The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

Greying_Pilgrim

Thank you everyone for your kind comments.

I have read them and thought about them - alot.

I don't think (you can never be too sure) that I'm having an identity crisis. I do see myself as 'Greying Pilgrim' 'A wife' 'BG's mum' - if other people (in RL) 'only' see me as 'a grey-haired auld woman' or 'a' mother, well then that is for them to deal with. I know who I am, and for the most part, am truly comfortable with it. Yes, Cheery, I did per chance read FW's blog post. I could identify with the tiredness and the relentlessness of sleepless nights, and that it does change - in a (relatively) short space of time, although it doesn't seem like that each day. Elizabeth did seem to be concentrating on the 'I'm a mother' at this moment in time - as opposed to what? A writer? a homesteader? A wife? I couldn't identify with this bit, as that is not what I'm feeling.

I'm truly blessed to have BG in my life, and their papa

Having a child - for me - is 99% wonderful. The only - and I think it is the only one - downside is that you are limited as to what you can achieve with a small in tow. You cannot climb ladders with a baby. You cannot clear out the garden shed with a small in tow. You cannot paint the bathroom with a small in tow. At this moment in our lives, we need to be doing these things to move forward, to move away from Greying Towers. One or other of us has to look after BG whilst the other does a 'bit' of DIY. It's a slow process. Every time we divest ourselves of good stuff (to a new home); that is progress. Everytime we take a load of toot to the tip, that is progress. But it takes so much work to get to each and every point. Poppy - BG is not eligible for free childcare in any form.

We're stuck. We are not our 'old' lives (pre-BG) but neither are we our 'new' lives - a family unit, doing fab things outdoors, together, learning and growing and having fun, rather than being bogged down with DIY and chores.

And there is time. I don't always have the time that I would like to devote to posting. I know that bloggers sometimes face the same dilemma. I want a post to be worthwhile, that usually takes a bit of time.

I don't think I've 'lost' me. I'm just not sure we've cracked how to achieve what we need to achieve now with - for the most part - only one pair of hands doing the task, whilst the other pair tickles our little one.

Greying X

WannabeFree

I'm 9 years into being a mum and I still don't think I've worked out how to juggle it so there isn't a guilt about where time is spent. If I do all the chores/DIY etc I feel guilt I have taken that time away from being the fun playful mum... If I spend the time with the smalls then I feel overwhelmed with the amount of DIY/chores I need to fit in.

What I can say is as time does go on the struggles do shift. The sleepless nights do get less. However I do still feel like I haven't got how to fit everything in and not feel something is 'giving'

Do what's best for you. Do what makes you happy. Afterall that's the most important thing.

Even if selfishly I want to stamp my feet, lock the door and say you ain't going nowhere

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

WannabeFree wrote: »

Do what's best for you. Do what makes you happy. Afterall that's the most important thing.

Even if selfishly I want to stamp my feet, lock the door and say you ain't going nowhere

WannabeFree - do you know that you made me laugh out loud with your comment :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Thank you - you are one inspirational MSE'r and I'm touched that you made time to be so supportive of me.

I'm trying to type this with a small on my lap and a BBC children's prog playing on t'toob.... so if it doesn't make any sense.....................;)

I can't believe we're at Thursday already, and yet I can - so much has been shoe-horned into this week. And I'm pleased to report that progress and fun is included in that bundle

We're on 50:50 good nights and bad nights sleep thus far this week. Which makes no sense, but is an improvement on 100% bad I guess. I did nearly beat BG to bed on Tuesday night though I've been busy, but I'm still not sure why I'm exhausted all the time, just a stage, I guess.

I bought 4 'ripen at home' avocados from mrAl yesterday. They were on special at £1.56 (I think). They are produce of israel and are hass avocados. I'm hopeful they will all ripen beautifully, as they are 44p cheaper than the ones I got from mrA the other week - but as they all ripened beautifully, they represented good value for money.

I've got to pay the CC bill today, double-check the financials and pop some pennies into BG's bank account too. I want to make a salad bowl for tea tonight, to use up some bits and pieces, and I'll aim to get some tofu too. I've plenty of lemons left (my 'garbage' citrus has lasted well......), and some oranges, so a citrus marinade is on the cards.

Oh, I forgot to mention, that t0pca$hbac have finally relented and said they will chase up my missing cashback from the insurance company. It was obvious from the start that the company were ignoring the cashback, but tcb insisted on waiting 60 days...........still, we're at stage 1 - not pay out.

Right, best get on. Got a full day today.

Ta for popping in. Very much appreciated.

Greying X

WannabeFree

Glad I made you smile, not often I have the effect even on the smalls :rotfl:

Hope you've had a lovely day

x

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Lawks, I've just been over on Cheery's thread, reading about her eleventy million things that need to be done. Makes me feel a light-weight for feeling tired after making (and eating) us tea....... :rotfl:

Well, we achieved quite a bit today, and I'm planning on trying to catch up on my personal correspondence this evening before collop-sing into bed. Although frankly, it is so nice and cosy here on Cheery's sofa, I may do nowt for the rest of this evening......... :rotfl:

Tea this evening was notionally called a 'salad bowl', but in fact was a use-up, bitsa bowl I did buy some tofu - pressed it and then marinated it in orange and lemon juice, with a splodge of sesame oil, bit of honey, bit of cinnamon and turmeric, salt and peppper. I then transferred it to a frying pan (drained) and fried it so that it took on a bit of colour and crust (have I been watching too much d1ners, dr1v3-1ns & d1v3$??). I steamed some quinoa - the mrAl tricolour one (is it British grown? can't remember), and for a bit of added ponce, pressed it into a mould, so that it was a 'mound' on the plate (*rollseyessmiley*). I made pugilese beetroot salad, diced tomatoes in olive oil, balsamic, crushed garlic and basil dressing, steamed some green beans and popped the last of the mixed leaf salad (from a mrL salad bag) onto a plate. The drizzle was the rest of the tofu marinate, mixed with some mayo and natural yoghurt. Was nice and light eating and used up bits and bobs.

I paid the CC bill, checked that money had moved about as it was supposed to do, and paid in a bit of cash into BG's saving account. So all the financials are ship-shape and this month's bills are paid

I have upped the grocery bill to £200 for a month. I'm hopeful that I can get everything that we need in this amount - because I think it is an awful lot of money. Although I am hopeful that with the better weather (hopefully) this will also allow us to eat a varied, healthy diet, with plenty of vegetables and fruit. As I've said numerous times before, I don't live somewhere where it is convenient to shop in a range of supermarkets when the YS discounts are made. I'm lucky if I get YS discounts that amount to a few pence less than you'd pay for the same item at mrL or mrAl........ I already cook mostly from scratch (with occasional convenience thrown in), and can't really fathom a way to lower our bills. We have very little food waste in our household - which I'm proud about. Food is too valuable to waste.

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

Love

Laughter

Life.

Ta for reading. Appreciated.

Greying X

beanielou

Like you I very rarely get YS's reductions.

Cheery_Daff

:eek: you may have realised by now that I did not do all the things on my list (of course) :rotfl: Tis indeed cosy on my sofa though, I'm just about to join you

More and more I'm finding ridiculous 'C0-0p style reductions' (so called because our old local shop used to reduce things that were frankly rubbish with just 20p off etc). Not worth the bother! I get VERY excited at an occasional REAL bargain Very much looking forward to growing a substantial amount of stuff this year, not been able to do that for the past 2 or 3 years while we were doing the house, and i never had that much room anyway before. However, growing stuff is taking an awful lot of effort and all I've done so far is plant seeds! :eek:

badmemory

I've given up on YS. I mean 18p off something almost £2 full price, don't waste my time. The only things worthwhile are deli stuff & of those I only buy Brie. I do love a bit of brie. The best thing about it is that it is only worth eating once the supermarket has said it is well past it's sell by date. Luckily I can tell when they have stored it too cold! A definite no no!

I bought some today - shouldn't have done but couldn't help myself. Tooth extraction in the am so can't do my usual buy on Thurs leave it out & stuff my face on Friday. Whoops!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

So this is one of those cases of Glad/Not Glad then..... in as much as I'm glad that it is not a case of mine own ineptitude that is causing me to miss out on YS loveliness, but I'm 'not glad' that it is happening to other people too Cheery - our c0-0p had started that game - before it closed down for good, several years ago...... I'm definitely finding - as you badmemory that the initial selling price is too high anyway, so a 10/20p reduction off it, is, indeed, an insult. Also, there is the point that in the shops I'm able to frequent, they don't YS the sort of things I buy. I mean nuts are only discounted after chrimbo - and they are invariably the 'in shell' versions at that. I have never seen YS'd; Quinoa, brown rice, lentils or tofu. Even special offers on those things are a rarity - I try to find the best price initially, and then suck it up. But it is nice to sometime find a luxury item YS'd - nice bread, a bit of cake, or - as I found the other week - a pot of organic cream for 15p :j

Tea will probably be pizza tonight. Black olive is choice du jour at present. Wedges will probably be sweet potato, as I bought a 1kg bag from HB yesterday - 89p.

I want to try to do some sorting for chazzering today - there is some of BG's stuff that has been outgrown that is good enough to pass on. If I gather it all together, I think it will form a nice little donation.

Oh, I forgot to say, I popped into the building society yesterday, and it seems like their FB collection is capturing folk's imaginations. It is a shame though that they don't empty it quicker, as I can see that a full box will actually put folk off contributing. But it is nice to see donations in there. Looked like useable 'food' items this time too. We must sort something out - I'll take a gander at the 'most wanted' list again, see what they need.

Right, better crack on - things to do.

Ta for popping in. Appreciated.

Greying X

rtandon27

Sending huggles your way...

:grouphug:

...just because...



Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain. - Vivian Greene