Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget.

helensbiggestfan

Champagne moment last evening.....sitting out with the chiminea.  

helensbiggestfan

Finally a bit of colour in the front garden. 

sugarbaby125

Lovely photographs LL 

helensbiggestfan

Thanks sugarbaby.  

Well hello my lovely friends,  

mega champagne moment this morning.  I received my share certificate for the block of shares my FIL left me as part of his estate.  Such a kind and generous man.  My husbands long illness ruined our finances and I'm very grateful for the care that my FIL has taken to try and redress the balance.  

I am not planning to cash the shares in unless I have a dire emergency.  I would prefer to hold them and Let them grow. If I still have them when I die I will pass them on to my grandchildren to be held in trust for them until they are old enough to fully appreciate their windfall and they cant blow them on something stupid😂.   

I will allow myself to draw the dividends each year And either treat myself or reinvest, depending on my own prevailing financial situation. 😂. 

My other champagne moment was I had a mini health MOT this Morning. No nasty shocks 😉 and the nurse congratulated me on my weight loss since my last check up.  I did confess to her the loss had been more but that I had regained some during lockdown. Even so I'm still 1.5 stones lighter so still good news. 

A bit dull here but dry so might do a bit of gardening later.  

candygirl

The garden's looking great LL, n well done on the weight loss.
Not much to report here, apart from having had 4! plumbers visits to sort my flooding, non flushing then leaky loo! Each problem occurred after every plumbers visit .I hope it's finally going to be ok now, after he put yet another seal in it .
I need to clear out my mobile skip later, as it's having it's MOT tomoz.Yep it's all fun n games here at the moment 😂😂😂🙄🙄🙄

helensbiggestfan

Good luck with the MOT Candy.  🤞🤞

Good Mornjng my lovely friends. 

I have an unexpected day off today - no granny duties.  I did think of going for a mooch round the chazzers and diy sheds but I've decided not to risk it......I'm on a strict economy drive now so I need to resist bargains😂🤣.  Need to think of the big picture and keep my eyes firmly on my goals and not get sidetracked.  And anyway the weather is grim so no hardship to have an indoor day.  

Raining here so I'm going to get creative in the kitchen, do some batch cooking to use up Some bits and bobs lurking in the fridge. 😁  See if I can conjure up some gourmet meals out of odds and ends.  

Have a great day ...... keep those champagne moments flowing.  

phoebe1989seb

The garden is looking good and an economy drive sounds like a plan, LL  Apart from buying a bit more timber to complete the log store, there hasn't been much unexpected spending happening here this week 

Did get a call from our local plant nursery to say the Quince and Medlar trees we ordered early in the summer have arrived so they'll need collecting at the weekend.....but that's good because they will boost our little orchard!

My internet issues haven't entirely gone away but between gardening stuff (removing more ivy from the 15' high stone walls, laying more membrane for the paths etc) and a spot of painting, I've finally begun the process of putting some pics on my instagram. It's a very time consuming task as I've sooooo many photos to go through, but I've started so I'll finish, lol!

Best champagne moment today was  discovering that DS, his partner and our 2 year old GD are planning to visit for a few days in October.....yay!!!

Wednesday2000

I'm trying to economise too at the moment. Champagne moments today were waking up to lovely sunshine. I was talking about the health benefits of brewed ginger tea yesterday on here so I thought I would take my own advice and start having a cup each morning. I want to go out and buy some lemons later to go in the ginger tea as well. I'm using up spare change around the house so I don't have to use my bank card in the shop.

I had a delicious breakfast of toast with ackee. I hadn't had it in a while and I forgot how much I love the taste of it. It's a Jamaican fruit but it tastes savoury.

I am going to have a hot bath and read some more of my book in the sunshine. I want to sort out my feet today. Pumice stone, foot scrub, foot spa, foot socks for dry skin and then moisturiser. I think I will do it tonight.

helensbiggestfan

Good Mornjng my lovely friends.....,

just having a breather whilst I digest my breakfast.  A full English today.  I just love them. 😂.  Sets me up for the Day.  I Have got the family coming round later so going to whip up a curry.  Cook up a small feast.  

Well sounds like an odd thing to talk about in relation to champagne moments but I'm so happy and pleased with myself.  Despite being In some pain I have made myself do some exercise each day.  I am the most unsporty person you could ever meet,   I can't stand traditional running etc. but I do love  music So every day I have been Zumba-Ing and Bollywood dancing.  At first I could only manage 10 To 15 minutes but I have now worked my way up to the recommended 30 minutes of cardio.  And I feel fantastic.  

Tomorrow I will add tai chi or pilates and then hopefully sometime next week begin resistance training just with small hand weights to start.  I really need to rebuild my muscle strength. 

I know it perhaps sounds odd to talk about exercise in terms of a Champagne lifestyle But I am determined to get fit and healthy so I can fully enjoy all that life can offer once Covid has finished with us.  

Enjoy your pamper session Wednesday.  😂

phoebe1989seb

Lovely sunny day here, so am making the most of tidying outdoors ahead of the *visitation* next month    Have discovered that one of four medium sized yuccas DH was given by a gardening client last year is in flower. The chap was going to throw them away and they didn't look terribly healthy when we received them, but we were right to persist as all now look the picture of health....plus that flower!

Last night we popped out to B&Q for some timber and TK Maxx (looking for potential Christmas ideas and a laundry basket!), but instead I came away with two autumn dresses and a pair of crocs, total cost £63 saving £152   

As these were the first clothes/footwear I'd purchased since 2019 I felt the splurge was worth it!

There was actually another dress I dithered over - £40 with a RRP of £210! If it's still there next time, I might splash the cash on that too.....

Afterwards we treated ourselves to burgers from Burger King - not had one of those for well over a year - which we ate in the Landy like a couple of teenagers on a date, ha ha!

Tomorrow DH is finishing the micro cement on the kitchen island.....and I'm hoping that's going to be a champagne moment too 

Gosh, you really make me feel I'm slacking with your exercise regimen, LL, mine still consists entirely of the grubby stuff - gardening/dog walking/decorating, lol 

Have a relaxing pampering session, Wednesday, and have a good weekend all!