The fledglings try something new for June

[DarkEvilMoon]

Hello, welcome back and jump on board for June.

As the thread title say we are mixing things up a bit this month, it might work. Then again it might not. It is still a long running thread and newbies will always be welcome. Usual disclaimer still applies "Don’t let it put you off if we appear a bit cliquey, we really aren’t! Some of us have been on here for years – but all lurkers, intermittent returnees, oldies and newcomers very, very welcome"

But here is where this thread is mixing it up. No more daily links. The Big link you will need is the launch pad from here you can get the daily reminders/missions/zones etc...

The first link for the babysteps is the particularly waffly introduction to and first babystep here, through it you can get to all of the other links

Not sure this will work or the lack of daily posts will be a problem. So fingers crossed for a month of nattering and flying success...

More to do tomo. :(

Good morning Fledglings,

and I have been busy enjoying the sun and not doing enough flying , back now and trying to get motivated.

I had a lie in this morning as DS didn't wake up until 5:30! Yay! So what with that and two cups of coffee, I'm feeling more human.

I was out all day yesterday volunteering at a village fete and DH was only asked to to do two measly things: empty and reload the dishwasher and peg the laundry out on the line. Guess how well he did with these Herculean tasks? [sigh]

Ta da
Re washed washing
Hung washing up to dry
Folded dry laundry
Fed cats
Fed DS and myself
Caught up (mostly) on the thread

To do
Empty dishwasher (Grr)
Epmty, wash and refill cat litter trays
Make beds
Join SC in the clothes mending/sewing machine corner
Sort through DSs massive toy box and cull the ones he no longer plays with
Declutter in living room
family day out to pick your own farm place

Waves to all, and croissants left on the bar.

Morning all! I love getting up at crack of sparrows when it is hot weather. The only way to get things done (and it helps one adjust to the heat better I find). Have huge philadelphus at bottom of garden and it is wafting intense/lovely orange blossom scent in to our back windows (unlike the front windows which have the noise of the city and the smell of benzine wafting in!)

Ta da:
cool white wash prepped
dog bowls thoroughly washed
furry's outside rug down
animals fed (rabbits are having a lovely combo of quartered apples, two carrot halves, celery tops and parsley this morning)
collected up various mugs and stray plates
dishwasher emptied and filled with a couple of items
kitchen surfaces wiped
downstairs blinds up
washing in tumble drier
new load on
drying rack out on terrace
paired uniform socks
washed uniform ready for ironing
ironed uniform for tomorrow

Now back to the sewing (but can feel migraine/sinus heading starting behind eye so going to inhale steam from hot shower and see if that helps)

Blue that is fabulous news! Well done! A testament to all of your hard work, decluttering and painting!

Good luck with it all DEM

[fires up full strength vat of witchy brew on naughty corner bar]

Enjoy the sunshine everyone!

x post

There you are Greymalkin!! (And which I thought had got lost in Ikea with DEM)

Having waxed lyrical about the joys of early morning starts, it is a different matter entirely when foisted on you rather than voluntary. 5.30 am still sounds very grim. Impressive that you managed to volunteer to help at fete when so sleep deprived - you deserve a medal for that!

(But sorry you had to re-wash washing [sigh on your behalf]) Don't let it put you off delegating! And indeed hope you can delegate more tasks to your dh today! I'm afraid I sent mine an e-mail yesterday asking him to do three things over this weekend (lifting/shifting things that I am not strong enough to do myself + one glueing thing which is faddly). We'll see if any of them get done (don't hold out much hope tbh).

Good luck with the decluttering and have fun fruit picking!

Morning fledglings.

Dp worked yesterday so I didn't manage to delegate many tasks. Although the dc did help to strip their beds (much to ds annoyance - the child can be unbelievably lazy!)

I am currently at dds swimming lesson, then I'm popping to see dm before going food shopping.

After that there is lots of data crunching to do for work I naively thought we would be winding down for the end of the year - hopefully after the next two weeks this will be the case.

It is raining here today so at least I'm not missing the sunshine

SC I am not evil enough to inflict the horror that is ikea on a saturday on the nor did i inflict in on myself when I saw the traffic to get to the road to get to the motorway

Builders have been and gone in a whirl wind of activity and noisy discussions.

Trying to discover the will to function. It is a bit lacking today. To do list just got compacted in scale too

Hope builders haven't left you with too much mess DEM (V wise about deferring Ikea whenever poss btw!!)

Mercury doesn't sound like you will be getting too much Sunday rest today. Good luck with it all.

Progress not good here. Fairly humid and temp going up (apparently going to be 36°c here Sat )

Have just had to lie down for an hour in a darkened room as now have full blown sinus headache which feels like a drill going in to right eye. Stomach now playing up. So frustrating when I need to be in form. Going to try and carry on though as deadlne approaching so going to withdraw from screens
Big waves to one and all

Ikea has now been done, builders left no mess as were not doing work today.

My get up and go got up and went. Procrastinating today but have to get a load of stuff done in the next hour otherwise it will be a bad start to the new week.

Hope you feel better soon SC

Oh no hope you are feeling better soon SC

I managed to make a good start on the data and went for an afternoon nap - a pretty successful Sunday I feel!

That's great that you got some rest Mercury - didn't think you would have any time at all for yourself with everything you had to do!

DEMdon't feel badly for procrastinating today - it's good you took it slightly easier today- in theory (so dh keeps telling me) better to be able to do a little every day rather than mahoosive activity followed by burn out - although I have NO grounds at all on which to spout this as I am the queen of inconsistency

Headache a bit better tonight thanks both. Managed to carry on after a very slow morning but DD was cooking for her directrice's lunch tomorrow (for which children have devised menu, are cooking and serving etc) and although she did far better than I could have done aged 11 yrs, there were inevitably a few minor panics/interruptions. Such as making muffin mix then discovering you haven't (a) turned on oven and (b) found muffin tins and lined them with cases

Plus sewing machine was being deliberately temperamental, first feed dog didn't work so fixed that. Then I broke a needle so changed that. Then zipper foot kept dropping off so fixed that. Then embroidery computer setting didn't work so dd and I had to do it by hand.

So have three presents (the most complicated ones) totally finished tonight, have three more virtually finished which just need twiddly bits added, and will be tacking the last three (very simple ones) in bed tonight, ready for sewing up tomorrow. And 2 male staff members will no longer be getting sewn presents but bottles of wine which they will hopefully prefer anyway.

Don't usually go to this amount of effort but (despite all the ups and downs) feel really really grateful to all of the teachers who have worked mahoosively hard all term on behalf of dd and the entire class this term. They all really went the extra mile to get her up to speed when things were looking decidedly dodgy frankly and the change in confidence in her is amazing to see! She really believes she can do things now and that confidence is spilling out in to all different areas of her life

(Although she's ready for it, in a way it's a shame she has to go to secondary school now and start again at the bottom with all the attendant anxieties but that's life I suppose!)

Anyway, sorry to be wittering on and on again! Just coming to terms with the fact that dd's primary education will be over in 1.5 days time!! Where did the time go??!!

Had better get on ...loads to do before school tomorrow morning!

G'night all!

Good morning fledglings!

Ta da:
emptied bin
labelled food containers
packed raspberry muffins
packed orange crunch biscuits
packed cheese bites
washed and prepped strawberries
packed strawberries
packed paper cups/plastic spoons & forks and napkins
cooked 3 pizzas, let them cool, and cut them up in to tiny squares
packed pizza
packed Mme C's present and card
ironed uniform
prepped snacks
dog bowls
emptied dw

To do:
tidy up kitchen
feed animals
wm + td
pair thousands of dh's socks
bath and hair
more laundry
keep sewing
write some thank you letters
wrap presents

Have a good day everyone!

Btw for anyone that is interested in cooking with their dc: you know I recommended The Usborne First Cookbook ages ago (which is really good for young dc) well dd has moved on a bit now and we have some more recommendations:

Children's Quick and Easy Cook Book by Angela Wilkes (Dorling Kindersley)

The Children's Step-by-step Cook Book by Angela Wilkes (Dorling Kinderlsey)

Children's First Cook Book by Annabel Karmel (Dorling Kindersley)

and

Children's Cook Book by Katherine Ibbs (Dorling Kindersley)

Can really recommend each and everyone on of them! (Esp as they allow dc to cook virtually by themselves.) The step-by-step photography is really good (they are so much better than any sort of child's cook book available in my day) and the recipes, esp in latter book, are quite sophisticated for older dc but well explained ie sushi, pesto toasts, falafels etc. The Angela Wilkes one manages to be serious and fun at the same time! (And no, I am not a rep for DK!!)

[Sorry that should have read the 'second' Angela Wilkes one]

Morning, you are being particularly productive this morning!

I don't wanna is my catch phase for today.

child dispatched to school with homework, pe kit.

Waves to SC and DEM

Good to hear how well DD is doing, SC.

Having got the place tidy again after the weekend, am currently keeping out of the way ready for the agents to do another viewing. Hopefully we'll hear of higher offers today...

Then this afternoon it's DS2's sports day and I've got to drop his PE shorts off first.

Leaves tray of on the bar.

Shed is finally going up. It's enormous [eek] I can't see next door neighbour's house at all now...(bottom of garden next door neighbour)

Went to Sussex for birthday party yesterday on train. And back in one day so feel shattered now. Ds2 went to Formula I in Battersea with dh so he is shattered too.

Still struggling to get ds1 to do his coursework to required standard for English. I think the latest draft is a bit better and far less deaths certainly

Cleaning lady has tidied and wiped kitchen and because she was here I had the strength to tidy ds2's room so she could hoover it.

SC Sounds like next year dd will start doing all these lovely extras (presents etc) herself...you have certainly given her a flying start.

Just finished reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (before treating myself to the series on tv) Have been captivated by the book. Why had I never heard of it before? Wish there was a sequel.

OT assessment for ds2 this afternoon. This whole week just seems to be appointments and slotting things in, day after day, even when some of the things are nice enough..there doesn't seem time to take anything in. Tomorrow dd is off on school trip so I need to think about packed lunch dramas. Then the Ds1 geography coursework is suddenly going to rear its ugly head..I don't know.. Sister has turned up unexpectedly (not staying here) but is also trying to slot me in..

Need magical draught to revitalise me!

You all sound very, very busy.

SC - so glad to hear that DD is on such a high. You both deserve this. Hope the celebration goes well.

Swan - I fell asleep during the TV series of 'Jonathan Strange...', but keep meaning to give it another go. Sympathies on all the appointments.

Good luck with viewings and sport's day, Blue.

Hope you get a bit of a break today, DEM .

ta da

Fed cats
Refilled fresh water for cats
Made coffee and b/fast for DH
Woke Ds1 with breakfast and meds.
Tried to calm DS1 down because he was going into school ALL DAY today (first time)
Found his lost glasses
Waved him off (only 10 minutes late)
Dressed, etc
Went through DLA application again
Emptied d/washer
Reloaded d/w
Wiped down kitchen surfaces
Put first load of washing on
Put rubbish out
Cleaned kitchen bin
Emptied bedroom bins
Cleared out litter trays
Hung washing out
Tidied DS1's bedroom and wiped down surfaces
Stripped DS1's bed
Washed bedclothes
Took in delivery of cat stuff
Made new cat carrier with DS2's help
Walked to nearby park for sunshine and exercise with DS2
Bought sausage rolls from local butchers for lunch
Collected meds and bought sunscreen in local chemist
Lunch

Have worked out I'll need to pay about £7 to have all the relevant documents photocopied for the DLA form .

DS2 is now watching 'Top Gear', set in Burma. Think I'll count that as a geography lesson .

toffee in was in the office this morning. About as close as it is going to get to a break atm.

Currently munching my way through a small packet of liquoice allsorts as feeling like I need an iron boost atm. Whose bright idea was it to put those horrible aniseed one in with them

Have a meeting in school and half expecting it to get sideline away from the reason why i requested it so trying to prep for the bigger picture atm just in case.

Ah, not exactly a break then, DEM. Good luck at the meeting.

DS1 completed his first full day at school - no panic-stricken phone calls begging us to bring him home, like in the old days. Nope, he just had a lovely time. He especially enjoyed making spaghetti bolognese in the cookery class and eating it for his lunch.

I still can't quite believe that he is doing so well.

Oh that is brilliant to hear Toffee well done him (and you!!) Especially good that he is cooking!

Crikey, that is certainly a list-and-a-half!! Hats off to you!
(Do you take your cats for walks, or is carrier for veterinary excursions?)

OOh the aniseed ones are my favourites DEM but Pontefract cakes are my particular liquorice vice (although even they are forbidden now because of humungous salt content apparently - shame!!)

[Summons to fly in with magical energy boosting potion for Swan] Hurrah re: shed! And hope assessment went/is going well this afternoon. The endless list of appointments (even pleasurable ones) sounds exhausting - hope you can take a bit of time out for yourself very soon.

Thanks for v welcome brew Blue and hope the offers are piling in!

I've just had a bit of a dip. Never knew sewing was so tiring!! (Think it is the continual concentration or the fact that I don't sew properly for months and months and then stupidly end up doing nine projects all at once!!) Six down and 3 to go. The final 3 are going to be very basic indeed as up against the clock.

Have written four thank you letters in various tongues. Two long and 3 short to go!!

Then lots of wrapping.

Oh why oh why didn't I start all of this earlier

DD's class lunch went well and she has now gone off to a party so have a bit more time than usual. And prepped spag bol at lunch for supper so should have 2.5 hr clear run now. Had better get on with it!

Big waves to one and all!

Forgot to say DEM hope meeting productive!

Cat carrier is for the vet visits, SC. The two cats used to fit in neatly together, but now they need a carrier each.

I really hope your presents are appreciated after all your hard work. I'm glad your DD's party went well.

DH, the garden and sunshine calls... and there might be Pimms.

Meeting very productive, and on track. Don't agree with all that was said, do agree with a lot.

Hope that you are ok Swan good luck with everything

Yay to good experiences Toffee

Hope you manage to get everything done in time SC

Just cogitating what my next move is. Feeling cold despite the nice weather. Heat does not really agree with me and my body has gone into OMG stress mode.

Glad meeting was, mostly, good, DEM. I got chilly this afternoon too, in spite of the sunshine .