A little easy DIY

We're updating  the play room this weekend, while the world outside blows a gale!
Man Wonderful took to the toys and sorted through everything that needed passing on to the charity shop, while I took down and laundered the curtains and took down the lampshade - also ready to pass these on to the wonderful charity shop.
Man Wonderul was then tasked with wiping down all the surfaces while I measured the window for our "new" curtains.
I say "new" curtains, for those who don't know me, as I don't like anything "new"!
In actual fact, the two curtains I made for the window in the play room were made out of one long curtain that I originally made ?20 years ago for the first house we lived in together...that had then been altered to be a door curtain for Gorgeous Daughter for her house for a few years...but anyhow..

So the two new curtains are sewn and up, and I am currently finishing the "new" lampshade for the room to match the curtains - again from some of the same fabric, but this time hand embroidered using simple sewing thread to add a little interest, and two lampshade metal rounds.
And the room is transformed.

Updated - not babyish anymore!

My corner

My corner is my space to sit, next to the little coffee table for my cup, iPad, phone or knitting. 
It's in the lounge, where I can see the whole room, into the next and out of the window.
My corner is where I sit with my legs up and read to the grandchildren, read parts of the paper or funny things from the Internet aloud to Man Wonderful, or read the kindle to myself.  It's where I flick through the TV remote and decide to watch or record, it's where I sit and chat to MW, Gorgeous Daughter or a friend or two on the sofa opposite. 
It's where I chat on the phone.


My corner is where I feel comfortable, where I sit with a cuppa at the end of the day and where I start to relax and unwind. 
It's where I'm sat writing to you today.

Do you have a special place that you choose to sit? Why is it special?

Saturdays

What do you do on a Saturday?
It's the first day in the week here where the alarm clock doesn't go off and we get to snooze!
Mind you, my brain is set at waking up at the same time - usually 6.30-7 - so I still get up, but instead of thinking about whether one of us is needed to be ready for something, I can quietly potter and put the heating on before snuggling up on the sofa with the dog and catching up on something from the week or watching a repeat of Frasier.
Today we met up with the kids and had a  relaxed lunch at the local shopping centre 
while the little ones played. We have a storm threatened which is possibly why the centre was unusually quiet for a Saturday.
I decided to cook dinner from what we already had in, and this turned out to be a Quorn Korma using frozen onion and broccoli I'd saved over the last few weeks as well as 
mushrooms from the fridge and a sweet 
potato. (Do you keep mushrooms in the fridge or is it just me?)
This was delicious.
This evening is film night.
Feet up, knitting out and a glass -or two -of wine.
Tomorrow I have a delightful afternoon of 
crafting before hosting a roast meal for the 
family - this makes me feel like a 'proper' mamma!
What do you do that is different on a Saturday?

Let Down

Going Gently is one of the blogs I like to read.
Today it was about how we manage when a friend lets us down, because carrying around bad feeling is not great.
I must admit this hit a nerve with me as very recently I've been let down by a friend and I'm feeling - well, pretty angry if I'm honest..
The 'let down' cost me money and while I still want the friendship, I'm thinking over just how balanced it actually is.
I think that friendships work best if they are as equal as possible - with one side not having to give out more than the other.
Where there is a let down and the other side is unaware of the anger..hmm. It makes you think.
At the present this friendship is not something I'm happy about at all.
Your thoughts?

Sometimes the bad guy wins

I love my daily dose of Frasier, and today this quote was particularly poignant.

Marty Crane: For God's sake, Frasier, you're forty-one years old - it's time you learned something. The system ain't perfect - sometimes the bad guy wins. And all those things you thought would be around to help you, the courts and the police department - well, sometimes, they're just not there when you need them, so you can let it eat a hole in your stomach or you can just file it away under the heading "Sometimes life sucks."

Is there a Winter bug going around?

I ventured out today for a short walk to the local shop.
Doesn't sound much, does it?
What I neglected to mention is that I've been laid incredibly low with some kind of 'bug' - the like of which I wouldn't wish on another human.
No, seriously!
Well - unless they wanted to lose a large amount of weight very quickly, and almost every ounce of their energy. Then they would be welcome to it!

Is there such a 'bug' going around?
(If you are of nervous disposition, don't read the paragraph below...it contains details..)

We enjoyed a lovely late supper last Tuesday of lemon and spinach rice, and snuggled down to sleep with no issues.
Then in the early hours I woke feeling really sick - like you 
did when you were a little kid. I only just managed to get to the bathroom in time. Over the course of the next 12 hours, I had episodes of .. well, vomitty redecoration .. and interspersed with nightmarish fever-y sleeping. Thankfully this eased off by mid-afternoon and I was able to start sipping and keeping down water.
However, in the middle of the night, again I woke up feeling awful, and only just managed to get to the bathroom in time for .. redecoration of the other type. Luckily we can purchase 
medication for this .. event .. and we had some in our med 
cupboard. This .. event .. kept going on and on over the next 12 hours. 
D & V.
Yuk.

Day 3, 4 & 5 I've just been sipping water and eating tiny scraps of food. No further events.

Day 6 is today.
I weighed myself this morning.
Since day 1 I've dropped 10 pounds!!!
That's 4.5 kg!
Desperate for fresh air, I managed to walk with Man Wonderful to the shop. 
It's a corner shop. I even had to use a bloody supermarket trolley to lean on to walk around it! We only went for the air (and to buy a cauliflower, obvs, like you do).
Is this a "normal" bug that's going around??
Have I picked up scurvy??
Has anyone else been ill like this?

N.B. I don't have any 'flu-like' symptoms, I had my flu jab in October and haven't had a cold or anything. 

In better news, I hope to keep the weight loss off, and have caught up with a bit of knitting and reading. 

Eating well but cheaply

It's that time of year again - just past the expense of Christmas (how fast did that go?!!) and into the 'healthy eating' genre of the New Year.
If you are like most folks, you will want to eat healthily while keeping an eye on the pennies.
We are old hands at this so I thought I'd share my tips for getting through the next few weeks.

First, make a list of exactly what you have.
Meal plan from these resources - if that means one meal could be pancakes because you have flour, sugar and milk, then that is still a meal without spending more pennies.
The meals I was able to plan from resources we already have are:

    Mushroom risotto ....  garlic clove, rice, stock cube, mushrooms, dried herbs

    Fish pie ...  Frozen fish, frozen spinach, onion, eggs, flour, stock, potatoes

    Pasta ... gf pasta, tinned tomatoes,  chilli powder

    Veggy burgers ... carrots, onion, borlotti beans, cumin, flour

    Jacket potatoes ... spuds, baked beans

    Lemon and spinach rice ... Lemon juice, rice, frozen spinach, stock cube


The meals above are fairly easy to make.
Once we have gone through the week, we will eat healthy meals from our next plan and I will too up the store cupboard again.

One thing I do which you might think is a bit weird, is plan and prepare for Christmas all year long.
This means that I have a Christmas cupboard that I add to as we go through the year - it might be that I see something reduced 'that will do' as a gift; more that I make items and pop them in the cupboard ready for gifting in December.
If you are feeling the pinch, why not think about planning for Christmas from now, like me?

What else would be a good thing to do?