Cherry takes the reins

Sun_Addict

I had a subscription to a gin club during the pandemic. Not only did you get a really great quality bottle of gin there were nibbles and other things in the box. I really looked forward to it at first but found, although I enjoyed the gin, I didn’t really like the other bits in the box and cancelled it after 4 boxes because it really wasn’t worth the price. 

Cherryfudge

That sounds like your sort of thing, SA! I like some of the ideas in the package I've just cancelled but it's not a long-term option (though the customer service was very good).

Cherryfudge

I've contacted both Groupon and the power company - go me! I've also heard from my sister that she came back to a burst pipe so they are going to need some ceilings replaced. I've no idea what the damage was apart from that but I'm guessing it may have been a slow leak rather than furniture floating.

We went car booting and I bumped into a colleague this morning. We only chatted for a few minutes but I gather there are three of us off with stress. I think we have similar concerns... she didn't mention if she's got a time scale for going back.

It was warm but showery so I didn't linger too long looking for bargains but I got myself a book, a tomato plant and a courgette plant (mine never sprouted). I also found three lovely books for DGD at 20p each, and a hedgehog mug for DS2, who loves hedgehogs.

We've bought fish and chips, a few groceries and some flowers for H whose grandad has just died. This evening we had a walk locally but we're tired and have a busy week ahead so this is to be as restful a weekend as possible. It's been hot all day but rain is due tomorrow (I'd better get the laundry in). There's yogurt making going on in the Instant Pot: cheap yogurt as I got milk for 99p and the starter yogurt for 35p and it will make 2 litres plus the 500ml of starter. That's um... £1.34 for 2.5 litres.

It was too hot to do a lot in the afternoon but I've potted on some veg plants.

I'm a bit down without a focal point. I think the interview took it out of me: it was emotionally similar being back at the point where I went off, though not as strong, but at least I know I'm not going to be going back any time soon (if ever). That's even without having spoken to the doctor about it. DH and I have even discussed whether I could look into retiring on health grounds but I think I need to try other work first. I'm fairly sure I could be my normal self in a different setting. Anyway, I'm keeping occupied .

Spending:
Gifts £14.10
Housekeeping ? + £13.85 (included two free pastries) + chippie.
Garden: £1.50
Book £1

Cherryfudge

Most of today was seriously hot and muggy. I helped with the little kids during church: they are all completely different little characters and I always enjoy it. Afterwards we went to a food fair, which is an annual event in town. I can usually spend quite a lot of time there but it was too hot today. I bought a couple of beeswax candles shaped like bears as gifts, but nothing else.

The afternoon was mostly spent cleaning the fish tank. The actual tank is on the lawn so I could hose it down, and all the bits are in buckets in the shed. The stand has been pulled out from its alcove and I've now to clean behind it.

The weather cooled down a lot after a shower and a bit of thunder.

Dinner was chicken chasseur, but we both agreed it didn't taste right. I'm not sure if it was because I used larger mushrooms that had fully opened, but never mind. I'll use it up for lunches.

DH has oiled the wooden kitchen counter... that's about it really. This coming week has three grand daughter days as DDiL has to work on Monday and Friday and her Mum can't now help out.

Spending:
Gifts £3

Cherryfudge

Thank goodness it's cooler! Looking after a toddler would have worn me out otherwise. As it is, I'm sleepy.

DH kindly does the early part of child care so I met up with them late in the morning and we went for coffee. DGD seems to think it's her duty to feed me so she dipped my teaspoon in my cappuccino and fed me froth. I managed not to get covered in it. Later we got some bits we needed from the shops (and a colourful beadwork keyring for DGD to play with) then headed back for lunch. In the afternoon, DS2 rang to ask if he could borrow a big suitcase as they're off to Spain tomorrow for ten nights. It was lovely to see him - he came and played with his niece for a couple of hours and caught us up on the news. His girlfriend's flat is now on the market and they are very interested in a house they've been to view. Combining mortgage-worthiness seems to have made a huge difference to their situation - I suppose that's generally the case. He also has a secondment for the next six months that he's very excited about.

DGD was a bit wary at first as she's not seen him since Easter. When she heard his voice she said 'daddy' (they sound almost identical) but it took her a while to warm up and start to play. In the end she was being held upside down by the ankles and giggling like a good 'un - funnily it's the sort of thing her Dad does. Is there some sort of hereditary play style coming through the genes?

Our dinner was fish fingers from the freezer for DH and a third of the remaining chasseur for me. Lunches are going to be quite a lot of overnight oats as I have so much yogurt at the moment and it's healthy, cheap and easy. I had it almost every day at work so it's about time I got back in the habit.

Spending:
Entertainment £3.50
Toiletries £13.87
Gift £1.00
Housekeeping £9.79 plus whatever DH spent at Sains.

Cherryfudge

Another day with DGD, who seems to have a new word or phrase every couple of hours! Today she's been singing 'Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy' while she's out and about, but it seems to be a happy song, not as though she's missing them. She managed 'Grandpa' and 'Grandma' too, but not as consistently. Other than that, she's joining in songs and saying things like 'Here you are'. Great fun, though I had a battle with her about getting changed.

DH took her t the morning group and it was raining so we went to a café for the second day running. Must rein that in - it's around £7 a go. DGD did help me eat a scone, though, which helped put her on till lunch and meant I didn't get through quite so many calories.

We called at L!dl for groceries on the way home.

Checking my emails, I've had a reply from someone about a relief post that interests me, and she's encouraged me to apply so that's a job for the next two days before my next lot of child care.

Something I only found out through reading these boards, but DH has confirmed, is our energy company is dropping prices. That's going to be a relief to everyone, but there will be those for whom it's still a dire situation.

We also decided to add a day onto our trip away at the end of this month. There's the wedding first, followed by a few days in Wales and we decided to break the journey back. I found a self catering place for £66 for a single night at exactly the right date - the nearby hotels are £100 so I'm pleased with myself.

Spending:
Entertainment £7.20
Groceries £3.18
H0liday £66

badmemory

Be careful though the standing charges are going up even though the unit prices are coming down.

Cherryfudge

badmemory said:

Be careful though the standing charges are going up even though the unit prices are coming down.

Eek! I missed that bit.  

I had a phone appointment with the doctor and she's agreed to sign me off for another month then I'm to ring her again before the next sick note renewal is due. That seems reasonable. The downside is she mentioned the difficulty of getting work at my age. She also expressed doubts that the Talking Therapies counselling, when it comes through, will be enough to get me back into my current job. I had doubts about this myself and there's a chance that if I manage to change direction I might just pull myself from the waiting list and give the place to someone else, as I don't think I'd need it if I didn't have to think about going on working with the person who attacked me.

Each little step away from the job and into the unknown is a challenge, and takes its toll emotionally. DH has suggested I find out about retiring on the grounds of ill health which might be a possibility, especially if redeployment doesn't come up with anything. He's also suggested I get Union advice as the issues are all work-derived. The doctor says she's concerned for my mental health if I stay off work and she's quite right. I'm fine on busy days - and there are quite a lot of them - but not so much on days when I'm alone.

The rest of the morning was spent on trying to reformat the 'profiler' results so I can send them to work. I found out my manager is off till mid-July - longer than I thought, so it's not urgent but at present the cut and paste version is 40 pages long and I can't attach it to an email as work's security won't let it through. If I can get it shorter I could possibly copy it into the body of an email and save a fortune in printing.

Lunch was overnight oats and a L!dl brownie (which I cut into pieces so I'm not having such a big dose of calories in one go).

The reformatting was useful in that it got my mind off the doctor conversation and I've something to show for it, but I needed to be out and doing and the weather was muggy again so I thought I'd nip out before the big grey clouds caught me. As it was it stayed hot and muggy. I wandered round town and didn't buy anything off the market, but went into the Sue Ryder shop where I spotted a basket of little pieces of my favourite Denby for a mere £7.50. They came home with me! One is Bourne and probably quite old but it looks as though some of the others are date stamped in the early 80s.

After that it was a trip to L!dl where I did my careful examination of the 'cooking' bacon and found a pack of smoked. (It's browner than unsmoked). I also got potatoes, though when I opened the bag to make dinner I found a number of them were badly bruised and I had to throw out a whole jug full of manky bits. I nearly took them back for a refund but it was late and I was tired. Tea was liver, onions and smoked bacon sautéed together with a splash of red wine, and lots of mash and baked beans. Great comfort food.

This evening I nearly ducked out of a church business meeting but I was quite glad I went in the end. For a start, I'd not spotted I'm on a rota this Sunday! There was a glorious sunset when we came out, and we managed not to call in at the supermarket for anything.

Spending:
Hobbies £7.50
Housekeeping £4.68.

Floss

Good advice from both your GP and your DH. Definitely get your union involved, particularly if there has been a workplace attack. Do you have any set routine for doing things to keep you occupied? I've always worked on the basis of 3 daily tasks - one for the home, one for me, and one work-related whether that be searching for a new role, working on profiling, discussing events with union etc.

ETA can you save your document as a PDF (might have to "print as PDF") and then attach it to an email?

Cherryfudge

Thanks @Floss.  I can see the Union might at least be able to advise and it would make sense to see what perspective they can offer. In fact this morning I have an email from my manager's manager suggesting a phone call (as my manager is off for a couple of weeks). I'll prioritise getting the job application done for the relief post (or it will time out) but I think it might be good to speak to the Union and possibly HR before replying to her.

It sounds as though your situation and mine have parallels!

I really like your routine and I think something along those lines might be a good idea for me. At present DH works three days a week and on one of his days off we look after our granddaughter. I also do some voluntary work on a Friday which tends to stretch to dominate the day - the main unstructured days are Wednesday and Thursday.

I have the documents as PDFs but my work email won't allow me to attach them, and if I send from my private email, I suspect the recipient won't be able to open them. Work email is as secure as they can make it! As we've just paid £25 for a cartridge of printer ink, I'm not going to waste it on printing out all those pages. I tried printing out from a work printer but the work computer wouldn't let me open the links... makes Fort Knox look simple. I might add the ability to download a Word document to my feedback on the scheme, because it would make life easier.