Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Sun_Addict said:

Sounds like you’ve had a productive day. Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂

Thank you! It's on the menu for tonight.

Floss said:

Sticking to your own church cleaning pattern sounds a good plan, it gives a bit of structure to your week. I'm currently signed off work and find that I need to carefully consider what day it actually is, as every day feels like a weekend!

My thoughts too! It's nice for a while and when the days are sunny, but I'm starting to need more set activities.

Do you have a diary @Floss? I tried to find one but possibly they are starting the revamp of the forum because I couldn't get anywhere.

Today is supposed to be like the last two in regard to weather, i.e. okay during the day then wet around dinner time. We had some good thunder and lightening yesterday! (I love storms though a couple of friends have had genuinely hair-raising storm experiences so I should know better). I have a load of bedding in the washer which will be going out while it's breezy and dry, and I've already potted up last night's batch of yogurt which I made to get through some of the previous batch before it went out of date - but there's still most of a half litre tub from the older batch and now seven jam jars of the new batch so I think yogurt cake might be on the menu, especially as I have other baking ingredients to use up.

I confess I also have 12oz of mixed dried fruit steeping in cold tea to make a tea bread, which for some reason I've been wanting for a while. The plan is to use the oven for that and Sun_Addict's vegan cottage pie at the same time.

Other than that I could do some prep for tomorrow's meeting and even look ahead to the stuff for the other study group. If I'm really brave I'll look at the proofreading course: I don't think I should aim at that as my main source of income but I want to have it as a back-up: perhaps it could increase my income in retirement if I get it established beforehand.

Oh, and there are housework and gardening projects galore, which I might find rocket to the top of the list once it comes to actually getting down to anything. The courgette plant and two marrow plants succumbed to slugs, but this morning the courgette is fighting back with a beautiful yellow flower. Definitely the garden is calling...

Cherryfudge

@Sun_Addict's recipe was very good and there's enough to feed both of us another day plus a spare portion. My Borrowdale tea bread was nice too though I probably put a bit too much liquid in as it's a bit squashy, which I don't remember it being when I made it previously. It's also incredibly high in dark brown sugar and so probably undoes all the good from the vegan shepherd's pie.

It was a boring afternoon but I got a bit of reading done and spent quite a while looking at the latest jobs bulletin. There are a couple of local cleaning jobs, which would be something but not enough to live on... what to do, what to do? I've been to the shops for ingredients for dinner and got extra stocks in for the 'emergency' cupboard which had been running down so things didn't get too old. I splashed out a bit on jam and olives as I had coupons to take a  percentage off the price and I know they are things we'll use. I got salad leaves and lettuce reduced, which will go towards tomorrow's tea when my friends are here.

I went in the loft to look for the shoes I wore for A and H's wedding, but can't find them. The loft seems to have got incredibly dusty in the last few weeks, I suspect the heat has cracked more plaster off the underside of the tiles. I was determined to get something out of there, though, and found a box with some of J's certificates and a couple of her soft toys, so those are ready for her to collect.

The loft was a bit stressful so I went and pulled more ivy up!

We've had rain again this evening but not much. Nothing else to report...

Spending:
Housekeeping £17.90

Floss

@Cherryfudge no I don't have a diary, though I suppose I should really!

I think before you look seriously for any p/t jobs, you probably need to clarify what your retirement income will be. Perhaps your Union rep could give more information about wheter medical retirement is an option, and your pension fund administrators should be able to give an idea of what you would get if you were to retire soon. That may help to define what amount you need, but remember that it's often cheaper not to work as you save on expenses like commuting & work wear/ footwear.

Cherryfudge

Let me know if you do set up a diary, @Floss, I'd love to read it! - but if you don't feel the need for one, then don't feel obliged. I'm one of those people who has to think out loud so it helps me.

I'm going to contact the Union because it's all quite complicated and both the managers will be back soon (end of this week/beginning of next) so I need to know where I'm headed. I've looked into my pensions, which I didn't start till I was in my forties so they haven't accumulated vast amounts and another seven years paying in would have made some difference, but not enough to go and cruise the world till I'm ninety. Depending on what sort of package my employer has - I've yet to find that out - I might get that paid back if I retired on ill health grounds, or I might not. I also have the option of paying into the pension from savings to boost my returns but when I tried doing the sums on that, it would wipe me out in every other direction to get me to close t what I'd have had if I'd paid in since I was eighteen.

I did check my statutory pension though and it all seems to be up to date and nothing to add, which is good.

As I understand it, pension paid due to retirement on ill health grounds continues so long as I don't work more than thirty hours. I dropped from thirty to twentyfive some years ago when I had an accident following my long run of shifts. The accident wasn't the fault of my employer and happened at home but I've never regretted dropping those extra five hours. This is making me wonder if I could perhaps find a less demanding job even if I do retire. It makes a big difference to me to be gainfully employed, even if employers only classify 'gainful' as over thirty hours and I count anything.

I live very close to work and uniform items are paid for by work, so savings in those areas are minimal, but it would be worth a lot to me not to have to do those winter earlies!

So as to today... my friends are round this evening so we can watch the video for our course, and I need to buy pizza and make some pesto pasta for them (and me). DH has the day off and has gone to an auction viewing. He did offer me a place on the trip and lunch out but we're going out tomorrow so I think I'll get more out of being at home. I'm sitting here diminishing the mending pile in the interests of not having to replace clothes too soon, and generally putting off doing other jobs.

Cherryfudge

My friend texted to say she had to work, so we called off this week's meeting and I had a largely-unplanned day. No spending by me: DH bought a couple of bits for his dinner and I finished a chicken chasseur from the freezer and some noodles from the cupboard. We've been eating the tea bread too, if I have much more I will have to start muttering about it being 'high in iron', to justify myself (slightly).

I did a tiny amount of prep for this evening so at least my memory is refreshed. I've stayed at home but did a bit more on the garden (grubbing out ivy that's growing through the back fence and up a tree) - the level in the green bin had settled enough to fit more in but it's too full again and they don't collect for another week.

Quite a bit of housework also got done.

I caught sight of J's Instagram and she has a stunning new haircut, so much so that I immediately felt I had to neaten mine! All I've done is wash it and change the parting but I intend to give it a good trim/cut before the wedding, which I'd rather do in a good light and when wide awake. There is the potential of using the hair dresser the wedding party has booked (was offered) but I'm a bit protective of my hair (it's long) and don't want to spend out.

Cherryfudge

According to the bell icon at the top of the page, the new-style forum thinks I have 58 new messages, i.e. everything from page 430 (middle of May) onwards. No idea why.

Today DH had the day off and we met up with his cousin and her husband. They live at the other end of the country so we don't see them often enough and it was good to have the day together. We went for a walk around a  beauty spot, they treated us to lunch and we treated them to looking round a place of interest. In an odd coincidence, we will see them at the wedding in a couple of weeks.

And after all these weeks of warm to hot weather, it was cardigans and jackets today!

Expenditure (I decided this was a better term)
Entertainment £37.00
Housekeeping £9.16

Cherryfudge

I had a text from the Employment Support lady at Talking Therapies yesterday, asking if I wanted a conversation next week. With all that's gone on recently (interview messing with my head, thoughts of possibly retiring on ill health grounds, looking at job adverts), I've sent her a detailed email in response to get her right up to date. It will save explaining when we talk, and risking missing something.

I did question the wisdom of doing this late in the evening in case it kept me awake but it wasn't too bad and I'm satisfied that I got everything down. I also read something about the benefits of writing out what's going on, which makes me feel better.

I'm now wondering about contacting the Union re: health retirement options. How close am I to that being feasible? It could give me an income from a job I can no longer do and allow me to earn elsewhere without being penalised in terms of pension and benefits.

I know I ought to look at the PIP form but I don't want to!

I'm not officially on the cleaning rota tomorrow but it turns out a couple of us are available so we may be tackling the kitchens... the other lady is someone I know slightly from many years ago when we worked in the same office. That's a small town for you!

Other than that I have a birthday card to send and I'm going to have another look for the wedding shoes. Then there's the garden - how much more ivy can I find (that will go on for a while) and maybe I should feed or pot on a few plants.

Cherryfudge

Progress in the last hour has been making coffee, putting the washer on and giving myself a haircut. I'm not sure taking an inch off is enough but I've got a nice straight line so perhaps I should settle for that.

The sunshine is calling.

Sun_Addict

I would settle for the nice straight line 😆 You're very brave to cut your own hair. I wouldn't even let myself loose on my fringe. 

Good to look at your options re work, I hope you find a solution that works for you soon.

WelshmansDaughter

Perhaps start the proofreading course now so as to be ready for next academic season? A colleague of mine proof read theses and the like. And perhaps get some volunteer experience so you have references to show paying clients?