Coffee and chocolate

MuffinTops

Hello Miggy,

Well done on the bike bargain. Is there much to do to fix it? I assume at £180 there is?

Not worrying about these things is such a good idea as the worry doesn't change anything and harms you, although I'm not good at living by that rule at all!

Putting yourself over to your Faith also sounds like a good idea. You can't change situations as those are decided on a higher basis so just trusting that will hopefully have a very positive effect on you and your situation and decisions.

I hope the washing pile monster stayed asleep! Come on and chat all you like! It's always lovely to hear from you.

miggy

I haven't asked about the details of the bike Muffy. Not being a cyclist it wouldn't mean a huge amount to me but the chap from the shop said it's been well worn. I imagine somethings are more urgent than others. As it is, it's probably not entirely safe because the gears are very loose but once those are done, I'm not sure what else is essential.

I'm on washing load no. 2 and the first lot is drying on the line. I think one more load to do today - that way I have enough space to dry the things once washed.

I've just made yet more soup (why did I try to spell that with a double 'o'?) and there will be enough to go in the freezer - handy for work and MS.

I've been in touch with people from yesterday's service this morning so I'm still buzzing with that. You are so right that worry does nothing positive and changes nothing. It's all very well for me to talk like this now, while things are good, the test is going to be when I'm tired, feeling broke or whatever. Meanwhile, I'm making hay while the sun shines... sort of. Soup, anyway.

miggy

I forgot to say: a big chunk of the washing pile is DS2's massive camping blanket. this is rough wool on one side and fleece fabric on the other. I hope it fits in the machine! I also need to get more wool washing liquid for it but I will use this on other stuff too.

miggy

Things have moved on... slightly!

DH decided against getting the bike done up: the new plan is to ebay it for spares or repairs - unless DS1 thinks he can fix it up enough for his own use.

DH had been watching a bike on Ebay, put in the winning bid and is now planning when to go and pick it up!

I transferred some money into my new account so I can make a small mortgage overpayment, only to discover I don't have all the right details, so that's still waiting to be done. I suppose I could go in and transfer it at the counter but it's much easier in the long term if I can only do it on line.

Similarly, I tried to set up a reloadable card on my employer's discount scheme but I was in a hurry and couldn't work it out.

So - it's back to cash savings! This time I'm rather pleased with myself: went to Mr A where they have lovely whoopies and saved £4.51, getting tomorrow's dinner in the process, then went to the shop where DD works and used her discount card to get sausages for £2.61 - as I usually buy the posh ones from Mr T and get the bulk discounts, this would normally have cost £10, so a saving of £7.39! Yes, I know that's a preposterous amount to spend on sausages but it does feed six, so doing that for £2.61 felt pretty good. Lastly I treated myself to some daffodils marked down to 11p, thus saving 89p.

Frabjous day - I may have fallen at the first hurdle with the bank and the discount scheme but I have saved £12.79 on food money. (I know daffs aren't food but they came out of that budget).

I've done the three loads of washing and some of it even got put away, fed the family plus DS1's g/f, and cleaned out the fish tank. Things not achieved: cleaning out the Small Furry's hutch, spring cleaning the house, taking cartloads of stuff out, never to return and turning the garden over to a small holding. Other than that, it's gone okay.

ETA: DD came home from work and announced 'plant A&E!' Her arms were full of vivid end-of-day marked-down blooms which she got for some small amount. Gorgeous!

Erme

I was going to say...get the bits off ebay and youtube for repair videos. Or at least ask at the bike shop what needs to be done then do it yourself :T.

£180 for fixing a bike - boy you could buy a brand new bike for less than that at Mr H or Mr. A

Pray my giro goes in soon. Want to PAD and have 32p to my name:(..not optimistic. it's the time of year where giros get delayed.

Anyhow not sleeping proper. . so need prayer on that....

What are you doing spiritually miggy if you don't mind me asking? Reading your bible and setting aside some precious time to read good theological stuff?

Hope you're okay. e-cig is going to get fixed. sent it back :j....

E

miggy

Hi Erme, I hope you got some sleep after that late night stint?

I was going to say...get the bits off ebay and youtube for repair videos. Or at least ask at the bike shop what needs to be done then do it yourself :T.

I am inclined to think the same though DH isn't very DIY minded. He can do the maintenance jobs but I'm not sure about the rest. DS1 might though if he decides it's feasible.

£180 for fixing a bike - boy you could buy a brand new bike for less than that at Mr H or Mr. A

yes - the local shop isn't cheap! I also wonder whether everything they suggest is absolutely necessary, but it looks as though the essentials are expensive in themselves.

Pray my giro goes in soon. Want to PAD and have 32p to my name:(..not optimistic. it's the time of year where giros get delayed.

Any progress here yet?

What are you doing spiritually miggy if you don't mind me asking? Reading your bible and setting aside some precious time to read good theological stuff?

A mixture. I decided to read through the Bible last year - well so far I've got as far as Deuteronomy. Last time I did this I got as far as 1 Kings so I want to get past that and not just restart next time there's a New Year. I'm not very good at sitting reading especially as my near vision's a bit dodgy even with glasses. Worth doing though. Other than that, DH and I have a little daily 'study' which we go through together most days, and we have a homegroup we go to who have been doing Ephesians. Ephesians is fab! It takes quite a bit of unpacking, but it's a huge encouragement. Will pm you a link to our church website - a bit different from yours I expect but hey!

I'm actually no good at reading theology or much else for that matter nowadays... good job I have homegroup and church to make me do some thinking. How about you?

miggy

Today has been fairly productive:

I wrote some (overdue) letters and paid Mum's cleaner, having been horrified to discover yesterday that I'd forgotten to do it. I had my first piano lesson for four weeks and didn't disgrace myself, though you won't find me giving concerts any time soon.

Been feeling weary: it occurred to me it's probably post-viral. At least the cold has gone.

DS1 had half the day off so he had a massive dejunking session and put down some more laminate in his room. I did a bit of tidying in the garden, the SF dug some impressive holes which I will need to fill in, two loads of laundry were laundrified, including the huge camping blanket (the sort that hardy Scouts wear when a tent is for softies) and DH has collected bike number 2 and is very happy with it. He's also done some cleaning while I was at work.

I had five extra hours working which will eventually go to my savings total, though I did break my rule and buy a sandwich to take in. Apart from the fact it was nice to have something for tea, the sandwich was disappointing - could do better myself. I also fitted in a rushed shop before work (saved £1 I think) then nipped in after work for a bargain hunt and boy did I succeed! 2 packets bread wraps were £2.90 now 32p, 2 snack packs of pineapple were 90p now 10p, a punnet of kiwi fruit was 56p now 6p and 2 lettuces were £1.50 now 17p.

I think that makes savings of £6.21.

MuffinTops

Things sound like they're heading in the right direction Miggy. I never get those sort of food bargains when I shop, and I believe I shop at the right times, I just can't find the whoopsie shelves with anything on them. Plus, I'm a very fussy eater so that's probably the real problem.

Sorry to hear you're feeling weary. I hope it is just post virus and that you'll pick up again. Do you take any supplements when you've been poorly, to help your body get back to 100%? I never used to but now I take a fair few vitamins as working full time and MSE'ing can be quite exhausting!

I hope you feel back to bouncy again soon. x

miggy

I don't usually get things as much reduced as yesterday's, but I know that the supermarket does final reductions finishing at around 9pm, and work finished at nine so I scooted round there and this time I found some. Sometimes they're all gone.

They did have some fish and meat too but they were more expensive and I'm trying not to put fresh fish in the freezer as the smell seems to linger, so I didn't really look at those.

This morning I'm bouncy. I take cod liver oil and Vitamin C most of the time but I think I forgot yesterday. I don't know if there's anything else I should be taking - I think zinc is recommended for when one is actually infectious, but I'm not sure.

P.S. It's interesting about buying reduced food: the other day Mr A had peppers and sprouts and one man went and bought all the sprouts, but didn't seem to look at the peppers, which were what I thought were the best thing. I suppose you can freeze sprouts but last time I did this they weren't nearly as good as shop-frozen ones or fresh so that put me off doing it again...

BlushingRose

miggy wrote: »

I decided to read through the Bible last year - well so far I've got as far as Deuteronomy. Last time I did this I got as far as 1 Kings so I want to get past that and not just restart next time there's a New Year.

I've read through the Bible a couple of times, makes quite good reading (although I admit I skip the 'thingy son of do-dah' bits...)