Debt in Dizzyland

Dizzy_Imp

Day 21 on my debt busting journey.  Yesterday would've been my mum's 70th birthday, had cancer not claimed her in the summer. What was a sad day ended with my border collie having four little boy pups - two red/white and two black/white.  Tiny will get to choose which puppy to keep for his own dog and I think he likes the red colour, so I'm waiting to see which one he bonds with.

Should be my first payday from Maccy Ds on Thursday, which is quite exciting.  Some extra pennies to pay off a bit from my credit cards.  It will be a drop in the ocean, but its a start.

Dan, our electrician friend, came over to sort out our lounge lights and install a new security light at the front for us tonight.  I had looked after his miniature schnauzer a few weeks ago while he and his family were away, so he said it was a return favour and no charge.  I'm liking this bartering where no money changes hands!  I was given a lovely bottle of gin as a thank you for having Simba to stay stay this weekend (which, honestly I loved (the dog, not the gin...although the gin is lush)) so I'm pleased with that too!  He might be back between Christmas and New Year as his owners have a wedding to attend...if Boris allows...

Steak and chips for the boys for tea...I  get free food at work and ate at 3am so wasn't really hungry when i woke up, but I'm enjoying a large G&T now. 

No more MD shifts until Boxing Day, so I can get into the festive mood now.   DSS text to say he has bought his GF a diamond ring for Christmas, but not to go out and buy a hat yet, as it's not an engagement ring.  Boo. Spoil sport. His GF is lovely, so I hope they do tie the knot one day.  He wants to help with the cooking this year, so I need to go out and get sprouts tomorrow!

TTFN x

WinterWarrior

Aw puppies ♥️🐶
Boxing day could be a fun shift! 

Dizzy_Imp

Christmas Eve marks Day 24 ...DSS and GF arrived late last night and he is now busy in the kitchen prepping veg for tomorrow,  cooking the gammon, making stock for the gravy and generally doing all the cooking!  His Nanna sent him up with a Christmas pudding, which was very sweet of her, bearing in mind she is the ex-W's mum.

We all have a few presents to wrap and hubby has just got back from chasing the DPD driver around the village to make sure he got my present lol.  I sent him out with a case of beer for the chap to say thank you, as the poor guy has been delivering for over 12 hours now.

Woodburner is lit, glass is full...bring on the festivities!

Dizzy_Imp

And so, its Boxing Day - Day 26 on my debt-busting journey.  I was spoilt with presents yesterday - some useful and practical, some much needed and others more frivolous,  but they will all be enjoyed over the coming year.  I feel very lucky to have been able to have family to stay and to enjoy far too much food (I'll need to be creative with the leftovers for a while) but its back to the grindstone with my shift starting in a little over an hour.  This will be the first time I have ever worked (for pay) between Christmas and New Year, which I realise is unusual.   I've worked in the past for builders and companies that shut down for the festive period until the first week in January so have always had a lazy end to each year.  This year, my shifts fall so that I will be working as we welcome the new Year of 2022.  DH will be manning the small-holding fort when I'm catching up on my beauty sleep.

I've been very good and have avoiding spending in the Boxing Day sales, both online and IRL.  Yes, there are some fabulous reductions and fantastic offers...but...do I actually NEED any of the items? Nope. Need and want are two different things. 2022 will be a year of only buying what is actually needed and making do with what we already have, by repairing, upcycling, renovating, propagating, sowing/growing, using up stuff we already have and becoming more creative.  I want to learn how to sew better and start a food forest on our land.  I'd like to finish the restoration of the ground floor rooms,  make personal presents for people and sell seedlings.  I want to reconnect with nature more and let go of some of the stresses of modern-day life.  All of this is possible with a little organisation.

After a little sleep tomorrow morning, I will be looking out my chilli and pepper seeds and planting some pots to get them started early enough in the season to get a harvest later next year.  I've got out my kitchen garden planner ready to fill in January and will be having a sort out of all the various garden tools, so I can clean and oil them ready to be used.

Paid work first.  

TTFN x

Honeysucklelou2

One of the benefits of long winter evenings is being able to plan the garden for the year ahead. Enjoy sowing the peppers and chillis. I’ve found success putting pots on window sills, provided there is a good level of light so the seedlings don’t get leggy in their pursuit of light.

savingholmes

Just caught up on your diary. I think I used to post on your old diary around the time of the flooding. Nice to see you again...

Dizzy_Imp

WinterWarrior said:

Aw puppies ♥️🐶
Boxing day could be a fun shift! 

Boxing Day was not a fun shift.  I mean, who actually wants a burger at 3am on 27th December? Hundreds of drunk people, it would seem. My feet were killing me by the time I got home and I totally flopped into bed and slept like the dead until 3pm this afternoon!

Back in again at Maccy D's for 11pm, but I still have a whole load of washing and drying to get sorted before I go.  Rottie-dog Diesel is snoring at my feet and the woodburner is going, both of which are making me tired

TTFN x

mumtoomany

Good morning Dizzy, I've just read through your previous diaries and realised you are in Wales too. Why did i think you were in Ireland? Looks like you are somewhat east of us. We are Carmarthenshire. I would recommend a poly tunnel rather than a greenhouse. Especially if you get the same sort of windy weather we do. A few people locally have lost greenhouses this winter in the wind. We've lost most of a beech tree that was several hundred years old, it came down in three separate pieces over a month or so. Also lost a huge section of the brick barn's roof, and the roof from the tractor barn, tin roof. The poly tunnel was completely fine. 
Good luck with the night shifts, take care, mumtoomany.xx

Dizzy_Imp

Ah-ha! A fellow Welsh resident Mumtoomany! We are very close to the border in mid-Wales between two rivers and I love it here! We moved up from Sussex about 6 years ago and I honestly wouldn't go back south.  It's such a different way of life here.

Advice noted about a polytunnel over a greenhouse...I'm looking at polycrubs at the moment as they seem able to withstand harsh weather, and we get a torrential amount of rain here over the winter season in particular. Need some pennies though, so grabbed an extra shift this evening to help the cashflow...

Hubby went food shopping today (!?!?) despite our cupboards and fridge heaving with edible treats, so I really do have to meal plan for the next week.

Simba is coming back to stay for a few days tomorrow,  which I'm looking forward to, but for now, my headset calls...

Dizzy_Imp

Dear Diary...Day 29...

I've done my last overnight shift of this year.  I've somehow managed not to be scheduled to work over New Year, so very pleased with that! Rottie owner collected their furbaby and paid me double for a short notice accommodation of him.  I absolutely didn't mind as he's one of my favourites. 

Puppies are getting nice and chunky - Tiny has chosen a black and white pup with a teardrop marking on his head (name yet to be decided).  Some friends of owners of one of our pups from the last collie litter have been in touch to ask if they can meet the little guys in the New Year, as they love Ted, and are hoping for a new puppy next year.

I've been shovelling out my pit of a bedroom this afternoon, trying to regain some sense of order now it isn't piled high with presents and wrapping paper.  I'm being ruthless with stuff and much of the clutter lovely useful items will be charity shop bound in the next week.

New Year's Eve is both DH and SS's GF birthday.  I sent my stepson home with presents for GF, which I hope she will like, so just need to think of something for the man who has everything...sigh...oh, and for £4.20, which is my current budget.

Off to internet browse...