Paid off the £31,000! BUT - still scrimping!

Seasidegal58

Thanks @milann and @HairyHandofDartmoor.  😀 

Hairy – I love Shetland too.  I read that they're in the process of making another 'Vera' series at the moment – I hope they do the same for 'Shetland' as well!

Again not much to report – feeling a bit meh at the moment, but had a good chat the other evening with an MSE friend who felt the same – we managed to cheer one another up in the end and have a good laugh – about cars believe it or not – and I don't drive!🤣 

The biggish news of the week is that I have a date to have my Covid jab – Saturday week at our local theatre and then the booster in May.  And hooray – I can finally put dates in the calendar for February and May that are not birthday reminders!!!!  Sad aren't I?😁 

Have been really busy in work and haven't been out for a proper walk for a couple of days now.  I do think my fitness has been impaired with WFH – will look forward to when my time is my own.  Also I daren't go on the scales as I know I've put on quite a bit through comfort eating again!😋

 

MSE SCRIMPY THINGS

Just budgeted stuff – I had to stock up on toiletries and vitamins as I was running out of everything – face serum, face wash, cotton pads, mouthwash, deodorant, shower gel, Vit B12 and D sprays.  

Note to Self – ring Sky!!!!!🤭

milann

I think there are a lot of people feeling a bit meh at the moment. It’s not surprising as we are social beings and need each other. I had a zoom with gks this morning but I’m not convinced it’s the best thing as they always end up wishing we were together....I suppose it’s better than not keeping in touch though. It’s so hard for everyone.
I bet you can’t wait until time is your own and hopefully we will be able to do more things by then. Good news on getting a date for the vaccine 👍

beanielou

Another series of Shetland is on the cards 

Also feeling meh.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I've been feeling meh ever since Christmas due to awful weather and lockdown. I'm sure we'll feel more cheerful in the spring with the better weather and hopefully a bit more freedom.

Great news about your vaccine appointment .

milann

I’ve never seen Shetland - is it on catchup anywhere?

Seasidegal58

Thanks guys - I'm really looking forward to coming out of this lockdown. The first wasn't so bad when I compare both and we had a good spring and summer. I think the winter and dark days and early nights have made it much more depressing this time round. ☹️

Pleased to hear that another Shetland series is on the cards. @milann - I can't remember if it was on BBC or ITV. Might be worth having a look on iPlayer or the ITV Hub. 

Anyway I had a good long chat with DD earlier which has cheered me up.😃

HairyHandofDartmoor

I agree that this lockdown is much harder. The novelty has worn off and the weather is pants. January is normally depressing but even more so this year. We will get back to normal eventually and we'll look back on this time as a really bizarre time in our lives!

I'm glad your chat with DD cheered you up .

doingitanyway

Hope you are feeling a bit brighter with the longer days and glimpses of Spring?

Seasidegal58

Thank you @HairyHandofDartmoor and @doingitanyway. 😀 Last weekend was lovely here and quite warm for the time of year.  Back to typical March weather this week – very chilly and grey skies – still the thought of spring is a cheery one.  I always think of spring starting on 1 March rather later on in the month.  I've brought out the lighter colour cushions for the living room which has made the room brighter  🌷

Oh dear – a fortnight since I last posted – I must do better!  I can't say lots of exciting things have happened in the interim – oh, apart from:- 

1.     I had my Covid jab last Saturday – they gave me the Oxford AstraZeneca version.  I got there early in case the centre was busy but it was reasonably quiet.  The guy who took my details said it varies – apparently it was very busy in the morning but by the time I had got there in the afternoon, the peak seemed to have passed.  I've been lucky in that I haven't experienced any side effects – even my arm didn't hurt – I began to wonder whether the nurse jabbed me properly.🤭  My follow-up  booster is in mid-May.  I caught a taxi there and back – I noticed that there were loads of people out and about along the seafront as it was a lovely day.  They must have come from outside as loads of cars were parked off the front – they council had closed the usual parking spaces all along the seafront.  Not much social distancing seemed to be going on!  The sooner we are all jabbed the better!🤬

2.     I had a day out on Tuesday in that I went up to the City to visit the dental hygienist and dentist.  Whoopee!  The City was absolutely dead – I got there at lunchtime but only Boots, M&S and the small supermarkets were open – I couldn't see any coffee shops open - but then there was hardly anyone around.  The dental surgery had a very swish temperature monitor – you had to look into it and then a very robotic female voice said ' Your…temp..er…ra..ture..is…nor..mal  Just as well! 🤣 Anyway I've got to go back next week as my last old style metal filling needs replacing and I have slightly chipped my front tooth and he will fill and smooth it down.  So these will need paying for.  Ah well it's sometime different to do!

Highlight tomorrow morning is I've got the plumber visiting as I took my shower head off to descale it and I can't put it back on!  It's one of the rainfall types and I can't get it to screw back in!  So I've been having a shower with the hand-held thingy.  It reminds me of the time years and years ago the ex-husband and I went to the TT races on the Isle of Man on the motorbike and camped out and I had to shower in the dodgy shower block!  It rained all week.  Not a good experience!😱  

SCRIMPY MONTH 3 – MARCH

Up in February – property, Stocks and Shares ISA and pension.  Down – gold. 

Ad hoc spends so far since I last wrote in my diary was cards, gift vouchers for friend and family, couple of books on Kindle, Itunes downloads, light bulbs (I know how to spend!), taxis re. trips for jab and dentist.  At least I was able to buy my Senior Rover ticket to London and back with the loyalty points left over from when I had my season ticket (just thought – I will able to get my bus pass in April!)😀

I was pleased as the firm awarded me a bonus for last year's performance (my last ever!).  They also gave me a pay rise which I thought odd as they will only be paying it to me for one month but they obviously had finalised the salaries and bonuses before I gave in my notice. 

One of the jobs I have to do is check with the firm's medical insurer on whether I can carry it on privately with the pre-existing medical conditions included.  They are giving a Teams presentation to our staff next week as the new benefits season starts then so I think I will check with them then.

I got a text from the DWP today to say they're working on my State Pension claim and not to contact them as they will message me when completed.  I wonder if that's because I phoned them up last week and asked whether they could confirm exactly how much I would be getting as I only had the estimate they sent me last year to work from.  No joy there!  It would be nice to know so I can finalise my income figures. 

Have a good evening everyone!

Sun_Addict

The weather was truly gorgeous last weekend and so warm. Pity about this week 👎 So close to retirement now, I bet you can’t wait.