Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Sun_Addict said:

Good news about DH 👍

I like roast swede and also make swede chips too. 

Thank you. I might roast some with carrots, and I found some soup recipes online too.

badmemory said:

Is your cafetiere a bodum one, although I think I may only have 2 cup.

Yes, it's Bodum but it only does one cup and nowhere seems to do single sized refills. I found a different brand one but it was too tall. I've also had a quick trawl through charity shops but found nothing.

Cherryfudge

Bit of a mixed bag of a couple of days. I was shift lead yesterday and didn't look forward to it at all so I treated myself to some pens (in a sale while looking for something else) and a plant too (also on sale). I did put back another three plants because I decided I didn't really want them, so something of a victory. I feel a bit guilty buying pens because I still have a million to use up but these were colours I didn't have... er... and a red one because it's a nice red.

Oh, and a small gift for my sister.

There was also a £1.69 refund for something I'd been overcharged for.

After that, the shift was actually a nice one. This morning was my early start and I ended up as shift lead again - not happy about that as the other person could have done it but somehow when we're both on the ball falls in my court. She does pull her weight though and in fact today worked really hard as I ended up mostly in the office. There were just too many of us on shift: an odd problem to have. I was struggling to find work for the agency workers as the shift progressed. I also had a couple of dizzy spells which were odd. I thought it might turn into a  migraine but it all cleared up. I ended up emailing the manager to say I'm struggling with the new rota and the balance of staffing as well as dealing with certain things some of which I've talked through with her. My colleague made it clear - though not unpleasantly - that she felt she'd done the lion's share, which I don't feel good about but I really haven't felt well. When I got home I tried to get to sleep but didn't really manage it then all of a sudden J and L turned up and DH rolled up with fish and chips and we had a nice evening. DH and I walked as far as town with them - a warm evening, overcast but dry - and I remembered I'd not watered the church planters so we went and did that. My team wasn't on church cleaning this week and as I was preoccupied with work and struggling with Friday feeling like a Saturday, so I forgot and am extra glad we've had rain.

Spending;
Stationery £3.50
Plant 0.99
Gift £1.99
Housekeeping: fish and chips x 3 (approx £25), groceries approx £5.

Things I'm thankful for: two episodes of rain in 48 hours, surprise visit from family, quibble-free refund, nice shift yesterday, a manager that I can talk to.

Honeysucklelou2

Re swede...best thing is making pasties!

Cherryfudge

Honeysucklelou2 said:

Re swede...best thing is making pasties!

As in Cornish? I went through a phase of them once, got right into the whole thing about identifying the essential ingredients of a Cornish Pasty. I think I made half-way decent ones after a bit of practice, but I seem to remember putting turnip in? Mind you, up here, what I'd call a swede is called a turnip... I quite fancy making some for lunch now!

We had A, H and baby N round for lunch today. DH tried the curry recipe off the latest 'Eat well for less' and we've got to the point where we're going to make it again to see if a slower cook and a bit more spice improves it. We also had a dairy-free Eton Mess.

Work went okay. I felt a lot better than yesterday. I discovered colleagues are also finding we have too many staff now, and some of the same difficulties with communication. The two agency workers who came today really had very little to do, I apologised to them.

I've handed over two little outfits I bought for baby N in the sale... a tiny bit more space in the house! My sister has texted to ask about meeting up too so I need to wrap the last of their presents and voila! More space.

Cherryfudge

Rather disgruntled about a shift today which had some stressful points but generally went okay. It's not nearly so bad when there are peers to share the stresses with!

I ran out of time before work so nothing spent which means no milk for hot chocolate tonight but then that's a saving of around 180 calories which isn't a bad thing in my case.

My sister, brother in law and niece are coming tomorrow so I'm part way through wrapping the rest of last year's gifts! We generally only see each other once a year and post isn't reliable where they live so gift giving is a bit eccentric. Which reminds me they've just been able to use the gift of entry to a place that my niece is interested in which I gave about three years ago and which they couldn't take up due to Covid. I owe them for that, which I think is £20+.

Things to be thankful for today: a situation resolving, spare food in the freezer at work, days off tomorrow and the day after, being nearly ready to clear space where gifts were stored!

Cherryfudge

It's been a good day off, though I'm tired now! So is everyone I've spent the day with, so it's nothing abnormal.

DH managed both some tidying around the house and the shopping this morning and I did the other bits of housework that remained before my sister and her family arrived. We had corned beef hash and Eton Mess at lunch - probably an unusual combination but it's one nobody reacts to and which we all like. Later we opened our overdue gifts then went for a walk for my niece to visit the art shop, followed by a wander round inside the old church. There's a lot of history there so we set our niece hunting for mice (carved ones) and told them bits about it. Somehow it all added up to tiring so we came back for tea (I'd forgotten that teenagers can create enormous sandwiches!) then A and the baby turned up for about an hour. We all chatted and looked at old photos. When my niece was a newborn, we'd been to visit and A, then 16, was photographed holding her. Somehow that moment stuck with us, as he commented that by the time she was the age he was then, he'd be 32. That's now next year! So now she has a photo with baby N, so when N is the age she is now, she will be 28...

A colleague texted to ask if she can do a shift I was down for, which isn't in my power to grant though I'm fine with her doing the sleep in later. I know it will make life a lot easier for her, transport being what it is. I've explained she would need to get it okayed by a team leader and I'm waiting to hear back. I've also dropped off the cleaning rota at church this week due to another change of shift, but the guys say they'll cover it. This time I mustn't forget to water the plants!

A friend contacted me with the very sad news that our mutual friend's husband is in the final stages of life. He's been on palliative care for a while but I can't quite get my head round the thought that he won't be there any more. I've known them for years.

And I can't get over today not being Saturday... that's because I've had a day off and spent it mostly socialising.

Things to be thankful for: time with family and that A and N could come too, getting cleaning jobs done and being able to hand over various things to make a bit of space! For the gifts I was given and the rain clearing up so we could get out and about.

Cherryfudge

This is my other day off - DH had gone out to work by the time I woke up and apart from playing on my phone I've been gainfully occupied. Even the phone wasn't a total waste of time as I've done some exercises on my language app.

I'm trying not to check my work emails: a manager replied to one of mine and I felt the reply was patronising though I know she's taken up one of the suggestions I made. I daren't reply as I might say the wrong thing, but then she might feel I'm okay with her tone which I'm not. I think this is partly me being a bit tired and emotional really, so maybe not a good basis for a relationship. However I'm wanting to see if the other manager has replied to my plea for help sent the other day!

Anyway I've kept out of the email so far. I've cleaned out a drawer of cutlery - where have half the soup spoons gone, and when did we acquire so many knives and forks? Two bins have been emptied and recycling sorted and put out. Second Covid test of the week is taken and is negative. I founda couple of old photos which I want to send on to someone: easy enough to do so that's my next job: so easy with a phone camera!

Yesterday I neglected to mention I passed a dress on to my sister which was just too tight for me. It looked fantastic on her and now I don't have it hanging on the wardrobe door in DS2's room. There are still a couple of dresses to rehome but I might 3bay those which I haven't done in years.

I think there are other things to do so I'll press onwards and hopefully be back later.

Cherryfudge

I popped to the shops yesterday afternoon for a minimal shop and forgot coffee so I went back in the evening, remembered I had run out of brown pickle, couldn't find it it the rearranged Mr T and went to L!dl... £14.53 later!!! Oh dear. £8 of that was sea bass fillets with 1/3rd off the price. They had loads and they bin them at the end of the day so I bought two packets and froze them. That slightly backfired as I didn't separate the individual pieces and we had a whole pack tonight instead of half a one. That brings the price per serving from £1.05 to £2.10, but they were very tasty. I also went mad on the bakery counter as there were quite a lot of pastries and at that time of the evening I had only minutes before the staff have to bin them. I now have two pizza slices and three brownies in the freezer, with some croissants and pastries for breakfasts and lunches over the next couple of days.

I asked a member of staff if they'd considered joining Olio or similar and they said the manager wasn't amenable, so I need to get my act together and email them. It's the second time recently that one of the staff has expressed regret at how much they have to throw away. (He did bring out a tray of brownies that staff had forgotten to put on display and let me know they were there, bless him. The one I had last night was luscious).

So my food spend yesterday was over the top including unhealthy stuff (no veg boxes left but I still have things from the last one) but at least we didn't need to buy today. A friend has also donated some lovely courgettes, some of which made their way into dinner tonight. I think my plan to have more veg is having an effect as DH cooked carrots as well as peas and courgettes this evening! We've also started to harvest what looks like a bumper crop of blackberries.

Today was the first of two early shifts, not bad as shifts go though I fell asleep back at home.

A friend on the church cleaning team has Covid, so I'm going to have to make some time somehow to do a stint before Sunday. DH has said he'll help.

Oh, and the waist line is expanding a bit... those pastries don't help but that was partly driven by being miserable about work. It does mean I've been browsing 3bay for trousers, though. If I buy second hand, it's cheaper, better for the environment and helps keep things out of landfill (or off the beaches of Ghana, did anyone else see that item of news?)

Oh, and DH has booked a hotel to break our journey down south for a couple of nights en route. It's near somewhere we stayed before and found the best-ever garden centre with a very good cafe, so we will make that a short break in itself and get a good Sunday lunch before we head further south. Used my CC so there will be a few pence in points on it.

Spending
Housekeeping (yesterday) £21.85
Holiday £159.00
Garden (compost) £1.49

And things to be thankful for: a talk with my manager who could see why I was upset over a situation and has also suggested a potential way of understanding a client that could move a situation forwards. Chocolate brownies and freezer space so I don't eat them too quickly! The chance to sleep when I needed it.

Cherryfudge

Work was quiet - I had to do shift lead but had good backup so it wasn't a chore and I'm not even exhausted, possibly due to getting a decent night's sleep last night.

There was very sad news in that my friend's husband passed away this afternoon. He had been on palliative care recently so it wasn't unexpected, just so sad.

Nothing spent but I did put in bids for a few items of clothing last night so I may have spending to declare in a few days.

Things to be thankful for: the life of my friend's husband, good conversations at work, days off to come and a couple of coffees partly arranged, a colleague seeing family after months apart.

Sun_Addict

Sad news indeed about your friend’s husband even though it was expected.