Saturday Chores and Sunday Knitting

 Yesterday was quite a productive day 😊. I managed to sort the laundry and do a 'swish and swipe' of both bathrooms and since this task is done on a daily basis it did not take long at all.  Ben cleaned his bedroom and then vacuumed the top floor, landing and stairs.  Pip hung out the washing and mopped the upstairs bathroom floor.

Whilst the kids were busy with their chores I prepped the veg for the evening meal and set it to cook on a low heat and also made larger dough balls to see if they would work as a 'bun' alternative.  Once the buns were cooked we served them with sausages.  They were declared a winner by everyone else but I don't do well with a heavy carb meal, it makes the PoTS symptoms worse, so I gave half of mine for Dave and Pip to share. 

 I'm hoping I can tweak the recipe by adding either some ground almond or even polenta to make the dough less heavy.  I miss being able to eat regular gluten free bread because of the additives and yeast content and a lot of the non yeast bread mixes contain heaps of egg white which also contains histamine, so a big no at this end.

I had my usual planned rest and rosary prayers after lunch followed by a spot of knitting.  Soon it was time to head out the door for church and Ben was left in charge of overseeing the casserole and adding last minute fixings in time for our arrival home around 7pm.

Roasted veg and mozzarella topping served with corn on the cob, yummy!

Since Dave's birthday a few weeks ago we have begun a Sunday tradition of pancakes for lunch and since I prepared the batter last night before bed, they were pretty quick to make.  Considering I had done more than I usually would yesterday, I made sure to factor in minimal activity today.  This morning I read some of my book and this afternoon knitting was the order of the day:

No shawl this time, it is a sleeveless jumper in a soft grey.  Most of the pattern is in simple stocking stitch with an easy pattern detail across the upper part of the garment.

Hope your weekend has been all that you needed it to be ❤️

Productive Days

 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 😊

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 😊. 

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 😯.  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 😊. 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? 🤪

A Productive Day

Funny how blue skies and sunshine can spur you on :-)  We managed all the items on our to-do list which I think is the first time ever!  In no particular order:

We managed a weekly home blessing hour a la Fly Lady, surfaces dusted with a swiffer brush, floors cleaned, mirrors wiped and the bathroom given a once over.

Pip mowed the lawns and Benedict undertook all the meal prep for the day, vegetable and chicken soup for lunch and lasagne for tea.

Ben helped with the recycling.

Pip completed all her home school lessons:  Singapore maths, spellings, times tables practice, read aloud and adding another floor to her Egyptian house.

Three loads of laundry were washed, aired and put away.

I made banana muffins and a start on another project bag for the craft stall.

Ben has been working on an Age of Empires scenario with an Egyptian theme.  He has undertaken all sorts of research for this project and has worked really hard.

Tomorrow we are home schooling with friends and I'm looking forward to a quieter day!

 

Helping :: Indoor Picnic

We have been getting ready to vacate the house for a week, as the WC is having a much needed overhaul.  Pip has been great helping to pack and clean and her reward was a game with Dad and an impromptu snack picnic in the afternoon: