Things do not always happen as planned
For the past few days I have been battling the house and it seems to be winning at the moment. Never one to give in, I am still attempting to get things all sorted out. This has included pulling some late nights to do so. Even though things are a mess, they are gradually pulling together to start to turn into what I had envisaged. As I have mentioned before, the Pantry is for the best part done, just some re-organisation and re-packing of stuff in the tubs in the bottom of the Pantry and the dry Pantry/Larder is done for the time being.
Tuesday
After I posted last night, I attempted to get under the stairs to sort out the cupboard. In the end it just did not happen so it is going to be an early start tomorrow so that I can get stuck in, in a big way. I need to tidy up under there and get things put away properly that way on will be able to move a bit more.
I have been back in today and sorted out the dining room a little bit, and all the Christmas food collected a bit at a time i.e. crackers, crisps that sort of thing into two large tubs. These will eventually go into the Pantry - however not at present. I need to re-arrange back in there which I have referred to above.
I am aiming to get into the under-stair cupboard this evening to put away all the preserves. Then tomorrow I will carry on and get everything else sorted and put away. So a slow process, but at least I am getting there. I have sorted out a lot of rubbish this evening. Fortunately the bin men come tomorrow to empty the bin!
Well I got stuck back in again. Managed to do quite a bit of sorting. Just did not manage to get under the stairs. Hopefully will be able to do that tomorrow.
Thursday I am shopping again and it will be an early start. I did not quite accomplish this year getting most of my shopping done by the end of November. Must do better on the report card and next year it will be done. No point in having guidelines that I want to meet if I do not quite achieve them, but fair is fair, I have had an awful lot on my plate.
Wednesday
The weather was rough overnight and I did not manage to get to bed until 2:00pm where I promptly crashed out. More remarkably we had a good night with Missy which was really needed in the greater play of things. Not a murmur from her.
Needless to say I overslept and lost quite a few hours due to tiredness, but I really needed to sleep; I hurt so much from yesterday's efforts that my body said "No way - sleep". So back to it for today. At least I will get into the under-stair cupboard today.
Also planned for later on today is a big strip out of the fridge to get it Christmas ready, that definitely needs doing today in any event.
I have another food delivery which is set to arrive tomorrow so the fridge is needed. Having the fridge clean and tidy also shows what I need to obtain which will not be much, but it will give me a clearer idea.
G in the meantime made an impromptu visit to Waitrose and came back with some Cropwell Bishop No 1, otherwise known as Beauvale cheese. If you have not tried it before it is delicious and a fresh sourdough loaf. He also came back with a couple of Prawn, Crab and Lobster cocktails. They are absolutely delicious if you get the chance to grab any.
Update
After quite a few hours sorting out the under-stair cupboard and re-stocking the contents I eventually got all the jars in and on the shelves. There is far more than I had realised but not everything that we use on there. Have several good chutneys to vary things up over Christmas a Christmas chutney which is absolutely delicious and one of my favourites, plum chutney, Apricot chutney, Ratatouille Chutney that is nice and Green Tomato chutney. This was a favourite chutney that my Nan used to make regularly. The first time I tried this batch was not long after it was made about 18 months ago. I was going to chuck it but decided to taste it and it has all gone back on the shelf. Lots of goodies in there and more to come. Will definitely need the Fireplace cupboard for storage.
Outline Plans at the moment moving forward
I am a bit miffed that despite all my efforts I have to tidy everything and put everything back without being able to decorate the under-stair cupboard, but I just do not have enough hours in the day at the moment. Paint, filler and some coat hooks will be sourced soon to get started in the New Year if not before. Then I can deal with the Fireside cupboard as well. It will be the only way to deal with things for the present. Once the Fireside cupboard has been over-hauled I can then sort out what preserves are going to go in here (not on all the shelves but a couple at least).
I am not concentrating on what is not done although that is a fair bit. Just ran out of steam. I have achieved a lot of what I had intended to do in any event and a little more in other areas I was not pursuing. I always say next year will be different and next year will be. I already have outline plans in place. In any event I am going to get stuck in again after the Christmas period and a bit of down time. I am looking forward to doing some crafting over the Christmas period as well. I need that space for me to slow down and think and regain some sense of balance. I always seem to be running around after a certain person and if not him the animals.
If I can get the under stair cupboard and Fireplace Cupboard sorted before New Year that will help an awful lot with a lot of plans that I have to do. Will give me a head start, which is needed and which is integral to getting things sorted overall.
I want to decorate the dining room and as both of these spaces run off the dining room itself they are better done first. The dining room floor needs replacing as well. It is some 20 years since the last lot of laminate was laid and new is very much needed.
I think 2025 overall is going to be very much a year of growing stuff and preserving and squirrelling away whatever I can and whenever I can. Also lots more cooking. Also lots of planning and plotting for Autumn decorating this year and also Christmas decorating. I need to sort out all the Christmas decorations and pull them together in one storage area. That means the back bedroom will have to be tackled as well which will be a good thing in itself.
So lots of outline planning and musings going on at the moment. As I have mentioned before it will be a quiet chilled out Christmas. I am however being mindful of what is required to bring my plans together for next year. I have managed to accumulate quite a few things to help with this and there will be posts going up in the New Year about the new projects. I am a firm believer that if I have the ability to have a go at something with the aid of certain equipment (which should in theory make my life easier), then I should do that. A lot of the enjoyment is in the making for me. The more you make the more practiced you become at making something and you can also save an awful lot of pennies. Making and creating things for Christmas and for my family, are more akin to the Christmas's of my childhood, where the house was a hive of industry leading up to Christmas with all sorts of goodies being made in the kitchen, and decorating and other certain customs being followed. Namely, our Christmas tree would be put up about a week before Christmas. I would come home from school on a cold winter's day, there would be a roaring fire in the front room and the "treasure boxes" containing the Christmas tree and all the baubles were sat waiting to be put up and made magical. Mum and Dad always made a lot of Christmas. Putting up the tree was a project for all of us, although we were not allowed to touch the fragile glass baubles for fear of breakage (vintage Mercury glass) we were able to pass other decorations over to Mum and help set things up. Dad's job was putting the tree up and getting the lights on. Most of all though during the Christmas's of my childhood the house was flooded with friends and relatives and people enjoyed being with each other and the house being filled with love and laughter with everyone being included. There was a piano in the house then as well and people sang together.
For me part and parcel of the enjoyment of Christmas the "magic" as it were is the actual taking part and making things and creating stuff out of nothing. Due to circumstances have not been able to do much of that this year. A great part of that Christmas magic is honouring the inner-child within and allowing yourself to enjoy "what is" no matter what form it takes. I had wanted a small fresh tree this year, but that is not to be either. I have three Christmas trees in total but for the main tree you cannot beat a proper real Christmas tree. I have only ever had one
This year, I had wanted to make a couple of door wreaths and some inside Christmas decorations with natural foliage and greenery but just have not got to it. Therefore for next Christmas I also intend to make a lot of decorations out of natural foliage myself. Through the year I will be looking for items in nature that I can turn into decorations and also locating suitable greenery for later in the year.
By putting in a lot of effort and planning, I am hoping to create a base for future Christmas's (if I am allowed them), and a more natural rhythm in the build up to that.
Oh by the way, if you buy in whole nuts in shells and still have plenty left after Christmas, either eat them, or if they get left save them for use in Christmas decorating next year. You can add them to wreaths, make ornaments from them, drill them to form a garland base, decorate polystyrene baubles with them. Waste not, want not on a different level too.
On the natural foliage front, my Holly tree in the front garden had a severe hair cut earlier in the Year, and does not have many berries on it. I feel guilty about that for the birds, but the tree was long overdue being dealt with. Hopefully it will pick up a bit next year and I will have some foliage for decorating with.
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