What have you done today thread?

[the_priest]

Yesterday it was up early, wife to station, son to work. Daughter to breakfast. Out to church! Had an important meeting with Diocesan people about a chaplaincy I'm newly involved in. Cooked dinner so the wife would have a hot meal when she came home. Out to the Mayor's Carol service in the evening to hear my brilliant school choir doing their part! Top marks and loud applause for them all. Sat through some of the Rock Choir renditions, they were really good, but the music was too loud for me, so I slipped away home. Setup the church for today's service where I am expecting over 200 children/parents for our "Out of School" Advent service. Have a school class visiting this morning for Christmas talk, then the Eucharist with the parishioners, back home for lunch and Big Service. Followed by Bible Study. Need to start working on my Christmas Sermon too!

[Sunny]

DIY at home for a change.
Attaching wood wool board to the landing walls in advance of lime plastering. Ran out of the fixings early though (schoolboy error), so have finished with that job for the week until the new ones can be delivered - it's 'specialist' stuff that you can't just get from Screwfix sadly.

Suddenly finding myself with an unexpected free afternoon, I'm now deciding what to do next. I need to sort out how much copper pipe I have in stock in advance of plumbing planning at the parents tomorrow. Might go crazy and do a jigsaw too...

[MrLongbeard]

So far, evicted three mice from the garage

[Rockburner]

DIY at home for a change.
Attaching wood wool board to the landing walls in advance of lime plastering. Ran out of the fixings early though (schoolboy error), so have finished with that job for the week until the new ones can be delivered - it's 'specialist' stuff that you can't just get from Screwfix sadly.

Suddenly finding myself with an unexpected free afternoon, I'm now deciding what to do next. I need to sort out how much copper pipe I have in stock in advance of plumbing planning at the parents tomorrow. Might go crazy and do a jigsaw too...

What paint do you use on the lime plaster?

We use some very expensive stuff, but it generally does go on well. The brand name is "Earthborn".

Oh - top tip... (if you don't know this already - you probably do) get the Earthborn "Wall Glaze" and cover the plaster with that before painting, and optionally again after. It stops the moisture that will come up the walls and venting out from pushing the paint off the wall! Where we missed the glaze, the wall is literally shedding after about a year, where we did use it, it's absolutely fine.

[Silly Car]

I’ve just finished my last scheduled client task of 2025 which leaves nearly 2 weeks to deal with any ad-hoc tasks and enquiries, complete some training modules for additional licensing in 2026 and make sure the rest of my team are up to date with their tasks and training.

This morning, I’ve also painted one side of approx 3 sheets of plywood cupboard parts with a view to flipping them over this afternoon and painting the backs of them. There is still a bit of filling and sanding to do on them but I want a decent layer of filler primer on them before I sort out the remaining defects.

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Perkins Brothers (IIRC) inspired drying rack

[Dodgy69]

Another enjoyable ride into Shrewsbury this morning. The River Severn was a bit higher today and diversions were required.

[the_priest]

Had someone pop over in the morning to collect two Advent Angels we had at our Memorial Service. She wanted them for her sister. Eucharist in the morning. Then took daughter to Hobbycraft to do some shopping. Scary the amount of people wandering in these places! Back home, gave her lunch. Met with a plumber for a quote to remove the heating system and cap the gas. Out for a lunch with a retired priest. Home to find an email letting me know that the priest who married my wife and I had passed away on Tuesday. He was a very dear friend and a very good faithful man. His wife passed away last year after a period of dementia. Out in the evening to get things ready for tomorrows services.

[Sunny]

DIY at home for a change.
Attaching wood wool board to the landing walls in advance of lime plastering. Ran out of the fixings early though (schoolboy error), so have finished with that job for the week until the new ones can be delivered - it's 'specialist' stuff that you can't just get from Screwfix sadly.

Suddenly finding myself with an unexpected free afternoon, I'm now deciding what to do next. I need to sort out how much copper pipe I have in stock in advance of plumbing planning at the parents tomorrow. Might go crazy and do a jigsaw too...

What paint do you use on the lime plaster?

We use some very expensive stuff, but it generally does go on well. The brand name is "Earthborn".

Oh - top tip... (if you don't know this already - you probably do) get the Earthborn "Wall Glaze" and cover the plaster with that before painting, and optionally again after. It stops the moisture that will come up the walls and venting out from pushing the paint off the wall! Where we missed the glaze, the wall is literally shedding after about a year, where we did use it, it's absolutely fine.

We use Earthborn clay paint

Not come across the glaze though - and have had one wall randomly fail (rest of the house has been fine) - will bear that in mind for the future - cheers!

[MrLongbeard]

The weekly shop, it's sooooooooo much nicer, quicker and stressless without female encumbrance.

[Pirahna]

The local electrician has been and installed 10 x 5500w panels and 2 additional batteries. I've now got 9.7kw of panels on the roof and 19.4kwh of batteries. That should hopefully fix my running out of electricity in the winter problem.

My water pump decided it didn't like the power being turned off and on and has shat itself. I'm just off to buy a new one. Looks like I'll have a fun evening down a hole in the ground fitting it.

[Trinity765]

I bought some fresh cranberries. Now what?

[Silly Car]

I bought some fresh cranberries. Now what?

Boil up with some sugar, cinnamon, all spice and iirc red wine vinegar.

[Skub]

Some bikes from the local show.

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[Trinity765]

I bought some fresh cranberries. Now what?

Boil up with some sugar, cinnamon, all spice and iirc red wine vinegar.

Wow! I've just made the most delicious, Christmassy thing I've ever made. I made up my own recipe from what I had in the kitchen. Cranberries, the juice of 1 1/2 oranges, zest of half an orange, 2 star anise, the remainder of my jar of all spice, a load of soft brown sugar and a dash of cognac

[Taipan]

Today I wanted to do 3 things. Install the new integrated dishwasher, put up the outside Christmas lights and finally, fit the new rear pads to the AT. Incredibly, I got all three things done and that never happens, and we had the step f-i-l round and he always stays for ages despite seeing how busy we are, and the dishwasher was anything but easy.

[Pirahna]

Today I paid a South American bloke to cut down a 50 foot tree. He had a rope tied around his waist for safety.

[Skub]

A bit of a long post. Maybe more cathartic than anything else.

I've known my mate Terry for a long time. We were close neighbours and at one time played in the same working band,so it's fair to say we saw a lot of each other. A good,tight bass player. Laughs and good times.

About 9 or so years ago Terry had a stroke which affected his left side. He lost the use of his left arm and walking became difficult too. As so often happens with a stroke,his life was completely changed from that point on.
His wife Janice who is an author,became Terry's principal carer and for a while that worked in well enough with her writing. As Terry's mobility decreased and his needs more demanding,Janice sought solace in bottles of wine.

Terry began to fall a lot and I'd get calls to come and get him upright again. He had gained weight and was around the 18 stone mark,so it got to be I couldn't lift him myself and had to knock doors for help. Not ideal in the early hours,if he'd fallen getting up for a piss.

Anyhow,it came to the point where Janice could no longer manage and Terry had to go into a care home. He wasn't even 60. He was far from happy and Janice set about properly losing herself in the bottle,where for a time she was less unhappy.

Much bad stuff happened in the years since,where she was hospitalised and warned repeatedly of the damage she was doing to herself,all to no avail. The girls took her car keys and myself and other friends tried to talk to her. She even did a spell in rehab,but signed herself out and got back to business.

Things came to an inevitable head yesterday. Neither of her daughters could get her to answer her phone,so they called down and found their mother lying dead.

My heart goes out to Terry and the two girls. With hindsight everyone always thinks they could have done more to help,but the reality is,some events have a fixed pace and destination of their own and I think Janice had got to the point where she was too weary to live and beyond caring. It's also often the case where the carer can suffer more than the one they care for. There's a societal and support hole right there and a person just gets used up and worn down.

Keep an eye out for folks,especially this time of year,they may be good at hiding problems.

[Rockburner]

A bit of a long post. Maybe more cathartic than anything else.

I've known my mate Terry for a long time. We were close neighbours and at one time played in the same working band,so it's fair to say we saw a lot of each other. A good,tight bass player. Laughs and good times.

About 9 or so years ago Terry had a stroke which affected his left side. He lost the use of his left arm and walking became difficult too. As so often happens with a stroke,his life was completely changed from that point on.
His wife Janice who is an author,became Terry's principal carer and for a while that worked in well enough with her writing. As Terry's mobility decreased and his needs more demanding,Janice sought solace in bottles of wine.

Terry began to fall a lot and I'd get calls to come and get him upright again. He had gained weight and was around the 18 stone mark,so it got to be I couldn't lift him myself and had to knock doors for help. Not ideal in the early hours,if he'd fallen getting up for a piss.

Anyhow,it came to the point where Janice could no longer manage and Terry had to go into a care home. He wasn't even 60. He was far from happy and Janice set about properly losing herself in the bottle,where for a time she was less unhappy.

Much bad stuff happened in the years since,where she was hospitalised and warned repeatedly of the damage she was doing to herself,all to no avail. The girls took her car keys and myself and other friends tried to talk to her. She even did a spell in rehab,but signed herself out and got back to business.

Things came to an inevitable head yesterday. Neither of her daughters could get her to answer her phone,so they called down and found their mother lying dead.

My heart goes out to Terry and the two girls. With hindsight everyone always thinks they could have done more to help,but the reality is,some events have a fixed pace and destination of their own and I think Janice had got to the point where she was too weary to live and beyond caring. It's also often the case where the carer can suffer more than the one they care for. There's a societal and support hole right there and a person just gets used up and worn down.

Keep an eye out for folks,especially this time of year,they may be good at hiding problems.

"Liking" that seemed the wrong thing to do, but hey, it's what we've got.

I hope you have some happy memories to keep with you.

[Sunny]

Sorry Skub - life is proper shit sometimes.

On the subject of old friends, but more positively - we've just had Bomma and Diversion round for a lazy lunch and a yomp through the woods with our respective hounds. It's been far, far, too long.

Bomma is contemplating getting back on two wheels after a break, so I've told him about this place - I suspect he may appear soon

[Rockburner]

Sorry Skub - life is proper shit sometimes.

On the subject of old friends - we've just had Bomma and Diversion round for a lazy lunch and a yomp through the woods with our respective hounds. It's been far, far, too long.

Bomma is contemplating getting back on two wheels after a break, so I've told him about this place - I suspect he may appear soon

In a similar vein, I've just read that Big Nige from VD has passed.

Which is a bit shit.