Tales from The Shire

teapot2

I'm a fan of the D@g H@ouse too, lovely programme x

SandyShores

Fortune_Smiles said:

Re-write

I've just drafted a long, wingey post about all the things that have gone wrong in the last few days and the poor customer service we've received.  Then I got over myself.

Fortune, I've done the same thing a few times lately, and then caught myself.  But there's nothing wrong with have a good winge

Kittenkirst

Great to see so many positives; totally understand what you mean though that our everyday niggles and annoyances seem big to us but in the global context, really are such small things (still makes them annoying)

Have you any plans whilst you have the house to yourself?

Fortune_Smiles

savingholmes said:

Well done on the progress with and tackling your health goals. 

Lovely gratitude list. I think world events have a way of shocking us back into appreciating the basics.

Thanks @savingholmes.  I've so much to be grateful for.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

teapot2 said:

I'm a fan of the D@g H@ouse too, lovely programme x

It's a real tonic isn't it @teapot2.

SandyShores said:

Fortune_Smiles said:

Re-write

I've just drafted a long, wingey post about all the things that have gone wrong in the last few days and the poor customer service we've received.  Then I got over myself.

Fortune, I've done the same thing a few times lately, and then caught myself.  But there's nothing wrong with have a good winge

You're right @SandyShores - a good winge is important.  It's a bit like opening the valve of a pressure cooker.  Just trying to keep things in perspective.  As they say - it's ok to have a meltdown, just don't unpack and live there 😆

Kittenkirst said:

Great to see so many positives; totally understand what you mean though that our everyday niggles and annoyances seem big to us but in the global context, really are such small things (still makes them annoying)

Have you any plans whilst you have the house to yourself?

Thanks @Kittenkirst.  I just used the opportunity to catch up on some housework although I did make the most of having sole control of the remote 😆

Fortune x

SandyShores

Custody of the remote control!!  A rare treat

Fortune_Smiles

Torn

I'm struggling to settle to anything at the moment, the news is so distracting.  We've sent our Random Acts of Kindness budget for the month to the Disasters Emergency Committee but it feels such a small gesture in the face of such a huge issue.  Mr F and I decided we would take in refugees but there doesn't seem to be a mechanism in place for doing so.  Ireland has put in place a process through the Red Cross which allows members of the public to register to host but it doesn't look as though our Government has anything similar in mind.  I suppose all we can do is keep going, help where we can and be ready to do more if called upon.

So in the interests of keeping going:

Health

• I've learned four Tai Chi forms so far.  They are quite short once you've committed them to memory so I shall tag them onto my back and knee exercises so I continue to practice them whilst learning further forms
• my back is almost fully recovered now 😁
• my knee needs further work.

Wealth

• we've received quotes for replacing the two areas of our fencing that are most badly damaged.  I need to clarify a couple of things with the Fence Man before agreeing to the work
• accounts are balancing and budgets holding.  Mr F will need to speak to his employer though as we're not sure his mileage allowance will cover his costs going forward given the huge increase in the price of fuel
• we still don't have a correct company car benefit value from Mr F's employer so he'll need to chase them for that
• I've meal planned for the week and the grocery shop came in on budget.

Happiness

• I met up with a friend for lunch on Monday.  We tried a new cafe in town which was lovely.  Costs to be met from personal spends
• converted my CP points to book tokens and bought a couple of books to keep me going from our local book shop.  Also one as a birthday present for Mr F
• attended a book launch for one of the members of my writing group.  Refreshments were provided but I bought a copy of the book.  Costs to be met from personal spends
• I had a dreadful headache yesterday afternoon which is not something to be happy about.  But, I was able to go and lie down for a few hours and Mr F cooked supper and looked after me.  He was even able to provide a bar of chocolate 😁  He's a keeper 😁

All the above seems so trivial but I'm trying to remember what Louis William Rogers said - "Great things are possible only to strong souls and it's from the trivial events of daily life that strength is won."

So, in the words of another strong soul (@beanielou)- "Keep plodding" everyone.

Fortune x

ruby_eskimo

I think all any of us can do is to 'keep plodding' at the moment after everything that's happened in the past 2 years and with the fear of what's to come. I think with the government we have at the moment, the chances of them doing anything practical to help refugees is very unlikely so it's up to the rest of us to do what we can to help.  Good to hear that Mr F is earning his keep looking after you and hope his tax and mileage gets sorted soon - I don't miss those days of mileage claims! 

savingholmes

Glad you are doing okay. Love the statement about it being okay to have a meltdown just don't unpack and live there... Going to borrow that.

Fortune_Smiles

ruby_eskimo said:

I think all any of us can do is to 'keep plodding' at the moment after everything that's happened in the past 2 years and with the fear of what's to come. I think with the government we have at the moment, the chances of them doing anything practical to help refugees is very unlikely so it's up to the rest of us to do what we can to help.  Good to hear that Mr F is earning his keep looking after you and hope his tax and mileage gets sorted soon - I don't miss those days of mileage claims! 

I did hear something from Boris on the news last night @ruby_eskimo.  It looks as though they'll be announcing something about home hosting for refugees in a few days time.  I'm not sure we'll meet the criteria as we're rural which could make it difficult for anyone staying with us.  However, if people need homes they need homes so we'll see.  We'll register anyway.

HMRC are the bane of my life - they randomly send out amendments to Mr F's tax about three times each year... and all are wrong!  Now Mr F's employer are muddying the waters too 😡

savingholmes said:

Glad you are doing okay. Love the statement about it being okay to have a meltdown just don't unpack and live there... Going to borrow that.

It's too easy to wallow sometimes and it's not a nice place to spend any time so I give myself a good talking too every now and again 😆

Fortune x