Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

It's been a super day, nothing spent and somehow I've ended up tired without doing any exercise. In the morning I helped out with the little ones at church, after which we went out into a downpour, but it's not been cold.

We discovered the drain at the back of the house was blocked but it cleared easily so once more we can breathe easy when it rains.

I nearly fell asleep this afternoon but I did some more crochet instead. The baby hat is nearly done. We went to A and H's and spent a lot of time playing with the baby while her parents kept out of sight. H is right: once baby N is in her own home, she's not so worried about her parents being out of sight. We are working towards her being happy to stay with us and we had a lot of fun practising. In fact, we stayed for ages. I measured the hat against its owner-to-be and I think I can stop crocheting and start to make it up.

I also heard from DS2, asking if I've made a decision about what I'd invest in a property with him. I've given him a ballpark figure and explained that it would be conditional on his not over-extending himself with the mortgage. At the moment he's considering three properties: one needs work on the roof which is a shame because it's by far the cheapest! There's a middle one and a very nice one but I think it's a bit much to pay... his area isn't cheap though of course nothing like London prices.

Today's things to be thankful for: J sorting out a gift for DH's niece's new baby (our contribution will be £25 but I've not paid yet). Making a new friend this morning. Quality time with N and family this evening.

Cherryfudge

Another NSD. DH was helping in the charity shop this afternoon, and I was at work (shift lead, but uneventful). I've finished the baby pumpkin hat apart from the stalk, which I'm hoping to complete tomorrow so it can go to its new owner.

It's mild but it rained on my washing so DH put the duvet cover in the dryer and it took an hour. I think we have a spare somewhere which might stop that happening again.

A couple of MS things: someone had kicked about the apples I'd put near the free tree. So annoying. I gathered up the whole ones and some more from under the tree and took them home. Dh is near begging for mercy as there were 28 in addition to the big bag of cooking apples given by a neighbour and the three I brought from the free tree the other day! I pointed out that if he has two a day, he'll be through this batch in a fortnight... or he could take some into work, where he says people bring in lots of food, but mostly the weight-inducing type. He likes that idea. The other MS thing was a pack of nappies for the baby, from someone whose grandchild has just outgrown them. 

Things to be thankful for: useful freebies, a tiny bit of space gained as I decluttered two dresses and a tray, a quiet shift.

Cherryfudge

I forgot: the latest Prime Minister is also our local MP. I wrote to him once and told him I'd never vote for him because of the way he voted on something - I think it was rural buses. Got a letter back that was obviously written by a minion spouting the party line rather than a proper reply. I can only hope that in the years since, he's got a bit more grounded.

Cherryfudge

A strange old day. I had an extra shift and it went quite nicely. We got out in the sunshine and I remembered to put my fitbit in my pocket (they don't record steps taken while pushing a wheelchair, which is annoying as it burns extra calories but looks as though you've done nothing). We walked for about an hour and a half, so plenty of steps and nice chatter.

Back at the ranch (as my parents used to say), a rather ill team leader came in to tell us there was a case of Covid at my usual workplace. We had tried to persuade said team leader to go home but he insisted on staying for an online course, saying he'd tested negative. Now it seems a colleague who gave me a handover yesterday is positive - having been unwell and testing negative till this morning. We spent a bit of time together in the office and probably didn't wear masks as its not client-facing. Well, now I'm the one testing negative and waiting to see if it changes.

DH has also heard back from some routine checks and it appears his secondary condition has deteriorated. It's not at the point of giving him symptoms but could be a side effect of historical treatment for his primary condition. There aren't a lot of options for the primary condition though lifestyle changes have modified it and it tends to decrease with age.

So it's been a bit of a day, health-wise, and yet if I'm realistic, no different from yesterday. Worrying is pointless, and tends to tell you lies.

I messaged my friends and we called off tonight's meeting until we know if I'm infectious. I feel absolutely fine, just tired from working in the morning.

The pumpkin baby hat is finished and I can take it round tomorrow - it will be in a disinfected bag and will have a warning, just in case, but at least it will be with its owner.

Dinner was sausage meat patties, finishing up the sausage meat, the onions and some bread crusts and making a start on the apple mountain.

Nothing spent.

MS stuff: a few more free apples, cheap dinner that used things up.

Things to be thankful for: a sunny day (we've had a lot of these this year), a quiet evening when I needed one, managing to finish the hat project, finding two boxes of cream eggs and a tube of scented hand cream in a bag I'd put away, having DH onside about not putting the heating on yet.

badmemory

Can you wear your fitbit on your ankle?  I'm sure that should be possible from reading the instructions when I got my first one.

Cherryfudge

badmemory said:

Can you wear your fitbit on your ankle?  I'm sure that should be possible from reading the instructions when I got my first one.

I'd need a bigger strap. However, perhaps that's the only way to ensure every step is counted.

Today was a day off and in the morning I finished the pumpkin hat (again). I've shortened the stalk and found a tutorial on crocheting leaves. A couple of these on the crown finished it off nicely.

I had a vague plan for the day so before lunch I called in at work (no clients due to the outbreak) and did a PCR test as per requirements, then spent a while chatting to a few people including the manager. There's good news in that she wants people to be 'champions' of various things and says she's considering me for food (which I love doing) and gardening. Those who've been around a while may think that's familiar as I managed to blag myself a couple of hours a week as gardener when we didn't have an official one. With her permission I've bought a bag of mixed narcissi for the front of the building (I won't include that in expenditure as I'll get it refunded).

I then went home for lunch, armed myself with hand gel and a mask (in case I'm infectious) and went to drop the hat off, via the market. I bought a couple of Swiss rolls for the emergency supplies (£1), got nearly 10,000 steps (now nearer 13,000) and raided Mr T on the way home for some basics.

Dinner was liver, bacon, black pudding, fried onions, mash and tinned tomatoes. Not glamorous but very tasty, and I feel rather pleased to have used up soft spuds and other ingredients that needed to be used.

We've been watching The Repair Shop and it was the one with Prince Charles (before he was king). Interesting in its own right but also to see the interactions between the people.

Dh lost his chocolate so I turned out the shelf where it gets stored and found lots of oddments. The unwrapped ones are binned and he donated the ones he's not keen on to me. Never did find his.

Spending:
House keeping £15.69

MS: my usual hot chocolate on offer so I got two: saving £1. Market stall Swiss rolls (£1.90 less than equivalent in supermarket). Still no heating needed - in fact it's been warm out! If this were summer if would be a heat wave. Indoor temperature is up to 17C again.

Things to be thankful for: exercise, not needing a coat, retro technology (held a loose lead in place with a wedge of bluetack - learnt when the memory on my Sinclair computer worked loose. ) 

Cherryfudge

Another uneventful NSD, though I have my PCR result and it's negative. I 'shopped at home' for meals, though forgetting I had sausage patties in the fridge to use. Perhaps tomorrow. The rest of the roast chicken is now either in me or in the freezer (or the bin for the inedible bits) and I finished up some frozen mushrooms and some mushroom sauce with the chicken on pasta. That was before work.

Work was admin, but I made some inroads into one of the files I'm supposedly updating. It looks as though we will be back in business tomorrow, as there don't seem to be any further positive tests.

I was sent some nice photos of baby N's cousins trying on the pumpkin hat - sweet! I've also tried unsuccessfully to order L's birthday present - I found a good deal on what I wanted but the postage was £15 so we're going to see if we can get it locally at the weekend.

What I'm thankful for tonight: getting the file started, another 25 apples from the dozens under the tree (I've said DH can take some to work tomorrow for others), chocolate ginger biscuits, free crisps at work and managing to resist a second packet of them, putting the manager's coffee grounds on the work garden which needs all the help it can get .

Cherryfudge

Full-on Friday was full-on again. It was absolutely bucketing down this morning and I really didn't want to bestir myself but after sitting up playing on the computer and promising myself I could hav ea lie-in, I was awake at 7.30 and eventually decided I needed to move.

These was only me from the cleaning team this morning, though the other person will do theirs tomorrow. I think it takes about two hours to hoover the floors at speed. That's without detail cleaning. I was fairly happy with the end result as I covered all the main areas.

No time for shops on the way home but I finished yesterday's pasta and a sausage meat patty from the other day, which was a filling, tasty lunch.

Once I got into work it was steady away busy but not frantic. I was shift lead yet again. I'm conflicted how I feel about this. Do it often enough and you get used to it, even feel good about how it's gone, but it's a lot of responsibility. The thing is, I'm trained and qualified to this level but I chose not to apply for it: now I end up doing it because even with this year's vast increases in staffing, somehow we still don't have enough staff. Some of my colleagues have accepted team leader posts. The others with experience generally end up hiding behind me and letting me lead if we're working together. One of them pulls her weight in other ways but the other isn't too good at that. Our manager told me there is talk of creating relief team leader posts, which would mean remuneration for those who act up but it's very unclear what could be asked of a relief team leader. If it comes to anything, do I want it, given that I've chosen not to go for the actual post (too stressful) but end up doing elements of it anyway?

Enough of that, I need sleep as I'm back on at 7.30, having stayed on an hour to meet needs and hand over tonight.

Things I'm thankful for tonight: a smooth shift with good colleagues, another incredibly mild day, getting jobs done.

badmemory

Do you not get paid for acting as team lead when you do that?  If not they are taking advantage.

Cherryfudge

In some ways this is absolutely the case - every shift needs a leader and there isn't always someone officially in the role. For instance, of our five team leader posts, one is on a different contract so wouldn't be covering the hours I cover, another is on compassionate leave, someone is on annual leave for childcare and someone else has Covid so that leaves one person, and she can't do 24/7. I know this is an unusual week, but still, even if there were no annual leave and the contracts were all evened out (which is the eventual intent), you can't plan for having sickness and family circumstances. It's an improvement: at the beginning of the year every team leader post (then only three) was empty.

Historically, it's about what people are willing to pay in taxes: central Government pushes for 'efficiencies' which means the unit has lost a management post and the 'easier' clients are no longer eligible to use the service, meaning in turn that staff have to have extra skills to cater for more complex needs while at the same time working smarter because it's a constant juggling of needs and timings. We have additional staff, but half are more recently appointed, so are still needing direction and advice. I'd say it takes at least a year to acquire sufficient knowledge of every single client to be able to take the lead working with them, due to some coming infrequently and our rotas not always coinciding with their stays.

It's being recognised that some staff are acting up to a shift lead, but the team leader post has morphed to be mainly administrative rather than shift leading, so there's ambiguity about what a relief team leader would be required to do.

So: it's complicated...! I don't really have a choice about the shift lead because there are times when there's no one else with the experience, but if I were offered the chance to act up, and be paid for it, what would I be signing up to?

Today was along those lines though I had colleagues with more experience so I didn't have to think for them. I still ended up working an hour's overtime (which I'll claim) and sending an email from home to make sure a situation is addressed.

As usual after an early shift, I dozed off when I got home but not much. We had our fish and chips for tea and later wandered down to L!dl for some groceries before watching Strictly. And on that exciting note, I'll sign off for now.

Spending
Housekeeping £6
Gift £1.79

Things to be thankful for: it was actually warmer out than in early this evening! Still being able to get a bag of potatoes for a pound. DS2 will be here tonight when he finishes at a party. Team leaders coming back on the rota. A free (empty!) plastic sweets tub for storage especially of cakes. Resisting the reduced bakery items at L!dl.