Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

I walked over to my friend's house this evening (got a lift home - and isn't it foggy!) so I've just about got my steps in today which is just as well as I've been eating cake and a biscuit.

My sister rang: progress is being made on the house by the sound of it and she thinks the water dripping from the ceiling was condensation! I'm not entirely convinced but I haven't seen it. We do now have two years' worth of Council Tax to pay there: nearly £4000! Ah well, there is money in the estate to cover it and it's best to be on the right side of the law.

My jobs list for today now looks like this:
ironing 1 DONE
ironing 2 DONE
ironing 3
ironing 4
one load into washer DONE
put away clean laundry DONE
prep study for tonight DONE
piano practice DONE
15 minutes decluttering
Get dinner and random shopping DONE

I have decluttered a book and some scraps of paper but not much.

Spends:
Piano lesson £10.00
Household (fire extinguisher) £14.99
Housekeeping £2.50
MS stuff:
Wandered round the supermarket deciding I didn't want this, that and the other: I'd rather have the space and the money. This is happening quite a lot now.
Found the missing butter - in the butter dish. :rotfl: I never thought to look there.:o
Confession time:
Threw out the dregs of a pint of milk and loads of yogurt that had gone off because I chose other things last week.

Cherryfudge

Today the dishwasher is on and I have planted a bag of crocus bulbs I found languishing behind the tub of gardening gloves, trowel and other garden treasure that I don't allow in the shed in case they emerge 20 years later, ruined.

The bulbs say to plant August to December... I think early April is close enough, don't you? The poor things were sprouting and might have starved if I'd made them wait all summer. Still to go in are tulips, snowdrops, anemones, oxalis and liatris, though I'm not sure any but the tulips are in with much of a chance. I have them in to soak in the hope of giving them a kick start.

Today's job list needs to prepare me for a long day at work tomorrow as there's training as well as my usual shift, then I'm working all weekend... I checked my diary and calendar against each other this morning and found my work/life pattern for the next few weeks isn't quite what I thought so I'm trying to rejig things a bit. Near the top of the list is buying oats, yogurt and frozen berries for work meals.

List:

• ironing pile 1
• ironing pile 2
• shops
• declutter
• get ahead on next week's study prep
• piano practice
• sort some scarves and bags for charity
• check emails

parsniphead

Another busy day for you cherry.

It sounds like the rest of the week is going to be very busy for you. Try to make some time for your self.

Cherryfudge

8.20pm update: a little progress made on the official list: emails are checked, shops are shopped at, a dozen books have gone to the charity shop and a good handful of papers are in recycling. Ironing is untouched today but there's a small start made on thinning out bags and scarves. The snowdrops are now planted as well as the crocuses, I hope the blackbird doesn't dig them up.

Spends:
Housekeeping £12.13
MS stuff:
Used up some cous cous with coriander and a lemon we had in store instead of buying ready made.
Tomorrow's lunch is ready in the fridge though I've to make a sandwich or something for tea as well.
DH had something of a win: we'd accidentally let our free anti-virus for the computer overrun and found they had billed us £90 for another year's worth! He rang up to cancel and got it down to £35 which I guess isn't too bad - certainly better than £90.
I found the limescale prevention powder is cheaper than tablets.

I think I need to go and catch up on diaries...

Cherryfudge

Yesterday and today both = NSDs.

Work, work, work, sleep... plus mooching on the computer and completing the ironing. Sadly no gardening or decluttering for a couple of days. I'm working through till Tuesday morning now and expect to be away Wednesday to Friday next week to work on Mum's house so I'm not sure how much I'll get done here but I'll try.

DH has sounded out the kitchen wall for electricals and there don't seem to be any hidden ones so he has started to drill the holes for the cupboard fixings which is proving hard work. DS is lending some gadget tomorrow to help. We still only have two cupboard carcasses assembled but they don't take very long. I'm determined to get more stuff out of the house over the weekend somehow!

WannabeFree

You are so busy!

Hoping you're finding some time to yourself xx

Cherryfudge

This part of my rota is always busy, Wannabe . I do get days off when other people don't, though, and I enjoy what I do. Another busy shift today and they've drafted some extra staff in to help as it's a somewhat unusual situation so it's been all go, but quite fun.

We went to the car boot sale and bought some plants this morning. The field is still on the muddy side but not as bad as it has been! Didn't stay too long and managed to tidy up a bit before lunch as well as restocking the ironing pile.

Spends:
Garden £4.00
MS stuff:
Car boot plants cost less.
Confession time:
I've invented a variation on overnight oats which is very more-ish but more expensive AND more calorific than my usual version.

parsniphead

I never think of going to carboots for plants cherryfudge. I will keep that in mind.

Wow, well done on your DS for the electrical stuff. My DS has no practical skills whatsoever. I should have married a builder.

Cherryfudge

My favourite carboot has some super plant stalls parsnip, though it's worth having a look round because the same plant can often be found at quite different prices.

DS is very practical and DIY-minded - we want to grow up to be like him :rotfl: The kitchen wall turned out to be safe but nigh-on impossible to drill so getting the cabinets up is going to take seriously hard work. So far one of the hoped-for five is in place. I have filled it, in its doorless and untrimmed state, with a tasteful array of plastic boxes. That should encourage further work.

Well, here I am on the famous Day Off again, with far too much stuff to do to know where to start. It won't be kitchen cabinets because if DH can't do them on his own, neither can I. If the wind drops, I might try to fit in a run later.

I got some groceries yesterday, which reminds me I haven't actually started a spreadsheet for this financial year, or completed last year's! I have the data (mostly on here) but am rubbish at getting down to filling it in.

I also got rid of a small handful of paper... so much for making progress over the weekend but extra work time and energy spent with a busy work weekend put paid to that so I'm glad I made even that tiny bit of progress.

Today's list (to be added to or crossed off as the day goes on:

• type up things for tonight - done
• Look up shopping list for Mum's house and either put in an order or go out to shops - not much so will have shop today and carry it - so I need my case out of the loft
• declutter another handful of papers - half a handful done!
• find another book for the charity box - done - 2 books!
• do piano practice noooo...
• plant the bulbs that have been soaking for a few days - done, and entered into my gardening log so I know what they are if they come up
• if it gets dry enough, mow the lawn - it's raining
• tidy kitchen - better than it was
• clean bathroom - done
• get spring clothing out of the loft and put some winter stuff up - done: a bin bag full of winter woollies
• pack for trip to work on Mum's house - started
• find my summer mac
• do some ironing
• do some handwashing
• ...and breathe

Spends 16/4/18:
toiletries £4.00
Housekeeping £12.09
MS stuff:
Saved £2.40 on a multi-buy

Cherryfudge

Interesting... When I accidentally cancelled my mortgage DD last month I went into the local branch and had them set up a new one. I also made an overpayment on the mortgage of more than my DD amount, a short while later.

I've just checked the account - the new DD hasn't been taken out! I'm off to the branch to see what's going on. Presumably they haven't alerted me because the sum due has been paid - but only by accident. If I had been more organised and the end of last month hadn't fallen where it did, it would look as though I wasn't paying.