NST March 2020 Merriment

mothernerd

Happy Mother's days turtles - I awoke to a beautiful sky, stripes of blue with gold (okay peachy pink but not the shepherd's warning one - no not having that).

Later turtles. I am fine. I am well/ nappy/ quietly content but just not sure what to say atm - adjusting to the new reality (or what passes for reality this week)

ditty1234

Due to slightly random lapses of panic shopping(not bulk - as there was nothing to bulk buy by the time I got to the shops after work) I have slightly lost track of nsd's and inventory. I think I have £20 left till Friday so can pick bits up if I need to, but also have a lot of duplicate food to use up from ds uni house, we went and closed up his house until September yesterday. A weird end of term. But he now has his bike and clothes here so he can get some exercise which we will all need. 
So I am grateful that we are all well, for a couple of friends who will help if we get ill, at the moment we are all fine, and grateful for my permanent teaching contract even if it is part time. 
Happy Mothers day to all. 

BadBookkeeper

What a beautiful sunny morning! Our plans have changed we live in North Wales and seeing pictures of Snowdonia and some of the beaches yesterday I think it’s better not to go.  Locals are blocking roads to beaches telling people to go home! So I’m pretending the conservatory is a lovely cafe and spending the day there with a bit of garden footy with ds!
Hoping for an NSD will update later.  Will be going for a walk later just around the village. Won’t be visiting my mum today she understands.  Try and enjoy Mother’s Day the best you can.  It will certainly be one to remember x

f0xh0les

Last night I remembered the 'Chicken Man' of Nether Edge in Sheffield.  It was so utterly bizarre you just stood and stared.

A Luton style van would pull up on a street, he had an ice-cream van style cockerel call he rang 2 times, and he rolled up the shutter on the back,  all the Indian ladies would come pouring out of their houses, surround the van,  out would come trays of  chicken portions, eggs, veg, oil, huge sacks of snake beans, onions  and peppers. The ladies would  hand over notes and leave - no change was given. I assume they must have ordered in advance.  He rocked up once a  week I think, and spent less than 2 minutes then he dived into the front seat again and was gone.  Pouf!   If you had not been there to see it you would not have believed it.    It was probably dodgy, not much done at that speed and so furtively is ever quite legal - it def wasn't a refridgerated van.  But it worked. It was amazing. Utterly efficient. Serving 40+ households in less than 2 minutes, even Netto (in the old days before beep) would have been proud.  DH never saw it. You had to be in the right place at the right time.

I have just run out of fruit.  I need to lose another 4 lbs to reach my next goal.  There is no excuse for me to not to lose the weight. Maybe all this self isolation will make people be more selective about their shopping in future.  I am using it as an opportunity to use up and get rid of stuff, and if the kids complain, well tough.  We have in the house what we have in the house .  I will deal with restocking when I am able. I know I will not be able to get all I want, but will hopefully get enough to get by.  It is going to be little and often for a while. I will tie a neckerchief around my face and unleash my inner Diijick Turpin.  I am intrigued as to what  will actually be left on the shelves.  I am out of isolation on Tuesday and cannot wait to get around my shopping circuit again. I am food shopping and then isolating again. The table and chairs can go out in the yard  - technically it is outside.  I have two loads of laundry flapping on the line - that is moneysaving! 

While there is coffee, there is hope.  Chin up Turtles!

dolly84

BadBookkeeper - I think sometimes not spending money can be a hobby for some rather than a necessity, this to me does not seem like the time to do that.  I will and have been supporting local business where possible, yesterday DD got me a lovely box of chocolates from the shop she works at (paid for by me), I popped into the cheese and wine shop and bought £5 worth of coffee beans.

Our milkman was an hour and a half later than normal on Friday and I was panicking a bit as I was down to the last full pint, he did arrive but is being swamped by all accounts, I hope this changes the way people buy certain things, the greengrocer said he had loads of people buying that he had never seen before which is great as his deliveries to restaurants were cancelled and that was before Friday.

mothernerd - I would keep quiet about the pulses if I were you, I feel like I will never see a tin of chickpeas or kidney beans again.  I really wish I could get a bag of plain flour I have full packs of bread and self raising but only half a bag of plain.

My replacement recycling bin was delivered yesterday so I filled that with all the stuff that was in dog food sacks in the garage, I took out several plastic pots to use for seedlings.

Plan for today is to finish DD's floor, walk the dog in the woods, nip to the charity shop if it is open and see if they need any extra volunteers as DD used to work there and get some old clothes from them to make a scarecrow.

crazy_cat_lady

I feel like a winner at life today because I finally managed to get a bottle of washing up liquid and 4 pints of milk.
There were literally hundreds of people queuing outside our two teeny shops in town (L1dl and Bee Emm) a couple of minutes before opening. No respect for social distancing. DD and I had been for a long walk and ended up walking back through town at a couple of minutes to ten so joined the back of the queue at Bee Emm and got in to join the panicking masses.  Didn't go wild - just coffee (have none), washing up liquid (have less than a cm in the bottle), milk (less than a pint), chocolate and crisps for the kids (we had none) and then home via Gr3ggs where I finally managed to get some bread buns. That's me done for the very short term - until I have to get up and go to work tomorrow. 
I have to say how much I appreciate our shop workers at this time. The lovely lady that served me in Bee Emm said she'd had mostly verbal abuse over the past few days, which makes me very sad indeed. She's risking her health to provide services for ungrateful rat bags like that.

mothernerd

Wish I could shop with you dolly. I still have the 3 bags of plain and the dried yeast I bought as resuming bread making attempts was one of this month's 'things'. Beloved has used all my self raising (i have bicarb/ baking soda to transform it). Bought cake things like malt loaf that mum will eat but was going to make healthy cakes for me and bought very little choc/ bisc/ cake for me (can nibble mum's ginger biscuits) to boost my weight loss.

I had written a long rant written(with a warning at the beginning) but lost it when the internet cut out.  I'm hiding in the bedroom with chocolate as mum kept asking when I was going to collect my other things (not till I can stand up without bits creaking). I am hoping DS2 can bring it for me (it's on a shopping trolley I have temporarily acquired) but so far he hasn't replied to 2 messages and an answerphone massage - I haven't seen him for about 3 weeks. He came to collect a parcel and the orang utan pin I had bought him and the minute I said the word cough he was onto the landing and down the stairs as FAST as his legs could carry him (very long legs and does a lot of running too).

Mum keeps mishearing/ misinterpreting things I've told her, picking on one small detail to obsess over. She's complaining to other people about me:-

Wanting her to buy another fridge and keep it in the bedroom (I've put us on a waiting list for a tall fridge freezer, any colour, any size as 3.5 drawers of freezer space isn't a lot even for  a pensioner on her own. If I can get a food delivery for in a few weeks or one of the girls manages to get us a chicken that needs to be turned into meals (bulked out with beans/ pulses and veg) then portioned and stored. Normally I put things in my freezer and bring them over here as space opens up (sometimes give her a lot of half bags of frozen veg so she has variety without taking up too much space)

Making her house untidy (she counted the 5 bags still in the living room. I've moved most of a bedroom and about half a kitchen over here (would have liked my own knives and chopping board but will do without). I've been given one small drawer and most of a shelf in one of mum's two wardrobes and 4 floor to ceiling built-ins for my clothes (the sad thing is they will probably fit). I brought two over door hangers so I can hang dresses and tunics.

I brought flat pack cardboard cube boxes and put them in the bedroom with me to house the tinned and dried food I've brought, the books and sewing stuff. Two of the bags she complained about have house tools and garden tools/twine etc (her partner's sons didn't even leave her a hammer and screwdriver and there are lots of little jobs I can do. The bags will go in the shed but it's also serving as larder space and I put the root veg and unopened wraps in there and moved the garden stuff (delivered and what I've brought) round to the back of the house and watered some plants for potting up.

The local group admin will bring us milk, veg and meat and fish from the market. No, the admin has asthma and a small baby, is in isolation and has given us contact details so we can order online.

I am fine, I will be fine but I've only had 6 hours sleep. I'm trying to sort so much stuff in my head and mum keeps chipping in with a reminder about something I've already done or that is way down on my list. I'm taking over the cleaner's tasks for the duration and mum has a list of things the cleaner hasn't noticed and mum won't tel her about , so I'm down for cleaning the bathroom with a toothbrush.

My priorities this week are Income and stocks audit

I need to get back to fighting for the reistatement of my WTC. I don't qualify for sick pay, can do work at home but will not get any income or find new custom until I'm free to go out (if people haven't forgotten about me by then) . Don't qualify for 'income subsidy' thing as self-employed. Buying food with mum's money (but have brought stores from home and she will be getting 24 hour care, except when I escape to the polytunnel). Still need to notify the 'authorities' of my change of address. Carer's Allowance send one sheet of A4 telling you about your award and 2 double sided A4 listing all the things you must tell them including whether you or the person you are looking after dies, goes into hospital or prison, changes address, sneezes or changes their hair colour - the last two are a joke by the way).

Stocks are basically

Normal start of Winter Stock + bargains (20p butter beans) - stuff consumed + replenishment of exhausted stock + miscellaneous acquired in the last two weeks.

Some mine, some mum's, some toiletries (just went through and brought would I use/ left a lot for them eg 4 blocks of soap for mummy of twins + husband and two other little girls, 2 brought here, 2 nearly full but in use + any hotel soaps for DS3 and Beloved), some cleaning stuff, medicines (DS3 is collecting a prescription item for me on Tuesday and bringing it here). Mum told me she was down to her last eye gel on Friday night after everywhere was closed. Hadn't managed to get through to our doctor's last week, pharmacy !!!!!! up on a regular basis, no way eye gel will arrive in Tuesday's order, week after at the earliest. but need to see what I've got (I had hay fever tablets and I brought a long strip of fabric plaster as the plastic ones set off my eczema and dermatitis) .

Not wasting any time worrying about anything (parked them at the back of my head - future food and the thought that I might never go back to my little house)

Today I am grateful for lovely sunshine, good food (bought a SM takeaway food deal with mum's favourite in - something different, mildly extravagant but not eating out/ from the takeaway/ complicated.

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for a quiet start to the day, for dd doing some crafting, for a good walk in the sunshine, for dd playing out on her bike, for my bunch of daffs blooming beautifully, for mil calling us from the states to say that she is ok (they have been confined to their rooms in her care home, all food eaten in the room, only tv, radio and audio books for company [she's legally blind], but the 2 weeks are up on friday...), for dh cooking tea.

dolly84

Really hope you are all well.  I'm glad I'm not Boris Johnson.  We all knew these types of things were a potential global risk so it has come as something of a shock to me that global governments do not have an agreed and cohesive plan that they all put in place immediately.  They just seem to be stumbling about changing their minds.

The problem we have is the information we are getting.  Our government has been telling us for 2 months that healthy people will get mild symptoms and some no symptoms at all so obviously we weren't worried about catching it personally but were concerned about others, then this weekend they try to blame us for going outside in parks and wide open spaces, we hadn't been told not to do that and it just felt like yesterday they were trying to make out the general public were causing the problem rather than them changing the goalposts every 2 minutes.  Yesterday when they talked about at risk people there was no mention of older people being at risk by virtue of their age but those very same people have been sent charging around the country preparing to stay in for 3 months.  The government should have put their efforts from day one into identifying and isolating the most at risk.

Took the dog to the woods yesterday and the entire road was packed with parked cars, it is a big area but we did encounter a lot of people but this was before Boris and his cronies decided we should have known we weren't supposed to be there - I go several times a week and sometimes don't see a soul so had no idea it would be that busy.  It did occur to me yesterday that we will probably get the best spring and summer we've had in years now.

DD isn't allowed to see her boyfriend now, I am very, very, very concerned on the impact isolation will have on children, especially teenagers.

mothernerd

I'm much happier today. Sorry for complaining but I think mum doesn't know I was upset, she just thinks I'm tired - slept from 8pm until just before 6am. I'm trying not to overload her with information or anything too scary - she was quite happy telling people I wouldn't let them in the house (it's not her fault, she would always welcome them, but mothernerd says NO) I am quite happy to be the baddie. She also assumes that everything will be fine, that I will make things happen, food will arrive, she will be fed and entertained and kept safe. She had phone calls yesterday from her friend (they are the only two left alive from the clas at school) and her vicar (they have a list of people to keep in touch with).

DS2 has been in touch, which was a great relief. He came round to collect a parcel and the pin I bought him, about 3 weeks ago and I haven't heard from him since I mentioned my cough and he disappeared down the stairs. He has a cold (which might not be a cold) so has been staying away.

Mum isn't awake yet and I'm taking things slowly - I've taken my pills, brushed my teeth, put a load of clothes in to wash, unpacked my suitcase and hng up some clothes (I think I'm staying). The heating isn't on (until mum gets up) and the floor is a bit cold (I've allowed myself the luxury of walking around barefoot). Done a few stretching exercises especially ones to get the kinks out of my spine. Not had my shower because I might go out in the yard and do some of the heavy stuff.

Will do some inspiration later, not sure how long the laptop will hold out (only two plugs in the bedroom, CPAP machine is on the nearer one so if this is charging I have to lie on mys side at a funny angle to use it.

I said i would like to swap flour with dolly not shop with her - there was another mistake in there but can't remember what t was.

We did both have a nice Mother's Day in the end, chocolate, potted daffodils, nice food, some contact with sons. I read a lovely poem someone had written for mother's Day (including all sorts of mothers and those who have stood in for them and those whose attempts at motherhood failed) but it was a bit long for me to type out accurately.

Look after yourselves and your loved ones turtles. Just take one day at a time and try not to worry about all the what ifs and the incompetence of our 'leaders'. We are surrounded by heroes (hero turtles?). Doctors, nurses and all the support staff, delivery drivers and people on tills, subject to the abuse of the thoughless and selfish. Contimue to be polite, calm and kind to others turtles.