The kitchen is coming along beautifully. Most of the floor is down now and I hope to get the tree up in the next few days. We moved the table out there today and had our first meal on it. I didn’t remember to take a picture of that until it was too gloomy!

The electrician has fitted lots of lovely LED lights which on full power make the prep area like Blackpool illuminations. That is lovely in this time of short and dark days. The new part will be having LED strips around the edge of the room on a sort of shelf.  There will also be 2 dangly lights of some sort over the table. I haven’t got those yet, so there are 2 temporary bulbs in there of just 60W, so that part is still quite dark in the evenings.

I have decided on some colours. The purple on 1 wall, the grey on another, and the acid green over the hob. I am hoping it will look sharp and contemporary. If it doesn’t, no matter, if I don’t like it, I shall try something else. We need to let the plaster dry out for a while yet, so we won’t be painting until after Christmas.

On Monday, News Dog Media are coming down for a photo shoot. They are doing a Quid Queen Christmas Special feature, so that’s quite exciting. I shall be cooking the meals on the Christmas plan for the 25th. I have an Asda order coming tomorrow with several of the ingredients included. So I shall be doing more recipes soon. I’ve updated the page some more today.

DD2 and SIL2B came up today after doing some chores nearby. I had sorted out lots of stuff that I don’t use or need anymore and gave them 2 carrier bags full and a big box. She will sell them on Facebay and I hope she will keep the proceeds as she is making the effort. I could, after all, have made the effort myself. But she keeps threatening to give it to me. We shall see.

There were a couple of things I’ve been detaching myself from for a while. I don’t find it easy t o get rid of stuff that has some use in it. Comes out of being really poor for a long time. One of those things was a leather jacket that I bought  on holiday in Spain what must have been at least 20 years ago. I have never worn it, and haven’t been able to fit into it for some considerable time. Inspired by the reverse Advent of Froogs and Sue, I got it out of the back of the wardrobe and realised that even if I could get into it, it isn’t a style I would wear any more. So off it went. I shan’t miss it, but I still found it hard.

I will be looking around for more things to get rid of too. The older I get, the less ‘stuff’ I want. Did you see Froogs post  for Thursday 4th?  There was a great YouTube link there about Living Rich. It’s pretty much where I’m at right now. Trying to appreciate everything I have, and trying not to lust after a whole load of stuff others have got.  We read the Sunday Times each week, and I’m finding the supplement parts more and more annoying. All those ‘must have’ this and ‘indispensable’ that. And all those items of clothing at £600 for a skirt, £1200 for a bag. Really?

I’m a bit scared too right now as the Autumn Statement seemed to imply a reliance on Joe Public spending massive amounts in order to balance the books. Knowing how advertising can influence our desires and actions, I’m apprehensive that people whose salaries have lost value over the last few years, will be cajoled into buying more and more ‘stuff’ in order to make themselves feel ‘better’, and end up stressed, in debt, and ever more reliant on the income their job provides, in order to service credit card (and worse) debt, in an unreliable job  market.

Buy it if you can afford it, please don’t borrow it.  The money spent servicing debt would be of so much more use kept in the family

Oh dear, I’m lecturing now, I’m going to stop