Woooooooahhhhh, we're half way there! Countdown to Christmas 2026 (thread 2)

[NoWordForFluffy]

183

Phew, it's a scorcher!

Happy birthday to 70's DD. Best date for a birthday ever!

Hope you have caught it early Meeces and it doesn't get too bad.

On Tuesday my tower fan that I sit in front of in my office and which I've had a couple of years the clockwork timer thing started to pop off so I was frantic to get a replacement, and nowhere had any - even Amazon couldn't get one to me before 6th August and I wasn't sure if my current one would pack up before then. I spent hours haunting websites looking for stock and got lucky with Currys a fan that had been out of stock suddenly had 1 available for click and collect for today so I nabbed it and told myself it was possibly a mistake and not to get my hopes up however I got the text this morning to collect it and its now all set up in the lounge and we'll swap fans around tonight with it probably being used in the bedroom and my office one which sods law is still working perfectly albeit you can't use the timer, can take a break and live in the garage for now.

Thankfully (or not I suppose) I had the same infection a few months ago. Last time I assumed it was a bug and would go away so waited until I felt rotten and couldn’t swallow before seeing anyone so this time I went straight to the pharmacy so its not kicking my arse this time.

Grace I’m glad you sorted out the fan situation.
My DH has a thing about fans so we have a bit of a collection. I rolled my eyes whenever he picked one up but I’ve been so glad of them for the last few weeks!

Im still working although I was meant to finish at 4. Will do another hour as no one is here and it’s so busy.

161

Palindrome
And by the end of the weekend we'll be into the hundred and fifties !

All the schools are showing "End of School" posters and some of the houses round about (I drove past my DC old Primary/Junior School then back past their Secondary )

I am glad I'm out of all this now . And buying uniform, shoes,bag ,water bottle and equipment for both .

Good morning all! I’ve broken up for the summer, so am dropping back into the thread. Lovely to see you all again!

Back on Board Constantly

I watched some Classic Eastenders last week , it was Christmas (again) cannot recall which year but it was not remotely festive . I need to catch up with the actual Christmas Day episodes but Bianca was complaining about the cost of everything .
Ronnie and Kat were both very very pregnant .

Soooooooo. Tidying up , sorted out a cupboard in the kitchen.
Doing washing .
And I need to defrost the fridge/freezer . It is old (about 20 years old )but still soldiering on. Freezes up though , which is a pain. I might have to surreptitiously look for its replacement ....
My thinking about Christmas can be put on a back burner till after the summer holidays .

the old fridge freezer can become your Christmas overflow fridge @70isaLimitNotaTarget
I have one in the garage, that is used at Christmas and if I am hosting anything that requires lots of chilled food.

I have two small chest freezers in the garage , but they're ones designed to live outside.
Our porch is brilliant for storing drinks as it gets really cold. I don't put them in the garage now as a load of Pepsi cans froze and burst

The kitchen f/f has me on tenterhooks when I defrost it in case it refuses to work again. Newer f/f are all singing'n'dancing (and FrostFree) but more gadgets and more to go wrong . This was is basic and standard .

70 I’m about to start the uniform/school bag/shoes shopping for the first time. I’m not ready, LO really seems to be growing to fast.

Welcome back Constantly

I am done with the heat thank you. It’s 30° here again today. Meant to be dropping to 24 for next week but I’ve had enough. I want a nice cool 14° with a breeze and some darkness of an evening.

160

I will tell DS tomorrow that it;s a hundred and sixty days .
He will eye roll and ask "can I open the fridge now"?
F?F is off , the freezer door is open to let the ice melt , the fridge is closed as the ice at the back always lifts quite easily . Stuff in the fridge will be fine if kept closed .

Tomorrow is a quiet day then we're going out in the evening .

When my DD was starting school Meeces she was so excited to get her gingham dresses and new shoes and socks . She knew the school as her brother went there and she used to insist on going to the toilet when we picked him up (parent not allowed so he was asked to accompany her ) but it meant she knew where they were , one less worry for her .
DD thinks that Reception children in uniform with their book bags are just the cutest thing ever , she's always loved children and babies .

Welcome back Constantly

We are having DGS (12) to stay for a week starting today so we'll be out and about doing touristy stuff pretty much every day then he goes home and a week later his dog comes to stay for his holiday with us whilst DS DIL & DDS are off on their holidays.

DGS made me laugh we were talking on whatsap about what meals he wanted etc and I mentioned that I was happy with my new pc and he replied "thank god!!" 😂most definitely got that from my son lol

160 days, gosh that’s going to fly by!

we are talking about how to make Christmas special for the children with mil dying. She’d normally be with us Christmas morning or for tea on Christmas Day. Also want to find a way of commemorating her on the Christmas tree.

🎅 159 🎄

Morning!

150s! Time is rattling along this year. It's quite disconcerting!

I went to a friend's BBQ yesterday. My head hurts this morning. 🤕 😬

Thankfully it's much cooler today, so we've not had to get up super early to take the dog out. We'll be going soon.

Then it's the usual domestic stuff while the electricity is half price. Exciting!

QVC will have their Christmas in Juky this week . It used to be on the 25th but then they changed it to random shows over a few days .
This year its the 23rd (thurs) through to 26th (Sun)
The TSV for 23rd is shown at 9pm on the day before
Probably a lot of repeat shows and lots of the CiJ prices are just things dredged from the Clearance .
I will look online to see if theres any new items .

FurForksSake ,
your Christmas will be different this year , it is difficult to plan and the rest of the household might want to totally re think the whole thing .
Quieter , busier , somewhere else .

For a very close friend of mine and her husband have lost 3 family members in the last 5 months and have decided to do a totally different Christmas this year - they’ve just booked flights to Italy then Spain for new year.

I think it’s hard to know what people will want as it may all change as Christmas approaches. You just have to do whatever feels right at the time.

We’re at Legoland. It’s maybe 24° but keeps clouding over with a breeze which is nice.
LO is beside himself - we’ve barely done anything as he wants to have a photo with every figure he sees 😂

I’ve made a tentative start on Christmas planning by adding ideas for LO’s main/Santa present to my Christmas note on my phone. That counts I think so I’ve essentially started the planning stage

My DS was obsessed with the Lego Bionicles figures ( the pieces are smaller than original Lego) I still remember the oval shaped tubs they came in.

If a Bionicle Transformer wandered by he was in heaven !

Used to love going to Legoland but sadly mine are now going to waterparks/theme parks with their pals.

I think the extreme temperatures were the reason why my tomatoes only have 3 tomatoes despite many flowers. Something called blossom drop. Hopefully now the temperatures are getting a bit more normal we might get a few more fruits.

@FurForksSake I think you can get nice personalised baubles made with photos in or kits to homemake.

157

Oops, missed a day!

I hope everyone is well. It's Rudolph Day on Sat. Not sure I'll do anything Christmassy mind you. We have DS' 12th birthday on Friday first as well, so no Christmas focus until after then!

I've been instructed to make a 3 tier piñata Victoria sponge with chocolate buttercream inside and as icing, plus chocolate buttons on the outside. I've two bags of sweets he's requested for the middle!

Oh, Magnolia, I meant to ask you if you tap your tomato flowers? I tap mine daily as it ensures pollination (lack of pollination is another cause of blossom drop). We've loads of baby tomatoes on the way. No doubt they'll all ripen at once and it'll be a tomato-fest for a week only! 🤣

156

Our tomatoes are growing well but still stubbornly green !

I have some new sweetpeas to plant out , the ones growing this year were self seeded from last year so early . They all died back . Hopefully I can get a second wave of them.

Rudolph Day this Saturday and QVC Christmas in July has random shows from 9pm till Sunday . They used to do a whole day on the 25th (I used to make sure I was on leave with the DC and stay up till the midnight show )
Now I'll search up online and see what's on offer .

We have a load of decorating , decluttering , a holiday and two birthdays before Christmas !

Can you post a photo of the cake once your DS cuts it @NoWordForFluffy

Sounds lovely .- the sweets all pour out when you cut it ?

Yes, I shall try to! And yes, that's the idea re the sweets. 😁

Sounds like it will be a very impressive cake, Fluffy.

We are off up North on Saturday, really looking forward to seeing my mum and sis. There will definitely be shopping involved so i might see if i can get something Christmassy.

I will wave as I go up the M6.

No tomatoes here, but my apple trees have finally produced enough apples for one (maybe two) crumbles!
I am trying to declutter this week. Having cleared/helped clear my parents' and DH's parents homes in the last few years, I am conscious of how much I keep just in case. Unfortunately, this means no more beauty advent calendars because I have more than enough mini versions of things.

155

I hope the birthday cake was a triumph Fluffy

I'm starting pull together ideas for gifts as I listen to my (all adult) DCs. Both DDs are teachers so are very much its the first week of the holidays and my brain is fried but they have both mentioned that their perfume is running low so I'll be looking at that - possibly from duty free when I'm on holiday in September.

Paperback of JK Rowling’s ‘The Christmas Pig’ is reduced to £6.00 on Amazon at the moment.