A Ditherer's Diary (again)

Naomim

Done nothing today. 11yo has come down with a cold so we're sitting watching tv. I still need to clean upstairs,  I did downstairs yesterday at a leisurely pace. 

I don't think doggo is feeling too great at the moment. He's very quiet and needing lots of cuddles. 

Im also going to try and sort my bulbs for planting.  I hope I'm not too later for them.

WinterWarrior

A BH well spent when you’ve done nothing 😁
I hope your dog perks up again soon and 11yo’s cold doesn’t last long.
I don’t know much about bulbs, will they flower for autumn if you miss spring? I have a lot of crocuses that flower in autumn....although maybe they are just confused 😬

Naomim

I don't know much about any gardening things. I'm a complete novice so it's all a bit suck it and see at the moment.  I still need to get the border dug wider. Hopefully it can be done this weekend now we've had some rain and the ground isn't so hard. Atlhough 11 yo and I have a weekend of fun booked. Saturday at Thorpe Park for my niece's birthday and Sunday at Chessington World of Adventures.  I recently renewed our passes as we live so close to Chessy it makes a cheap day out once you've been about 3 times and we always take a packed lunch.  I also have a "days out" pot that is currently sitting at about £200 since lockdown meant we've done nothing.  

As I sit here, my neighbours either side of me are outside talking. I can't hear anything but I keep seeing hands waved in the direction of my poor garden. It's a work in progress! I'm going to pop up to Aldi later and see what plants they have.

On the money front, I've updated my ynab. I should have £400 a month left after all the bills and pot money goes out. But we don't so I've added more categories to the ynab to try and have a clearer picture of where things have gone.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

Naomim

WinterWarrior

Haha, give the neighbours something to talk about. I’m sure mine comment on ours (and the state of our gates) often. The gates will get changed at some point, but they aren’t a standard size and I’m not rushing to waste money.
Budgeting is so hard, there’s always something I forget about 😖
The days out sound fabulous. It will be very odd to go to busy places again!  

Naomim

@WinterWarrior yes it will be strange. Merlin have changed so you have to pre-book and can't just turn up so they can limit the numbers.  You can only have 3 pre-books per park at any one time as last year when they introduced it lots of people booked lots of slots then never bothered to turn up.  There are quite a few moaners on the FB groups I'm a member of but I'm happy to book and take what days we can for now.   I'm very excited to meet my friend but we've had to book two pubs as they have time limits so we can move from one to the next! I may need to book off Thursday as I'm out of practice in the drinking department and can get a hangover after one glass of wine these days! 🤦‍♀️

I started the days out pot as a simple trip to the cinema could cost £50.  Cinema was one of our favourite things to do and I was always trying to find offers and discounts for us to go. I usually try and make days out cheap and cheerful, packed lunches (helps 11yo is bloody fussy eater).

Doggo is still off the boil and had a bad night with his breathing - which meant I had a bad night too as need to comfort him and I worry. He's now snoring away on the sofa next to me but hasn't eaten his breakfast. 

I also need to start organising 15yo's birthday. Before I know it, 6 weeks will be here and I'll have organised nothing.

Naomim

Ordered 15yo's birthday present yesterday. It had £70 off from when I last looked at it a few weeks ago (excellent!) and I went via TCB so should have about another £8 pending.  I decided to buy it using one of my credit cards as it was over £100 so I wanted to get the S75 protection should I need it. However I got a text from the CC company telling me they had declined the payment.  There's certainly enough credit on there but I think it's because I have never used it to actually purchase anything.  It's now showing as pending on the app so I'll wait and see what's happening.  The plan is to pay off the amount when the next statement comes in.

Also had a message from Barclaycard reminding me my 0% interest deal runs out on 1st August so I need to start looking at the money shuffle. firstly I'm going to check the cards and see what available credit I have on them then try and work out a plan as B'card ends in August then MBNA1 in Oct.  There's going to be a fair bit of shuffling going on in 2022! 

I made 11yo leave early for school this morning so I could stop into Aldi on the way home and pick up a Japanese Acer plant. My neighbour has one and I love the colour of it.  MrM commented on the plants arriving, I did point out this is what a garden is for, he said it's for a sunbed and hottub! - neither of which we have! 😂

Doggo seems a bit better but still not 100%.  The vets have put the claim in to the insurance so waiting to see what we get back from them.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Naomim

lucielle

Hope the doggo improves, they can be such a worry
L

WinterWarrior

What a pain about the present. I had my (empty) card rejected twice last month trying to make a largish purchase from Argos. Then I received 2 txts and a recorded call for me to confirm they hadn’t been fraudulent 😖 in some ways it’s great that they check, but it really throws you out. One time I did have a fraudulent purchase (a small amount, but hundreds of miles from where I live) that went through fine! They had to cancel and send me a new card when I queried it. Another shout out in favour of daily checking.
I also hope your doggo continues to improve 🐶

ladyholly

I have an acer and they are a lovely colour. Mine is in a pot so I have to be careful not to let it grow too tall.

enthusiasticsaver

I love Acers and have 2.  One red and one green either side of the waterfall going into our pond.  They are hardier than I thought they would be.  Last year I cut them right back so we could rebuild the waterfall and they have come back bushier than ever. 

Not sure about planting bulbs now for Spring flowering plants. Usually they are planted in the Autumn.  You can plant Lily bulbs I think for the summer. Could be interesting though to see what they do.