Pumpkin spice and ghost abound, fledglings flying through the crazy

[HillsBesideTheSea]

Right for this seasonal thread of the Fledgings, I invite you to pull up a comfy chair around the fire pit and pour yourself a mug of something that you fancy.

We loosely follow the flylady system and her babysteps. But we have our own spin, our own abbreviations and have been around for far longer than some of us would like to admit. If you are new to these parts welcome in, we'll get you up to speed in no time. But we have rules, yes rules!

Rule 1: No fledgling left behind.
life happens. If you fall off the thread, jump back when you are ready.

Rule 2: If you wouldn't say it to someone else, don't say it to yourself
Be kind to yourself, the world is still crazy, and life happens. Just do what you can, when you can.

Right that's the rules now for the fun part. Acronyms and autocorrects!
Amongst others (and there are others but we'll have to explain as we go along)
It's all gone a bit ponty pridd - tits up, pete tong, wrong etc etc we get to thank auto correct for this
WOW wash out Wednesday - humps days often don't go to plan and get washed out
LOL round these parts it is load of laundry

Urm... Yeah about that fire pit and comfy chair... Dibs on the big floofy one with fluffy blankies... Last one in brings the marshmallows!

Oops, thanks hills. Yes, of course.

Morning everyone,
I have been up since 5.30pm. Worrying woke me up. But trying put it out of my mind and read lots on mumsnet.

Leaving lots of hot teas ☕, hot coffees and hot chocolates in the naughty corner for everyone.

Morning dancing are you ok?

Ive missed so much on here literally not a clue of anything

Morning. Slow up this morning but need to hit the ground running as a lot to do today.

Everything hurts after the long walk yesterday. Although weirdly my shoulders are the worst. AND i didn't have a bag on my back as my jacket had pockets. So totally confused by how that has happened.

Today is restore your spirits day!

Right i had better try to get moving. I have the dont want tos...

Ditto those I’m out of the loop!

Very tired and ouchy today but need to get ready for my parents visiting. Lack of sleep compounded by the fact that I dozed off before Cagletini, who then poked me awake demanding to know what exactly are belly buttons? 🤔🤣

po3.1
❗️Meds, shower and dressed
❗️Room rescue bathroom
❗️Laundry

Those and Scream same, I've been reading with one eye, but slightly out of the loop. Cracking on with stuff in the week. I feel like I only come here on Sundays 😬

Ta da:
🌟Beds stripped and remade. I'm trying out brushed cotton sheets for cooler weather, intrigued.
🌟Kitchen sorted, DW rotated

To do:

• Fishtanks
• water/sort out indoor plants
• quick hoover of the floor
• shampoo hallway carpet

I have come to the conclusion that even if i read with the intent to remember and interact I forget 90% or somehow miss the important bit.

ta da
swear about the people
clean top of cooker
Make bread dough (2 batches)
move some stuff
do a water change and filter clean on the fish tank
look at the fish tank, swear and hope that nothing dies as it is now merky as fuck.
Fix the heater on tank, and swear as need new suckers
start pulling apart dining room to make it tidy (it currently looks like a disaster)
Look up into the kitchen and realise that is also now a disaster as things have been put there for sorting
also start working on the lounge (see above cos ditto state)
Drink more coffee and wonder wtaf I am doing
Go get dressed

People were warned that downstairs was closed today. They are wisely staying out of the crazy that is going on.

Strike that. People have attitude this morning

People are difficult Hills. Sending Getting Stuff Done vibes.

Dancing can we help you park any of the worries that are disturbing your sleep? If you are losing hair and have a chest infection again, it would be a good idea to see a GP, although I know you find that difficult.

Mc good to see you flying past, no thanks at all for reminding me I wanted to add carpet cleaning to my Before Domesday Christmas list 😬.

@StillUpSpooking enjoy your quiet dressing gown day. DS3 is also having one of those.

Those can we help you streamline things so there are enough hours in your day?

Today I am supposed to be renewing my spirit by doing gentle, fluffy housekeeping things that do not count as Flying.

Ta Da:
❤️ Whizzed soup DH made yesterday
🧡 Baked frozen baguettes (healthy lunch therefore provided, my Good Mum badge is surely in the post)
💛 Chopped up a whole tube of dog treats for use.
💚 Finally made pear chutney (and have the blister from peeling and chopping to prove it)
💙 Put our bedlinen in the wash
💜 Swapped t-shirts in drawer for long sleeved shirt from under bed.

Now I am worn out again, so am having a sit down. Other things in the plan:
🍁 Some Christmas sewing
🕸️ Freeze the casserole DH made yesterday in individual portions
🍁 Freeze individual chicken breasts from butchers yesterday
🕸️ Bottle chutney
🍁 Make apple crumble
🕸️ Pickle a dozen eggs
🍁 Roast chicken etc (may leave that to DH).

Trying to tidy the house enough to make it feel cosy and autumnal. Current status is "covered in leaves that blew in from outside" 🤦.

Back from a long leisurely lunch with parents during which Cagletini behaved pretty well yay. I took loads of stuff to entertain her.

po3.2
❗️Figure out how the heck to set up everything for DS’ very nerdy afternoon - he’s trying an online dungeons and dragons group! 🥰 I have no idea how the tech side works though.
❗️More laundry
❗️Edit tesco order with DH

Scream- so lovely you had lunch with your parents and lil dd behaved well.

Willow- sending you a good mum badge for health food!

Hills- i hope people stay out of your way!

Big waves to Up and Mc

Sorry I havent been back until now, but you will be proud of me - i hv been on a mission to sort out the hallway.

Tadas
🍁lol on
🍁packed up extra lunch bags and put understairs
🍁dismantled a section of the kids shop- so it fits under the stairs and can now be used to hold all school bags
🍁move furniture and sweep and hoover.
🍁put extra stuff in car.
🍁bin all unwanted kids drawings from the hall walls.
🍁move boxes.

Hall looks sooo much better.

Mc popping in to see us on sundays is better than not at all

I did enjoy my quiet day thanks Willow, hope you’re enjoying your fluffy housekeeping.

YesTaDas:
😴 eventually got showered and dressed in clean pjs
😴 LOLs 2 and 3 done and drying. Number 4 bunged in and set to go off first thing
😴 read school book with DD

Today’s TaDas:
🕸 pulled out sofa 1 (the easy to manoeuvre one), removed detritus from underneath, hoovered and mopped floor, wiped skirting board
🕸 hoovered under sofa cushions
🕸 dusted side table next to it and sorted pile of paperwork on top
🕸 collapsed in a heap and decided to leave sofa 2 for another day
🕸 LOL 4 pegged out to dry
🕸 got showered and dressed at a reasonable time
🕸 family walk with autumn leaves and pine cones collected for DD’s school project
🕸 peeled potatoes and made batter for yorkies while DH sorted the rest of Sunday lunch. He gets brownie points as he also did the dishes and bleached out the bins.

Still stuffed after our roast and I doubt there’ll be much more achieved although I’ll need to iron at least a couple of days worth of work/school uniform.

Another one having a dressing gown day. Crikey what a lot of people are about in our village. Just sitting watching them walking about. Missed music in the pub last night😢

Been up watching Swallows and Amazons. I really loved the old version and had only seen a bit of the new one but it was good. The children outshone the adult actors.

Those nearly caught sight of you.
Scream quite justified ‘ belly buttons’ are very important.
Dancing we’re here if you need us.

Hills can you encourage them to go out or would you need to take Them?
Thanks about the book. If I go into the city I might be enticed into buying Nigel Slater’s book.i didn’t realise it had other things in it. I have a book from years ago about seasons spotted with stories and rhymes.
It might be at the services which have gone back to being Smith’ s again.
DH has been to Booths so I have the Christmas Book and he is making roast beef which he has never made before.

Kept going at the tail-end of the living-piles and the understairs cupboard. I must sound like a babbling fool, but it's so good to have found a solution for this stuff.

There are a dozen small tubs - think 500g grape tubs - full of screws, lost bits that are not children's, leftover ikea bits, etc. I'm reluctant to put them in garage, as they will be lost or spilt in days. Happy to put them in the bureau drawers as it's an engineer's desk and reminds me of DF. I need a small number of tools for myself, and can keep them in there as well.

I have seen a bowerbird on the tv !
Wow its construction tower- bower!
His mating sounds - amazing
What beautiful feathers!!!!

I never knew what a bowerbird was until now.

Forgot to say earlier, we woke to a negative PCR result thankfully.

Had a little burst of energy and did a bit more tidying. Wiped DD’s little table down. Brought the washing in. I’ve also bagged up the autumn leaves etc, done a bag of food donations for the harvest assembly, and another bag of egg boxes etc for the school junk modelling area.

Red it’s been very busy round us today too. Been watching some parking wars from the window. We had a roast chicken which was lovely for a change but roast beef is my absolutely favourite.

I cross-posted with you earlier Dancing. Well done on sorting the hall. You’re cracking on really well too Tidy.

Evening all, checking in from McDonalds on a retail park in a not so lovely area. DS is go-karting with friends and it's too far to be worth going home. I have got Strictly on on the corner of my screen so not all bad.

I haven't kept up with the thread either, by last night I was starting to think I was reaching burn-out so I have taken it a bit more slowly today.

🍷Monday - work, had a bit of a wobble in the evening about DS being away in boarding.
🍷Tues - work, then straight to a college open evening with DD. Then later on DH had some bother with a clearly very mentally ill individual which turned nasty but he's OK. Not nice.
🍷Wed - work, gym, 90 min zoom meeting, cleared kitchen surfaces for tiling
🍷Thur - tiler in for kitchen at 7.30am,, coffee with friends, cat to vet (second time lucky but I had to pull the sofa out to find her, crafty girl), then another college open evening
🍷Friday - tiler back at 7.30, kitchen a total mess, click and collect shopping x 2, another meeting, picked DS up from boarding, had bad news about a friend (bereavement in very difficult circumstances).
🍷🍷Saturday - took DS to Uni of Sussex open day, got caught up in a trans rights protest, not pleasant, popped in to see a friend after and then Dbrother on the way home, collapsed upon return. DH bless him had cleaned the entire kitchen of grout dust etc. Tiles look nice. Needless to say we have mostly eaten takeaways this week.

Another recommendation for the Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles book BTW (and the accompanying podcasts). Here is DCat helping me read it this afternoon. It was slightly weird reading it in the garden in short sleeves, but it's been very mild here again today

Sussex used to have really good student support if it helps ED twas my uni back many moons ago. Not like some of the other uni's i looked at. but can understand why the protests were unsettling.

People were told to sod off, they sulked down the stairs swore and then rescued food and extra milk and then stayed out of the way. The same person was kind enough to give me a lift to collect ds.

Teen walked in the door too one look at the inprogress chaos, swore, muttered something, rescued food and promptly disappeared.

My matress is currently on the floor. it's a story but the short version is i was sick of sleeping in the sky (high sleeper) and it needed replacing at some point so it is gone in prep for next round of building work. Matress on floor is not terrible. Reminds me of student days, and is a massive step up from the bundle of blankets situation from when ds was little. The topper is extra squishy. Only problems is that i have some things to do before i can crash and i just want to crash. i am tired.

Hills- hope you can get to rest soon. It sounds like you have done loads.

Ed- sorry to hear you have had such a tough week. Thats alot to go do. Visiting places is draining and having to be caught up in a protest must have been difficult. I hope you all are ok after your dh's run in. You sound like you need time for you.
Love the picture of your cat, please can i borrow her? I miss having cats. The Nigel Slater book sounds fab.

Up- where do you get this energy from? Your roast dinner sounds lovely. I hope you have your feet up now.

Mrs tidy - I understand completely the tetris style thinking that goes into thinking - how is best to use the area under that stairs. So dont worry. Every bit done is a step in the right direction.

Yup- weldone for managing to side step arguements with your mum! You deserve a medal. You have a long list too.

Red- thank you. Love reading what you are up too and what your neighbourhood and pub is like. If I didnt have kids, I would love to sit in a pub with a open fire.

Oof, am pooped. Even fluffy housekeeping takes energy.

Hills hope you get stuff done and can go to bed soon.

MrsTidy your understairs and bureau arrangement sound brilliant. My mum keeps her sewing things in her DF's old transistor drawers (he was an electrical engineer from the late 1920s onwards).

Dancing excellent job on the hallway! Be careful not to wear yourself out.

Scream how lovely to take DD2 out for lunch with your parents.

Still we had roast chicken too! I can get more meals out of a chicken (although it's not an MN magic chicken) but I do love roast beef.

ED that sounds like a hell of a week and I'd be unsettled by the protest too. Hope you DH is ok, so sorry about bad news of friend's bereavement.

Ta da:
❤️ Chutney bottled
🧡 Casserole and chicken breasts frozen
💛 Bed linen washed and dried
💚 Bed remade
💙 Roast chicken, accompaniments and apple crumble made and served
💜 Some sewing done.

Not bad, only Ta Didn't is pickling eggs and I'll do that tomorrow.

I will not be joining you all in your Nigel Slater readalong, as something about both him and his cooking set my teeth on edge, somehow. Instead, I will join you in spirit by starting my Midwinter book by Gillian Monks.

Dancing, if it's all the same I'd like to keep that cat, but I was very attempted to put Little Miss Vet-Avoider here up for adoption last week.

Hills - the course at Sussex looks excellent however DS had more or less decided against the uni itself before things kicked off. Too far out of town, not keen on Brighton itself, and it just had a bit of an edgy vibe to the place. Or as DS put it, he'd spend his whole time worrying about saying the wrong thing and getting cancelled.

Willow how is your toe now?

Gosh I'm tired. I said earlier I'd taken it easier today but still:

Tada!
Up at 7.30 and did DD's paper round (she had blisters from DofE practice expedition walk yesterday).
Home and a bit of breakfast
Took DS to work
Went for a coffee with my diary and phone
Went to the gym
Home for a shower and change
Washing on
Out to pick up DS and go to Sainsburys
Home and lunch
Read a bit of Nigel
Rang parents (significant birthday looming for one of them and needs planning)
Mooched around
Took DS to go-karting half an hour drive away
McDs
Home half an hour ago
Put bin out
Poured 🍷

Going to be those are all good reasons to not go to that uni. I loved the fact it was out of town. transport links were always great and you generally ended up in the city for 2nd year housing. But as you say Brighton has an interesting vibe to it and i was wondering if it had gone that way. It was threatening it years ago.
I hope he can find a uni that suits him, vibe course and support wise!

MrsTidy not a babbling fool at all I think we all understand how satisfying it is to suddenly find a much better solution to storage. Even better when the plan works🍹for you. Plastic seal bags might be useful for keeping them together.
Dancing I was watching that too. That was a New Guinea Bowerbird and he was talking about people going into the bush. My dad went into an area down a river once and was the first white person to have gone there. Not sure how he knew this but he did. Said it was amazing. The Bowerbird in Australia is different and makes a U shaped nest and loves to collect pieces of blue. We saw one in Queensland once it was amazing. Little bits of glass, plastic etc all placed carefully in the bower. Thought the praying mantis was a bit vicious ate off his head.

UP ah nothing like a mug of tea and watching a parking war🤣 funny I fancied chicken but he brought home a piece of beef paid £11 from the butchers. He actually followed the timing on a recipe and it was perfect. The rest was great too. Lemon tart from Booths.

Great to get your tiles done Ed great that he cleaned up for you. Nice surprise. Did you put them behind your Everhot?
At least you had a relax while waiting. I remember the Vicar’s wife told me she always kept a book in her bag so she could snatch a chapter or two while waiting for the kids. I keep one in the car now. Used to take one to the GPs when they did away with magazines.
ED love your cat. I am going to have a look at Nigel’s book. Sorry you were caught up in the protest. It can be a bit scary when people get caught up in the moment.
Hills sorry you have had a difficult day.
When we first moved in to this house I cleaned the floor and put three mattresses down on some old sheets and the boys and I slept like that all together for a couple of months. Downstairs was floors dug up so just rubble and a metre of plaster taken off the walls. We had the Rayburn put back in on a plinth and the plumber made me a stand tap in the corner of the kitchen. I put down an old carpet square we had and the round table and it was quite warm and homely. The Rayburn was very old and solid fuel so timings were a bit hit and miss. I think of that time with fond memories. It was between Halloween and nearly Christmas. We had new damp proof and concrete down and two days before Christmas some carpet and a tree. We had a pretty simple Christmas that year. It was the first one the kids had with MIL.
So Hills I see nothing wrong with having a mattress on the floor. You sound like you have a mammoth task on there at the moment. It will be worth it once it is done.
Ed DD had a cat that looked very similar to your torts. DD loved Brighton she used to go for the weekend and stay with her friend from Art College. He applied for Bristol and was accepted and he also applied to Brighton because it had a sculpting degree. I haven’t seen him for years I think he is still down there but he was from up here. He was very talented and maybe someone we hear about. I said that to his first tutor and she agreed.
Willow well done on the Chutney. Hope you had some rest too.

Red here are the tiles. We're still not quite finished, need to get the electrician back to fix something and the tiler for a couple of bits of missed grout. Then decorating the non-tiled walls.