Cherry takes the reins

Sun_Addict

Great news about DH's contract.

Cherryfudge

Thanks SA.

I was mostly surplus to requirements at work yesterday but I found an unused office and computer and made progress on a couple of files I've been asked to update. The voice was very husky so I was glad I didn't have clients to pass it on to, and the masks and separate office were a good thing too.

Today is the first of three days off and I've stayed on the sofa reading. It was marvellous! The weather was solid grey and pouring all morning. I nearly dozed off after lunch but this afternoon I've felt better apart from being nearly inaudible, and the sun came out for a bit. We've postponed having J and L to lunch tomorrow and work is still closed on Monday so I hope to be a lot more rested by Tuesday.

Interestingly not only are wages rising in my sector, but the Council is recruiting volunteers to help out because staff levels are so low and not about to get a lot higher. That said, we have two new staff, recruited before Christmas and just in post now, so once they are inducted that should help. It's very odd to know there's no one in there now, we've been 24/7 forever though with a bit of a blip early in the pandemic before we got repurposed.

Oh, and the knitting is getting back on track. That baby will be a toddler if I don't push on with the baby blanket!

I haven't spent anything today but DH got fish and chips which is £6 or £7 and some groceries.

Things I'm thankful for tonight: time off when I can just rest, feeling better, getting another lot of pine needles out of the floors (this year's lovely tree got its revenge), getting my first ever alert on the Aurora Watch app (too cloudy, but still...!)

Cherryfudge

Day two of rest days has been pretty much like day one: I've stayed in and knitted (finally completed the intarsia panel so it should be very boring straightforward now). I had online church this morning, roast chicken for dinner and did a few bits of tidying this afternoon so I know I'm getting better.

I got my first Covid app 'ping' today! It dates back to a day off so I've been racking my brains as to who might have Covid that I've been in contact with. Then I remembered phones can sense each other so it may just have been some person at the auction house, though I don't remember being in close proximity to anyone apart from a valuer and the lady who was doing the clothing exhibition. It's possible it was someone at my evening group though we'd all flow tested beforehand.

I've done a Flow test (negative) and sent off a PCR so we'll see.

Sun_Addict

I switched the alerts off my app after DD had Covid, living in the same house and not pinged. Obviously not accurate. 

Cherryfudge

Sun_Addict said:

I switched the alerts off my app after DD had Covid, living in the same house and not pinged. Obviously not accurate. 

I'm not sure how it works. I wonder if your DD had spoken to contract tracers or filled in the form online and notified them that she'd notified you? The whole thing is a bit scattergun as so many people don't want to give details.

I developed conjunctivitis last night which has improved this morning as has the voice. I have a feeling I will be just well enough to go back to work tomorrow! I don't know what to do for the best as I don't want to pass this on, I'm as certain as I can be that I have it from a client who then had to go into hospital, which doesn't seem at all likely to happen to me but the people I support are much more vulnerable.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sorry about your conjunctivitis. Can your boss advise you as to whether to go to work or not tomorrow? Have you felt tempted to apply for your old job?

Cherryfudge

The conjunctivitis has nearly gone now and thankfully it wasn't painful. Still a bit of a sore throat, a bit of a cough and tired, so I've rung in sick for tomorrow. I have had a couple of conversations with a team leader but staff are sufficiently thin on the ground that we are sharing a manager with another site, and I can't be sure when she will be in. At the end of the day, if I go back too soon I risk delaying my recovery and having to be off again and my workplace penalises multiple episodes of sickness even when it's staff being conscientious and trying to return to work too early. My husband didn't advise me but once I'd made the decision he said he felt it was the right one (he used to manage for the same organisation).

I was talking to someone the other day and happened to bring the old employer into the conversation only to find - amazingly - the person has a relative working there. A fragment of information from that conversation combined with something from elsewhere has convinced me not to go for it.

Today has been pretty quiet: again, I've hardly set foot outside the house but I wanted some fresh air so I refilled the bird feeders and deadheaded some tatty plants while DH went for a walk. Ten minutes was enough for me. DH did offer me to go but I've been off work all day and called off my evening with my friends and I feel that was sensible. Last night I came over incredibly tired just after tea and went to bed. I slept for a couple of hours before getting up, having a bath, playing on the computer ready to go back to bed. I'm a bit sleepy this evening but nothing like that so I think resting is paying off. 

Most of my time is spent on YouTube and knitting!

DH has started on the kitchen wallpaper and taken advantage of a nice afternoon to get some exercise. I haven't spent anything: I think he has but I can't remember what.

Things I'm thankful for this evening: feeling better, having more energy, small areas of progress.

Cherryfudge

Yet another quiet day! DH and I went for a short walk this afternoon but apart from that I've been at home. I wrapped up warm but actually it was lovely out, more like spring. I'd been intending to go back to work tomorrow but when they rang me I was tired again so I told them I wouldn't be in. I'd been texting a friend about the need to be fully recovered (she is also off sick) and I think I talked myself into it!

Nothing spent but I think I' need to get round to ordering the fleece to back the baby blanket, and some long circular needles in the right size to do the edging. Ordinary needles just won't cope and I won't either if I lose that great length of stitches.

Dh has been to see A, H and baby so I got to look at the photos afterwards. She's still so tiny I didn't want to risk infecting her. Last weekend's PCR has come back negative, by the way.

Tonight I'm thankful for good conversations with colleagues, warmth in the sunshine and nice places to walk, early daffodil shoots showing through and lots of opportunist gardeners out tidying up!

Cherryfudge

Stop me if you've heard this one before: another quiet day! Feeling well enough for work tomorrow though still lingering symptoms. DH and I had another short walk after he finished work: the low sun on the fields was beautiful and it's nice that it's now light at four.

Other than that I've spent huge amounts of time on my phone (some of it productive) and the baby blanket has grown from 36.5 to 41cm. It needs to be 87cm before I can add the edging so there's a way to go yet, a minimum of 12 days at this rate and several days' work in the border even if I don't waver.

Tonight I'm thankful for opportunities to go out in the fresh air and sunshine, for an iris shoot coming through in the garden and for the robin song we're getting a lot at present.

Cherryfudge

Freezing fog this morning - the birch tree is encrusted with it, very beautiful.

Yesterday's return to work was okay though as it was the day when clients went home, the last couple of hours were a bit quiet. I heard that the situation which I believe to be unsafe is going ahead, so I had a quick look at other jobs last night and found a local NHS one that I'm as sure as I can be would be a good match. I've texted the two family members who work on wards and both have given me some helpful information as well as both saying I'd be good at it. I texted the colleague I'm closest to at work as I thought she might be interested but she's actually looking at a different job with our current employer.

DH and I had a walk into town for groceries and oddments including seed for the wild birds. They are eating a lot at the moment!

I'm aware I have a purseful of receipts dating back some weeks - I get overwhelmed at Christmas but keeping them forever isn't very helpful either. I need to consider whether to set up a spreadsheet for this year. Previous ones haven't been kept up very well and DH loses track of spending as he doesn't do a daily account so I'm not sure there's much point.

Do I track spending this year, given that I underspend and no longer have debt (none at all since the mortgage is gone and the old house is no longer draining the inherited money)?

I suppose I should be making the usual financial resolutions but I haven't the head space and haven't made any progress with the really big ones that need discussion with DH, such as overpayment into my pension.

At the moment I'm not even coping with putting in two simple orders for fabric-related items to finish the baby blanket. I suspect I'm overthinking... just do it!