So what are you up to this weekend?

[cassandra]

Its very sunny up North Sugar, are the weddingplans going to schedule?

[lainiepop]

It is my daughter's 3rd birthday tomorrow so we are having a party bbq for her on sunday (weather permitting!) So i am busy baking cakes at the mo! My dad is coming up later (mum is already here taking care of me and the kids after my emergency op, and dad couldnt come up sooner as he had to see his cardio surgeon (he's 8 weeks post heart bypass op!)

Ive created a thread 'my cakes' if u wanna take a look

[Sugarlump]

Its very sunny up North Sugar, are the weddingplans going to schedule?

Sort of!!! Trying to make decisions on all the smaller stuff is hard work.
Decorations/tables/colours/cake/food/music/etc etc

It will come together in the end. Just need to keep "The Big Picture" in my head
so I can see it as an overall view rather than a series of separate things!
How's you?

[cassandra]

I'm recovering from my first ever trial to fabricate fresh spinach pasta. My arms are falling off, and I lost about 2 liters of sweat trying to turn the pasta machine. It tasted alright, but it doesn't make my body feel any better.

   

[cariad]

We had a trial run of kayaking for the boys' party this Saturday. Several of Aidan's friends are Sea Scout leaders and own their own kayaks so he was dreading the thought of not being able to keep up with them.

Gwyn and I had to supervise since the boys were going out on the river, which meant kayaking right along with them. It was fab! I was surprised how easy the basic maneuvering was. Weather could not have been better and we're hoping for more of the same for the actual event. Fingers crossed....

[Sugarlump]

I'm recovering from my first ever trial to fabricate fresh spinach pasta. My arms are falling off, and I lost about 2 liters of sweat trying to turn the pasta machine. It tasted alright, but it doesn't make my body feel any better.

   

Spinach pasta??? Ugh I do not like pasta and I only eat the occasional baby spinach leaf in salad, so putting the two together 
Was it really really green?

[cassandra]

Yup, really, really green!

       


My next trial will be tomato pasta, which will be really, really orangy red!

NB its a principal thing. I couldn't eat spinage, nor 'sundried' tomatoes for such a long time, that I HAVE to eat them now. 

[Sugarlump]

I love sundried tomatoes, especially with chorizio, cheese and green leaves...
We are going out for tapas tonight with friends which I am looking forward to immensly 

[cariad]

So happy and relieved to see this Sunday. We threw a massive kayaking party for the boys yesterday, around 20 children ages 8-12. The kids had fun, the adults had beer and wine to see us through!   

[Poppylicious]

I'm having a lazy Sunday which involves not getting dressed and catching up with box sets on the telly.  I've been drinking wine and munching on left-overs and cake (it was my birthday this last week ... I am middle-aged now) and also celebrating the fact that 'school' is finished until the 1st of September.  Huzzah!

 

[cariad]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I tried durian today! We went to a Thai festival and I noticed that one man was selling durian ice cream, so we tried that and taro flavor.

If you are unfamiliar with durian it is a fruit with such a noxious smell (once it's split open) that guests are barred from bringing it into most, if not all, hotels in Thailand. When I went to Thailand with my family many years ago my father actually bought a durian fruit and was going to flout the rules and open it on the last day we were there but decided against it in the end. People seem to either love or despise durian, and I have read that some people started out hating it but eventually acclimated to it and now are permanently under its spell. The man who sold us the ice cream claimed that it would be too cold to notice the odor, but you definitely could, though it was not that strong.

All four of us tried it. The look on Dyl's face when he consumed it told me all I needed to know - he found it disgusting and said he wished he'd never tried it. Aidan disliked it almost as much. Gwyn said you could taste the oft-mentioned oniony character of it, but he didn't find it too horrible. I actually found I didn't mind it and vastly preferred it to the taro flavor, which I found massively unappealing. (And I love taro crisps and other savory taro dishes.) I have wanted to try durian ever since we left that fruit uneaten in Bangkok all those years ago. I doubt the ice cream can be compared to trying raw durian fruit, but at least I now have a sense of what I might be in for should I ever get the opportunity to eat it in its unadulterated form. 

[Sugarlump]

I'm having a lazy Sunday which involves not getting dressed and catching up with box sets on the telly.  I've been drinking wine and munching on left-overs and cake (it was my birthday this last week ... I am middle-aged now) and also celebrating the fact that 'school' is finished until the 1st of September.  Huzzah!

 

Poppy, 40 is the new 30. 
You should make a list of ten things you would like to do within the next decade!

 

[Poppylicious]

Poppy, 40 is the new 30. 
You should make a list of ten things you would like to do within the next decade!

 

Ha ha ... I was tempted to do something like that, but for checking off before I hit 41!  Another piercing and at least one more tattoo are top of the list, although I do need to find a reputable tattoo artist first.

 

[CebuShan]

This weekend (Sunday) we have reservations at The Waterleaf Restaurant for a "Sunday Jazz Brunch" It's put on by my favorite radio station. Tomorrow, I will be trying to win 2 brunches! (yes, if I don't have to pay, all the better!)

[Sugarlump]

Finally booked a hair cut for this afternoon (needs a good tidy up) and then sort out my christmas decorations in readiness for putting them up on 1st of December.
I have decided this year we are having a red christmas, with a red tree, red baubles, red tinsel etc I even have a pair of red reindeer!!! I have been making card christmas bunting to hang too!
Yesterday we went to a local Christmas Barn (that pops up each year) where they give you a glass of warm spiced apple juice whilst you wander around in awe! I bought some red and white dangly things, tinsel and candles! Also got to figure out how to get the sticky snowflakes off their backing sheet and on to my windows (after I have got Drew to give them a good clean first!!!) 
I loves Christmas!!!! 

[Jean]

Oh I am envious of those of you who are looking forward to Christmas enough to want to get your decorations up soon. I don't have the energy or the will to do any of it and I don't care. Probably hard to tell, but I am a tad depressed about Christmas since we are financially strapped. Maybe next year will be better. So, for this weekend, I will get my ironing done. You guys enjoy.

[kristina]

Hello Jean, I am sorry that you feel that way about Christmas, but I do understand.
Being unwell is often very expensive to pay for all those medical extras to help us get through each year...
and there is often very little money left to spare at the end of the year around Christmas-time...
I do hope you can get a little more energy to put up a few decorations and get cheered up again a little
and I send you my warm regards from Kristina.

[Jean]

Thank you Kristina for your very sweet words.

[kristina]

Thanks Jean, I do hope very much, that you feel better soon,

Best wishes from Kristina.

[CebuShan]

We are going to get the food for our Thanksgiving. We usually have a small meal and then, if there's someplace close enough, we go volunteer to serve dinner to those less fortunate than us!

[Michael Murphy]

This weekend since its Thanksgiving week I will be going to Dialysis Sunday morning.  What a strange thing to do on a weekend, However it does mean the center staff gets Thursday off with their family.

[PrimeTimer]

Oh I am envious of those of you who are looking forward to Christmas enough to want to get your decorations up soon. I don't have the energy or the will to do any of it and I don't care. Probably hard to tell, but I am a tad depressed about Christmas since we are financially strapped. Maybe next year will be better. So, for this weekend, I will get my ironing done. You guys enjoy.

You're not alone. Due to all sorts of reasons, mostly financial, my husband and I haven't celebrated Thanksgiving or Christmas in a few years now. At least not in the traditional sense. I know I shouldn't let it bother me but last year when I tried to politely hint to a family member that we could not travel out of town for a family get-together, they rudely barked at me and said "Don't worry, we get it, you guys don't "do" holidays". That comment not only angered (and embarrassed) me but really hurt because they didn't even bother to ask why we don't "do" holidays. They acted as if we just simply chose to no longer celebrate. Well, at this point, life is too short to "celebrate" anything with rude people, even if they are family! We stay home, rest and are just glad for that. We have many years worth of good memories of celebrating holidays and feel pretty lucky for that. Last year, our Christmas present to ourselves was doing our first home-hemo treatment the day after Christmas. That was pretty memorable! So rest, sleep, eat, watch TV or read but most importantly, know that however you spend the holidays, be kind to yourself.

[Sugarlump]

Next weekend is my hen's breakfast (Sunday brunch) at my house....Think pink!!!! Champagne, posh M & S nibbles, Naked Waiter and a few games...
Looking forward to it (the start of the countdown to my wedding!)     

[kristina]

Crikey Sugar
Your hen's breakfast really looks well thought out ...
... Where on earth did you get this (Full Monty...?) waiter from...?
Best wishes and good luck from Kristina.

[Sugarlump]

I bought him at at an auction of promises I attended. Going to make him wear a little frilly white waitress apron for H & S reasons!!!!!