Cards !

isn't it a faff when you have to change the card details on an online site. I have a debit card that I use all the time, and one or two charge cards. One of those had expired so this morning I tried to alter the details. not as easy as you would think. A pain in the neck actually, took me an age but I got there in the end. So what did i buy with my charge card? Christmas cards for next year !!!ordered two packs of nice ones, so should have more than enough for next Christmas. Nothing like shopping early.  I have always bought my cards in the january sales actually, but this year they didn't seem to be much available in the shops. very disappointing. So, online it is. nice M&S ones.
Didn't go out anywhere today, still a bit cold but a lot milder today. Vin had bits and bobs to do and I had a go on here, catching up a bit. Did the floors ,just one of those not do a lot days really. lovely.
Beats teaching anyway.
Tonight we are having:
Two little pies we bought from Waitrose the other day,
Sliced and sauteed potatoes
Broccoli and carrots
Cheese sauce to go with the veggies.

In Today !

Well we weren't going anywhere today so we stopped in. Makes a real change from last year which was appointments all over the place. They have gone right down, and just have the odd one now, at least any that I can't avoid.
Did some ironing this morning to begin with, the Christmas linen, tablecloth, napkins and mats etc., so they are done and all put away for next year. That's it really. Vin was doing the lights in the garden this morning because the weather isn't too bad today, not raining anyway. He is a bit annoyed because the solar lights aren't working, and they are ess than a year old. he says he will take them back..he keeps the receipt for everything! good for him..I just lose them.
Biggest decision today was which coffee to have from our tassimo machine. I do have to say that was the best deal of last year by a mile. The discs/pods are gorgeous and the coffee is really good. i ended up with a Cafe crema today, and Vin had a Capuccino, which he did with a dinky little star in chocolate on the top.  Considering the machine was only £30 from a costa Coffee website it has been worth its weight in gold.

The Christmas table..all but a distant memory now.  It was a lovely Christmas this year though, and we really enjoyed having Jane home too. Got our last christmas card this morning from America, must have been delayed. from our Professor friend in Texas.

Tonight we are having:
Pasta bake with mushrooms
butternut squash to go with,
A bit of garlic bread for Vin.

Love Freebies !

Oh yes we love a freebie. I said that I wanted to go to Waitrose this morning for our veggies for a change, Vin isn't terribly keen, he says they are too expensive. They are, but i do like their veg. Anyway off we went and for once the car park wasn't too bad, must be the cold keeping people away. Went round and got our shopping  quite a lot of it in the end, all sorts of things we don't get in the other stores, posh biscuits etc., Vin had a £5 voucher he has had fior ages and wanted to use so he got a bottle of wine , a nice little Chardonnay for £5.99 which looks good. that was a free voucher for collecting reward points from the Daily mail. Freebie number 1.
Then we parked the trolley and went for our free coffees. Vin had a latte and I had an Americano. I can't see them keeping that up for long..must be costing them a fortune! Apparently it has propelled waitrose into the top buyers of coffee in the land !!! Freebie number two. Checkouts nice and quiet, and Vin collected his free newspaper. Freebie number three.  very good. We did well today.
Heavens opened on the way back..went very dark and big sploshes of rain on the windscreen, but thankfully it had gone off by the time we got home.
Stopping in tomorrow will make a nice change. :)
All the Christmas things down and gone away, vin took down the outside lights this afternoon. They have been lovely this year. the house looks really bare now.

Tonight we are having:
goat's cheese and cranberry escalope
baby baked potatoes
carrots and broccoli
Maybe bread sauce or a white sauce to go with.

Bye Bye Christmas!

Well there it is All Gone away..nearly. Three trees, assorted decorations from all over the house, and it all looks bare now. You get so used to the trees lit up, and there is nothing now except some nice twigs with lights on in the middle room which are always there.

All signs of the festive season gone.
Had an appointment with the nursey over the road this morning at ten to eleven, so had to go out for that. it was a "review" and blood pressure test and the results of last weeks blood test. All she did was look at the computer a lot, look at my feet, said she would make an appointment for the chiropodist, took the blood pressure (ok) asked me a couple of questions about the Aranesp injections, and that was it. Bit of a waste of time really, but never mind. She did say that I was "naughty" for not getting the flu jab but I have never had that yet.  Why is it that as soon as you go into a nursey's room you lose all your sense of dignity..just pop up here...you are naughty for not getting the flu jab...and they speak to you as if you are about twelve !! This is a woman who used to control a class of thirty very lively fourth/fifth years in a classroom. Grrrr.Ah well perhaps she will leave me alone for a bit now.
One thing..after Christmas..it is nice to get back to a normal routine again, the shops should be quieter and the coffee shops shouldn't b3e quite so busy..hopefully.
Tonight we are having:
pizza with cheese and mushrooms and peppers for Vin
green salad with baby tomatoes and a

One of Those Days!!

Didn't start too well. We got up late to begin with. I am not good at getting up early anyway, and usually rely on Vin to get up. he had been hassled by the cats though so slept on a bit. Doesn't matter actually just made everything a bit later.
Went to tesco's because we had vouchers for there, but had to wait a bit because his windscreen wipers wouldn't work. He had to fiddle about with the fuse and got them going after a few minutes.  Cold and blowy and a bit wet this morning, and the car park was full but we got a space near the front.  tesco was heaving this morning, must be everyone stocking up again after Christmas and the New Year. Terrible queues at the checkouts about eight deep, so vin hot footed it to the self scan ones!! I hate these but he is good at them. Did have a few problems though and had to call the woman to put it right, wouldn't take the avocados for ecample and she was getting a bit testy. Got there in the end though.
Vin swept out of the shop so fast we didn't have time to even look at the Costa, so it was home for our coffee this morning. Two Americanos, very nice too and I suppose it saves about a fiver!
Tonight we are having:
Fishless fingers
mushy peas for Vin and green beans for moi
Mushrooms
Chips!! 200grms between us.

2014 !

Here it is ..the second of january. I wonder what this year will bring. Last year seemed to fly by actually, mostly a year of recovery, which did take longer than I thought, but we did get to the Cheshire Oaks at the end of the year and that was a target completed.
We had a really nice visit from John and Ann's eldest daughter janet in August which was a treat, she and her husband are a lovely couple and it was a real pleasure to show them around. Our Jane was home too for the visit and she showed me how to get in touch with the family on facebook so I have been getting to know the girls and boy through that which is nice. They are lovely girls and John should be very proud of them.
Westopped in today, mainly because we justy didn't want to go out, and there was a pile of bedding to be ironed too so we did that, and Vin did the fire etc.,  Hope there is something decent to watch tonight on the box, last night was dire after Corrie there wasn't anything on. Vin didn't fancy the Sherlock and we ended up watching a programme on the BBC IPlayer about Andrew Wyeth which was very interesting. We had seen an exhibition years ago about his work in a museum in London and it was terrific. I remember one painting in particular which was a window with torn net type curtains flying in a breeze and you would swear you were looking through them. Very clever.
Tonight we are having:
Goat's cheese and cranberry escalope
Mushrooms, asparagus and green beans
potato croquettes
 maybe a white sauce to go with.

All Quiet on the McElroy Front...

Happy New Year little Blog. 2014 already and it only seems a short while since the century changed in 2000! Doesn't time fly.
Well we didn't do much today, and din't go anywhere either. We stopped up to see the new Year in and went to bed about a quarter to one.Got up fairly late and had our morning coffee quite late too. No matter not doing anything in particular.
Vin is catching up on his papers and reading articles he has missed and I am catching up on the computer, seeing what has happened there on the various sites.
The little cats are asleep in their different places. Rusty hides herself away under the coffee table in the middle room, then comes out every now and thenm has a bit of a look round and a shake and goes back. Bobby has been on our bed quite a long time but has come down now for some food. What a life eh!!
Tonight we are having:
pasta with mushrooms and asparagus.
A bit of garlic bread for Vin,
Butternut squash and sweet potato.