Did you accomplish anything today?

[lainiepop]

I have made my birthday cake, in the shape of a handbag and have almost finished decorating it! Not gone as well as i'd liked but not bad for a first attempt

[Sugarlump]

Popped into town this morning to have a look round the market and buy some veggies and meat.
Came back did a little bit of housework, washed the kitchen floor and then baked some
really good bacon, cheese and spring onion scones ! Gosh where has all this energy come from 
Three months ago getting out of bed, dressed and eating breakfast was enough to tire me out!

It is great to realise how much better i am 

[cariad]

We went to Costco today. It's been a long time and we were out of some basics so I was expecting a jaw-dropping bill. It came out to just under £300, so nowhere near as bad as I feared. Also, we got our annual rebate back from them, and they will give you cash for it if you don't want to spend it in the shop. We had intended to use it in the warehouse, but forgot so cashed it out on our way out the door.

I finally ordered a toaster from Costco online. £65, but it's a beauty (Dualit) and should last years if not decades. We have been living without one until yesterday when it arrived. I used it for the first time this morning, and oh my word, I had forgot what real toast tastes like. We had just been using the cooker, which heats it, but dries it out so thoroughly and is such a pfaff in the end that it was rarely worth it. Next up, a De'Longhi kettle to replace our broken (SOMEONE dropped it) Russel Hobbs.

[Sugarlump]

We went to Costco today. It's been a long time and we were out of some basics so I was expecting a jaw-dropping bill. It came out to just under £300, so nowhere near as bad as I feared. Also, we got our annual rebate back from them, and they will give you cash for it if you don't want to spend it in the shop. We had intended to use it in the warehouse, but forgot so cashed it out on our way out the door.

I finally ordered a toaster from Costco online. £65, but it's a beauty (Dualit) and should last years if not decades. We have been living without one until yesterday when it arrived. I used it for the first time this morning, and oh my word, I had forgot what real toast tastes like. We had just been using the cooker, which heats it, but dries it out so thoroughly and is such a pfaff in the end that it was rarely worth it. Next up, a De'Longhi kettle to replace our broken (SOMEONE dropped it) Russel Hobbs.

I lust after a Dualit toaster as they do one in turquoise to match my kitchen walls!!!!! 

[natnnnat]

On Friday I made four tablecloths and from the left overs I then made two tea towels.
Then I made a dress, finished it yesterday (and it came out great!!!)
Today I cleared out the corner of the bedroom to make space for new shelves:  all my gear has to come home from uni and I have no space for it so I bought ikea storage cube type shelves, and am waiting for some kind of handyman to materialise and assemble them for me.

Basically I spent the last five years too busy to think, now there's stuff just in piled in corners and shoved into drawers. Finally I can get some of it organised.

[cariad]

Yesterday I worked, then did a big grocery shop, made still lemonade for the boys (they miss it and it is freakishly expensive to buy pre-made here.) If I let them, they would guzzle the entire 2 litres straight away.

Our micro died! I have never seen a microwave break down, and this one was only 1.5 years old. We bought it from Costco, so I have hope that they will stand by their merchandise. They usually automatically extend the warranty on their electronics and appliances by quite a long time. It is finding the receipt and/or original box that will be the trick there. Oh well, it was only £50, but £50 I would like to put toward a new micro.

[Sugarlump]

Yesterday I worked, then did a big grocery shop, made still lemonade for the boys (they miss it and it is freakishly expensive to buy pre-made here.) If I let them, they would guzzle the entire 2 litres straight away.

Our micro died! I have never seen a microwave break down, and this one was only 1.5 years old. We bought it from Costco, so I have hope that they will stand by their merchandise. They usually automatically extend the warranty on their electronics and appliances by quite a long time. It is finding the receipt and/or original box that will be the trick there. Oh well, it was only £50, but £50 I would like to put toward a new micro.

I have a pink plastic folder where I stuff all receipts for major purchases, electrical equipment and suchlike. I know when something breaks down the receipt will be in there somewhere! 

[cariad]

I have a pink plastic folder where I stuff all receipts for major purchases, electrical equipment and suchlike. I know when something breaks down the receipt will be in there somewhere! 

Well, Little Miss Organized!

The micro made a loud 'pop' sound this morning when I was seeing if it had sorted itself out. Alas, no. I *do* tend to keep all Costco receipts, and I suppose I could call the manufacturer (Sharp). I think we'll invest in a better model next time.... and probably keep the receipt and box forever. 

[Sugarlump]

I have a pink plastic folder where I stuff all receipts for major purchases, electrical equipment and suchlike. I know when something breaks down the receipt will be in there somewhere! 

Well, Little Miss Organized!

The micro made a loud 'pop' sound this morning when I was seeing if it had sorted itself out. Alas, no. I *do* tend to keep all Costco receipts, and I suppose I could call the manufacturer (Sharp). I think we'll invest in a better model next time.... and probably keep the receipt and box forever. 

You can stick your tongue out at me tomorrow 

[cariad]

I have a pink plastic folder where I stuff all receipts for major purchases, electrical equipment and suchlike. I know when something breaks down the receipt will be in there somewhere! 

Well, Little Miss Organized!

The micro made a loud 'pop' sound this morning when I was seeing if it had sorted itself out. Alas, no. I *do* tend to keep all Costco receipts, and I suppose I could call the manufacturer (Sharp). I think we'll invest in a better model next time.... and probably keep the receipt and box forever. 

You can stick your tongue out at me tomorrow 

I'll keep the offer in mind!! 

Today my sweet neighbour came into the tea room. She is a regular there and she has had some awful health issues (breast cancer - had the full chemo/radiation and lost all her hair. She's probably only in her early 30s, too.) Anyhow, she's getting standard treatment, but also altering her diet to try to combat it. I guess she has found evidence that cutting out dairy will improve her odds. She has obviously worked very hard at this - she orders tea, no milk, asks if there is any dairy in the soups, refuses all of our (amazing) cakes except the one dairy free one. Today she ordered scrambled eggs and I just happened to ask the chef if there was any milk in it. There was, so I told her and she switched to fried. She made me feel like quite the heroine for this simple gesture.

I also was able to translate an American family's food request into British and when the younger girl left her mobile behind, I ran up the road to find them and they were quite grateful. A man that I could swear was South African turned out to be Canadian, and he settled our long-standing debate on how to pronounce 'Nanaimo' (as in the dessert, named after the town). They are using a new carrot cake recipe - tastes great but doesn't keep its structural integrity very well, so we felt we couldn't sell the last slice. The baker has more or less gone off cake for life, so I got to have some and bring the rest home. The males got hold of it and it was gone in a flash.

I took Aidan to the bank after work and officially opened his first bank account for him. He will get practice in managing his own bankcard when that turns up in the post next week. I found out I could get a savings accounts (no bankcard) for Dyl, so will take care of that next week.

Ah, and to top off the day, Gwyn just came stumbling out of the garage holding a Sharp microwave box. We're on our way, Costco! 

[cassandra]

That sounds like a real profitable day 

I've just 'helped' hubby to work, put my half full batch on reheat. (So handy that that's poss. At training I was told never to do that, but I always do it with 30 liters cos the noice of the machine bugs me, and no probs so far) Washing machine on with last (I hope) holiday cloths.

And decided to take a Diazepam cos I incredibly excited to meet everyone tomorrow.

     

[cassandra]

Forgot to mention that on Monday we'll fly to Portugal with my machine for the first time. There's quite some supplies to take of which quite a few will go in the one 'normal hold' suitcase we booked, and the one additional medical supplies suitcase accompanying my machine which I'll take on board.
Next time we'll book 2 suitcases.

     

[cariad]

I want to go to Portugal one day - seems everyone I know here has been! One of my Welsh nephews lives with a Portugese woman, and I wouldn't be surprised if they got married one day soonish. The other Welsh nephew is currently living there, so obviously it must have its charms.

Got Romeo vaccinated! Or rather, started him off on his vaccinations. Naughty previous owners did not keep him up to date on his jabs, although I could swear they claimed they did. I asked the vet to check that he'd been fixed (he has) as I started to worry that they had been untruthful about other stuff.  So we have to start his vaccinations over again, but the expense was not bad at all, and its all paid. At least we can board him and not have that worry in the back of my mind all weekend. (Don't think the boys would survive if something happened to that cat. They were moaning the whole way to the vet about how hard it was to see Romeo so scared and said they felt like bad owners. I told them if they thought this was hard, try taking a trusting little baby in to the pediatrician for those endless newborn jabs!)

[cassandra]

 

   


You are a bit hard on those boys Carriad (wink)   

Love, Cas

[willowtreewren]

Arrived at work at 7:10 AM and slogged through a regular teaching day until my 1:45 annual gyn appointment. That doctor talks, and talks.... Got out at 3:05 and went to sit with my dad at his nursing home for a while, then back to school by 4:15. Left school early (all the kiddoes had left) and drove into the city for a wedding rehearsal. The couple didn't contact me until Monday for this wedding. Wedding rehearsal was over at 7:00 (they were really disorganized and I had lots of staging to help them with). Then home for a bite.... I'm tired. It is a good thing I can sleep in tomorrow.

[Sugarlump]

Forgot to mention that on Monday we'll fly to Portugal with my machine for the first time. There's quite some supplies to take of which quite a few will go in the one 'normal hold' suitcase we booked, and the one additional medical supplies suitcase accompanying my machine which I'll take on board.
Next time we'll book 2 suitcases.

     

I thought medical supplies are supposed to travel free?
When I went to Italy I had a plastic see through huge bag of filters n medications n line sticlkies n epo in a coolbag and was allowed that free as EXTRA hand luggage to my big shoulder bag and my handbag!

[cariad]

 

   


You are a bit hard on those boys Carriad (wink)   

Love, Cas

Builds character! <-----(All-purpose excuse for questionable parenting decisions.)

[Sugarlump]

They sre great boys Cariad 

[Sugarlump]

Today I bought three lots of fabric. patterns, boning, zips, net overlay and underlay for petticoats and other stuff for my wedding dress and 2 bridesmaids dresses which my clever sister is going to make for me.
I am so chuffed i found the perfect toning colours 

[cassandra]

What colour is it going to be?

[Sugarlump]

Pale and shimmery rose pink  calf length and flowers in my hair!

[cariad]

Pale and shimmery rose pink  calf length and flowers in my hair!

You'll look stunning! 

[Charlie B53]

Vacuumed most of the house.

I don't do it often enough, with two dogs and two cats things get a little 'hairy' around here.  You don't see much of the white hairs from the dogs, but they are there, a lot.  But the long hair black cat is obviously all over the place.  Susie decided she wants to be an inside cat.  This winter got pretty cold and even tho I keep a couple of baseboard units on the the two car garage for the cats, it still got down into the mid 30's so I started to let the 'Girls' inside.  Turns out they like it in here.  Alley stays out most nights now that it isn't cold, hunting I guess.  Susie curls up on top of a stack of my PD boxes, better view of the room.  Susie goes out once or twice a day to do her business then is sitting right next to the door waiting for my to let her back in.

Alley will be sitting at the door waiting for me every morning when I get up.  Funny girl, she has to step on my toes every time she greats me.  I haven't had any other dog or cat do that.  Bones puppy stands up and noses my hand like a Thank You every time he comes back in.  They each have their own personality.

I'm not done with the living room yet, break time is over for now.

Take Care,

Charlie B

[galvo]

Great post, Charlie! I love animal  stories!!

[cariad]

We are trying to recreate Diego Rivera's The Flower Carrier so I spent yesterday looking for 'costuming' at charity shops. Found a pair of capris that Dyl can use in the photo and then I will be able to wear them over summer as they fit me perfectly.

Today I bought 10 quid worth of paper flowers from an art supply shop, then came up with a better idea that's free, so those will be going back tomorrow. I have these round cotton wool pads that I bought a million years ago, and no matter how many I use, I never seem to come any closer to using them all up. It is so weird! Anyhow, since the flowers are rather featureless and impressionist in the painting, I got the idea to use food colouring to turn these cotton wool pads different shades of pink, red and purple. I think once they dry out it will be perfect - may have to put them on low heat in the cooker to get that done. I actually got to throw an empty pack of these things away, it was so exciting!

We also have been trying to sort through all of the endless crap piled in our garage and storage unit. Today we found a red ball gown that I can use in the photo (and then donate or sell onward as I doubt it fits me any longer) We also found juggling balls, a diablo, and a plate spinning set so the kids can practice their circus skills. (Aidan is going to bring his unicycle in to class as I don't have any idea how to teach him to ride it.) I found our old double light saber which still works, despite being a bit worse for wear, and loads of other Star Wars toys that the boys were chuffed to get back. An old suitcase had all of my missing summer clothes in it, so now I have my wardrobe for our August trip to France sorted.

It's basically been like a mini Christmas, without the stress, cold, and enormous bills!