Me

Me

Thursday 28 November 2013

Plans for Christmas and a sewing room...

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the lack of posts, but now things are a bit better, I will try harder.

I completely lost all interest in cooking and baking and felt that it became a chore. This is not me and I've been looking through my cheap recipes to inspire me again into cooking from scratch. It's not all been bad, I just couldn't be bothered! Stress does horrible things to you, both physically and emotionally and you have to snap out of it and start thinking positively about stuff.

For me, Christmas is my favourite time of year and making plans for this is helpful to my lack of motivation. Christmas Day is going to be very simple and Boxing Day is when I will entertain my small family. I love creating a buffet table for a calm and relaxing meal that you can revisit as many times as you want. We chat, we watch the tele and play board games. This year Daisy will enjoy it more as she loves it when  her Aunties and Uncle are here.

I have done some shopping, but need to make a list and stick to it now. I still have to embark on my Christmas baking etc, but it definitely won't stress me out because we keep it simple. I no longer buy pointless novelty presents just to fill a stocking, I make sure everything is wanted or useful. Obviously we will be concentrating on Daisy and looking out for toys for this next stage in her development. She is walking well now and curious about everything - cupboard locks are essential!

My initial plans are to work through the food we have in the freezers to make room for a few Christmas goodies that we wouldn't normally treat ourselves to. I have quite a lot of packets and mixes from Approved Food that need using too. This will free up space on top of my kitchen cupboards for our savoury treats and a little bit of drink! I make snowballs on Christmas Day evening and we love to drink port at Christmas too. We rarely drink at any other time of the year and even then, it's only a little - Daisy still doesn't sleep through the night :(

This year Christmas will be relaxed...

we will watch Christmas films

we will eat food we don't normally treat ourselves to

we will enjoy a little drink

we will enjoy each others company

we will sit down and relax

we will play with  Daisy and whatever Father Christmas brings her

That's my plan!


Now to other plans...

I have been working hard trying to sort out the house. My utility room is going to be a proper laundry room, not a dumping ground! Charlotte and I did another bootsale on Saturday - It was a bit rubbish because it was so cold. People with babies were sensible and stayed at home, so I didn't sell my baby items :(
What I did sell, is the little bits and bobs for 20p, so I did clear some crap that has been hanging around for a while. I have now boxed up and packed away everything into the garage for next year. There it is not in the way and I don't have to look at it. As I continue to tidy, I will add to this pile with stuff that we can easily live without. It makes it so much easier to keep a room tidy and clean with less stuff to move around. I already spend a lot of my day with Daisy, but I want to be able to restart my hobbies while she is having her nap. I have lots of plans for this and my lovely husband is currently decorating the spare room. It is going to have a bed in it, but the rest of the space is for my sewing room!!! A place where I can have my sewing machine set up, all my fabric stored where I can see what I've got, a space to relax, enjoy and create. I'm really excited about it and I will show you when it's finished..

Plans being made and positive thinking...

a new year means new beginnings and hopefully better times ahead.


Does anyone have any tips or advice for a relaxed Christmas???

Please share your tips in the comments.

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x


4 comments:

  1. Hi Mandy,
    glad youre back and feeling a little better about things.
    Ive no tips for a stress free Christmas ( I wish I had, id try to follow them myself) but just enjoy the day with your family, especially Daisy and even if things do go wrong, like the roasters are burnt or the turkeys a bit dry, well so what, its being with loved ones that counts anyway.
    I haven't done much of anything yet, ive not had the motivation to do anything at all Christmassy. I did buy some mixed fruit etc to make a cake but so far that's not happened. Im waiting to see what price my Next shares end up at (next Monday morning) and then I know how much money I have to spend over Christmas after ive paid for the log burner and bought in a supply of seasoned logs to last the next couple of months after its fitted.
    I was hoping to be able to afford a new 3 piece suite as well but that's not going to happen now as there wont be enough left.
    I too want to start eating down the freezers ready to store the turkey crown for the Christmas dinner and any frozen goodies we fancy for over the festive period. Im going to have a no food shop this month apart from bread, milk fresh tomatoes, eggs & cheese. These are the main things I need every week, the bread, cheese & tomatoes for my daily sarnie for work, milk for the endless cups of tea I drink and eggs as I have poached egg on toast a few times a week for my tea.
    I too still have an endless supply of dried goods to be used up, so am going to really try hard to NOT spend much at all until I do my Christmas food shop (fingers crossed).
    Hope you manage to get the sewing room sorted, I would love to be able to sew or patchwork or quilt but unfortunately im not creative in any way.
    take care, jane xxx

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    1. Hi Jane, good to hear from you!
      A log burner - lovely - I wish we had one too.
      My OH bought some more paint yesterday so it won't be long now. The room's been replastered so now it's all fresh and lovely, a place to get away from it all. I'm not creative through skills, it's all there in my head, I just find it hard to create what I can picture!

      Ashley and Charlotte now have other plans for Christmas Day, so Alice will be able to see Daisy. None of us want her even in the house, but we are thinking of what's best for Daisy. We expect that she will want to visit (although she hasn't turned up for the last two planned visits) on that day and I'm not giving her the opportunity to ruin it for everyone. Boxing day will be our family day now.

      Mandy xxx

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  2. Mandy, don't think it's your job to keep everyone fed and entertained. Delegate!!!!! And accept help. Have a nice Christmas
    Sylvia

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    1. Hi sylvia,
      Good to hear from you too!

      Charlotte lives at home and Ashley and Harriet will be round in the morning of Boxing Day, so I will have help with Daisy. They will play with her while Steve and I sort out the food. My husband is very supportive and we work well as a team. Harriet (Ashley's girlfriend) loves cooking so will probably offer to make something (which this year I will accept) and they will bring lots of goodies with them - nibbles etc.


      The whole day is relaxed, so once the table is laid, you are able to just help yourself as and when. The drinks are also out and everyone helps themselves too. It's all relaxed, just what we need!

      You have a lovely Christmas too x

      Mandy xxx

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