Tales from The Shire

greent

I also suspect Monday is because of availability. It will also give everyone chance to mull things over and some may wish to be considered for leaving, having given it some thought.

Fingers crossed all works out, Fortune x At least you do have a buffer and won't be in total dire straits should the worst happen - but fingers crossed it doesn't come to that xx

Fortune_Smiles

greent said:

I also suspect Monday is because of availability. It will also give everyone chance to mull things over and some may wish to be considered for leaving, having given it some thought.

Fingers crossed all works out, Fortune x At least you do have a buffer and won't be in total dire straits should the worst happen - but fingers crossed it doesn't come to that xx

Thanks @greent.  Many of us will be facing job related/financial challenges over the coming months I fear.  Thank goodness I found MSE all those years ago - we're much better placed to meet them as a result.

Fortune x

Cheery_Daff

How very true your last statement is there Fortune. We are indeed better places than if we hadn't found MSE. Lots of changes coming your way then. I'm sure you will make the most of whatever they turn out to be xx

Fortune_Smiles

Cheery_Daff said:

How very true your last statement is there Fortune. We are indeed better places than if we hadn't found MSE. Lots of changes coming your way then. I'm sure you will make the most of whatever they turn out to be xx

I hope so Cheery 😀

Fortune x

Jessy103

Fingers crossed that all works out for the best Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Jessy103 said:

Fingers crossed that all works out for the best Fortune x

Thank you Jessy.

Fortune x

the_cross_rabbit

Hi fortune, we are in a similar boat as you with regards to jobs etc which can be very stressful. However I think been people who focus on been proactive (and have been for awhile) that stress can be lessened. Its always good to have various flexible plans to see us through (hopefully) times of upheaval. Well at least for however long the money lasts! Fingers crossed for Monday.
Take care 
CRx

beanielou

Hopefully things will become clearer soon. 

As you say the good thing is that because of MSE you are in a much better place than before MSE 😊

Fortune_Smiles

the_cross_rabbit said:

Hi fortune, we are in a similar boat as you with regards to jobs etc which can be very stressful. However I think been people who focus on been proactive (and have been for awhile) that stress can be lessened. Its always good to have various flexible plans to see us through (hopefully) times of upheaval. Well at least for however long the money lasts! Fingers crossed for Monday.
Take care 
CRx

Hi CR.  Yes, I always feel better when I have a plan... or two... or several options scoped out and fully budgeted for every eventuality 😆 It makes me feel as though I am more in control of the uncontrollable - if that's possible 😆

beanielou said:

Hopefully things will become clearer soon. 

As you say the good thing is that because of MSE you are in a much better place than before MSE 😊

Thank you Beanie.  Life before MSE 😮 Doesn't bear thinking about 😆

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Focus

It's amazing how an impending financial threat can sharpen your focus 😆  We don't need to fasten belts too tightly but I am considering our spends carefully so nothing entirely frivolous creeps in.  Spends today have been:

• o-rings for bath and basin plugs.  Another in the Annex needs replacing.
• cluster fly killer spray.  I've noticed rather a lot of flies around the windows since the sun came back.  Last year I put ant powder around the window seals and that did the job but it's difficult to apply.  The spray I've ordered leaves a residue which works for up to four weeks so that should help.  I don't like them in the house of course but they do get into the Annex too and that could be a bigger problem
• grass seed.  There's a large hole in the lawn where the poo pile used to be and it is proving irrestible to FDawg who likes to occasionally start an escape tunnel.  We often have to re-seed after mole incursions too
• 3 vintage potato racks.  These came up on FB when I was looking for vegetable drying/storage options.  £5 each, they get a new lease of life and someone local makes a little money.
• 3 stacking vegetable baskets.  £10 each.  The cheapest, practical option I could find at short notice for indoor storage.
• a bottle of shower gel as I'm running low and it bumped the vegetable basket order up so that I didn't have to pay a delivery charge
• yoga costs for the term.

We could have managed without the veg storage and I did think about cheaper options like cardboard boxes but our only dark, cool space is our utility cupboard and there's very little room in there.  A stacking option will maximise the space available and make access easier.  And we don't have to economise significantly just yet.  I've used the tittervating pot to meet the cost and will continue to save into that for other house improvement spends.  However, the fact that I'm writing down my thought process here means that I'm questioning my spending.

I plucked up the courage to go back to yoga today.  I felt quite safe and I enjoyed it immensely.  I did keep my mask on throughout though.

On the money saving front:

• we picked the first apples and blackberries of the season.  I immediately made Blackberry & Apple Crumble 😆 but used pecans instead of walnuts as I'd run out of those.  It was scummy 😋  I have two carrier bags full of apples which are earmarked for recipes this week and for freezing
• I made Courgette, Potato & Cheddar Soup (again) to use up one of the giant courgettes in the fridge.  I used a white onion again instead of spring onions and it definitely improves the flavour.  It did for three lunches
• Also Summer Sausage Cassoulet and Creamy Fish Curry to use up some of the green beans from the veg patch
• I used the first of our veg patch onions in the cassoulet 😁

We have two social events planned before the end of the month.  Mr F discovered that an old colleague and his wife are holidaying in the area so has arranged to go to dinner with them on Friday.  Simultaneously I arranged dinner dates with local friends for next week 😆  We have some fun money left in the budget so I'm hoping it will stretch to cover both outings.  I don't want to cut back on fun if we can help it - there's not much of it to be had these days and it's important for our mental health.

Our grocery shopping is still much higher than before C0vid.  Mainly because Mr F is at home full time now and he takes a lot of fuelling 😆  I'm happy that we're buying only what we need so may have to rethink our budget.

It wasn't as sunny here today but still quite warm.  I noticed that the tomatoes in my hanging baskets have started to turn red - there is hope for them yet.

Happy Hump Day all

Fortune x