Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

@ziggy2407 - Yes, I've got some real concerns about the lifting of measures in the way it is being done. It might not be as bad as we think, as so many people have been vaccinated now, & we do have to return to normal at some point. However, the measures are all being lifted at once, without learning from what happened last time. I don't think it is any bother keeping masks in indoor public settings until the scientists & data analysts can see what effects the other unlockings i.e mixing, being properly back at work, nightclubs being open, people going on holiday, etc, are going to have on numbers of cases & hospitalisations. I think we currently have the worst of both worlds......telling people basically that they can stop wearing masks by law, but that they can 'choose' to wear them. Of course many people will carry on doing so, but many won't, because of the mixed messages. Mr F would like his staff to be protected from the public returning in numbers as Covid rates are rising fast, but without that law, there is nothing he can do to impose mask wearing. I wouldn't use public transport without high mask wearing compliance but I am lucky that I don't have to. I feel for all those people who have no choice but to go to work on the tube or buses. Ah well, it is out of the bottle. I just hope that the vaccines do hold up & no other nastier variants appear. We both plan to go about life much as we have been over the past year, being cautious & avoiding crowds, wearing masks indoors, etc. And I think I will be socially distancing for a very long time as this seems like a key measure for both Covid, flu & most other nasties.
Oh, I need another coffee after that moan.
F x

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Afternoon Foxgloves and co

I wasn't a Showaddywaddy fan back in the day but i saw them at a festival in 2019 and they were brilliant!  Good singers, good tunes and jolly good fun!  People of all ages in the audience dancing and singing along in the rain
Agree with all the caution around Covid.  Grateful i can WfH and hoping i can continue to do so.  Both my DDs work - one at a pre school and one in a cafe - & only DD2 is fully vaccinated; DD1 caught Covid a couple of months ago and was very poorly and still can't fully taste and smell.  

Love Deni

LateLearner22

Hi @foxgloves, I've been trying to find your original post about "lasagne planting" (without success 🤔)
I remember a post where you listed what you put into the pot, and how it was layered (depth of bulbs etc) so that it continued to flower as the season progressed......
I'm sure you planted it up quite early in the autumn, could you repeat the instructions again pleeaase, and this time I'll screenshot it 😂😂

foxgloves

Hi @LateLearner22 - I can't remember writing about lasagne planting at all! However, I may well have mentioned it, as I have used the technique in the past. When I have done it, I've used a large patio pot & planted it up in October. I put broken crocks in the base for drainage (tulip bulbs don't like to be soggy) then start filling with multi-purpose compost. I layer the different bulbs into it in the reverse order they are going to flower, so I put my layer of tulips in first as they will be the last to flower- difficult to give an exact depth as this is led to a degree by the size of the pot & how much you are thinking of putting in there. I suppose my tulips would go around 20cms down, maybe a bit deeper. I tend to do things by what I reckon looks right at the time. Then they get a bit of compost over them & the daffodils/narcissi go in - size of these bulbs varies considerably. Look at the height of the bulb & make sure you get them in at least 2.5 times that depth, or they can come up blind. Bit more soil, then crocuses. Then fill rest of pot with compost. Now you plant the top with autumn flowering things - pansies, violas, mini cyclamen (check they are the outdoor ones, not sold for house plants), heathers, ornamental kales, stuff that can take the cold weather, but will give your pot a nice bit of colour while you're waiting for the crocus layer to flower. 
Hope this helps, I think I might plant one myself this year. 
F

foxgloves

Hello Sunbeams, Been quite busy with chores this morning & have done my mid-month budget check-in as planned. No nasty surprises, I'm pleased to say. Following my discovery of those structural errors in one of our spreadsheets recently, I'd expected to be fairly 'smack on' with my figures this month. Well......no 'missing money' this time, but instead, we are around £23 over. I'm not going to complain about having a bit extra, it's just odd that I can't see any reason why it has occurred. I can only assume that it is a transaction which I committed twice in my original July budget, but I now can't see it because it was bundled up with other transactions at the time. My budget cycle is 27th to the 26th inclusive, with Big Budget Day taking place on or as soon as possible after 27th. I always schedule in a mid-month check-in on the 13th or 14th because with not discovering budgeting until my 40s, I found myself getting really quite twitchy if I waited until the end of the month to see if everything was going ok. I think initially, this was a lack of confidence on my part, but now that I know my system works, I have kept the mid-month check-in for peace of mind. In addition to this, I do a regular Monday morning update every week, which is just updating grocery budgets, doing any required Savings Pots transfers & updating personal Spends spreadsheet. I don't think it matters how we choose to manage our household budgets, as long as we do it. Knowledge really is power, where our finances are concerned, I think.
Other bits of money saving activity today will be veggie garden pickings, meal planning for next week & writing the grocery shopping list. 'Fakeaway' tonight.....I froze some cubed up pork loin from a Sunday roast recently. I'm going to use that & some Chinese spices to make a savoury rice & serve it with some of our chard, shredded & wokked with garlic & soy sauce. Freezer looking pretty full, so will prioritise some meals from it for next week. I also need to plan my agreed contributions for a family picnic so I only buy what I need & avoid busting the grocery budget when we are doing quite well with it this month.
OK, onwards......
F x

foxgloves

Bah! Ran out of steam yesterday afternoon so have had to carry a couple of tasks over to today. Had a cracking night's sleep though - didn't even hear the alarm - so am hoping that once some of this caffiene percolates into my veinous system, I will be set for a productive day. I think I can feel an attack of Doingstuffitis coming on. Hope so!
Chat later,
F x

foxgloves

Hello m'dears,
Have caught up with jobs for now - just baking to do tomorrow morning so as to have everything ready for a family picnic. Not a no spend day as have replaced knackered fitbit. No credit though, paid for outright, which does still always feel like a win. Haven't tallied grocery shopoing yet, but I think we will be pretty close to budget, even after buying our share of picnic contributions. Garden pickings last couple of days have been chard, strawberries, basil, courgettes, french beans & a huge lettuce. Bedspread squares have progressed - all the dark pink textured spiral pattern ones finished now, as well as one of the last corner ones. The 2nd of these is already on the needles so 2.5 left to do.
Good deal from local butcher today. Went to buy a gammon to slow cook for filling some of the picnic cobs. They were all priced at £5 each but the butcher said we could have 3 for £10. I have to admit I did choose the biggest, one of which I will slow cook tomorrow. I've frozen the other two. Several meals worth there.
Despite being double-jabbed, I can't help but worry about the soaring Covid numbers. In our council area, numbers had fallen back to about 28 to 30 cases per 100,000, but with the Delta variant, I understand we are now back up to 457 per 100,000 people - a huge rise. We do have to learn to live with this virus, but it seems utterly reckless to abandon obligatory masks during such a big surge in cases. To the Tory backbencher who shouted 'Hallelujah' when Johnson announced abandonment of measures, I think this may come back to bite him soundly on the backside.
Ah well, going to rest my dodgy ankle & read out on the courtyard.
F x

Tescodealqueen

I agree our area has jumped in a similar fashion. It is very concerning and I won’t be changing much in what I do for the foreseeable future

Baileys_Babe

Tescodealqueen said:

I agree our area has jumped in a similar fashion. It is very concerning and I won’t be changing much in what I do for the foreseeable future

The same here, huge jump in numbers and we won't be changing what we are doing either, we do not feel it is an appropriate time to be relaxing the restrictions.

CRANKY40

We'll be mostly staying in too, especially now it's the school holidays and places will be even busier. If I go to the supermarket it will be very early in the morning but I've done an online order to come on Tuesday. I do go for a walk by the river with my looked after person on a Saturday but we favour an out of the way path and usually only encounter one or two dog walkers. I don't care how much less vile it is if you've had the jabs, I still don't want it.