Get a grip woman!

Suffolk_lass

Thanks beanie, you too. I see you saw your DS and his GF - hope you had fun.

My shoulder is painful today but it is my own fault for ot stretching it out last night after several hours of weeding! Nothing like the pain you are in. I wish you a pain-free day sweet lady

enthusiasticsaver

The pram race sounds intriguing. Weather not supposed to be great today but I still plan to go and see the cardboard box boat race. I don't suppose it matters to them if it is raining. :rotfl::rotfl:

Well done on the gardening and sorry your shoulder is hurting. Weeding usually gives me backache. DH wants to get a gardener but I am too mean to pay for one when I am perfectly capable of doing it myself. I just don't allocate enough time to it. I have weeded one bed this week though and mowed the lawn so another three beds to do and I need to put some bedding plants in and do my summer pots. It is a bit late I know but hopefully I can find something. On a plus point one of the guests at the BBQ yesterday has some cultivated poppies for me which I have been after for ages. He grows them from seed. They are a real picture in a Cornwall at the moment so I would love some in my garden.

Food yesterday was
Weetabix and fruit (my quick go to breakfast)
Ham Salad sandwich and fruit
Snack of Greek yogurt
Chicken, salad, potatoes and 2 glasses of rose wine at the BBQ plus some nuts.

Have a lovely day.

Karmacat

Loving all the celebrations today! I'm off to the local Open Gardens, one of them is more than an acre, and has 2 wildlife ponds and a swimming pool **faints**.


Foodwise: I had those Iceland veggie bakes yesterday which were pretty disgusting and full of gluten and additives anyway and I didn't have the salad I planned either, oops. What I ate instead wasn't bad, just not good enough - my go-to of gf pasta, feta and pesto, I was tired and a bit down after a charity shop run-in. I'll do better today.

Suffolk_lass

Late report today - my weight had gone up so my total loss is just 2.6lb - I am not surprised after yesterday - we went out for lunch with friends and I was not not in control of the food we eat. DH had Roast Beef (!) and all the trimmings, I had a burger bit as well as the salad, it came with fries, many of which I eat. So basically it serves me right. It's my version of vegetable bake

Today I have had avocado salad for lunch and skipped breakfast. I have bought some caustic soda and I am in the process of checking how much to use to make a very simple soap. At least it won't have lots of plastic wrapped round it. I will need some distilled water but I have the oils.

Suffolk_lass

Still suffering from the weekend's excesses my weight has not reduced today.

For supper we had sea-bream fillets (oven-baked in a foil packet with a dob of butter and seasoning) with peas and new potatoes (5, the size of 10p pieces) followed by wonky strawberries and cream - the fish was YS at £2.50 and the strawberries were £1.

It did not feel sinful but the potatoes were a bit naughty (the trouble is, I hate waste and I still have one more £1 bag of the tiny ones in the fridge to use up.

Today:

• I have had 3 cups of coffee and will be walking dogs in a few minutes.
• I might just have a handful of nuts so I don't have a funny turn while I am out.
• Lunch planned to be soup then yogurt
• Supper planned to be cold steak (still) with salad and cold potatoes. I bought a bag of radishes as I am between crops.

I have just attempted to make soap for the first time - it did what I expected and is wrapped up to cool and set slowly until tomorrow now. I hope it works...

Suffolk_lass

Well the kitchen smells marvellous, if I do say myself. I have turned my soap out of the moulds and used a vegetable peeler to bevel the tatty edges of the cut slices from the loaf tin. The prevailing smell is a clean peppermint (combination of mint and tea-tree essential oils). The pop-out patty tin ones are just smooth and simple domed disks with perfectly smooth surface. It needs to cure for 4 weeks now so I need to empty a box to put it in but I am thrilled. Let us see what it is like after curing (it needs to do this to complete the chemical process so it doesn't sting) and harden off.

In money news I lodged my update to save £12k in 2019 and it was £1088.36 because I found a spreadsheet totalling error. I added a few additional rows about 3 months ago and the column totals were not updated for the rest of the year, so the column totals had omitted the bottom entry of £100 in one case. I may have to increase my total but possible not with DH finishing work in under a month now :eek:

Karmacat

The soapmaking sounds wonderful. Getting a recipe you really trust seems to be very important, I haven't pursued it yet, but it does sound interesting. And in spite of the spreadsheet thingy, your overpayments are looking awfully healthy

enthusiasticsaver

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

In money news I lodged my update to save £12k in 2019 and it was £1088.36 because I found a spreadsheet totalling error. I added a few additional rows about 3 months ago and the column totals were not updated for the rest of the year, so the column totals had omitted the bottom entry of £100 in one case. I may have to increase my total but possible not with DH finishing work in under a month now :eek:

One of the hardest things I have had to come to terms with is that I can no longer seem to save as we did when working and draw down on our savings more. We have put a new kitchen in last year, two new bathrooms are going in next week and we eat out more, do more holidays and spend on hobbies more. Obviously we can afford it but it has been a culture shift from saving to spending which does not always sit comfortably. Do you anticipate still being able to save after your DH retires?

enthusiasticsaver

My food update for yesterday is weetabix and banana for breakfast.
I did my 12km walk in south Devon so picnic lunch of ham salad sandwich and an apple
DH cooked chicken and veg stir fry for tea with noodles but I was so hungry come 9pm I made toast and tea so exceeded my 2 slices of bread a day limit. IFA appointment today to discuss his proposals to that will be interesting.

Suffolk_lass

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

One of the hardest things I have had to come to terms with is that I can no longer seem to save as we did when working and draw down on our savings more. We have put a new kitchen in last year, two new bathrooms are going in next week and we eat out more, do more holidays and spend on hobbies more. Obviously we can afford it but it has been a culture shift from saving to spending which does not always sit comfortably. Do you anticipate still being able to save after your DH retires?

Not initially because the mortgage continues. We also have a list of projects we would like to pursue that will reverse things for us too. I have replaced both back doors since February and have ordered the new front door (oak, lots to pay after the initial £500 deposit I have paid to the joiner - it is bespoke because the age of the house means the height of the doorways is too low for anything straightforward :eek:).

Big things in the "plans" for retirement:

• Our kitchen needs attention - it all works but it is nearly 15 and some bits are showing their age
• Our breeze-block built pig-shed is probably unsafe but certainly not suitable as a combined machine shed and workshop so we plan to do work to it (maybe rebuild)
• DH covets a basic campervan - we will see how we go with the new tent he can stand up in - which I bought in error (he wanted a smaller one he has since bought) for Christmas for him. It is an awful lot of B&B nights...
• We want to visit New Zealand (again, for me) and Australia (he lived there) in the next two years

We hope to get a dog