Sashybo - Back Again

sashybo

😂 Nicnak, I have to do things when I have the time & energy or it never gets done!

I'll have a look for the moscato next time I'm in Mr L's, thanks for the tip. I really like the rhubarb gin liqueur as well, it's just got a nice taste hasn't it?

Today I managed 25 mins of cardio tone and 30 mins of yoga. DD was napping for half the time and DS was watching the ipad again. He did climb on top of me a few times during yoga though. 😩 He thought downward dog was hilarious. 😂 

Have hoovered the whole house and cleaned the kitchen floor, cleaned the worktops & hob, stripped our bed and the sheets are washed. I hung the nappy wash out and DH hung the sheets out. DH also cooked a nice pasta dish for lunch when he got home for work, so we'll only need a light dinner. 

DS has been in and out of the garden and is relaxing on the couch watching paddington now, he loves those films. He's been chatting away and is currently mixing up on and off - he keeps saying the light is on when it's off and vice versa. 😂 

beanielou

I think i need a trip to Lidl to look at gin!

Willowtree222

There's two types Beanie. The liqueur and standard ones. I like the liqueur. They have a range of flavours and most are £9.99 a bottle. Some are £11.99. I was paying £18.99 for a bottle of Edinburgh Gin. I have mine with lemonade as I am not a tonic drinker. They also have a pre mixed can of the rhubarb one for £1.19. I sound so knowledgeable that people might assume I am always drinking! 

beanielou

Nicnak said:

There's two types Beanie. The liqueur and standard ones. I like the liqueur. They have a range of flavours and most are £9.99 a bottle. Some are £11.99. I was paying £18.99 for a bottle of Edinburgh Gin. I have mine with lemonade as I am not a tonic drinker. They also have a pre mixed can of the rhubarb one for £1.19. I sound so knowledgeable that people might assume I am always drinking! 

Snap. Also an Edinburgh Gin drinker. 

That’s a big difference in price. Thanks so much for sharing. 

I also drink my raspberry gin with lemonade. I love pink lemonade but it is quite expensive. 

sashybo

I feel like an alcoholic because I drink the gin liqueurs with ice and no mixer. 😱 😬 I do sometimes like a bit of tonic in there and raspberry gin liqueur is lovely in sparkling wine (Prosecco, cava etc) as well.

I generally only buy the Edinburgh gin if it's on offer, can usually get it from am@zon for £14/15 but the Mr L stuff is a very acceptable substitute.

One of the best full strength raspberry gins I've tried is the Whitley Neill one - it's lovely, I drink it with tonic and fresh raspberries added. I quite fancy trying their pink grapefruit gin as well, they have so many lovely flavours. 😋 

I'm going to have a break from exercise today as my knees are a bit sore and I've had problems with one of them in the past. Knee problems run in my mum's family and there have been quite a few knee replacements so I don't want to damage them. 😱 

Listening to the radio just now whilst DS is playing with his kitchen and DD is playing sitting in her high chair. She started clapping along when ABBA came on the radio. 😂 

It's been very humid the last few days but no rain as yet, it looked very threatening last night but never came to anything. 🤷‍♀️ It looks a bit hazy outside so I'm not sure if I should chance hanging the nappy wash out once it finishes. 

Sun_Addict

The gin liqueurs are half the strength of proper gin so that's why you can drink them neat.  I don't like the liqueurs as they're too sweet for me but I think a small amount added to plain gin or indeed cava/prosecco would be nice to give it a bit of flavour. My favourite gin is actually quite a cheap one at around £14 - Greenalls Berry Gin and it's sugar free, a lot of them aren't. If you like the Lidl cava keep an eye out for it around the end of November as it's usually on the super weekend deal around then, that's when I stock up.

I still don't know how you manage to get so much done with two little ones 😁

Willowtree222

I too can drink it neat 😁. I just love sweet things so add lemonade. 
X

sashybo

Hi SA & Nicnak. 👋 

SA I like the Greenall's berry gin too and usually have it in the house. Thanks for the tip on the Mr L cava, I think it's always slightly dearer here due to the alcohol tax but still a very reasonable price.

Nicnak, I have a sweet tooth too. 😊 I used to drink gin with lemonade but moved onto tonic and prefer that now. 

I did manage to get another two washings out yesterday, still no rain. My brother came round to pick up the plants for his gf and brought his stepdaughter and DD. They were running about the garden with my DS and he was so delighted to see them and have other children to play with. 😊 

I had a bit of a down day yesterday, didn't get anything done and DD was refusing to nap in the morning, she just kept screaming so I had to give up after 45 mins. After another hour downstairs I took her back up to her cot and left her, she cried for 2 minutes then fell asleep. I hate leaving her to cry but sometimes it's the only thing I can do. DS doesn't help as he wants to go and see her if she cries and that just makes her cry more when I have to hustle him out of the room!

DH has moved his biggest loan to a new provider for a lower interest rate and it works out the monthly payment will be £30 less than we have been paying. 👏 

DH spoke to the house alarm maintenance man yesterday as our annual maintenance is due and he was asking if we wanted to upgrade our panel to a wifi one and add alarms to the windows in our new room (the conversion). The maintenance costs roughly £150 - to get it done plus add sensors and get a new panel will be £580. 😱 Of course we don't actually have that but DH said he has a couple of hundred from selling things so if he uses that plus my EF of £250 it would cover it.

I feel a bit sad about my EF disappearing but at least it will go to something that needs to be done and we won't have to use any credit to do it. Once I'm back at work and getting my proper wage again I can really start working on paying the debt down and use my survey money to build up an emergency fund.

I need to remember to fill out a form when I go back to work to increase my pension contributions as it's only something like £40 out of every pay since I went job share! I'm going to pay an extra £10 a week (as I'm paid 4 weekly) and that will double my pension contributions so well worth doing. I was reminded about this after reading DancingintheRain's post on her diary about doing the same thing.

DancingInTheRain

Enjoying the gin talk, I'm another fan of the Lidl liquers. 
Good news on the new loan payments being lower & alarm work sounds well thought out, it's great you won't need to use any credit and, as you say, the EF can be built up again.
Pleased I helped remind you about your pension contributions. Isn't it funny that we're on the ball with so many things but have left something as important as this for ourselves on the back burner?
Hope DD has a more settled day for you x

Sun_Addict

Good news indeed about the loan payments being lower and that you have the money to pay for the alarm work.  Once you're back at work you can start on a new EF. Great idea to increase your pension contributions, you'll be glad you've done it in the future.