The FastDay Forum

Oh d'you really think so! @Carieoates? Hmm, what if I end up with ginger hair? I spose I could always wear a hat! Don't forget, they have seen me before...on my course, so it's not totally blind

Oh now I'm in a big Beanie dilemma

Bean

Hello Beanie alias @nursebean....go for it with the hair!! Have a bit of fun.

[carorees]

Oh yes, so do we. Amazing stars out here in the desert! We have always wanted to see the aurora but I am not sure about braving a Norwegian winter to see it!! At least you saw something!!

OH saw the aurora in Tasmania when he was doing a 10 day hike there (can't remember the name of it, but you'll know I'm sure as it's v famous) so I don't think you need to go to Norway to see it!

[carieoates]

Sitting with my massive cup of tea watching OBEM or One born Every Minute for distraction. I know my baby days are over, but still can't help crying with every birth. It's just so amazing.

[wildmissus]

@Ballerina, I love the kitchen. The good thing about orange pine is that is is solid wood and can be easily painted. I had no idea you were so crafty/creative. I haven't seen @Debs kitchen so I'll have to hunt that out. I am crafty and creative (but not arty) and love interior design and like nothing more than seeing what people do with their houses.

@Pennyforthem, glad you're not having to spend a fortune on the car after all. OH has just come home to ask me what happened to our car. ???, nothing to do with me, although I parked the car near the school yesterday and now it is badly scrapped along the front passenger door by the handle. It could be that someone with a buggy or pram caught the door handle. Very annoying.

Crikey you lot can chat. A failed fast today. I really couldn't face a third one of the week. I overdid it yesterday with the exercise which then triggered a carb binge, which then triggered a nasty night of hot flushes. So I'm shattered and my body just doesn't want to do another fast.

Congratulations to everyone with good news, there seems to a lot of it at the moment.

Oooeer a DIY tent. I'm not doing anything diy'ish at the moment though. Apart from still pondering what colour to do my kitchen. I may even go for a vinyl wallpaper with chickens on if I can't make my mind up.

DIY, the orange pine stuff can easily be painted, just give the woodwork a thorough clean to get rid of accumulated grease and dirt (an old toothbrush in the corners is a handy tool), then sand down enough to key the varnish, it doesn't all have to come off. Then undercoat, probably 2 coats would be best and gloss a coat or two. To keep it tidy use masking tape and newspaper on the glass or go over everything when its dry with a stanley blade or purpose made scraper. If you have melamine cupboards and want to paint them you need to use a substance called ESP, Easy Surface Preparation. Its an acid based substance that eats into and etches the surface of the melamine so the undercoat and gloss can stick. When using this method I prefer to use a mini foam roller on the doors when they are flat to get the smoothest finish. Also satin wood gives a less glossy finish but has the same waterproof and ruggedness qualities of gloss.

I'm very jealous of those who can see the Aurora. Anything that involves getting cold would be a solo trip for me as hubby can't tolerate the cold at all any more.

Further to the car saga, the parts did not arrive this morning (I would like to know who ordered them and when!), so we will not have a car till Monday.
Luckily, we have nothing planned this weekend and we are going to walk round to the local for a meal tomorrow evening.

Kids just gone home - I am worn out! We made shortbread biscuits instead of scones and we ate too many! The rest were sent home with them!

Eldest son is making a chicken and chorizo rissotto for dinner, plus we have a slow cooker full of hock bones, stock and peas for a pea and ham soup. The house is smelling very homely.

All I've done today is de-scale the one cup kettle thingy. In the process I discovered that my plastic jugs are scaled up too. The jug that I was using to decant the de-scaler suddenly became much clearer. So all of the other jugs are now soaking in a hot vinegar solution (so that is making things a bit pongy, countering the lovely cooking smells).

I am fighting the desire to grab an hours nap mainly because I would probably be extremely difficult to wake up again. I have just realised that I can probably fit the bookcase that is cluttering up my bedroom, down here in the dining room, squeezed between the filing cabinet and Martyns wall hanging bike. Now wheres my tape measure?

No snow then Penny? Beautiful sunny day here, been to aquacize then done the weekly shop and just enjoying a reviving cuppa.
Hope everyone's had a good day!

No snow, callyanna.

What an eventful day. I made playdough yesterday and the oldest springer managed to grab some this morning from grandson and has been sickity sick sick sick. Rung the vet, who said it's the salt that's made her like this and to bring her in. No car.....
Anyway, poor dog is feeling very sorry for herself and can't have food tonight.

So, between 2 little children, a sick dog and no transport, it's been a stressful day! The kids loved the day, though!

Ooh, @Pennyforthem between grandchildren, dogs and cars you are not having a great time, hope things improve soon for you all.

@Wildmissus my big indulgence is the monthly edition of 25 beautiful homes. I am neither art,crafty nor creative, just too mean or poor to pay others to do what I am quite capable of doing myself. All curtains and soft furnishings are made by me, hubs does plumbing, electrical and gardening whilst I do plastering, painting, wallpapering etc. Between us we can do new work tops, tiling floors and walls and any other miscellaneous jobs, phew, tired out after all that. Like you,I am passionate, if boring, ( I mean me, not you, by the way!!!! ) about interior design and just LOVE to see what other folk do with their homes.

When we had the HUGE kitchen extension done we had 44sq mtrs of floor tiles to lay and as if that wasn't enough that's when I decided to paint the whole house white. We have 11 doors and each door had to have 2 coats of Knot block, at least 2 coats of undercoat and about 3 coats of top coat before they all really looked white. That is the same as someone telling you to paint 1 door face about 130 + times, a total nightmare! then I started on the furniture! then I started on the skirting boards! then the balustrades up the stairs and along the landing, then ALL the pine bedroom furniture, I was a wreck at the end of it but at least I thought the house looked better. My friends were getting worried and one even promised that if I died before I was finished she would ensure that I went to the crematorium in a coffin painted in 'Farrow and Ball Antique White' how kind was that?

Ballerina x

I take my hat off to you @Ballerinaand it's a BIG one ! You're brilliant. Can you come round to my house please there's a few doors need a facelift!

Stands well back from the computer.......

goodness Auriga, whenI was younger I used to do curtains and decorating for friends as well as a full time job, don't know where I got the energy or the time from, I also used to make all my own clothes, blimey, I'm wearing myself out just remembering. Thank goodness for old age, I can just sit and read now, phew!!!!

Ballerina x

That reminds me, I need to do the stairs handrail. The paint has actually worn off in places. The problem I have is that as soon as i do one bit of white gloss, the rest of the gloss in that area will look shabby and need doing.

Yep, that is indeed a bummer Julie, which is why I love the new breed of water based, stay-white paints, not perfect but at least they don't go a horrible yellow colour, the down side is that they are not quite as robust as the old oil base paints

Ballerina x

[carorees]

I've been trying to persuade OH to let me paint the orange pine doors (which were installed by the builders and are so warped none actually closes properly), skirting boards and stairs etc ever since we moved in 16 years ago. But OH's Scandinavian genes means he can't cope with the idea of painted wood! He says it just gets grubby and chipped and has to be redone. So, now my campaign is for new doors etc in unpainted hardwood...just need to win the lottery to be able to afford them!