NST JOYFUL JUNE

apple_muncher

I'm milking the you-can-buy-clothes-from-charity-shops rule 😎. £ 21.40 got new jamas and a suit for dc, 3x trousers, a jumper and a ring. Very happy.

You know how greent gets a milk exemption? Well I'd also like one, with it being that anything I buy for dc is exempt. They are really struggling to eat, so any time I find something to tempt them, I'm buying it. And any activity that they want to do will be ok to do, as it'll help their MH.

Today I am grateful for the rain, for dh taking dc bouldering so I could get on with some marking, for my washing machine, for my ch shop finds, for dh going out to buy mint imperials for dc.

greent

@apple_muncher - I think DC related purchases count as medical related. After all, food is challenging with gf/df/ ARFID and other ones are MH, as you said xx

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

hi turtles

NSD 1 for me today.  Worked all day, popped out at lunch and returned library books and borrowed 3 more   Got washing dry on the line - clean bed sheets tonight.  
Will have a proper look at budgets tomorrow.  I get paid on the 20th of the month so most of my big payments have now gone out - mortgage, c / tax etc.  Did a couple of surveys.  Submitted invoice for some casual work.  

Gratitudes - a relaxed day WfH; DD2 and boyfr having a good flight to the Canaries; that Friday feeling - on a Wednesday !!

Love Deni

f0xh0les

I know what you mean @Deni_debt-free_dreamer - I too have been Fridaying all day today.

Had to spend as The Pantry Prowler also managed to decimate a loaf of bread that was meant to go with the soup for lunch. Small spend on replacement bread, but really irritating. I should have made them wait for lunch until I had made and proved and baked a loaf. But I didn't.

Gratitudes: Getting the dry washing in before the rain soaked it, even if I got drenched in the process.

Making my first ever wheaten loaf (sorry apple!),

Moving the solicitors on a bit more

beanielou

mothernerd~~I have mostly made my peace with having to pay to get bits & bobs done in the house & the garden.

Thrifty_Taylor

What a fantastic day!

Woke @5.30, tried going back to sleep but no joy, so up at 6.30. Did an exercise routine, then normal morning routine. Arrived at work & helped organise everyone for our whole school Jubilee walk. I was the last person in the parade, we had the local pipe band at the front & the cars that had stopped to let us cross the road, we're all tooting their horns & waving. I could feel myself welling up! We then turned around so that the class I was with were at the front. The pipe band moved in front of them & we walked halfway back to school & sang two songs outside the town house. A normal day then, stayed after school to set up for the disco. Some staff walked to a local cafe to buy a roll for tea, then we danced when the kids arrived. Helped tidy up & just been home an hour. I'm totally shattered, gave done over 17,000 steps! So pleased to get a Jubilee medal 😃

Grateful for a sunny day, folk lining the streets to watch us in our finery (& the kids in their homemade crowns) & the thought of getting into my bed in a few minutes! Plus I'm not at work now until Monday - yippee!!!

beanielou

How lovely thrifty to get a jubilee medal 

mothernerd

firsview if you had already planned to buy holiday clothes, go ahead. I have spent on clothes (although it mainly fell in last month) but it's because I've been using up what I had and one day took a serious look at them (up to 40 holes in one dress - a lot of them are small but the sort of fabric that goes rapidly) and thought 'this won't do'. Struggling to find something reasonably presentable to go to a blood test appointment, especially when a few days of rain meant I wasn't 'wash and wearing' them. I am losing weight and have been planning to buy when I go down another dress size but I need to be 'presentable' - not necessarily dressed up but not looking like a tied up bundle of rags.

I'd been reading a couple of Kat's old challenges and it was in one of those and I thought that's another budget/ money saving area we've not visited for a while. I noticed even Kat (who was very tough but never asked us for something she hadn't done herself) put the 'no make-up' rule in the month after she'd replenished her stocks.

apple yes absolutely. It's obvious from your recent posts that DC is struggling (I didn't want to be nosy) and her health and welfare come first. I was going to ask if you still needed your milk exemption greent.  I know some of your offspring are now semi-launched but from your last post it sounds as if they're all currently in residence (with their milk guzzling habits).

If anyone is struggling with any aspect of the challenge like this, please speak up. I'll consider each case on it's merits. It's good to challenge ourselves and look at whether things really are 'essential' but if it makes you miserable, you're more likely to give up or have a massive spending spree when you can't take it anymore.

Beanie it does make sense to pay for things to be done but I'm still getting my head round it being an option. I have written out a list of jobs for my house and it's one budget area I haven't put any limits on this month - if it needs doing and I have the money for it I should go ahead when I find a good workman. Mr Builder did recommend someone for the soil stack and drainage issue so I at least need to make contact. It's more the things that other people were going to help with (using my ex s-i-l's car and help from her, my niece and her bf moved more garden pots in a day than I'd have been able to move in a month and because I'd managed to set up the builder's plank across the arms of 5 of the old garden chairs (left behind be the previous owners nearly 16 years ago) the pots were in place when I got home. Not even going to think about how long that would have taken me.

Just readjusting - this isn't going to happen, what do I do next? Also I need to explore alternative options. One of the garden posts that has been eaten was in a metal 'shoe' that was bolted to the ground (by my ex so probably coming up to 35years ago). His diy skills were very limited but he could do brute strength, so the shoe ain't moving. When I replaced it (22- 23 years ago), I  added two thick posts across at the top and bottom and then used slats of wood (someone else's cast offs) to make the fence panel. There weren't enough pieces long enough to go either horizontally or vertically so I did them diagonally (it also stopped the boy next door using them to climb up which was what wrecked the original trellis). The short pieces could be used near the corners and there were enough long pieces for the middle bit (mum's partner helped me splice a couple of pieces together for the 2 longest strips. I can't move the shoe so have been thinking of keeping the basic gate and one panel (heavy duty trellis the likeliest option) but if someone else is doing it maybe it can be done differently.

mothernerd

Okay, going back a few days, on Sunday I nearly fell - stood up went very dizzy, 'saved' myself by grabbing hold of a chair and the pull on the light cord. Beloved and DS3 came to help, I sat down until I felt 'okay' then was helped back to my room. Very quiet day but did put a butternut squash, 6 large potatoes and a dish full of assorted veg into the oven to bake/ roast. Ate a meal from the freezer with extra veg.

On Monday I hurt a lot, noted various bits that were twisted, scraped and jolted so took things easy, was very careful to stand up slowly and in stages and held onto both sides of the doorframe, then chairback etc when moving about. Got quite a lot done from my bed and managed to use all 5 of Clutter Clarity's 'D's (Deferred my link worker appointment and got an extension, Did the estate accounts and submitted the figure to UC, Delegated a couple of things to DS3, Dropped some minor tasks and Diminished my list by picking out small tasks that I could do, all of which 'moved things on'). Some online shopping.

On Tuesday I went to mum's bungalow to see if a bill had arrived and did some shopping on the way, mainly in bargain shops - a small travel alarm clock and 99p hair styling wax. Letter wasn't there but some progress as niece had managed to move some of her things. Very wet day so didn't do weeding, just missed the bus coming back so went on to Morries and picked up a few ys bargains (10p fruit and salad packs). The pinks (dianthus) I wanted had all gone so only a small shop. Bus came within 10 minutes, stayed on for the extra stop after the bus station and although very tired did a further trip out to the diy store. Some ideas on fencing/ posts (the online illustrations are so dark and tiny I can hardly see which are metal and which are wood), some pinks from the bargain shelf (all the bedding plants were reduced) and terracotta plant pots and saucers to help with heating costs/ power cuts next winter, 6 x £1 builders buckets (aka 25 l plant pots) and one roll of wallpaper (for covering boxes).

Got off the bus near the town hall and sat watching drama unfold. Lots of people on the town hall square, quite a lot of teenagers, some smartly dressed adults, one policeman standing in front of the library. Then sirens, a fire engine pulled up on the main road and 4 hunky fire men (not being sexist, pretty sure they were all men) got out, walked across the square, brief confab with the policeman, then went inside. Then a second fire engine pulled up and they went inside and then a third. I've fathomed out (idle speculation) that a school party were in the gallery upstairs possibly doing a workshop (high proportion of kids to adults) and either someone got stuck in the lift or there was a climbing incident (no hoses were taken in and lots of milling about in the foyer) so everyone was evacuated. May quiz library staff members further.

Wednesday 1st May 2022
Start of a new month and definitely done too much. Several things I had 'sorted' on Monday had started to unravel. Link worker rescheduled as the room was double booked - simple text to okay it. 3 deliveries due - checked that DS3 was in the front room to take them in and would let me know if he needed to go to bed. Messaging session with DS1 as DS3 thought he seemed stressed. Yes he is but everyone should butt out (his advice to me after mum died was not to take everything on and then complain that no-one was helping - guess what he's doing). He's worried about his job (was finally made permanent one week before the clowns decided to make an arbitrary 1 in 5 civil servants redundant, his boss refuses to contemplate him wfh or moving to a more convenient office location (so 2 hrs + commute at the beginning and end of the working day) and a number of other issues which should be kept private.

I had a confirmation e-mail about my train tickets which had Saturday's date (eek). Basically they want me to go to Wigan on Saturday and catch the 9.30pm train to Crewe, then wait 11 hours and 21 minutes and catch the 9.25am train to Abergele (arriving many hours before hotel check in. I looked at places to stay in Crewe (eek eek) then explored travelling from another station. It must be works on the line because one had no trains and the 3rd option also altered to travelling on the Saturday. So after my CBT I went back to it and have found a cheaper overnight stay option near the station, because paying for a bed is better than an overnight stay on the train station. Will be my 6th CBT session next week so need to consider what I want to do next. Having spent money I went to Will Co and bought 2 cans of fence paint (it's £16 atm instead of £22 and will need it soon). Did look at plant pots (the range I like is on offer but the larger sizes weren't available online) but didn't buy and got 3 x 50p salads in B00ts.

And embarking on what is now a 4 day trip brings up full circle to what am I going to do about clothes (and food but clothes first). Decided that it's too late for online options or going to another town/Mc - can possibly explore some options whilst I'm away at some outlets are available (not necessarily to but but would like to see/ try on some things I've seen online) so it's going to come from within the house - probably cannibalise one or two dresses that rub and attach the skirt to a t-shirt or tunic/ sundress. Will take the elasticated lacy pattern pumps (even if just for indoors) and the little fur trimmed boots (I know it's June but the crematorium is set back close to the mountains). Not going to exhaust myself looking for shoes that don't exist.

Will state my budgets and plans for the month later. Gave up on sleep at 5 am (been awake about 2 hours before that), mainly leg pain but also clothes, food, the garden -lots of stuff to plant out/ pot on, the mess and chaos. I am going for plodding, ruthless breaking down of lists and mess, just do what I can. The meal box they were going to deliver on Sunday (running out of eeks) has now been postponed until the following Saturday. Once I leave the house on Saturday evening I plan to switch off and relax as much as I am able. 

Grateful for options, been a lot clearer in my head and therefore able to sort through the to do list, make it manageable, reasonable weather, painkillers, good books.

mothernerd

Thursday 2nd June 2022

Remember that you are always exactly where you need to be, experiencing what you need to experience so that you can learn what you must learn in order to become the person you need to be to create everything you want in your life.
(Hmmm ...need to think about that one)

Today's 30 Days Wild challenge is
Visit a meadow
(Well I have buttercups, foxgloves and herb Robert in the backs and mum had a self-seeded Welsh poppy in the front gravel, so that will have to do, until I can get nearer to the country park).

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. (Henri J.M.Nouwen)

You don't have the power to make life fair, but you do have the power to make life joyful (Jonathon Lockwood Huie)

Make this year a year of finding fulfilment, of joy, peace and purpose.

Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn away the pain.