Prosperous soul in the making

savingholmes

Thanks Jwil, Dancing and Drawing a line
How frustrating Dancing to live so close and still not be able to go and explore
Drawing a line - we used 111 to get emergency prescription to Mr As for DH's diabetes meds - perhaps you could try the
same. 

One CC has to be repaid by 1/7/20 or we have to pay to transfer. That has a balance of £1562. So this is our current priority. After that the next 3 CCs are due for full repayment between April and July of 2021.

I've done a little more painting today which always cheers me up - I reused 2 canvases from earlier in the week

MovingForwards

Can you get that CC cleared in time? Even if it takes a couple of minimum payments on the others?

I've not yet had the guts to reuse my failed paintings, as I'm worried the new one will flake off or something. I really should look into it 🤭

doingitanyway

Glad you are enjoying your painting despite all the madness of this situation. You seem to be juggling things well.
Hope there is some sunshine where you are

savingholmes

Hi MF - yes we should be able to repay the CC in that time. We have an EF and were savings towards paying the chairs off in full at the end of April. They are now delayed - really hope we don't end up losing the deposit! On re-using paintings - I am of the 'glve it a go' persuasion. I think you are supposed to sand them down before reusing - but I haven't which has given mixed results... I am still learning and experimenting (and using painting to stay sane) so not overly concerned. I'm also conscious that I may not be able to get replacement canvases at the moment.

Hi DIA - we are both lucky so far that we can work from home - and I was already working reduced hours due to my leg injury. Each person having a room dedicated to them plus shared rooms and a garden definitely helps. DS has now finished his assignments - hoping he will now help around the house more. He is a great cook. DD is finding it hard not helped by TOM. She is still talking about doing her Vlog next week - possibly with the help of DS. One of her friends is a really fussy eater - and we had what she craves so dropped it around earlier. It is nice to do little things that can help others. I've been doing work, reading, painting, utube, listening to books to stay sane.

DH has chopped most of a tree down that I've wanted cleared for a few years. Should give us more sun and less shade. It's now easier to see the flowering cherry and plum trees along our bank fence. Out the front earlier I was watching blue tits do what may have been a mating dance on the old stalks of sedums. I've never been more grateful for having a garden with a strong backbone of evergreen (or red) variations - helped out by perennials and bulbs in flower. The other day I pruned our buddleia (butterfly bush) and a green acer. Next on my list is some box in our front garden and potentially the old sedum stalks. Then photinia (red robin) in the back. It has dark green and red leaves - beautiful.  DD would like us to restore our pond - to do that we would need to buy pond liner and possibly some pipe work it may be possible but we were never completely sure what broke - and it was few years ago now. Trying to pace ourselves.

lucielle

All sounding very busy SH.  It was quite gloomy and overcast here but did manage to get a load of washing dry
L

savingholmes

Hi Lucielle! Waves - nice to see you back. It was on the cold side but a beautiful day here. I watched DH do stuff in the garden - but in practice I stuck to art today. Just clearing the kitchen enough to paint - and then doing it - seemed to aggravate my leg today sadly and nothing shifted it.

In my GP chat the other day she suggested I try and come off HRT. I'm wondering about giving it a go - DS couldn't get meds again when he went today as some on order but just not arrived.

I had an online order with Mr As for this coming Thursday but cancelled it - as I had booked one for the following Tuesday anyway. DS gets stir crazy and needs to go out... I worry every time he does though. DH suggested we do a food audit tomorrow and see what tinned food we have  -perhaps put the same types of food together - that way I will hopefully not buy stuff we already have. 

Night all 

savingholmes

Well we had a productive weekend. . I sorted out a roast beef dinner today - and later DS made us an all day breakfast for a late tea. I also asked him to hoover the hall, stairs and landing as he was complaining of allergies and given that the Dys0n was then stuffed to the gills it was obviously a good call. Ideally all the house needs hoovering but DH did at least sweep the living room yesterday while searching for the TV remote - it had been missing down the back of a cupboard for at least 4 weeks!! We've got most of the washing done - the kids each did their own while helped. We've also done about 6 loads in the dishwasher - cooking real meals with potatoes and fresh veg using steamer pans really use up space.

Our new (plug in) 2 ring induction hob came yesterday and I am in love. I set a timer to boil the potatoes and veg - it works with our existing pans - so all good. When lockdown is over we plan to get an integrated induction hob to fit the space the gas hob is in - but will need a professional to sort that out. When we redo our kitchen later - we would then just re-use it. Meanwhile we've been managing on one ring for a while - so two rings is a huge improvement - and we still have 1 working gas ring as back up. DS suggested it - I hadn't even known it was an option. It was about £75 including next day delivery so really impressed.

I did some pruning in the garden and DS stuffed the branches in the bin while DD played with our dog. I got DS to bring me out a chair when our neighbours talked to me through the fence for about half an hour. I think they are really feeling the isolation and it was good for me too. Our garden is starting to look a little clearer. Lots more pruning to do - don't even talk about weeding. We go for the natural look in our garden - honest. Thankfully there is weed suppressing fabric down and some wood paths and lots of bark and leaf litter which helps keep the weeds down fairly naturally. The cherry and plum trees are in blossom which look very pretty. I also have various pots with bulbs and other plants in. I think forget-me-nots will flower soon. At some point we want to get a tree person back to chop down / back a couple of trees that are now about as tall as our house. I've paid for the pruning with leg pain tonight but it was worth it.

DH got to sleep around 3am and got up at 10 and then went back to bed mid afternoon and got up again around 7 or 8pm. I asked him whether he needed to up his medication and he realised he hadn't taken it around 9pm which was probably why he'd felt rough all day. Men! I need to send DS back to the chemist (Mr As) tomorrow and get them to give me the bits that are ready as I am about to run out of my other pain killer. It's taking around 2 weeks now to get the doctors to do the prescription and then get the pharmacy to fill it - not good. I am grateful though that that is our worst problem right now.

The kids got up at midday today. I used the time to go through our finances and look at what the plan would be if we mostly prioritised saving this year. Will see how things go. I hope me and DH will be fine but who knows. I'm sure DS could get some kind of job but still want to protect him. Need to work through different options and weigh the risks.

MovingForwards

Your day has been very productive and it's great everyone pitched in and helped.

I do think more of us should have the double hob as a back up, they are very handy and can get lent to friends when they hit a blip.

Set an alarm on DH phone, to remind him to take his meds. It's so easy for them to slip due to having no real routine, like when you do go out to work.

Waiting 2 weeks plus for meds to be ready isn't good, can your doctor not prescribe a few more and you request them a few days earlier?
(I hope your prescriptions are free or you have a pre-pay certificate - I moaned at my old GP due to them prescribing a small amount, said I couldn't afford to keep paying the fee but also couldn't be without my meds, they prescribed more from that point on, so pleased mine are free up here!)

Can DS claim UC when Uni breaks up for summer? I know it's not loads, but better than nothing. Or, he can apply to a supermarket, they are doing loads of PT contracts, fixed term and permanent, that way he could keep it when Uni starts again, either remotely or face2face. 

Remember, not to overdo it!

savingholmes

I have a pre-payment certificate. 

[Deleted User]

Sounds like you had a very productive day Holmes, and great that you got a bit of socialising in via the neighbours. Your garden and surrounding areas also sound beautiful!