Seasidegal's Scrimpy Retirement Diary!

Sunshine_girl2

Have a lovely time this afternoon . I am presently sat in a big soft play area with a coffee and air con . 

HairyHandofDartmoor

Enjoy your family celebration today SSG.

How is retirement suiting you?

Good luck with selling your flat and buying a two bed one. Will you buy in the town where you currently live or in a different one?

Seasidegal58

@Sunshine_girl2 - in this heat that sounds an eminently sensible way of spending your time!😀

Retirement is going very well @HairyHandofDartmoor!👍. I really don't know how I spent all those years commuting - I don't miss work at all!  I'm not actually selling the flat now. After a few viewings I decided that my flat actually ticked quite a few boxes now that I'm approaching my seventies - ground floor, within walking distance of shops, near the beach front, near the train station if I want to go up to town and the bus stops are close to my flat. I've decided to replace my sofa with a sofa bed in the living room for when people stay and of course if I'd bought a bigger flat I'd be hit with bigger bills!😱

Little nephew's birthday meal went really well last night.  The place was packed and the food was good. DSis and OH had bought him a 'Fortnite' birthday cake and the restaurant was good enough to bring this out to him with candles. The whole restaurant sang happy birthday to him which was lovely!  The restaurant itself even allowed us to actually cut and eat the cake there which was good of them as not many restaurants do this because I suppose you don't then order their desserts!

We all went back to DSis's afterwards for a drink and her OH very kindly ran me home so I didn't have to get an Uber after all. 

On travelling to the restaurant though I was very sad to see the state of the fields - they were so burnt - what ever happened to our green and pleasant land?😞. On the news tonight it was reported that our county's fire service have the most call outs on field fires today they have ever had for one day. There were some still blazing this evening.☹️

Today was another scorcher - it felt the hottest day since the record breaking heat the other week. I met an ex-colleague friend for a coffee and cake this morning. Normally on a hot day like this we would sit in cafe's shady garden but it was even too warm to do this - we ended up sitting just inside near the French doors where there was a nice breeze funnily enough. 

I needed some salad bits but it felt to hot to walk to the greengrocer so I just walked up on the shady side of the street to the Co-op. That was enough walking today for me!

The Howdens man came round this afternoon. He measured up and confirmed that I could replace the kitchen doors with handleless ones in the same wrap colour as my current doors - which is gloss Dove Grey. I'm also going to have an integrated washer dryer with the appropriate door, new counters and a black granite sink and tap. I did ask whether he could fit one of those pull out spice racks between the washing machine and the under the sink drawer but unfortunately he didn't think there was enough room.  I'm also going to have black switches and sockets.  I'm going over to the showroom next week to check out the worktops and sinks and see what I like. My regular plumber/fitter will liaise with him once I know what I'm having as he can get all the bits at trade. 

Tonight I made a pasta arrabbiata with chickpeas as it didn't take very long and I used ingredients I already had. I made enough for a couple of more dinners. I had this with a salad and finished off with the rest of the strawberries and some grapes. 

MSE SCRIMPY THINGS
All of the above kitchen work is being funded by the monies I took from my DCB pension plan which I was going to use to do up the flat I'm now not buying! 

It was my friend's turn to pay for the coffee and cake. The only spends today were the salad vegetables and lottery for tomorrow. 

doingitanyway

Nephew's birthday sounded delightful.
Good to read a restaurant with a sensible attitude to birthday cake.
Hope the PT sessions are still going well.

Seasidegal58

Thanks @doingitanyway😃. I know some restaurants will let you serve and eat celebration cakes if you purchase them through their business but it was good that this particular restaurant let us provide our own!

Still hot and baking here!🥵. DD sent me a photo of their dogs on their lawn - the lawn was a vibrant green!  It may rain a lot in the Highlands but I'd rather be there than here at the moment. 

I've done nothing of interest to report over the weekend. Too hot to walk. I wanted to get up early and go out this morning but I couldn't sleep properly last night which is unusual for me.  I ended up sleeping in till 10am!😱. That put the moccas on the walk!  This afternoon I've ended up watching an old Marilyn Monroe film from the 50s - How to Marry a Millionaire.'  I really enjoyed it - very funny with great shots of 50s New York ( one of my fave cities) and beautiful classic 50s fashion as well as some very over the top outfits as well!

This week some friends and I are off to the local theatre to see 'The Cher Show' which is a musical about the lovely Cher with three different actresses playing her different stages of her life. It's had good reviews and we're all looking forward to seeing it. 

MSE SCRIMPY THINGS
NSD yesterday and today. Didn't win the lottery. ☹️

redofromstart

Smiled at your lump sum, lovely to have the funds to make where you are better.  

Sun_Addict

I’ve never seen any Marilyn Monroe films strangely enough. My maternal grandma was from New York and it was my mum’s favourite place unsurprisingly 😀

milann

I totally agree it too hot to walk and it’s hotter down your end than ours. It was 31 degrees (can’t find the symbol for degrees anywhere 😏)  in the house with all the curtains shut. Didn’t even go outside to see what it was out there. We had intended walking along the river for a drink when it cooled down…..but it hasn’t cooled at all so we’re haven’t been out. I’m very tempted to go out and do a rain dance…..but till make me even warmer than I am now 🤪🕺🤪💦

Seasidegal58

Hi @redofromstart - yes I'm quite lucky in that I've taken out sufficient that will renovate the flat completely internally and I'll also have enough to put away for the next call from the freeholder when the 7 year outer renovation work is due in a couple of years time, plus the next call after that if I'm still here!   The last call was £2700 and is bound to be more next time round what with inflation!

@Sun_Addict - I think you'll enjoy the film - another of her comedies which I really like is 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.'

@milann - at least the weather's turned now!  We had rumblings of thunder quite loud late yesterday morning then torrents of rain. It still felt sticky and humid all day though. 

Today I woke up to an overcast day but it feels cooler and fresher. It's been raining steadily and the atmosphere is so much more comfortable.  The sun is trying to break through the clouds. 

I've not been out the last couple of days - too hot and then yesterday I would have got drowned!  I'm definitely going to make an effort later. 

I lost 2lbs this week on weigh-in. Was really chuffed with that as I had the three course celebration meal and wine, plus coffee and cake with a friend last week. 👍. We're going to an Italian restaurant after the Cher show tomorrow so I'll make sure I'm good food wise this week. Poached eggs on toast for brunch today and I'm making a quorn and bean chilli with salad later. 

MSE SCRIMPY THINGS
Nothing spent yesterday. I do need a vitamin spray so will get that if I go past the health food shop later. 

in_need_of_direction

poached eggs defeat me though i do love them