Frugal Frump to Fab/Winter Solstice

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone

Hope you are all ok - don't ask me where the day has gone or what I've done - it all seems to have just drifted by in a haze. Much like the weather, dull grey damp and murky - urgh - just the sort of weather I hate. When I lived in Scotland we used to call days like this "dreich" or "dreach" - not sure of the spelling but a great word which really seems to sum it up so well.

Like you Poles I have felt achey, sneezy, cold (when I've not been having hot flushes:rotfl:) and absolutely shattered. Hope it's not a lurgy coming on. My usual 20 minute nap this afternoon ended up more than over an hour and I still didn't want to wake up.

Spent far too much time on the phone this morning - trying to chivvy up the various hospital departments who are supposed to be organising Oh's treatments.

We saw his consultant on 6th September and are still awaiting appointments. This week I decided enough was enough so I got the name of all the consultants, doctors and clinic heads involved and rang their secretaries. Allegedly none of them had received the letter from his main consultant!!!! (Not one???).

I photocopied the copy of the same letter which was sent to my GP and which he kindly gave me yesterday and am sending that to all the secretaries so that they can get the ball rolling.

Talk about doing it yourself. I will be administering his botox injections and IV steroids myself at this rate:rotfl: His physio I already try to do as best I can.

Another 2 months wasted. Talk about slipping through the cracks in the system - they are more like gaping chasms.

OH has me to do all this for him - what if he hadn't. He would be waiting till kingdom come for his appointments. I do so pity the poor souls who have no-one to help them or be their advocate.

Started my HRT last night so hopefully I might get an energy surge soon - it would be nice. I'm getting rather fed up with well meaning souls telling me how tired I look.:(

Managed a deep cleansing face mask and a self administered facial massage using Bio Oil. Time for the big guns - still not having much luck with ordinary moisturisers - I find oil a bit better in the winter. My skin just seems to soak it up like a sponge. Mind you, going back on HRT should help with dry skin etc

Sorry to hear about work Floss - hope things pick up a bit. I won't come out with the usual platitude "At least you have a job":rotfl: It doesn't help much when you are struggling and feeling down.

DS2 is thoroughly fed up with work at the moment. His department is now down to 1 (him) from 3. Of course he is still expected to get through the same amount of work as 3 people and today his boss has been giving him a rough ride for not getting through the work load.

I should imagine it's like this for so many people - firms shed staff to cut costs and yet expect everything to continue the same as always. It wouldn't be so bad if they passed a few of the savings on to the remaining staff.

It wouldn't have to be a huge amount - just a gesture of goodwill and a recognition of the efforts their staff are making. When you've downsized by two people and saved two wages - surely a 10% or even 5% added on to the pay of the one remaining staff wouldn't hurt their profits that much.

Oh if I ruled the world.................the changes I would make.:D

For a start I would have given that railway contract to Bombardier (here in Derby) and not just give it away to Siemens (Germany):mad: You wouldn't catch the French government giving contracts away like that. How on earth is Britain going to rebuild itself if our governments don't at least try to ensure that British firms get a fair crack of the whip. My understanding is that Bombardier was just as competitive and that they also had further work in the pipeline. Stupidity and arrogance.

Ooops - off at a tangent there. It's just that I am so fed up with listening to the drivel that comes out of the mouths of our pathetic excuse for leaders that our politicians really are and I'm so angry that once again it's ordinary folk who pay the price for their ineptitude. My poor city will once again become a wasteland - just when it had started to recover from the devastation wrought by the 80's recessions.

Oh dear - I'll get me coat.......:rotfl:

Back in a mo

lessonlearned

Maman - sorry for the confusion about the Bio Oil - I don't just use it as part of a facial but for every day too.

Heres what I did for today's facial.

First, warm flannel to my face to open pores.
Then a clay cleansing mask, applied to nose, chin and forehead - just the areas where you might get open or congested pores.
I make my own but there are plenty of ready made ones and they don't cost much.

After the mask I apply the Bio Oil and massage it in for several minutes. I think there are several tutorials on the web on how to give yourself a facial massage. I will try and take a look over the next few days and see If I can recommend one or two for you.

Bio Oil was recommended to me by my plastic surgeon who removed my skin cancer. It is particularly recommended for scar tissue, stretch marks etc but also helps with fine wrinkles, uneven skin tones, sun damage and dehydration.

TBH I think that as well as the ingredients of the oil itself - vitamins and essential oils such as calendula, lavender, rosemary etc - it is also the actual massage action which really does the magic. Massage helps to stimulate the flow of blood to feed nutrients to the skin, to remove toxins and aiding desquamation (a posh/technical word for helping remove dead skin cells and speeding up cell renewal).

It is recommended that you use Bio oil twice a day. It is easily and rapidly absorbed by the skin so you can still wear make up. I tend to avoid my nose area so as not to block the pores although I do still apply to my chin and forehead.

Anyway - all this talk of facials - it's time for my beauty sleep.

Keep up the good work and stay warm and cosy.

G'night all x

floss2

lessonlearned wrote: »

...Sorry to hear about work Floss - hope things pick up a bit. I won't come out with the usual platitude "At least you have a job":rotfl: It doesn't help much when you are struggling and feeling down.

DS2 is thoroughly fed up with work at the moment. His department is now down to 1 (him) from 3. Of course he is still expected to get through the same amount of work as 3 people and today his boss has been giving him a rough ride for not getting through the work load.

I should imagine it's like this for so many people - firms shed staff to cut costs and yet expect everything to continue the same as always. It wouldn't be so bad if they passed a few of the savings on to the remaining staff.

It wouldn't have to be a huge amount - just a gesture of goodwill and a recognition of the efforts their staff are making. When you've downsized by two people and saved two wages - surely a 10% or even 5% added on to the pay of the one remaining staff wouldn't hurt their profits that much....

I'm local government so no pay rise for us - we had a pay freeze last April, and then "bought" extra days unpaid leave by taking a 1% pay cut along with a freeze on all increments this year. We've had huge job cuts throughout the council, even our Councillors have taken a cut in allowances.

And no, I'm not striking on 30th November, even though I'm not happy with what will happen to my pension it won't affect me as much as I will have to work until I'm at least 68 anyway, so I've got another 20+ years to save up! (where's that sarcastic smiley when you want it!) Oh well, at least I will be well into the fabbing routine by the time I've got time to do it properly! :rotfl:

MrsWoolfe

Hello Ladies!

Well it's been slightly crazy over here trying to sort out everything with insurance and the rest! Really not helped by the fact that also went down with a nasty virus, lost my voice and then had to spend four days huddled under blankets...on the mend now though thankfully!

Not a huge amount of fabbing recently. more just trying to look after myself, vitamins, lots of ginger tea- my granny swore by it and it's still what I want when I feel grotty, been eating a lot of things like rice and lentils- again granny's wisdom and it works:D.

my boots arrived and they look and feel great on:jso I will definately be using the shoe tailor again- I had to return a pair as I'd ordered the wrong width by mistake and have to say they were very helpful and sent someone to collect them the next day.

one good thing I realised, is that being on this thread has made a lot of things routine so I don't really think about doing them, moisturising being on of the main things especially in this weather- but although I didn't do a whole lot over the last week, it hasn't taken as long for me to get back to normal as it would normally when I've been so sick- I've not been wearing much make up this week as I feel like my skin needs some breathing space, bit gross but when I've been sick sometimes I notice it shows on my skin- red patches, small spots etc, so have just been keeping it clean and moisturised and wearing just a little mascara and tidy eyebrows for now.

not done great on the exercise either- but we are ripping out the old fence and putting in the new one this weekend so I think I'll get plenty of exercise in there! DH says he's not sure it's a good thing that I'm so excited about using the new sledgehammer!:o

NinouFer is starting to get back to her normal self slowly but surely, was so releived when she started purring again:D four days of quiet kitten was freaking me out, and yesterday she had lots of fun hunting spiders and a couple of bugs

interesting discussions re fabbing the home- I'm another one who thinks that when your surroundings look good it has an effect on you too- I think one of the reasons i felt down last week was the state of the house and then not having the energy to do much about it, still needs a lot of tidying and sorting but I think I'm getting there now. We've decided it's time for a new bed - we got the bed with the house but it's cheapy MDF job, have decided on an ottoman storage bed with a dark brown leather cover, once that is in I can start saving up for the dressing table I've been lusting after:




just the sort of thing I really love, a bit chunky and unusual...a bit like me:rotfl:though maybe not quite so chunky anymore!!!

right ladies must dash, my intray is threatening to topple over and bury me alive ( why is the week you are off sick everyone is suddenly desperate for things to be done????)

be back later!

MrsWoolfe

vasseur

Phew...thank goodness some of you have turned up

Floss your weekend sounds great and hope it took your mind off work a bit.

LL can't believe that on top of everything else you've got to sort all the admin for your OH. No wonder you're looking tired.

Thanks for the tips on using the Bio-Oil. I have a bottle in the cupboard that really needs using. I think it smells lovely.

Don't get me started on that Bombardier farce....:mad:

maman you have reminded me that my eyebrows need doing. I'll get them threaded tomorrow or Saturday. Going to give mine and DD's fringes a trim on Saturday so would make sense to have lovely neat eyebrows too.

mrs wolfe glad you are on the mend. There is definitely something going round. I love that console table - very unusual. I'm sick of going into people's house and they just resemble a Homebase display :cool: My house may not be bang up to date but at least it's....original....:D

lessonlearned

In my best Victor Meldrew voice.

Just got back unloading some rubbish from the garage at the tip - oh I know how to live:rotfl: to discover that the city council have called regarding adaptations to our house - basically converting the garage to a downstairs bedroom, bathroom for OH, widening door frames etc.

This on the eve of him going into permanent care - too little too late, as always. Where was this option three years ago when it might have been more use to us.

I will still meet with them to see what they come up with but can guarantee that the plans they come up with will be so hedged with restrictions, health and safety stuff that it will be virtually unworkable anyway. Plus we are probably talking about another year or so to execute so I'm not pinning my hopes on this being the perfect solution to allow OH to continue at home.

Anyway I've just had some lunch - going to change into my old togs and make a start planting the hedge. The sun is shining and it's "relatively" warm.

This morning I saw our annual fly-past of swallows heading to sunnier climes - so winter is definitely on its way. Not seen the Canadian geese yet - unless I've missed them.

Mrs W Sorry to hear you've been poorly - hardly surprising really after what you've been through - probably a reaction to the shock and trauma of last week. Glad you are feeling better and yes I think when we take better care of ourselves it does help us to bounce back and recover from illness more quickly. I'm sure it all helps Mother Nature do her job and speeds up the healing processes. Glad kitty is perkier now too.

Liking the sound of your new bed and the console looks good too.

Anyway off to tackle that garden...............

maman

That's ridiculous LL, typical right hand and left hand fiasco!! It's none of my business but I'd say that while adaptations might help, it won't be enough. From what you've said, the physical demands of needing carers, physio etc has become a priority for your OH not just the facilities.

Floss, I only do voluntary work now but I worked for various Local Authorities previously. I'm furious about the way public servants are being treated, It's as if the greedy people in finance etc got us in this mess but joe public is having to pick up the bill!! I could scream when I hear politicians saying 'we're all in this together'. They have absolutely no understanding of how tough it is for some. I'm no communist but I think unless we get a fairer distribution of wealth in this country then we might end up with more large scale protests. I don't have a tent at St Paul's but I will be joining a demonstration on November 30th!:mad:

Rant over, I need to lie down:p back later

floss2

maman wrote: »

...It's as if the greedy people in finance etc got us in this mess but joe public is having to pick up the bill!! I could scream when I hear politicians saying 'we're all in this together'. They have absolutely no understanding of how tough it is for some. I'm no communist but I think unless we get a fairer distribution of wealth in this country then we might end up with more large scale protests...

Tell me about it - It's funny how the ones that lose their jobs are the ordinary people, but the bankers who caused it all still get huge bonuses and keep their jobs. The politicians have a lot to answer for, what with selling off all the government income generators like British Gas, the Electricity & Water Boards, BT etc etc years ago to balance that budget deficit, to bringing in the ridiculous situation of the financial services industry regulating itself! Not to mention the way our country's main "industry" is now finance - since when was that going to provide jobs for school leavers and graduates to train & eventually replace those skilled people who retire? We're losing skills, unemployment is going up, prices, inflation & interest rates are going up, and they won't / can't do anything about it.

(Floss sneaks off to go & have a nice cup of tea!)

fedupandskint

I too completely disagree with the stance of 'we're all in this together' - as if! Not at all true as the public sector and voluntary sector are squeezed beyond belief. The cuts are kicking in big style now

Anyway fab wise - not done too much this week - tomorrow will be hair pre treatment and hair mask and if I remember a face mask if not tomorrow then on Sat. I have done quite a bit of walking this week but no running as I feel very tired and the cold kicked back in this week. Thought I'd better have a little rest for a few days to get over it

Nails are looking much better now with nail oil going on daily or several times a day especially at the weekend.

Don't reckon I've lost any weight this week - no more weigh in now until 9th Dec so hoping the final few pounds come off or the final inch on my waist. Or even a couple of pounds lost will do too!

floss2

Sparkles, do you have hand cream near to you at work? I find that is a huge help with keeping my nails and hands looking good. They are really dry today as I've been filing and the paper sucks any moisture out. Am really pleased with my nails, they still look good and will get a top coat on Saturday for the weekend.