Put away your purse & become debt-averse

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sorry I've been awol from your diary for a while Foxgloves. However I've just had the enjoyment of catching up with it via some binge reading 🙂.

Your building work sounds like it's really improved your house. I'm sure your Mum and Dad would be delighted that you've been able to make your house more comfortable and enjoyable to live in. I'd love a walk in pantry. My big cupboard under the stairs contains the hoover, brooms, mops, coats, tools, etc, whilst the small one contains my Brexit/virus stash of tinned beans, tomatoes, tinned potatoes, jars of cooking sauces, packets of rice and pasta, etc. I have to crawl into it with a torch to get any food items out though so it's not amazingly convenient 🤔.

This virus stuff is heading in all the wrong directions isn't it? I mainly blame the government for giving confusing messages; first we're not allowed to leave our homes, then they're paying us to eat out and telling everyone to go back to work, now they're telling us to work from home and imposing local lockdowns 😡. And as you say the track and trace is a dreadful mess 😡. Although idiots who won't socially distance and who wear their masks on their chins are not helping the situation 😡. Do they think the virus is a myth or just that it won't happen to them?

It's got cold here too and quite windy. I've been freezing at school for the past few days as all the doors and windows have been open because of the virus 😨. The children don't get sent home if they have a runny nose or a quarter of the children would be missing 🤣, but they are told to stay at home if they have a temperature, a cough or any other virus symptoms. You'll be snug and warm with your new central heating though 🙂.

foxgloves

Hi Pixiehouse & HHoD,
Lovely to hear from you. Yes, times just seem to get stranger, although I did think there were more face masks being worn in town yesterday. Terribly mixed messaging hasn't helped at all & another unhelpful thing is people promoting the fallacy that Covid is all a big con & isn't dangerous (doubtless while wearing their tin foil hats) - I think the families of all the people who have died of the virus & those NHS key workers who have nursed them might just beg to differ. Conspiracy theories also flourished during the Black Death, but that struck in 1348, you'd think our aptitude for critical thinking might have advanced a little since then.
Anyway, nice to hear from you both. 
F x

foxgloves

Hello m'dears,
A busy weekend here, trying to make inroads into the dust. It must stay in the air for ages as we've been vacuuming a lot, but then find another layer has settled within a day or two. We've new book cases arriving tomorrow so have been busy moving furniture around & also making space for the piano I intend to buy. We've also been to buy paint for the kitchen, new pantry & new little utility room today. Back in the Spendy Years, I used to waste money buying decorating supplies. You see, I wouldn't ever check what I'd already got in stock so would buy paint, but also new packs of brushes, masking tape, brush cleaner, primer, you name it. Before we set off this morning, Mr F insisted we trotted down to the shed with my notebook to jot down anything useful we'd already got in stock. We found plenty of half-tins of pale colours he can use as undercoat, a completely unopened tin of white eggshell, sufficient primer for the pantry door, brush cleaner & a set of perfectly good brushes. Obviously this reduced our spend, which is always good. He's intending to start painting the pantry next weekend, so that I can get the kitchen cupboards & work surfaces re-organised. There are jars of preserves everywhere. It will be so good to be able to put everything away properly at last. 
Today's pickings: 900g french beans, 2 aubergines, 1 courgette & 2 red peppers. 
I need a really productive week so hope to wake up tomorrow morning with my positive head on. 
Love & peace,
F x

Blackcats

Glad to hear that you are at the end of this phase of house renovations and that you are happy with the results.  Builders are very clever at visualising layouts and it sounds like you've had a great team working there.

I agree with you and others about how many people seemingly don't care about following the rules.  It's an insult to those that have been impacted and the many NHS staff and other care workers who have died looking after Covid patients.  I was waiting for public transport last week when a man in his 20's checked his phone and said to his girlfriend that his Covid test had come back negative.  He clearly didn't think it was necessary to stay at home pending that test result, which could, of course been a positive test.  

foxgloves

Yes, Blackcats, I think there'll be quite a lot of that going on. I'm sure in some cases it's due to a failure of understanding (there have been shocking mixed messages from tge Government from the outset), some is thoughtlessness & some is conscious decision not to engage - the 'Why should I?' cohort. We had someone visit to give us a quote on some electrical work recently. Very nice young chap. Despite being in somebody's house, in quite small rooms (with both of us) for about half an hour while assessing & discussing all the different jobs we require doing, he didn't wear a mask. I was quite surprised. I wondered afterwards if we should have worn them but it didn't occur to us because we were in our home. I assume it's one of those grey areas. Probably no reqiirement for his trade to wear one at work, but there again, it is indoor work, so I don't know. I'm sure a lot of the current surge will have come from groups meeting up, pubs, etc.
Interesting though, your overhearing of that comment. If it had gone the other way, that young man would have been sitting there in public with a positive covid result.
F 

foxgloves

Evening m'dears,
Oh I'm so tired after a non-stop day of Doing-stuff-itis. Two loads of laundry done & dried in glorious autumn sunshine, bread baked, bathroom scrubbed, old chilli plants chopped up for compost, ditto aubergines, geraniums rounded up, cut back & potted up ready to bring indoors for winter, froze beans, chillies & some carrots which looked like they wouldn't last & made tomorrow's packed lunch. Also took delivery of new book cases, did a bit of sink maintenance with a bowl of boiling soda crystals, packed loads of pots, labels, bamboo canes etc back in the shed. Liaised with my sis re pianos & put a fair bit of clutter away. Mr F arrived home, took one look at me & said he'd take over with cooking dinner, so I'm now sitting down & chatting to you.
Intend to knit tonight & watch 'University Challenge'. We get very competitive over this. Last week, I got 100% in one round. What was the subject? Well might you ask! It was rodents! I didn't think I knew anything about rodents, but there you go... am clearly undiscovered expert!
Hoping for another productive day tomorrow, Hope you've all got off to a decent start to the week. It's a case of having to make the best of it atm, isn't it?
Take care all of you, 
F x

Blackcats

A whole round on University Challenge!  Wow.  I'm happy if I get one question right.

foxgloves

Well Blackcats, with Mr Clever Trousers sitting next to me on the sofa being a smuggins because of all the science answers he knows, I have to make sure my little grey cells crank out as good a performance as they can.
F x

ceremony

Wow that's been a productive day! Hope tomorrow is productive for you as well but don't tire yourself out too much!

I didn't realize University Challenge is still on TV, I haven't watched that in so long. Maybe you should apply to go on a game show one day.

savingmore

thanks for making me laugh about your expertise with rodents on university challenge.  my mind boggles as to why there was a round on there about rodents in first place!!!  now, if there was a round about mysterious black fluff, that could be a stumbling block🤣🤣🤣

my daughter n law and one grandchild had covid tests last week, so all family off school and work until tests due back, meant to be by thursday night.  no results back.  friday morning at 8am they got their negative tests back, and a mad scramble to get everyone out of house and off to right places in time!  what a palava..