NST May MISCHIEF AND MAYHEM

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for good coffee, for my workout, for sawing down net door's sycamore, for dh excavating the dodgy post, for dc talking to me, for sunshine, for holiday plans (to Guernsey to see cousins only ever met once, over 40 years ago).

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Evening turtles

oh gosh firsview - that is big news, will take a while to sink in .
hugs mothernerd - i have lots of jobs at the moment but none of them are minimum wage and i have always paid into a pension.  I am thankful for those things.
I have been to the library today, returned a skirt to the CS (it was too long unfortunately), bought wash up liquid from the zero waste shop, bought cat food and F&V at the SM plus some choccy treats for Sat eve.  
Done some work today and got up to date with PT job 2.  Washed my bedding as i spilled tea all over the covers!  Grateful for a sunny day to get them dry.
Also grateful for nice text chat with my sis, sitting on the sofa with the cats, a glass of wine in the sunshine

Love Deni x 

Thrifty_Taylor

@Deni_debt-free_dreamer its a pity you didn't live closer, or I could've shortened the skirt for you!

Another NSD but will need to check numbers, it might be 6.

Had a lovely day, started with a 6 mile walk with DH. Bumped into a woman he used to work with/for. (He made jewellery for her family firm, she had a shop attached to the jewellers selling clothes) She asked for my contact details as some customers need their new clothes altering. At this rate I'll have to give up working in school to fit all the sewing in! 🤣
Finished my book at dinnertime, then headed outside. First I painted some counter batons that hubby is going to use to make a trellis, then I moved some plant pots & painted a fence. An overcast day, but plenty of wind to dry it all.
Did more crochet after tea & decluttered some programmes off the box, packaged up 3 more coins I've sold on eboy.

Grateful for new opportunities, a good walk, achieving bits in the garden

wishus

Hey Turtles...it has been a hellish couple of days. The horseshoe is upside down, all the clovers have 3 leaves etc. I won't go into it, but it has certainly been challenging. 

On NSD 6 though. I'm not sure I'll make the full 16 but I'll try. All my savings now need to go on a new car rather than DIY, but at least I have savings. It's late but I'm finishing a gin I started for watching Eurovision. That was great fun, even though I watched it alone... just chatting along with friends online about it. Spent the day doing my freelance work, attacking the garden wilderness (I've left some of the wildflowers but no mow May had to stop, it was getting ridiculous), and doing some batch cooking. Made some mac and cheese frittata wedges, raisin drop scones, and I've got a half shepherds pie waiting for OH when he finally gets back.

Toni'sfriend

Oh, Wishus, I hope things improve.

Money - Still on NSD No 6. We needed fruit, veg, etc. I can definitely see an increase in food prices. As you know, Himself has been banned from buying food. Imagine my surprise when we reached the checkout yesterday and found chocolate, biscuits and a tub of ice cream (which we don't need) hidden under the vegetables. Apparently it's not real food according to him. Also ordered a couple of bags of potting compost which should arrive in the next couple of days and bought some bigger pots so I should be able to get on with that soon. Think I'll do some pots for my next door neighbour as well.

Home - Caught up with the washing and had a bit of a dust and tidy. Really meant to do a lot more but just couldn't get into it. Have to do better today.

Me - Well the weight loss isn't going as well as it should. I guess eating out and drinking last week didn't help. Must redouble my efforts and get back on track. Walking to the shops and then going out to put a prescription in the chemist meant two and a half miles of walking yesterday. Not a lot but better than nothing.

I'll just finish this coffee and then it's ironing and housework for me. Have a lovely Sunday.

mothernerd

Went shopping yesterday (I'm claiming the chaise longue for the rest of the month -I'll move my feet for anyone that needs to perch). I had a list -very short but just places I need to get to sometime. I had tried to do an online shop but needed my password and the password book will be  buried somewhere with all the 'yet to be done' paperwork mountains. I am not having a new password, I will not. I needed to get to one of the shops that stocks caffeine free drinks. I've had to curtail the previous 2 days shopping attempts and 'settled' for caffeinated ones. Ultimately I need to be back on mainly water but the interim step is to get off the caffeine - I'm super jittery and my sleep pattern has gone haywire.

I also need to do something about food. I've made lots of changes but just can't think about food or cooking or having to look at/ spend any time in the kitchen. I'm not good at doing new recipes and there's just so much other stuff going on atm. I have avoided takeaways and pie shops but am relying on sandwiches too much - doing well with the end of day 50p ones. I cut out this week's trip to mum's to put out the bins. It was only the paper one and that's not critical, must do this week as it's the black rubbish bin (nearly full after the garden clear up) and the green garden waste one (if I have any spare energy I need to spend some time tackling the weeds in the raised beds, there are already some of the bolting brassicas which were nearly as high as the fence in there). Have missed the additional (same bus and ticket) stop at Morries for ys bargains including plant based ready meals, caffeine free drinks and the salad bar this week.

But my first stop was to head back to the cs I visited on Friday (taking my original borrowed SM trolley). I bought:
*   A pair of duck egg blue curtains (one of my favourite colours and my bright turquoise ones are now 16 years old)
*   A handmade knitted baby blanket of patchwork squares
*   A small version of Sully from Monsters Inc (the purple and turquoise one). I abhor Disney but I liked that and Lilo.  
*   Another batch of picture books including The Gruffalo, which was on my list (the zero waste shop has a playset)
*   2 x A4 files which were with the picture books. Bought a pad of A4 maths paper the day before.
*   A sweet hand knitted Peter Rabbit complete with a delightful blue jacket and an exquisite knitted carrot
*   A duplo farm set (the motivator for the whole trip)
For all this they wanted the princely sum of £5.50 but I insisted they take £10. I did resist the wooden cot for £4 (space).

Needed a sit down (really really needed) and decided the ones on the main pedestrianised area (top of the street) were nearer than the the Town Hall ones (going back home after). One was occupied, someone beat me to the other, so I perched on one of the large square planters (semi-restful) and continued towards the bus station. All occupied (they're replacing them gradually so  a whole bus stand's worth disappears overnight) so veered towards the mall. First couple were occupied and the others either were or someone sat down before I got there. The key cutting place was open (thought it had been replaced with yet another vape store). Only have 2 front door keys and mine is bent so bought 3 (deal) and sat on their stool for a blissful 5 minutes.

Sat down again on the wall outside the far doors - choices were Icyland (caffeinated) or Tessimo (caffeine free) - and then definitely straight home. Picked Tessimo (a bit further but loads more benches, inside as well as out). Turned into a very expensive shop - lots of drinks (planning to make this the last batch and halve consumption each week), a few fresh and lots of frozen ready meals (picked by the traffic lights - will read the small print later) and paper cups. Actual paper cups were £2 a pack but found some pretty ones in the clearance aisle for 50p a pack. Plus a giant bag of toilet rolls (another saga). Then phoned for a taxi home (and parted company with my borrowed SM trolley - I've had it since Friday 20th March 2020). I hate shopping, I hate SMs and I never go shopping on a Saturday.

Research on fence posts (a really big adventure) will happen some other time. I've looked online but the pictures are so small and dark that you can't tell which are metal and which are wood, let alone the difference between H shape, T shape etc and how they actually fit together with the panels and gates - I need to understand but will buy online and have them delivered. Internet research has also revealed that they have a cheaper (much much cheaper) answer to one problem and have some clearance wallpaper that undercuts Will Co by 50% and a much wider range.

Put freezer stuff away, collapsed on the sofa and had 2 drinks, an ice lolly and a whole bowlful of pasta salad before I felt vaguely human. Took one bag upstairs, visited the bathroom, brought library books down - books I will read some time but just not striking the right note atm. Picked a Rose Elliot cookbook (stick with the familiar) and a make it book with good templates (doll research is ongoing - can elaborate if anyone's interested) if not the things I most wanted. carried on to the washing machine shop with a letter for next door which was posted through our letter box.

Buying the house is not an option and the man doesn't own it but he was checking on the old man every day as he has no family and called an ambulance when he found him collapsed on the floor. He's not dead, but has been moved to the care home mum's partner ended up in (quite small and very friendly). The shop man continued to feed the dog each day but didn't think it right for her to be alone all day and one of his customers had links to an animal shelter and she's now been rehomed. Don't think the old man will be coming back home but the shop man said he's going to start on clearing the house and tackling the jungle in the next 2 weeks. I told him what steps I'd taken with the yard and the ivy that was encroaching on the house (he mentioned the backs and I've done some work on that too.... litter pick, bottle pick, weeding, hacking back).

DS3 helped move bags to where I wanted them and then brought a load of stuff upstairs for me - he noticed I'd picked my box of threads from the cube shelves and asked if I wanted them upstairs too. Ate properly (wolfing down a bowl of pasta doesn't really count). Did a little winding down and then started a piece of embroidery. Did more than I expected or even wanted too, but it's quite a complicated pattern and carried on until I reached a suitable stopping point for both pattern and thread. Currently have 4 colours on the go but need to get them labelled according to the pattern as I have lots of similar colours (off white, sandy beige - could be a skin tone, medium dark brown and a mid fox colour). The pattern is in rows (think small fair Isle type) so if I complete each row and run out of thread, I can use another slightly different thread on a different row - get through a lot of the use ups.

Very little reading or games playing. Very tired and tired (happy tired - used my muscles but now they want a bit of a rest) and aching now. Some finger pains - will try a bit more embroidery when I feel like it but will try for alternate days if that's wiser. Plan is to stay her for now (will change from in the bed to on top of the bed when I can) and make a start on all my scribbled notes - one of my cs files even had the dividers in so one more thing off the shopping list. That will work with planning the weak ahead and if I come across stuff to be posted can do those - put them in the box or ready to be taken to the post office in the am.

I have an appointment tomorrow and want to do bins Tuesday and Wednesday (black rubbish bin is nearly full from our garden tidy up and if I summon up any extra energy I'll make a start on weeding the raised beds - green bin will be going out anyway as I did the bolting brassicas already). Will need bus tickets for all of those so can combine with any venturing further - would still really like a day out but may just settle for riding around on the bus (get off and have a picnic lunch somewhere nice).

Grateful for cs super bargains, having back up food (least worst option), embroidery taking shape, the piece of aida fabric I kept being huge (more than 4' square) so will do for all the things I want to make (if I have to buy 11 count I might opt for coffee beige/ pale blue or candy floss starlight -ombre turquoise/blue/ lilac with a bit of pink and white flashes for the 'stars') and DS3's help (he's started to pick up cans or rubbish whenever I come into the room). I just keep dropping another task in every so often and let it percolate through.

mothernerd

Sunday 15th May 2022

Self-care Without Spending any Money
*  Walk around your neighbourhood
*  Read a book from your TBR pile
*  Listen to your favourite songs
*  Sleep and rest well
*  Write in your journal
*   Stay hydrated
(@ thefabstory)

Self Care Sunday
Go easier on yourself. Make today your new beginning for loving yourself in a more gentle and compassionate way. You're doing the best you can, remember that. (Blessingmanifesting).

I took maintenance out of the list and did it early. Some things will come up in other categories (they overlap).

Alternatives
There's always a different way to do something, think about something, how to approach a problem. It might be a better way, it might not. It might be part of the solution (business wisdom says the important thing is to make a decision, if it's the wrong decision it will smack you in the face and you can choose a different option). And sometimes (as discussed previously) you need to make a trade off or even make a 'least worst' option, apying for something that gives you more time. I bought some of the very expensive veg bags yesterday but munching through a pile of tenderstem broccoli, green beans and coloured carrots when I knew I couldn't make another trip down the stairs is getting me towards my goals and I felt so much better (today's mix is green beans, carrots, broccoli and sweetcorn and each pouch is 2 of my 5 a day (they're supposed to be for cooking but I'm eating them raw).

If you're ill (temporarily or the next stage of your life) or time poor you might have to compromise (might not be to your usual standard or you can't do it in one go). But just because you can't do it all doesn't mean that you can't do any.

End quote
This week will be better if Monday comes with a next button,
Wednesday comes with a fast forward button
Saturday comes with a replay button
and Sunday comes with a pause button  

greent

I'll bring along another chaise for this month, @mothernerd - I've spent much of the past few days on the sofa 😃😃

DH is very much in charge of dinner today - he and DD have a YS mini beef joint with HM aunt-besseee roasties (ie made a couple of weeks ago and frozen), veg, yorkies and cauliflower cheese. I shall have the cauliflower cheese with mash and peas - I don't do beef and am craving carbs and bland food. DS2 and DS3 are having their usual (neither does roast dinner) All easy. Then just lunches to make for DS3 and freeze - DS2 starts GCSEs on Tues so I can sort his tomorrow

Thankful for my family, for rain today for the garden (3 laundry loads done and line dried yesterday) and loads of xarby foods! And new slippers- old ones are in literal bits

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for how fresh fruit and veg make me feel, for finding dc's mislaid items, for a walk in the rain, for planting out a few plants, for 85% chocolate.

mothernerd

Grateful for lots of veg, a little more progress on the fox (can't see what I've done because it's the white tip of the tail), for a chance to not do very much, chats with s-i-l.