NST: August Adventures

dolly84

mothernerd - you were very close to me too at Batley Mill. It used to be Skopos Mill and Skopos did amazing fabrics, I have a very beautiful chair from there in my dining room and I used to buy lots of the fabric to make soft furnishings, I don't know what happened to Skopos though. When I was away last week we went to Durham, the cathedral is very beautiful.


Paid the balance of a holiday we are having at October half term, have no more holiday entitlement at work so it will be unpaid but I don't care. We are having a takeaway tonight to mark the end of the summer holidays, kids go back on Wednesday. DH is working this morning, he never really does overtime and didn't want to do it but it is £120 for 2 hours work so he dragged himself there, should be back soon.

Karmacat

Most of August has been a washout for me, because of getting ill so soon into it (3 weeks now, and I'm starting to feel a bit normal again). So I haven't contributed as much as I'd have liked, but I'm still here, ready to get going again.

f0xh0les

Morning!
Last day of August already.

Thank you apple. I have done quite well this month, all things considered. Lots of things knocked off the list. There is enough money left over to halve the cc bill for next month.

I am getting ridiculously excited about having to turn my car headlights on after 6.30pm, and closing the curtains at 8pm.

See you in September!

apple_muncher

Thank you to all the turtles who came adventurising with me this month.

I hit my nsd target, my exercise target, got several bags out to the charity shop and did lots of adventurising. :T


Now I'm ready for the routine of September. See you on the other side.

mothernerd

Thank you for running August apple. I think it has been quite spendy for me but mostly needs - I put my spectacles on first thing in the morning and only take them off when I'm going to sleep so whatever it costs (the voucher only covers a portion of the cost) it's worth it. Getting there on the clutter clearing and having a sanctuary bedroom and a usable kitchen running how I like it.

Donations have been made here, there and everywhere - put 10p in the donations box at the toilets in Thirsk. The council had had to take them over but kept them free to use but asked so politely for donations to help keep them running. Other causes have been the food bank, Oxfam disaster fund, Help for Heroes, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, North York moors railway and many local charity shops. Also been generous with my time, lending a hand, listening to people, normal things like holding doors, lots of smiling and also accepted (and in one instance asked for) help graciously.

Could do better in many areas but have formulated a plan and set a few targets. I am debt free but still on a (very) low income. I mostly stick to not buying things like clothes until I'm absolutely desperate (an old pattern - underwear or a new handbag used to come out of my winter festival money and if my handbag died in the middle of summer it was a long wait) and then I splurge a bit too much. Need to work out how to balance that. There is an old style thread about clothing on the ration and you restrict your clothes spending to the level allowed during WWII. I have it on subscription but just want to use the basic idea as a way of setting a frugal budget (rather than a non-existent one which leads to a boom/ bust cycle).

Think I'm doing better on weight loss (aiming for moderation and continuous small improvements) - may find out on Monday when I have a follow up appointment to my six month review. Will probably keep to monthly meetings and being weighed, if they agree (weekly weigh ins are so dispiriting because I seem to have little correlation between what happened and the matching weight loss/ gain).

dolly i thought of you so often during the holiday. I love Whitby (spent my honeymoon there and it's even better without the annoying ex). We had previously spent a self-catering weekend with friends of his and their 3 children + DS1 (he still has a dummy on some photos) in a tiny ex mining village (I think Brotton was the nearest place of any size). Having lived and (infrequently) holidayed on the west side of the country all my life, I was really freaked out by the sun rising above the sea instead of setting over it.

Most of the places we visited on this trip were in North Yorkshire but the hotel was just outside Darlington. On the itinerary we were supposed to spend time in Darlington on the way there but having had a somewhat fraught journey (3 U turns including one where they had just painted out most of the road sign and put a wooden partition across the road as they were building new housing to the side, attempting to avoid a massive traffic accident and the service station with minimal loos) we refused to get off the coach in favour of getting to the hotel.

Many apologies to Darlington but we came in through what felt like an industrial estate, stopped by a grey 60's cement much graffitied bus 'station' (only one stop) and hadn't seen any people or any open shops (BH Monday). As we pulled away there was a pleasant plaza type square with people out eating and drinking in the sunshine but up to then it was about as inviting as getting out in the middle of gang turf land in an American city.

My current status is comfortable. I used the shower head to direct hot water onto my neck, shoulder and back muscles, I have a quilt under my feet and pillows supporting my back and neck, a towel under and over me and a thin coverlet to keep me warm and have reached the blissful state of 'no pain'.

When DS3 woke up I asked for his walking cane (had been using a brush until then) tap water in a 2l bottle, the last 3 cans of decaff coke, raw veg and dips and things to put on crackers/ crispbread. This took 3 trips, lots of pleases from me and lots of sighing from him (first trip he remembered the water, brought crispbread - already had the 'dry' things and picnic cutlery up here - a dip and a going brown lettuce, which he insisted was the only green thing in the fridge but I now have everything I asked for except the remaining celery sticks so enough food for as long as I want to hole up here.

Not getting dressed for now as I need to wash the things I took away (as well as a couple of items left in the case after my funeral trip). I have things to put on if I get to the stage where I can get down the stairs but I am putting together a list of small tasks (reminders) and items to buy for here and for mum - little Arseda seem to no longer stock a lot of items (no cider vinegar, no grain mustard). Okay they are not everyday items, maybe once a month or three month purchases but I have little use for the enormous sickly special occasion cakes they stock or the monster unicorn toys they had in last winter festival, or the vile and quite frankly disturbing 3 foot gnomes) they seem to be keen on.

I've had raw chestnut mushrooms with red pepper hummus and am going to start a new book or maybe find an old film on u tube (with ongoing list making as things pop into my head - I jotted down some 'postponed' tasks before I went away so should be able to put a plan together for the week ahead and maybe a real meal plan).

Today I am grateful for my bed, for being warm (weather can't make up it's mind, grey and raining, sun broke through now it's heavy grey cloud again with the sun trying to break through), for books to read, old films to watch and a sense of purpose, for 'no pain' (bit of difficulty with some tasks but I have space to let my body heal).

crazy_cat_lady

Thanks for running August apple - it's been a very up and down month for me. Some really brilliant times and some absolutely awful days. It's definitely been an adventure.
Business as usual resumes tomorrow. My big rest is over for another year.

apple_muncher

Karmacat wrote: »

Most of August has been a washout for me, because of getting ill so soon into it (3 weeks now, and I'm starting to feel a bit normal again). So I haven't contributed as much as I'd have liked, but I'm still here, ready to get going again.

Hope that your september is a better month for you.

Karmacat

Thanks apple - I went into my town centre this morning, and the distance was nothing, but the effort of the errands, I confess, has really wiped me out. Still, I had a late lunch with loads of protein, and I'm about to have a snack

dolly84

apple - thank you for August, you have been fabulous as always.


mothernerd - thank you for thinking of me on your holidays, I suppose some of us on here have known each other a long time now and many of you are in my thoughts IRL.


See you all tomorrow for a new month.

PheoniX

Thanks apple for running august :A

No spend day today at long last.. looking forward to waving goodbye to a spend month and a fresh start tomorrow!

:wave: