NST JUST JUNE

abbi_aurelia

Hi all

Love the towel ref mothernerd

Yesterday was not a NSD as I bought a bar of chocolate, and OH ended up in Asda (whoops), so hoping today is day 4

Not much planned, need to write a shopping list and go this evening so don't have to take LO, who is still a big dribbly mess and this morning was licking sun cream off her arm

Grateful for a conversation with mortgage advisor, turns out we have some options I hadn't though of, he will email them through, for a socially distance BBQ with family going ahead on Sunday (they are willing to brave a cloudy day) and for family and friends and for trying beetroot hidden in a pasta dish and being able to eat it

Lookafterthepennies2020

Hi all,
A little late but I would like to join, I'm trying to get my head around money again...I'm very good at the planning but not so good at the consistency and think getting involved with threads like this will help keep me on track! (Hopefully)
I am currently at work at the moment but have been very productive, cancelled my Now Tv Subscriptions and printed out a returns label for a Fabletics top I ordered which has been sat in the draw since (I will never wear it) so I am going to get it packed up when I get in and take ds2 on a walk to the drop-off point when I get home...Hopefully the weather holds out!
I am grateful that : Today has been a quiet day in the office and allowed me to get on a roll with saving some money, it's the weekend which means plenty of time with the family and that I remembered my coat this morning!!

Toni'sfriend

Still on NSD No 4

Iceland order arrived today. Only thing missing was the pork joint for Sunday dinner. Oh well, Spanish chicken instead. Since I was spending money anyway I ordered the last of Himself's birthday presents. Must try to escape upstairs for a bit and get wrapping.

Had a miserable night last night. Totally choked up as a result of hayfever. Couldn't sleep and felt really uncomfortable. Think it's starting to clear a bit now but my head feels like cotton wool.

Wise words today, Mothernerd (as always). I'm a planner and that's what I'm finding difficult about lockdown. Normally I know way in advance what I'm doing. I hate uncertainty. I guess I'm just going to have to learn patience.

Everything else going well.

Kerry_Woman

Was a spend day.  Did a decent food shop, got tv mag, tealight candles.  Also ordered 2 bandanas to use as face coverings from my favourite shop.  Will be picking them up from local store when they come in.
Grateful for:
For post being delivered just as I was leaving to do visit to 2nd shop for food, as a parcel I was expecting came.
Starting to read another book of my favourite author, as I finished reading the other one last night. 
A reasonable night's sleep.

apple_muncher

Kerry Woman - I read your first sentence as 'was a splendid day' and thought how lovely a way  that was to describe the day.  I hope it was indeed a splendid day for you.

Today I am grateful for coping with what is going on, for having the means to adapt, for dd being a little trooper, for getting to and from a friend's house to drop off her bday pressie - 4 buses + a walk - all within the hour so only got charged 1 fare, for successfully making 2 masks.

mothernerd

Spent most of the day planting things, 2 dozen more brassicas into the fabric bag containers brought from my house, 21 caulis planted into large yoghurt pots to grow a little more, several troughs of dwarf beans, more strawberries and lettuce in recycled plastic bottles, stapled onto the fence. Most of the remaining support mesh stapled onto a fence panel that disappears behind the shed (but still gets plenty of light). That is for broad beans (currently crowded into a large plant pot in the polytunnel, the leaves growing in sweet little rosettes), two peonies in large pots either side of the door, several pots topped up. Five potato bags for sweet potatoes (not yet planted as mum called me in for a phone call from DS2 and I wasn't struggling back into my wellies to go out again)
Which all left a collection of empty pots/ tubs/ buckets in several sizes. So at 5pm it was back outside the gate to fill up all the pots. Got to the point where i could see the bottom of the bag, then tipped away the remaining soil from two of the corners until finally it reached the point where I could drag the bag and the soil remaining into the yard. Had a shower when I broke for tea and luckily only my hands got dirty the second time so washed and then put a clean dress on (the work dress with a hole may be less wearable - it ripped on mum's radiator, went from a few small holes to one big one in the wash and this morning it's grown a bit more).
DS2 arrived with the things I had asked him to get so it's a spendy day. He also told us he's moving to Blackpool in August - gf has to move there for work for a year and he enquired and was told he can continue to work from home so they're officially moving in together. He will be selling a lot of his furniture, some will go to gf's house (she's getting a rent allowance from work for the new posting) - I only asked because I was scared it would be heading towards my house and I've nowhere to put it (might ask for his fridge-freezer as back up here - mum gave him the money for it). We also found out the gf's actual name.

The bulk bag may get it's revenge tomorrow as I've a few sore bits and the odd cramp. Still lots of gentle activities I could do.
Today I am grateful for getting all the soil inside, for good weather for working (last week I was struggling to breathe when I went outside), for rain hope everything gets a good soaking, for simple but tasty food, for mum's leg responding well to my treatment, for the stash of moisturisers and creams mum has received as gifts - when I change her dressing , I rub cream from her knees to her toes, leave it for 5 minutes, then do another layer before commencing on the rewrapping (5 layers), for hot showers to ease aching muscles.

Narola1976

Weekly food shop today. I want to get to the stores early as the queues can get a bit much. And as its more than one shop, I need to get going in an a hour or so. 

Grateful for:

  a car which helps me get around
  the early morning peace and quiet while everyone is still asleep
  the cheque from the insurers has cleared.

mothernerd

June Challenge Day 6
Belated Celebrations - Yesterday was Environment Day and also Hot Air Balloon Day
Use all the skills you have acquired in your life so far. We all have them. In the first 5 years of life we grow and develop more rapidly than at any time in our life - we learn to roll, to turn ourselves over, to crawl, to pull ourselves up using items of furniture, to drop back down to the floor, take our first tentative steps, the joy of running. We learn to feed ourselves, to talk, discover the world around us and (sadly) that it does not exist solely to cater to our every whim.

We all have the capacity to learn new things, even if we struggle to access obscure bits of knowledge we previously had at our fingertips (words that are useful in solving crosswords, all the different paper sizes, all the tables that used to be printed on the back of red exercise books - one perch, rod or pole, anyone, the lengths of all 8 classic horse races). Now may be the time to resume an old skill or take up a new one - I suspect many of us will be honing our repair, re-use, recycle skills both now and going forward.
We are in a time of rapid change which is always unsettling. You may find it useful to think about all the other things you have been through in your life (briefly, we aren't wallowing) and acknowledge that you came through them, you coped, you are still her, still standing (if only for short periods, sometimes wobbly and regretting that you lost the art of collapsing onto your bottom gracefully). 

Big life changes include death (your grandparents generation, then your parents, then yours, close friends, loss of a sibling or of a child), illness or incapacity (anything from disability, chronic injury, having a child in hospital, even a minor injury - I once trapped my finger in an old heavy wrought iron gate, I couldn't bush my hair or my teeth, fasten my bra. I had to go to my mother's for her to wash my hair, it was the first time I ever used frozen roast potatoes because I couldn't hold a potato let alone peel one and when I went to the walk-in centre and had the nail pierced to relieve the pressure of all the blood built up inside it, it was absolutely wonderful), house moves, the start or break up of a relationship, job changes and even 'happy' events like a new baby. Any two or three in conjunction can tip you into a major mental health crisis. Financial problems also feature, frequently as a by-product of any of the above.

So as we are currently experiencing a global pandemic and a recession in addition to any personal changes, you're doing great if you are managing not to hide under the bedclothes gibbering to yourself. Well done you (sincerely, not sarcastically). Who you are and what has happened in your life previously also affect your response (particularly those that happen when you are a child - children tend to blame themselves for everything and taking on adult responsibilities too soon has a profound effect). I have learnt a lot from hanging out with the 'poorlies' (old style thread for those with chronic health problems which make even everyday tasks incredibly difficult) so if anything I have gone through can help others, use me. 

I've always said that (life change index as above) my life generally runs 3.5 or above so ironically, my mental health is currently better than it's been for years (I'm where I expect to be, horrible things are happening in the 'outside' world, death is stalking myself and those closest to me unless I am vigilant, my personal finances are low - some would call it poverty - and set to get worse if I lose my battle with the WTC people and have to pay back over £5000, I'm overweight (losing it slowly), my body doesn't do as much as I would like it to (I have to work for short periods, take frequent breaks and there's always a mountain of 'still to be done's at the end of the day but just focusing on what has been achieved). I'm in the middle of a crisis and I can deal with it (it's what I was born for) dealing with everyday emergencies in order of priority, planning for the future and doing what I can with the resources available to me, cobbling the rest together as I go along. What doesn't kill you leaves you with a very dark sense of humour and a set of unhealthy coping mechanisms.

(Disclaimer - politics alert). I do believe in political action. We have very little control over what is happening but should do what we can, even if it's only signing a petition. Public pressure is what gave individual parents the right to decide whether their children should return to school without being fined for their failure to attend. Greenpeace has a petition demanding for an end to bailouts for airlines. Look what there is and sign up for the things you support. There are virtual marches and protests. Have your say, add your twopennorth. (serious politics) The level of incompetence and negligence (possibly criminal negligence, there are are petitions for that too) of our government has reached levels on a par with our death rate (highest in the world and exceeded the daily rate of 27 EU countries put together on June 3rd) means only a small percentage of the population has any confidence in them.

Their actions are appalling. Rees-Mogg's insistence on parliament returning (ill and disabled MP's effectively disenfranchised) and the spectacle of an obviously sick Minister (subsequently tested positive) who may have infected other MPs who are now dispersing to constituencies all over the country. Dominic Cummings' (an unelected 'advisor' ) antics which have led to a widespread breakdown in lockdown compliance (if I were paranoid I might think he had achieved precisely what he wanted). I am not telling you how you should vote, merely that you cultivate an awareness and understanding of what is going on, listen to the experts, the scientists and public health specialists, the example of other governments and how they dealt with it. We are patently not all in it together. Disproportionate deaths amongst the elderly (risk of death from the virus increases with age), the disabled, those with learning difficulties (not understanding why and in some cases with their carers forbidden to visit), care home residents, the homeless (now faced with the possibility of being thrown back onto the streets) those already living in poverty and BAME workers (often in frontline occupations - nursing, caring, driving public transport, cleaning) are unacceptable. 

I have no wish to spread alarm and despondency. Don't get sad, get mad. Ask yourself why, how this was allowed to happen in one of the richest countries in the world, with several years warning. The simple answer is that money was prioritised above human lives and human beings. My brother (middle child) died 3 days after his 47th birthday (13 years ago). My baby brother is likely to predecease me. Well I'm not dying and I will do everything I can to survive, to draw my pension and to hold the government accountable. I am not a member of any political party and have no personal political aspirations (I'm good at articulating an argument or framing a resolution, I hate and detest public speaking and have only ever done it of necessity). Quiet women rarely make the history books (with apologies to abundant and other male turtles).  

mothernerd

Day 6 Quotes
Silliness makes the soul smile
5 Life Lessons from Dr Seuss
1   Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no-one alive who is Youer than you.
2   Why fit in when you were born to stand out?
3   You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
4   Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind (may need to exercise a little discretion on that one during lockdown)
5   Today I shall behave as if this is the way I will be remembered
Quotes from scientists
The Seven Social Sins are
1   Wealth without work
2   Pleasure without conscience
3   Knowledge without character
4   Commerce without morality
5   Science without humanity
6   Worship without sacrifice
7    Politics without principle
(From a sermon given by Frederick William Donaldson in Westminster Abbey on March 20th, 1925)
The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going round a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is an indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.
(Douglas Adams, the Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One More Time
We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special
(Stephen Hawking)

mothernerd

If anyone's offended by my (political) post or thinks I've gone too far, I will tone it down.
It's going to be a quiet day for me. The rain has saved me about 3 hours work (although I did check twice to see that my newly planted baby caulis were okay. Surprisingly the strongest of the ones I put out yesterday are looking a bit sad. Some other things are sad but better than yesterday. There looks to be a good film on this afternoon but it's four hours long so leaving it up to mum as to whether we watch.
I'm showered and dressed and have had lunch but I'm now back on the bed because it's easier to 'nurse' the sore bits and provide support where needed (buttocks and back - there must still be muscles in there somewhere. I've put out various categories of rubbish and left a large kitchen bin with a stone in (so it doesn't fall over) to catch as much rain as possible, if more comes.
Today I am grateful for the rain (proper soaking not just the surface dribbles we've had), for getting what I did done yesterday (moving wet soil would have been much harder), for the garden beginning to take shape (if you ignore the messy bits), for the birds that come to the table and for a good novel by a new to me author.