Life is a minestrone as the song says - my new diary

teapot2

Not sure where today went though it did seem quite busy at the time, think quite a bit was footered away online  .  I did my work admin this morning and answered a few FB messages from my birthday last week.  I did an hours CPD and a bit of work reading while the washing machine was on.  I also washed the material masks I bought last week and think I'll need to put a stitch in the elastic as its quite loose when I wear one.  The weather improved this afternoon as the wind dropped so I did some weeding and also planted up a rosemary, lavender and some mint in a pot.  I also relocated a bag of snails down to the woods while I had a wee walk, better there than munching my plants - hope they're not homing snails!  The garden is looking a bit scraggly after the wind at the weekend and some of the wee vegetable plants are really struggling.  I put the covers back on the settee after getting them dry - its a bit of a wrestle as its snug but managed it ok in the end.  I defrosted some veg stew for tea and added sweet corn and peas to bulk it out then an hours video catch up with a friend and just been watching TV since.  Long day at work tomorrow so need to head to bed soon.

beanielou

You are a busy bee as always 😊

Karmacat

And that's why it helps to write down the little jobs, because when you do a lot of them, it really, really adds up   Hope you slept well after all that.

teapot2

Still not sleeping well but its manageable as I'm at home and not having to get up early to do long commutes to work.  I think some of it is background lockdown stuff, plus OH had a lot of his difficult cancer treatment and news at this time of year so that floats around even if I'm not consciously aware of thinking about it.
I went for my first socially distanced walk with a friend on Thursday which was lovely.  We met near the harbour and had a wander round then sat and blethered for a while.  Quite a few folk wandering about but theres plenty of space and lots of places to sit and people watch.  I might do that again in the week if the weather holds, the fish shack is open again and theres a wee van selling toasties and coffee so it almost looks normal down there.  
Money wise I put another £500 in my emergency fund and have paid £250 off two CCs.  I got my energy bill and am just in credit again this month so the DD seems to be at the right level which is good.  I'll be a bit quieter at work the next few weeks as people are off on holiday but July and August always bring less income.
Yesterday I had a lazy day, it was breezy so I got all the towels washed and dried and hoovered round.  I made some pesto with carrot tops, beetroot tops and basil, have frozen most of it in small portions, I got the beetroots to pickle so thats a job for this week at some point.  I also need to cut the grass soon before it gets too difficult, hopefully do that tomorrow.  Todays garden jobs are weeding, planting some bedding thats been sitting there for ages and collecting seed pods from the wallflowers that have ended.  I'll put the plants in the garden bin and refresh the compost for something else to be planted.  
I should go and get on with that but might have another cuppa first - my bad but I enjoy 6 music on a Sunday morning.  One of the guests was Jackie Kay the Scottish Makar and I've always enjoyed her writing.  She was choosing some music as well and one track was Sweet Honey in the Rock who I've not heard for ages.  Reminded me of going to see them years ago at the Festival Hall and their beautiful sound.  Think I still have a cassette of theirs somewhere - happy days

Karmacat

I can understand the echoes of your OH's treatments and news because of the time of year - I get that with my mum and my BiL

Your harbour trip sounds fantastic!  I was just lamenting this week about how long it is since I've seen the sea!  Its only 10 miles away, but I'm not going on public transport for love nor money.  Anyway, hope you're enjoying your garden too, *and* congratulating yourself about all that money paid off, thats a lot

beanielou

Glad that you had a lovely trip to the harbour.
I can smell it 

teapot2

Karmacat said:

I can understand the echoes of your OH's treatments and news because of the time of year - I get that with my mum and my BiL

Your harbour trip sounds fantastic!  I was just lamenting this week about how long it is since I've seen the sea!  Its only 10 miles away, but I'm not going on public transport for love nor money.  Anyway, hope you're enjoying your garden too, *and* congratulating yourself about all that money paid off, thats a lot

Thanks KC, it is strange how times of year, seasons, events get associated even subconsciously.  
I'm lucky to live in an area that has sea one side and hills/countryside the other, I know what you mean about public transport - I've gone from using it 4 - 5 days a week to only going where I can walk to!  No desire to get on a bus or train at the moment.  Yes, am 'really' liking doing a bit of saving and paying off cards  

teapot2

I did eventually get the grass cut but it was a job of several days with the edges being cut in sections as my back is a bit sore.  Also got weeding done again - the recent rain had produced another fine crop of various self seeding plants that I don't want.  I've left space to plant a gifted* butternut squash plant and some courgette plants, they are all growing well indoors but I really need to get them outside now.  Its been quite windy still most days here and I'm a bit concerned about the plants getting battered about, its really not settled summer weather here yet but think I'll have to go for it in the coming week.  There are some wee courgettes appearing now though yay.  I've also grown some pepper plants indoor for the first time and there are a few tiny weeny peppers appearing which is very pleasing.
Not much happening money wise, I've got a week off at the end of the month and quite a few folk are on holiday now which means less work this month.  I think my biggest invoice will only be for about a third of what is normally is for this month .  
I pickled some beetroot this week, it should be ready to eat in about 10 days so looking forward to trying it.  I've lost my cooking mojo a bit recently so hoping to have a look through some recipes when I'm off and be a bit more adventurous again.
* lol just read that back and for clarification I'm not thinking that its a highly skilled BNS but one that was given to me

teapot2

Met with a friend in the garden yesterday, she has been shielding so brought her own chair and drink and I disinfected the snib on the back gate so she could let herself in.  Was lovely to see her as its been quite a few months.  Was pretty breezy though so despite various attempts to tame my hair it still resembled a haystack .  On that note I phoned my hairdresser this morning and booked the first available appointment which is not till 4th Aug so a while yet.
Was meant to be going out for an alfresco coffee this affy with family but it was cancelled as the tiniest human fell and cut herself quite badly so needed to go to hospital as no local minor injuries place offering treatment at the moment.  They are ok and didn't need stitches, just steri strips and was very brave 
So instead of going out I perused M@rks online as need new underwear and socks as mine are holey and falling to bits now.  I was hoping to get a bra as well as one of mine is in a sorry state but annoyingly my size is sold out .  I also ordered a top in the sale as mine are getting a bit dodgy for work even with video calling which hides a multitude of sins.  I'd normally go to charity shops for tops but the ones I can walk to are all still closed.  So I used a voucher I had from cashing out on TCB and I cashed in £22 on Prolific and both combined to cover the whole amount
Made a fish pie with sweet potato topping for tea, it will do tomorrow as well and theres enough to freeze a portion.  Right am about to go out with a torch to see if I can spot the slimy slug or snail that has been eating the plants in the pot at the front door

Karmacat

Ew, I wouldn't go out on an evening slug hunt for love nor money - there's a *lot* of tiny wildlife in my garden!  Hope you found it, though

Poor little TH - happens, though, doesn't it - but its awful when it does, really heart-rending. 

And your mate!  That's lovely to get some normality back.  I've cut my own hair for years, but the lockdown cut I gave myself was the worst ever, its **inches** out of whack, I don't know how i got it so wrong,

Anyway, have a good one today.