NST January 2020: A Turtle Quest

Calling14

Deni - fingers crossed that your daughters tests are fine.



Yesterday Hairdressers - somehow cost gone up to £50. Will probably be cancelling the next one and touching up my roots myself. Don't need another haircut.


Whilst I was spending popped in Pri mark throught I would try their Mascara - pleasantly surprised at results today. Got a water bottle for long walks I will be doing.


No work done at home, so tired I was in bed by 9pm last night. This weekend is busy as well, need to get more organised or say No to some people.



NSD 4/16


Going out tonight on a date. Well I look at it meeting a mate for a drink but think he thinks otherwise, so will probably buy a drink ot two.


Grateful for
Warm cosy office today and internet working properly.
Hair looks not like a bush now, really thinned out.
It's Friday, no chance of any lie ins this weekend though.

f0xh0les

Still on NSD5, did lots this morning, but I have lost all impetus since 12.00. Slept very badly last night. Just nodding off when I had that feeling of falling - you know the one? 4 times in a row, then was wide awake in between and then was woken again by DS1 wandering around at 2am. Tiredness has hit hard, but have done all the urgent things that needed to be done already. So I am telling myself that although it looks like I am on the sofa drinking tea, really I am doing the laundry and prepping dinner for tonight. When all I want to do is crawl back into bed for the next 24 hours.

Good luck on the (possible) date for tonight Calling.

Gratitudes: still within budget / house still tidy / that I did not marry into the Royal Family (just wave goodbye and leave them to it - nobody cares!!)/ not having any biscuits in the house, or I would have eaten them all already to keep awake and on a sugar rush.

abundant1972

Evening everyone!

I have been very productive today :T... Bedding washed and all of my laundry done... been to the gym, and finally given in and done a big food shop as stores were running low... or at least the things I had in needed things to go with them... or I'd just be munching on tins of pinto beans and a dry quorn fillet! Plus my Nectar vouchers were running out today so thought I would bring my shop day forwards. May have to con father into buying coffees tomorrow so I can salvage a NSD haha

Today I am grateful for:

1) My gym, and all of the great equipment
2) My surplus of points I could redeem as part exchange for food
3) A quiet evening in goal setting under the full moon

Have a lovely evening tonight... and I'll catch you all tomorrow.

P.S Good luck with the date Calling!!! We want a full report tomorrow!!! :rotfl:

dolly84

Calling - have fun .


Have walked the dog, baked bread, made hm vegan pizzas (first one DH has had), done the school run, called at the greengrocers, scoured the charity shops for a particular dvd I am looking for and washed the floors.


Will walk the dog again soon then it is pj time.

GoingToDoIt

You can’t fail a quest, right?
Spent £200 on a weekend away with friends later in the year. I didn’t want to miss out!?and sinceI was in the mood to spend, decided to head to Lids to stock up on some essentials, £9 spent. I’m not sure I’ll manage many NSDs as I have to walk to and from the supermarket and to be honest it’s better to go frequently, as otherwise I can’t carry it all. I got loads today and I still need another good shop or two.

Overall though it was a very positive day, I did a volunteer shift which went really well, I enjoyed it and it got me up and out. Today I’m grateful for- good colleagues, good health and good weather.

apple_muncher

GTDI- You're right - you can't fail a quest, although we do have a naughty chaise longue that it would seem has your name on it :rotfl:. If you have to shop frequently, then your nsd count will be lower, so you must be extra strict with your budget.


Calling - have fun


Today I am grateful for my alarm clock, for my morning calf stretches making such a difference, for a great haircut, for another tough workout (only 5 more days where I can do a toughie), for finally getting on with some marking, for dd being cheerful.


Abundant - the bodyrock workouts are ones I have done for years. From the bodyrock.com website. For free :j.Then the founders split up and although that site still runs, I followed Zuzka Light to her new venture on zuzkalight.com. Still lots of great stuff, but more paying . So I use litealloy.com to dig out the good ol' workouts. You can click on 'sandbag', 'no jumping', 'skipping' and loads more, plus set a time limit, to find one you want to do. I am rather a fan .

mothernerd

I've also had a spendy day - and what an exciting adventure packed roller coaster of a day it's been. No not really, just the latest chapter in the ongoing drain saga. Established early on that the local diy store had drain rod packs for £27. They had 8 in stock and I also noted which aisle they were in.


I explained to DS3 what he needed to do to make an access point for the rods - this involved using a bolster chisel and a lump hammer to knock out key bricks in the grid surround (I can no longer weild the lump hammer). I went round to the taxi office to ask for a driver to take me to the diy store, wait for me and bring me back. I paid the driver £10 (it would have cost me £6 for an all day bus ticket, I would have had to walk from the nearest bus stop, with a longer walk to either of the bus stops for the return journey and had to wait about in the cold for the bus to arrive. As it was, I struggled to totter from the car to the trolleys (about 5 yards).


Took the booty home to DS3. he was having a hard time with the bolster and hammer but then I found the sledgehammer and he took the first brick out with two blows. Still had a lot of extra cement to loosen. I dredged away some of the water so he could see what he was doing and we took it in turns to dredge out more slurry. I used a gloved up hand, a small takeaway container and then a deeper takeaway container. We have exposed the terracotta of the drain to a depth of about 2' - as far down as I could manage to reach without actually falling into the wall or collapsing in the dirty water/ sludge mixture.


I had to leave at that point as I had ordered a food delivery at mum's. We aren't sure how to get any further - may try poking with the drain rods without the ends on (there's a little disc for shoving and a hooky twisty thing for pulling things up).


I took 4 loads of washing with me to mum's. I've had a clear out of the toys in the shed, removed jigsaws and various food items from 2 top cupboards and packed away the boxed christmas decorations there instead moved 2 wardrobes so that the Christmas trees can hide between them and the wall (then moved them back to wedge the trees firmly).


I've moved some tins through to the kitchen (need more soup before the end of the month) and made meals from the freezer and cupboards. We had a 'party' tea - duck rolls and mini pigs in blankets with the mediterranean veg I made 2 weeks ago (mum and her visitor can use the rest in a pasta bake tomorrow) and carrot and celery sticks with yoghurt and mint dressing and a bean salad (if visitor doesn't come and mum doesn't feel like doing much she has lots of bits to eat).



Food delivery didn't arrive, something must have gone wrong at the checkout - my basket was still there so I've re-arranged it for Monday. Quite pleased with what I've done given that I am really below par - I did rest as much as possible and did what I could from an armchair.


Today I am grateful for DS3 taking responsibility (he will do things but only if I can't do them) although he did make me speak to Beloved about a couple of things (he actually said 'tell her off') and lovely food from scraps and leftovers.

f0xh0les

mothernerd - could the problem be baby/face wipes down the drain? if not from your house, then further up/down the line. Or, gods forbid, someone flushing nappies? A friend of mine is currently having awful problems with raw sewage flooding her front step from the renters next door flushing all manner of unflushable items. STW won't even come out to her any more, although they have done 3 times before due to it, and cleared the problem. They now want payment from the next door house owner if the tenants do it again. Just a thought. Hope your drain rods do the job. More caustic soda and a kettle of boiling water won't do the terracotta any harm. Won't shift wipes, but will shift sludge.

misstara

NSD today which takes me up to 7/16 . Today I'm grateful for being thick skinned (another draining day at work although was only there for a few hours), being able to help a friend and tissues, paracetamol and throat sweets - I have the lurgy

mothernerd

f0xh0les wrote: »

mothernerd - could the problem be baby/face wipes down the drain? if not from your house, then further up/down the line. Or, gods forbid, someone flushing nappies? A friend of mine is currently having awful problems with raw sewage flooding her front step from the renters next door flushing all manner of unflushable items. STW won't even come out to her any more, although they have done 3 times before due to it, and cleared the problem. They now want payment from the next door house owner if the tenants do it again. Just a thought. Hope your drain rods do the job. More caustic soda and a kettle of boiling water won't do the terracotta any harm. Won't shift wipes, but will shift sludge.

Thanks F0xh0les - I think it's mainly from cooking. beloved loves cooking but is very heavy on her usage of oils/ butter (she has some Austrian heritage so it might be part of that). I did tell them repeatedly not to put food down the sink (DS3 says he knew - tell her), to scrape food scraps into the bin before washing the plates (is sweetcorn actually a food as there is quite a lot that looks the same as it came out of the tin). So beloved has been with us a little over 3 years and 3 years of garlicky butter deposits (I am tempted to tell them that that is what their arteries look like).


No baby or face wipes here but I did pull out half a dozen credit / gift cards this morning. DS3 was trying to work out how they got there (via the plughole?) until I said that someone must have stolen a purse or wallet and ditched the unwanted items by dropping them between the bars of the grid. Two of the houses in our row of 5 have been rented for many years and I have had some weird and wonderful neighbours and I have had long periods without a back gate (not a standard size so needs to be tailor made rather than off the shelf).



The shop I bought the caustic soda from had closed when I went back but other things have helped. We have shifted a lot more sludge now that we have access to the drain chamber rather than poking through the grid bars and scooping out whatever came up.


We will persevere and hope that the solution doesn't involve digging the yard up. At least I haven't landed on the floor in the mess yet (had a near miss the other day, just walking to the bin - but apple actually fell so I didn't mention it.



When I had reached as far down as I could go (semi-squatting as far as I am able) DS3 said I really needed to be on the floor. I just gave him a look. I have enough problems getting down to the floor indoors and I would need him to get me back off the floor, let alone thinking what I could put between me and the sludge or where I could move it to, to make a clear space around the grid (have tried to make the pile a couple of feet away ).


We will solve it eventually (sooner the better). Wish I had known how cheap the rods were weeks ago. I did say to DS3 that years of poverty had made me fearful of summoning workmen for fear of the cost. It was always DS1 who would sit with me puzzling out how to fix various problems. I asked him to help me move a sideboard once - one of those along a narrow passage and round many tight corners so you need a person at each end for the 2" this way then 6" that way. DS1 was 9yo and said that it was a 'grown ups' job. I apologised but said that he was the nearest thing I had to another adult.


Some members of the extended family seem to have very rigid job roles. I was trying to explain to an 8 yo that some daddies weren't all that good at putting up shelve etc, so it was good to know how to do it oneself. Even when they are good at certain jobs (my ex could move wardrobes with brute force but would probably take out light fittings, newel posts and door knobs in the process) they are very rarely around when things need doing.


Not doing anything else tonight except rescuing baby octopi and re-uniting them with their mum.