NST January 2020: A Turtle Quest

dolly84

mothernerd - I hope you get this drain situation cleared soon, it sounds like a bit of a nightmare.


Having our boiler serviced today so will be paying for that, it is under warranty but has to have an annual service. Have the money for it already though. DH filled up the big car yesterday and was aghast at how much diesel had gone up in just a few days, the oil companies are cashing in on the middle east situation again.


Very windy all night here and still windy this morning so I think I will go for a run rather than cycling, I can't remember the last time I rode my bike but it is a few weeks now.

lcc86

Afternoon turtles

Managed a couple more NSD's so am up to 7/18. Busy day at work yesterday, been out horse riding this morning and now just having some lunch before doing some chores. Need to put the slow cooker on and do some cleaning. Not much else to report, just plodding along. Everything is under budget though which is the main thing!

mothernerd

DS3 and Beloved badgered me into calling someone in to deal with the drains. I said they could phone whilst I took things to the charity bin in the library and 2 bags full of carrier bags for another charity shop. They hadn't made any progress when I got back so I've managed to track down the local age concern handyperson service and left an e-mail request to see if they can help.


The borough's care and repair service closed in September but the link for the AC one was on the same paage. It says they charge £15 per hour and any materials costs. They may not do drains (maybe only things like tap washers etc) but might be able to tell me reliable tradespeople who will not overcharge. Service is available to over 50s.


Probably won't contact me until Monday but I'm too ill to do anything anyway so have crawled back into bed and asked for cold bottles of tap water to be brought to me - DS3 and Beloved each did a 2l bottle each for me so currently drinking one and have the other tucked alongside me to help reduce my temperature.



Today I am grateful for my bed, cold tap water and getting more things out of the house.

f0xh0les

Good afternoon lovely Turtle-Questors.
Well! Remortgage - quest is ongoing - dh will not bang on the neighbours' doors to get a signature witnessed, like I did at 10.30am, so his signature will be witnessed at his workplace, and so it was not in the post today, and so it will not be there Monday. Annoying man.

Back room-Quest has been a success. The whole room vanquished. My cape fluttered in the wind as I posed.

Pantry-Quest is still ongoing but I have a box full of obsolete/rusty cake tins and bits and things that can either be recycled or charity shopped. Still need to wash and dry a few bits, but it is 90% done, and I refound some mugs I hid when we got given some really awful ugly ones that have all come to a strange, and unexpectedly violent, end. So, nice mugs have come out of hiding! yay! Sick of my kids taking the mugs and glasses off to their rooms, and what is it with them and teaspoons? Or maybe it is just peculiar to mine.

So, after lunch (Borscht- which I am pretending is Klingon blood wine) pantry quest will end, and Kitchen Quest will begin. Half of Kitchen Quest is already over, as it was overspill from Pantry-Quest (are you still with me?).

The Humanitiarian Laundry Mission will begin shortly afterward once the area is secure and there is no danger of further explosions.

Sock families have been reunited, stores have been inventorised and the menus have been planned for the next week. 14 item shopping list created.

I am still exhausted. Woke up tired. Still tired. I ache. Still, I might as well be tired and achey with a clean and orderly house.

Today will be NSD6 as I am not going out anywhere. I half filled the car with £20 petrol last night, so it should do next week. Need to do some recreational baking for lunchboxes, but they will only eat it if I do it today, so will have to sneakily do it tomorrow afternoon while nobody is looking....

MediumDino

This will hopefully be another NSD, but I'm not sure yet.
Today is the day for taking Christmas decorations down.

I went to my first parkrun of the year and walked to it and back home again. It was my slowest yet, because it is very windy today and I have hurt my ankle and wanted to go gently. I am grateful for having done over 15000 steps before 11.00 today.
I am grateful as well for lovely berry tea and our cat cuddled up beside me.

apple_muncher

Mothernerd - good to hear that you didn't slip over in the gunge. But please don't not tell us about things because someone else has had what seems like a worse thing happen. If I were dealing with drains, everyone would know about any mishaps or near-mishaps. Hope you feel better soon.

GoingToDoIt

Billy Big Bucks here reporting in another spendy day!
Today I bought 3 reduced items which I needed, and 2 full price. Total spend £3.90, £1.50 mr T’s voucher used and £.1.50 claimed back from sh0pmium. I also collected two unused and unloved items offered for free, worth around £15 had I bought them.
So all in all I don’t feel tooooo bad about spending that 90p!

Walked 10,000 steps again, done that around 3 times this week. It’s hard but worth it.

I do have to say, I sometimes forget that, as I’m in the big smoke, I have got 4 of the major supermarkets within walking distance (however, in 3 opposite directions) in fact the only supermarket I absolutely never get close to is Ald! So I do tend to buy different things from different supermarkets based on best offers/price. I’m quite lucky that way, but it does mean I never get everything in the one shop or on the one trip.

Today I am grateful for - the free things I got, the people who gave them to me and having a roof over my head.

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful that dd's new specs look great, for finding a few more bits for her bday, for her dance classes venue changing to much nearer us (but only for today, shame), for finding gf pizza bases, for the difference a bit of tidying up makes.

DawnW

Mothernerd, I think that DS3 and his GF are right about getting someone in to sort out the drains. Have you thought about trying the specialised firms like Dynar*d and similar? I assume they could give you an estimate of cost in advance? You seem to be harming yourself trying to do it yourself And surely there is a risk of infection from yucky drain sludge, too, especially if you aren't too well to start with :eek:
Do take care xx


NSD 4 / 16 today. I was thinking about going to one of the big supermarkets to try and buy some celery, as they didn't have any at the market the other day, and neither did Iceland. I also want some tahini as I want to make hummus (yes I know you can do it without, but it does add something...). But I decided not to bother today, but to use up some fridge shrapnel instead. We had cheese bought before Christmas with bread, HM chutney and salad bits for lunch, and I made a sort of pasta bake for dinner, with an onion, some garlic, some leftover chorizo slices, a few mushrooms that had seen better days, some frozen peas, a few Lidls sun dried tomatoes from a jar, the dregs of a bottle of white wine that has been hanging around since Christmas and half a pot of cream. Cooked, stirred into cooked pasta, topped with breadcrumbs and grated cheese and browned under the grill
Grateful for leftovers to make something nice from, a quiet day and a warm house to shelter us from the cold wind outside.

XSpender

XSpender wrote: »

Apologies for the lack of updates, I have been away with work all week with not much free time. Have only spent on a small food shop and fuel this week

Quest. My quest in 2020 is to pay £10k off our debt and never use the cc again - We haven’t used a CC since CHristmas Eve, 2 DDs got out to debt

Question everything.
Habits/routines - aiming to move more, break some bad eating habits, take a little more time for me managed first run on C25K, ate well when away (no snacking)
Plans - away 14 nights with work this month!:eek: Using the small amount of personal time to read, pamper and exercise No free time this week to do much

Ugly, unloved or unused will look to sell a couple of items in Jan and we have a lot of cardboard and other bits to remove from the garage - I think Iwill struggle with this in Jan due to lack of time

Exercise your mind and body. Spent 4 hours on my feet meal prepping, does that count cos I’m knackered now

Savings £6 in £2 saving pot

16 NSDS minimum. Aiming for at least 20 6/20

Budget. We are going to have to pay for extra childcare to cover the travelling in my new job so need to find the money from somewhere. Cancelled hair appointment and booked into local cheaper place next month. Change of tax code due to much cheaper co car should help a bit too

Post at least three gratitudes daily please. Today I am grateful for:

1) Being at home even if DH is grumpy as hell on his diet
2) Chat with friend who is unwell
3) My Mum

Give. Money, time, food. There are others out there who need you! planning library and charity shop donations this month - nothing organised yet

And look after yourself too. Could do with some more sleep