Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Another quiet day: DH tried ringing the contact number for the mortgage on Mum's house but although they have the legal details (we know as they've returned the originals), it's not yet live on their system.

Other than that, it's been rainy so the laundry is drying on a rack and I've done all the ironing from previous days, DH has been grocery shopping (£26.27) and I've done some more of my course. It was long last time I attempted it and they've added material. I'm not the only one to think it's a problem to fit it all in. I don't want them to take it out as it's good stuff, but I wish they'd add another week or so to the length of the course.

DH is looking at possible new kitchen worksurfaces and sink. There are beautiful ones in light oak or birch but it's hard to decide how they would look in real life so we might have to browse in a show room. I'm not keen on anything that looks harder than wood and it's a small space so we want a light surface to reflect light back into the room. I think I need to remind DH that real wood takes regular upkeep too! We are used to wipe-clean counters.

I had a couple of emails from work: the first was to request me back at base and the second was to cancel it, so I'm going to the secondment tomorrow. I hope the rain lets up!

We finished up some fridge and freezer stuff for tea (mine was healthy butterbean and lentil casserole). I wonder what we ate before lockdown? I know I had fewer 'dinners' as I'd usually take overnight oats to work after a light lunchtime meal. DH is eating the same lunches as he had when working, so the main difference will be my being home for dinner and DH cooking for both of us. He's been very good about making the recipes I want, but I do struggle a bit to remember what I used to buy when I was in the supermarket several times a week. Are there forgotten foods?!

So tonight I'm glad I've had such relaxing days off (I haven't run but I did walk yesterday) and for light in the sky gone ten o'clock even if it's still raining!

Cherryfudge

So I'm back at base from Wednesday. Well, it's fairly official as opposed to the on/off state of play recently. I assume it's because a colleague has two weeks' holiday coming up and she and I are often on the same shifts so I may be covering for her. It was so nice (in a sad way) at my placement today as one of the people who lives there looked sad when I said I wouldn't be around. I found myself making something of 'I might be back the week after' even though I really to be back at my usual workplace. I will really miss some people I'm getting to know at my secondment, though. Today I spent a little time with someone who's a hundred and one - there are several centenarians there! So strange to think some of these people were born before my Dad (who died in his late eighties over a decade ago) and were around in the 1919/1920 Spanish Flu pandemic.

One of my wishes for post-pandemic has become going to a shop on the way home from work. Although we wash and change out of uniform on the premises, I feel I can't somehow mix with people till I've showered, washed my hair and changed out of my 'between work and home' clothes. Just buying some groceries on the way back would be so normal!

I walked home today after a lift from DH this morning. The air was very fresh after two torrential downpours so it was pleasant. I invented a corned beef pie for dinner, which was moderately successful and used up some carrots, potatoes, kidney beans and pastry as well as a lot of onion. While I was getting the gravy tub off the top shelf I came across some old jars of apricots in amaretto that I'd bought marked down one Christmas, so we had some for second course as a bit of a treat.

This evening DS2 did a big family quiz for everyone by zo om. It isn't often I can do quizzes but it went well with a good variety of questions.

I'm working tomorrow so I'll pack up for the night soon. Will this be my last shift at the secondment?

Tonight's 'thank you's: UK level of alarm (or whatever it's called) over the virus drops to three. Lovely rain storm with a bit of thunder that stopped before I had to go home! Family time. Work back at base next week (after an extra day off ).

Sun_Addict

It is good news indeed that the state of alarm level has dropped. We’re getting there slowly but surely. 

Could you get wood effect work tops. I’ve got light oak wood effect and they look just like wood but are easy to wipe down.

Cherryfudge

Sun_Addict said:

It is good news indeed that the state of alarm level has dropped. We’re getting there slowly but surely. 

Could you get wood effect work tops. I’ve got light oak wood effect and they look just like wood but are easy to wipe down.

I think the same SA - the solid wooden ones are expensive and I think I'd live in fear of damaging it, but I love the look of wood. I might do a bit of research and see what's available.

Cherryfudge

A nice sunny midsummer's day: once again I had a lift to work but walked back, again it was pleasant going, though it's getting warmer. I enjoyed work: one of the people I was working with taught me to play dominoes which we both enjoyed, and wished me well as I left. I hope I do see them again though how it will all pan out I don't know. I've thought of asking if I can do relief shifts there but in winter the timing of shifts would be impossible without transport, and of course I've had it cushy as I've mostly been extra and not been asked to do the heavier jobs.

We had a couple of nice surprises this evening: firstly A and H came round as part of their exercise to deliver a Father's Day present, then DS2 arrived an hour later also with a present, and all stayed a little while to chat. DS2 describes his current ward as 'manic' which is just how it used to be, and thinks the hospital possibly now only has two patients with Covid. The same thing is affecting them as is affecting my workplace: they were staffed for a worst-case scenario and, while for so many it really has been terrifying and tragic, things have calmed a lot now and there are surplus staff but they can't really just switch back to how it all was as things aren't set up like that and also they need to be ready if there's a further burst of infections. While I have my criticisms of certain aspects of how it's been handled so far, I do think the powers that be did their best to ensure the NHS and supporting services had as much capacity as possible in regards to staffing.

That said, don't get me started on the student nurses' contracts that were initially given for six months and are now being cut short. They have been on the front line and some have given up work to step up. DD's student nurse friend who caught Covid on her placement is, however, not only recovered but now has a her degree and a nursing job.

So tonight I'm thankful for: proper fish and chips for the first time since lockdown - chip shop ones . Light in the sky after eleven this evening. Just a trace, but still... colour in the garden at half past ten! And for a good day at work with three days off to follow.

Sun_Addict

That’s what happened where I work, they took loads of us off our day jobs to go on the helplines. After the initial rush in the first couple of days a lot of us were just sitting waiting to take calls. Mainly down to the online forms being pretty straightforward so most people were able to self serve. 

Good news about DD’s student nurse friend, glad it’s turned out well for her.

Enjoy your days off, weather forecast is looking good for the coming week ☀️☀️☀️

Cherryfudge

I really enjoyed online church this morning - I've come to the conclusion I was born for a virtual world. They had contributions from an organisation we've teamed up with in Africa, among other things. I've never been there but a new perspective is a good thing.

J and L came round to present a Father's Day card and a big box of brownies so we had a chat in the garden - it tried to rain but it soon cleared up.

We then had salmon for dinner (DH's choice as it's Father's Day) and watched the programme on the Art of Persia, which was captivating. I texted my friend who's Iranian to see if she's seen it - and I'm wondering if we flew over those barren brown mountains as I saw something very like them en route from Dubai to Singapore (which makes me sound like the seasoned traveller I'm not ). I'll watch the others in the series once they're available. It did set us back for doing much with the afternoon but it was worth it.

This afternoon was a walk around town (scenic route) and I thought I'd be getting on with my course but it doesn't seem to have happened yet.

Today isa good day for being thankful for most of the above really. And the sunshine. Always the sunshine.

Edited to add the forgotten items: I actually wombled 5p the other day! Was surprised to find it as cash is obviously less popular now.
We've started to harvest our raspberries.  There are loads this year. I've also done some weeding and am pleased to report the areas I cleared of ivy earlier in the year are still nearly as good as they were then.

Cherryfudge

DH and I are just back from a trip to the shops - we got a few calls in on one lot of diesel.. The idea was to buy plants for our wall baskets as I didn't manage to plant seeds in them this year and they look remarkably desert-like. I had a £10 gift voucher for the garden centre. We got a greetings card for a friend and 3x £10 punnets of hanging basket plants for £10.65 as the plants were reduced to £3 a punnet. So 16 plants and a card for a cash spend of 65p!

We also went to BeeandEm for groceries (some very good bargains though I didn't check shelf labels well enough and ended up paying more for two items than I thought), and had a look at kitchen work surfaces in the DIY place. Currently veering slightly in the direction of veneered MDF!

Today's spending:
Fuel £30.24
Housekeeping £12.94
Medical £4.27
Garden (£9.00 on voucher)
Stationery (£1.00 on voucher) 65p cash

Cherryfudge

Sixteen plants turned out to be eighteen: there were two tiny fuchsia seedlings in with a bigger plant that would be swamped unless planted separately, so that I've done. The wall baskets are all planted up but not quite reinstated as one of the nails has come out of the wall and will take DH and full daylight to put right. I found a packet of hanging basket gel with fertiliser that came from the gardening cupboard at Mum's old place so that's been put to good use. I know she'd like that - though she'd probably tell me the baskets are too crowded. I've underplanted then with 24 tiny daffodils that have been in there, multiplying, for several years. I used to take Mum the pots of tiny daffs every spring while she was in the care home and when they'd finished, they got planted out till I was running out of places. In fact there are still a couple of little pots of them that never found a home.  

Once the plants have orientated themselves and started to look settled, I'll send a photo of them to DS2 as it was he who gave me the garden centre token.

My tray of mixed begonias turned out to be five reds and a pink. Ah well. Pots for either side of the door and a random one.

A little bit of money saving, or rather saving us from waste: two pints of milk that were dated for tomorrow have gone in the freezer. There was only just room and it only delays the question of what to do with them but I'll think of something. There's only me eats rice pudding so that won't work but I might have a go at persuading DH that pancakes would be a nice change.

This evening I'm thankful for the fall in Covid deaths in the UK. Still horrified at what's going on elsewhere and the outbreak on Anglesey is bad, but glad the tide seems to be ebbing here. And of course I'm thankful for my new plants and an evening spent wrist-deep in compost: one of the best ways of spending a couple of hours that I know of.

Cherryfudge

The wall baskets are reinstated and J and L borrowed the back garden most of the afternoon. The super-bold robin has disappeared from the back garden for several days so I'm rather concerned about him (or her). The pigeon that took up residence in the tall trees and stopped us getting work done on them is still around and she was definitely towards the side of her nest this afternoon so I'm wondering if the eggs are about to hatch? Maybe she can hear the chicks inside?

I haven't done much actual gardening today apart from copying A who decided to enrich their lawn by broadcasting lawn feeder, with the interesting result of squiggly patterns of deep green grass. However the quality of the grass was amazing and he says it's starting to even out now, so I've cautiously broadcast plant food onto our patchy grass. The recent rain has made it much more lush but there are thin patches still.

Housework has been mostly about laundry and I also prepped some material for the evening's study before we found we hadn't got a quorum so we all took the evening off. One of my friends in the group only went back to work last week from being furloughed and she's finding it exhausting.

DH went to the supermarket for our big shop and I went out later for various bits and pieces of non-food shopping. I timed it completely wrongly for the little shop I like best, which is on reduced hours, but enjoyed being back at a discount shop that sells all sorts. DH, meanwhile, has finally got his bike back from the menders. It's been gone a few weeks as parts are hard to get in this suddenly cycling world. He spent the afternoon putting it through its paces and came back very pleased.

We had a good evening's TV - how come good TV comes in spurts? There's an enticing programme on Persia which I think I mentioned the other day, and G@reth M@lone doing socially distanced song writing - not in the same programme. After that DH and I sat down with a  questionnaire from church about how we move forward after the lockdown. Personally I hope for more online services as they work very well for me but I know many older people won't have internet.

All in all, a full evening but not much computer time: I think I will have to leave the next little section of my course for tomorrow, and I'm also back at work in the afternoon. I'm glad I'm back 'home' but not sure what it will be like.
Spending:
Housekeeping £18.07
Medical £2.49
Household £3.99
Toiletries £1.99
Pets (bird food) £4.25
Bike repairs £51.98

Tonight I'm thankful for news of the lockdown easing considerably in the near future, for seeing J and L, for what felt like a safe trip into town and for our abundant crop of raspberries which are ripening faster than we're eating them.