Frump to Fab - A Whole New World.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

Thank you for your good wishes for my son's birthday. He really appreciated them  

Wednesday, I never wish to be young again. I will always be glad to get older each birthday. I have been unfortunate enough to live through the death of both of my parents, my only living grandparent, various siblings and many other family members so each birthday I feel really blessed to be able to say that I am a year older and am happy to seriously celebrate being fortunate enough to be alive to be getting older. 

LL what a stroke of bad luck for you, when you decided to go to your local Asda. Obviously it was not a serious emergency or you would all have been required to vacate the surrounding area as soon as possible not just evacuate the store. 

For all of the millions of British people who have been following the lockdown guidelines, I would like to say that I congratulate you on your good sense and your sense of self preservation. To all of you who have decided that the lockdown guidelines do not have to be followed by you, the upshot of you crowding beaches, parks and other beauty spots, and you going to parties  is that once again Covid-19 is on the rise in the UK. Our government has now announced that there will be 36 local lockdowns starting with Leicester yesterday.      This corona virus is here to stay, it is not going anywhere. It is a World pandemic and the sooner British people begin to believe and understand that, the sooner they will get used to the new normal. We will not be retuning to our old way of life, we have to adjust our mindset and our life expectations to the reality of this pandemic. 

What I will always miss most is the previous freedom to just hop on a train and go to visit my daughter and son-in-law in Andover or my sisters and their families in Birmingham. I am enjoying my much slower pace of life though, even though it has been forced on me. 

Wednesday2000

chanie said:

wednesday I hope your new shoes carry you well on your weekend away.  When I popped to town over the weekend, I noticed that at least one charity shop was opened, albeit on reduced hours.

helensbiggestfan said:

Wednesday.  When do you go to the seaside.  Is it the area you think you might like to move to.  Exciting. 😁

Chanie - Thanks, they already arrived as I paid £2.99 for next day delivery. I also bought a rucksack. Good service.

LL - yes, we are going to scout out the areas as we have quite a few different ones in mind. It's the end of July. When do you go away with your family? 

maman

Wise words, as always, sugarbaby. We've only made the tiniest tweak to the lockdown regulations in that my DD1 has done bits of shopping for me (but always left it on the doorstep) so we've had a short weekly chat. As I've been doing my own shopping throughout that wasn't strictly necessary early on although it's acceptable now. To be honest, we could be doing more now but other than visiting friends in their garden last week and going to the NT property once  we've not changed things much.  It's mainly occasional walks and a weekly shopping trip. I'm going to wait and see what happens with restaurants before venturing forth. I'm concerned about what's happened with Leicester. It seems it's difficult to get hold of local test data and perhaps this decision should have been taken a couple of weeks ago which would have messed up the announcements for easing lockdown. 

I'm sure you'll find a form of exercise that suits you Wednesday, both for the fitness and for getting to know people. It's some time now since I did yoga and tap dancing but I gave those up because of timing rather than because I didn't like them. I got too good at tap dancing!   What happened was that I progressed beyond the beginners class and that meant going mid evening to the intermediate group and hanging around after work and getting home even later so I stopped.

I think you could be lucky next week LL. I think the weather's set to improve a bit but not to the ridiculous temperatures we had last week. I'm sure layers are the way to go for your packing. I've found a sort of hoodie top quite useful when going out for walks. I've got a nice Bench one that has a curved/cut away hem so it's a bit more tailored than the sporty sort. I'd pack a loose  dress just in case it gets warm too.

Yesterday I got all the every day tops that needed it ironed. It's too dull and changeable to do any washing today but I've earmarked some camisoles and dressier tops for washing next. That'll just leave jumpers in my bedroom and then I can move to the guest room wardrobe where all my 'occasion' clothes are. I've also got a box of sunshine holiday clothes. Other years I'd have tried them all on and sorted them out but this year I've just grabbed a few dresses to wear in the hot weather. I also started a new book called The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary. It's DD's book that she lent me and was widely reviewed. The style and the setting is unusual but I'm getting into it. Hopefully I'll read a bit more later.

helensbiggestfan

Good morning lovely ladies.  

8 hrs straight sleep, same as the night before.  What a difference it makes.  Had a few restless nights last week. No idea why, it just seems to happen some times.  As I've got older I find I can't skip sleep like I used to do or I'm good for nothing. No more burning the candle at both ends.  😞. 

Wise words Sugarbaby......I think you are right, life will never be quite the same again, at least not for some time. Our "new normal" will probably look quite different,  

Maman I think you may be right about the weather, it looks quite reasonable for next week, low to mid 20s will do me nicely and the odd bit of rain doesn't bother me. As you say layers are probably my best bet. 

Wednesday.....we go on Saturday, it's not far, we'll be there be lunchtime,  😁. 

Going to have another go at shopping this morning.....😂

helensbiggestfan

Quick update.......I safely navigated ASDA.  Apparently the other day was a false alarm....😉.  At least no one was hurt although I have to say it was terribly frustrating.  

Further to Sugarbabys wise words about the virus being here to stay.....is anyone noticing that the shops seem to be less well stocked.  I see no evidence of panic buying but it does seem that perhaps some supply lines are struggling a bit.  I'm noticing gaps on the shelves and plenty of "facing up" going  on so although at first glance it looks like the shelves are quite well stocked but when you look more closely you realise that actually there are quite a few gaps at the back.  

Anyway without going mad I am already restocking up with non perishables when I see things I need or use regularly.......especially if they are on offer.  Bought a few extra bits today, some vitamins, my favourite bath oil, teabags and a few tins.  I am going to continue to do this over the next few weeks.  Then, when I get back from holiday,  I'm also going to buy paint and any diy materials I am likely to need for the next round of work.  And once the chazzers open I will look for some nice books to put on one side for the next lockdown and/or winter.  

It all sounds a bit anal I know but at least that way I can hopefully ride out any further lockdowns or bad weather over the winter.  I won't be going mad and going into Armageddon mode -  I will just make my usual winter preparation but with knobs on.  

maman

Glad you got your shopping done eventually LL. I'm quite impressed with Aldi's stock but have noticed that it's not the same in other supermarkets. I think it's to do with suppliers focusing production on limited ranges so that we can all shop adequately but without the wide ranges we're used to in the big supermarkets. I went to Asda last weekend to get a few bits that Aldi don't stock but the choice was limited, often to the most expensive brands if at all. Even in Aldi they've not had ironing water (we live in a hard water area so it really helps) or small bottles of washing up liquid for weeks. I think that's because the factories have turned their attention to hand sanitiser and other cleaning products. 

I've not really thought about shopping for another lockdown but I did take sugarbaby's advice about stocking up as a buffer against inevitable rising prices. I always keep a good storecupboard which was useful when lockdown started. It's now back to capacity as I bought in loads of pickles (ideal way of getting veg when fresh stuff is limited) and quite  few tins. I did a special trip (and queue ) to Home Bargains for most of that. 
Back soon.

maddiemay

Hi everyone just completely lost my post, no time to re-write, but would like to highly recommend a Radio 4 programme that I listened to this morning. "More or less", aired 9-9.30.  It was the last one of a whole series about Covid 19 and took the opportunity to re-visit and update all the statistics regarding the virus, misinformation given in the past, etc and with the benefit of contributions to the presenters by acclaimed scientists and statisticians.  It knocked a few myths on the head and gave a clear picture of what they think lies ahead and I think might help me make informed judgements as to how I proceed when shielding for me is loosened.  It has popped up now on BBC sounds I am going to listen again now while I have a cuppa.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000kfpy
Take care all.
MM

ancientmum

Hi, just popping in to endorse maddie may's recommendation of "More or Less".  One sane voice in this mad world of lies and excuses.

maman

I listened to it. It was good to hear the data verified. I try hard to listen to all points of view in the media and avoid confirmation bias but it's not easy. Data helped, thanks. 🙂

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

Maddie May thanks for the link to More or Less. I already had a BBC account, so I sat and listened to it. Hindsight is great, but I still do not understand how anyone can be so sanguine about the fact that over 50,000 people have died as a result of this Covid-19 pandemic in the UK. Especially when the predicted deaths were supposed to be a maximum of 20,000 in the UK.  I am still left to wonder as to who is collecting the data about all of us who contracted Covid-19 but survived and if these statistics are available, how are they going to be analyzed?  

I decided to give my larger clothes rail in my bedroom and some of my handbags a clean with Flash liquid and sterilising tablets. I have to break down cleaning tasks into manageable tasks, so as not to wear myself out and/or make myself breathless. 

I did not hit my savings goal in June of £400, but I did manage to save £345., I now have £5055 in my savings account.  I had a lot of outlay in June, as I needed to buy my regular 6 month supply of Equazen fish oils and Bassetts Multivitamins and food, drink and other items to celebrate my son's birthday. I also bought 2 more presents for my grandson's 21st birthday at the end of this month and my son's Christmas presents to put away until December. 

The 1st photograph is of the longer clothes rail and the 2nd photograph is of my new clothes rail. I have 2 more clothes rails full of clothes in my daughter and son's bedrooms, plus 3 X 80 Litres plastic storage boxes full of clothes, a suitcase full of clothes and 2 plastic under bed storage boxes full of clothes, so obviously I do not need any more clothes.