Debt and Caring

savingholmes

It sounds like you are making good progress on the clearance despite feeling under the weather. Hopefully it will make things more liveable for you. Well done on parting with the surplus. I hope you can see and feel the difference.

Cherryfudge

You are sounding as though you're beating that cold as well as the garden rubbish. Oh, and getting your Vitamin D by being out of doors.

Incidentally, how did you end up with seven plastic handles?

WelshmansDaughter

Slept through the night (I think) perhaps thanks to going to bed at the unheard of time of 11pm. A 6.30 awake time was not ideal but at least I have an enjoyable book- Daily Rituals Women at Work. Which certainly makes me feel better about my own working habits as well as serving as a cautionary tale.
I have managed a small waste saving exercise in that I have bought milk powder instead of the pint bottle. I only use milk in my tea and I don't have a fridge in the flat at the moment although it is getting to The Outside Is A Fridge time in Scotland. The powder though should last longer and costs less. 
I have regulated my eating and am doing the same type of food for each meal which is helping enormously with my digestive system. My sweet obsession at the moment is fruit cake which is now back in the shops 😀
Just waiting on my bike to be delivered in the next hour or so, currently indoors with tea and fruit cake having been out for an hour cutting up branches. This is a side effect of clearing the thicket 🤦‍♀️
It's funny that I seem to have more energy now being sick than I have had in the last year. Probably because I am on my own. 
I think the handles are from a couple of sources Cherry. The flats upstairs are tenanted and sometimes I find things dumped. My old neighbour also gave me a couple of things which I didn't need but didn't want to refuse a kind gesture.

WelshmansDaughter

Bike is here, bike is here 😍😍😍

savingholmes

Great news about the bike.

I find time alone refreshing.

stymied

How did you get on with the powdered milk @WelshmansDaughter? It went lumpy in my tea when I tried 😟 so if there’s a brand that works that would be good to know.

Cherryfudge

Yay to the bike!

I expect you're trying it out as I type.

Shame you end up clearing the upstairs neighbour's junk. But clear is clear and you will benefit from the result. 

I have a feeling dried milk works better if mixed with cold water first but I've not had it in a drink for ages. Fruit cake now - ah! fruit cake! Now I want some. As to the benefits of good diet and time alone - I'll second those. I'm currently having an in-the-house day after a week of being out and doing. My sociability reserves were rather depleted and I definitely had computer deprivation.

Incidentally, I used to stay in a Welsh house which had no fridge. Milk went in a bucket of water with a cloth over the bottles and trailing in the water so there was cooling by evaporation. It wasn't as powerful as a fridge but milk stayed drinkable through most of an August day, which was an achievement.  I think a Scottish winter is probably pretty effective even without the evaporation! And light affects milk too, so it keeps better in the dark.

5 Forgotten Ways To Keep Food Cold Without Electricity - Off The Grid News

WelshmansDaughter

Rather surprised my sister turning up at her house this afternoon. I took the bike for a spin to the shop (daily rations) and it was so freeing. I could just go and back, no trudging or getting annoyed by road noise.
I put it on to charge when I got back but I was too excited to wait so off we went to see Small One. 
He was out but came home shortly after and I discovered him climbing all over the bike. He loved it, setting the alarm off included 🤦‍♀️
I was looking forward to seeing people but then I got there and it was awkward as usual. And I couldn't really be excited about the bike the way I like. But I did take Small One for a little spin around the driveway.
It is moped style so I am sitting upright which makes a huge difference. 

The milk powder I got is Sainsburys 0.1 skimmed @stymied. It has not clumped at all no matter how much I put in. I did find two spoons gave a very strong milky taste.
Time alone is my default setting I think SH. 
I'm not sure a good diet is how I'd describe it Cherry. It's basic but it's the same every day which means I can recognize it and that is what I need right now. 
Funnily enough I did try putting it in bowl of water at one stage. It did keep it cool. They used to do a size smaller than a pint here but haven't been able to find it so I figured the powder was a better option. 

WelshmansDaughter

I thought I had discovered a benefit to being on benefits 🤦‍♀️🤣 when I signed up for a cheap gym membership at the council gym. I got a free pass to try it out, went up at 19.30 and the queue for the pool was out the door!?!?! I asked on the way out and apparently there was a 100 people in. 
Horrendous. That's not swimming it's taking a bath with 100 other people.
Needless to say I did not go to the pool and just had a shower as mine is broken. It was so nice I did a little dance and had to forcibly remove myself. 
Spent the day with Teacup and came home exhausted. She talks a lot. 
Did a bit in the garden to recover but as it is mostly sawing I have stopped now in favour of a book or something quiet. Went to the charity bookshop and Teacup bought my books for me 😀
I have to go out and work tomorrow as I don't have enough in my account to pay the bike hire. I am dreading it. My plan is to bribe myself with a book I've wanted for ages. And to go out at a non busy time so as to ease myself in gently 

savingholmes

Well done on going to the gym. Totally get why you gave swimming a hard pass though.

Good news on the books. 

Hope the work goes okay.