Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Happy Bank Holiday Monday! The weather forecast looks a bit rainy but we have some blue sky so there's a load of laundry in progress and DH is pushing on with painting the hall/stairs/landing. I couldn't find any car boot sales so I'm not being tempted to random stuff, but I think I need to look further into grocery shopping. DH has already been out to buy milk. While our main account is overdrawn (see a couple of days ago), he's using the old current account where his wages and a couple of bills live, and I'm putting things on my CC where at least I get loyalty points. The bank transfer should take effect tomorrow and I'll get a better idea of where we stand.

With no grand plans for the day and yesterday's leftovers for dinner tonight, I'm off to find something useful to do.

Cherryfudge

This is turning into one of those days where things intervene and jobs expand. Dh has done a large section of the stairwell with an undercoat, but the dust sheet he was using at the bottom of the stairs managed to spread paint so there's been a lot of dashing round cleaning up before it dries. I then remembered I had a rag bag from my Mum's house with big pieces of old sheets. I'd been havering about sending them to recycling as she had gone to the trouble of cleaning and saving them (strange the power these things can have) but they have been absolutely perfect for covering stairs and furniture - two pieces could have been cut to size for our needs. They are now in the shed, the stairwell is drying and DH is having a relax.

Unfortunately, having taken the door curtain down to paint that area, it got tea spilled on it so DH spot treated it and put it in the washer. He didn't know about the interesting effect of detergent in a washing machine until we noticed the wash wasn't progressing. The inside of the door was a white mass of bubbles from the detergent that hadn't been rinsed out. I've made it pump out and am about to try a rinse and spin.

Meanwhile... it started to rain so the earlier washing has gone on the airer, and the adverts on my computer have come up with suggestions for decorating the staircase...

Cherryfudge

NSD for me but DH bought a few groceries, DIY stuff and a bike pump. I cleaned a kitchen cupboard and decided I need to use up some of the many tins and jars. Amazingly, all but one are in date, and some were obviously bought with the idea of everyday meals if we couldn't get to the shops over winter. Seven jars of pesto, for a start.

Thoughts of grocery shopping have therefore been revised. In fact, I will get a chicken piece out of the freezer tonight so we can do a pasta meal tomorrow, though I need to buy frozen spinach for the one I have in mind.

It's been showery all afternoon so bedding had to be finished in the tumble dryer but the bed is made up, upstairs is hoovered and DH has done two coats of paint on another wall. We seem to have scrubbed bits of carpet multitudinous times despite dust sheets. This paint (sold as having 'good opacity') is rubbish and milky splashes appeared all over the place. It looks as though he's been painting using a thinned-down yogurt drink, but the area looks brighter and the old colour is at least beating a retreat. It's also meant we discovered and got rid of lurking dust and cobwebs behind furniture, though I know that's a job that never ends.

When there was a break in the rain, I potted up some geranium cuttings in the hope of bringing a touch of Italy to the garden this summer. I admire how city dwellers make such good use of any growing space, including conjuring it out of nothing. It puts me to shame, so I'm copying their geraniums.

Dinner was the rest of last night's meal, which actually worked well reheated in chopped tomatoes with extra potatoes. I remembered we still have raspberries from last year's harvest so I used some of those with tinned peaches for DH's pudding (I'm afraid I had chocolate).

Tomorrow is a grand daughter day so we will be going out for coffee, which doesn't feel like a treat when we do it regularly. Perhaps over the summer I will be organised and take a picnic, but I'm not sure enough of the weather yet.

10pm update: a small amount of paper decluttered (5 items!) and a change of menu plan as DH wants salmon tomorrow. We have all the ingredients already. I've made myself overnight oats for lunch and I can take a snack with me for later to reduce spending.

Honeysucklelou2

Did you go for the push mower or electric? I had a push one which was great exercise but in hindsight needed regular use of WD40 to prevent it struggling to turn, if that makes sense!

Love the stage when little ones start to talk. Has your DGD learnt any new words?

Cherryfudge

Hi @Honeysucklelou2, we went for a push mower in the end. The basic one wasn't available locally and the next model up had no reviews so we went for the the third one, which happened to be discounted and also had good reviews. It seems fairly solid but I've yet to sort out the height adjustment so I can't really tell whether it's giving a good result. It's massively better to handle than the electric one, and probably safer too as I'm not having to think about keeping a flex safe.

(Interestingly, there's a book called 'How bad are bananas?' which looks at the carbon dioxide-equivalent impact of various things - I'm not sure whether the energy I expend in pushing a mower compares favourably to the electricity consumed by our old mower. That would depend partly on the CO2 (or equivalent) of whatever I'd had for my most recent meal!)

DGD hadn't any more new words when I saw her at the weekend. She's getting on well with 'ess'! And she's definitely toddling now.

Cherryfudge

We've had a nice day with DGD: nothing dramatic though she slept more than usual. I think that was necessary as I needed to rest after every short bout of playing 'horsies'! Perhaps I should have been the one sleeping.

We went for coffee, but I cut the costs there by using up a gift card and getting a free drink via my app, so I only had £1.10 to pay for a cappuccino, a juice and crisps. We've decided not to get coffee next week unless the weather requires it (perhaps with planning I can take drinks and bake some treats).

There has been a bit of spending but we've not been too bad. I found my decaff cappuccinos on 25p off so I got a couple of boxes along with more hot cross buns, and DH got pastries. I needed Olbas oil (to help me not to snore - DH deserves the sleep!) and I treated myself to two daily deals from Kindle. These went off the current account but I've just checked and my other bank was wrong about the bank transfer not going through till today: it went through before the weekend. That's nice because It meant we only dipped into the arranged overdraft briefly and as far as I can tell we won't incur any penalties. However, it only leaves £214 till payday, so I mustn't go mad. Among other things, anything that goes on the CC will need to be paid back, we have another family meal out next Sunday and it's a family birthday next week.

We had the salmon tonight with half a large jar of sauce and roast potatoes: tomorrow will be chicken and chorizo pasta so the chicken is now defrosting. We are also accidentally saving money by being unavailable when the car boot sales are on. I've not made it to one so far this year.

My latest order of photos has arrived (some lovely memories of Venice, which reminds me I wanted to make a photobook of the holiday as a gift for Dh though his birthday isn't for ages). I've also got my earplugs: the first try of them went well but when I put them back in later, I wasn't too comfortable. However, I'm told that hearing aids take a little while to get used to and are then forgettable, so I'm hoping the same will happen here. They certainly dampen noise effectively.

This evening (ironically, given the arrival of the earplugs) I've been playing the piano a bit. I had lessons till a few years ago when I broke my arm. I've come to terms with never being naturally musical but it's relaxing when I stop trying too hard. There will be another cost as the piano needs tuning which will be at least £80. I'll try to remember to contact the tuner at the end of this month.

Spending:
Entertainment (coffee) £1.10
Medical £4.45
Housekeeping £? (Sains + whatever Dh spent, but I can't find my receipt).
E-books x 2 £2.44

Cherryfudge

What a storm we had yesterday evening and night! Yet this morning is blue sky and sunshine again. I woke up about seven, which is early for me, and had all sorts of plans to do lots - none of which has been done yet.

SO I'm making a list to be answerable:

Go to the market
Have a run if the sunshine lasts
Ring work's IT to get my email access (I don't know how I manage to lose it so often)
Make Dr's appointment
Plant tomato seeds (better late than never)
Do some Duolingo
Do my Bible app
Order medications
Arrange coffee with a couple of friends (not ideal, spending-wise but I'd said I'd do this a while ago and it's good to keep up with people)
Clean the oven

2.10 update: the sunshine has gone and the wind is getting up... I've spent some time playing the piano and found I still have a couple of books belonging to my music teacher. I've sorted through the music shelf not but not yet braved the piano stool.

Other than that - Duolingo is done and medication is ordered.

4.30 update: It was bitter when I went out. One shop keeper told me it had been 2 degrees when she started out this morning. I was glad of my winter coat, scarf and gloves!

I called off my run (no apologies for this), made the appointment, rang IT (unsuccessfully, it appears our internet may not be deemed secure enough for me to install the bypass programme, if I've understood things rightly, and I need to get to a work computer to gain access to my emails), requested another sick note (having found the previous one ran out on Easter day) and went to the market. I admit to some food treats while out shopping: crisps for Dh and discounted tonic water for hot days.

Cherryfudge

It's been a pleasant evening with my group from church, and I had a lift so I stayed warm and dry.

A funny thing happened about dinner: the chicken I'd defrosted turned out to be salmon so I had to tweak the ingredients and we ended up having virtually the same as yesterday evening (and the chorizo went back in the freezer).

I've done about half the list. Still outstanding are run, Bible app, plant tomatoes, contact friends and clean oven. Interestingly, mostly things that would benefit me. I also got my glasses fixed so the side doesn't keep coming off.

Spending:
Housekeeping £15.22
E-book 99p

Cherryfudge

A hurried morning - we'd swapped cleaning team to today as there are other things going on tomorrow - only too late did I realise we had the boiler service at eleven. I just about fitted both in, but there's not-so-good news on the boiler. It turns out I'd misunderstood the instructions for adjusting the pressure and left the levers horizontal instead of vertical, resulting in a membrane rupturing and the boiler running at too high pressure. This has led to a small amount of water inside the boiler and a constant drip from the overflow. Because of the way the boiler is aligned, it will have to come off the wall to get access to the parts.

Anyway, it's safe to use for now and they are going to see how much the parts will cost. I've asked them to cost for all the relevant things including a replacement seal at the top, because there are various bits that could be compromised by the necessary work and if it helps keep the boiler good for a few more years, it will be worth it.

Provided nothing else shows up once this repair is done, the service can then go ahead.

On a positive note, the boiler cupboard is now nice and tidy.

Cherryfudge

This afternoon I decided to look in the freezer and see what needed to be used. Long story short, I went shopping for milk and a few oddments like lemongrass, fresh ginger and green beans that probably make a pork and cauliflower curry a lot more expensive than a simple use-up should be. Then Dh came in all frozen-up from the dentist, so the curry has been postponed. He bought a ready meal and I had a casserole from the freezer.

It was supposed to be my keep-in-touch call from work, but it didn't arrive. The counselling call isn't till next week, to give me time to progress (my choice). I've been a bit on edge and going over work stuff in my head last night and today, so I'm not sure what's going on there. I did impulsively text a colleague and ask her round, which will be good as she's trustworthy and has a good understanding of my problems, having been through similar. I also bumped into a friend and her sister in L1dl and had a quick chat with each of them.

I'm not sure what happened to spring: possibly it's on ice? It's certainly chilly, but the tulips are out and there are three trees of white blossom in the back garden and one on the front.

Nothing much done in the housework department today. I'm blaming not being warm enough. At least I've had some exercise and spoken to people and done something creative with food (as far as it got).

Spending:
Housekeeping £17.22