From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Cherryfudge.

Thank you Buffy, I'll look out for that. So frustrating when sleep is out of kilter, although on the plus side, last night's bout of insomnia was put to use sorting out marking!

DD2 has had a couple of big exams for her course this week, so hoping to get out for a relaxing cliff top walk later today. I need to get some baking done as well. On Sunday I got home to find all the cake previously cooked on Saturday had gone so ended up having to work with whatever ingredients I had and popped a coffee cake ( ring shape) in the oven, which the children have raved about ever since :cool:.

The parsley seeds sown a few weeks ago have germinated . The seed tray is outside in a small plastic greenhouse so pleased that they have started to grow.

Steerpike88

Love your stories about your gardening HSL I must admit I don't have the inclination for it atm but I always appreciate a lovely garden or an allotment and you work so hard on yours.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Steerpike88. I must confess to getting quite excited to reach the beginning of February as I start sowing more seeds week by week.

Thursday was a lovely day. After the school run, DD2 and I went for our planned walk. I did have to pay for parking unfortunately. Often I can get free parking though the National Trust membership but this particular coastal village has only privately owned car parks. Getting out and onto the cliff path was great. The grass was quite springy under our feet and the views stunning. I always find the differing perspectives to be fascinating. We discovered that this cove had quite a rocky part to the beach which we hadn't noticed on previous visits. The younger DCs would love to explore the rock pools so I must remember to bring them back on a low tide one day. We also saw a beach that we'd been to last year but got more idea of where it was in relation to other places, if that makes sense. We walked to the sound of gulls calling out to each other. I love that sound! It's a sound I grew up with, sat my school exams with the accompaniment of gulls on the roof of the school . It was good to see them nestling in the crevices of the cliff face and swooping and circling around. Too many gulls in nearby coastal towns spend time taking food from bins and even out of people's hands. It was good to see them in their natural habitat. We had to make a slight divergence at one point as the coast path went along the edge of a field, occupied by some huge red cows, quite unhelpfully congregating on the actual path:eek:, so we scrambled over a stone wall and through a gate, finding another path in the next field which eventually wound back to the coast path.

DD2 kindly treated me to a coffee when we reached the harbour of the next coastal town. It was quite a hive of busyness. This time of year, so many workmen are busy refurbishing shops or redecorating holiday lets in preparation for the new season ahead. As with many coast path walks, it's possible to find a parallel inland walk which is a little easier ( not quite so many climbs!). Today's inland walk back to the car, took us through fields of cauliflowers and then through what I thought was a meadow at first due to the array of fine white flowers but on closer inspection we saw some root vegetables growing. My first thought was parsnips but they seemed too smooth for parsnips . DD2 thought they were salsify which looked more likely . We got back to the car to find we had done over twenty thousand steps:eek::D:T.

I had an email from the company I sent my books to, to say that they were processing my payment. Just checked the balance and it has reached my account. Thank you Nicnac for the inspiration . I feel quite encouraged to look around and try selling other things. I intend to ring up the window loan company today and make an overpayment with the book sale money. It will only be a small payment but at least it will be going down and it will be less interest I'll be paying next month .

Baked 2 sets of brownies and a batch of vanilla cupcakes . We have a charity cake sale today, so will make a contribution. The teenage DSs didn't realise ( hmmm) and managed to eat some of the cupcakes so we have hidden the rest. Honestly I need a cupboard with a padlock some days;).

savingholmes

Hi Honeysucklelou - I am always in awe of how much you get done.

ES - 5 miles or less is just a stroll!!! Wow!

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you SH.

I'm very thankful I did get out on the walk on Thursday as yesterday was taken up dealing with a stressful situation with DS2 and today has been spent mainly on work tasks.

The money came through from the book sales which has been used to pay off £10 of the window loan. I know it's not much but I feel so pleased to have been able to do something to make the extra money, as there simply isn't any wriggle room in my usual budget.

Tea was sausage casserole followed by ginger cake and custard. I've made a couple of lemon drizzle same a batch of brownies. Hopefully it will last longer than last week.

savingholmes

Hope DS2 is okay.

Food sounds yummy. Well done on the window repayment - it is too easy to say this little bit won't make a difference but the reality is that it does.

lucielle

Diito what SH says

L

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you SH and Lucielle.

My work days are changed around this week, which feels a bit topsy turvy. Today ( Wed) was a day off but I ended up spending a couple of hours at work catching up. In the afternoon I was able to get out for a walk with the elderly lurcher. It's a figure of 8 shaped walk across fields and around lanes but is quite a nice length . I was glad to see blue sky today . Lots of snowdrops were growing in the hedgerows, so lovely to see signs of new growth.

On our return, I got some sweet pea seeds sown. They are left over from last year but have been in a sealed tin so should be ok.

Absolutely crawling towards payday on Friday. Don't think I've been this skint for a while. The children appear to have eaten all bread and bagels in the house so I've spent this evening making some bread. I had flour and yeast in and it didn't take too long. Waiting for the dough to prove took the most time, but I could get on with something else in that time. DD4 was particularly pleased as she loves fresh bread of any description.

lucielle

I can't make bread, it usually ends up as a weapon of mass destruction!
L

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Lucielle. I can't make scones, have tried repeatedly but they come out like biscuits .

Work today which was busy followed by a parents evening for DS2. It was quite late by the time I got home, not helped by the main road being closed and a long diversion in the fog. Another NSD due to being skint .