Half - Term already..

 Hello everyone how are you?

Well it's half term and we are going to have a week of lay ins, late nights and movie days. If the weather is good we will be going to Belton. The manager at Belton has given in to pressure from the public and has fully re-opened the Parkland..however there is still a bit of trouble brewing. He now plans to charge people a small fee for walking and taking the dogs for a walk. Its caused lots of outrage , for as long as i can remember it has been free to walk, play , dog walk and picnic in the Parkland...so long as you do not cross the boundary gates there is no charge.

Lots of folks are furious but the reasoning is that people who are National Trust members will get in for free as they are putting money towards the up keep of the land and house and now if you want to walk you must do the same.

I can see reason on both sides and i also do not understand why you need to dog walk there anyway when there is a totally free Dog Park just up the road that is a lovely scenic place as well. Lots of times we have been and bloody huge dogs are off the lead running around with no owner in sight. There are signs all over saying that dogs must be kept on a leash at all times. There have been reports of dogs savaging sheep and chasing deer..but as per usual its not their dog . The amount of times we have had to do the Dog Poo dance is unreal..bins are provided but i have yet to see anyone picking it up and disposing of it properly. I always want to say something to them but being with the girls i always refrain as you never know how people are going to react these days. It sounds like i hate dogs but i don't ..its the owners that are the real problem..not all of them granted just the minority..but its these few who spoil it for everyone else.

So its going to be interesting when we go ..apparently they are planning a protest at the gates.

I have adjusted our budget a little to hopefully cover the food price rises. I have changed my shopping routine as well..back to a monthly shop instead of every 2 weeks. I am going to stretch it as long as i can in between shops. I have changed how i serve meals as well..i no longer plate it up for everyone. I serve it all on the table so everyone can help themselves and then if i have the leftovers they are already in bowls and pop them in the fridge for a meal the next day. So far this working really well and no one is hungry and i have not had any food go to waste. Good job i have a big table and plenty of serving bowls.

Its still going to be a busyish week..we have Dental appointments and Fern is at the Opticians. We have books to sort out and donate and wardrobes to tidy up. We have stopped visiting or having visitors , two of my grandchildren have tested positive for Covid and are isolating with their mum and little sister.

My daughter seriously thought she had Covid , thankfully it was just a really bad cold and she is now on the mend, my grandchildren are absolutely fine now, headaches and feeling like poop were their symptons. Just relieved they are all ok.

I tried to book myself and hubby in for our booster shots but all the places were full so i will keep trying. We do have our Flu shots all booked for the beginning of November. I am still waiting for appointments for the girls to have their Covid Vaccines..the doctors surgery is sorting them out for me.

I used all the Apples and Pears from our trees and only one was no good. I have now 6 bags of Apple pie filling and 2 Apple and Pear pie filling all frozen and ready to go.

I had some bread that was going stale so i made 2 huge Bread and Butter Puddings with it and i have popped those in the freezer as well. 

I have finally learnt how to cast on with knitting..thank you Youtube or more importantly the lady who did it so slowly and clearly in her video. I can knit the basics but not cast on how strange is that..for now i am just knitting and doing some practice on fancy stitches, i am not making anything in particular just having fun doing it. I find it relaxing when hubby is at work and i am on my own when the girls have gone to bed and i can't be bothered with the telly.

I loved Cherie's all in one teddy bear fleece , very fetching and looks so warm. All my children had these growing up , not this style but the all in onesie as the house used to be cold . Makes me laugh how people think they are so hard done to. We  had no double glazing no central heating and one fire in the house, peeling ice off the windows in the mornings on the inside ,now that's cold. Just put a flipping jumper on and  wear slippers for Christs sake, speaking of which i have bought new slippers for everyone, now the girls are bigger i can buy ladies  size slippers which are a lot cheaper than children's. We have some lovely knitted slippers each and hubby's are moccasins with hard soles. He needs some with hard soles as he wears his out much faster than we do..he has had 3 pairs compared to my one in the last few years. I honestly don't know how he does it. We never wear them out the house so i am baffled as to how he manages to literally destroy the soles.

I did receive a nice email from Sky..i was offered the choice of free films to download and keep.

It wasn't even a hard choice really we plumped for Godzilla vs Kong. We love this film and its totally awesome to watch and the chance to have Sky Cinema free for 4 weeks. I declined the offer as i watch more on Netflix which is far cheaper.

Not a lot else going on at the moment..still planning for Christmas and looking online for gifts. We have decided as a family to go small this year to give gifts that mean something and a few little extras but that is it.

How are you planning Christmas this year?

take care all

ftm