Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

I got my eight hours' sleep in last night! It's rare that happens but it's good. Then breakfast was finishing off some yellow-stickered smoked salmon that DH had bought, with vegan cream cheese that I had in anyway, so the day started well.

My bank limits how much I can pay out per day, which is wise of them but inconvenient for me. I've sent a first instalment to DS2, and intend to send another tomorrow but I'll have to go to the bank to see if they'll waive the rules for a one-off payment. I'm not exactly emptying our accounts so hopefully they will. Good job there's still a branch of the bank in our town.

We've received a wedding invitation - a very artistic and luscious-looking wedding invitation - for the summer, and as our branch of the family is invited, we are going to book rooms together. It's too far to go for the day and its near where we used to live, not that we'll have much time to go sight seeing. We are hoping to go on from there as DH has been given an experience day which will involve being in that area.

I had a go at a couple of what I thought were small sewing jobs: one was easy but the other - the work shirt that got damaged - is complex and I've not got much done. Would be nice to feel I'd accomplished it, though. The knitting hasn't progressed at all.

Work has said I can claim for a waking night for instead of the sleep in payment mentioned yesterday. Waking nights are better paid. Together with the extra hours worked the next day as a result of the incident, it will help compensate for the lost extra earnings of the days I had to be off sick.

I went to meet DH after his voluntary work this afternoon and found him buying an umbrella from a charity shop. It's not an ordinary one, it's rather beautiful. I suggested we go on to another shop, and there I found a pretty jumper which is now in my possession. I didn't need it and I'm not sure how my storage is going to expand, but sometimes a new piece of clothing is a cheerful thing (and as it's second hand, it doesn't eat into my fashion on the ration coupons). We had a few more spends, as DH bought slippers in the sale (£11) and has booked a carpet cleaner for later this week - payment due on the day I think. He's also done some more research into holidays, but no outlay there yet awhile. On the way home from town we needed a few groceries and I found some yellow-stickered bargains (ham, chicken, potatoes) as well as full priced items. It didn't give us a truly frugal dinner, but it was nice: chicken and chorizo pasta with some veg (about two portions I think). Since then I've had a satsuma so perhaps three F&V: not brilliant. Maybe three and a half with the piece of Christmas cake I had at lunch time.

I felt tired and a bit dizzy earlier but much better now. I'm not sure what's concussion and what's ordinary tiredness but I have a few more days before I need to think about booking a GP appointment so I'll see what rest will do.

Spending:
Clothing £3.79 (me, blue jumper), £11 (DH, slippers), £5 (DH, umbrella) - no fashion on the ration coupons off my total.
Housekeeping £12.71

Things I'm thankful for: smoked salmon, new jumper, funds to help out a family member, DH having new slippers (just mine to sort now), two more days off.

Sun_Addict

It’s lovely you can help DS2 and he’s very lucky. It’s so hard to get on the housing ladder nowadays. We were lucky it was very easy back in the 80s. 

A summer wedding is something nice to look forward to. 

Cherryfudge

It's been a nice day today, despite the rain. We were out of town visiting a big auctioneer's where we sometimes go out of interest and to have lunch out. I didn't bid for anything but there were three beautiful but battered club fenders - the sort with leather tops that go round a hearth - and I could live with one of those. I might just be tempted to put in a bid for one, but careful measurements would be needed first as space is tight (but something is needed to protect DGD from the stone hearth and the log burner).

We spent £18.75 on lunch then £10.80 on coffee/tea and cakes. I've had enough sugar to rev me up for weeks, apart from that it burns off so quickly so at some point I will slump. Nice, though.

It was still pouring afterwards so we drove into the town and called at the charity shop. Dh found a nice pair of shoes for £7.50, and I bought a book as a gift (£4).

A friend has had to pull out of our get-together this evening so we're meeting for coffee tomorrow. I hope the rain lets up as forecast.

Tea tonight will be bits and pieces from the fridge as we've had far too many calories already.

Cherryfudge

And another payment: £576.50 towards accommodation for the wedding, though we should get three quarters of that back as we've booked on behalf of the others from our neck of the woods. I need to remember to get that paid off ASAP as it's on the credit card.

I'd better get that time booked off work too!

Cherryfudge

DH is working today and I'm playing at being a lady of leisure. I caught up on work emails last night including one from the people who you can talk to after traumatic incidents, which adjured me to look after myself, so today has been even more self-centred than it would normally be! I did take some vitamins too, because I know it's not all about shopping.

When I opened the curtains this morning, there was an ambulance parked outside with doors open. I never heard it arrive but I think it's for a neighbour as I saw two of the household behind it a few minutes later. I do hope he's all right. I expect I will find out eventually. It just goes to show that ambulance crews, despite being on strike, are still trying to cover emergencies.

Oddly for a very small road, there was a medical emergency during the first ambulance strike too, when someone was struck by falling concrete. As far as I know they are recovered now though there is still a gap in the concrete. This is immediately following a resident paramedic leaving the road... goodness knows if he has been to the aid of cases I never heard about.

I met my friend for coffee (and a fruit tea as we had time) and put the world to rights, then mooched round the shops. Today's haul was a 'Hairy McLary' book for DGD, a piece of Laura Ashley china which will be a gift (I'm started on next Christmas), one of Dr Hessayon's plant books (fruit and veg, in the hope of doing better with the garden this year), a Deliciously Ella book (hardback and more expensive but worth it to me, still £15.59 on A*azon) - all from charity shops - then a couple of jigsaws in the sales for gifts and a 50p diary for recording my 'Fashion on the Ration' spending - in the hope of keeping a better track on it this year.

I was going to put the laundry out as the weather was sunny first thing but since then it's been cold and squally so the airing rack is going up. We got one of our dehumidifiers back (lent to a friend with damp issues) so that can go on at the same time. Out of doors is now that dark yellowish grey so I think I'll stay in from now on.

Sun_Addict

I’ve got all the Deliciously Ella books and the app. I really enjoy her recipes. 

Cherryfudge

Sun_Addict said:

I’ve got all the Deliciously Ella books and the app. I really enjoy her recipes. 

Ooh, that's worth knowing, thanks. I've dabbled as far as reading and being interested but I know I need to look after my health and the nearer to vegan my diet is, the more I feel the benefit... but it's not been good recently. Yesterday's huge gingerbread hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows is a case in point, though it had competition for wonderfully unhealthy in the form of the millionaire shortbread I had with it.

Today I had a baked potato with chipotle mayonnaise, ham and cheese for lunch which filled me up nicely for ages, then I started picking at crackers and peanut butter, and now I'm just back from an evening supermarket splurge in which I entirely failed to get spinach but otherwise got an indulgent mixture of healthy and rubbish. Red pepper, olives and hummus were good, as were fruit teas, but bakery goodies kind of balanced that out. At least I've now had three of the five a day, and there were some good discounts among them.

Dh went out for a meal with his church group, hence my lack of routine.

Spending:
Gifts £5 + 99p + £2 + £2 = £9.99
Books £5.50
Housekeeping: £19.77
Entertainment £5.80
Stationery 50p

Cherryfudge

The carpets were cleaned this morning, and I went to get the money out while it was being done. I'd lost track of the difficulty of getting a fiver in your change - a couple of times I either felt obliged or was asked to give exact money. I'm so used to paying by card nowadays that it took me a few shops and a not really necessary box of cappuccinos before I succeeded. Meanwhile I had discovered a jug in a charity shop with the identical print to some I rescued from my parents' house, made c. 1958. My parents' ones had fluted edges and a sort of smudged effect on the gilt edges, whereas this is smooth and has very neat gilt, but they are undoubtedly from the same stable. It came home with me, and I've found similar on the internet labelled 'Queen Anne pink carnations'.

I also got recyclable brown wrapping paper and a small diary to track my finances in - all in the sales.

The carpets aren't dry yet but they look a lot better and will hopefully last ages more. We discovered a grey patch near the computer (normally in shadow, but we'd cleared the furniture). Apparently this isn't from dirty footwear but from black-soled slippers so I think a piece of matting by that chair would be a good idea.

We've also paid DS2 the remainder of our contribution towards the deposit - if the sale falls through he now has the means to buy huge amounts of sweets, as he pointed out! I suggested he gets shares in them instead.

Work was generally okay, though I had to shift lead due to sickness and I'll be leading again tomorrow, with a potentially tricky mixture of people but they've pulled out stops to improve the staffing so I have hopes for it. I'm on the sleep in tomorrow and the day after so I need to get some sleep in advance. 

Spending:
Household (carpet cleaning)  £75
Housekeeping £2.99
Jug (household? Hobby?) £2.50
Stationery £2

Cherryfudge

Yesterday's shift was fine after all: a good group of staff to work with and nothing untoward happened.

We went over to A and H's for fish and chips at lunch time and to discuss the baby's routine ready for next week. She was so sweet - for the first time she not only smiled at me but came over and held up her arms to be picked up.

I don't think I got the best night's sleep and I've started with the first cold in ages so I went back to bed and had a bit of a sleep when I got home. DH went out for a walk but came back to say he'd had a chat with someone from the family who called out the ambulance on Wednesday. It was really shocking: the gentleman had a huge heart attack, was revived but later died in hospital. He retired years ago but was always active and ran his own business. They have been neighbours for nearly 30 years and we always said hello though we weren't close. He was always pleasant and in fact it was he who gave me the beehive I'm still wanting to use several years later.

Financially, I've spent £3 on phone data and I'm about to go shopping to clear my head ready for this evening (sleep in at work again) and to give me some exercise and hopefully some bargains too.

Cherryfudge

Yesterday (Sunday) I spent nursing the cold and didn't get much done, but in the evening DS2 turned up with stuff to store till his new home is available - and his girlfriend, whom I'd ever met before! The exclamation mark is because I was all huddled in layers and full of cold, so I had to say hello from a distance and be apologetically unsociable. She seems so nice, too. Hopefully they will stay an item and I'll get the chance to get to know her.

I fell asleep in the bath then woke for a while before bed, but basically rest is working its magic and I feel a lot better this morning. I need to take it easy as we're caring for DGD tomorrow all day and my friends are due to come round in the evening,