28-02-25

Morning!  How is life treating you at the moment?   
It's clear out here and there is a slight frost on the roofs but the forecast is really good for today - sunshine this morning and semi-sunshine this afternoon and up to about 8 or 9 C.  Long may it continue!

Yesterday was just lovely.  A great chat with Chris, another lovely time with Val and a nice, restful evening.  Just one of those pleasant days.

Bubbles is not living up to its name at all although, to be fair, it's early days.  Just not doing anything so I've moved it into the living room where it's a fair bit warmer.  Hopefully, the sunshine will provide a warmer environment.  Fingers crossed.

Today starts with Slimming World and my burning question is will I or won't I get back into target range?  I have no idea, I've avoided my scales all week.  I won't mind if I don't but it would be nice to finish off the month with that.

I plan to do some washing today - make the most of the sunshine - and I need to plan next week's meals before going shopping tomorrow morning - which reminds me; I want to do an early morning shop so my post will be closer to mid-morning.

I must just close the month's accounts (so to speak) and update next month's with any small amount left over.  

And if the sun continues to shine, the garden is calling a bit.

Just a nice day really.
And you . . .?  xx

27-02-25

Good morning again, everyone.  Welcome to the last but one day of February.  In a couple of days, Spring officially starts (unless you go with the astronomical date rather than the meteorological date, in which case it is not until March 20th).

It was a funny old mix yesterday - cold (boo) and with spells of sunshine punctuated by heavy downpours that, thankfully, didn't last long.  Definitely not a day for line drying so I got out my rack and dried my sheets that way.  A shame, because they are so much nicer when dried in the fresh air but it won't be long now.

I got downstairs all cleaned and dusted, changed my sheets (thank goodness) and generally had quite a busy morning.  I think I might have done around ten minutes of weed scraping but down came the rain so in went I!  And I dealt with ten items of clutter.  Yay!

The sourdough starter (now officially named Bubbles because real sourdough bakers seem to name their starters and I can pretend), is still alive - one past attempt resulted in a horrible mouldy mess around five days in - and smells healthy.  Not many bubbles yet but it seems that the early days can be quite quiet.
My fingers are crossed and my confidence not very high yet.  :-)

Today is busy but nice-busy.

I'm doing just one section of SET this morning, the Strike part which is very energising and warming.  Then I need to make sure everything is in order for lunch as Val is coming over, after which I am over at Chris' for out usual coffee and chat - lovely.

Then I'm home and finishing lunch, Val will arrive and we can have a good old catch up.

Should be a very pleasant day indeed.  I hope yours is too.  xx

26-02-25

Morning again, one and all.  W have s frost and a pink sky which looks pretty but you know what they say . . .

Yesterday was nice.

I started off a sourdough starter (yet again) and fingers are crossed.  Wish it luck!  It won't go to waste - there's loads of things one can make with starter - crumpets, pancakes, etc . . . 
Even if I have no faith in my ability to make bread with sourdough, I know I can make some of these because I have already done so.  :-)
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/ideas-using-sourdough-starter

There's loads more sourdough specific info out there since my last attempts.  YouTube is good for things like this.  So I spent some of yesterday 'researching' - aka watching videos!!

I also got my normal loaf made.  I say 'normal' - it is a lovely mix of wholemeal wheat, rye and spelt flours with some strong white plus mixed seeds and, if I have any, flavoured oil.  It's so delicious, it really is!  Sometimes I use a tin and sometimes it is freeform bloomer style.  I cool, slice and freeze to get it out of temptation's way.

Ray popped round at lunch time.  He got the door back on the cupboard, sorted out the curtain rail and screwed the light switch back in (I did try that last but couldn't get one screw to 'catch' and didn't want to take the cover off).
We had a little talk about the tops of my sideboards.  He said it is definitely something I could tackle myself and talked me through it.  He also said to watch some videos on - guess where . . .  :-)
I will have a go at one of my coffee tables that is badly marked - it won't be the end of the world if I make a mess of it and I have three of them to practise on before tackling my better quality and considerably more expensive sideboards.
I think I need to add that to my goals for 2025, don't I?

What with Groove and a pleasant walk there and back, plus a load of washing that dried on the line and is now dry, ironed and waiting to be put away, yesterday was a pretty good day . . .

Today is a homey sort of day.  I have Val coming round for lunch tomorrow so want to give downstairs a going over and tidy up.  I need to check I have all the ingredients for what I want to make.  I REALLY need to change my sheets, get them washed, etc.  And I ought to think about Saturday's shopping list - I'm paying Sainsburys a rare visit because I want to get a few of their products and I can top up with petrol at the same time - new month = petrol top up!  And I might just possibly see if they have any new season clothing in.  That's not until Saturday though!

There was something else I wanted to do . . . oh, yes - ten minutes weed scraping.  lol

Have a lovely Wednesday, everyone.  Be happy and stay warm and dry.  xx

25-02-25

 Good morning, everyone.  Only four more days and February is done and dusted and we are a sixth of the way through the year (sorry!).

For your interest, here's the link to the Five Lakes web site.  
https://www.pottersresorts.com/five-lakes/

Also, the September (next year) Spain group is fully booked so it's definitely on, assuming Armageddon hasn't landed before then!  Let's live in hope, guys!!

Yesterday was yet another pretty idle day.  I did a few bits and bobs as we all do but nothing out of the way.  I did, however, notice that, with the rise in temperature, those weeds are fighting back so, weather permitting, it is back to ten minutes scraping a day!

I have washing and ironing today, I ought to change the bedding and the day starts with the groove class.  The forecast is good so, fingers crossed, Chris and I will walk there and back again.
Also, I think I want to make another loaf today.  I still have about four slices in the freezer b I just fancy a bit of bread making.
I think I want to have another go at sourdough.  I never manage to crack this; it's made out to be so easy but I find it just doesn't work for me.  Still, never give up . . .  
Do you make sourdough?

Have a good day, everyone and enjoy everything you do.  xx

24-02-25

Morning, everyone.  It's a very wet start to the day round here.  Not cold though and not much wind, so that's OK, but I doubt I will be venturing out voluntarily and certainly not without the car!

Yesterday was nicer, in the morning at least.  However, after the usual bustle of meal prep, getting stuff ready for the day, etc, I had the most laid back and lazy day ever.  I didn't do the ironing, I didn't wash any more clothes - and it was really nice.

Today starts with circuits as always, before sorting out down stairs and all the other Monday stuff.  And, again, that's about it.  Having said that, in a fortnight I'll be going with a crowd of Lindsey's clients and friends/family to Five Lakes Potters for probably the last ever fitness and fun weekend there so I ought to start thinking about what I want to take.  Not many days but fitness classes, day wear and evening wear.  

Have a lovely day and stay dry!  xx

23-02-25

Good morning, everyone.  Sending Sunday greetings to you all.  We have sunshine here, as we did yesterday afternoon.  I really should have pegged my washing out but not to worry, they got fresh air anyway.

It's really nice to have everything back in place again.  The photo doesn't show the wall colour at all well, it is much brighter and peachier than that and the plants look great against it.

And look - I haven't killed the amaryllis that a friend gave me for Christmas as a bulb in a pot.  I need to find out what I can do with it once the flower does.  Dad used to keep them for years but then he had a greenhouse and knew what he was doing!!

It didn't take long for me to feel 100% again yesterday and, after the initial bustle and organising, I had a lovely, easy day. 
I'm knitting little things that I can pop in the Sally Army dropping off point - things like fingerless gloves, etc - until I decide on a new project.  I have a few ideas but most of them involve blankets and I have loads of blankets, not that this has ever stopped me before!!

Today, here's nothing in the diary so I am having another nice, easy day.  I have some ironing and will perhaps do another load of washing and I want to do my ten item decluttering but that's about it really.  Nice.

Take care, stay safe and have a really lovely day, everyone.  xx

22-02-25

Morning, one and all, and welcome to the weekend!  It's so mild I'm feeling a bit too warm in my hoodie and my fingers haven't felt icy for at least twenty four hours, probably longer.  We have had rain but it does look as if the sun is trying to break through right now.  I don't hold out much hope though as the forecast is really not great.

Lindsey posted a link to the website of the Old Spanish Mill.  It looks really lovely.   https://www.oldspanishmill.com/
And . .  my dear friend, Diane is going in September too.  I'm so very, very pleased.  xx

Yesterday felt quite busy because I had a mental list of Things To Do.

I was pleased to have lost another pound at Slimming World and even more pleased to win the raffle which was one of the better ones - just loads of vegetables - cabbage, carrots, onions, leeks and chestnut mushrooms.  All things I like and will use.

After a quick revision of my shopping list, I went to Morrisons and I think that I am OK now until March 1st (or the day before and count it as March because of time restraints) except for fresh milk.  I do have some long life milk so I think I will use that and freeze some of it so as not to waste any.

Once home and everything put away, I did my end of month finance reckoning.  Yes, I know it isn't the end of the month yet but all my money for next month is now in and all my regular outgoings are now outgone so why not.  I allowed enough for any unexpected extras and chucked the rest into the Jolly Holiday's account.  Edinburgh is now saved for and I've started on Crete!  That's a biggie!

The vertical blinds weights arrived and now I have fully repaired blinds for the first time in ages.  It was a bit fiddly at first but you get used to it quickly.

I swept and dusted, prepped the evening meal, set the table, tidied the kitchen . . . oh, you get the idea.

Dave and Anna arrived, bottles in bag, and we started in on the first one which was a really nice sparkling red, fruity and delicious, from Naked Wines.
It was a lovely evening, lots of chatter and discussion, plenty of food and drink . . . just really nice.

Not going to lie (as the YouTubers say), this morning I woke feeling more than a little rough, all self inflicted, of course.  One coffee and a kitchen blitz later, the head is clearing and I want another coffee.
There's enough of the potato topped chicken pie to do me for this evening with loads of lovely veg, c/o the raffle, I have frozen the last bit of sauce in hopes that it will freeze ok and not split or anything and just before I started writing this, I turned the leftover cream into 112g of home made butter (now freezing in little piles) and some buttermilk that can go in the next loaf I make.
The dishwasher is loaded and working its magic, as is the washing machine.

However, I do NOT mean to carry on as I have started.  I want to have a more restful day today, I just needed to sort out last night's debris and now I have, more or less.

OK, so I will pop off and make that coffee.  Have a brilliant Saturday, everyone, and I hope weather and real-life are both kind to you today.  All the best.  xx