From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Kitten868 & SH for your encouraging words.

Today has been much better for home learning. Thankfully I have plenty of resources at home to support DS3 so I can largely keep him screen free and still get his learning tasks done. DD3 had a couple of technical issues but her tutors were patient  mercifully.

Tea was home -made lasagne and the older DDs are primed to do a chicken stir fry for tomorrow when I’m later back from work. DD2 is still in full baking mode, so fresh chocolate brownies are on the worktop 😋.

This evening I’m going to move £25 from Job no 2’s pay into the H2S in order to replenish it after the garage bill.

lucielle

Chocolate brownies sound delish!
L

savingholmes

I love it when others cook for me. Brownies sound amazing. Well done for topping up savings. Glad schooling is under control.

Cherryfudge

That sounds like a pretty good day.

Spendless

Home made lasagna sounds divine, can't remember the last time I had that.
At the risk of jinxing things by mentioning it but the ex seems to have become very quiet. Is lockdown3 keeping him away or have you just not got round to telling us what incredible manure you've started using. 

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Lucielle, SH, Cherryfudge & Spendless.

The ex is still lurking. He turns up to see the children midweek, which I’m prepared for, as I know when it is. I usually crack on with work stuff in my room while he sees the children. He used to come round on Saturday s but, like last winter, doesn’t at the moment. That’s fine by me as it is less stressful for me at the weekend but I’m not keen on him showing up at other  times when I least expect it, such as today when I got home from work. I had expected the form before now so will have to contact the mediator again. Whenever I feel bold enough to take a step forward,  I’m trying to sort everything out by the laws of the land and be as reasonable as possible to ensure least hurt for the children but it also feels like I’m in a horrible game where I don’t know the rules.

Anyway...a busy day at work today. I didn’t quite get as much done as I’d  hoped so will have to catch up a bit over the next day or two. The paint that I ordered arrived yesterday so I can get on with prepping the walls for painting.🙂 I made it out for a walk after work albeit in the dark but the sky was clear of clouds so we had a great view of the stars. The elderly lurcher was happy to be out for a walk whether dark or not!

Tea was egg and bacon pie with jacket potatoes. DS2 added beans to his plate as well.
I have reached the point with pies that I have to make 2, to ensure enough for everyone. As the children get older I forget that I’m actually feeding numerous adults, so need to adjust my cooking accordingly!

janb5

So glad others asked the question!
I've been sitting on my hands!
I do hope that this is the year you can draw a line under this and move on properly with your life  Also I do hope all your improvements are totted up in your favour and not shared with ex.
I also seem to remember he isn`t paying towards the family bills.
Will shut up now... .  !

Parkyp

Did you see the video of the man who had his leg in plaster and his lurcher holding his paw up and limping. The man took dog to vet for X-rays worried the dog had hurt his paw. The lurcher was absolutely fine and was just copying his owner. I thought that was hilarious getting sympathy from your dog just sums them up. Don’t know if the owner thought that after getting the vet bill 🤣🤣

savingholmes

Hope ex becomes true ex soon

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Janb5, Parkyp and SH.

Janb5  & SH - I do want to have clarity and not be in limbo and  this is why I’m so keen to get rid of the debt as I’m very aware I need my finances to be in the best possible shape to be able to apply for a mortgage on my own.

Parkyp - I had heard about that dog but not realised it was a lurcher. We’ve had 2 lurchers  and both had / have the most gentle temperament. Lovely dogs.

Friday was quite a productive day ...first job was to tackle the mountain of washing up that seemed to have been left for me.  DD2 has been brilliant at overseeing the laundry situation while she’s been on furlough. I think it gives her a focus to the days. Both DD1 &2 have got to the stage where days are merging and they’re not always sure of the day of the week anymore. The rest of us have school or work to focus on so more conscious of where we are in the week. DD1 has been busy completing free online courses that will hopefully help in the future.

I spent a fair amount of time on wall prep, then rewarded myself with a look through the seed catalogues! I haven’t touched Job 2’s money so it’s built up a little over the last 3 weeks, so I had the money there to be able to do an order. I had a 10% off voucher, which effectively paid for the postage and gave me a couple of packets free🙂. I was surprised at the cost of some varieties of seed, particularly the tomatoes. Some were £5 a pack 😳. I tend to stick to Gardener’s Delight, Tigerella or Moneymaker as these are usually about the £2 mark and they are  varieties I’ve grown in the past.

I was able to make a £25 payment off a debt. My petrol costs are reduced at the moment so using the saving there. 

We got out for a walk in the afternoon. It wasn’t as long as we’d hoped as we had to dodge heavy rain showers. The elderly lurcher was with us ( rather than a separate stroll) and since he can’t manage the 2+ miles walks, we settled for the smaller figure of 8 walk. The clouds were very dramatic - huge indigo blue coloured clouds interspersed with small patches of light blue sky. At one point we looked over the fields and saw a rainbow 🌈.  The sun was starting to set so we could see the dark blue clouds tinged with  shining golden edges. The field that we have to cross to keep to the public footpath, had had so much rain that we could see rivulets running down the field where the water had forged a path. At one point we crossed a mini stream in the middle of the field, that isn’t normally there at all. It didn’t feel too cold when we were out, but when we got back inside, I was surprised at how cold my hands were. Still I’m glad to have got out for a bracing walk. More snowdrops were out and it is noticeably lighter in the evening, so not too long to go until Spring.