Early morning visitor

At 6am this morning I was sat having a quiet cuppa when I heard the front door open and close, I thought at first that we were being burgled, but soon realised that it was DD1, Helen, desperate for some sleep (both the twins are unwell and not sleeping) she had left the children with her hubby and come to take advantage of the peace and quiet here and sleep in our spare room. 

I made her breakfast, she had a sleep and a shower, then I made her lunch and afterwards we went to Aldi and I bought some more yarn, not that I needed any more I know.

I didn't get much decluttering done today apart from giving Helen some large kitchenware that I don't use anymore, I did give the kitchen a good bottoming whist Helen was asleep.

Tomorrow I shall carry on sorting out my sewing room, I'm getting it sorted & tidied, but I'm not decluttering my stash, if we manage to downsize & I retire I won't have money to spend on fabric and yarn but I may have more time on my hands to pursue my hobbies.

A worrying day.......Update

DD2, Lizzie has been in hospital, I took her in this morning at 7am, she went down for surgery at 1:30, it is now almost 7pm and she is in Recovery, we have been told to phone after 8 when they will have more news.
The surgery was planned, not an emergency but the weren't sure what they would be doing until they got inside & could see what is going on.

I had a message from my son in law just after 8 to say he's phoned the hospital & that Lizzie was out of recovery & back on the ward, she was in theater for just over 5 hours. 
At 9:15 Lizzie rang me as she knew I'd be worried, it looks like everything is OK and with any luck she'll be home tomorrow.
Great relief all round!

Mind the gap

Mine & hubby's present to each other was a music system, our old one bit the dust about 6 years ago & we missed it dreadfully so we bought a new one and it came with a years subscription to Deezer.

It took a visit from out lovely son in law to get the thing set up as hubby was trying to use blue tooth instead of Wifi, but now it is all up & running

Today we have had great time today downloading music, me on google tracking down song titles & artist when he can only remember scraps of the lyrics.

This is where the gap comes in, I'm 5 years older than him so I'm suggesting songs that I used to dance to at the Wimbledon Palais aged 15 upwards & him saying 'I was still in school when that song came out' or 'I remember my Mum singing along to this'

So far we have found every track we've looked for from Abba to Zappa via Jilted John, 3 of our granddaughters have names from songs so their songs have also been added along with all the Motown from my teenage years.

We have Crazy, by Gnarls Barklay & Crazy by Patsy Cline, our taste is nothing if not eclectic 

Better late than never

Yesterday afternoon I finally received my one & only Christmas present.

I'd asked my kids to club together & buy me a digital photo frame, the job was delegated to DS2, he bought the gift, wrapped it & took it to Somerset with him to visit his GF's family.

He was supposed to drop it in before he left & he forgot, he did ring me & explain.

I have got it working, loaded it with photos, all I need to do now is decide where to put it.

Start of a rainbow blanket

A friend is expecting a baby & has requested a bright & cheerful blanket. I can't decide whether to put a row of white next, or reverse the order so the next row is indigo, I think if I go back to red it will give everyone eye wobble.

Plots & Plans

The New Year will soon be here and there are things that need to be planned for, things that need to be done.

The decoration have been put away, I did that early after yesterday's upset, I've also packed up all the tablets ready to return them.

This morning I'm emptying & counting the savings jar, I'll pay it into the bank & start refilling the jar when we have change.

We may be moving next year so I need to declutter ready, it will make it easier if we do move.
I've started by getting rid of a lot of saucepans that I didn't need, I passed them on to DD2.

So it's one room a day until I return to work, tomorrow I'm sorting out the bedding & getting rid of all the extras.

Thank fuck it's over

The decorations will be put away in a sec, I have some very upset grandchilden & an equally upset husband.

Hubby had a little extra money this year so he decided to buy each of the DGC a tablet, not expensive ones as the children are quite young, but he knew all the children would be delighted.

An hour before we arrived to give them the tablets my ex dropped by & gave them a tablet each. There was no point in giving them 2 so we now look like mean & stingy grandparents & my beloved is so upset that his planned treat was spoiled.
We also have some brand new tablets that we don't want, can't use & probably can't get our money back on.

Facebook

Who need Jeremy Kyle when you have Facebook!
A few months ago I had a couple of items to get rid of so I offered them free on Facebook. To enable me to contact the person who wanted the items I had to 'friend' them, I had intended to delete them from my friends list after they had collected the item, but to be honest she leads such an interesting life that I am now loath to unfriend her. Her life is like something from a soap opera, 4 children, 4 different fathers, money problems, custody fights, arguments & punch ups with family & friends, boozy nights out wearing inappropriate clothes, picking up inappropriate men. Even sometimes a lack of any clothing at all. It's all enough to make my eyes water!

No wonder Tesco's profits are plummeting

I ordered some shopping from Tesco, the only delivery slot I could get was between 9 & 10 yesterday evening. I hate having a delivery that late as, even if the delivery is on time, it still takes a while to put it all away.
As it happened the delivery turned up at 10:15, so not too bad, but whoever picked the order obviously can't count!
I ordered 3 packs of lager and received 5 packs, 3 packs of small bottles of ginger beer and received 16 large bottles of ginger beer. I also received 12 cans of 7up and 4 large bottles of coke, neither of which I ordered.

One of those 'Oh bugger' moments

My L&M & I visited friends recently, the husband is a friend of my  L&M & I get on ok with the wife, though we are very different people. The husband is 10 years younger than the L&M & she has never admitted to her age but always implied that she is a lot younger then me. (I've always thought that if this is so she's had a bloody rough life & I'm no oil painting.)
Whilst chatting they happened to mention their plans for Christmas day. They had decided which local restaurant they would be visiting for Christmas lunch. They always eat out on Christmas day as they are both estranged from their families. They are paying £76 for their lunch and it sounds like a lovely meal.
The husband then said casually 'We use her winter fuel payment, we always do, have been for the last 7 or 8 years'!
Well if looks could have killed, her poor husband would have been 6 foot under, he wittered on for a while longer about her pension etc. She glared at him but he carried on regardless, oh boy I bet her got an earbashing after we left.

Thank you

Thank you for all your comments, especially Kethry for all the information.

I'm suffering brain overload at the moment, not from Christmas, that's all sorted & paid for.

We have a lot of staff off sick at work plus lots of extra work to do that is not usual in the run up to the end of the Christmas term.

There are plans being discussed that, if they come to fruition will means a total change in mine & my L&M's life, but I'm not saying more until there is something definite to say.

It’s nearing Christmas and some people are going mad spending money, often money they don’t have. Someone I know has run up £10000 debt in 8 months, but is adding to that amount as ‘they need to have a good Christmas’!  

Recently there was overtime on offer where hubby works, not much but about £50, hubby offered it to his colleagues as we have our Christmas spends covered this year. Both his colleagues refused the overtime, they didn't think it was worth working a couple of hours for £50, so hubby did it & earned the £50, I dog sat & earned £30. His colleagues both went shopping and spent over £500 between them.  Then came to work on Monday & moaned about being skint. I went shopping & bought carrots, cauliflower, potatoes & a £3 jewelry kit from a charity shop.

I got to thinking about all the things we’ve done to earn extra money over the years we’ve been together.

Hubby hasn’t done a variety of things, his work always involves some sort of building work, but he always does overtime when offered & often help friends on jobs they are doing.

I have taken in lodgers, done temp work during my holidays, done office cleaning before & after work, dog sat, worked overtime, done first aid, playground duties, made tutu’s to sell, knitted scarves to sell. Not all of these earned a lot of money, I made approximately £3 per scarf, the first year I made 20 scarves, the 2^nd year I made 150! The following year they were no longer fashionable so I had to look for another way of earning extra money.

We both feel that any extra we bring in is always worth it and all those little bits add up towards larger amounts. So we will not be spending or splurging this Christmas, we know what we can afford & that is what we will spend.

Sewing and Crochet

 The Santa Claus outfit is nearly finished, just a bit of hand sewing to do and a bobble to fix on the hat. The lodger wanted to be in the photo too.

My CAL blanket from http://attic24.typepad.com/ is also finished, this is as big as I'm going to make it as some of the yarn I used was odd balls and I've run out.

All change

I was at the Dr's on Friday, still no idea what the problem was but failing anything else he suggested change my diet to eliminate some things that may be part of the problem & that I get down to 6 stone on the basis that it might help, it might not but at least it can't do any harm.
To this end I was sent to talk to the practice nurse, now lets face it, we all know what to do to lose weight, it's getting down to it that's the problem.
I also find it entertaining to have a long conversation with an 'expert' who actually has no idea of what I can and will eat.

PN 'So, what do you eat for breakfast?'
Me 'Porridge in the winter, toast in the summer'
PN 'Porridge is ok as long as you make it with water not milk & no sugar, just use a sweetner'
Me 'I don't use sweetners, I don't eat stuff with chemicals in it'
PN 'Ok, what do you have on your toast?'
Me 'Marmite or marmalade'
PN 'No marmite, it has too much salt, no marmalade, it has too much sugar'
Me 'So just dry toast then?'
PN 'You can use a low fat spread'
Me 'I don't eat margerine or spreads as they contain too many chemicals'
PN 'Well how about museli?'
Me 'I not allowed to eat museli because of the dried fruit and nuts'
PN 'You could try a fruit and nut free museli, as long as it's sugar free'
PN 'What do you have for lunch?'
Me 'A sandwich or soup'
PN 'Soup's not good, too much salt'
Me 'I make it myself'
PN 'Ok, but don't add salt when you are making it just add a stock cube'
Me 'But stock cubes are loaded with salt'
PN 'Are they? I didn't realise and if you are having a sandwich, use granary bread, it's better than white'
Me 'I can't eat granary just ordinary wholemeal'
PN 'And no butter, just a low fat spread & add salad, tomatoes & cucumber to keep the sandwich moist'
Me 'I don't eat low fat spread & I'm not allowed tomatoes'

So, no more chocolate, no alcohol, I don't drink often but I was so looking forward to my damson gin, hey ho.

I still won't eat food with chemicals in it, so I will be eating dry toast & sugarless porridge, lol.

I know exactly what I can & can't eat and I have already stocked up today with extra veg & some tinned tuna to start with but it's just so irritating to be told, yet again, contradictory advice, bananas & avocado to help with the potassium levels, but no avocado as it has the wrong sort of fat in it & no bananas as they are too high in sugar.

Oh and I'm not going to lose as much as they want as I refuse to drop below 8.5 stone.

It was a Lulu lady

My L&M was awake during the night so he turned the TV on, I don't mind, mostly I sleep through it or wake briefly and go back to sleep. This morning I couldn't and why? It was the Lulu lady, nothing to do with a diminutive Scottish singer I hasten to add.
My father loved opera and I can remember him when I was a small child turning up the volume on the radio when certain songs were played. I noticed the difference between ordinary songs & my Dad's beloved opera & I used to call out saying 'Quick Dad, turn up the radio there is a Lulu lady singing!'
This morning, whatever my L&M was watching included a small burst of opera & suddenly all these memories of my Dad came flooding back.
It was my Dad that took me to see my first opera Turandot and my first ballet Peer Gynt, both of which I still love today.
In later years my Dad lived in Kensington and was, with my stepmum a regular attendee of many operas, ballets & plays.

Bloody muppets!!!

I went to the local chemist today to buy more dressings for my L&M's feet, 8 weeks & counting & the dressings are still being changed daily.
I'm always irritated when I visit the chemist the staff are slow & stupid & everything I ask for they query & say 'I don't think we stock that' despite me having bought the same items every week for the last 8 weeks.
Every time I put in a prescription & return 10 minutes later to collect it, they've lost either the prescription or the medication.
Today I went in & asked for melolin dressing & I got the usual 'I don't think we stock that' to which I replied, yes you do it's in that drawer there. The assistant reluctantly open the drawer & giggled 'Oh look, there it is'. I then asked for size 12 tubigauze, she closed the drawer & said 'I don't think we stock that'.
I told her it was in the drawer she's just closed, so she reopened the drawer & after a long search eventually found it, all this time she is giggling & saying 'Oh I am stupid' I have to admit I'm close to agreeing with her.
As I said this performance has been repeated weekly for 2 months & my patience is wearing thin!
Tonight the assistant excelled her self, after the usual giggling & inability to find the items I requested she found the tubigauze & this time as she measured it she dropped it on the floor, stood on it & managed to wrap it round her foot!
At this point I lost my temper & told her icily that this was to be used as a wound dressing & I really didn't appreciate it being dragged along the floor before I bought it, she carried on standing on the gauze & giggling, at this point the pharmacist stepped in, sent the assistant into the back room, opened a new box & measured the required length without dragging it along the floor. She apologised for the assistants behaviour, but it didn't make me feel any better. 
I would have more patience if I though the assistant was giggling through nerves, but she isn't nervous, she just seems to be incredibly proud of her lack of ability and she finds her inability remember where anything in the shop is kept hysterically funny.
And yes I would shop at another chemist except that the other one in the village is much smaller & doesn't stock the things I need and the next nearest means a longer drive.

What a mucking fuddle

I ordered a cheap desk & shelf unit for the spare bedroom that doesn't have a bed in it, this is so I can set up my sewing machine again. I arranged for delivery on Saturday, waited in all day as delivery could be anytime from 7am to 8pm. At 6pm I received a text informing me that the delivery would be between midday & 9pm. At 9:30 I tracked the package again this time the message had changed to 'Your delivery has been delayed, if you are out when we deliver we will leave your parcel with a neighbour or in a safe place'.

This morning it took me a couple of hours to fine a phone number for the delivery company & speak to a human being. At first I was assured that the parcel had been delivered, I explained that my eyesight may have deteriorated lately but I don't think I could miss a desk & shelf unit. I was then assured that the driver had attempted to deliver but there had been no one in, I soon disabused the human of this notion, as one of us was in all day.

Eventually I ascertained that they would not be delivering today as their drivers don't work on Sunday's and I arranged for a Monday delivery. 

My L&M then went to buy 3 clown loach & some fish food. We arrived home to find the long awaited delivery on the doorstep. I'm glad my L&M was with me as the boxes were on the doorstep & were covering the keyhole & they were too heavy for me to move.

T F It's the weekend

Yesterday morning I was awake at 3am, at 4am I gave up & got up & pottered  around tidying up the living room.
I took my L&M to work at 6:30, went to the bank to get some cash for the weekend, went to the butchers & then came home. I made a cup of tea & sat on the sofa to drink it, I suddenly woke up & I was completely disoriented. I didn't know if it was day or night, whether I should be going to work or going to bed. Fortunately I realised that it was morning & I had only slept for about 5 minutes so I wasn't late for work. 

I really didn't want to be late as we have a lot of staff off sick at the moment, I'm part of a 9 person team, we have one staff member who is about to start her third week off sick, one who was off 2 days last week & one who is planning to be sick next week (this means she's started complaining about not feeling well). All this means the rest of the team & stretched to the limit & this is a particularly busy time of year.

At the butchers I spent £24 & bought a catering pack of bacon I also bought a pack each of lamb chops & chicken thighs. I've bagged up the bacon in 4 x rashers & put them in the freezer. I'm cooking the chicken with rice & will freeze it in portions for hubby's lunches. Half the chops will do for a meal tonight & the rest are in the freezer for another meal. The bacon & chicken will last a month.

I need to buy teabags & bread, but I think that will be it for this week, the egg man will be delivering tomorrow & I have 6 pints of milk in the fridge so we are sorted.

What a day

Up at 5:30, cooked breakfast for hubby & dropped him at work at 6:30, at work myself at 7:30 with a mouth like a badgers armpit as I can't have any breakfast or a cup of tea. Left work at 8:10 for Dr's for a fasting blood test, back at work by 8:40.
Gave hubby a lift home at 1 as he's doing a split shift due to staff shortages, go back to work 'til 3:20, collect DGS & drop him at after school club at 3:45, go home, cook tea for hubby & change his dressings. 5:15 collect DGS from after school club & take him home. Collect hubby & take him to work he's working 6 'til 10, give staff member a lift home. Time to put my feet up until hubby phones for a lift, I shall do a little crochet.