The Last Thrift

Of 2015 that is !!
 I dont do resolutions and i cant afford to give up thrifting ..lol
Twas the week before xmas and i popped into the Bridge Community Venue and what was sat there looking sad and lonely for £2 ?  plus a gorgeous metre of retro fabric for a whole 10p

 A tatty huge 3 drawer DMC storage unit needs a revamp methinks, ive thought about it all through xmas and not a single inspiration has struck , total mental blank probably caused by the fact that the entire house is now infested with Minions , mugs ,clothing, cuddly toys every which way you turn , theres even a Santa minion on the top of the xmas tree . Nothing to do with me , but the big kids have problems I think .
I had my xmas highlight last night , Mr Bah humbug took me to the movies , Star Wars filled with geeky people and far better than the hype , even though i cried , shant tell you why wouldnt want to spoil it . But we went to the Kinema in the Woods a totally weird  experience its a complete 1920s cinema , with an organ that appears during the interval , it was a bit surreal  the organist seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much I expected him to turn round and be Vincent Price , it was great but all very creepy why this has never been used as a movie set i dont know , its made for horror . The car park is next to the derelict spa buildings and theres a huge creepy woodland surrounding it

Xmas 2015

What can I say, it was interesting ..
Xmas Eve highlights were an envelope from Lincolnshire Police , that i thought was a speeding fine , so promptly had a meltdown with full hysterics in front of my son . He opened it , raised his infamous sarcastic eyebrow and said
Have you reported something to the police of late ? because this is a customer services survey ...DOH
How many cases of hysterics has Lincolnshire Police caused sending them out in the same envelopes as speeding fines !! or is it just me?
Then to cap everything last thing on Xmas Eve the central light in the kitchen died , not just the strip light packed up, the fitting died , where do you get one of those on Xmas Eve night ? So Xmas Day been grey and gloomy I had to cook by an extension lamp , the cookers in the darkest bit of the house so they gave me a torch so check if things were cooked bless them , our cookers not posh enough to have a light in it .
The Smallest xmas dinner ive cooked in years just 5 of us , positively a snack by our standards , it all went well apart from me having a weepy while doing all the veg and prep . Last year Mr Bah Humbug was able to help with everything this year he couldnt even stand for long enough to do a sink of washing up , cant peel veg even.  As he said he can still make a cup of tea so i cant have him put down yet , but it just hit me badly .
Today another small buffet and a big ham to prepare , so far ive 7 to cook for so another light snack meal . Its been a quiet but good xmas if a little bittersweet .

Welcome to the Snot Factory

Yes in this wonderful xmas season , whats my gift from Santa? you guessed it , yards of snot , dreadful virus type , hot cold , hot cold , running with sweat . Tons of work to catch up with now and only 2 working days to do it in...AARRGGGHHH .  House that resembles something that the tenants ran away from , dont even get me on the subject of the washing machine!!!!
On second thought lets go there .
Do not panic after the fourth flood in two weeks , the smell of mould in the kitchen is starting to fade and you dont have to wear wellies all the time anymore .Me and Mr Bah Humbug  had THE CONVERSATION
 Im sorry I think the washer may be terminal

Well we cant afford a new one

Let me sleep on it .

next morning...dont get angry about this it may work.
watch in horror as they drag a disc cutter and various power tools into the kitchen . look on in more horror as the sons appear with a fire extinguisher . At this point decide to go out for a walk , its the best way .
Come home to a very odd smell and them all sat having a cuppa .
It should be OK in a couple of days

Why is it laid on its side with a gaping hole cut in it ?

We fixed it , there was a hole in the side of the drum thats where the water leaked and blew the pump , so instead of taking it apart i cut an inspection hole in through the side with the big cutter , dont worry you will now have an nice hatch with meccanno fastenings , you wont see it once its back under the worktop .

OK, whats the strange smell

Thats the fixing compound i used to put the patch in the drum , dont worry they use it to fix drainage tanks on lorries .

So Mr Bah Humbug is now the god of washing machine fixers , it rattles and looks odd but doesnt leak and works just fine , if i get another 6 months out of it things may have improved

Thank Heavens the Turkey is Paid For

Just when I could do without more bad news , I got my wage slip for the xmas pay packet, £85 for the month, bear in mind ive been working full time for the last few weeks so ive used over £100 just for fuel !!! I really need to find a better job but in the year ive been trying the single reply ive received has been a con trick . I know they will pay me eventually but this is just ridiculous , nearly as good as last year when they sent out the pay slips the day they closed for the xmas holidays, then the money didnt appear in the bank on pay day . All I can do is turn off my phone so that good old HSBC isnt ringing me 6 times a day from India all through xmas , so thats the plan once we break up for xmas.
Just to make matters even better we have had a pukey child week , he distinguished himself by projectile vomiting over the back of his grandads van , something im quite sure he will never hear the last of . lol

Havent xmas shopped , the turkey was bought a fortnight ago so thats it , shopping is now banned theres enough food on the premises to last well into January though doubtless there will be much moaning and gripping from the other inhabitants , if it bothers them that much they can always go shopping cant they ? he he he

Thank ???? Its Friday

Yeah , the end is nigh or words to that effect . Work is drawing to a close , so things are still somewhat hectic . Munchkin duties yet again, his mothers off on tour , London this time methinks , enabling her inner xmas lemming ?
What do I get to put me in the xmas spirit ? you guessed it a washer flood . The pump got bunged and it spewed its giblets all over the kitchen floor , this is not the point to find out that the carpet tiles cant be lifted , so we had 4 days of wearing wellies while it dried, sometimes concrete floors are a good thing , a new pump later it was back in action , but being a bunch of muppets they didnt level it and it shook another hose off on its first spin , kitchen flooded again , still wearing wellies . They assure me its fine now but im not trying it till theyre all home and can mop up the mess yet again .
Have I done a single xmas related thing yet? Well we bought a cheap turkey and chucked it in the freezer thats that , hopefully i will get paid this week so i can buy a few extra food goodies , but we are well stocked up because last year was such a shocker . Present wise ive bought nothing , ive pointed out to them all that it took me 3 months to save up for a pack of knickers , they really dont grasp that every penny i get goes on bills. No ebay this year to give me pocket money i'm afraid , i did venture to a bigger post office last week .

Could you tell me whats in the parcel

Its a camera

You will have to unpackage it so that i can inspect it

You what!!!

It may contain batteries

Its a USB camera

I still need to inspect it , it cant go on a plane unless we inspect it

A plane to Nottingham , the post office is getting very hi tech ( for those not in the UK its 40 miles away )

Oh.....It doesnt have what it contains written on the packaging

Should I put camera on it so the temporary xmas staff find it easier to steal ?
I'd better make that recorded delivery then and could i have a claim form now?

By the time i left i got a slow handclap from the queue , all that to send one parcel 40 miles , then people wonder why i dont ebay in the run up to xmas


I feel sort of excluded from what is going on around me , theyre all whispering and the parcel vans keep dropping stuff off , but im sneaking off to an auction viewing this afternoon on the grounds of i need the social interaction . Ive just found my camera , so at least i may get a few interesting pictures