Romanais Blog

Tuesday xx

23/12/2014

More strange going ons in our house this morning - Anais found these in the bran flakes! They had a pack each.

Another busy day today - they didn't get chance to do very much of them. Here they are......

Anais' is on the left and Romans is on the right. They are making a gingerbread man each.

At lunchtime we popped to Tesco.

When we got back we made some gingerbread (this recipe) and made the pieces to a gingerbread house. Remember the mould I bought for 50p in the January sales.

Roman made eight gingerbread ladies and the rest of the dough went in the freezer for another day.

This evening we decorated the gingerbread pieces and left them to set. We will assemble the house tomorrow.

We used up all the wood in the log store under the side of the house. We still had two thirds of wood in the log store at the bottom of the garden. It is handy having wood kept under the side of the house - no getting muddy feet going to the bottom of the garden in the rain. We were thinking next year perhaps we should make the log store under the side of the house bigger?

We thought instead of carrying wood from the back garden to stock the above log store up we might as well order more.

The log supplier who supplied our wood in September isn't doing logs anymore so we had to find a new supplier. Mark e-mailed some companies last week and today someone phoned him to say he could do a load (approx two and a half cubic meters) for £160 delivered. He also said he could deliver today or tomorrow - arrrgh short notice! Mark said we might as well go for it and had a load delivered today.

This photo was taken after we had already moved some - there was a LOT!

The log store in the back garden is full to bursting again. The log store under the side of the house is bursting and we also had loads leftover which went under the side of the house and under a tarpaulin in the back garden.

It is nice wood too - seasoned, ready to use now and cut to size, Mark won't need to chop it.

It is sooo comforting having wood, silly but love wood and love Fred, it is so homely and cozy.

Tonight we all relaxed by watching "The Snowman" and playing The Snowman game (I won!) and drinking hot chocolate with squirty cream and marshmallows.

Thursday xx

11/9/2014

Happy days, a lovely warm and sunny day, I got loads done, plus we have WOOD!

I made another two hedgehogs - they are now a cute family of three as I have run out of the mink coloured wool for the bodies.

I returned my Jo Nesbo library book "Headhunters" and got another out that had been returned to the library - "Phantom". The digital library have also added more Jo Nesbo titles - dad - add yourself to the hold list- I have already! x

Thought I'd have another got at crocheting arigurumi - any idea's what this will be????????????

A MINION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The pattern was from this blog and was very easy to follow. I like following patterns from other people's blogs as you know they will work as other people have tried and tested them. This was as far as I got today as...................

................our winter wood supply turned up this afternoon! Happy days!!!!!!!!!

Last year we paid £175 for approx 2 1/4 cubic meters of wood. It wasn't totally seasoned and we had to pay another £110 for a cubic meter of kiln dried logs which were ready to use straight away. TOTAL - £285 for 3 1/4 cubic meters of logs. We considered it "free" as last year we had refund of £311 from NPower.

left - 2 1/4 cubic meters of wood
right - 1 cubic meter of kiln dried logs

This year prices went up £20 and our supplier wanted another £20 for delivery, so £215 for 2 1/4 cubic meters of logs - we thought it was about time we found a new supplier.

Looking on the internet we found another supplier who wanted £80 per cubic meter of seasoned wood. We have been e-mailing him since June asking for information regarding delivery with no response. When we phoned him he said he was going to get back to us once he had chopped an oak tree down! - that is NOT seasoned wood and no good for us :-(

We changed tact and instead of looking at "seasoned wood suppliers" we looked at "tree surgeons/arboricultural contractors". We phoned a company at the end of last week requesting info on approx two cubic meters of logs - he said they were £60 per cubic meter of seasoned logs and he could do delivery TODAY!!!!!!!!!!

This year we had another refund from NPower (£257) so once again our logs have cost us "nothing".

Two cubic meters (£120) delivered looks like this.....................

He even threw in a bag of kindling wood as a freebie! We are really happy with the logs, he explained he stores them for 18+ months in a barn on a farm. They are not kiln dried logs but they have been dried out and are properly seasoned wood without the kiln dried wood prices. Basically they are ready to burn NOW.

Mom and dad remember last year when we had everyone come and help us shift the logs?

This year we managed between the four of us. Anais worked the hardest, next door laughed at Roman who carried one log at a time while Anais was loaded down with bags of logs! Mark took the kids to Asda halfway through moving the logs to buy a big bag of sweets each as a well done for working so hard. He also hired them a film to watch online when they got back "The Amazing Spiderman" - while we finished off.

Roman wasn't very interested in moving logs he was more interested in making Lego space ships...........

This year we learned our lessons from last year.................

Instead of stacking the wood straight away in the log store we only stacked what could go straight in the log burner. Anything that was exceptionally big was left on the patio and Mark chopped up with the axe. Then and only then was it added to the log store. All wood in the log store is now ready to burn straight away - it won't need chopping mid winter.

The log store on Monday looked like this...................

..................today it looks like this.......................

(rubbish picture as it was going dark when we had finally finished)

The two cubic meters of wood were not quite enough to fill the log store but remember we had some of last years wood stored under the tarpaulin on the patio?!

When we added that the log store was FULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can't get so much as another twig in there.

Remember we also have the new log store under the side of the house piled to the brim with last years wood supply which is also ready to burn NOW

Come on winter we are ready for you!!!!!!!!! The chimney was swept in June and we have lots and lots of logs!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Funny how a heap of dried up old logs brings a sense of contentment :-)

P.S thanks to Anais and Roman who when they were in Asda picking a big bag of chocolates each thought to bring me back a Yankee Candle wax tart - Pantry Spice - mmmmmm it smells of winter. I said I will burn it when we light Fred for the first time/closer to Christmas

Anais and Roman are shortly going to bed, we (Mark!) is going to watch "The Amazing Spiderman" xx

(8PM and it is dark already)

Monday xx

8/9/2014

I popped out this morning. I had this silk painting kit from the charity shop for £1. The paints are almost all gone but it was worth it for the piece of silk which has been pre waxed so I won't need to use gutta to do the outline.

I finished my library book Jo Nesbo "Headhunters". Not part of the Harry Hole series, it is a stand alone book. Good story line but not as exciting as Harry Hole, I was disappointed.

Tonight we were under more pressure to move the wood from the log store in the back garden to the new log store under the side of the house......................

.....................we have arranged for our winter wood delivery on THURSDAY AFTERNOON!!!!!!!!

It took a while but the log store in the back garden is now empty and awaiting the delivery of winter wood.............

..................the log store under the side of the house is FULL with wood ready to use NOW...................

.....................with the remainder on the patio (for now) under a tarpaulin to keep them separate from the new wood delivery.

Monday xx

23/6/2014

I am feeling pretty miserable tonight as my wobbly crown finally popped out tonight while I was flossing which means a phone call to the dentist tomorrow followed by a visit when I can get an appointment. I am not fond of going to the dentist :-(

Otherwise a lovely day today - been very busy but nothing to show for it. Kids beds changed, house cleaned from top to bottom, washing hung on the line, ironed when dry and put away. Full roast beef dinner for tea.

I also sat in the garden (on my now clean recliner chair) and finished another book "Donor" Ken McClure. I am enjoying doing lots of reading recently. I have just downloaded another two library books, Ken McClure "White Death" and "Lost Causes".

This afternoon Fred had his first chimney sweep. It didn't take very long and the man was very thorough. Pleased to say everything looked good - he said all soot was "sooty and dusty" not sticky and tar like which means we have been burning wood correctly. He cemented the liner blocks back together and said it should be good for another season. He also put a smoke pellet in Fred and lit it to test the flue was not leaking inside the house. All smoke came out of the chimney as it should which means no leaks. £40 well spent to put our minds at rest 1, we have been using Fred correctly and 2, it is safe. Now to order next winters logs.

Mark was in the office all day today. Roman went to school in his trainers today and no-one noticed, ooops. Anais stayed after school to take part in a rounders match at an away school - her team lost so she came home disappointed.

Wednesday xx

30/4/2014

A lovely sunny day today, lets hope it continues over the bank holiday weekend.

Got back from taking Roman to school and thought I'd go in the back garden. I de-weeded the patio which is the extent of my gardening and then swept and hosed the patio down. I pulled the garden patio set out of the summer house and set it up on the patio ready for warmer days. It is on the other side of the patio for a change this year where the gas BBQ normally goes and the gas BBQ is now at the back of the outhouse. This leaves the window in the conservatory (where patio set normally goes) by the sofa free to look out of and makes it brighter.

I also sorted out and swept the floor of the summer house ready for when the kids want to start using it again. Broken and deflated garden toys thrown away. Just a big old black plastic box to sort out of the way over the summer and then put back in there for the winter as it held all of the kindling wood.

This is how much wood we have left from winter 2013. We need to think about ordering another lorry load soon for winter 2014 so it has chance to dry out over the summer. We can't burn logs with over 20% moisture.

Grass is in major need of cutting. It hasn't been done yet as we either haven't had time or its been too wet to do.

We still have three boxes of heat logs left, one bag of kiln dried logs and I found four odd kiln dried logs on the floor of the summer house which I put by the side of the fire now its not in use. Can't leave wood by the side of the fire when its on in case they catch alight.

Three plain granny square's crocheted for the reverse of the flower granny square cushion.

Anais came home from school and made Roman a birthday card. Roman came home from school and got his Lego Space set out.

50% of the way through "Cause for Alarm" - Erica Spindler. It is very good.

Mark took Anais to swimming lesson this evening. Just as they were leaving Roman decided he wanted to go and watch.

Sunday xx

27/4/2014

We are home now after a lovely two weeks/fifteen nights in the caravan. It has gone so fast and Anais and Roman were disappointed to come home, they wanted to stay longer.

The car boot sale wasn't on this morning and it was spitting with rain so we thought we might as well pack up and come home straight away as we had two cars and two weeks of things to unpack and rather a lot of dirty washing as I couldn't wash/dry this week (rain).

We got home approx 1PM. The house was very cold when we got home as it was so damp outside. Mark lit Fred and Anais and Roman sat at the little coffee table finishing their homework, keeping warm while we unpacked everything. Look how dusty it is, Mark had to clean it out first as he hasn't been used in so long.

I haven't taken any photo's of the cress in the week, here is the cress they planted at Beckett's Farm on Easter Monday.

Ah, it is nice to have internet again! I spent a good hour earlier getting idea's for Roman's birthday cake. I also updated blog with photo's, it is now complete for
* Easter Monday
* Tuesday 22nd April
* Wednesday 23rd April
* Thursday 24th April
* Friday 25th April
* Saturday 26th April

I came home with all of this cream aran wool from Elaine, it is nice and chunky.

I thought I could use it to make a crochet cushion for the conservatory with it. I googled variations of granny square's and came across this pattern for a flower granny square.

Here is my first attempt which I did tonight. A little tricky to begin with, start by doing the flower and then working the granny square in one around it.

Tuesday xx

25/3/2014

Mark is happy he had an email yesterday to say his tablet had an update and an app was now available that turned his tablet into a remote control, he can now watch the cable channels and record on his tablet. Lots of annoying the kids this evening when they were watching TV and he kept changing the channel, he told them he could do magic - hilarious!

No fooling Anais though and once Roman knew what it was he was trying to find the app for his tablet!

Popped to Homebase today for more filler for Anais bedroom. There was a huge trolley with odd rolls of wallpaper in for 50p each so I had these three. Pink, blue and black and silver. I thought I could have another go at making some homemade gift bags (like in this blog post).

I downloaded another book today, Sophie Kinella "Remember Me". I haven't read any Sophie Kinsella in years and I wanted something a little light hearted after "Twelve Years a Slave" which was quite heavy going.

Anais had orchestra today and Roman went to his club.

Very cold and damp today. Mark picked Anais and Roman so I surprised them by lighting Fred so it was warm for when they got back. Today was the first time we have lit him in weeks as it has been so warm recently.

Anais has gone mad on Virtual Piano which they use at school. Roman's jumper raised a laugh at his club today.

Now we have more filler Mark started filling the holes in Anais bedroom tonight after he finished stripping it last night. We need yet MORE filler though......................

Friday xx

7/3/2014

Food shopping today and changing beds.

I oiled the slate hearth today, the second time it has needed to be done in six months, it looks lovely! It has been so warm lately we have only had Fred on a few times since we have been back from holiday.

An apple crumble made for the freezer.....

A ginger sponge cake made with a bar of melted dark chocolate spread over the top........

Cute new gloves for Anais........

Sat in the warm conservatory this afternoon reading "Copycat". 30% of the way through so far.......

Roman built his Lego train set........

Family film tonight was "Gravity". Roman sat through most of it with a fleece blanket over his head and then declared at the end "it wasn't all that scary" and he wanted to watch it tomorrow night at grandma and grandad's house with Jordan, Dylan and Lexi. He got his toy rocket out too when it had finished. We also watched some of the special features of how they made it which was very interesting.

Anais is learning how to play the "Eastenders" theme tune on her clarinet. Roman brought a letter home saying he is learning how to play the recorder at school and if we want him to be able to practise at home we need to go to school next week to buy a recorder for him. So, looks like next week there will be a violin, clarinet and recorder in the house!

No Graham Norton tonight :-(

We watched Breaking Bad instead - 26/62

Friday xx

14/2/2014

Happy Birthday Richard! xx

Last year we made Richard some cufflinks with picture's of Brendyn and Olivia in. Mark suggested something different this year so this was his project. He made some "Lord of the Rings" cufflinks! They each have a different quote from the book in.

Today is also my neighbour's birthday.

I made her a scarf and gave it to her today. I love this brown wrapping.

As you can see from last year nothing was mentioned about Valentine's Day, we don't really celebrate it. I am grateful for the lovely things Mark does for me the rest of the year, like bringing me flower's and Cadbury's Dairy Milk home and going to put diesel in Cassie at silly o'clock in the morning before he goes to work. I can't remember the last time I had to do it myself and he does it as he knows I don't like petrol stations and he knows I am grateful for it. He is also grateful for the little things I do for him like nice clean and tidy house and nice packed lunches for work:-) It is nice to do nice things for each other all year not on one day of the year!

I used the pattern from this blog to make a crochet heart for his car.

Today I started knitting this scarf to be finished tomorrow......

We must have Absolute 80's radio on too much as Mark lit Fred tonight and Roman started singing the chorus to Billy Joel "We didn't start the fire" and made us all laugh! Fred was welcomed tonight, the weather has been awful.

My Valentine's heart off Roman.....

"Mom I love you because you are the sweetest mom in the world, love from Roman"

Sunday xx

12/1/2014

This morning Mark was in the back garden sorting more logs out to go under the side of the house and chopping big pieces smaller. While he was doing that I prepared our tea.

The log pile house in the back garden is going down now as you can see.

We now have another pile under the side of the house which is useful to go and get these to use instead of getting wet going to the bottom of the garden. (recycle box comes in handy for moving them from back garden to front)

PROJECT TAPESTRY - more done today...

Before we picked the kids up from mom and dads we popped to Wilkinsons to get a white wine - Chardonnay - to have a go at making that one too. While we were in there I had more bargains! These two squirrel door stops were £8 each reduced to £1 each though they needed a little TLC. The USB wireless keyboard was a bargain £15.50 reduced to £4.65 and was intended for the new TIVO box. We can now get the Youtube app through the TIVO box and over the weekend the kids have enjoyed putting on music video's and Lego Ninjago video's. Using the remote control arrow keys <^> to spell words makes it hard work, especially to correct spelling mistakes so we thought it would help them. It was incompatible anyway and wouldn't work so has to go back this week.

I sewed the acorns back on the squirrels and put one in the lounge and one in our bedroom.

Anais made a bracelet while Roman was doing his homework. It took him a while as he had to re-write the story "The Elves and The Shoemaker" in his own words.

Mark made the white wine while I did my tapestry. This is his project but I will drink it ha! The red wine is "fizzing" as Anais called it!

Thought we'd re-try the smokeless coal on Fred tonight (last time we tried was November) we made wood fire first to get the stove HOT. When the logs had turned to ash we put the coals on which seemed to work.

40% of the way through Dan Brown "Inferno" so far and enjoying it. Shortly going to bed to do more reading. xx