Live on £4,000 for a year - 2009, Part 4

2NDTIMEROUNDER

Goodmorning everybody.

I want to thank each and every one of you that has taken precious time and effort to send me and my family beautiful and inspiring good wishes, prayers and thoughts, from the bottom of my heart.Thank you DawnW,rachelhen,jtb2412,savingfortravel,cw18,shaz_mum_of_2,SkintLynne,
bails,nykmedia,Blairweech,grandma247,cheerfulness4,taka,sophiesmum,
findingmyfeet,SmlSave,mama67,DdraigGoch,Vixstar,lingojingo,slowlyfading and BrightonBelle. Knowing that people are thinking of you gives you strength.

Just got back from hospital. Outlook not very bright but she is giving it a good fight it seems. Still comatose in Intensive Care but her temperature has come down from 40-42 to 37, a good sign which guarantees nothing, though. I spend hours upon hours talking to her in the vague hope that she can still hear us and perhaps it will trigger something that will help her want to come back.

Have to change clothes and head back. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Please keep her in your good thoughts and prayers for another day.:o



.

bails

Thankyou for letting us know how your mum is doing 2ndTR, I really hope she continues to fight and can come back to you. We'll be thinking of you both xxx

Blairweech

Thankyou for the update 2ndTR, am glad that your mum is showing some fighting spirit and hope that she continues to gain strength every day

Am up with the lark this morning. Will have a shower in a minute then do some tidying up ready for the weekend :rolleyes:

And some good news...I submitted my UCAS application for university last night _party_ :money: :T :rotfl: :j :beer:. The best part is that it still feels like I am doing the right thing and everytime I think about it, I get excited. I sent my personal statement to my Dad to look at (and he is the kind of person who would write into the newspaper about a misused comma), and he only made a couple of corrrections, writing the word where I had written a number. Said it was an excellent piece of work :A

Right, best crack on with my day!

slowlyfading

2TR, thanks for the update. I hope she hangs on in there. xx
Blairweech, well done! :j :j what have you applied to study?

Hope everyone has a good day. I could do with another 5 hours in bed, but oh well!

sf x

BigMummaF

Brighton_belle wrote: »

..........
Big mumma – how does one get a fire extinguisher topup?
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Thanks CW for the reminder to live now and not just plan for the future.
..........

The chap who services them came round the houses a goodly amount of years ago selling them, but I'm almost certain you can get more info from your local fire station. We've got two fire blankets that stay either end of the stair-case, so if the worst happens we have a protective barrier to let us get downstairs. Our kitchen door leads directly off from the bottom of the stairs & obviously holds the meter cupboards, but also the boiler for the heating. The offspring's father was still here when we bought them & it saved me an awful lot of restless nights once he'd moved out, knowing I could get the children out if need be. It never fails to amaze how many folk have never made plans for alternative escape if the worst should happen..another reason for storing our longest step ladder on the landing

With me muvva turning 85 on Sunday, I too am aware of Time passing & what that could--& will--involve. Again, when the "sperm donor" was here, we'd made a will each & specified who we would want to be Guardians in the event of a tragedy. I couldn't bear the thought of aunts & uncles fighting over custody when the little ones would be in shock however well meaning their intentions, but also stipulated that the children had to maintain contact with those other family members.

Can't say I'm too bothered about the Final Journey & have discussed my preferences with the offspring so they know what music I'd like. I told them no flowers too, many due to the horrific prices but also because I have hayfever & don't want to meet my Maker & those waiting for me, with runny eyes & a red nose I've looked into a pre-pay plan too; as things are at the mo I've no funds to leave & don't want to burden them with the bill along with no inheitance, so a goal for following the 4kChallenge for ever more. A tad morbid maybe, but I have to be realistic...

Frugaldom

Good morning,

2ndtimerounder, I hope your mum has fought her way through another night and showing some signs of recovery.

On the moneysaving front, I'm a bit surprised by the amount of warmth in the house today. I did have the fire lit yesterday afternoon but the additional 'insulation' with the new fleeces seems to be working! Spurred on by thoughts of achieving a warmish house this winter, I'll get the livingroom window curtain/blinds made next and I also have the foam insulation strip to fix around the draughty front door. The door curtains certainly help keep the heat in, too.

Next problem was how much money was being wasted by heat being drawn up an out of the chimney - I was thinking of devising some sort of cover for use at nights after the fire has gone out. However, at yesterday's LETS meeting, someone mentioned a type of heatproof doors that radiate the heat from the fire but prevent room heat being drawn up the chimney, so I am going to investigate that. I'm still tempted to add a log burning stove into the kitchen where landlord removed the old Rayburn, but that's another project entirely. For now, I'm off to investigate those 'fire doors'.

Looks like it'll be a dry day, so washing on to make the most of line drying again, plans to make some more marmalade jelly are in motion and that should complete my day's list of tasks. Oh yes, and I'll try to fit in some paying work, too.

grandma247

2tr I am glad your mum has improved a little, the temp coming down is a good thing. I hope she continues to improve even if it is only a little at a time. The older generation are a tough lot.

cheerfulness4

2tr - really pleased that she's making a little improvement, even if there's no guarantees. Baby steps, as grandma247 said.

Hoping, too that you have family or friends to keep you company while you sit with her. It can be exhausting, can't it? And a friend arriving with a flask, snack and some time to chat can be most welcome.


DH and I did our plan for the budget starting in January properly now. Do you know my hands were shaking while we were doing it. :eek: I am such a wuss!
Having it all there in black and white certainly focuses the mind and we both feel happier that we have a plan, although scared the dreaded 'unexpected' will cost more than we can afford.
Still ... you all seem to manage to weather the storm when it hits. We shall have to as well. :rolleyes:

findingmyfeet

morning,

pouring down with rain here toady, washing already on the airer but loads to dry and its going to take a while. Dryer will not be going on. Tempted to switch the heating on because it feels very damp and cold today, but as there is only me in at the moment im struggling desparately with myself9Should i shouldnt i???) NOOOOO.
cheerfulness- iit panics me and gives me the shakes just thinking of money and budgets and i havent got as far as putting it on paper, thats the next step for me.
2ndtr- hugs for you , hoping for the best, positive thinking xx.

off to make a list of thinks to consider in the budget and find out some of this years costs.

Do you all make your own spread sheets or have you found templates somewhere?

Frugaldom

HI guys,

Cheerfullness4 - well done on getting the OH on board and the budget planned well in advance, that is fantastic progress!

Findingmyfeet - I just use a basic spreadsheet designed to fit in with my personal circumstances. I can send you a blank copy to let you see how mine is done. It isn't as fancy as many of the others on here though PM me if you'd like to see the template.

Marmalade jelly making completed - I got 2 jars for us and 2 'mini jars' for adding into Christmas hampers, so I;m quite pleased with that, especially as they were from LETS traded oranges with some lemon juice added to strecth it that little bit further. I'd have got more if I'd stuck with making it as marmalade but I like my 'luxury' jelly I also got the front door completed with the draught excluder strip after a few trial and error attamepts. Fortunately, the foam strip is VERY sticky and allowed for removing it and reapplying it. So far, so good.

My shiny new toys arrived in the post - a set of 11 sweet & cookie cutters - complete with lovely little freebie extra from kind eBid seller. :T As well as the cutters, the box contained 2 lovely little tealight sized candles decorated to look like chocolate cakes with mini Christmas trees on each. They look good enough to eat and will make a lovely addition to a couple of the gift hampers. Trouble is, nobody will have the heart to set them alight. :rotfl: