Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Back in work this afternoon... earlier in the day I got some supplies to take to Mum's old house once we've been to DFiL's memorial service. (It's on the way back so we will stay overnight and try to sort out a few bits and pieces).
Apart from food, I bought rosemary plants for the next generation. I've read that sprigs of rosemary used to be given out after a funeral to plant in the recipient's garden: 'rosemary for remembrance'. I thought sprigs of rosemary might well decide not to germinate but I found some beautiful sturdy little bushes at 3 for £5. That left me with one freebie place, if you see what I mean, so I got myself a lavender plant. I also got tissue paper and colourful string to wrap the plants.
DH set off this afternoon so he can do some last minute organising in the morning and he's taken two of the plants for me but I still have the others to wrap then I'm travelling tomorrow with family members and a rosemary-scented car.
My share of the housekeeping is nearly used up already so I've got some of DH's share but actually he used £10 less than his share last week so we're quids in.
I also managed some food bargains as I walked to the discount place at the far end of town. A new discount supermarket is being built nearer home though so I'll take advantage of that once it's up and running.
I'll be away for the next couple of nights so there may not be any updates.
Spending
Housekeeping £17.48
Gifts £13.98 (including £1.05 in loyalty points)
MS
Wombled 13p
Free lavender with the rosemaries.
Decluttered
Nine paper decisions and a pair of holey slippers.

Tonight's thankfulnesses: finding the rosemary plants when I was short of time. Tins of rice pudding going ahead of me to Mum's house, LOL. Finally completed a bill to give to DS2.

VelvetFreak

Happy birthday! Sounds like you got some nice gifts

Cherryfudge

It seems ages since I was on here but it's just because a lot has happened. I think I've spent a total of £2 (sandwich) since I last posted, but we've been across the country to give DFiL a beautiful send off, and someone close to us had some bad news, so I'm fairly exhausted. I have a few days off: I was at work last night and up early this morning trying to finish paperwork that I need if I'm to get my increment. It's not looking likely but I may be able to steal some of my time off for it.

DH and I went to my parents' old house on the way back and cleared out a computer desk which, it turned out, had been harbouring damp. It and a broken bedside cabinet have now gone to the tip and the damp wall is cleaned so I'm hoping the house will smell fresher next time I'm there. I was supposed to be back this coming week but I've called that off as, even if I were superhuman and didn't find visits tiring, I feel I'm needed here.

In better news, DH's additional medication is really helping so he isn't under as much pressure from his health. Also I found an old Post Office book of Mum's which had £50 in from 1988 - I remember the interest then was pretty high and a lot of years have passed so it may end up paying for a train fare or so.  

This afternoon was so lovely we went for a walk then I pulled some ivy off our cherry tree. I couldn't manage it all - will need a tall person or ladder - but I've definitely made a dent in it. We also saw the first lawnmower of spring (but not in our garden).

So there's very little to report financially but tomorrow starts a new financial week. In this changeable world, who knows what it will bring, but I'm trying to live mindfully and take a day at a time, while knowing the end of the coronavirus must come, and they saying it's already receding in China. It makes such a difference having spring weather after what seemed the greyest, wettest winter ever (and we didn't have it as bad as many areas).

My things I'm thankful for: spring weather, making progress on my paperwork, time with family, a few days off.

Onebrokelady

Belated Happy Birthday Cherry 🎉🎉it sounds like you had a nice time 😊

Sun_Addict

Happy belated birthday wishes. Glad you gave DFiL a good send off.  It is indeed lovely to start to see some Spring weather after what seems like the longest winter ever. I feel like I've been cold and wet since last September!

Cherryfudge

There was lovely spring weather this morning so I went a bit mad and did several lots of laundry, some of which even dried before the weather changed during the afternoon. Some other housework also got done and I pulled the bed forward, which is a difficult job, and cleaned behind it, finding 50p in change which I've returned to DH. How he dropped it there beats me.

Dinner has been curry from a jar with my usual fruit and veg additions... cheap and cheerful. I did spend rather a lot on the food shopping though, as I bought some small extras in case it comes to a need to self isolate. I felt very furtive going anywhere near cleaning supplies though all I needed was a bottle of dishwasher cleaner and some bleach. Admittedly the bleach is our third bottle but I'm going to wipe down door handles and stuff like that until the corona virus subsides, and the other bottles are part-used. With all three of us working with people in one way or another it makes sense to be a bit cautious, but I'm determined not to let it take over. That said, DS2 has had some sort of analysis at work about how susceptible he might be to the virus and as his results came up as low susceptibility (admittedly based on his answers, which I would take with a pinch of salt), I suspect the hospital is looking at who on the staff they can deck out in PPE in the event of local cases. At present, though, we're a lower-risk area.

So, for someone who scorns panic buying, I'm not panic buying (honest) but I do have a small store of things intended to get us through a couple of weeks. So far, apart from stuff I had in anyway, I've bought lentils, porridge oats, biscuits, yeast extract, flour, apple juice and chocolate - one of each. Maybe not enough for three people for two weeks. We are very short of kitchen space, though.

One thing that concerns me is how people on lower incomes are being affected. It's totally wrong that money can buy up basic provisions and leave others without essentials, or with only the more expensive versions of things. I dropped a few bits in the food bank collection and I'm going to try to keep doing this while the virus is around. I've been reading a book that talks about giving being a responsibility (faith based so I won't go into massive details, though I've sometimes wondered if I should have a blog where I can discuss faith, which I feel some people might think inappropriate here). Anyway I do think that those who have things/money etc should share with people who have less. We aren't given it just for ourselves... it won't magic things back onto the shelves though where people have taken the last items.

Spending
Medical (hay fever tabs and vitamins) £7.55
Housekeeping £18.33
3 e-books at 99p each £2.97
MS
'Good' coffee back on offer - saved about £2.50
£3.52 left over from last week's housekeeping! The 52p can go in savings but the £3 is helping out this week's extended buying.
£2 coin into savings
Decluttered
Various bits of paper, nothing massive. I kept a running total of paper and other stuff decluttered on Friday at Mum's, but forgot to bring it. The largest items were a computer desk and a bedside cabinet, but there were lots of paper decisions, some magazines and leaflets, rusty paper clips, a draining rack for the sink... quite productive really.

Today I'm thankful for a lovely morning and lots of washing on the line, still being able to get most things in the shops (though some odd stuff was missing - calcium tablets, for instance), some new easy reading material and being able to get DH's calcium (in the end) a lot more cheaply than a prescription.

Cherryfudge

DS2 came in last night to say there was no pasta left in the big supermarket near where he works, which is a very minor crisis but a sign of our times. I mean, I don't think we had dried pasta in the house at all when I was growing up. Nevertheless I immediately decided Something Had To Be Done. Silly me.

This morning I have been inventorying foodstuffs and taking the opportunity to clean the larder. Before you all think the worse of me, I need to explain our larder is hard to get into as the fridge/freezer necessarily obscures part of it. That's why I found a box of foodstuffs (sauces, oatmeal, garlic) that I'd completely lost track of. I'm now wondering which if any of these is still edible.

The good news is... I have 155 portions of hot chocolate! This is because I bulk buy when it's cheap and I drink it often to help keep my calcium up. So that's okay till the autumn. I'm making a spreadsheet... I love putting dried foods in nice jars so it's quite hard to tell how many portions I have of some things but in general the exercise is proving I really am unlikely to run out of edibles in the foreseeable future. Plus the clean larder shelves reduce the risk of food getting flour weevils or similar nasties (I use airtight containers for flour anyway as occasionally a bad batch gets through the supermarket in summer and I've twice had to throw out infested flour. Mind you that's twice in 30 years).

I am reassured, though we are once more approaching bananageddon. Going to have a go at persuading DS2 to let me bake with his brown bananas.  

I need a recipe that mixes ends of bottles of squash, bananas, coconut, oatmeal, garlic, bean sprouts, yellow split peas and mint sauce, please.

Cherryfudge

I'm pleased with the results of my larder tidy earlier, but I still went out for some bits for dinner.The pasta-deficit has spread here, as has a tinned tomato shortage, but I overheard a shop assistant tell someone the shelves had been stocked earlier, it was just that people are buying them all. As I've found various bags of pasta at home, we still had some for tea. I reckon people have decided that as poor Italy is locked down, pasta and tomatoes can't get out. I tidied the tins cupboard earlier and found 8 tins of tomatoes there, so there's certainly no need for me to buy more.

I feel I've really benefitted from a couple of days off and there is another to come tomorrow. I love just being at home as long as someone else is around, and DS2 was here today.

Spending
Housekeeping £10.47
MS
I swapped the loose change from the savings bag for some larger denominations yesterday so I have a purse stuffed with small coinage. 10th coins into savings = 24p. That leaves £10.48 for the market tomorrow if I go, and anything else this week. I can live off what we have in but will that leave us short if we have to self-isolate? Maybe we won't.
Decluttering
I've done quite well today due to the larder sort-out. A packet of ancient spaghetti, some cooking oil that had gone off, ditto two part-bottles of wine that smelled of vinegar, some out of date chorizo, half a packet of antique biscuits and some Bolognese sauce that DS2 had left in the fridge for ages.

Tonight I'm thankful because I saw someone had donated toilet rolls to the food bank.

in_need_of_direction

I don’t think biscuits last long enough here to become antique

Cherryfudge

I've been asked if I can pick up a shift tomorrow which is all right by me, though it's been nice to have time off. I have attempted to book the weekend off but until I get in to work I can't tell if that's happened: the booking system is very slow and keeps losing requests. Bring back pen and paper.  

I told the colleague who contacted me about the problems I'm having with getting my files finished and she's offered to have a look to see what she can suggest. I'm very grateful as I was getting panicky. I went for a run to see if that would help and I think it did. It's as well I went while the weather was nice as there have been three deluges this evening. DH got soaked cycling home and the leaky roof has let in rather a lot of water. The good news is that the chap who fixed the ridge tiles is willing to re-cover the bay roof and has quoted us £300 with a 25 year guarantee.

I had a plan for tea tonight which worked out quite well: I defrosted some liver that was left from another meal, and cooked it with smoked bacon, sausages, jacket potatoes, mushrooms and roasted tomatoes, red onions and peppers. The tomatoes were from an over-buy, the onion was a bit old and the peppers were £1 a bag on the market so it was a bit of a 'waste not' meal, but very tasty. It also means I have bacon and mushrooms to cheer me up at some point. Lunch was scrambled eggs with spinach and cheese which was not only tasty but quite good for me - and another 'waste not' as the eggs and cheese are short dated.

I've been through the accounts for the last couple of days and relocated some items: the only way to have any spending money left, though to be fair I hadn't allocated some items in their usual categories.
Spending
Housekeeping £12.95 (if my maths is right I've gone over budget by £2.47).
Toiletries - £.8.98 (used a gift card)
MS
I found my favourite shampoo and conditioner at half price! This is the one I resisted buying the other week because it's too much. This time I had found a gift card that DFiL gave me a few years ago and to my surprise not only was it still working but there was about £12 left on it so I still have £3.04 left after buying all the hair care stuff I wanted.
Bargain peppers on the market.
Discovered the greengrocer is far cheaper for potatoes than the supermarket, though I do have to scrub them myself. (I now remember I gave up buying them there years ago as they were cheaper but DH protested about having to spend time cleaning them).
Went to the earth-friendly shop only to discover I had left my containers at home. The only jars they had in the give-away basket were either too big or tiny so I picked out a couple of tiny ones - hence a spend of 33p for spices!
Decluttering
Sadly, some defunct carrots and tomatoes went in the compost.
More positively, we finished the liver from the freezer plus a lot of cherry tomatoes.

Tonight I'm thankful for a colleague's stepping in with an offer of help, an extra shift (eight hours' overtime), a yummy dinner and catching the rain before its ingress led to too many soggy cushions.