Frump to Fab - A Whole New World.

candygirl

Afternoon all
WEDNESDAY , Your plans sound so exciting ! Living by the coast will be fab.I'm 30 mins away from a few beaches, n love taking Bon for a run on the sand when allowed
I daren't think long term at the mo , as i'm still getting over stuff from the past few years I'm content staying put here,  as the garden  , area n neighbours are brill .
My mates Daughter finally had her baby girl this morn after a 48 hours labour, n c section .She's 9 lb 2oz, n so cute 😍
LL I think you're right about resetting our priorities after all this .It's going to be essential for most of us. 

maman

That's a good plan Wednesday. My aunt and uncle did something very similar. They moved from central London to North Devon. While waiting for his pension to kick in, my uncle took a small job. He was delivering parts to outlying garages. He loved being able to drive after years of not keeping a car in London and my aunt often went with him to enjoy the drives through the country lanes. 😁

Wednesday2000

Congrats on the new arrival Candygirl.

Maman - one of my uncles retired very early, I think he was under 30 years old. He had a fab paying job, though. He was in banking.

I was listening to a podcast on my walk the other day and the doctor who wrote the book I mentioned was talking about vision boards and how they can focus your brain to achieve what you want. The first thing that came to my mind if I made a vision board was an image of the sea. I've always wanted that for myself and I don't know what I'm waiting for. It's strange how a stressful time like this can suddenly put everything into perspective.
Vision Board — A Powerful Tool To Manifest Your Life Desires

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies, 
I went to Lidl in Camberwell Green to get a few food items and I was lucky to get 2 piri piri spatchcock chickens that had been reduced from £3.79 each to only 90p each 

chanie

sugar that chicken looks yummy.  
Wednesday your plans with your husband to move to the coast sound very exciting.  
Candygirl the birth of your friends daughter is a good reminder to us all that despite what is going on in the world right now, there is still joy.

maman

That chicken was excellent value sugarbaby. We can trust you to find a bargain!  

It's the first wet and miserable day here since lockdown started. I hope it doesn't affect my mood. I didn't sleep at all well last night so may just read today and if I fall asleep for a while it'll do me good.  

Interestingly I had a text message from my GP yesterday. Some months ago I'd been having stomach bloating and she suggested we had a follow up appointment so the message was t ask whether I wanted an appointment to discuss. It's still an occasional problem although much improved so I declined. It's good to know that they're being proactive it getting people to access the NHS for other than Covid though. 

My neck is much improved. Yesterday was my best day and I even managed to clear my ironing. Most of it was shirts and trousers for DH. The plus about wearing leggings indoors that it's only tee shirts that I'm ironing for myself. 

What's pleasing is that although I'm not getting dressed up, all my beauty routines (developed on this thread ) are ingrained habits so I'm taking care of my skin, hair and nails every day/. As there are so few other choices I'm getting in far more planned exercise than usual to compensate for not dancing. I have an indoor exercise routine as well as all the walking. While I've not been reading masses, it's more than usual so that's another plus. 

Take care all.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies, 

I added some freshly ground pepper and Schwartz piri piri seasoning on both of the chickens, then roasted them. They are absolutely delicious and will last a few days of dinners until Friday when I will finally be getting my next online Tesco grocery delivery after a month since the last delivery.  

I have 2 other orders in May pending with Tesco, so there will only be one week when my daughter and I will have to go to Lidl in Camberwell Green to get the weekly grocery shopping.  

I was really sad to see a local man being evicted from his rented accommodation yesterday. All of his worldly possessions were laid out over a large stretch of the pavement for all to see. When I discussed this issue with my daughter, she said I should have offered him the spare bedroom that my son is not using while he is at University. I reminded my daughter that there was no way I would invite a man who was a total stranger to come and live with us, then suddenly my daughter thought about the dangers inherent in such generosity and decided that I was right. Of course I really feel for all of the newly homeless in London, but I am not equipped to  change any of the situations they are now finding themselves in. So many migrants who worked in the Hospitality sector in London, especially the West End found themselves sacked as soon as lockdown began and soon found themselves homeless as well, when their landlords would not wait for their rent, when their incomes dropped to zero.  

I am so thankful that for me and all of my family members, lockdown is not having a detrimental effect on our ability to keep the roof over our heads or our ability to feed ourselves and keep ourselves clean. Lucky for us our only hardship is deciding which TV programmes we want to watch as we relax in the comfort of our own homes.  

Keep pampering yourselves ladies 

maman

That's a dreadful story sugarbaby. Of course, you were right not to take in a random stranger for security reasons as well as probably not advisable for health/current legal reasons either. I thought evictions had been banned during lockdown.. but apparently not. ☹️

I checked and this shouldn't have happened. Poor man probably unaware of the advice.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/complete-ban-on-evictions-and-additional-protection-for-renters

Wednesday2000

I started rereading a book on preparing for retirement today. There was an exercise where you had to list 10 hobbies/activities you wanted to do after you retire. I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my time when I move to the coast.

1. Volunteering for a charity.
2. Going to comedy nights.
3. Cinema.
4. Joining social meet-up groups.
5. Joining a local dog walking group.
6. Seeing live music.
7. Joining a gym.
8. Tai Chi or meditation class.
9. Fostering cats or dogs.
10. Joining a local vegan group.

The author was saying that you should start the hobbies before you retire as you are more likely to stick with them.

It did make me think why don't I do all of these things already?! I only regularly do 4 of them.

I have still been running down my moisturisers. I have 12 left. I'm putting cream on my feet with socks every night, in fact I did it this morning as my feet were cold. I'm going to deep condition my hair tonight.

maman

12 Moisturisers OMG!! 🤣 If some of them don't agree with the skin on your face then it's an excellent idea to use them up on your feet and also hands, knees and elbows.

My mother prepared for retirement a bit like your book suggests. She didn't work outside the home but she knew that it wouldn't have worked for her and my father to be under each others feet all day so she found new things to do outside the house. 🙂