Dusty's Frugal Fortnights Return!

dustydigger

dreaming said:

dustydigger said:

 Since my eyes became a bit dodgy - already been waiting at least 4 months to hear of a consult at the eye hospital. Could be more than a year - my reading has gone down a lot,but I managed to read 13 books in August. used to read 15-18,

I have had problems with one eye and it has affected my reading too, plus driving (which I have had to completely stop for now) and even walking can be a bit dodgy as I have so little depth perception. I was told in May that I would be put on the list for for an operation and the doctor airily said it would be 2-3 months. I rang yesterday to see if they could give me any indication and was told it is likely to be in October. Apparently the hospital lost a lot of their facilities due to various problems so everything was pushed back, or I would be having it this month. On the one hand I am pleased that it is not too much longer, but on the other I am very nervous about it. I'm not normally a squeamish person at all but there is something about eyes that really makes me shudder - and of course I won't even be able to turn away and not look! I'm trying to be grown-up about it (I'm 67) and concentrate on the benefits it will bring if successful but sort of wish it could be done under general anaesthetic. Or if they said "come and have it now" I would probably be ok but too much time to think (overthink) is not a good thing. I hope you get news of your treatment soon.

That depth perception business is a menace,isnt it. I stand  in front of the washing line and could take 3 attempts to grasp it!. Now I know to toss an item over the line,then I grasp that and start pegging items from its vicinity. Two or three items and I can guage properly!

In the scheme of things,my op is minor,I suppose,will not take urgent priority.All it is is a pocket of fluid in front of the lens,fairly see through in that light shines in as well as ever,but its slightly milky,so no amount of getting near or looking afar makes any difference. Bit like frosted glass! :)According to the nurse,once a little hole lets the eye drain,things should eturn to normal. For now I am reliant on one very miopic eye

I am not too worried about the procedurefor myself. I have an odd relationship to anaesthetics. When they give me some sort of relaxant !!!!!! anaesthetic,I actually go to sleep. I remember nothing of my cataract removal,new lens at all. Same thing happened once at the dentist. The relaxant sent me to sleep.

Good luck with the op!

dustydigger

gran3 said:

Dusty, I admire your fortitude in the face of Mr D. Lol.  You manage so well with your health issues and all the other stuff going on.  I'm sure I would have a meltdown by now but then it still has to be faced. Look after yourself and not just others. xx

I always say I deserve a medal for not strangling him......yet........

Hey,clashing and banging pans around in the kitchen and muttering dark thoughts is a great tension reliever. And my books of course. Like Fixx2015 I read a lot of easy light escape- Nothing like a book to get you away from it all. reality fiction these days.

I always think of my parents who went through the General Strike,Jarrow March,two world wars,the notorious senties when inflation at one point was 25%,and numerous health issues. People just have to grin and bear it,meltdowns  dont help

dustydigger

I feel that I should clean the house.

So I'm going to lie down and nap till the feeling passes away

No,I WILL do something. I will clean the microwave I meant to do yesterday! And mop the kitchen floor,think I may get littl'uns coming today.

Have written out cards for GGS2 and GGS3 and GGD2 who all have birthdays next week. Me and Mr D now give only a tenner each to put in card,its still £30 outlay this week,but aleady saved up.. Later in the month I have DD1,DGD1 and Mr D all within a 10 day period. £60 there ,plus of course cards and chocs,so not an easy month.

Just checked and despite a minimum of usage (for us anyway) first 2 days of September I used £6.89 worth of energy. Add on ridiculous standing charges,another £1.50 plus,and I am grumpy,but relieved that for 5 month I dodged the bullet with my fixed tariff.SP have said they will contact me between 8-15th to tell new rate.If possible I will stay on £150 up till December,then it will be an awful lot more.......

Katiehound

dustydigger said:

I feel that I should clean the house.

So I'm going to lie down and nap till the feeling passes away

 

My thoughts exactly!

But ,hey ho,
get the washing on the line,
start sewing up mittens (8 pairs to do and mostly black)
 write my weekly email which is a Friday event usually,
wait for an an Amazon delivery (due by 8 pm: small window of opportunity there!)
boil HB eggs for my old dog...and so on......

You take care when mopping the floor & cleaning the microwave..

Chin up!
Onwards and upwards (but preferably not the power bills......vain hope...)

have a good-ish day

dustydigger

 Well,I did manage to mop the floor - at 4.15 ! First it was Mr D with various questions etc,then made dinner,and  then GD1 came with her twin boys GGS 2 &3. They will be 2 yrs old on 11th,but are going to be away on holiday from next week,so they came they saw they demolished today I just brought back the toybox from the bedroom floor the other day,and it has a LOT of stuff,so the house ended up looking as if a bomb had dropped. Amazing how widespread a chaos of toys can be spread when there are two dedicated terrors at work.,who rush off in opposite directions with their fascinating finds!

After they had gone of course I dozed off,and then finally mopped the floor. Microwave may  get done tomorrow,but usually I have Sunday off apart from the usual cooking. Like to watch you tube videos,sort out coming week's vague plans ,and if its end of fortnight do my next fortnight's budget.  Good job I have a bank buffer this time,the budget is looking a bit dodgy.

I also try to catch up with posts on my various book groups,and of course I have to put up with hours and hours of Match of the Day,and the EFL Football Show,so Mr Dusty can explain why his teams didnt make him a lot of money yet another week.

When I can I like to watch a gruesome Walter Presents crime film with subtitles,though of course as ever I doze off half way through.

So with all this exciting stuff (?!?) there may not be time to do the microwave.!

dustydigger

I have chicken curry for supper,will only take a few minutes to sort,so my last job for today is do my asd@ list. I have a fixed time slot,weekly delivery on Tuesday,but you have to post it early. So I'll get it sorted now before making supper.

dustydigger

Well that was annoying. Tried repeatedly to sign in,as I normally do without problems,but when I click sign in,it just returns me to the original signing on page. .Will try again later,after 9 pm. No idea why it is having a hissy fit.....sigh.........

dustydigger

Never got asd@ to work last night,missed my slot,but this morning I used Microsoft instead of firefox and got in. Fortunately there was still room in my time slot.My initial list came to £74.34,so I had to go back and ruthlessly cut down on my choices. I see the Mazola oil has once again gone up ,to £4 a litre. Thats £1.80 to £2.00 to £2.50 to £3.50 to £4.00. Unbelievable. My old sunflower oil has however come back,just went up 10p to £2.10,so that has saved a mint.

Laundry detergent was £2.99 for 1.25 l. It disappeared and returned at £2.50 - but for only 875 mlYou need to be a mathematician to realize that you are paying a lot more for that detergent. I always check out the cost per 100ml or grams befoe deciding.

What's with the water?Last week I had to get Buxton 500ml bottles,this week even they have disappeared.I had to buy 2 bottles of Volvic at 75p a bottle. I used to get my usual stuff at £1.09 for 4

One thing that I was happy about is the Twining English breakfast tea was half price at £3.00. Mr D is a lucky man,I had warned him he would have to have cheaper tea in future when Twinings went up from £5 to £6.Even at half price its very expensive. I always wait till it is on offer before I buy it. I always reuse the bags too Its a very strong tea and stands up to re-use well.

Cut out my avocados,my cider vinegar,and some biscuits as the littl'uns are all off on holiday next week.Had wanted to get some stuff for storage,but could do little.

So I did get my bill down to £64.58 after some struggle.

Katiehound

My comment would be: what's with the water?
I drink tap water unless I want fizzy and then I buy a 2L bottle of cheapie own brand- not even as often as once a month.

I also buy rape seed oil rather than sunflower. I guess it's cheaper than sunflower (but might be wrong) and certainly should come from UK as the fields round here are filled with the bright yellow flowers in season.

Is the laundry detergent own brand? have been using either MrT or Aldi own brand for forever- both work fine. £1.74 for 900ml (Tesco) 

I appreciate that you are limited by what Asda sells! Clearly they are not going to sell MrT products!!
is there nowhere else?

dustydigger

Katiehound said:

My comment would be: what's with the water?
I drink tap water unless I want fizzy and then I buy a 2L bottle of cheapie own brand- not even as often as once a month.

I also buy rape seed oil rather than sunflower. I guess it's cheaper than sunflower (but might be wrong) and certainly should come from UK as the fields round here are filled with the bright yellow flowers in season.

Is the laundry detergent own brand? have been using either MrT or Aldi own brand for forever- both work fine. £1.74 for 900ml (Tesco) 

I appreciate that you are limited by what Asda sells! Clearly they are not going to sell MrT products!!
is there nowhere else?

+Whats with the water? I use tap water for myself,but as usual Mr Dusty is a pain. I always got the cheapest water from asd@ ,no problems,but now they have nothing in stock except single bottles of volvic at 75p and evian water at 80p. No idea why the water issue,hope it improves soon,or fusspot Mr D will not be happy with tap water.

+ I usually get what's cheaper,but these days things are just not there.The only choice was Mazola at £4,or sunflower oil at £2.10. Dont know if its short because of drought affecting harvests,brexit problems,or the fact that Ukraine produces a large share of the world's corn oil. I have stocked up with beef dripping (Mr Dusty wont use lard because its pork based) ,and I have built up 4 or 5 bottles of oil,but there's little choice now and there ae warnings that the shortages are going to get much worse.

+ the detergent is own brand,and I am very satisfied with it as a rule. 25 washes for £3 wasnt too bad,and in fact I can get 30 washes by using a little less,but they suddenly stopped selling the large size and just have this smaller lot.

I walk with a stick and have a bad back,so the amount of stuff I could carry is limited. The only other shop,10 min bus ride away,is an Aldi.However they dont deliver,and the actual amount I've ever spent in an Aldi on a visit is around £20 The Tesc* Mr Dusty would visit in the town closed down in March,a big blow as we got certain products from them.Mr D is 82,and is limited in what he could carry,it was only for special things asd@ didnt have,or their own brands we preferred

+ I suppose I could alternate deliveries between asd@ and Tesc* online,but it all evens out,I doubt if I would save much.To get delivery free you have to spend more than £40 so its not possible for me to get the cheapest stuff from,stores A,B,C and D.

I am just relieved delivery is possible. Cant imagine out some poor old people who have to buy from the corner shop on a daily basis can survive!