Happy Homemaker / Menu planning Monday 31st January

 

I have still been menu planning even if I haven’t been posting it on the blog. The main reason is because I have been using the click and collect service from my local supermarket. I am not a great fan of food shopping so the less time I can spend on it the better 😊. Unfortunately, I have been finding that there have been too many unsuitable substitutions lately so I am thinking of going back to doing my own shopping so I can make my own substitutions to make things work.

 Menu plan

 Mon- Beef burgers                                         

Tues- Chicken curry                                        

Weds- Veggie Quesadillas                                                           

Thurs- Spaghetti Bolognese                                        

Fri- Cajun Salmon & Salsa                                             

Sat- Indian ( to celebrate my Brother in Law’s 50^th birthday)

Sun- Roast Dinner or Pizza (depending on whether we got out hiking)

The Weather

It is currently bright and sunny. We managed to escape the worst of the storm yesterday unlike other parts of the country. Where we live is pretty sheltered so we don’t seem to get the extremes that other parts of the country experience.

To Do

A pretty quiet week as I am up to date with most things. However I do need to;

• ·     Tidy my bedroom drawers
• ·      Assemble the new lights for Matthew’s room
• ·      Remind Craig about booking the services for the boiler and my car (I don’t have the account log in details to be able to do them myself despite asking Craig for them- he forgets to send them because he has to look them up)

I am linking up with Karen at Cats, Kids, Chaos and Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom to see what other people are up to.

Have a good week everyone. 

L

Word of the Week- Trepidation

After the last few years it is with some trepidation that I have been making plans for 2022.  With everything that has happened over the last two years it has felt like making plans for the year has been impossible. Now I am hoping that we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and things can happen without any extra hassle.

This week we have booked a holiday to Colorado to see friends that should have happened in 2020. We are going in July once Matthew has finished his GCSE’s, before the main school holidays. We will be there for Independence Day so that should be interesting. Last time we were there it was for Thanksgiving and we had a fantastic time.

There are a few films that I am looking forward to seeing at the cinema with the second Downton Abbey film at the top of the list. I have told Craig that for my birthday I want to go to Highclere Castle instead of having a present. It will involve staying over and will be without the kids as neither of them are interested in Downton (Craig isn’t but he doesn’t have a choice 😊).

To make up for going away without them we will be going to the Harry Potter studio tour at Halloween. We haven’t been since Gringotts opened and Craig hasn’t seen Platform 9 ¾ or the Forbidden Forest.

Craig and I are also going to spend a weekend in March at Lytham St Annes for the first Masonic Ladies Evening since 2019.

Those are the things that we have definite plans for. There will also be other days out over the year as I would like to go back to Chatsworth, visit Blist’s Hill Museum, lots of walks out for the day, visit friends in Oxford and maybe a long weekend in Ireland to see friends there.

Emma has her own travel plans including trips to Jersey and New York as well as tagging along with us. Her dream of being able to travel is hopefully going to become a reality after two years of delays.

 

I am linking up with Anne and seeing what everyone else is thinking and doing. 

Apologies and a Catch up

 I am sorry for my lack of posts this year but I have been in a bit of a ‘funk’ for a couple of months with regards to blogging and to be honest I am not entirely sure that I am fully out of it. I just feel that I have nothing to say that would be of interest to anyone. The December posts had been written and scheduled and I had fully intended on participating in Blogmas. I even had the titles of the all the posts prepared but then I just lost my mojo to complete them. It wasn’t as if I had the excuse that I was too busy, not much more than normal, hence the’ radio silence’ for this time.

Christmas and New Year were lovely, we spent time with both families and I wasn’t in work between Christmas and New Year. It was so nice to be able to celebrate with family and friends unlike last year when we were on our own.

I did some crafting in December but they were only little projects that only took a few hours but they satisfied my ‘need’ to create. I find that if I don’t do anything crafty for a few days then I feel a bit antsy.

 

                                                            

 

Needle felting the gnomes was fun and I can highly recommend it as a stress reliever. Stabbing the wool into the shapes is extremely satisfying and helps get rid of any frustration you may be feeling especially at that time of year. 

I didn’t take any photos as I rarely picked up my phone or camera. Sometimes you just have to live in the moment rather than record for posterity.

One picture I did take was of Christmas Zippy. He used to be at the centrepiece of Manchester Town Hall’s Christmas decorations but as the Town Hall is currently under renovation I wondered what had happened to him. I found out- he is now outside the Kelloggs factory lighting up the area. I am so glad, I hated to think of him being stuck in the dark in some storage area.

 

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to whatever 2022 will bring.