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

HairyHandofDartmoor

IzzyBee said:

I agree Milann I think those working with the public should have had the vaccine they have done a great job working through all of this

Unfortunately this is not going to happen .

HairyHandofDartmoor

doingitanyway said:

It is great reading about gardens and plants and critters on here. Spring is coming!

Thanks DIA 🙂. Indeed it is 🌷🥀🌱

HairyHandofDartmoor

elizabethhull said:

We've now had 2 sessions with DGS via Zoom, on his own. Today, he was telling us how the (lady) lodger's guinea-pigs only eat cucumber after he's gone to sleep, in the darkedness !!!

I think it is such a great shame that so many people have been made very anxious about everyday life, to an extent it is difficult imagining 'normal' life again. DH and I are virtually recluses, as are many people we know, to the extent that taking the car for it's service & MOT is an exciting 'outing' !

I'm glad you've had some DGS zoom time Elizabeth .

People are anxious and in many ways they are right to be. I think people will have to take baby steps to build up their confidence once it's safe to resume our normal activites.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Fidelia said:

elizabethhull said:

I think it is such a great shame that so many people have been made very anxious about everyday life, to an extent it is difficult imagining 'normal' life again. DH and I are virtually recluses, as are many people we know, to the extent that taking the car for it's service & MOT is an exciting 'outing' !

I agree with this 100%, Elizabeth. DH and I are venturing out only if absolutely essential and we've come to realise that very little actually is.  My worry is that a lot of people seem to have 'jumped the gun' somewhat and are already acting as if the virus has disappeared.  We drove through our small town today for the first time in weeks.  Only stopped at the Post Office to post a parcel and at the garage for DH to buy petrol seeing as the garage was on our route.  Living so rurally it's not a great idea to be running on fumes as no one knows when an emergency might call for the use of the car.  I couldn't believe how many people were out and about in the town, gathered in largish groups on the narrow pavements.  Very few were wearing masks and they were certainly not socially distanced.  I know the virus spreads less easily outdoors but several of these  people were throwing their heads back and laughing scarily close to each other.  Any droplets would have been well and truly transferred!  I was glad to arrive home safely but the experience put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.   I'm usually a glass half full type of person but at the moment I have a hunch that the final release from lockdown in June won't happen because idiots will spoil things by behaving too rashly in the meantime.

badmemory said:

The trouble is that no government can legislate against idiots & this country seems to have managed to accumulate an awful lot of idiots in the last few years.  There are some places I need to go that I just feel like screaming "what don't you get?".  I find it really weird to go into a 3 store precinct & 2 of them are always fine, faces covered & distancing but the 3rd is a nightmare, 50% no masks & being jostled & no-one giving you the chance to shop properly.  The 2 shops, you look at what you want & people wait, you say thank you when you are done & move on, they smile nod or whatever.  The other, they even jostle you in the queue when it can gain them no advantage at all.  Obviously (unfortunately), you don't need an IQ test to shop!  Whatever happened to humans instinct of self preservation because it certainly seems to be missing in a lot of people at present.

Personally I am going nowhere until I decide it is going to be safe.  Governments can say what they like but I am sticking with my self preservation instincts.

I do agree about all the idiots in this country 😡. Unfortunately although the idiots are in the minority, they can cause a lot or problems for the sensible majority 😡. Scientists are warning about people who have been vaccinated ignoring the rules now because they think they're safe 🙄 .

I completely agree that I'll do activities when I decide it's safe and not when the goverment tells us it's safe. I wouldn't trust the government to do anything that's not in it's own self interest. The best person to take care of my safety is ME.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sunshine_girl2 said:

Another week finished , I hope it's not been too stressful and you are looking forward to a lovely weekend . 

Thanks Sunshine

milann said:

Happy weekend Hairy 👍

Thanks Milann

jwil said:

Have a lovely weekend  

Thanks Jwil

Fidelia said:

Wishing you, HH, and all the lovely people who post on here a relaxing weekend with the opportunity to enjoy a bit of sunshine even if it's only from our own gardens.  The lighter mornings and evenings are certainly a spirit-lifter aren't they?

Jonathan Van-Tam's message yesterday at the Downing street briefing was brilliant.  ''Don't wreck it now'' was exactly what needed to be said but, sadly, I doubt the idiots who think it doesn't apply to them were either watching or hearing it even if they were!

Take care, all xx

Thanks Fidelia 🙂. I hope that idiots don't wreck it, but they probably will to some extent, sigh 🙄.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I had  a good week at school as we had lovely sunshine most of the week 😎☀️. At lunchtime on Thursday and Friday I actually felt too hot in my winter coat and had to take it off 😃.

I'm so bored at lunchtimes though because there are three of us looking after about 25% of our normal children and so we're not kept very busy, which becomes mind numbingly tedious after a while 😒. All of the MTAs are looking forward to the rest of the children returning because we're bored. The TAs have mixed feelings because they've been able to do things they don't normally have time to do, like sort out the library, wall displays, records, etc. We got the children to help make a sign on Friday saying 'Welcome Back' to hang up to greet the children who are returning to school. They either coloured in a letter or a flower to go with the message. I think this is a lovely idea 🙂.

It's such lovely sunshine today that I've actually put my washing in the garden on the clothes horse ☀️😎. DH felt inspired to hose down the patio and side passage to get rid of algae and I pulled up a few of the bigger weeds. The flowers are all perking up in the sunshine and our grape hyacinths are starting to flower now🌷 🌻 🌺. The crocuses had started to bud but then the cold spell killed them off, but they are flowering again now, mostly yellow ones but I can see one purple one. 

It's perfect gardening weather and I'd love to do more out there but I'm really tired and achey after my week at school. My feet are sore and my leg is painful at the front above my ankle 😣. I've been having trouble with it since January and DS3 thinks I have shin splints. I had to take cocodemol and put ibuprofen gel on my leg so I could get to sleep and the pain woke me up at 7am 😣. DH was in a deep sleep until 8am so I just tossed and turned for an hour.

Anyway I've decided that the loafers I wear every day aren't giving me enough support so I've ordered some black leather trainers from Cl@rks. They're smart enough for school with trousers and should be very comfortable. In the feedback a nurse and physiotherapist recommended them as being good for people who are on their feet all day, so I'm looking forward to them arriving. I ordered wide fit and normal fit and I'll send back the least comfortable pair. I got 10% off for signing up for their mailing list. I think it will be money well spent.

It was pay day on Thursday 🎉🎉🎉. We had some back pay of tax credits this month and DH has been bringing in some work, so I was able to save all of my wages this month 😁. I bought DH and me £50 of premium bonds each, then put £300 in the holiday fund and £300 in the EF. I also put £200 in my SEF. I love saving money and it was a real wrench to spend money on the trainers for school 😂.

 I hope everyone is having a lovely Saturday with some of my sunshine 😎.

Fidelia

HairyHandofDartmoor said:

It was pay day on Thursday 🎉🎉🎉. We had some back pay of tax credits this month and DH has been bringing in some work, so I was able to save all of my wages this month 😁. I bought DH and me £50 of premium bonds each, then put £300 in the holiday fund and £300 in the EF. I also put £200 in my SEF. I love saving money and it was a real wrench to spend money on the trainers for school 😂.

 I hope everyone is having a lovely Saturday with some of my sunshine 😎.

It's such a good feeling saving money after years of it all going the other way isn't it?  I still enjoy the  relative novelty of it!  I can understand how it was a wrench having to spend money on the trainers but it's an essential outlay rather than a 'want'.  You're on your feet for much of the day and you can't risk damaging your feet or legs.  A friend had similar trouble once and saw a private chiropodist.  He wasn't called a chiropodist as such, some other fancy name.  Money well spent she said as they examined her posture, gait and everything.  She ended up getting specially-made inserts to put in her regular shoes and has had no problems since.

I can appreciate why frontline workers such as teachers are upset about not being prioritised for jabs but there are so many occupations who qualify as vulnerable if they work in close contact with the public.  The police and taxi drivers come to mind to name just two and they amount to hundreds of thousands of people. They feel their claim is more valid than anyone working with young children. They work with adults whereas according to the 'experts' teachers and TAs working with children are in contact with less virus risk.  I'm not saying either opinion is right, just saying what it appears to be from the viewpoint of an outsider.  No offence meant so I hope none has been taken xx.  Anyway, at the rate the vaccine rollout is going it won't be very long before even the over 40s will be safely 'jabbed'.  Has your DH had his yet, HH, or at least had an appointment?

HairyHandofDartmoor

Thanks Fidelia 🙂. DH had his vaccine on Tuesday (due to his diabetes, BMI and other risk factors). I'm expecting to get mine in March based on me being in my late fifties.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Some spring flowers from my garden 🌷🌻🌺 .

HairyHandofDartmoor

My crocuses are flowering again 🌺🌻 . I don't know why the leaves are so tall and the flowers so short though 🤔 .