Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

There have been some lovely photos of the sycamore, especially the ones with the aurora in the background. You'd have to be very dedicated to take those: I remember the path along the wall to get to it took all our concentration in broad daylight!

They've arrested a second person in connection with it now.

Cherryfudge

This morning I realised I'd not sent off for my DBS for the relief job so I did that and tried to get through to the bank to sort out my access to my Christmas Saver account. There was a queue on the phone so in the end I abandoned it and went down to the church to do some hoovering and watering of plants. On the way home I popped into the branch but they needed a form of ID that I didn't have on me... and are now shut till Monday. On a more positive note, I've done a couple of loads of washing and the accompanying ironing, and it's just airing overnight. It probably would have dried completely if I'd managed to get it on the line earlier. It's been nice and warm yet again, and sunny too. The trees have been shedding a few leaves but they're still mostly green: not what I expect this time of year, but I'm not complaining.

I was quite busy and did my skin care then completely forgot any makeup because my skin felt 'done', but one of the advantages of getting older is the ability to say 'Oh, so what?' and carry on regardless. If anyone noticed, they didn't say anything!

I had a phone call about the TA work: there's nothing exactly fitting my profile right now but she wants my CV. The only reasonably local job is more hours than I want. I've asked if they'd consider a job share and she thinks they might. After I came off the phone I had a look through available jobs but didn't see anything particularly good in reach of here.

I was really tired and decided not to go with DH to the quiz, and we had yesterday's leftovers, bulked out a bit, for dinner, so I've not spent much. I cleared some bits from the fridge and decided cleaning a bit of it is better than not cleaning it at all and I can do the rest another day.

Tomorrow I'm going out with friends so there will be spending.

Having been too tired to do a lot before tea, I woke up this evening and had fun doing some creative writing (instead of just thinking about it). A mere 1800 words... good job no one had to sit there listening to me! I've been dipping into the book 'Creative Writing for Dummies' which has given me some good starter ideas, even if I've not actually used any of them so far. Now I've got to slow down enough to sleep...

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £8.20

in_need_of_direction

I’m always amazed by how much you pack into each day.

Cherryfudge

in_need_of_direction said:

I’m always amazed by how much you pack into each day.

Thank you. It always somehow looks more than I feel I've done, if that makes sense? I suppose I see the things I didn't get done but I don't list them so they're less obvious!

Well, I was up late on a computer game to enable me to wind down and it worked but isn't ideal. This morning I made it to the car boot sale where I spent £1.10: three folders and a children's book. DH spent a tenner on a clock which was supposed to become a donor mechanism for one he inherited. I felt a bit sorry for the donor clock! Then DH discovered the mechanism is slightly the wrong size, so it lives on and has a very melodious chime that bears no relation to the actual time of day. I've taken to it in something of the same way I took to the china toad the other week: I'm not sure how either qualifies as a thing of beauty, but both certainly appeal.

The ink for the printer has arrived and the printer is kicking off about it. Hopefully we can eventually get it to accept there is clearly ink in the cartridges, I resent it if I've wasted the money and effort.

I had an afternoon out as four of my Tuesday group went for coffee and ice cream and had a good catch up. When I got home I fell asleep and Dh woke me in time for fish and chips.

Spending:
Housekeeping £7.50 (fish and chips) +? spent by DH on groceries.
Stationery £1
Gift £1
Hobby £10

MS: DH has foraged more apples!

Cherryfudge

An odd day: I wonder if I'm sickening for something as I was very down this morning (probably due to seeing an advert for a charity appeal for something that upsets me) and I'm tired and have a weird metallic taste in my mouth. That last might possibly be linked to having too many flour-based things recently and a return of the silent reflux and attendant cough.

DH kindly stayed with me instead of going to church, which was helpful, and he made dinner (tuna pasta).

The only thing I felt like doing today was gardening so we've put in quite a few hours between us and it's good therapy (which reminds me I need to refresh my memory on what the therapy homework is this week: I know it wasn't something that clicked with me).

I didn't get off to the best start as I managed to get a finger in the way of the secateur blades, but damage seems to be minimal, much to my surprise. Perhaps the secateurs need to be sharpened?! I've done some thinning of the damson, which is a bit like launching into a large jigsaw, but also got the neighbours' permission to do the hedge between us. There are perennial sweet peas growing though it which I thought were from their side but turned out to be mine so I needn't have asked after all.

DH and I together tackled a branch of the ash tree which was growing into the garden at the back of us. He did the heavy work and I supported. Just one branch, but once logged and dried it will feed a few log burner fires. There were also some smaller branches fallen into the lane at the back so I'm hoping it's not ash die-back disease. The tree surgeon said the tree is healthy, but that was ages ago. I've dragged the dead wood into the garden for kindling, and the newly cut wood is heaped up to dry. After that I started on the ivy that's on the fence facing us across the lane. We have permission to paint that face of the fence, which could make a shaded area a bit brighter. It may not happen, we'll see.

This evening I've finished September's financial entries on the spreadsheet and realised I need to have a think about how it's put together. DH's credit card payments will be on there monthly as he pays off the card, whereas mine go on as itemised payments. I've lumped all the DDs and SOs into one column rather than have a super-wide sheet, and I'm not entirely sure whether I count things like diesel under 'car', 'travel' or, for September, 'holiday'. However, one of the things I found while searching for the YBS details was an OU course I did on budgeting. On that there's a category for 'car' and if it works for the OU, perhaps I need to rethink my column headings.

My pay was more than I'd thought, but of course the half pay didn't kick in till 18th or thereabouts so I won't feel the pinch till next month. I've paid off my credit card and it suddenly occurred to me that the difference between the sum owed and the statement balance is because the statement is created on such and such a date and not automatically updated when I log on even though they have the knowledge to do so. This is one of the ways autism shows in me: I assumed what they refer to as the statement was the same as the statement of what I owe, rather than that thing they used to print and post to you. So the actual online statement is no more up to date than the paper ones were, though the front page 'statement' is current. Hence confusion to the logical mind... (sigh). At least I understand now.

I need to rein in spending a bit this month - thankfully both DH's and L's birthdays are already bought for, though we are having family round for DH's celebration. Food spending is now transferred to the account where DH's salary goes, and my regular saver matures this month so after this my account will be a little less tight.

Nothing spent today.

Cherryfudge

A full day, and colder than recently though I still got away with a jumper out of doors. It's rained quite a lot, too.

It was an extra day looking after DGD as her Mum had work commitments that she needs to fit in before her maternity leave starts. DH did the morning stint as usual, and I took the afternoon while he was working at the shop. I meandered through a few supermarkets on the way back to her house, and DH spent a fiver on some plates at the shop, so spending has been going on. I also found a replacement for the mug we broke at my sister's, which was only a couple of pounds and now has to be kept somewhere and not lost between now and next summer when we'll see them again.

Dinner was mackerel and a home grown tomato - the fourth one! Also couscous and peas.

This evening we managed a phone call with DS2 and it looks as though their house purchase is progressing smoothly. I also found yet more that I was supposed to have filled in and sent off for the relief job, so that's done now. I hope it's right! There was a section that appeared to be ready-filled which I don't understand as I can't remember doing it. It's possible the information was drawn down from other things as it was fairly standard, but if they can do that for one form, why not for another? I suppose it could be the restrictions of data sharing, but the end result is I'm confused and just hope I've finally done it right. There was also a short form on IT skills but despite searching the job description I had to guess about which ones I'd be expected to use. I filled it in for Word and Excel but nothing else, which is pure probability, not information.

I do hope I've completed everything but my brain was getting scrambled and I won't have time to look at it again before tomorrow evening.

Expenditure:
Gifts £2.50
Hobbies £5
Housekeeping £11.45

MS
A few discounts - wrapping paper and pate.

Not MS
Had to buy yet another black ink for the printer as it stubbornly refuses to work with one of the ones I bought last week (yet it works with the coloured one of the same brand?). So that was about £25.  

Cherryfudge

I woke up early and decided to get ahead with some prep for the group tonight, then got stuck as the material needs a DVD and ours won't fast forward any more. DH suggested we just get a basic replacement so I've ordered one for collection (£21.99). That got me on to looking up chain saws so we can get through the logs. I wanted one last year and it would have been useful the other day but I'm not ordering just now. I need to know more about it and also source protective goggles and gloves which should be easy enough.

So much for frugal October.

Other jobs still outstanding:
Take my passport in to the YBS so I can get into my banking again.
Fill in my CV for the potential TA job.
Wrap DH's birthday present and find the card I bought for him.
Finish prep for tonight (which I need to prioritise).
Buy pizzas and salad for tonight.

in_need_of_direction

The chainsaw could be a frugal spend if it reduces fuel costs

Cherryfudge

in_need_of_direction said:

The chainsaw could be a frugal spend if it reduces fuel costs

True: we have a few trees and from time to time bits of them have to come down, and while a cheap chain saw is very roughly what we'd pay for a load of wood, it also saves the cost of hiring someone for certain pruning jobs. That said, I'm not aiming to become a lumberjack! We will have to leave high or very heavy cutting to the professionals (but maybe an save a few bob by pruning before it gets to that state).

badmemory

My printer will only use 1 fake followed by 1 genuine, then 1 fake.  No idea why but if I try 2 fakes one after the other it just refuses to work.