.
DH is taking the hit of attending a kids birthday party so I can rest so I’ll do some washing then either crochet or nap.

I have finished my crochet octopus for new nephew and am just bordering his blanket. As soon as they’re done I have a request for an octopus for my LO then will get to work on the blanket for my next nephew who’s due in 4 weeks ish.

Ha! yes , very organised palindromic number today

Not a Eurovision fan either , I think the last time I watched it was Bucks Fizz in 1981 !

I keep seeing random things that I think "oh that needs to go to the charity shop" so my task today is get them in a bag to go out , rather than pick them up and put them back .
Need to get some strong bags too for collecting them ...... BH weekend is when everyone does a clear out

Glad you are starting to feel a bit better Meeces but don't over do it these things can take it out of you.

I love Eurovision watched both semi finals and the final and was pleased with the winner but for some reason I have Belgium's "Dancing On The Ice" stuck in my head as an earworm - and I didn't like it that much in the first place 😆

MIL was 100% with us yesterday thats the most present shes been for over 6 months now so it was a lovely visit although getting there was a drag as there were serious road issues with us ending up stuck in a traffic queue for almost an hour not moving - we came back by a different route to avoid it a 2nd time.

Apparently I have been shrinking I had 2 pairs of brand new jeggings put away ready for the cruise they are "short" length (I always used to buy regular/standard but they got longer or I shrunk even then so I switched to short) tried them on and they are 3 inches too long!! DH took them to a dressmaker I have used before to shorten trousers and shes gone out of business eek so I sent for some in size "extra short" they came yesterday and whilst the leg length is fine the top of them look like I'm wearing jodhpurs so either I have dropped 2 full dress sizes (highly unlikely) or the cut (slim leg) doesn't work for me - no where does straight leg anymore and boot cut dont come in an extra short. So I've sent for 2 pairs of extra short in a smaller size to see if they are any good.

Afternoon. 222 is a great number. We’ll be in the 100s before we know it!

If 2.22 is still showing , it's a good play (written by Danny From Uncanny Robins )
There's a twist ........

I love Danny and uncanny. And everything else he’s done. I was saying to dh we should try and go to it if it’s still on. Not sure what age kids could watch it…

Afternoon!

Rather changeable and breezy here. Currently lovely and sunny though (albeit breezy).

I need to do housework in a bit, but for now it's beer on the balcony! I just watched a seagull have a fight with 2 crows over some roadkill. The crows won!

Not sure on age limits , there's a couple of jump scares but it's not gory .

( Inside Number 9 had some proper jump scares , I went with DH in March last year then November with DD . I couldn't give her any spoilers though but I still jumped out of my skin ! )

We went to see inside number nine in September it was great, wasn’t it?

we’ve had our first bbbq of the year. Dh had his anorak on.

Loved it Fur our Guest Stars were Richard Osman in London and John MacKay in Edinburgh ( he's a Scottish new anchor , we didn;t know who he was but he played his part very well )

I had to re-watch Psychoville after seeing it (already warched Inside No a thousand times ) , DD and I did a binge watch before we saw it ( we were away for a pre-Christmas weekend in Glasgow and got tickets for Edinburgh so had a day there ) You cannot imagine how difficult it was keeping quiet about The Twist but worth it as DD didn;t search as she wanted the surprise .

221

The sun is out!!! Looks like rain later but at least we are in double figures temperature wise.

Will be spending my lunch hour today chasing pet insurance people - Waggel. Not heard a peep from them since submitting the claim, all it says on my account is "processing" and a message on website saying "we are very busy so your claim may experience a delay". Honestly it really fucks me off.

So I worked out how much I have spent on pet insurance (I originally had 2 cats) and its over £12,000. So I would have been better saving it in a high interest account I think.

Morning!

We have rain here. A significant amount seems to have fallen overnight. Lots of big puddles. It's also a bit chilly. But, in tomato-cheering news, once it's warmed up later, it's not forecast to be below 10° again, and getting very warm for the second half of the week.

We're having our garden done this week, so that'll be good once it's finished. It's our 3rd summer here, so it's about time it got sorted. We've been painting the fence recently as well, and sorting the border (to be finished once the guys have done the paving project this week).

Magnolia, I think with insurance it's such a difficult choice. Because if you'd needed £1,000s of vet treatment early on, you wouldn't have had the money saved to spend. It's only once you're a good few years in and haven't needed it that you'd have had the money. Hindsight though! Bloody frustrating that they're being shit with the claim. I think that's appalling.

I never worked in pet claims magnolia, my experience was car claims but aside from an odd circumstance I don’t see any reason for them not to update you.

It’s been a thoroughly miserable day here. Has been grey and raining throughout and it’s pretty cold.
Im still ill so have opted for lazy parenting today. Picked up LO and took him straight to the local soft play where he’s been running around like crazy and I’ve sat very quietly with a cup of tea. Based on the advent calendar thread I also made a little ideas note for that while I’ve been here.

Is it a patio you’re having put in Fluffy?

Sounds like a great time out for LO at soft play, Meeces. Nice you could just sit!

Yes, we're widening the path by one slab and extending the pathetic number of slabs in front of the back door - across the full width of the house and two rows deeper. We're having an aco drain installed as well.

It already looks loads better and they've only dug down and laid the hardcore! They're back on Weds to finish off as the weather is shocking tomorrow.

Weathers a bit on the colder side today I had a very early start as for some reason I can't fathom I booked DH and I into the Podiatrist for 7am which meant getting up at 5:30am which wouldn't have been quite so bad if I'd actually managed to get more than 3 hours sleep last night and that in 40min chunks so I shall be requiring a nap later methinks. On the plus side being up and out so early meant we went for a cooked breakfast at our local Brewers Fayre very nice it was too.

220

Evening!

It was my last office day in my current team today. I got some lovely gifts from them (they know me very well!).

Our garden is being finished tomorrow, which I'm excited about. It'll look ace when I've finished the border once they're done. Then I just need to re-seed the lawn to repair the zoomie track! 🤣🤣

Grace, that's a very early appointment. I'm surprised you can get one at that time of day.

Our weather is warmer today, and above 10° for all forthcoming days. Here's hoping the tomatoes stop sulking soon. 🤞🤞

Oh, I loved this play! T’was excellent. I saw it in London. Max from Eastenders was in it 🤣

Dropped off the thread. Life’s been very busy. DD1 is in the middle of GCSE’s and i’ve had a very poorly MIL (Pneumonia & Sepsis whilst undergoing chemo) But thankfully she’s turned a corner.

Grey & drizzly in the North - seems very unusual for May?

219

Into the two hundred and teens !

Glad your MIL is improving Village , it is tough to watch someone go through severe illness .

Evening! I am hoping the better weather will help all my plants grow if I water them wnough. They just need to get a bit more established.

I’ve got a free weekend so I’m going to sleep in for three mornings! Husband and kids are away and I’m just going to do nice things.

I'm off to the hairdressers this morning I had delayed going because I needed it to be recoloured before our cruise so its now a lot longer than I normally have it and I can see the white amongst the roots. I do enjoy going to the salon I love having my hair done its so relaxing. I shall be nicely re-oranged by lunchtime. DH likes my hair this length (about 3" below top of my collarbone) but its annoying me now when the wind blows I end up with a mouthful of hair so I'm going to have at least an inch taken off.

218

Evening!

Our garden work is complete. It was a bit chaotic out there yesterday. We now need to re-seed the lawn in stages. It shouldn't take too long to germinate / grow at this time of year. We need more bags of stone to finish the border, but that's not too bad. I might also get some more little alpines from Dobbies, as they're lovely!

It's my last day in this team tomorrow. I got some lovely thoughtful gifts from everyone. They'd really put thought into them.

I'm off for 9 days after tomorrow. And the weather is meant to be great! ☀️

I need to book a hairdresser appointment , unlike @Gracesquirrel , I find it the opposite of relaxing ! I cringe having my head touched .
I do my own hairdye so I can ponce about at home with a plastic hat and a wrap on my skull! . DD points out the bits I've missed then says "Aren't your 30 minutes up yet ?" if she thinks I'm trying to sneak an extra 10 minutes .
It's a semi permenant dye so though not ideal if it goes over , no damage done hopefully .

217

Lovely morning here
I have a dental appointment today and will go into Aldi , hopefully before everyone does their pre Bank Holiday shop .