Monday!!!

We've had a nice peaceful weekend and got rid of some of the Christmas clutter. The cards have been taken down and put into a box with the few cards I had left from the ones we sent, the Christmas village has been dismantled, packed away and gone back upstairs.There is now just the tree which will come down at the weekend after DD's birthday and that will be it for another year.
I was ready for it all to go away on Boxing Day but I didn't want to seem like a killjoy.

Today I have had a little potter about doing housey things and when I had had enough of that I started kitting up some cross stitch projects. Fabric has been cut and zig zag stitched to stop it falling apart as I sew and threads have been chosen. If I get a chance I may start stitching tonight or I may have a sort out on one of my USB sticks and make some space to store my downloaded charts as last night I purchased a whole magazine in PDF format and it's quite a big file. I'll see what I feel like doing after tea.

We'll be having salad for our evening meal. I think I have gone off cooked meals for a while as yesterday I did pork chops with all the trimmings and I barely ate half of mine. I enjoyed the tuna sandwich we had at tea time much more....so light and simple for a few days now.
DD has a long shift to work on New Year's Day so I am just doing a buffet style tea....again with salad. I'll make some scotch eggs and vol au vents and put out a cheese board and that will do us.

Right....I had best go and do some chopping and slicing.
Hope you've all had it lovely day.....we've had bright sunshine and very blue skies.
Sheila-x-

So Long Turkey!!!

The last of the turkey has been sliced, wrapped and tucked away in the freezer for future meals and it may be a good while until it sees the light of day again. I certainly can't face any more of it for the foreseeable future.
Today we are having good old sausages and tomatoes with some crusty bread.

DD and I have been into the little town for a small top up shop and I was surprised at how quiet it was both on the roads and in the shops. Mind you we don't have any big stores really so I expect anyone sale shopping is out at the big retail parks in Stoke or Derby.....and they are welcome to that. There is nothing I want or need at the moment.

We are having another nice quiet evening and have no plans to go anywhere or do anything in particular tomorrow. We'll just take the day as it comes.
Have a lovely weekend.
Sheila-x-

Back To Normal Today!!!

It's just Andy and I at home today. DD is back at work and when she comes in it will just be a quick change and out again as she is going to spend the night at The Doodles while DDIL's sister is still here.
Andy has been out this morning and taken the rest of the stuff that needed going to the recycling centre from the old house. Tomorrow the keys will be handed back and it will be off their hands.
They are settling into their new house beautifully.

I am doing laundry....when am I not....lol.....and in between loads I am browsing Etsy shops for downloadable cross stitch charts to buy with the money DD gave me for Christmas. I'll get them printed off and then kitted up ready for stitching.
They will all be Christmas projects as they are my absolute favourites to stitch.

Having looked at the tv guide for tonight I think we may well have to dig around in our DVD's for something to watch while we have a simple tea of cheese, crackers and pickles.

To finish the day I will go up for a bath and use some of the gorgeous Sanctuary Spa goodies I got for Christmas.

I hope you are having a lovely day today.
Sheila-x-

I Must Have Blinked!!!

My word....that went by in a flash didn't it?

We have had a lovely couple of days.....Christmas Eve with our gorgeous Doodle family, breakfast cooked by DS and then the sheer joy of watching our girls open their gifts from us.
We also opened our gifts from them and everything was absolutely smashing.
By contrast yesterday was very quiet with Just Andy, DD and I at home. I was up very early to get the monster turkey fillet in the oven (it was gorgeous) and after lunch spent a good couple of hours on the sofa......they say I snored......I think they tell porkies.....lol.
Today is much the same....just us three and we have all just done our own thing. There is leftover ham and turkey, a bowl of salad and some crusty rolls for tea and I am really looking forward to that. It will be nice to just have the oven on for ten minutes for the rolls instead of the six hours it was on yesterday.

Thank you so much for the comments left over the last couple of posts.
I hope you are all enjoying a peaceful Boxing Day.
Sheila-x-

Merry!!!

Well....it's here.

Happy Christmas to you all.

I hope it is all you wish it to be.

Hugs

Sheila

-x-

Traumatised!!!

Oh my goodness....it was bedlam out there this morning. I had almost lost the will to live by the time I had been bashed by the fifth trolley of the morning.
I was there at quite a reasonable time and managed to get the salad stuff but T***o should hang their heads in shame at the state of the iceberg lettuce they were selling.....60p for something that looked like it should already be on the compost  heap. I opted for the Little Gem instead which looked far fresher.

The ham is now roasting away in the oven. Usually I would boil it before skinning it and roasting it for half an hour or so but it wouldn't fit in my big stock pan so it has to be completely roasted. I'm sure it will be fine.
The turkey fillet is resting in the fridge until Christmas morning when I shall have to be up at the crack of a sparrer's do dah to get it in the oven if we hope to eat at lunch time rather than tea time. I wasn't expecting it to be so big but it does mean lots of lovely leftovers for Boxing Day and sandwiches for the rest of the week. I'd rather have turkey cold.

DD has been at work since 5am and I don't know what time she will be finishing.....it could be 5pm or it could be 7pm but at least when she does finish she has three days off.
Tomorrow morning we will spend some time with The Doodles and then the rest of Christmas is just us three and the telly.....or a box set if there's nothing on we fancy.....and there may well be a box of Thornton's on top of the fridge which I shouldn't be eating but I am going to....lol.

Have a wonderful day.
Sheila-x-

Still Lots To Do!!!

Thank you all for your comments on Friday's post.

Golly I shall be glad to lock the doors on Christmas Eve night. Nobody will come in and nobody will be going out until it's all over and thank goodness for that.
There still seems to be an awful lot to do but I'll get a few things ticked off the list today once I have put a chilli on to cook for our meal tonight. I had planned a lighter meal but Andy threw a spanner in the works and requested the chilli but I think I'll pass on it and maybe have egg on toast or something.
There are still gifts to wrap so I'll try and finish that today and then tomorrow Andy will pick up the turkey and ham. The ham will need to be cooked for our traditional Christmas Eve meal and then I will need to go out and get the fresh stuff in.....I refuse to go into town on Tuesday.

Hope you are all having a good weekend.
Sheila-x-

I Wish It Would Stop Raining!!!

Another day of miserable rain.
At this time of year I would like sharp frosty mornings with a little sunshine but instead it is grey, murky, muddy and wet.
No wonder I am not feeling Christmassy in the slightest.
My plans for a nice relaxing weekend after jobs have been done are scuppered and tomorrow I will be having visitors that I hadn't planned on so I need to sort out a meal for them.
I wouldn't mind if he (BiL) had phoned earlier in the week to say he was coming but he dumped it on me about two minutes after I got out of bed this morning.
The gift wrapping I was going to do today won't all get done now as I will have to go out and do a bit of shopping for the meal and the cleaning I was going to do tomorrow will have to be done today.
Sorry.....moan over 😒

Andy is out this morning helping to move the last of the stuff from The Doodles old house to the new and taking things to the recycling centre. Once he gets back he will have to take me out and I think we may well treat ourselves to lunch or a coffee and take a bit of a breather.

Right.....I am off to put me big girl pants on and get cracking....lol.
Have a wonderful day.
Sheila-x-

Two Proud Grandmas!!!

I am so glad I got to go and see Marlowe in her first nativity play yesterday. It was absolutely lovely. 
I take my hat off to the teachers who must have worked so hard to co-ordinate a large group of three to five year old's into such a wonderful performance.
Marlowe knew all the words and actions to the songs and looked extremely cute in her little sheep costume.
Two very proud Grandmas left with not very dry eyes.

Afterwards I walked down into town to meet up with DD and after a much needed coffee we smashed the last of the shopping list. We didn't get home until well after 6pm but at least it's done now until I go and pick up the fresh stuff at the weekend.

Today I need to repack all of the large storage boxes I emptied to loan to The Doodles for moving. All of the stuff is piled on the landing so it really needs tidying away.
Then I need to sort out and launder the small quilts I am donating to a collection at DD's work for the dogs home.
There are other jobs on the list so I will be keeping busy for the day.

Hope you are all enjoying your Christmas preparations.
Have a lovely day.
Sheila-x-

A Misty, Murky Morning!!!

It's proper 'orrible outside this morning....damp, misty and cold.
I really didn't fancy going out so Andy has been dispatched to pick up some fresh salad for tea tonight. There is a small list of things I need to get for Christmas but I will tackle that this afternoon.

When we dropped Ruby off last night I got a lovely surprise invitation to go and see Marlowe in her first nativity play this afternoon.
I didn't think I would be able to go as only two tickets are allowed. Luckily they are doing two performances so Mummy and Daddy will go this morning and London Grandma and I get to go to the second one. We are both very happy about that.
Once we are finished I'll call DD to come and pick me up and we'll go and kill this shopping list.

This morning I need to find and wrap the London gifts so that they can be handed over today and this evening DD and I will make a start on the rest.

Have a lovely day whatever you are doing.
Sheila-x-

Lovely!!!

.....and they are in 😀

I paid a quick visit last night to drop off tea and had a quick tour of the new house. It is really lovely and on first sight there is so much more room than at their old house.....even with all the boxes piled in the lounge/diner.
Andy has gone back this morning to help move the rest of their belongings from the old house and then they can get on with the business of settling in.

Meanwhile....here at Tea Towel Mansion I am having a bit of a declutter of the dresser cupboards as there is way to much stuff in them.
I'll more than likely find a few more jobs to do to keep me occupied until Ruby gets here for tea later.

Hope you all have a lovely day.
Sheila-x-

Moving Day!!!

Well the keys to the new house should have been picked up by now and the first load of furniture will be going into the moving van shortly.
I feel a little guilty that I am not down there helping but to be honest with the state of my back I would be more of a liability than a help. I have to be honest though and say that I am going to enjoy Andy being out of the house for a while as I never have any time on my own since he retired and I miss it badly.
I shall enjoy some time in the kitchen this morning then this afternoon I may treat myself to a nice bath and some gift wrapping until it's time to feed everyone.
I can't wait to see the new house....it looked stunning on the estate agents website.

We had a fabulous time with Marlowe over Saturday and part of Sunday. She was as good as gold.
Her new decoration....a very glittery gingerbread man.....has been hung on the tree and is twinkling beautifully.
She says she would like to come again but would like to stay.....forever.....lol.

Anyhoo....onions to chop and meat to brown so I'll go and get that done first befoe I tackle my least favourite job of peeling potatoes.

Have a wonderful day.
Sheila-x-

Off It!!!

I've had an odd couple of days feeling not quite myself....not ill but just that flopsadopsical feeling again but I seem to be getting over it now.
A good job too as we have our little Miss Firecracker here with us for the night tomorrow through until mid morning Sunday. We are taking her out to Trentham Gardens to see the lights and decorations and to let her choose a decoration to put on our tree. We'll treat her to lunch out and let her choose a little pre-Christmas gift just as we do with Ruby.
If we had been able to have her last weekend she would have been able to stay longer but Sunday she will be off out on a surprise trip with the rest of The Doodles before they move house on Monday.

Andy will be going down to help load up the moving van on Monday morning and I will be staying home to cook for them so that they don't even have to think about it. I shall make a cottage pie with some veg that can be reheated and a jug of gravy. Hopefully it will hit the spot after a busy day.

The job list is getting a bit shorter.
One quilt finished and ready for wrapping and all of the cards have been written and most have been delivered.
The kitchen is still waiting for it's good scrub down but plenty of time for that after Tuesday when Ruby will be here for her tea for the last time this year.

Right I had best get to bed as I shall need my strength tomorrow.

Have a fabulous weekend.
Sheila-x-

A Mixed Bag Of A Day Today!!!

I seem to have got a little behind with my jobs this week so today I will be doing lots of little things to try and catch up.

First up I need to sew around the quilt and clip the edges to make a rag finish, wash and dry it to fluff the edges up and then it can be packed ready to give.
Andy is just picking me up some colour catcher as the quilt has a lot of red in it which is notorious for running and I don't want any mishaps at this late stage.

Laundry....there is always laundry to be done.

A quick clean round in the kitchen. I'll do the deep clean in there next week.

Squirrel some stuff away upstairs as Ruby will be here today and I don't want her seeing anything she shouldn't.
While I am up there I need to empty a couple more of our big storage boxes so that The Doodles can borrow them for packing.

Tonight I will get the few cards written on that we send. Most are hand delivered so that can be Andy's job for tomorrow.

One lot of drying has just finished so I'll go and sort that out and put another lot in and another wash on and then I think it might be time for coffee.

Have a happy day.
Sheila-x-

Spoiled Mums!!!

Well....I am still absolutely flabbergasted that DDIL spoiled her Mum and me so much last night.
I thought we would do the same as last year and go to Wetherspoon's in the little town so I was a little puzzled when she headed the car in a completely different direction and completely shocked when she turned the car into the drive of Weston Hall  near Stafford. 
We have traveled past there many times and I have always wondered what it was like and now I know that it is absolutely the most beautiful place I have ever eaten in my life. It must be lovely there any time of year but visiting when it was decked out for Christmas....wow what a treat.
The food was beautiful, the staff were wonderful and I could have sat in the lounge drinking coffee for a week...it was so cosy and comfortable.
A lovely evening I shall remember for a long time.

Out in the rain and wind with DD this morning to do a bit of shopping.....trying to gather the last few bits needed for gifts and a couple of festive food items for the store cupboard.
I think we're good for everything but the fresh stuff now so I should only need a top up shop or two between now and Christmas.....thank goodness.

How are you getting on with your preparations?
Hope it's all going well.
Sheila-x-

The Best Laid Plans!!!

This morning I had planned to go and do a shop at Iceland to take advantage of a £10 off a £40 shop and have them deliver it so that I could go and work through the rest of my shopping list before going home to await the delivery. 
That didn't happen as they only had an early slot 12pm-2pm so we had to get home, wait for the delivery which came about twenty minutes after we got in then back out again to do the rest of the shopping and use a T***o voucher for £3 off a £20 shop. 
We have just made it home before DD arrived back from work.

I am out tonight for a meal with DDIL and her Mum. It should have been next week but they will be in the middle of moving. It will be lovely to be able to just sit and chat as there isn't that much time when we deliver Ruby home on Wednesday's due to bath time and bed time.
There's not been much time for cooking today so Andy and DD will fend for themselves with something quick and easy out of the freezer while I go and have a nice bath and get ready.

Hope you have all had a lovely day.
Sheila-x-

Up And Running!!!

As of 7pm last night Tea Towel Towers is warm and has hot running water.
I could have cried with relief when the boiler actually kicked in when it was switched on.

So....today I am going to finish the quilt I am gifting. DD is at work until 5pm so I have a few hours before I have to be in the kitchen and I should get it done.
Tomorrow I'll start on a big clean up and get the house looking smart again so that I can put out the last few Christmas bits.

Not long now until The Doodles move into their new house. Andy and I will be making ourselves available for packing duties, looking after the girls and anything else that needs doing to help things go smoothly for them.

Right....if I can tear myself away from watching all the birds in the garden I'll go and crank up the sewing machine.

Have a lovely day.
Sheila-x-

A Cautious....Finally!!!

For some unknown reason the boiler manufacturer insisted on sending the much needed part directly to us rather than have the engineer pick it up from his supplier.
It has finally arrived this morning, the engineer has been informed and he should be here with us in a couple of hours or so to fit it so all being well we should have heat and hot water by tea time.
This has been the longest and most miserable three weeks I have ever known and I shan't be sorry to see the back of it.

We moved Marlowe's overnight stay to next weekend as we weren't sure if we would be sorted so I have a week now to do a good deep clean of the house so that it's all sparkling and twinkly for when she comes.

Today I am trying to create some order in the sewing room ready to turn it into the wrapping room for the Christmas gifts. I just need to finish off a quilt which is being gifted before I fetch all the wrapping paraphernalia down.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and I thank you all so much for the lovely comments while we have been working our way through this problem.
Sheila-x-

Swear Words!!!

Does anyone know any new satisfying swear words?
I've just about run the gamut of the ones I know and they just ain't working anymore.

From that you will guess that the boiler is still kaput but it's not the engineer at fault. The place that got him the spare part got the wrong one and he has had to go back and stand over them while they ordered another one.
It should be here tomorrow and and soon as he has his hands on it he will come over and fit it.

Despite all that I have had a lovely afternoon. Andy ordered me the rest of the threads I need to complete my DMC collection so I have sat winding those onto their bobbins and filling up my storage boxes. He let me have them even though they are part of my Christmas present.
I've been nice and warm as the engineer left us a small fan heater to borrow until he comes back.

I hope you have all had a good day too.
Sheila-x-

Another Waiting Game!!!

So.....he didn't show up yesterday. The catalogue of excuses was just ridiculous so I won't bore you with them   
Andy has managed to get hold of him this morning and he is definitely coming today. So we'll see.

To while away the time I am making cranberry sauce and bread sauce to put in the freezer ready for Christmas and the house smells divine.
I had no bread suitable for making the bread sauce so nipped to Waitrose last night to take advantage of their end of day reductions.....you can get a Farmhouse loaf for 25p if you hit them at the right time. I also picked up a few other bits for today's cooking and thought the bill was a bit expensive. Got back to the car and checked my receipt.....they had charged me £17.25 for my loaf of reduced bread...good job I checked.
The money is now back in my purse.

After that I spent hours trying to get to sleep and ended up having to keep getting up with an upset stomach. I'm beginning to think somebody up there doesn't like me very much. Oh well while he's picking on me he's leaving somebody else alone.

Hope you are all having a good day.
Sheila-x-

Still Waiting!!!

We are still waiting for the engineer to arrive and fit the new part to the boiler.
I am beyond p'd off now,  just want to sit and cry and have reached the point where I just can't get warm anymore.
If I have another night like last night I think it may just tip me over the edge.

Sheila-x-

Frozen!!!

We have survived a very cold weekend although at times I could have cried.
By tomorrow afternoon we should be fixed and I may well tape myself to a radiator for the foreseeable future.

When we have not been out and about with Ruby we have snuggled on the sofa under a pile of fluffy blankets.
Friday night we went to see Frozen 2. It was a nice film but I didn't like it as much as the original film.
Saturday the tree was decorated and the outdoor lights were all put up. DD took Ruby out for lunch and then a little shopping trip and after tea we watched the Home Alone films, drank hot chocolate and ate popcorn.
Sunday was lunch at the pub and a walk around the garden centre for Ruby to see all the decorations and the Lemax village then home for more snuggles and tea for her before we had to take her home.
So it has been a lovely weekend.....and next weekend we have Miss Marlowe coming for the night on Saturday and a good part of the day on Sunday.

For now I am looking forward to having some hot water on tap instead of having to boil kettles so that I can have a good deep clean of everywhere and get the house in order before Christmas.

Hope you have all had a fabulous weekend and have a good week this week.
Sheila-x-