SSCO... And stuff!

 Don't you want to scream some days.. Wednesday afternoon we decided to go to Dunelm Mill, as we needed some new non slip shower mats. As we left the house I did say to Dh, don't let me buy any 'stuff' I have enough, as Dunelm Mill is a kaleidoscope of colourful cushions, towels, duvet covers and artificial flowers, glass jars, cutey little boxes, and all sizes of containers, in fact anything you might fancy you think you need for your home and more, and all the things you don't really need at all.  I said, I would just like some new hand towels in the bathroom. 

Once we were in there, we looked at the side sleeper pillows as I have one and we thought Dh might like one, then Dh suggested I might like some new towels, as I don't seem to have the medium sizes, I like two towels when I dry after my shower. I choose a set that matched the bathroom colours and put them in the trolley and the pillow. We then choose 4 new hand towels, all the same colour, so into the trolley they went and then the two new non slip shower mats. 

We moved into the china section and saw some really lovely Denby stone ware dishes with a mute green edging, the colour of our wall tiles in our kitchen. Boxed in Dinner sets of 4 and reduced.. so yes into the trolley it went too. 

Then there were some liners for the basket of our Air Fryer, just what Dh was looking for..the trolley was more or less full, so we trundled off to the check outs..Shock horror they were all SSCO = self service check outs! I asked the one worker there, was there a check out not Self service, she pointed to one at the end of the counter , but it was cash only!

So we started going through items, I was not a happy bunny. Then we came to the boxed Denby and no bar code, the woman stepped forward, she couldn't find the bar code either. So she started the mumble, mumble into her mouth piece, but bobbing back and fro checking other customers, as they used the self check outs, still mumbling into her mouth piece....... talking to the store room, or the time it was taking could have been the Moon, of even Mars?? We waited and waited, I was getting fed up and if there had been a John Lewis or M&S near I'd have walked out saying we'll go else where. 

Eventually she got the price, I stepped forward to check that it was the reduced price, she checked again and it was.. but oh so slow.

We've decided that next time we really NEED to buy from there, we'll take a couple of hundred pounds and go to the one cash check out!!

Chrisxx

My Bête Noir!!

We have a lot of laughs in our SW meetings, and members tell of their greatest pitfalls. It seems that at the moment Aldi's cheese aisle faces the chocolates and all sorts of Christmas goodies. Last week, one member gave us a demonstration of herself, slinking along sidewards to view the cheeses, but without seeing the chocolates. It was very funny, she hammed it up and several members admitted to doing the same thing.

Chocolates don't tempt me, but there is one aisle in Tesco that does. I walk along very slowly drooling at the vast display of ....... sandwiches, there are hundreds.. Not just your common Cheese and Pickle or a BLT, but Ham, Turkey, Stuffing with seasonal dressings, or two Cheeses and Salami, and there's Pigs in Blankets Sandwiches. And what about finest Scottish Salmon and Cream Cheese;  Chicken and Sweetcorn triple sandwich or even Honey Glazed Ham, Red Leicester and Festive Chutney and also Finest Tesco New York Deli inspired  Pastrami and Emmental!! To name but a few...what choices, my mouth waters and I look opened eyed at such delights!

Sunday tea was always a sandwich, after we'd had our Sunday dinner, but the SW food plan only allows one piece of wholemeal bread or 40g of a  cereal or some nuts, as a healthy extra, so a sandwich at tea time eats into your syn allowance and made with just one piece of bread, isn't that filling, so I don't have one. boo hoo.. and just one of those packets of Tesco sandwiches would be my meals for days, not just one meal! I've watched young girls, take a packet of  sandwiches, crisps and a chocolate bar and I long to be young and eating anything I wanted again! The thing is, I didn't eat like that when I was young and shops didn't sell those sandwiches anyway! But I can but dream and drool in that aisle! Do you like a sandwich?

Chrisxx

Talking dirty!!

I've had four nights of insomnia, but then two nights ago, apart from my usual loo visits, I slept for 9 hours! But it seems sleeping that long isn't good either! The day before yesterday Dh and I abandoned going out, as I was so late waking. 

We sat together 'wool gathering' on the side of the bed and then we talked 'dirty!!  What about, food of course!!!...'the dirty word,' as it can be difficult to think of something that's the SW food plan and not just the usual. Evening meals need to be filling, otherwise we feel like picking! But our grapes are still going strong, and they're very tasty to eat in an evening, so not so bad to eat lots of.

But we had this as our meal with our left over chicken.

Using up left over chicken for 2

Cold cooked chicken cut into chunks (Approx: 2 breasts)

2 Rashers of bacon, fat removed and chopped and lightly grilled

1/2 Cauliflower, chopped up

1/2  Onion, chopped up, not too small.

Small handful of broccoli chopped up.

Par boil veg and onion

150 g. pasta twists.. cook.

Make cheese sauce

In 150ml milk add 50g grated cheddar cheese, heat till cheese melts, add tsp mustard, tsp garlic granules and stir in tbs corn-flour.. till thickens and boils,  season to taste.

Pour over chicken, bacon, veg and pasta.. stir and heat through thoroughly and just before serving sprinkle on last 10g cheese.

It was delicious and very filling (For SW it was 1.5 syns for the corn-flour, cheese is the Healthy A choice) For dirty talking it was wow!

Chrisxx

Phones or Books

 Dame Jacqueline Wilson has said parents on phones are the cause in falling literacy in children. If the parents don't read, how will the children learn the pleasure of books? Do you agree I wonder?

I can't remember one day of my life, when I didn't read. I can remember, when I had my first baby I used to read while feeding her, especially if it was a book I was enjoying. Then as she got older I read to her while feeding her! And all four of my children were actively encouraged to read. Saturday mornings was a visit to the library. Once one of my son's girl friend, when he was in his twenties. was astounded to hear that's what we did every Saturday and asked why, he answered to change our books of course! 

It wasn't like that for me, my Grand mother, being of the Victorian era, thought reading for girls was a waste of time. I did most of my reading at the library after school. The librarian kept my book and that suited me.. my grand mother didn't really know what time school finished, so that was fine. Also my aunty had books, so I sneaked those to bed and there were some sexy romance ones, so I was well educated in those matters!! And of course my Aunt paid for me to go to that private school, when I was 10, which were the happiest days of my school days, and as a Boarder I loved it. So books were my life and how I lived.. 

It is strange how some people remember you, when I was in a Slimming World group, when living in Billericay one of the helpers there, started to talk to me and said she remembered me because she worked in the library. She told me how all the staff remembered me, because I trooped into the library every Saturday followed by my trail of four children!  

I think children of today are missing out, where's the adventure, the scary moments, the monster under the bed, and fizzy pop and jam sandwiches if you're not reading? 

If there was ever a day when I couldn't read I'd be bereft!

Chrisxx

More Money than Sense!

 'More money than sense,' was one of the sayings my Aunt that brought me up often said! And the other night I heard her saying just that to me. 

This is our present book club read, I decided to down load a sample onto my kindle to see if I liked it. I didn't read the previous month's book, called 'The Durrells in Corfu', I didn't take to the a TV series and I didn't like the book either, so for once didn't read book club choice. 

So I thought I'd check this new book on my kindle ..it was reading nicely and decided I'd read the book in the morning and I settled down to sleep and was asleep in no time.  However, at just after 3:00 am, I was in the wide awake club, so picked up my kindle to read and carried on reading the Sample... then I got to the end of it, and it was so easy to press 'buy this book' from my comfy warm bed.  And yes that's when I heard my Aunty Glad's voice saying...more money than sense! I am enjoying the book!

Chrisxx

A lot to do...

 We have loads to do to get the garden straight before winter sets in.. we've planted new bulbs in pots, and the new rose in the garden. And the new front pots are planted up, we added some wall flowers in them, the scent in the ones last year was lovely as we opened the front door.

We've dug up the damson tree we brought with us from Suffolk, as it was a new one, but it has never fruited, altho it had some blossom last year but it never came to anything. So that one bed looks fairly tidy. But we have foxglove seedlings and aquilegia to plant, some weeding and the grass needs cutting one last time and two more flower beds to weed and tidy.

All we need is the 'umph' to get going, so perhaps tomorrow??

We did sweep the leaves from the front yesterday, we get a lot from the tall trees that border the school drive about 100 yards from us. Then popped out and bought a tub of yellow chrysanthemums and new pot, to have by the front door. 

It looks very bright and pretty and we felt we had done something.

Is your garden ready and tidy for winter?

Chrisxx

£20 bought happiness!

 My favourite film is 'The Bridges of Madison County' I read the book, bought a cassette tape, read by the author, Robert James Waller and bought the DVD.

Recently I wanted to listen to the tape, but couldn't remember where my cassette player was. Dh had an idea it was still in a drawer from when we moved 4 years ago. So off he went to look and it was in a drawer with some electronic bits, and wow, he also had the tape in the same drawer! With a new battery it worked! I was so pleased and sat with my head phones listening yesterday afternoon with some knitting.. cosy! 

Then he produced the DVD, but we remembered we'd got rid of the DVD player years ago, I was just a bit upset, but Dh looked up how much to rent it via Prime.. hardly any cost so we thought we could do that at the weekend.

I'd forgotten all about it... however then this morning (Friday) when I got up, Dh asked when I'd like to watch the DVD.. because when I'd gone to get ready for bed the night before, he'd looked at DVD player's on Amazon, and bought one, only £20, and it arrived at 8:00 am that morning!! He was so pleased he'd got it for me. So we've got out the other films we have and are going to watch some on those evenings, when the TV is rubbish!

Better get my tissues ready!!

Chrisxx

Was that move a brave one?

 It was very brave to buy that house, you're right Kirsty, but it appealed to me as soon as I stepped through that front  door.

After paying the costs to move I had less than £30 left in my every day account, and enough in my bill account for one month, altho I did have some money in savings account, but I had to give 3 months notice to withdraw some, so not easy. But I had to do something to change the way my life was, I was stressed and at my lowest ebb.

Why did that house appeal to me?

It had a good size hall, so it didn't feel small. 

A reasonable size garden, very important!!

An inside wall that wasn't joined to next door, for my beloved piano!

The road itself, all the houses had tidy front gardens so looked pretty.

And that was all I saw!! 

Against it .....It had a very small galley kitchen, it had false tudor style beams on the walls in the lounge/ dining room (ugh) a horrible dirty carpet, it smelt, and no double gazing, and it needed a good clean and a stained pink bathroom. It had dormer bedrooms with flat roofs, which the surveyor said would need replacing with a 18 months. I'd left a large house with 2 bathrooms and and her toilet and in perfect condition.  Was I mad buying it? It meant no mortgage, and I wouldn't have that job that I felt was making me ill. 

So I stepped out in faith.. that first night, two of my sons who had helped me move, bought fish and chips. then later the dog, Boysie  who I had then and I went to sleep, with boxes all around, but I was happy. 

I did no work that first week, but with my youngest son, we took the false beams off the walls, and bit by bit lifted the carpet and the awful dog pee soaked underlay and dumped it all outside.  He sawed the one work surface in the kitchen, to fit in the washing machine and the dishwasher and then I used their tops as work surfaces. I then painted the doors of the two wall cupboards and one base unit, a mellow yellow, as that's what a friend had going spare! It was lovely, I thought.

Then I did supply work, but only 4 days week, to allow me to get straight....  the garden first of course, I had loads of plants in pots and seeds.. it was May,  so nice gardening weather.  I saved the money after the bills and with no mortgage or endowment  to pay,  I had quite a bit. I gradually changed the windows and all the doors, had the walls plastered and sorted out the floors. I had an unexpectant a large tax rebate and so bought what I had always wanted, a raspberry pink carpet throughout downstairs, the hall, stairs and landing.. I had been there 2 years before I had that carpet and I was 60, so I had my pension.. 

Then in time I had a large extension, kitchen/ breakfast room, down stairs loo and new bathroom built.. plus the new roofs, on the dormer bedrooms. I redesigned the front garden, had paths and steps laid and enjoyed my home and garden. It took close on 5 years before it was really finished. 

 Pic is to show the carpet.. much later with Nell!

Parts of the new kitchen 

 

And the garden when I left there.

Not big, but just right for me at that time.

Chrisxx

The open road to???

  I had a message this week about someone  I used to know slightly years ago. He had gone missing after leaving his home and wife for work one morning and not heard of again. Not a trace of him even with country wide police searches.

It was assumed he had an accident and his body never found.

But I've learnt recently that he had gone to Australia and started a new life.. stranger than fiction? Cruel I think,  to leave someone and they always wonder what happened. How did he think his wife and family would cope. I didn't know him or his family that well. but if I had I think I'd have given him a piece of mind!

But one day I had an inkling as to what might have happened. I used to drive along lanes like these to work and on sunny mornings driving into the sunshine, I once had a feeling of driving and driving and driving, into the green leafy lane and escaping!! Where to? And where from?? Daft because I lived by myself, in my own beautiful house in the Essex town which I loved.

When I got home that night I phoned my best friend and after a long chat with her, I sat down and wrote my resignation letter!

I decided I'd down size... It wasn't an easy decision I earned a very good salary as Deputy, but I wasn't happy, so why was I doing something that was causing me stress. When I left that school I wasn't 60, so no retirement money and for a few months no wages. And living in a house, where one of my friends burst into tears when she saw it,  because it did indeed look pretty awful compared to the big house I left. But it was a life saver for me and became beautiful; I was working within weeks and I slowly changed that house with my  youngest son's help and after living there for 13 years it had tripled in price. 

It was a lovely house and I loved it, probably because it didn't just give me a home, but healed my mind. 

If you've ever felt like escaping from your life, you'll know how I felt that morning.

Chrisxx 

Such a naughty one or a pest.

 This naughty little fellow has been digging in our front lawn burying conkers! Just as we were leaving our home yesterday, Dh stopped me to look and there was the squirrel digging away! Do hope the conker doesn't grow, I don't really fancy a Horse Chestnut tree in my front garden. We've only ever seen him before in our the back,  skipping along our back fence.

But our neighbour in #15 has told us that, he had seen it going into #10,  as they live straight opposite,  so have a view from their kitchen window.

It seems, it is going in under the over hang of the roof, so probably into the roof space. #10 is being refurbished so the builder isn't there all the time. I know squirrels can be real pests, because a friend of mine had them take over her loft, and had to hire a marks man to shoot them!

I think our neighbour is getting in touch with the builder to inform him. Sad to think what I think is a cute little fellow, is a very big pest. We always check our roof over hang and have the gutters and the over hand cleaned regularly.

Chrisxx