My Busy Life

sidneysmum

Wow.....Really tired again today. Walked to zumba class this morning and really enjoyed myself. Took the hound out for a good run in the park afterwards. Think I must be a complete saddo but I always pick up loads of recycling whenever i am out with the dog. It makes me really sad to see cans and bottles all over our streets and parks. Anyway today i collected 2 bags full from our local park despite collecting a bag full yesterday. Rant over.
Spent most of the afternoon gardening which was lovely as the sun has been out. I have a couple of jobs I need to do in my back garden. I need to either prune or cut back a conifer which is not very nice. I also need to dismantle a stone waterfall that runs to my pond. The waterfall hasn't been used for years and i think its about time i got rid of it. The pond will look fine without it.
Tonight is now being spent with my feet up. Enjoyed today and its been another NSD. Off to work tomorrow but will probably need to pay for some LPG for my car so it wont be a NSD.
I hope everyone has had a great moneysaving day x

vasseur

Good for you for picking up the recycling - 2 good deeds in one. I can't bear litterbugs, unnecessary and lazy.

sidneysmum

Hi Polesalot - I am so glad you agree with me about the littering. We just dont seem to have any pride left in this country. If we did, everyone would be picking it up. However even if we pick up a bit I`m sure it must make a difference !

Gosh - worn out again and its only early evening. Mind you I have been us since 4am. Work today, so was there really early and left to return home early afternoon. Work went OK and on the way home i filled my car up with LPG so It wasn't a NSD today. However LPG, petrol etc are pretty much necessities these days not luxuries. I am pretty much trying to use my car just for work and walk everywhere else...apart from when the weather is atrocious or if its a late night and I want to be safe. No point being mugged just to save a bit of money and get a bit of exercise.
As the weather was lovely I took the hound out for a good walk round the local countryside park...took about 90 mins. Just had a bit of food, washed up and done a bit of ironing. Thats me for today now. I am just going to sit around and read my book and google till its bed time.
I hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x

sidneysmum

A very boring day at work for me today but luckily that's its till next Tuesday now !!!! Met a neighbour of mine after work and we both took our hounds round the park which was nice. Spent the rest of the afternoon having a bit of a pamper. Did both my toe nails and finger nails after a very long shower. Used up some shower gel today. Not finished anything for a bit but think I will be using a lot of stuff up soon as I have got a lot of nearly empty bottles. I have still got tons of stuff in my toiletries stash... but the good news is that i dont need to buy anything at all. I have never spent so little money in my life......and I am loving the freedom from shopping. Went to my WI meeting tonight which was very nice. Spent £1.20 which included a couple of cups of tea, cake (if required) and i bought a brand new glass cutting board for the kitchen. It is brand new (still wrapped) and is in the shape of a chicken and is very shabby chic. Bargain.
I hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x

sidneysmum

Thoroughly enjoyed today. I decided to go to a new gym class today at a different venue. As part of my membership with the council gym, I can go to any of the council venues of which there are about 5 and I have unlimited use at any of them. So....I went to dance aerobics for an hour this morning Walked 25 mins each way to the venue and really enjoyed myself. I think it might become a regular Thursday morning thing. Also the venue is in the town centre so if i need to pick anything up, its easy to do. Took the hound on a trip to the park and she had a great run round. My afternoon was spent doing some major cutting back in the garden. Lets just say I filled 3 large dustbins with my cuttings !. The gardens looking great now. Just a few more jobs to do now for the summer.
I have had a lovely meal out tonight which was a treat for me paid for by one of my closest friends. He is about to embark on a massive diet as he has lots of weight to loose. He is to follow a very strict diet under the control of the hospital as he probably has in excess of 20 stone to loose. Anyway he decided to take a few of the people he is closest to out for a meal as basically a "last supper" before his diet starts. We went to a buffet restaurant for curry and it was great. I have had a day off my diet and I am jumping back on it in the morning. There was no way I was going to a restaurant and calorie counting. I only want to loose about 9/10 lb more myself and i hope to lave lost in in the next few weeks.
Had a couple of use ups today with my toiletries - deodorant and some body gel I have been using on my lumps and bumps ! Think there will be a few more use ups this week. This morning I logged onto my bank account and I found that my mortgage details have been added. All payments and balance are shown. I am going to have a proper look at it over the weekend when I get more time. Forgot to mention that last night when I was at my WI meeting, a lady offered to give me her bread maker as she no longer uses it. Hopefully she will bring it to the next meeting as I would love it. Mine broke ages ago and got thrown out. At the moment I cant justify spending on a new one when I want to save up. Anyway I hope she brings it for me so I can get on with making home home made bread again!
Anyway I hope everyone has had a great moneysaving day x

vasseur

Good luck to your friend with his diet - sounds like a huge challenge but I'm sure it will be easier with your support.

I have a breadmaker that I bought in Lid1. I used it lots when i first bought it but then my daughter refused to eat the bread that i made. I will possibly go back to using it though because there is so much carp put into mass produced loaves. At least I know what's in mine.

sidneysmum

Hi Polesalot - I am really looking forward to getting a bread maker again. I just hope the lady doesn't let me down. It will be great to get back baking again !

Had another really nice day today. My schoolteacher friend is off work this week so she called for me and we went out for a 3 hour walk with the dog which was great. Felt like 5 minutes because we didn't stop talking ! When she had gone home, I did my weeks shopping and spent £2.21. Bought bread, milk, baking margarine and a small tin of tomato puree. That is all I need till i un out of bread and milk again. This is getting embarrassing. I still have loads of food at home. In fact I am just having some pasta with Lloyd Grossman sauce. I still have 2 full bags of pasta and 2 more jars of sauce left.
I went to the cinema this afternoon and watched "Song for Marion". It was OK but i wouldn't go charging to the cinema to watch it ! I am planning getting my feet up tonight.
I hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x

sidneysmum

Just sat down for the first time today (unless you count the cinema). Had another great day. Decided to try a new zumba class this morning at another of my local council gyms. It was great. Walked 25 mins each way to the class plus an hours zumba. Felt buzzing when I came out of the class. I will be there most Saturday mornings now ! After a quick lunch I was off to the cinema to watch "Cloud Atlas" which was very good It is almost 3 hours so I went to the early afternoon performance so as I could walk the hound in day light when I got back. She had a massive run round the park and i collected tos of recycling (and other rubbish). Think I am turning into a womble.
My son has jus turned up and dropped off leftovers from the shop he works at. Cucumber which I will use to feed the tortoise, Tomatoes which I think i will make into soup and loads of green peppers which I think I will combine with other veg and make into frittata tomorrow. Might just make some biscuits if I have time...
I hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x

Jazee

Hello Sidneysmum. Glad to hear you're enjoying the exercise classes so much. I haven't been near the gym or really done any of the things I intended to. Still quite content though!

It was interesting reading about the litter picking. My gran used to do it all the time and as a small child I'm ashamed to say I found it embarrassing. When I lived in a big town there was rubbish everywhere and in the end I don't think I even noticed it much. When I came to live in a little village 6 years ago, I was astounded at how clean it is and how everyone seems to take more pride. If I ever do see rubbish now, I too pick it up.

I made bread for the first time last week (well since cookery lessons at school). I chose a bit of an ambitious recipe for sage and onion rolls and they went down a treat with the family with soup. So I think I will make some again one day. The trouble is we have an excellent baker in the village and its so much easier just to go there.

Hope you're having a great evening. I love reading your diary.

sidneysmum

Hi Jazee - Thank you so much for stopping by and your lovely comments. Much appreciated x I have been out litter picking again today when I took Sidney in the park. Its a beautiful small park and actually there is very little litter......and there is none now after today !

Another busy day for me again, and I have enjoyed myself. First thing was belly dancing at the local gym. I walked it (40 mins each way) and 60 mins belly dancing. On my way back I passed my local Asda. It only a small store but I actually went in a and had a major spend - £2.57. 20p was on a large cheap bottle of vinegar. I use it to get rid of the lime scale in my toilet. We suffer very much locally with lime scale and all the expensive lime scale removers wont touch it...but cheap vinegar does. Also got 2 jellies for when the boys come round for tea. Lastly a jar of green thai curry past (1.68). I have got loads of tins of coconut milk, onions and peppers, and i needed something to use these up. The jar of paste will make at least 4 curries so that's great. After belly dancing, it was time for Sidney's dog walk in the park which we both enjoyed. I have spent a few hours this afternoon tackling quite a big job in the garden - dismantling the waterfall that goes into my garden pond. I dont intend to use the waterfall again as i had to have the electric running 24/7, so it gone now. The garden is starting to look better already. One of my next jobs is to clean the pond out as its got rather a lot of leaves and gravel in it !! I also cemented round my kitchen grid as the old cement had perished and i didn't want any water escaping. It cost me nothing as I had a bucket of ready mix cement in the garage and I used a small amount out of it. I have just finished a bit of baking. Made a batch of twinks hobnobs to give to one of my sons and whilst the oven was on I made 2 frittata using up 10 eggs which were surplus and also loads of the veg my son brought for me yesterday. I also made a batch of sage and onion stuffing which I will eat with some pork and freeze the rest. All this stuff I had in the fridge and cupboards so that's a load more stuff used up.
I will leave the best news till last. It was weigh in this morning and I had lost another 2lb which was very unexpected as I had been out for a massive pig out meal on Thursday. Since the start of January I have lost 1st 5lb. I know I want to loose some more, but not loads, maybe another 7lb. I am starting to feel a lot slimmer and my size 12 clothes are quite loose now.!!
I hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x