Pay Off Before Lay Off!

ljaneyr

Hi Hbbb :hello:

I have just finished reading your diary and I have really enjoyed your positivity, humour and tales of dogs/chickens/local wildlife. Also the way you organise your posts really appeals to my organised nature. I hope you're feeling better and are managing to fit in a bit of down time this weekend.

Janey x

Pearla*Merle

:wave: thought I'd pop in and say hello, hope all is in Habibiboo land?

Life's been mad so I'll catch up properly soon, noticed you'd been quiet though so just wanted to send some hugs & good vibes xx

Habibiboo

:wave:

Many thanks for kind messages. RL and other issues overtook things for a while, but hopefully I'm now back on top (uh - oh, famous last words)! So, quick update on here for now and will hopefully catch up with everyone else's threads over the next few days!

A few replies to comments ...

Alchemilla: Tis true that in theory he should be there in a bath-chair teaching year 10 till the end of his days but hey, the joy of an academy is that they can make the rules to suit themselves and every new broom for the last 10 years has got rid of everyone over 55 within their first year of "office"! We shall see though, shan't panic, just quietly plan frugally so we're as well placed as possible for all eventualities!

And the tonic? Wish I'd thought of a honey and fruit chaser ... it might have helped things considerably!

Pink Poppy: Lovely to meet you, thanks for trawling through it all! I'm just trying to enjoy simple things like the waggy, feathered, husband-shaped critters I live with!

ljaneyr: Thank you too for getting through it ... gold stars all round for you brave souls! Down-time hasn't featured much lately but I'm aiming to allow myself a week off at the end of June! Positivity just has to happen, there's always something to smile about really, even if it's merely soppy dogs or own muppet-type behaviour!
And the organisation? Yes, self-confessed post-it-and-colour-pen-wielding-neat-freak, including organising my thoughts! I'm glad it appeals to you (I think there are lots of us like that around these boards) and thanks for your good wishes!

Pearls Merle: Thanks for looking in and your kind words. Funny how that "for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction" thing applies to everything in life: real life goes bananas, everything goes quiet on the board! Hopefully a little calmer all around now though!

So, life as we know it ...

MFW updates:
* April goal achieved, now well below £109 K and looking ahead to getting it down even more this month.
* £150 in M & S vouchers now safely received for swapping my domestic bank account, so have put these into Christmas purse.
* T*sco CC is gently stoozing away too, have currently got £9.50 in vouchers to use towards Christmas too although may cash these in earlier in one of their double-up deals. More points to be added next week so will update that then.

Grey clouds:
Lost my favourite chicken in her sleep ... she stopped laying a little while back and the farm man said we might find her days were limited, but didn't expect her to go. Glad we spent one of our secret worm moments on what turned out to be her last afternoon. Our lairy pair are OK though and still loudly and proudly with us! Hilariously so, in fact!

Silver linings:
Mr Hbbb's heart sonar went well. He has an "athletic heart" (very slow beating) apparently which may have caused the low bp and black-out. He's happy with the diagnosis ... it's a long time since he's had the word "athletic" applied in his context and is making the most of it!

Daily declutter:
Have lost the thread with this due to general chaos of life / work / families. Things have definitely gone from the house but have not kept tabs. Have also failed to make the most of free listings on Fleabay for the same reasons as I failed to keep up on here for a bit. Will get back to counting from next item out, so total still the same at the mo: 131 / 365.

Simple pleasures:
* We have baby sparrows in two of the nesting boxes on the back of the house (above back door and next to our bedroom window). Our days are filled with their plaintive chirps and we're keeping the feeders full to help out their busy parents!
* Bright early mornings
* Painstakingly unthreading the rubbishly threaded A*gos washing line and re-threading logically it so it doesn't criss-cross (now no longer preventing sensible hanging of anything larger than a tea towel). What were they thinking at the production stage! Ridiculous how happy re-threading it has made me and how much more I'm now able to get out there!
* Tonight we're having our tea al-fresco in the garden, as I've been working all day and want to feel slightly bank holiday-ish. I suspect jumpers and candles may be involved!
Happy days!

Oh ... and the new front door is being fitted tomorrow. Ok, it's an expense but a lesser one than we were quoted (by a couple of grand in one company's case) but at least I'll be able to let the four-step- locking-self-out-prevention-routine slide ... and we'll have a whole warped old door to chop up for next winter's fires! :T

Hope everyone else is OK. Will try to catch up with your diaries through the week

apple_muncher

Hbbb, it's good to see you back on here. You talk about heart scan thingies then disappear on us!! Glad Mr Hbbb is now 'athletic'! Also very glad the tonic didn't finish you off!

I do hope you don't have to wait too long for some downtime for more plotting, planning and ponderation.

Alchemilla

Maybe the person in the factory was having a last laugh before moving to work in a new washing line factory?

ljaneyr

Hi Hbbb :hello:

I must say I've really missed your cheerful writing and simple pleasures, so it's good to have you back

I'm feeling a bit under the weather at the moment, but don't think it's too bad as I couldn't face that tonic you described :eek:

Sorry to hear about your chicken, but I'm glad she went peacefully.

I hope real life calms down a little for you

Janey x

ljaneyr

Alchemilla wrote: »

Maybe the person in the factory was having a last laugh before moving to work in a new washing line factory?

:rotfl: :rotfl:

muddywhitechicken

Sorry to hear the sad news about Alice

There's an endless supply of mealworms in the big chicken coop in the sky :A

MWCx

Habibiboo

apple_muncher wrote: »

Hbbb, it's good to see you back on here. You talk about heart scan thingies then disappear on us!! Glad Mr Hbbb is now 'athletic'! Also very glad the tonic didn't finish you off!

I do hope you don't have to wait too long for some downtime for more plotting, planning and ponderation.

:wave:

Gosh A*M you're right, the timing of it wasn't good was it ...? All it takes is a few days of not making it to the boards and before you know it a fortnight has passed! So sorry for any worry caused

He has one more follow up but hopefully that will be it. It won't stop it happening again or him giving himself concussion again like that though, but at least we're aware now!

Thanks for kind thoughts, hope all's good with you and yours X

Habibiboo

Alchemilla wrote: »

Maybe the person in the factory was having a last laugh before moving to work in a new washing line factory?

:rotfl:

Yes A, it crossed my mind ... or should that be criss-crossed? It was actually amazing that it could be opened up because it was so weirdly done it was all pretty tight! Madness!