Simple living in the country - back to basics

Suffolk_lass

My decision not to buy oil in January as part of the syndicate is looking terrible. Nearly doubled to just over £1000 for 1000 litres (up from £975 yesterday). I'm going to wait out March. In the meantime no heating will be used and washing up will use kettle water, and washing machine (which has both hot and cold fills) will all be done at cold fill temperature. It is flashing red now it is in the last 120l

Cheery_Daff

Gosh SL, that sounds drastic! Will you be ok with no heating?? Sadly none of us have a crystal ball so it's impossible to predict what new nonsense will happen 🙄 Hopefully you're all right and a combination of better insulation and going out more will bring our bills down anyway but I know that's not the same for everyone. 

Been shocked by diesel prices here this weekend, they're all over the place! Yesterday I saw both 160p and 171p in the same town - today I was in a different town and one garage had 153.9p so we filled up (we were almost in the red). The garage directly across the road was 155.9p, and on the way home, the one that was 171p yesterday was 177.9p today! 😮 glad we filled up when we spotted the cheaper one!

Normally I don't pay that much attention, we don't have that much choice here anyway, but this was ridiculous! 

Anyway, aside from that, we are having a nice day. Got up and went to Parkrun for the first time in 2 years - first time I've been running and my slowest ever Parkrun time 🙄 but it felt good to do it, and we stuck around in the cafe for a bit afterwards which was nice 😊

Picked up some bedding for the chickens while we were out, and now I'm just having lunch.

Not sure what the afternoon will bring. I need to get everything ready for my trip tomorrow, and I don't think I'm going to do much energetic other than that...

EssexHebridean

Oh nice parkrunning! 

Diesel prices round here aren’t quite at those levels yet but considering that around Christmas time we were paying in the region of 131.9, and now the cheapest in the area is 154.9 that still feels like a heck of an increase. It’s not going down again any time soon, either. 

badmemory

I think it depends when they have deliveries.  My local tesco went from 145.9 last thurs to 155.9 this fri, I've noticed before they seem to have a delivery between the 2 times.  I didn't really notice the one up the road but it did begin 16 & those are for petrol.  Guess who's glad they bought last thurs rather than this firday?

Cheery_Daff

Yes, I suppose it would make sense for them to see the stuff at the appropriate price when they bought it until they ran out (I expect not everyone does that though!)

Well, today I am having a very exciting adventure - I am going to London on the train!! This is the first time I've been either to London, or on a train, since 6th March 2020 🙄 Hope this trip isn't followed with another global pandemic 😮

Feels VERY odd though. I used to travel on trains all the time, worked in a different city and commuted by train at least twice a week. Now it's been 2 years since I've been on one at all, and the two years before that it was rare. I'm travelling from a station I've never travelled from before, I've had to leave the car just parked by the side of the road until tomorrow night, which I've never done when getting the train, and there are no paper tickets. Everything just feels very slightly unfamiliar, like I've wandered into some kind of parallel universe 😂😂

And I was half an hour early (because I had to drive about 12 miles to the station, and wasn't sure where I was going to park) which i also don't think has happened before - I'm very rarely early for anything 😂

Still, the sun is shining, the church bells are ringing, and the train is 'only' due 6 minutes late 😂

Going to be a long trip - 3.5 hours on the way there, since we're stopping pretty much everywhere 🙄 the train home only takes 1 hrs 41 minutes 😂 good job really as my temper would probably be quite frayed if it took the same time on the way home!

KajiKita

Good morning @Cheery_Daff  
Ah ... another flautist (Have I spelt that right?) I want to get back to trying to learn but I suspect it will have to wait a while ....  Very impressed with your level. Do you gave any native American style flutes? I find those a lot more user friendly and can noodle about on those quite happily for a while    

Re the fuel tank readings it might be worth exploring the options for a WiFi option. They aren't as expensive as you might think and then you can literally have a digital read-out screen in the house to save you going out in the rain etc.  

KK

Cheery_Daff

Ah, I didn't realise there were WiFi gagues for LPG tanks! Will investigate. Although I confess if it involves much money it probably won't happen - I'll just get over myself and into the field more often 😂 it's not that far - pretty close to the chicken run. Just being idle 🙄

Well, I have discovered why the train takes so long - we have a 30 minute scheduled stop in Wolverhampton (and, I suppose, possibly other places along the way too!) How bizarre. Is it like a cruise, should I get off and do some sightseeing?! 😂😂

Cheery_Daff

Well, I am having a LOVELY time on my little adventure 😊

I've been to two different cafes, and spent several hours in the Wellcome Collection, partly in the exhibitions, and partly idling around in the excellent reading room. Between that and the train journey, I've spent several hours reading today, and it's been great 😁

Decided against eating in the hotel, completely uninspired by their menu, so I picked up a Pot Noodle, little pot of fruit, and a little easter egg as a treat 😁

Had a nice deep hot bath (which made me get all excited again about replacing our stupid bath with the deep one we've got in the outbuilding). Now I'm just lazing around on the bed drying off, which I NEVER do at home because the bedroom is miles away from the bathroom and the bedroom is just all full of stuff that needs moving elsewhere 🙄

Anyway, I am nicely relaxed and plotting how I can justify disappearing to a hotel for a night once a month or something 😂

EssexHebridean

Glad you got down safely and have enjoyed your wandering about exploring! (And your bath…and you’ve reminded me it’s probably about time to go and run mine!)

greenbee

Definitely prioritise getting the bathroom sorted now you’ve got the kitchen and bedroom done. A nice bathroom makes up for an awful lot else!