Giving every £ a job

Blackcats · 15 April at 3:04PM

@KeepOnKnitting - yes indeed Brighton was our nearest seaside destination and we'd get the train there or as what seemed to be a special treat we would get the green line bus.

A nice but busy couple of days including looking after 2 grandchildren for a day. We had plenty of fun including a picnic and ice creams, despite the much cooler weather. It seems to me that there is a massive pull for parents/grandparents to spend money on school holiday activities for children. We went to a small animal charity centre yesterday which was a great place and a reasonable cost which should go towards looking after the animals but we had thought about going to a nearby fancy breeds farm until we saw the admission price of £40 per child 🙀. Apparently it gets busy there even at that price!

We need to rein in "frippery" spending this week as the fun and eating out budget for this month is looking a bit sorry for himself. It's possible to have fun with a walk and a flask and after Lent finishes we can enjoy the free birthday cake and coffee at the garden centre. We are visiting friends for lunch on Friday and already have wine to take with us and I'm making a ginger cake with spiced pineapple in rum syrup to take with us for pud so a low cost but fun day ahead.

Blackcats · 19 April at 8:45PM

A day out today with a couple of our teenage grandchildren. We went to an event at a local(ish) museum where we are all members so no additional entry fees today. We met at 11.30 for brunch in the sunshine and conformed to gender stereotypes as the boys had bacon butties and the girls had Nutella and banana crepes which were definitely the best choice! We had a good walk around the display which prompted some interesting conversations and some future focussed thinking for the eldest grandchild who was inspired by some of the things we looked at.
By the look of our depleted fun budget we've been having plenty of good times this month. Spending time with family and friends is always worth any money we spend (with the exception of that bit of the family that is no longer mentioned 🥴)

RebeccaPAgain · 20 April at 3:14PM

Sounds like you are having a great time with all of your family BC (Excluding they who must not be named!). So lovely the chippy tea with your dad and the surprise of hotel being paid for!

lucielle · 20 April at 4:34PM

Sounds like an excellent time was had by all!
L

Blackcats · 23 April at 6:32PM

Thanks RebeccaP and @lucielle.

we spent Monday afternoon with another grandchild (we have plenty!). We went to see our local football team which involves standing right next to the pitch, getting a cup of tea and kitkat and buying £5 of losing raffle tickets. DGS has been to Old Trafford, The Etihad and even the blooming Emirates Stadium this season but said they thoroughly enjoyed an Isthmian League match with us.

Another exciting day today 🙃 which involved a trip to the garden centre where we seemed to spend hours. I had my annual free coffees and cakes voucher so we started in the cafe with a slice of banana & caramel cake and a slice of dragon fruit & lime cake which we divvied up. I'm not sure how much dragon fruit was in the cake but it was very tasty. Then we went into the on-site food retailer for milk and ended up getting some great YS food bargains. A fancy sourdough pizza for 64p, cod and haddock moray reduced from £8.20 to 82p, a seeded loaf for 11p, a bunch of bananas for 30p, a posh tub of soup for 15p and lemon curd yoghurts for 10p.
eventually we bought 2 plants for some pretty pots that have been languishing empty for a year. By this stage I was ready for a cup more tea but waited til we got home and made a cuppa in the garden room.

MrBC has sold another item on E. bay. He only listed it speculatively as it's quite niche but kerching £46.00 into the holiday pot.