Monday 30 January 2017

Very excited granddaughters

We took Norah out for a meal on Friday as it was her birthday, she couldn't stay the night afterwards as I was babysitting her and her siblings, mummy and daddy were going out.

On Saturday morning I had Norah 9, Eileen 6 and Suzy 2 here whilst their daddy was coaching their big brother's football team.

As usual we made cakes, great fun with a 2yo involved! Eileen asked if I had bought any more sprinkles as last week she'd been a bit disappointed with my supply.

Imagine her excitement and that of her sisters, when I produced 10, yes 10 new tubs of sprinkles, everything from multi-coloured sour sprinkles to rabbit and carrot ones.

I explained that a very kind person called Floss had sent them to me after reading about how disappointed she'd been last week. Eileen immediately wanted to hug Floss for her kindness.

We made 2 dozen sprinkle cakes, iced them and used a few of every different sprinkle that was sent as they couldn't agree on which to use.

Thank you, your kindness made three little girls extremely happy. 

Sunday 29 January 2017

Made a start

This is the start of the colour wheel that is in the centre of the mandala waistcoat.

It has taken me five days to get this far, but I'm getting quicker.


Saturday 28 January 2017

Paid on Thursday, skint already

The bills are paid.

Money has been transferred to the savings account.

DGS has had a growth spurt and needed new polo shirts and jumpers, both items must have the school logo so are extortionately expensive, DD has purchased them so I helped by buying boxers for DGS, 12 and tights for DGD's.

I've shopped at the supermarket and bought bread, veg & milk.

I've shopped at the butchers and bought
12 sausages
2 lamb shanks
2 pieces of pork belly
1 kilo bacon pieces
40 bacon rashers
1lb liver
2 pieces of shin and 2 kidneys.
This has all been divided up and put in the freezer.

We aren't really skint, there is money in the account if we need it, we'd rather save it.

Thursday 26 January 2017

On my hook

My daughter saw a pic of something similar to this and asked me if I could make her one. I bought the pattern from Ravelry, I have most of the colours. It's going to take ages.

Wednesday 25 January 2017

How old!!

They say things go in threes don't they.
First the exhaust needed repairing on my car.
I had that done and then the battery needed replacing.
I got a new battery and had it fitted.
Once I had it fitted the car radio needed the code put in to make it work.
Only problem is I don't have the code, there was no handbook with the car and so the information wasn't available.
I had to take the car to a Nissan garage to get the code, it means removing the radio to find a security number that then means the radio code can be retrieved from the Nissan database.
It took about three hours, it should have taken about half an hour.
It seems that my car was built in 1930 and the Nissan database doesn't have codes that far back!
On top of this it made my ears bleed, my beloved is convinced that if he'd taken the car in this wouldn't have happened, it must be all my fault and he moaned and bitched about it for the entire three hours.

Sunday 22 January 2017

Rib sticking soup

I've made two storecupboard dishes today
Lentil Dahl and Rib sticking soup, I had everything to hand so no shopping needed


Lentil Dahl
400g red lentils Cook these in plenty of water.
2 tsps turmeric
Melt a knob of butter in a pan, add 2 tsps cumin,
1 small onion, finely chopped, 2-3 tsp of lazy garlic or puree, 1-2 tsp lazy ginger, 1-2 fresh green chillies, finely sliced, I had these in the freezer from some we grew this summer. 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp ground coriander. Add half a tin of tomatoes
When the lentils are cooked, they need to be sort of porridge consistency, add the fried mixture and stir thoroughly, serve with rice or naan.

Rib sticking soup.

I made the soup in my pressure cooker, using a handful of cooking bacon chopped small, I fried the bacon, added a sliced onion, carrot and potato, then I added a tin and a half of tomatoes, a squirt of tomato puree, some garlic, mixed herbs. Next add 1 or 2 pints of water, large handful of lentils and a handful of pearl barley, if you add a few strands of spaghetti you can call this minestrone soup.
Bring to the boil, simmer until lentils and barley are cooked.
This soup can be made with any veg you need to use up, I've used cabbage and squash before. You can use just tomato puree and add baked beans, or add dried soup mix instead of lentils and barley.


Saturday 21 January 2017

Car again

I've had to buy a new battery for my car, more money just when we are trying to save, never mind, at least we had the money to pay for the battery.

I'm making another batch of lentil curry for my lunches next week, something warm and spicy stops me buying food from the canteen.

DGD Eileen stayed last night, but because the car needed a new battery we weren't able to collect her from school. When she came out of class and saw her mum she burst into tears and said 'I thought it was my turn to go to Nana's this week'. Mum quickly reassured her and explained that it was her turn and dropped her off at our house with my L&M whilst I was getting a new battery fitted.

This morning  Eileen and I made sprinkle cakes for her to take home, just ordinary fairy cakes with icing and sprinkles on. I need to buy some more sprinkles as all I have left are chocolate ones and she prefers more colourful ones. I will look in B&M next time I'm passing, they are quite cheap in there.

I shall have a rummage in the freezer and make a rough meal plan of what we are eating next week. My plan is never set in stone, it depends a bit on what we fancy when we get in. One evening we will have an omelette as I have loads of eggs in the freezer.
I have potatoes, onions, cabbage and carrots in the fridge, enough to last the week I'm sure.










Thursday 19 January 2017

The lighthousekeepers wife

My grandchildren like the Lighthouse Keepers Lunch to be read to them as a bedtime story.
In the story Mr Grinling and his wife live in a little cottage on the cliffs above the lighthouse.
When they are in bed Mr Grinling can see the light and hear the horns on the passing ships tooting.
I assume Mrs Grinling can see and hear the same things.

I'm beginning to feel like the lighthouse keepers wife.
My L&M has recently decided that all the upstairs doors need to be closed at night to keep the heat in.
This is ok but it means I cannot see where I am going when I get up to go to the toilet during the night.
So after 3 or 4 weeks of me cannoning off the bed and the walls hubby decided his sleep was being disturbed way too much.
So he bought a nightlight to fix above the bathroom door, it has a motion sensor so it comes on when I get up in the night.
Unfortunately it as developed a fault and flashes on and off throughout the night.
It doesn't disturb my beloved because he sleeps on the far side of the room.
I however sleep nearest to the door, what with the light and my beloved farting like a foghorn I really do feel like the lighthouse keepers wife.

Wednesday 18 January 2017

I want to thwack someone

A day of high's and low's today, I was in the courtyard at work today when a child barged past me, I stopped him and told him he wasn't allowed in that area.
'Prove it' he said 'I want you to phone a member of staff and prove I'm not allowed here'.
I showed him my ID and said 'I am a member of staff'.
'Well I don't recognise you' he replied.
So I said 'Well I recognise you and you are in trouble'.
At this he told me to fuck off and ran away, to my great joy our assistant head appeared and when I described the child she knew exactly who I meant and deprived him of the rest of his lunch break. I'd still rather have thwacked him.

I've had my car looked at and repaired £20 to have part of my exhaust replaced. It's a local garage, a bit rough and ready but they are very good. I usually see the owner (I looked after his dog last year when he went home to Poland for a wedding), but he wasn't there today.
The office was locked up but a  huge man with a beard was sat in a car, he didn't appear to speak any English apart from 'OK' but I handed over my keys.
It was only as I was sat on the bus coming home I suddenly wondered if he was an employee or just a passing car thief.
I text my son who used to work there and he reassured me, 'That will be his mechanic, he's huge but very shy'. What a relief!


Tuesday 17 January 2017

Use it up, two meals made.

I have to take my car to be sorted out tomorrow and I will be home late, hence 2 meals being cooked tonight.

I had 3 small slices of ham left and a punnet of mushroom that were past their best.
I used 2 onions thinly sliced and divided them between a frying pan and my pressure cooker.
I added half a punnet of mushrooms to each pan and softened them over a low heat.
I then added a tblspoon of flour to each pan and stirred it in.

To one pan I added some milk, just under half a pint at a guess, I stirred this so it didn't go lumpy and then added to slices of ham cut in to small pieces.
I cooked some pasta in another pan. The pasta and sauce were both ready at the same time and we ate that this evening. There is enough left for tomorrows packups.

I added some beef skirt to the pressure cooker, some herbs and seasoning too. The skirt was £1.79, reduced in Tesco's, it's been in the freezer for a couple of weeks, I got it out this morning to defrost.
I bought the pan up to pressure and cooked the beef for about 15 minutes.

Tomorrow I will reheat it whilst I'm cooking the side veg.
This will do for packups for Thursday. If I wanted to stretch it further I'd make some dumplings.

Pasta 10p
Mushrooms 45p
Onion 10p
Milk 12p
Flour & seasoning 10p
Under £1 and served 3/4 easily.
I've not counting the ham as it was left  over from Christmas, sliced and frozen then defrosted and used as our Sunday roast.

Beef skirt £1.79
Mushrooms 45p
Onion 10p
Flour & Seasoning 10p
I will serve this with mashed potato, carrots & cabbage. This will serve four at least, maybe more.



Elaine is back

http://mortgagefreeinthree.com/blog/

I'm so glad to see Elaine has returned to blogging, she is down to earth and not at all preachy.

Monday 16 January 2017

That & this

Susan Foster, thank you, that is very kind of you, I don't need any 5 inch charm squares, I just want some, there is a difference and I must learn that.

I gave all my quilting stash to a lady who quilts for Project Linus, when I emptied my craft room.

I kept a lot of yarn and I was wondering about donating some of my crochet blankets to Project Linus but my local branch only accepts quilts, oh well.

I do so love having a useful son, I phoned him today as my car was making a funny noise, he came to have a look. 'That's the exhaust he said', and then proceeded to tell me exactly what to say to the garage when I take it in.




Sunday 15 January 2017

Cushion covers

 Two cushion covers finished apart from the sewing up.
 This one is a wavy stitch.
 This one is V stitch.
This one is a mile a minute, join as you go.

Friday 13 January 2017

Having an affair

There is a thread on MSE about people cheating on their partners. The original poster seems to be convinced his partners is cheating on him as the Daily Wail ran an article that said 90% of women have thought about cheating.

Because of this and because a previous gf cheated on him, he checks her handbag, mobile and laptop for evidence of her betrayal.

I feel sorry for his wife living under such a cloud of suspicion.

My L&M was cheated on by a previous wife but it hasn't made him distrustful, he trusts me as I trust him.

Today though I have reason to believe that one of us may be having an affair I'm just not sure which one of us it is!

He has been having problems with his mobile phone, every day from Christmas day until 6th January it said it was boxing day. 

On 7th of January it said it was new years day and it still says the same thing.

My phone came up with a reminder today that there is  room booked in a local pub from Thursday until Sunday.

I didn't even know the pub had rooms, I certainly can see no need to stay in a pub 10 minutes away for 4 days, and why would I get a reminder on Friday for something I should have done on Thursday.

I'm totally confused, I've never set foot inside the pub though 12 years ago I did work nearby.

I shall check with my L&M just in case one of his reminders has come up on my phone.


Thursday 12 January 2017

This and that.

We have snow, but not much and it hasn't pitched. We are in more danger of flooding than snow drifts.

I've sat with the DGC for an hour whilst DD & SIL went to parents evening.

I arrived at work today to find one of out teachers, Mr Randytwat, chatting up a new baby teacher, as I'm a bitch I asked Mr Randytwat how his daughter was getting on at nursery as he tries to give the impression he is single. He isn't, he's married with a toddler!

I did a small shop in Lidl today £18, tinned soup, longlife milk, bread, bockwurst, screenwash and a few other bits and pieces. We could withstand a siege of a month or two if we had to.

I have a yen to make a puff quilt, I keep looking at charm packs, I won't buy any but it's fun to look!

Tuesday 10 January 2017

Mutter mutter curse curse.

When DGD was here at the weekend we went to the local shop to get some bread and bagels.
She grabbed a packet of bagels and asked if they were the ones I wanted, I said no and pointed to the ones I did want, she asked my what the difference was and I showed her the item price and explained the price difference.
On the way out of the shop she saw some plastic toys and started to tell me that her grandpa, my ex, has bought a 3D printer and she's hoping he will make her something nice with it.
I said through gritted teeth, 'Has he, that's nice.'
I have no idea how much a 3D printer costs but I'm sure he will have a top of the range one.
DGD continued to tell me that her other grandpa was very rich as he could buy anything he wanted and he probably didn't buy the cheapest bagels. She also asked why her grandpa is so rich.
I was very restrained and I didn't say 'Because the thieving bastard stole all my money'.
I just smiled and said 'I don't know, maybe you should ask him'.
I had to agree that he probably didn't buy cheap bagels and he probably isn't eating 34p basics sardines on toast for his tea as I am today!
Mutter mutter, curse curse!

Monday 9 January 2017

I don't like bloodshed before breakfast

So I bought some split bagels, I can't be doing with wielding a sharp knife at sparrows fart in the morning.

Sunday 8 January 2017

More displacement activity here

I have kept on top of the fridge contents since Christmas, I cleared out the last of the less than fresh veg by making the curry yesterday
Today I have sorted out the pull out larder cupboard and one shelf is now empty.
I threw away one sachet of three year old dried yeast, a lasagne sheet and a few dried raisins that had fallen into the base of the unit.
Everything else is within date or it's stuff that doesn't have a date on.
Note to self, 'Don't buy any more flour'.
I also have a bag of stuff to go to the CS next time I'm passing.

Displacement activity

To take my mind off the sadness I went to the kitchen and cleared and tidied the larder cupboard and fridge. I dug out a few items that needed using up.
I chopped and sliced and sautéed and simmered until I had this.
This morning I cooked some rice to go with it.
And packed it ready for the freezer. Six portions of delicious vegetarian curry for me for next week, my L&M is working the late shift and doesn't want to eat when he gets home around 10ish.

Friday 6 January 2017

At peace

Just a brief post, I had a phone call at 8pm, my great niece Jessica died earlier today, the leukaemia returned and she had a brain tumour, she died on the operating table during surgery. She fought bravely for the last four years, she was six years old.

Thursday 5 January 2017

Chirky Chirky Crick Crick

Today has been full of stupid.

A very confusing conversation with a colleague telling me all about his relatives who live in Crick in Wales, last time I visited Crick it was in Northamptonshire.
Turns out his relatives live in Chirk, which he believes is pronounced Crick!

Another colleague spent 15 minutes trying to explain to me how to do my job, she wants some documents enlarged onto smaller sheets of paper. Not possible, I cannot enlarge something and make it smaller. She thought if she explained it slowly and loudly I'd eventually understand. My final comment of 'I'm not a sodding magician' seemed to do the trick.

We have a big event on tonight, I still don't have a copy of the paperwork needed for it, maybe I'll be expected to print it retrospectively!

Just to prove I'm also stupid, I kept trying to kill an ant that was running across my desk today. I eventually realised someone had left a sheet of clear acetate on my desk. The 'ant' was the reflection of birds flying across the courtyard outside.

And finally a comment from a colleague at another school, 'I've just printed of 25 copies of a 144 page document entitled 'Print less, recycle more' a guide to recycling in schools'. She is the only one who appreciates the irony.






Tuesday 3 January 2017

Minus 4

Brrr it's cold here and at work.

I refuse to wear a hat and coat indoors but don't want to pay a fortune on  heating bills and at work there is never any guarantee that the heating will be working.

Today I wore a vest top, short sleeved tee shirt, long sleeved tee shirt and jumper, I was warm enough at work, just.

At home I sit under a quilt I made a few years ago.

Monday 2 January 2017

It's a what?

When we went into town last week we went into Clas Ohlson, my L&M wanted to buy some bungee cords.
Whilst wandering around looking for said bungee cords my L&M spotted something interesting.
He picked it up and waved it at me saying, 'Shall I buy one of these?'
Not realising someone was stood directly behind me I replied 'What is it, sex toy?'
Well that's one young man who now knows that even geriatrics have a dirty sense of humour.


And if you don't know, it's a mooring compensator and I have no idea why my L&M wanted to buy one!

Prepping and cooking

Back to work tomorrow and I want to get a few packups made ready.
Depending on what shift my L&M is on he sometimes needs a cooked meal to take to work with him, he doesn't feel like eating after 10 at night when he gets home.
So I have some cottage pies made and some cauliflower cheese, next I'm going to make banana bread, once it's cool I'll cut it and freeze it so I can take a piece in each day.
I will also make some sausage rolls and cheese palms and a batch of soup.

Geek

I've stared a spreadsheet to track our spends on, it should give me some idea where we need to cut down when I retire. Or to be more precise I think I know, but this will prove it.
We've already cancelled Sky the same amount is now being transferred to the saving account every month.
There is no payment for the water bill or council tax soon for 2 months so that is extra that is being transferred in to the savings account.
Obviously when we downsize some of our bills will be cheaper, some will not.
And I love playing around with spreadsheets.

Sunday 1 January 2017

No offence

Woohoo, there is a new series of No Offence starting soon on Channel Four, it's not for the faint hearted as it is crude and brutal, but I loved the first series and now there is a second series.

There is also another series of The Unforgotten starting soon.

I don't watch the soaps or the greed shows and I don't watch any program with 'celebrities' in, but I do love a good murder series.

Over the Christmas holidays I have overdosed on Miss Marple, Lewis, Midsomer Murders et al.

I also watch historical programs such as Wolf Hall.

Morning walk.

As I walked Beano this morning I saw two schoolboys walking to the bus stop. They were kicking about and scuffling. They were equally matche...