Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

I thought I didn't have much more to report since my previous post but... I got the shopping, did today's ironing and put it away, made the bed, made the dinner (we had lots of casserole 'sauce' left over from Sunday so I just added sausages and peas), watched a bit of telly and booked my train ticket.

Somehow I don't feel that I've done a lot but actually, written down, I've done masses. It's just that I haven't made visible inroads into the clutter! However, between the pansies by the front door, the clean laundry hamper and the fresh bedding, the house is definitely in better shape than it was.

Annoyingly, the train ticket has gone up by £6 in the last couple of days, but it's still a fiver less than full price as I can split the ticket.

Groceries were a bit expensive as I'm getting low on coffee and so took advantage of a couple of good discounts. I'm being good, though, and taking a few bits in my case rather than doing an online shop to cover a mere two days. Definitely a saving there, and this time I've remembered to pack the carrier bag of oddments I'd bought for the house such as new timers for the lights, draft excluder etc. It's been cluttering up our room for a copule of months so as of tomorrow I will finally have decluttered something!

Spending:
Ebook £2.20
Household £8.75 (deodorising 'rocks') + £2.00 (mug) + £15.00 (window cleaner)
Housekeeping £17.98
Train ticket (reclaimed) £54.06
MS:
Cheap dinner due to leftovers
Split ticket on train saving a fiver
Bargain good coffees
Planned flask of coffee on train and two frozen meals to take with me
Resisted online shopping
Cleaned up laundry hamper and light shade meaning no need to replace just yet
Confessions:
Fell for a mug that says 'Not until I've finished this' £2.00
Started eating my yogurt-coated peanuts already. They were meant to be in case the train got delayed.
Decluttering:
improved the front of the house slightly with new plants
Bag of oddments for Mum's house now packed.

Onebrokelady

Well done on the decluttering
:rotfl: for the mug and the peanuts
I'm supposed to sorting out my bedroom but I'm procrastinating on here,I still need to take the poor dog out too as she is sitting here with her legs crossed
Right I'm going to now to get stuff done :A

HairyHandofDartmoor

You've done loads Cherry. The pansies will look nice. Some winter flowering plants can help you to get through the winter. I planted some crocus bulbs in October and green shoots are popping through the soil already so I'm looking forward to those flowering. Also I have one flower on my cyclamen which is good as I thought it was too cold out for them to flower .

Cherryfudge

I didn't get in till after dark so I can't really see how well the pansies look. I put some in at mum's place on my last trip and they are doing well, though the slugs have had a couple. The cyclamen I bought locally there are fantastic, I've never seen any with so many flowers.

No gardening done over there this time though the weather has been really beautiful: the washing has been line dried and the doors and windows have been open to blow away the empty house feeling. Gorgeous. I made quite a bit of progress on cleaning and emptied a couple of cupboards. Okay, so then I put other stuff in them, but at least I know what's in there now and it doesn't have layers of grime any more.

Some small spending on milk and clothes - my friend over there had some bits she was taking to charity and gave me first refusal. Probably just as well I've put on weight so it was all too small for me and I couldn't be tempted but I saw some things that I thought DD would like so made a donation on her behalf.

Other than that, I haven't been spending, not even on more of those lovely cyclamen from the shop near the station.

I really need a good night's sleep tonight and it will be the third day in a row I haven't done my physio but I've been exhausted - and the arm is getting quite a bit of exercise lugging bags around. Back to work and my usual routine tomorrow.

13/11/18:
Housekeeping £1.20
14/11/18:
Donation £5.00
Decluttering:
I'm better at this at Mum's than at mine! Three bags to bin/charity, some bits into recycling, and a huge counterpane bagged up because my sister likes it. That in itself frees a whole drawer under the bed. That doesn't sound much in 48 hours but I did quite a bit of cleaning and reading through things to see whether to keep them, too.
I have to confess I've brought photos, a couple of books, oddments of cutlery and a vintage apron home, which doesn't help the situation here but I resisted a bag of soft toys.

Cherryfudge

Work this morning and tea out at J and L's tonight, so a nice day. I bought the pudding ingredients and have quite a bit left over and I think it probably counts as entertaining even if, strictly, they were entertaining us. It also meant we had a 'free' meal as well as a nice time. Strange to think that in a few weeks they will probably be living with us as the others, currently bunking with us, should have their own house by then and J and L need to leave their present accommodation.

I also found that our 'bigger' account - the one DH's money goes into - had gone overdrawn! It was much emptier than usual as the payments for the building work had gone out of the current account rather than affect our overall savings. I hadn't realised just how many unusual payments were going through in the last couple of weeks. Birthdays and suchlike. I've moved some over from savings to cover it and the impact on savings isn't too huge: I just need to keep an eye on it.

Spending:
Entertainment £5.15
Housekeeping £3.00
MS:
10th coin savings £1.20

Cherryfudge

This is turning out to be a very expensive month. DS2's car, which he needs to finish his course and get to placements, is going to cost something like £500 to put right. We said we'd cover this for him as there's no way he can. He doesn't want a present as such for his birthday next week but has asked if we could all go out for a meal. One branch of the family has relatives visiting, though, and we can't not ask them (besides, they are lovely), but a meal out could cost us £180+! J and L have said they'd pay for themselves but that doesn't seem fair when they have to manage on one income between them.

Other than that, J and I are planning our Christmas shopping girls' day out - a tradition for the last few years. I can get my cheaper shopping started midweek as I have an appointment in a town with a good shopping centre, then enjoy the day with her.

The money I transferred yesterday to keep the current account afloat has dwindled to under £4 already! I've just put another dollop across as DH needs to pay his credit card today.

Other than that, the housekeeping is in unusually good form so I've handed the rest of my share to DH to get tomorrow's dinner, and bought a few bits that should buffer next week's lunches.

Oh, and the rest of the pansies are planted, and a bag of uncompostable garden rubbish is ready for the tip, so there's something on the decluttering front.

Spending:
Housekeeping £4.69
MS:
10th coin savings 5p.
Decluttering:
Pansies planted and garden tidied a bit.

Cherryfudge

I woke up in a bit of a mood, but actually had had the best night's sleep in a while. Strange, but possibly down to waking thoughts about how extraordinarily messy the house is! DH and DS2 succeeded in replacing the broken kitchen cupboard yesterday so the heap of contents is gone from the hall floor, but DD had borrowed our washing machine for a couple of loads so there was no space for our laundry, which was overflowing after I'd been away for a couple of days. I also banged my elbow and had muscle pains from physio, so I felt sorry for myself!

However, that all mysteriously got better as the day went on. The sleep has done me good as my cough has subsided a lot, the day was beautiful once the early fog lifted (and DD's washing, which she left on our line overnight, actually dried), some of our washing got done (and was brought in before it could get covered in dew tonight), work was quite good as we felt we'd made progress on a couple of situations... and nothing got spent.

Then I remembered I had a small cardboard box at work which I've now brought home to house some of the vast tide of my parents' photos which I'm rescuing. I opened a bag of photos and found they were actually my maternal grandfather's war photos and some of my Dad's family. Amazing! They are real family treasure, and many are well labelled so we don't have to guess who's who.

Decluttering? I got rid of a dried up biro.

Cherryfudge

Today isn't a day off but I'm not at work till three so it feels like one. Also I am sitting in my pyjamas playing on the computer when I should be getting things done.

I think a list is needed:
get dressed/make up/ shoes on
make the bed
laundry in the machine
put away the weekend's washing
get to the shops

Things I would like to have done before going to work:
transfer all the empty packets of negatives into their designated box
get a zip-up bag and put the tiny photos in
clean the bathroom

I have noticed my weight's gone up in the last few weeks. Back on the calorie counting, but no running till this cough goes. I feel fine in myself but the extra tiredness seems to indicate I'm not fully over the bug.

I can't go on having all this paperwork around me! Hence the photos have to have some kind of system. I've put Marie Kondo's book back on my Kindle (which I'd set back to factory settings yet again, in the hope that a second total restart will solve the battery problem. If it doesn't, I need to contact the kindle chat people again - but not today). I will also confess to loads of 'new' paper clutter which is the heap that had been on my dressing table. Thanks to DH the dressing table now looks good but the dining table doesn't!

I'm going to set a timer and do 15 minutes per task to help me keep focussed (though obviously going to the shops will take longer).

Cherryfudge

Noon update:
get dressed/make up/ shoes on done
make the bed done
laundry in the machine done
Also did a few bits of handwashing - a 1950s pinny I found at Mum's looks far too delicate now for the machine but I washed it through twice to try to get rid of the musty smell from being in a damp house. Hoping the emerging sunshine will disinfect it further. Just too pretty to throw out!
put away the weekend's washing
get to the shops
physio - I wonder if missing that was a Freudian slip?

Things I would like to have done before going to work:
transfer all the empty packets of negatives into their designated box
get a zip-up bag and put the tiny photos in
clean the bathroom

Cherryfudge

Nearly-time-to-go-to-work update

I decided there wasn't time to go to the shops so I've managed to get ahead on the other things. Will just have to text DH and ask him to get a few things. So for me, hopefully an NSD.

Previous washing put away and two loads spread out in the house as it's decided to rain. This wasn't in the plan - that's the forecast for tomorrow and the day after, and the reason I decided to get ahead with it today. Physio is done. Negatives on parental photos are boxed up and the box is labelled. Tiny photos are in a small box, also labelled. There'll be plenty more to sort through but I've dealt with the ones I just brought home. A few books put away (by which I mean stashed above other books in a full bookcase).

Off to work!