Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Toni'sfriend

Don't think I've ever had sorrel. I must look into that. Thank you.

HairyHandofDartmoor

It must feel quiet without Cat. It took me ages to stop feeling sad about losing our house rabbit and missing his little furry face nosing around everywhere 😥.

Your gardening actvities sound like a calming distraction. I'm envious of your pond but don't have room for one, so may have to settle for a bird bath instead  🤣.

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
Well, despite good intentions, I haven't really done a fat lot today in terms of my usual household productivity. I've fed the veg, got my sourdough jar prepped for baking bread tomorrow, had a little tidy, done a trug full of deadheading in the garden, picked a bunch of sweet peas & mostly then just spent the day engaging in leisure activities such as finishing my book.
I did get next week's meal plans done, however. The shopping list doesn't look too long, having based our meals around what has become a fairly regular template. My meal plans go from Saturday to Friday. On Saturdays, Mr F likes to cook & often opts for something with a bit of a 'fakeaway' vibe (a good way to keep temptation in check).....so this Saturday, it will be pea & beef kerala & rice. Then on Sunday, we very often cook a chicken or meat joint, from which I plan in an additional two days of meals. This time, I've planned to do a pork shoulder in my slow cooker- a spicy recipe, so it will be served on toasted bread rolls or baguettes on Sun with various salads, coleslaw, etc, then I will heat some up the next day & serve it in bowls with a stack of home made jacket wedges. On Tuesday, we will eat up the rest of it with some sort of veggie rice, which will depend entirely on what we've got in & what is ready in the garden. Mid-week, I like to do some fish - we have some smoked haddock in the freezer from our Grimsby fish box, so I've planned to have that with new potatoes, peas & mushrooms.  Then if possible some meals from the freezer, thus negating the need to buy anything extra. This time, I have chosen the spicy chickpea burgers I batch-cooked a while ago in home made rolls topped with a cheese slice & served with a big salad and a selection of leftover curries from when we had our 'Lockdown curry night'. We froze quite a lot of leftover fish curry & some dhal and there is a spare portion of chickpea & spinach curry which can also be added into the mix along with home made garlic flatbreads. Sometimes our choice of meals is more random than this, but I find that generally it helps the budget if I have at least a vague template/method. 
As many of us have been saying, grocery budgets have struggled over the last 3 or 4 months because shopping had frankly been a bit weird. Although lots of the original shortages seem to have improved, there are still products which are missing from the shelves & we have found that the brands that are there are often the more expensive ones. We also still choose to buy double of items when we do see them, as we know supplies have been erratic. I also feel it is very important to ensure that if either of us gets the call to say we have been in contact with an infected person & need to self-isolate as per the government Covid control system, we have sufficient food & other essential supplies to last us for the 14 days during which we are not allowed to go out. We have no confidence that we would be able to get an online delivery slot (a family member was shielding someone on chemo & even they couldn't get a supermarket delivery!) so it is important to me that we are super-prepared for this eventuality without being over the top about it. 
But I am hopeful that tomorrow's shop for the week ahead may just come in on budget.
Fingers crossed!
I'm going to look for curtain fabric & a bedroom blind online now........we might be waiting for the building work, but there are still plenty of planned home improvement jobs we can do ourselves & if I have to look at our current bedroom curtains much longer, I swear I will rip them down with my bare hands & jettison them straight into the bin! Privacy would then be a major issue as our bedroom overlooks the street. Defo time for 'Operation Skankerous Curtains'!
Cheers all,
F x

foxgloves

HHoD - Yes, it is a different house without him. We've had other cats, & lost them in time, as one always does eventually with pets, & we will get used to it. At the moment, we are at that stage of adjusting to him not being there. He was a very vocal cat, always got something to say & very friendly and funny. I have stuck my head around the lounge door three times today to see if he was up on our big sunny windowsill having a snooze before remembering he's gone & won't be there ever again. We will have another cat - but not for a long time. I think you go through that thing of not wanting a new cat, but just wishing you hadn't lost the old one & wanting him back. That's how we are at the moment, anyway. Also, we have a lot of disruption still to come this year, with various building work as well as some fairly major decorating, flooring, etc, & it wouldn't be practical to have a new cat moving in with all that upheaval. We have been looking out some lovely photos of our furry boy & although we are sad, it is nice to think we were able to give him a lovely 6 years with us, as he had previously had a very rough time as a homeless street cat.
F x

Pixiehouse55

Huge hugs to you Foxgloves ((((((((((  xxxx))))))))) our pets are our babies arnt they, losing them leaves such a big hole in our lives. I do hope it starts to get easier for you soon... Today my late mums partner of 17 years passed away to the nasty C word, a lovely thoughtful man that did everything for my mum.
Most of our work from the burst pipe has been done now. The laminated flooring is not sitting right, they think it's a manufacturer fault, we are now waiting (2 weeks so far)  for the company that they got the flooring from to see what they have to say and the assessors are waiting to hear from our insurance company!!!!. When willmit end!!!. Just catching up with what you've all been up to as I haven't been around much-  lots going on at home 
Stay safe everyone 

Dottles1

Hi Foxglove
I haven't been around much lately due to work commitments and generally feeling Kn**k***d but just wanted to drop in to add my condolences for the loss of your lovely little pal.  As you know, you will feel better in time but your grief is a measure of how loved he was.  I hope he is lying on a sunny celestial windowsill somewhere feeling fine.
Take care x

foxgloves

PIxiehouse55 - Thanks, yes it is sad when we lose a much loved pet.
Sorry to hear about your Mum's partner. Yes, a horrible disease, still taking far too many people, despite treatments nowadays being better & more effective than ever. Glad to hear the work on your house is coming right. These things take so much time, don't they?

Dottles1 - Thanks. Sorry to hear you are feeling tired out from work commitments. Yes, if there is a warm celestial windowsill anywhere, you can bet our furry boy will be sprawled out on it.
F x

foxgloves

Hello Diary readers,
Well, after waking at Insane O'Clock this morning, I completely surprised myself by falling back to sleep & didn't wake until Mr F was standing over me waving a welcome cup of coffee! I have to admit that I have been out of sorts today. I've sort of pootled around sticking neither particularly at one thing or another, until I actually sat down & asked myself firmly what exactly was the matter. 
Did I feel poorly? No.
Is it lack of sleep? No.
Is it stress or anxiety? No, not any more than any of us are feeling in the midst of a global pandemic, anyway.
Is it not being able to get outside due to today's incessant rain? No, as I have plenty to do indoors & did have a little walk to post a birthday card
And then it hit me that it was actually my first full-on case of Lockdownitis. I think I've generally coped with the whole Lockdown situation very well, but today I am definitely having a day of being fed-up with it. We have been fortunate in many ways - our income has remained in place, I haven't had to worry about elderly parents or motivate children into doing their school work. I'm in a good relationship & that has made everything easier. I am aware that I am currently in a better financial position than the many people who are struggling at the moment & I am so very grateful for that........but for some reason, I have been struck with a Lockdownitis today & have felt decidedly less than perky. I never really get bored, but I have felt today that I would just love to go to the city centre or to look around one of our favourite NT places or similar. Neither of us feel ready to do so yet, however, as we both feel than the easing of lockdown has been a bit premature when comparing UK infection/death rates with fellow European countries. Mr F is off tomorrow & we are going to have a little trip into town. It will be nice to look around the market, get a birthday present posted & to visit our favourite coffee shop, which is only doing take-way coffees & cakes, but it will be lovely to go & say 'Hello' & feel at least a semblance of normality.
I haven't wasted today......I enjoyed skyping my sister, I've baked a nice crusty sourdough loaf, a batch of rolls & made a pizza for tonight. I've donned my purple spotty waterproof & been down to the veggie garden to check the new beans hadn't drowned (they hadn't!) & while I was down there, I picked a bowl of strawberries, cut a lollo rosso lettuce & pulled a few spring onions. I've ordered 8m of curtain material which means I'm a stage nearer to getting rid of our horrid bedroom curtains, I've watched an episode of 'The A-Word' which was vaguely uplifting, done the ironing & wrapped a birthday gift.
But in truth, I've done most of it with a grump on.
And I want that grump gone by tomorrow, so to borrow an expression from my Dad, I'd "better buck my ideas up!"
I was a teen with attitude, so was frequently being told such things!
Anyone else had Lockdownitis today?
F xx

HairyHandofDartmoor

I get times when I get totally hacked of with lockdown, but I'm much better now I'm back at work almost full-time. I just love having people to talk to. But weekends feel distinctly dull with no NT trips, no coffee out, no window shopping, no meeting family, etc. I still don't want to do those things even if they're open because I'm worried about lack of toilets. Not that I'm incontintent or anything but if I'm out for more than an hour then I will want to go, especially if I have a take away coffee.

I think you've coped very well for it only to strike you today, but maybe missing Cat is contributing to your malaise? Well done for getting so many things done despite feeling under par. I hope you enjoy your trip to town tomorrow, I'm sure that will perk you up .

PurpleFairy26

Well done for getting this far in lockdown without a blaaaaa cba kind of day! I’ve only had a couple if them and i came out of them as quickly as I arrived! You’ve still had a decent day despite that, I’m sure tomorrow’s trip out will be good for the soul.