My diary - A little bit of everything!

sidneysmum

Dansmum - Great to hear from you but sorry you are not well. However I am very pleased that Dan seems to be on the mend .

Today has been a great one for me. Sidney and I went out for a great run. The weather was cold but lovely and sunny. When we got back we spent a few hours cutting back in the front garden. I think its going to be a long job this gardening lark . However I dont mind if the weather is nice.

This afternoon I did the weekly shopping. Spent £11.30 in Netto and £12.25 in Morrisons. I stuck exactly to my list except that I saw some celery and new potatoes on offer so I snapped them up. Think I will be making some soup over the weekend.

Foodwise I skipped breakfast but has scrambled egg and toast for lunch. For tea we had chilli and I used up some chick peas out of the cupboard instead of buying any kidney beans. My food cupboard is looking great. No more massive stocks of stuff that will take ages to eat. The chest freezer is looking very respectable as well. As I have said before I have about 3 weeks worth of food left. Today I put in bread, milk and garlic bread but these things will be used up this week. So no more stockpiling. :A

Not much else to report today except to say I hope you are all well.
SidneysmumX

sidneysmum

Hello All
Unfortunately it was a bit late last night when I got in so I decided on a double helping today.:D

I took Sid for her free exercise yesterday morning then we spent most of the day in the garden doing more cutting back. There is still tons of work to be done but I can see the progress I have made already. Anyway last night I went on a long deserved night out with a couple of girlfriends. We went for an Indian meal with five courses. All in all with drinks I spent £18 which I thought was great especially as I was out for about 4 hours.:cool:

Today I have been on my own as Sidney and Sidneysdad have gone to Wales for the weekend. It felt a bit strange going for my run without Sidney but I still enjoyed it. As I have been on my own I have been eating up some random bits and pieces from the freezer - leftover pea soup for lunch and cauli with cheese sauce for tea. Did a a bit of moneysaving when I went to the library to borrow some books. This afternoon I had a bit of a spend. £23.57 for petrol. I have decided to keep my tank filled up to the brim as horrendous price increases are forecast. I also went to Tesco and bought 2 red fitted sheets and 2 red pillowcases to match the duvet covers I bought on Wednesday from Next. They cost £15.29. As soon as Sidneysdad has painted the walls in the old bedroom belonging to DS1, I will put out the new bedding. Hopefully I will find some new curtains also. When my sons left home their bedrooms looked decidedly shabby so we are just repainting and buying new fabrics as necessary.

Anyway I have just come back from the cinema after watching the Adjustment Bureau which was Ok and I am just settling down to a glass of wine.
Hope you are all having a great weekend.
SidneysmumX

rubytuesday

Hello everyone.

Good luck with the fostering if you decide to apply Sidneysmum, some years ago I was approved as a respite carer for children with disabilities but then got a full time job so didn't feel able to commit to both and my own children, so didn't go ahead.

I emptied and turned the compost today and found my beautiful silver spoon with a starfish handle that I had lost ages ago so that was good. My compost was much better than I expected as I hadn't turned it for years. Now I just need to get my A into G and plant my seeds!

Hope you soon feel better Dansmum x

sidneysmum

rubytuesday - Thanks for dropping by. You have reminded me that our compost needs turning :rotfl:

I have done a bit of spending these last couple of days . However I dont feel like I have wasted any money. Yesterday I paid a Sunday visit to the town and spent £10.59 at Holland and Barratt (do this every 3 months). I spent £4.65 on greetings cards (birthday and mothers day). No visit to the town is complete without a visit to our pound shop :rotfl:. I spent £13 - Deodrant, 2 x shampoo, peg bag, 2 x tins corned beef, 3 packs of 3 tins of tuna, baby wipes, box of maltesers, pack of garden bulbs and a cake tin. I was really delighted especially with the corned beef which is double the price in the supermarket.

I decided to make a payment off the mortgage from my current account - £250. I am hoping like mad to be able to pay it off before the end of April as I am expecting a large "bonus" in my wages as a one off. :T

Food wise I have made a rough menu plan for the remainder of the week which includes - chicken curry, roast pork, Rib chops and chilli.
The chest freezer is now only half full and I dont expect to buy anything else for it this week unless I see something very cheap in the supermarket. I am starting to feel in control of all my spending.

Other items are not going to be as easy to shift as the contents of the freezer have been. I have rather a lot of lipsticks and nail polish :mad:. Why did I buy soo many? God knows. Also I still have tons of shower gel left. However on a positive note, I have no half empty bottles any more. They have all been used up. I am not going to buy any more shower gel this year at least. I then have loads of soap I intend to use in the shower instead of buying gel. :A

Anyway no more to report for today.
SidneysmumX

patentgirl

Morning all

Been busy few days havent been on much lately
Sidsneymum well done on continuing your over payment mortgage total looks good I am sure you will suceed in paying of by April, we have a small mortgage as when DH was made redundant by the same company couple of years ago I am shortly to be, we paid the vast majority of it then now we are thinking to try and pay it off before I go completely but as yet havent transferred any money yet think the total is about ten thousand so what we dont manage my redundancy will cover rest as thinking in my head what company will want a 50 year old when I am sure I will be up against hundreds of others for same vacancys all just as qualified the problem I suppose when such a vast number is being made redundant at the same time so trying to prepare ourselves for the loss of one income, to be honest I would be quite happy looking for a part time job if we could manage which I sure we can and helping out with looking after grankids and the allotment, we got that sidneysmum as you as mentioned it earlier when DH was made redundant 2 years ago it was his saviour only problem we now both work full time and dont get there as often as we would like but now light evenings are on the way things are looking up, DH dug it all over last weekend, planted onion sets and potatoes so far got seeds in trays ready at home in conservatory, we are struggling at moment but reluntant to give up as will get easier especially when my job goes, so nice last year not having to buy any veg hopefully the fruit bushes we have planted will give more fruit this year as well sorry to waffle on!!!
On a sadder note my poor mum and dad were burgarled sat day feel so sick about it, they are in their late 70s and definatly dont need this when they have both just got over health problems, they dont realise the damage they do we had only just got my mum to start going out of the house again cant see her wanting to go out ever again now xx

DansMum_2

Hi all xx

SidneysMum Well done on the gardening!! If you feel like popping down and doing some of mine feel free Have booked DansDad the day off tomorrow so hopefully he can get a bit more done, get some shrubs up and a bit more fencing so I can get my hens in!! Have you got Sidney and Dad back safely?? Hey mortgage gone in the next few weeks??!! Go you!!

RubyTuesday Thanks yes feeling a lot better now. Saturday was the worst day but almost back to normal

PatentGirl So sorry to hear about the burglary, were your parents out when it happened??? Its so awful to know that people have been rifling through your things. Make sure you keep on at the Police and dont let them fob you off. Hopefully there should be a visit from the local Crime Prevention with things like shed alarms, window locks etc We got done over at work a few years ago and it was devastating....

Well finally I rode Danny yesterday :j And he was a complete wimp over a lady with a pushchair. He reared and spun round and snorted. I thought I was off! Luckily I asked her to walk on and he then settled down and was quite blase after that.. Its in full view of the main road so it was very very embarrasing

Managed to clear my front driveway yesterday morning after going shopping which is a naff job and I havent done a brilliant job but its better than leaving it. Even got a load of washing dry on the line

Havent managed any OP's this month yet, but have managed 4 NSD's and only spent £60 at Sainsbergs which should do us for the next fortnight :cool:

sidneysmum

patentgirl - Great to hear from you and thanks for the information about your allotment. I am soo sorry to hear about your parents. I hope they get over things quickly. Keep us all up to speed with what happens. Sending hugs.

Dansmum- Hello. Glad to hear that you and Dan are out and about again. I just love owning animals. I am at my happiest when I am with Sidney :rotfl:

Over the last couple of days, I have been at work. I am really enjoying working early in the morning. (6.30 - 3.30). I actually feel as though I have got some time when I get home from work. Today I made a roast dinner with yorkshire puds for tea. I also made 5 portions of celery soup with some cheap celery - 19p. :T

I have also been going mad with my mortgage payments. Yesterday I paid off £34 and today £56.37. I am just soo determined to pay it off asap.

I am off work now until next Tuesday :cool: and I hope I will make good use of my time. As and when the weather is fine, I want to spend as much time in the garden. I now have 3 empty green bins to fill up again. I am also hoping to do some more work to DS3`s bedroom. The painting is now complete. I need to give the room a good clean. The duvet and duvet cover need altering on the sewing machine as the bed is a unusual shape. Also I need to look out for new carpet, curtain etc.
Sidneysdad has now moved the painting equipment into DS1`s bedroom as that is the next to be done. I have got all the paint so I hope he cracks on with it.:D

Hope you are all having a great money saving day.
SidneysmumX

rubytuesday

So sorry to hear about the burglary patentgirl. How horrid. We had that experience for the first time just after New Year last year and it was very unsettling for quite some time!

Glad to here Dan is now better Dansmum.

You are doing so well Sidneysmum - well done!

DansMum_2

Hi everyone

Sun is shining here and the birds are singing

Bought my bike in today as it was so nice, bit chilly to start with. I confess to still having my long johns on :cool:

Been over to get haylage for my boys and out to lunch with Ma Am currently stuffed with jacket potato and we have caramel apple crumble pie and custard....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Still havent managed an OP yet this month, really would like to make £250, will have to wait until I get my housekeeping from DansDad... Speaking of whom..... Has it in his head that he's a bit of a Percy Thrower (he's not....really!!) Chopped a tree in half the other day (intentional needed to come down) Reckoned he knew exactly what he was doing..... Guess where it ended up??? In next doors garden...:T Sorted now but I was mortified :eek: Luckily they arent the most, ahem, houseproud people on the planet (think Hoarders crossed with Life of Grime)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend....:cool:

sidneysmum

rubytuesday - Hello

Dansmum - I think Dansdad has gone to the same gardening school as sidneysdad. I once asked him to cut some roses back and he cut them down to the floor. I almost cried :eek:

I dont know if any of you do a lot of motorway driving, but unfortunately I have to use the motorway to get to work. About 40 miles round trip. Anyhow I have noticed that quite a lot more motorists are going slower and I bet its due to the fuel price increases. I decided to travel slower on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Went at about 60mph instead of my usual (cough) higher speed. Today I went to fill up with gas and had saved loads just by going slower. I couldnt believe it. Thats me from now on. I will be travelling at 55/60mph :T

Anyway spent £11.62 on gas instead of my usual £18. I also did my food shopping. I am getting very near the end of the freezer but still managed to have a very cheap shop at Morrisons £10.84. I just bought exactly what we needed for the week to make 7 lunches and 7 teas. I would still think I have about 2 weeks worth of food left in the freezer. Over the next week I am going to use up the last of some quorn fillets in my roast dinner pie. I also have a home made cheese and onion pie which will last for 2 meals. I feel really annoyed that I let myself get in this position. The good news is that my tinned food cupboard is looking how it should. I have used all my stocks up there.

Had a lovely day again today. After our run, Sidney and I spent a few hours in the garden. I have done tons of work again. Over the past couple of years our garden has been a bit neglecled so I am trying to get it back up to speed. I am hoping the weather is fine again tomorrow so I can do some more jobs outside

Hope you have all had a great day.
SidneysmumX