Seasidegal's Scrimpy Retirement Diary!

Seasidegal58

Thanks @milann and @EssexHebridean. 😃

Two months off my diary!  I only thought it was just over a month since I last posted!😳

I've just been up to my usual things - including coffees and lunches with friends (including a great day in London with an MSE RL pal), a trip to see Moulin Rouge again (I went with DD this time - I bought the ticket for her birthday), went to the Christmas Show at Olympia, booked my rail and air tickets to visit DD in the North and Scotland and I booked a holiday for next year. 

This week I have the sad funeral of my ex-brother-in-law who has been taken too soon and a more happy occasion on Saturday as it's DSis's big Significant Number birthday party. 

I was watching Martin's Show last night - interesting interview with the CEO of Octopus (who is my energy company). I thought he answered the queries asked of him very well and at least he had the guts to come on the show and be grilled. 

SCRIMPY MSE THINGS
I've been looking at my savings accounts and have moved some cash from easy access Marcus account to a higher rate one year fix with Shawbrook Bank. I've also transferred my easy access cash ISA to a higher rate one year fix with Kent Reliance. I'm also going to open this year's ISA allowance with a one year fix as with the increase in interest rates I may well exceed the £1000 savings interest allowance. 

Apart from the above I've had regular monthly small PB wins plus some cash from Topcashback and Optimum surveys. 

Will be catching up with diaries - @beanielou and @Sun_Addicts's will take some reading!😂

milann

Good to hear from you. Sorry about your ex bil but pleased you have some nice things to look forward to.

Sun_Addict

Great to hear from you again. You certainly live life to the full, lots of lovely things to look forward to. Sorry to hear about your ex BIL though. 

I’m also with 🐙 and thought the CEO came across very well. 

Don’t bother wading through pages of my diary, nothing exciting has happened, although in my case that’s not necessarily a bad thing 😆

Seasidegal58

Thanks @milann and @Sun_Addict. 😃. I always enjoy your diary @Sun_Addict - just reading about all you get through in a day is an incentive to move my own butt!😃

Not a lot happened today - the weather was cloudy but still mild after the torrents of rain we have seen here recently. I went to the gym this morning - I've managed to keep it up and I do feel it has helped - I definitely feel stronger than I did before I started training which is all to the good now I'm older. Unfortunately the good work hasn't extended to my diet.  I'm still on the treadmill of being eating healthier with less calories for a few days and then ruining it by eating lots of the high calorific treats that should be curtailed!☹️  It's infuriating that I know exactly what I should be doing but never seem to follow it through!

I didn't do much when I got home. Plenty of things I could have done around the flat but I've felt a bit mwah the last few days and basically couldn't be bothered. I've got my ex-BIL's funeral tomorrow which I'm not looking forward to as I hate funerals. Also I received some bad news recently in that a close friend's husband has been diagnosed with cancer.  They are both naturally devastated - he is 60 in January and they have been making preparations for a big celebration but the diagnosis has naturally knocked them for six. 😞

I ended up binge-watching episodes of the new series of 'The Crown' last night and today and have finished it already!  I enjoyed it but I did first read an article in 'The Times' which set out what was true or false in the series as I think you can get carried away believing it's all true rather than quite fictionalised in places. 👑

SCRIMPY MSE THINGS 
Apart from my gym session I bought some Nivea shower gel (2 for 1 - £1.99) in Superdrug which I needed, together with some wrapping paper for a birthday present. I also ordered my train ticket online to the funeral (using my Senior Railcard which reduced the cost). 

beanielou

Sorry to hear about your friends husband.
Hope the funeral goes as well as it can

Seasidegal58

Thank you @beanielou - it's been rather doom and gloom here lately. Still we have DSis's party on Saturday to cheer us up. She made me laugh when she rang up earlier. She's having a joint Significant Number party with one of her friends and they've hired a make-up artist to do their make-up but DSis decided she'd like her hair up as well. She left it to the last minute to ask her usual hair stylist who told her she wasn't that good at putting up hair. She then managed to get booked in at a local salon who said they could do it and she had a trial run with them. Unfortunately she didn't like it!  When she got home her OH said it made her look like an old biddy and little nephew said she looked like Princess Leah from Star Wars!  As P. Leah had one of what must have been the worst hair styles of all time she has now decided she's not going with it and her hair can stay down!🤣🤣🤣🤣

milann

Having her hair down must be better than sporting Princess Leah hair for your ds is. My nephew was an absolute Star Wars nut when he was a child….when he had his first daughter she was called Leah. He swears it nothing to do with a princess Leah but I’m not convinced. They came out to greet us as we went to shopping mall on Sunday 😂 P. Leah was there but not in the photo.

milann

I’m not surprised your feeling a bit mwah - hope the funeral goes well - plus it’s not nice hearing about somebody close having a cancer diagnosis. 

Enjoy the party 👍

Seasidegal58

Loved your Star Wars welcome @milann!😀

The funeral service was beautiful- one of the loveliest I've ever attended. No hymns were sung but prayers were said for him, a lovely video montage of photos played to his favourite music and wonderful eulogies from his wife (she was too choked to read it so the priest did it), his good friend, his stepson (both of whom broke down) and from his little step-grandchildren who seemed proud to do it. Both DSis and I welled up. As a last joke BIL had stipulated that everyone wear the colours of his beloved football team. Luckily DSis's OH supports the same team so I was able to borrow little nephew's football scarf!  We spoke to his family afterwards - everyone was very friendly and we were invited back for the wake but we declined. It didn't feel our place anymore - we paid our respects and saw him off - which is what we wanted to do. RIP old mate. 😞

SCRIMPY MSE THINGS
The only flowers at the funeral were from the immediate family - everyone else was asked to donate to the local hospice. There was a box to donate so I did that. 

Sun_Addict

When I went to my friend’s funeral earlier this year the dress code was red her favourite colour. She had a wicker casket and songs were played instead of hymns. It was a lovely funeral albeit very sad she was only 56. I’m glad it went well.