Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

HairyHandofDartmoor

beanielou said:

On the bright side you do have DS1 & DS2 at home.
I have no idea when i will see mine & you are in the same boat with DS3.
    

That's the worst thing about all this, families being separated

I know I'm lucky to have DH and and the DC. Although DS2 rarely comes out of his room and I haven't laid eyes on him yet today.

Sun_Addict

It must be a worry losing the extra work and just when things were going so well, what a pain 😩 Your DS2 sounds like my DD, we rarely see her.  Stay strong and we will all get through this nightmare xx

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sun_Addict said:

It must be a worry losing the extra work and just when things were going so well, what a pain 😩 Your DS2 sounds like my DD, we rarely see her.  Stay strong and we will all get through this nightmare xx

Thanks SA .

HairyHandofDartmoor

As I've pulled a muscle in my side I can't do a lot of physical things to occupy myself like gardening, housework, or walking. So I've printed off some free adult colouring sheets for me to colour in. I tried to post the link but it wouldn't work for some reason.

As I suddenly have a lot more time on my hands I need more hobbies I can do sitting down, as I don't have many apart from posting on here, reading and watching tv. So I think the adult colouring should be good to keep me occupied when I'm at a loose end. I'm also wondering how expensive tapestry kits are. I must check them out online. If they're too expensive I'll have to give up that idea as I have plenty of time but very little money 😥.

How do my friends in diaryland occupy themselves? Does anyone have any interesting hobbies?

Today I have my lunchtime job, then I'll put a wash in the machine including my work clothes. Apart from that I could try and think of a few jobs that wouldn't hurt my side, for example cleaning the cooker and the bathroom sink should be manageable. I felt sunk in apathy yesterday and even going to school for my lunchtime job didn't seem to help, so I'm hoping I can be more productive today. I don't exactly feel bursting with energy but I'm going to try and fight the apathy today. 

Have a good and safe day everyone . The sun has come out again here in Devon 🌞.

[Deleted User]

HairyHandofDartmoor said:

As I've pulled a muscle in my side I can't do a lot of physical things to occupy myself like gardening, housework, or walking. So I've printed off some free adult colouring sheets for me to colour in. I tried to post the link but it wouldn't work for some reason.

As I suddenly have a lot more time on my hands I need more hobbies I can do sitting down, as I don't have many apart from posting on here, reading and watching tv. So I think the adult colouring should be good to keep me occupied when I'm at a loose end. I'm also wondering how expensive tapestry kits are. I must check them out online. If they're too expensive I'll have to give up that idea as I have plenty of time but very little money 😥.

How do my friends in diaryland occupy themselves? Does anyone have any interesting hobbies?


Have a good and safe day everyone . The sun has come out again here in Devon 🌞.

Sorry to hear about your pulled muscle, HHOD, and the fact that it's made you feel so down.  I know your remedy for worry and sadness is to throw yourself into doing something physical and keeping busy.  Sending hugs and hope you'll feel a lot more your usual self soon xxx

Someone in an earlier post said something about it's being a difficult time to be born but my heart breaks for those whose loved ones have died and because of their own self-isolation  they can't even attend the funeral.  There was a man on TV yesterday, married for over 50 years, whose wife had just died of the virus.  He wasn't even allowed out to attend the funeral.  Imagine the grief that poor man must be enduring, not to mention the guilt and all the other emotions.  I fear for people's psychological well being after all this is over.  We all need to try to be strong for each other, like having a good chinwag on here.  Sorry to clog up the diary, HHOD!

As for hobbies, they say board games are making a comeback.  If you have any tidied away anywhere now's the time to get them out and spend some nice family time together in the evenings. Maybe your invisible son will emerge and join in.  It can't be doing him much good being totally isolated 24/7 from the family who live in the same house. Presumably he's sociable with other people when he's globetrotting.  Doesn't he eat with the rest of you, even if only in the evening?

Just came on really  to tell you (but went off at a tangent again!) that ScPower emailed to say any customers who are having problems paying their DD etc should contact them to arrange to pay less until their financial situation improves.  Obviously they'll eventually still have to pay what they owe but not at a rate that is difficult during these unprecedented times.  Has nPower contacted you about something similar?  I know you say you and DH are experiencing major money worries at the moment which is enough in itself to make someone feel down even without the anxiety about avoiding the virus.

Take care xxx

HairyHandofDartmoor

Delichon said:

HairyHandofDartmoor said:

As I've pulled a muscle in my side I can't do a lot of physical things to occupy myself like gardening, housework, or walking. So I've printed off some free adult colouring sheets for me to colour in. I tried to post the link but it wouldn't work for some reason.

As I suddenly have a lot more time on my hands I need more hobbies I can do sitting down, as I don't have many apart from posting on here, reading and watching tv. So I think the adult colouring should be good to keep me occupied when I'm at a loose end. I'm also wondering how expensive tapestry kits are. I must check them out online. If they're too expensive I'll have to give up that idea as I have plenty of time but very little money 😥.

How do my friends in diaryland occupy themselves? Does anyone have any interesting hobbies?


Have a good and safe day everyone . The sun has come out again here in Devon 🌞.

Sorry to hear about your pulled muscle, HHOD, and the fact that it's made you feel so down.  I know your remedy for worry and sadness is to throw yourself into doing something physical and keeping busy.  Sending hugs and hope you'll feel a lot more your usual self soon xxx

Someone in an earlier post said something about it's being a difficult time to be born but my heart breaks for those whose loved ones have died and because of their own self-isolation  they can't even attend the funeral.  There was a man on TV yesterday, married for over 50 years, whose wife had just died of the virus.  He wasn't even allowed out to attend the funeral.  Imagine the grief that poor man must be enduring, not to mention the guilt and all the other emotions.  I fear for people's psychological well being after all this is over.  We all need to try to be strong for each other, like having a good chinwag on here.  Sorry to clog up the diary, HHOD!

As for hobbies, they say board games are making a comeback.  If you have any tidied away anywhere now's the time to get them out and spend some nice family time together in the evenings. Maybe your invisible son will emerge and join in.  It can't be doing him much good being totally isolated 24/7 from the family who live in the same house. Presumably he's sociable with other people when he's globetrotting.  Doesn't he eat with the rest of you, even if only in the evening?

Just came on really  to tell you (but went off at a tangent again!) that ScPower emailed to say any customers who are having problems paying their DD etc should contact them to arrange to pay less until their financial situation improves.  Obviously they'll eventually still have to pay what they owe but not at a rate that is difficult during these unprecedented times.  Has nPower contacted you about something similar?  I know you say you and DH are experiencing major money worries at the moment which is enough in itself to make someone feel down even without the anxiety about avoiding the virus.

Take care xxx

Thanks Delichon . I agree that a lot of psychological problems could emerge when this is all over. Some people are more emotionally fragile than others and will find the isolation harder to cope with than others.

I'm not really a fan of board games, but we all enjoy playing card games at Christmas. I need something I can do by myself though mainly, because DH is either working or happily watching tv, DS1 is glued to his computer games or drawing and DS2 works long hours on his business and then does computer games to relax (I think). He eats with us two or three times a week, but not every night. Other evenings he makes his own meals and eats them at different times. He's a very solitary creature. 

I haven't heard a dicky bird from NP0w3r, but they are completely useless. The trouble with all these offers of so called 'help' is that you end up owing them more money and you have to pay it all back one day. And who is to say our situation will be any better in three months time? I just hope DH can continue to get work in or I might need a new career as a bank robber!

HairyHandofDartmoor

School was fine today. I'm not needed tomorrow so that's it for over two weeks now 😥. I enjoyed chatting to the few children and adults that were at school .

I walked home from school and thought that there were more people than usual walking around on the pavements. In the past I would frequently be the only person on the pavements all the way home. But I suppose a lot of people are home from work and going for a walk 🤔. It was reasonably easy to keep a distance from them, although I had to do a semi-circle into the road a couple of times. I didn't bother to go in the food shop as we don't need anything since our Mr T delivery. There was a small queue outside but not too bad. DH drove DS2 to the chemist however and he gave up as there was a huge queue all down the street 😱, so they're going to try early tomorrow morning instead.
  
When I got home from school I talked to a fireman 😉 🤪. They had cordoned off the top of our road and a fire engine 🚒 was parked halfway down. I asked if I could go to my house and they said yes. There was a cylinder that had caught fire and they were immersing it in a bucket. So that's my excitement for today 🤣.

I've had a walk now and finished with school for a fortnight. I've put my school clothes, gloves and scarf on to wash with some other bits. This afternoon I want to clean the cooker and the sink in the bathroom as I can do those without hurting my side.

I'm not sure what to do tomorrow. I'll see how I feel in the morning. So much free time and yet I still feel tired and listless 😕. Hopefully next week I'll feel energetic again.

milann

What about buying some card making materials on line (unless you already have some ) you can make some personalised birthday cards for later in the year. There’s lots of examples on line for simple ideas......some as simple as patterns with old buttons. Something for you to do and something you can use......
OR - buy a scrapbook (there are some nice adult styled ones on line but no idea how much they are these days)  and organise some old photographs and embellish them with words, stories....maybe a memory book of things you did with your family.....again just look up scrapbooking for ideas - be warned though it can be addictive.
OR - a ball of wool and knitting needles to knit something for a hospice or a scarf to keep you warm. Aldi often have cheap wool as do B&M - or little hat or toy
OR amuse yourself with word games - write a long word and see how many smaller words you can make from it
Or Press some spring flowers in tissue between some books and make bookmarks/cards for presents
OR a jigsaw
Just a few ideas - hope they help

badmemory

Have you read that the online sale of jigsaws has doubled since this started?  Also there are some online puzzles which are good for keeping the mind active.  It is too easy to slump into the way of just watching TV if you aren't careful.  There are patience games on the computer that you can play free.  The problem is going to be that people are doing a lot of gardening & the like but that just tires the body & not the mind.

HairyHandofDartmoor

milann said:

What about buying some card making materials on line (unless you already have some ) you can make some personalised birthday cards for later in the year. There’s lots of examples on line for simple ideas......some as simple as patterns with old buttons. Something for you to do and something you can use......
OR - buy a scrapbook (there are some nice adult styled ones on line but no idea how much they are these days)  and organise some old photographs and embellish them with words, stories....maybe a memory book of things you did with your family.....again just look up scrapbooking for ideas - be warned though it can be addictive.
OR - a ball of wool and knitting needles to knit something for a hospice or a scarf to keep you warm. Aldi often have cheap wool as do B&M - or little hat or toy
OR amuse yourself with word games - write a long word and see how many smaller words you can make from it
Or Press some spring flowers in tissue between some books and make bookmarks/cards for presents
OR a jigsaw
Just a few ideas - hope they help

Thanks Milann I could look into some things like that. I actually don't own a single jigsaw puzzle but maybe I could try buying one, I used to enjoy doing them as a child. I can't knit to save my life as I drop stitches like mad and never notice ☺.

 I'm not an amazingly crafty person, but I think I could enjoy sewing a tapestry or doing a jigsaw and I used to like doing those Puzzler books which had  crosswords and word searches in when I was a child .