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.

A post to make you groan!

 

 

Everybody loves to pull a Christmas cracker and there is always a collective groan when the jokes are read out. I thought today I would give you some groaning practice by listing some of the cheesiest jokes I have found or heard.

What do you get when you cross an apple and a Christmas tree?

A pineapple!

What do you call a boomerang that does not come back?

A stick.

Why was the turkey in the pop group?

Because he was the only one with drumsticks!

 What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations?

Tinselitis!

 

What do they sing at a snowman's birthday?

Freeze a jolly good fellow...

 

What happens to elves when they are naughty?

Santa gives them the sack!

 

What do Santa's little helpers learn at school?

The elf-abet!

 

Why couldn’t the skeleton go to the Christmas party?

He had nobody to go with.

 

What happened to the man that stole an advent calendar?

He got 25 days.

 

What do Santa's little helpers learn at school?

The elf-abet.

 

Who hides in the bakery at Christmas?

A mince spy.

 

Who delivers presents to pets?

Santa Paws!

 

Who is Santa’s favourite singer?

Elf-is Presley

 

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?

Frostbite.

 

Why can't Christmas trees knit?

Because they lose their needles.

 

What do you call a reindeer who can't see?

No-eye deer.

 

Why did Santa go to the hospital?

Because of his poor elf.

 

Why did no one bid for Rudolph or Blitzen on Ebay?

Because they were too deer.

 

What did Adam say on the day before Christmas?
It’s Christmas, Eve!

 

How does Christmas Day end?
With the letter Y!

Christmas at Chatsworth House

 

I haven’t visited Chatsworth House for over 25 years. After watching a TV programme about Chatsworth and how it dealt with Christmas last year I decided that I would like to go this year. I only booked tickets for Craig and I as Emma was more than likely going to be working and Matthew said he didn’t want to go.

 We booked one of the first tours of the day so it was an early start to get there on time. An advantage of that was that we were able to park close to the entrance.

 

                                                    

 

I loved all of the displays and the fact that they were still traditional looking. The theme was celebrating the past 20 years that Chatsworth had been decorating the house for Christmas. Every room I went into had the ‘wow’ factor. Underneath my mask I was grinning from ear to ear it was so beautiful.

 

The room dedicated to 2021 was full of decorations from recycled materials. But all through the house there was evidence of this and they gave me loads of ideas for future projects. When I asked about them we were told that they were made by the in-house staff who are obviously very talented.

 

After the tour was over I indulged in my first mince pie of the season before taking a walk around the gardens. There was certainly a lot to see and do.

 

The Christmas market was on that day so we spent a good few hours wandering around and having a look at what was on sale. Although it was busy it was not absolutely packed like the one in Manchester and you were able to see what was on offer. We bought a few things and sampled a few things on the way round.

 

It was a lovely day and it was nice it being just Craig and I as we rarely go anywhere on our own. I am looking forward to doing more things like this in the future.

Festive afternoon tea

 

Hidden away in the woods at Rivington, near Bolton, is a little tearoom that is only open on a Sunday. However, for Christmas they opened for 2 Saturdays for a festive afternoon tea. Craig decided to book for the both of us as he knows that I like an afternoon tea even though he isn’t a fan. The couple who run the tea room were fantastic and agreed to make add cheese scones to the menu ( as Craig does not like sweet scones) and not put butter on the sandwiches (again because Craig is so fussy).

 As Rivington is a place we go quite a bit to take Penny for a walk it seemed strange to be going without her. The owners of the tearoom even asked where she was. I would have loved to have worn fancy shoes but as the path tends to be a bit muddy I just stuck to boots. I like going there as it is decorated in a similar style I would use if I ran a tearoom.

 I was so looking forward to the afternoon tea that I was halfway through eating before I remembered to take photos.

 

The food was delicious and I took a slice of the sponge and a mince pie home as it was too much too eat in one go. Craig had most of the sandwiches and the quiche as well as the cheese scone and I had a couple of sandwiches and the rest of the sweet treats.

 If they decide to do the Festive afternoon tea next Christmas, I will definitely go again but I would take a friend rather than Craig who would be able to enjoy all the treats.

 

Christmas Shopping

 

For many years it was traditional that one Sunday Mum, my sisters and myself would go into Manchester City Centre and do as much of our Christmas shopping as we could. It was because we used to get vouchers from a well known hamper company and it would be the weekend after we received them. However, after one of their competitors went bust just before Christmas we decided not to take the chance. We still did our shopping day but we never seemed to buy as much as we had generally started earlier. We also had less to buy in some respects as the kids got older, so the day became more of a spending time together day than shopping.

However, because of Covid, my youngest sister emigrating to Australia and Mum getting older we aren’t going to do a shopping day anymore. This has meant that I do my shopping at my leisure. Although I enjoy shopping, as I have become older I find the crowds more and more irritating and I am quite keen to avoid them. I will go shopping first thing in the morning or wait until about 30 minutes before the shops are due to close. I am lucky enough to be very close to the Trafford Centre, but I will avoid going there as much as possible because of how busy it is. It is handy though for the last minute presents that Craig springs on me.

Last year was the first time I did all of my shopping online and I admit I absolutely loved it. Most of the time I do prefer going and actually physically seeing what I am buying but with all the restrictions last year I decided against going out. I bought most of my presents from Etsy or NotontheHighStreet as I wanted to get things that you would not normally find in the chain stores and also to support the small businesses who haven’t got the resources to survive like the ‘big boys’.

 This year I have decided to do the same for most of the presents. I have a few gifts that I am actually going out to the shops to purchase but the rest of them have already been ordered and delivered and are just waiting to be wrapped.

 Shopping online also helps me stay on budget as I am not tempted to put extras in my basket which is always a big help at this time of year.

 How do you prefer to do our shopping and has it changed over the years?