You can never have enough...

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Or simply overuse popeye... it is hard to avoid that when we move house, so much lifting and packing and carrying and unpacking and lifting and placing and...

Take a day off. I dare ya, lol!

[Mica]

Morning all 
Overcast  could rain later as black clouds to east.

Thanks for the laughs Lilith

Like the sound of your silk OHH

Can empathise  KM re cutting the wrong thread

Yesterday GKs had great time in the pool, back to our house then their mum arrived so we decided to go to the cafe  for lunch .Enjoyable but exhausting time. Finished the quilting need to square it up however I noticed that the pattern isn't  sitting square on the cloth. Oh well it is an experiment  needcto get it finished warts and all so that I can move on to next project.

Waiting fir DH to get home before  I have my weekly coffee - well mostly once a week have been known to have more

Enjoy your day

[popeye333]

You are probably right Hunni lol.

I will try and take it easier. I have to find the box with half of Fannies Birthday present in.. Its not till August but I plan on giving it to her while she is here. Save postage lol

Landlords other half is going to bring an led lightbulb around and put it in for me.. yay. I must take a photo its syuc a pretty upside down glass shade.

Right games done. Time to Get moving.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Soft rain falling, I am cosy in my beautiful bed watching Robert Reich with his coffee klatch youtube podcast thing. He is such an interesting man, but I am looking forward to finishing my Sunday morning lazy routine so I can start the new Lee Child the library finally got for me. What a lovely prospect, a soft grey day, cosy and lazy, with a good book to demolish, and really yummy leftovers for dinner. No energy to be extended, that will set me up for the week!

Oh, and the leftovers - corned beef, with colcannon, and a mustard sauce, yesterdays efforts rewarded by today's sloth!

[popeye333]

I had a lazy day too. I set up the shelves in the lounge. Im 5 cm's short of having the whole wall in shelves so had to stack double at the ends. Still works tho.

Then I played games until Boof... must find out the history on that name came and changed the lightbulb for me, AND showed me how to use the heat pump. So I had a play while dinner cooked.

Madam put her foot down. I got my tea-table trolley and brought it into the lounge, put a pretty table cloth on it. She who Must be obeyed promptly got up, gathered said table cloth and put it on the floor... So I guess it stays naked.. until I find the vase I want to put on there..
And it Might be my Huge crystal one that belonged to my Step grandmother. I will get some Irises to put into it when they come back into season. Thats my first memory of seeing the vase. Its huge, it has a chip but that can be turned to the back.

So Ill be in the guest room for the next few days.. I cannot have fanny sleeping in the same room as me and she is NOT sleeping in my bed lol.

[kiwimade64]

morning ladies We're supposed to have rain until Thursday. At least the temps are warm.

I have some tree branches to cut up if the weather clears. Mostly from being knocked off trees during the Easter cyclone. They aren't big, just not small enough to bin or burn. The fire ban has lifted so they might be burned, and the ash put on the compost.

Yesterday was a cruisey day for us as well. It just seemed like the perfect day to chill and do nothing in particular. Our neighbours both had their fire lit, but we didn't find it cold. Heat pumps are pretty simple to drive, popeye. And as mica said, they are far more efficient $$$ wise than a heater. Just make sure you keep the filter clean.

School is back for the kids so if out and about, look out for them on their bikes and scooters during drop off and pick up times.

[Roma]

Good morning.

Cloudy this morning and there may be some showers later. So far we have been lucky here with lovely days and the typically cool nights ... perfect.

DH and GS have left for a dental appt over an hour away and then school drop off after. GS will do quite a bit of the driving ... lucky (patient) GD with the learner driver! I will potter back here.

Got to love having a fire on the go with the 2 cats sprawled in front here.  You don't have the mess of ash and wood bits with the heat pump though!

I've had a few Lee Child books on the go lately as well ... haven't read any for years.  I spied one on the "recommended" shelf at the library. Alison Mau's recent book was a good read. 

Have nearly finished the vest front I'm knitting ... might get some more done today. 

Enjoy the day all.

[popeye333]

Morning everyone

It was black as out the back but it is lifting.

What surprised me re the heat pump was I thought it was cold. Which to me means its lower than 18. So I put it on 21 and it didn't work. Had to put it up to 24 to feel any heat. but it soon warmed up. Only had it on 10 minutes. I dont like hot air. But it took the chill off. I do like that if I make it a wide spread of heat it reaches the lounge.

Will hit the spare room today.. Simply stacking stuff against a wall so I can put the bed down. And the last stuff on the bench in the kitchen will go in there too.. Im kinda over dealing with it all. So Ill get the house presentable for my birthday lunch.

Any suggestions to that will help..

I have the sweet sorted. but its lunch. With one vegetarian that I'm not sure what to have.. Me I'd go straight to the sweets with nothing else. I thought about sliders with some pork. But that's not good for a vegetarian either. Just want something little really. Had thought about fish and chips then the sweets. But none of us are big eaters either.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Sweetcorn fritters, or anything with eggs popeye -those are my vege go tos, or a vegetarian pizza, you could do a small one of those.

[popeye333]

Sweetcorn fritters, or anything with eggs popeye -those are my vege go tos, or a vegetarian pizza, you could do a small one of those.

A vege quiche would work... not that I will eat it. but Im not worried about me lol.. 

I have some nice red and white ramekins I could use for individual ones.   and they can be already cooking when my girls arrive. 

Fritters I do like but straight from the pan, not kept warm. 

Thanks Hunni, need to add some veges to the shopping list lol.

[Mica]

Morning all 
Overcast

My go to vege lunch is  pumpkin red lentil coconut soup

Been to gym had my bloods taken  next shower and some paper work. Might puttle in sewing cave  later.

Popeye we never switch our heat pumpmoff have it set at minimum temperature 16 on cold days doesn't take much to boost the heat. The heating engineer we used to sort out heating and insulation of our old house gave us that advise. Worked well  do the same here . Like KM says just make  sure you clean the filters regularly, 

Enjoy your day

[Roma]

Pastry (eggy) savouries .. done in muffin tins. Soup ... pumpkin,  tomato or vege. Club sammies ... savoury muffins.  

Yes, just leave the heat pump on at a comfortable setting ... turning on/off for a boost will use more power.  I shut off rooms not used.

[Jan]

Popeye - I have a fabulous quick recipe for a roasted cauli and chickpea dish - that you just throw in your meat dish - it’s got turmeric cumin and paprika so if you don’t like spices it’s probably not for you - but it’s fantastic hot or cold .I have been away finishing off the audit and instead of staying in a hotel they put us in an AirB&B - one of the young men just happened to be a very good vegetarian cook - so he was regularly rostered on as the chef .One night he used halloumi cheese then feta - but I dodged the cheese as cheese at night makes for unsettled sleep and as nightmares are one of my weaknesses I didn’t want to be waking he entire house up
Agree about the heat pump - don’t turn it on and off - I keep mine at 18 as this house is old and has very little insulation - it is surprising how quickly the filter gets dirty

[kiwimade64]

I think the recommended low temperature is 18 degrees, any lower and it starts to cost you. It only takes 10 minutes to heat our home, so we have our heat pump turned off until we need it. We use it in the summer as well for cooling. Much more efficient than a fan and one piece of furniture less for MrK to worry about with the walker. We often leave the heat pump on cool for the summer when we go out (I know... lol) for the Furry One as he feels the heat, especially now he is an old dude. I will admit it is lovely to come home to a nice cool house after being out in the heat.

This morning the rain stayed away so I've been cutting up old bits of timber for our neighbour's fire. She's a single mum and $$$ are tight. We see it as a win-win. We get rid of timber we don't want and sometimes some baking, and she gets the firewood.

Time for lunch

[Olive]

Popeye - a Spanish tortilla is delicious, cheap and substantial, can be served room temperature or warm.   All you need is eggs, potatoes, onion and good olive oil, plus a small non-stick frying pan.   If you want a recipe let me know.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

We have tiny spaces so our heat pump not only stays off, but it is off at the outside power switch. The tech told me to do that because apparently they are on standby and trickle feed themselves to keep at a safe operating temp. I know my power bill used to go up fractionally when I turned it back on in June, because it needs to be on for a day or so before we use it on a cold day. He also said 19 degrees was the sweet spot if we left it on, but mine blows and I can feel it on the back of my neck so I only use it to boost on really cold days. Being the end unit I have a fair amount of brick exterior walls which act as a heat sink, putting the pump on means it is a really cold day, lol. And the other benefit we have is a regular tech check and filter clean paid for by the landlord, so that is one less worry as well. We really are very well looked after...

[zqwerty]

My electricity bill is about $96 for the month just past, $20 more than last month with the increased prices for April.

I am cold all the time, I'm 76, when I was 65 when I got here used to have the heat pump on 12degC but now I'm older can't do that anymore. I have my heat pump on 14degC to 16degC depending on the weather, admittedly I am in Chch.

Never use my stove, it's switched off at the wall, gas hob never used, don't trust it. I use microwave and air fryer sparingly and very rarely boil a kettle since I went off tea and coffee, have very few showers.

I don't sleep in my bedroom for the last two years since it's too cold I sleep next to the heat pump in a room closed off to the rest of a modern flat with double glazing on about half of the windows.

We are being ripped of mightily by the supply companies.

So much for the market place and competition, I can remember back in the late seventies when I paid $29 for 3 months electricity when it was still Nationalized and was called the MED.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Well, we do have the Winter Energy payment, and that I will put towards my power bill by adding it to my autopayment, I am well in credit now, so if I get a cold snap I am happy to use the pump, or have a hot shower and fill up the hot water bottles, and not worry about a nasty bill. But yes, it has gone up hugely, very scary. The thing is if we let our body temp drop as oldies we risk real health issues, including sudden death, I'd rather pay for a few more degrees of warmth than wake up stone cold dead...

[popeye333]

Thanks for all the advice.

Dianne is going to make a crustless quiche.. Another odd thing, its the same recipe Ive been using for many years. Only I throw all sorts into it.
And Ill do a few sausage rolls, since I dont like quiche.

I dont like a hot house, or beathing warm air. So it will just be a quick shot of warm if needed. 18 is my fave temp. I may use it more in the summer though.

I got the guest room sorted.. bed made.. Both bedrooms have lost of crates and boxes stacked. Just until later.

Ive put my cookbooks and retro Tupperware on my wall of shelves. Need to find my pretties now.. But Ill be having some time off now apart from sorting the last stuff in the kitchen.

Found a few things I wanted today so that was good.

I text David and Said I was Madge on the Cadge. His lemon tree has the best lemons I've ever seen juice wise, not a pretty fruit. But the juice just keeps flowing. Ill save him a bit of lemon méringue pie, of it doesn't all get eaten. I dont want to invite him to my birthday. Poor Guy wouldn't stand a chance with 5 cheeky women together lol

I realized some time through the night that I'm finally in the house I always wanted to live in. One with a face.. two eyes and a nose with the footpath up to the Nose / front door..

I feel very content here.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Good. It is a special feeling.