NST April 2022: April opportunities

Thrifty_Taylor

Wow @ldee2111, that's fantastic!
@apple_muncher that made me laugh about your sneeze, the other afternoon, I was in my bedroom & sneezed & my neighbour who was outside in his garden blessed me! 🤣 Good that you bought the painting, despite DC claiming it.
Hugs @mothernerd, rest up.

Hung the washing out on the line before breakfast, a few spots of rain were falling, but carried on anyway. Quickly wrote a shopping list whilst eating my breakfast, then picked mum up & went shopping, bumped into a couple of people to chat to. One lady I worked with 3+ years ago, & she'd described me to someone recently as her friend, made me smile. Arrived home 2 mins before DH. After dinner, I put the shopping away, then went out to work in the garden. Chopped our buddleia (had read this morning that it flowers on new growth, & now is the time to prune), then trimmed all the dead sticks from last year's plant growth in the front garden. Started to rain as I was chopping things smaller for the compost heap. Got the washing in, then washed up after tea. Made a fire, then watched a film in the dark with DS1&3. We had ys garlic bread pizza, some fizzy pop & sprout day chocolates to nibble on (had received so many chocolates as presents, we never started the ones I'd bought in!)

Grateful for pegging the washing out (small pleasures), spending time in the garden, not spending much when shopping, watching film with DS's, & my finger nails being stronger & not splitting/breaking this week

Esmeralda2662

Mothernerd - Try and take some time to sit and have a breather, even it is just in the garden or the local park. Look after yourself. 

Decided to stay local today rather than drive somewhere and get stuck in the traffic. Walked up to see where they've removed the railway bridge ready to install the new one.

Continued across the fields to the old mill pub, sat on the terrace and had a couple of beers in the sunshine. Absolutely lovely. Mother duck was there with 10 ducklings - 9 black/yellow and 1 bright yellow! So cute.

Helped OH to paint the shed. The first colour was too pale grey so OH mixed in some blue dye and now thinks it's too vivid! I quite like it but see how it goes.

Still on 3#NSD.

Gratitudes: A lovely sunny day, a nice walk across the fields as I'm usually stuck in the office, seeing the duck and her babies. X

mothernerd

Lots done indoors and out yesterday - too much really but will rest today. Caffeine powered (caffeine free arriving Monday but finished the bottle of multivitamins and temporarily stopped the cod liver oil - worried about the make up of the 'capsule' plus giving up cakes, sweets, biscuits, chocolate, pastry and cutting back on meat, wheat and dairy and think that might be contributing to slump/ low mood) and started with the worst job - digging out a small awkward shaped raised bed to get at the roots of a 'weed' tree, cutting it off at ground level isn't sufficient, especially as I need to put a new fence in.

Grateful for getting lots done (much more than expected), a clean sink, clean sheets (still not managed to make the bed but did put a folded clean sheet on my half of the bed last night), fish and peas, a ready meal (waited too long to eat and fell gleefully upon the first thing I saw when I opened the freezer), tidying, sorting and using up (all starting to make a difference), getting DS3 to unblock the sink (he did it), new cutlery [Thanks apple, I did 1 - 3 bowlfuls of washing up for a week, missed two days because DS3 had thrown things (food scraps) at the sink and managed to block it and came back and they'd taken everything - changed my meal plan to just soup because I could eat it out of the microwave container. When I ended up cutting scones up with the side of a bamboo fork, something had to change.] 

Been awake since before 3am (too much caffeine) so will put on wellies and temporary clothes and go hack at the furniture shop ivy whilst there's no-one around and then try for a few more hours sleep/ reading.

ditty1234

Hi all just dropping by to say happy Easter. I managed a lovely trip to see family, and I saw almost everybody. I even managed a run and a cold dip. 
I am grateful for friends and family kindness and for ds2 looking after dog. 
For an other day of sunshine, an other run and for getting ds2 diagnosed with glandular fever! But he is at home, we can keep an eye on him and make him cups of tea and soup. 

DawnW

NSD 11 for me today   I know the day hasn't ended yet, but I am not going anywhere or spending anything!

In fact I have gained money, having sold something on ebay for just over £18. There will be fees to pay, but the item didn't cost me anything, so I am happy with that.

Spent most of the morning making a complicated couscous salad with loads of ingredients (a bit like a tabbouleh). I won't be bothering again for a long time I imagine, as it was a faff, but I used up a lot of items that needed using, and I have 2 big tubs of the kind of salad that sells for £2 for a little pot. The recipe states that it keeps fine in the fridge for a few days, and I like eating that sort of thing, so I am confident that it will get used up. It is very healthy with lots of veg, fruit and herbs, and looks and smells very nice.

My hip is sore (cartilage issue that flares up every now and then) so that is a nuisance. It hurts to walk - but I like walking and don't like to sit about too much. I also have gardening to do which I can't really do at the moment    I have looked out my exercise sheet from the physio and done one lot. Will do again later. Boring but necessary, as they really do help settle it down.

Grateful today for physio exercises and healthy food.

Shrewbie

apple_muncher said:

Shrewbie - that sounded like you were skipping on the bike!!!

apple, it's a new technique I devised during lockdown!

Hoping for NSD 4 today. Yesterday was spendy as bf and I went out to a wine bar, then to an Argentinian pizza restaurant for tea, then finished up with two cocktails each. Spendy but could have been worse, and we heated up the leftover pizza today for brek/lunch.

I left bf to his hangover this afternoon and went for a walk, it was nice to be in shorts I think for the first time this year (It has to be 25 degrees here before you can walk down the street in shorts without people staring at you like you are a lunatic). The sunshine is hot but there is a cooling wind. 

Grateful for the weather, for having a lazy day watching rubbish tv, for pizza and espresso martinis. 

ldee2111

DS’s free bus pass arrived, so today we went on a bus adventure! Made a packed lunch for us both and then got the bus to Glasgow. We had a fun day visiting a museum and a library where DS picked a book about the world. And we didn’t spend a penny. 

For any turtles in Scotland or with family/friends here who have kids - kids in Scotland now get free bus travel from age 5. Just need to apply online. 

Grateful today for precious time with DS, for free bus travel, and for libraries. 

Happy Easter, turtles. x

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Evening turtles

Today has been spendy - i bought a few supplies and some cat food, also a new duvet cover in anticipation of my tidy & reorganised bedroom... Also paid for graduation gown (#2) for DD2 ready for F2F ceremony next month - hoping her dad will contribute a bit too...
Was eyeing up a new cutlery set in Sainz - at the mo I have random cutlery and only a few dessert spoons, could buy with nectar points, maybe next time.
Did lots more sorting of paperwork in my room and put lots of stuff in DD2's room and the spare room.  DD1 and boyfr are coming over tomorrow so they can help me move the bed and wardrobes.  
Got washing dry on the line.
Did some of my PT work as well.

Gratitudes - a nice day of being productive in the house plus a bit of work; sitting in the sun with a coffee; relaxed evening ahead

Love Deni x

BadBookkeeper

Still NSD 7/16, been out for a fantastic day at national trust castle but a spendy one.  Will shuffle some pots around tomorrow.

Grateful for:
great weather 
where we live
pizza

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for dc enjoying bouldering, for my gym visit, for satisfying weeding and seed sowing, for a peaceful day, for noticing that the piano foot is very split and getting that side of it raised up onto a cardboard-encased brick before it decides to collapse totally, for finishing a good book.