Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

I think I'm going to rename a corner of my life as Frantic Fridays. Two weeks out of three I've volunteered myself to help with church cleaning which I enjoy but which takes two or three hours when you factor in all the conversations that extend the actual cleaning time! Then I grab some lunch and am on the late shift at work. Tonight we didn't leave till 10.20 as it was an intense shift, but at the end of the day we did everything but second-sign some forms which we have passed over to night staff.

Spending:
Housekeeping £11.63

Things to be thankful for: remembering to order my medication in good time, lots of fruit and veg to enjoy over our days off, continuing mild weather, good night's sleep last night.

Cherryfudge

What a lovely, relaxing weekend it's been! Saturday was warm and sunny, and Dh and I went to a couple of car boot sales where he bought a few apples and I bought lots of stuff (plus a glass soap dish which I forgot to include in the list). I think the total was £9 plus £2 to cover our entry.

Today I helped out with coffees at church, which was quite fun. I've decided to try to remember to take along a flask as it's hard to calculate how much to prepare and we can end up throwing some away. Today for some reason only a couple of people wanted decaff coffee so I found a flask at the back of a cupboard (church cupboards attract random serving dishes, tea towels and now thermos flasks) so we filled it for one of the volunteers to take home. The coffee grounds go to someone's compost.

We went straight on to a meal at A, H and baby N's house, then DH and I had a walk locally and found a path full of blackberries and elderberries. Why is no one picking blackberries? They are pretty nutritious as well as free. It would be a bit far for me to go when we have so many at home but it's a shame they aren't used.

Spending:
£9 car boot sales
£2 entertainment (entries)

Things I'm thankful for: energy to go for a walk again because I want to not because I need to. Time with A, H and N (and very early Christmas planning!). Gentle weather which is still warm but has a drift of rain. Lots of goodies found yesterday. Lots of people helping out with the coffees this morning when DH thought there might not be enough.

Cherryfudge

Work again today, and some quick shopping including a small start to my 'war chest' of supplies to feed us for up to a week if power goes out. We were chatting at work the other day about last Christmas's storms, and the damage caused locally, but I remembered that friends a few miles north were without power for some time. I'm just trying to make things a bit easier if that happens here.

Spending:
Two summer tops from a charity shop sale £2.85
Toiletries £8.99
Housekeeping £14.59

Things I'm thankful for this evening:
Taking the last routine Covid test for work! Only need to test now if I think I may have symptoms. More free apples - this time from an unloved tree overhanging a back lane where apples are left on the ground.

Cherryfudge

Day off well spent today: I met up with a friend for coffee and cake (her treat though I paid for round two of coffees) and we had a great chat. She's such good company and we ended up having a good laugh and exchanging recommended book lists. In the afternoon Dh and I went for a walk from a nearby village and ended up foraging crab apples fallen in a field and damsons from a roadside tree (not in a garden - we checked). We only went about two miles and took an hour over it but I was a bit tired afterwards.

This evening I made further inroads into the freezer (corned beef) but in an attempt to save electricity I did double quantities of mashed potatoes and turned the rest into croquettes to freeze, so the freezer is fuller than ever but at least those potatoes shouldn't go to waste.

Spending:
Entertainment about £6.

I'm thankful for time with my friend, really really nice cake (!) and having the energy to do some walking and still be able to cook later.

Cherryfudge

It's time I was in bed so a quick recap on today, which was theoretically a day off. However there was a team meeting at work and I don't like to be out of the loop so that's where my morning and lunchtime went. It was a very long meeting! However, it was also a chance to meet our new manager and say goodbye to the temporary manager.

There was also training but I got out of it as I've covered the subject recently.

In the late afternoon I met someone for coffee and we discovered a rack of excellent reading in the cafe. Most of it was magazines with reproductions of women's magazine articles from decades long gone. Some of the fashions caused great hilarity (my friend and I are neither of us hat wearers, but in the past magazines seemed to want to convince women to make some improbable knitted creations for their heads. We were both glad those days are past!) There was also a little handwritten recipe book from 1941 which was lovely. I photographed a couple of pages because wartime recipes, resilience and inventiveness interest me a lot.

Having had a few days of good health, I had a number of dizzy spells again, though mostly very mild. My friend suggested I ring the doctor again and see if they have any cancelations for bloods, as I've still got weeks to wait. Other than that I feel good and stronger than I was. I still maintain that making an appointment sets the calendar in motion for recovering and having to cancel at the last minute! 

In the evening Dh and I had a walk around local farm land with beautiful setting sunlight and fantastic views. I remembered I had a coupon for a free bakery item from L!dl due to finish, so I went in for more groceries (second grocery shopping of the day!) before I went home. I've spent rather a lot but Mr T had a lot of vitamin tablets on sale price and as they were on my shopping list even before I saw them, I got three lots. I count those as 'medical' because there are certain ones that I'm convinced are helpful to me.

Spending:
Housekeeping £17.98
Medical £6.21

Good things today: a productive meeting, not having to stay for the afternoon session!, getting the laundry done and dried despite light rain earlier (it never soaks in nowadays), time and a laugh with my friend, having the energy for a 5K walk.

Cherryfudge

A busy morning as I did some housework then H and baby N came to visit (and H and I demolished a few of the blueberry and banana muffins I made last night and forgot to mention). This afternoon I was officially shift lead at work but it wasn't bad at all. Nothing spent, and Dh finished up the home made potato croquettes that didn't make it into the freezer, so they can't have been too bad!

I'm thankful for a nice morning with H and N, it turned out they had been looking for a copy of the book I'd bought for N. Also for the house post-housework! While everything is getting a dusting of birch seeds from the big tree, and the spiders seem to think they can move in, once the cleaning is done I feel more or less on the winning side. And for a quiet shift and the new manager seeming nice!

Sun_Addict

I’m glad to read you’re recovering and have more energy. Also that your new manager seems nice. I have a new manager when I return to work, my third this year so far! I love looking at old magazines too, especially ones from the 1920s. 

Seasidegal58

The old magazines sound really interesting. Another here who loves looking through these - 30s fashion especially!

Cherryfudge

I have various magazines inherited from Mum dating back to the late war years. Fascinating! I've also collected cookery and housekeeping books from the first half of the twentieth century which are every bit as interesting, particularly for the things that mattered a lot to women those days and aren't given a thought now. (Blacking the grate, darning your stockings). I wonder what the future will make of our 2020s' preoccupations?

I had a quiet morning and did loads of French practice then made myself get moving and went to water the church plants. By the time I got there everyone had gone, so no access to water! I popped into L!dl on the way to work for a ready meal (my favourite has gone up by 20p to £2.19), and elsewhere for some reduced chicken pieces, and a small cake and candles for DH's auntie who is about to have a birthday.

Work was okay, nothing huge going on.

Spending:
Gift £4.85
Housekeeping £4.67

Tonight I'm thankful for my quiet morning and progress made in French, for finding a small cake that fitted what DH wanted to get, for finding bargain chicken for several meals for £2.48 (and remembering to put what's left in the freezer), for warmth and sunshine which have been the norm for so long that it's easy to forget how much they improve the mood.

Honeysucklelou2

Used to enjoy looking at my grandmother’s recipe books from the 1940s...certainly inventive and little waste.

Your foraging sounds good.