Freezers and Sore Tongues !

Yet another week has flown by in a flurry of rain, sun and frost, seemingly all at random!

I had a Sainsburys delivery yesterday of bits and pieces of party food to put into the garage freezer and I've defrosted the kitchen freezer this morning in readiness for entertaining.  I don't really want to be darting out to the the garage in the cold to retrieve the Boxing Day food so intend to transfer it to the kitchen the day before.  I therefore need to make room!  We have been eating up the odds and ends this week and there is light at the end of the tunnel 😉

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I've had a sore tongue for the last week which has been pretty miserable.  I can see a tiny little ulcer on the tip and, boy, it's uncomfortable.  The pharmacy recommended Corsodyl mouthwash but it stings like billy-o so I can't use it.  Research suggests it can make things worse too.  Apparently some toothpastes can be an irritant if they contain sodium lauryl sulphate and one of mine does contain it, so I'm sticking to Sensodyne for now.  I'm not eating spicy food, not drinking alcohol etc Mr Google suggests low iron or B12 but my last blood test showed normal ferritin levels and I was told I'm not deficient in anything ??

Luckily, I have a dental check-up booked for tomorrow so I'll ask my dentist what he think is causing it.  Thank goodness we still have an NHS dentist.  I know many people don't.....

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It's the Chancellor's budget speech this afternoon.  My heart sinks.  What will she do now? At least we have the promise of Winter Fuel Payment this year.  Phew....

Take care.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Good Reads and the Christmas Spirit.....

 I have spent the last week catching up with chores, de-stressing and reading.....a LOT !

When I ordered Milly's latest book from the library, I expected a long wait but it came in pretty quickly.  Having just finished the Heidi Swain which Gill had sent me, it came at the opportune moment for a Christmas read.  The weather was foul; wet, wild and windy so it wasn't too much of a stretch to imagine it was snow falling, and to get into the bones of this book.  Oh I LOVED it!  If you get the chance, please do give it a go.  It drew me in to the characters in the first few pages and kept me gripped right to the end.  And a very satisfying end it was too 😊

I had also reserved another book: The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James and, when I went to pick it up, I also spotted Heidi Swain's Home For Christmas and nabbed that one too.  I have until December 11th to return them both so I think Amanda James first then the Heidi Swain......

I have 3 more Amanda James ones to read but I think I'll hold them back until Spring now that I'm in the Christmas/ dark days/ bad weather mode.

Are you into Christmas reading yet?

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When I visited the Hospice shop last week I could see that a box of my handmade Christmas cards were on display.  I have donated 35 so far and just 10 were left (after a week) so they are definitely selling......

The birthday cards too had almost sold out so the weekend has been spent making as many as I could during the daylight hours.  It gets so dark now and working at the kitchen table makes matching colours a little trickier than during the brighter days of Spring and Summer.

However, I now have another batch to drop off tomorrow making a total of 400 since March this year.  Woohoo! 😍

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Edit:

Samples for anyone interested 😉

Thanks so much for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Birthday: Freebies, Almost Freebies, and a Healthier Fridge !

 Getting older does, I found out last week, have some benefits 😀 I got several emails containing small gift vouchers or discounts from Hobbycraft. 

 I was sent a £5 voucher which I used to buy some pretty flowers for my charity cards.  They cost a total of £7.50 and I only paid £2.50.....

....and a pack of tiny crystal gems costing £2.80 only cost me 30p after using my £2.50 loyalty voucher.....

Even better was a FREE pack of grapes on my M & S Sparks App !  They were priced at £2.65 but cost me nothing 😀 We will enjoy some with our cheese and crackers for tea tonight.....

My fridge is looking a little healthier after last week's food delivery too. The Benecol spread and Cholesterol drinks are there because Gray had a phone call from the pharmacist (why not the GP???) to say that he has high cholesterol and needs statins to bring the numbers down.  After a bit of frank discussion, Gray decided that he didn't want to take even more medication than he's currently on, and will try to resolve it with his diet.  (And, yes, the Toblerone at the very top is his 🤯 )

I guess watching our diet will be beneficial for us both.  We've slipped into some poor habits lately, I'm ashamed to say, especially eating snacks in the evening 😒

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Thanks for popping in and do stay safe well and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Empty Fridges, Cupboards and Books....

 Gosh, it's been more than a week since I last posted 🤯 The reasons for this are varied, but  I've not felt 100% healthwise and there has been a lot of other stuff going on too.  I don't know why I've felt 'off''.  I did get my flu jab in the end last week when Gray went to the surgery for his and he asked if any more appointments would be released.  The nurse checked and found there was a cancellation at 5.10pm that day and I took it.  I don't think it was the jab which upset me, but for some reason I have felt particularly low and unsettled and have not slept particularly well all week.  My blood tests came back clear but there has been no further response from the surgery regarding how to feel better and I'm not sure how to get further help.  My IBS is still problematic despite careful, mindful eating, live yogurt consumption etc so I feel more than a bit fed up.  I had my 76th birthday on Saturday which made me feel remarkably old and decrepit! 

The day was spent quietly at home but we were invited to lunch on Sunday at our Daughter's house as I share my birthday with our son-in-law.  It was a lovely roast dinner but she was catering for 8 instead of 6 at a minute's notice and there was only room for 6 at the dinner table.  At least I didn't have to eat from a plate on my lap on the sofa !  We left around 6pm to give our Daughter a little breathing space (and a seat on the sofa!) She has her work cut out.....

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As I've felt a bit 'off' lately, I've taken my eye off the ball regarding the food shopping and store cupboard.  This was my fridge door yesterday....

Jams at the top, a little cheddar cheese and some butter and not much else 😱

The main compartment wasn't looking much better either.  Sauces at the top, Vimto for visiting teens, butter, spread, a bit of grated cheese in the tub and some veg in the bottom drawer.

I found carrots, onions, tomatoes and 2 baking potatoes;  enough there for some delicious soup....

The cupboard where I keep my tinned stuff is almost bare too, just like Mother Hubbard's.  The basket on the right contains bags of flour and about a quarter of a packet of dried mixed fruit.  There is just one sachet left in the cup-a-soup box. And, yes, the two half bottles on the left are alcohol! One is brandy to put in coffee on a cold day and the other is rum to put into the Galaxy hot chocolate.  This size bottle lasts us easily 6 months, I promise 😉

I really need to get my head together and start re-stocking from now until Christmas.  I don't like being this low on supplies.  I do have food in the freezer though.  There are boxes of home grown beans, squash, apples, raspberries, rhubarb etc as well as a few batch cooked meals so we won't actually starve if we're snowed in, but I'm sure prices will be creeping up even more in the run up to Christmas.

Are you busy stocking up now?  

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As I've been trying to relax more, I've done more reading than usual.  I had a book reservation come in so read that first as I could only have it for 2 weeks loan.  I love anything based in Cornwall, especially North Cornwall which we love and Fern's book didn't disappoint.....

I've now begun the new Heidi Swain which was very kindly sent to me by a lovely blog buddy.  It's got a wonderful, cosy Autumnal vibe about it, perfect for this season.  Thank you, Gill, I'm thoroughly enjoying it....

Are you feeling below par now that the weather has turned cold and wet?  Or are you basking in the warmth of a sunny Spring day perhaps?

Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

I'm a Numpty ........ & Card Samples

 Thank you for all the comments on my last post.  I must confess that I just haven't had time to reply to any of them, although I have read and appreciate every single one of them.  

Update:  No.... I didn't get my flu jab yet.  There was a big queue in the little pharmacy and I didn't have time to wait.  I'll try again another day.

No....I didn't get my bus pass renewed either...Gray mentioned that his pass didn't expire until 2026 so I checked mine again. Uh oh...mine expires on November 1st 2026 !!

What a numpty I am 😖At least I didn't embarrass myself at the library!

Gray did need to renew his driving licence though.  I had done mine about a month ago quite easily online so he decided to try it.  Oh my gosh, what a nightmare!  They have changed the whole process and it took AN HOUR to jump through all the hoops, even to setting up facial recognition by scanning a QR code, downloading an App etc  We were really uncomfortable doing this.  We checked for https and the little padlocks to check it was secure at every stage but I feel really uncomfortable about all this.  We now have to await the arrival (or not!) of his new licence.

Has anyone else had experience of this new system?  Is this the way we are heading for anything official?

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On a lighter note, I took another batch of cards to the Hospice shop yesterday, making a total of 350 including 30 Christmas cards to see how they sell.  The shop manager is planning to display them next month in their new Christmas setting....

A sample below:

These 'knitting' cards sell well so I keep adding a few to each batch....

These cards for men were made using the Hunkydory club gift but I always add extra little touches to make them more appealing...

The Christmas cards were also made using the Hunkydory club gift from a while ago.  The 3D poinsettia flowers were die cut and hand assembled by me ....

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On top of everything else, my back has been decidedly dodgy over the last few days.  I've had the all-too-familiar 'electric shock' feeling when bending down to pick something up or when leaning over to brush my teeth.  Painkillers have helped to take the edge off the ache and I'm hoping it will all subside once again over the next few days 🤞

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Thanks for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Bedtime Reading, Bus Pass and Flu Jab.....

Thank you to everyone who left kind and considerate comments on the loss of my sister's husband of almost 65 years.  She will find it hard....

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I seem to be so busy at the moment that my reading has taken a back seat.  I'm so busy making cards for the shop that I only get to read at bedtime, so I try to be in bed for10.30pm and allocate half an hour to read and wind down before sleep.  At the moment I'm reading this....

It is one of two books which were sent to me by a lovely, kind, blog buddy and I'm enjoying it immenseley.  It's a gentle, uplifting read, perfect for bedtime.  Thank you, Gill 🤗

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Tomorrow is allocated to trying to renew my bus pass, which will expire on my birthday in just over a week's time.  I think I can do it at the village library so have crossed my fingers that I am able do it there.  It will be a right pain otherwise.

Then I intend to pop into the pharmacy and ask if they are doing flu jabs this year at a drop in.  Our surgery is doing them but they only had one appointment left and I let Gray have it.  His need is greater than mine! Cowardice has nothing to do with it 😉

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That's all for now...

Thanks for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be.

Sending hugs to everyone who needs one 🫂🫂🫂

Angie 💗

A Trip, a Random Act of Kindness and a Gift....

 On Wednesday, the day before our wedding anniversary, we fancied a day out and decided to visit Bantock Park in Wolverhampton.  It's not too far from home and has free parking, which is always a bonus.  Although the house wasn't open to the public on that day, we had a lovely brisk walk around the gardens and then treated ourselves to a pot of tea in the cafe.  The upper level of the cafe was obviously part of the original house and it has a wonderful fireplace.  Possibly Art Nouveau?  I always get confused between Art Deco and Art Nouveau!

The day was quite mild and pleasant so we took another short walk before heading home and found these Rhododendrons still in full flower, albeit in a sheltered spot.....

On a bench by the cafe Graham spotted this tiny crocheted doll with a handwritten note to say to take her home if we wanted to and to share on Random Acts of Crochet Kindness,  Facebook? Insta ? I'm not sure 😄She certainly made us smile so we left her there for someone else to find....

When we got home our daughter had pushed a card and some chocolate through the door and also left some flowers on my car.  It was a shame we missed her but she said she wasn't feeling at all well and didn't want to pass the bugs to us......

I placed a single bloom in the bathroom for a bit of cheery colour during these dark days....

It turns out that our daughter either has a really bad cold or possibly Covid  😰so she was wise not to pass it on.  She is feeling quite rough, even today, three days later...

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We had a bit of sad news on Thursday.  My brother-in-law passed away on Wednesday afternoon.  He had been ill for some time and, in fact, the prognosis back in May was 4 - 6 weeks when he was sent home from hospital.  I'm fairly sure I mentioned it at the time so he has had extra time to be with his family.  It's still sad because my sister lives so far away that I can't help her 😢

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Thanks for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗