Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Honeysucklelou2 said:

Love this time of year with blackberry picking and jam making!

My difficulty - as with so many things - is getting the whole job done. I think that's an ADHD thing so there must be info somewhere to help with it. I will be proud of the jam once it's made, though.

Apart from grand daughter day, the only thing scheduled this week is the attendance meeting at work, and that's currently undated as the Union rep was asked to do another meeting on the time I'd suggested - I'm going to see if people can do Friday now, it's getting ridiculous having to postpone so often and I don't like it being the only thing on the horizon. I could do with having another look through jobs, too. That's income as well as things to look forward to!

DH has just rearranged his phone package - he's tied into it for 24 months now but is spending £10 every 30 days instead of £38! 

Today there's laundry to be done and a big heap of ironing. It's lovely and sunny and forecast to be warm so I might even do curtains in the next few days. In fact there are plenty of jobs to keep me busy, I just need to attack them.

Cherryfudge

A good chunk of the ironing was not only done but put away yesterday. The main news was that I have an appointment for the talking therapy starting on Thursday this week, secondary news was I ordered a replacement for the posh and extraordinarily comfortable sheet I ripped recently. I couldn't find an identical one, neither could it take a  sides-to-middle mend as in the old days as it ripped about a third of the way across. Really comfortable bedding is so nice, though, that as long as I can afford it, I'll prioritise it.

Today was Grand daughter day: DH took her to the library and the swings, I took her to the garden centre which is not quite entirely selfish of me as she likes to look round it, particularly at the water features and the man plying the hose.

I had a phone call while I was there, from one of the interviewers last week. It wasn't quite conventional - she's effectively offered me a job I didn't apply for! They had spotted my experience as fitting well with their sister service , which supports some of the same people I know through work. I asked for time to think about it but I think I need to say no, at least in the short term. Nice to be sort-of-talent-spotted though. She also said I might be able to do supply work with that service and the one I interviewed for, which does seem more hopeful: it probably means they are actively considering me if they have enough students. I have a couple of reasons not to go into the service she mentioned, though. 

I'm also trying to rearrange that attendance meeting but yet another date has fallen through. The jam making hasn't yet happened but I've managed to re-home some blackberries and stewed some damsons that were too soft for jam. Dh has also been helping by eating some!

Some spending yesterday and today:
Household (bedding) £46.95
Housekeeping £14.08 plus whatever DH spent today.

MS stuff:
Been given courgettes and tomatoes. My meeting tonight was cancelled so I didn't get food for it: we had toad in the hole to help use up sausages, eggs and dried milk. Last night we tried butternut squash dhal which was very good and there's enough left for tomorrow's meal too. My lunch today was coronation chickpeas which is definitely a good alternative to overnight oats for a healthy veggie light meal.

Not-MS stuff:
Had to donate quite a lot of greengages to the compost as they were going off.

Cherryfudge

Today is a quiet day which means it's harder to make good use of it (see me still at the computer at 11.30 in the morning) but it also gives me mental space.

Theoretically it's also time to catch up around the house. Ahem. There's so much to do! Starting it is difficult as I find it hard to know where, but the answer to that is 'just somewhere, preferably not on the sort of job that makes more mess'. Of course I then feel like pulling out all the items in whatever category, cleaning behind the furniture and sorting everything I pulled out before it goes back, and, if and when it does go back, not everything fits any more.

I had another call from the union this morning: meeting has been moved again...

I'm not going to list job to be done till I've done them.  

Cherryfudge

I got a few things done: bits of housework, some errands in town and mowing the grass. The window cleaner came so we had a catch-up over a cuppa! His kids are the same age as mine and of course all are adults now. Dinner was dhal again and there's still a spare portion to find a home for! I picked a few more blackberries and Dh is valiantly eating his way through lots of fresh stuff that's shoved into the fridge because fruit flies have sussed us out.

I've also sent an email to the lady who supports people whose trauma is work related. I realised she might have been expecting to hear from me but we left it a bit vague and while I was writing I realised things have moved on quite a lot in the last month. I've just told her about the things that have changed and said I'd value any insights she can give me.

A says DGD has a temperature so I'm on standby to help out if she's not well enough for nursery tomorrow, and if she's well enough, to pick her up at tea time because their car is being MOT'd.

And on a nice note, while shopping I spotted a cookery book I'd wanted as it's the companion volume to one I bought earlier in the year. It even had a seasonally appropriate photo of courgettes on the cover - right on trend!

Expenditure:
Book £2.99
Housekeeping £3.49
Household (window cleaning) £6

Cherryfudge

I had my call from Talking Therapies with yet another run through the assessment questionnaire, and it turns out I'm not scoring high enough for PTSD, so that line of treatment is out. Makes me realise how much a label or potential label can be a limiter, as I feel a bit freer because of it. I'm also frustrated that there are now issues that won't be dealt with.

I'm getting a referral, hopefully in the next few days, to look at psychological wellbeing, in the hope of getting strategies to help me manage the symptoms I have. I'm not sure what those will be but I might look online on the premise that being forewarned will kickstart the process. The therapist also asked if I'm still in touch with the lady I emailed last night, and it turns out they'd been in contact yesterday about me, so I'm hoping to hear back from her just to talk through work options.

So I now have the rest of the day and much less of a headache than I usually get after this type of phone call. I really need to see if those blackberries are still fit for jam-making, and I could do with contacting some friends to arrange coffees.

Sun_Addict

Morale boosting to be offered a job but a shame it doesn’t fit your criteria. I hope something suitable turns up soon and also that you get the right help for you. 

I’m glad you enjoyed the dhal. I make it a lot and it freezes well. 

Cherryfudge

Thanks @Sun_Addict - for the encouragement and the recipe! Your recommendations do seem to work well.

I finally assembled the blackberries for the jam this afternoon and they are cleaned and layered with sugar overnight ready for a cooking session tomorrow. I also weighed the marrows given us by our friends near Birmingham, with a  view to making marrow and ginger jam. I've bought some fresh ginger and a lot of sugar, though I might need more. I will also need more jars at this rate, but I'll just have to tackle that when I come to it.

I've also done well out of a charity shop where I found a Sewing Bee book and a crochet book. There was a useful-looking knitting book, too, but I have plenty to be going on with.

Dinner was the last of the dhal for me and a chilli con carne for DH. After all this eating up and cooking, I can see the back of the fridge again, though only just as the bowl of blackberries is back in there till tomorrow.

After a bit of texting I've arranged coffee on Monday with a former colleague and she in turn has invited another of us 'off sicks' so we can grab some time before she starts her new job.

Expenditure:
Books £4.60
Housekeeping £8.38

MS stuff:
Resisted a book, did the groundwork for jam, used up more fridge supplies.

Non-MS stuff:
Bought two books, bought scary amounts of sugar and probably don't have enough jars! (Don't worry, excess can go in covered bowls in the fridge if necessary).
Arranged coffee out.

Cherryfudge

It seemed to take most of the day, but I've made 4lbs of blackberry and apple jam, and now 6lbs of marrow are layered with sugar ready to be 'jammed' tomorrow. For some reason I was really tired after lunch and slept for an hour or so. I don't know what that was about but I'm okay now.

I've also trawled through the latest jobs bulletin. There are one or two possibilities, but nothing really leapt out at me. In fact, I'm quite drawn to an advert for shelf-stacking which I imagine would be activity but not too much customer interaction. The problem is it's at the far end of town, shifts end at midnight and I don't drive.

Dinner was chicken chasseur from the freezer and at last space is reappearing there and in the larder. I washed every jar I could find to accommodate the jam, then only needed a few. I've also put red kidney beans in to soak - there was a date of 2014 on the jar, whether that was when I put them in or the sell by date I don't know, but they are having an extra-long soak and will be very well cooked because they have to be very well dried out by now!

We went for a walk after tea and finished up at he supermarket, where we forgot the crispbreads Dh went for, but found some nice fresh produce marked down. We got granary bread, mackerel, organic onions, vine tomatoes, avocados and black grapes for £4.89 instead of £11.75.

There was good news this evening from DS2 - they have a buyer for his girlfriend's flat and have had an offer accepted on a house! Early days yet, but neither has a chain which sounds like a good start to me.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £4.89

MS:
Jam making. 
Bargain groceries.

Cherryfudge

I had quite a scare today. We were queuing to go into a car boot sale when I spotted the person who assaulted me back at new year. He hadn't seen me and I don't know if he would have reacted at all if he had, but I wasn't prepared to go into that field if it meant getting any closer to him, so I took the car keys and sat it out from the safe distance of the far side of the car park while DH went round. Good job DH is a lot quicker than I am!

I managed not to give the person's name away but DH seems to have worked out who he was and commented that he's a largish guy. DH was very supportive and took me for a coffee as well as round the local charity shops, which was a good distraction, but he still had to console me later. He understands now why I'd rather have a job that 'wastes' my skills, as I don't want to be running scared all the time. I've also realised I will probably instinctively avoid anything public facing in order to avoid meeting him again.

The charity shops were busy today but I spotted a throw for the lounge that will add some warm colour (£5) and DH got a book for his friend and a picture for himself. 

We had our fish and chips at tea time, and I finished the jam making. There are eleven jars of marrow and ginger, though three or four of them are quite small. Unfortunately I ignored the advice of the recipe to use preserving sugar, so I couldn't get it to set at all! Next week may see a new bottle of pectin and a re-boiling of the jam.

DS2 and his girlfriend are coming to lunch tomorrow so we did a supermarket shop on the way home, and I really ught to have a bit of a tidy up before I go to bed.

Expenditure:
Household £5.25
Hobbies £5
Gift £2
Housekeeping £7.50 (F&C) + £16 = whatever Dh spent on fruit.

Honeysucklelou2

That must have been an awful shock.  Hope you are feeling ok now. 

Have a lovely lunch with your DS2 and gf.