Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

It's worth having a plan to control those small elements over which we have any influence, @Baileys_Babe, I agree, & I am very much a planner. Our area is unfortunately in that horrid red horseshoe blob on the weather map. I hope on Wednesday to be dancing up & down the garden in a series of delicious thundery downpours, but I bet it doesn't happen.
F x

Sun_Addict

I regularly experience temperatures over 40 degrees being foolhardy enough to go to Greece/Cyprus/Turkey in August. A few years ago we went to Turkey in August and it was so hot, high 40s every day. One night it was a bit cooler according to a local “only” 42 degrees 😆 However they are fully equipped for such temperatures unlike the UK. 

foxgloves

I couldn't cope with that, @Sun_Addict. We don't go abroad as have little interest in travel, but if we did, it would probably be to lands of ice & snow! I'm way too hot already & the big plume of heat doesn't hit us till tomorrow. Am really looking forward to Autumn (except for the latest rise in the energy bill apocalypse, of course! 
Hope you can get plenty of time in your hanging chair.....& that it doesn't get broken.
F

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
Have come outside to try & cool off as have been busy in the kitchen with the oven on. Mr F has had to work today for a promotion at a very busy city venue. Rather him than me! He was sensible though & took a large bottle of water with him. Despite him hating the hot weather, I usually have to nag him about this as he thinks he's invincible (rolls eyes in world-weary manner). 
I decided to get 'hot' jobs done, which I won't want to do tomorrow & Tues when I become a temporary cave dweller. I've done the ironing, baked a loaf & batch of rolls and done garden pickings: aubergines, coriander, first tomatoes of the year, rhubarb, cucumber, courgettes & beans. Rhubarb stewed & will eat with yoghurt this week to stretch fresh fruit further. Beans blanched & frozen. Made an extra portion of tuna & veggie couscous at lunchtime so that's tomorrow's packed lunch done. 
Have left curtains closed today & most windows to see if doing this then opening them much later tonight to let cooler air in, as recommended in the heatwave advice has an effect. It does feel a bit cooler in the living room. Thick floor length velvet curtains so less of the hot afternoon sun penetrating. 
My ankles puff up in very hot weather (esp when my weight is up higher than I would prefer it to be). They are not as bad today though, despite temperature & lots of standing so I'm thinking that drinking lots of extra water is maybe reducing my tendancy for fluid retention. If so, I shall keep it up permanently.
Well, I'm going to finish my book & then decide which of my pile to read next. I have made a new library list of titles to look for too, when it's cool enough to cycle there.
Take care everyone,
F x

ladyholly

You have been busy. Personally I have have done virtually nothing all day.

Sun_Addict

Definitely try to drink at least 2 litres of water a day whatever the weather. I’m a big advocate of that. If your pee is pale straw coloured you’re doing fine 👍

Blackcats

Great that you've booked your big birthday holiday accommodation.  I'm another who will be celebrating the decade beginning with 6 in 2 years too.  I think we've hypothesised before that the sensible financial management stars were mis-aligned in 1964 and us victims had to wait many years for the universe to get us back on track.

foxgloves

@Sun_Addict - Lol, I am very familiar with the 'correct shade of wee' chart thanks to my sis-in-law who has been a district nurse & worked in a waterworks clinic! But I have concluded I do need to increase my water intake all year round, not just during extreme heatwaves. I measured out the volume of my favourite 🌻 glass today & it holds about 250ml. I was pretty shocked to find out I'd need to drink 8 of those to hit 2 litres a day. I do need to improve this.

@Blackcats - I'm glad we booked the cottage too. It's certainly focusing my mind on my budget, that's for sure.
Yes, there was a strange alignment of planets in that month in 1964 which created silly spenders who took forever to buck their ideas up! That's our excuse & we're sticking to it!
F x

foxgloves

Hello Diary Friends,
I have stayed indoors entirely today so far except for popping out to pull a bunch of spring onions, encourage Ash to come in for his lunch & to put the wheelie bin away. The house temperature stayed between 25.5 & 26.5°C for ages, before rising another degree later on. Local radio reckons it's been around 37° here, but I don't know. I shall open all the windows later when it cools a little outside.  
Have been very inactive. Knitted, read, watched something I'd missed on catch-up & trawled through a pile of cookbooks. We've decided to have a few months back on the Traffic Lights plan as our weight has crept up again..As it was too hot for gardening or cycling practice, I decided to make a list of all the recipes we like or I'd like to try, which are entirely 'green', meaning nothing to count. I filled a whole page, including nice things I'd forgotten about plus new things & it struck me that as these are all meat-free meals (all meats are 'amber', a few are 'red'), it has also inadvertently been a money-saving exercise too, as most seasonal veg are affordable, as well as pulses, etc.
Heated up the leftover portions of Mr F's lovely chilli tonight, but saved on gas usage by serving with rice rather than the jacket potatoes I'd planned.
The fan has arrived & will hopefully earn it's keep over the next couple of days. Roll on the thunderstorms & lovely rain,
Take care,
F xx

Sun_Addict

I’ve got a couple of those increment water bottles with the times on, I fill them up and put them in the fridge overnight. The two bottles hold a litre each but I often end up topping one up again.  It is definitely harder when the weather is cold though.