Many, many years ago we used to have Saturday Chore Day and reading Eva's recent posts reminded me of that fact. I'm very lucky as we have funding for a cleaner due to the combined health issues in the family. Sammie visits once a week to clean the house from top to bottom and then the kids and I catch up with interim vacuuming, sweeping and turning out a room on a rolling programme basis.
On Saturday the bathrooms were cleaned and Pip in particular enjoyed mopping the floors! The kids vacuumed their bedrooms whilst I sorted the lounge and we all pitched in with hanging out various loads of laundry as it was perfect drying weather. It was really lovely to work together as a team and to have the satisfaction of all the things ticked off the to-do list ð
Sadly we missed attending mass in person on Sunday as the car braking system is not working properly. The foot brake works fine, it's the electronic automatic parking brake system that has failed and so we are home based until Thursday when it goes into the garage. We made the best of things and the kids helped out painting the side fence whilst I made a cooked lunch. Our friends Beatrice and David visited for a belated birthday celebration for Dave and we enjoyed Camembert cheese with gluten free crackers followed by home made fruit scones.
I've also been busy in my workroom finishing off some bunting and making a new batch which is Autumn themed. Our lovely neighbours Paul and Anne run a hedgehog hospital and Pip helps out when needed. I saw the hedgehog fabric in Aldi a few weeks ago and new instantly what to do with it ð.
I just love those colours they definitely shout 'Autumn!'
I hope life is treating you kindly. Over here in the UK the financial markets are a mess and the big energy firms are now actually warning of potential blackouts due to limited gas supplies. I was blown away when I saw the price for a bottle of olive oil; what had previously been retailed at £3.50 was now over £5.00 ðŊ. Due to recent drought conditions in Spain nearly half the olive crops had failed to survive. The cost of living crisis is very worrying so for the last few weeks we've been buying extra tins, packet items with a long shelf life and cleaning products. I managed to find some bags of gluten free pasta from Sainsburys that was a very cheap price so I bought several packets.
We are going to try and stave off putting on the central heating so we've made sure that we have plenty of extra quilts/ blankets, hot water bottles, extra layers of clothing and in early November a wood burning stove will be fitted ð. We had a burner in the last house and it has been sorely missed but the energy crisis and potential blackouts has forced us to act. All of our cooking facilities run off electric but we have a two ring camping stove in the shed that runs of Calor gas, so that is on standby. I've also bought extra candles and Dave sourced some really good camp lanterns that run off a battery but can also be charged using a USB connector, should we have designated times of power. I know it all sounds a bit Armageddon but I'd rather be prepared than have to deal with panic overload when it all goes horribly wrong - remember the loo roll riots of 2020? ðĪŠ
9 comments:
What a lovely post
And a lovely looking Sunday lunch ð
We are escaping the current turmoil at home by spending five weeks in Australia- and our kids are joining us for part of the time . We are going for the saddest of reasons - my husband is terminally ill with cancer, and if we don’t go now we won’t go at all. It’s Tonys favourite place
And I was in Waitrose recently and the young person who served me “ aged checked” me when I bought olive oil - it was hilarious
Well done for getting everyone involved in helping and enjoy that lovely fire xxx
Sorry forgot to add my name Siobhan xx
Sending hugs to you Siobhan and prayers for your lovely husband Tony. I hope that making memories with your family will really be a comfort to you both ❤️ I chuckled when I read the Waitrose story xx
It sounds like you have all been busy. I love the idea of a day when you all pitch in with the cleaning that sounds like a great idea! I have been avoiding listening to the news as it is all so depressing all the time. We have just bought several solar panels and hope to get them wired in to our house so that we can use them instead of the mains. We were not able to get a company to do it for ours so S is sorting out himself.
Hi friend, we have also been looking into solar panels and frustratingly just missed out on acquiring a grant from our local council. Dave has had prices from three firms and is looking around to secure a grant to help towards the cost as it isn’t cheap! At least S isn’t afraid of heights ð. Yes thanks to Eva Saturday chore day will now be part of a weekly routine ❤️
Your chore time sounds wonderful! Flora also loves to wash the floors. She is responsible for cleaning the downstairs bathroom now with some help from me. And Pip and Ben are painting the fence together? Too bad you could not go to church on Sunday. You know what, our car will also go to the garage tomorrow. I hope we won't have huge repairs, but there are several things wrong with it.
Things are also really expensive here. The parsley, which used to be about 99 cents, is now almost 3 Dollars! And a large package of cream has gone up to almost 10 dollars at some places. This is not organic food, just regular food. Our electricity is supposed to go up pretty soon. Gas has already gone up.
Oh, I meant to add that Flora would love to go to that hedgehog hospital. No hedgehogs over here, though! Your bunting looks very pretty. And the food looks yummy.
The bunting looks so lovely! Goodness, that's expensive difference in price for olive oil. That's a good call on the wood burner. Our house is pretty energy efficient (B+) but it does get very cold without the heating on after a few days. I am fine as I lived in a house with no heating for 32 years of my life but CBC gets very cold and VERY grouchy when cold. I am dreading this winter particularly as he falls asleep with the lights on downstairs and I cannot get him up to bed without a fight with a grumpy comatose person who doesn't remember the grumpiness when reminded about it in the morning.
I'm glad you have help with the cleaning.
Nice you got to spend time with frinds!
Better to be prepared now than be caught off guard later. Good plan. And that bunting is adorable as all get out!
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