NST September 2022 Picture yourself on a boat on a canal

f0xh0les

Today was NSD 1, hooray!!! off the mark.

I have found 2 boxed cake mixes in the pantry, so will be making those tomorrow for lunchboxes on Monday/Tuesday/ Wednesday (optimist!!)   They can bake in the oven at the same time .

Also going scrumping tomorrow. I have sultanas and various nuts and seeds in the pantry so baked stuffed apples will be on the cards. Will stew a load as well and make crumble squares. Found 3 bars of chocolate and a lemon meringue pie filling mix as well  - Green$ have changed their packet mix  recipes, and some of the ones that have been dairy-free... well... forever! now have milk in.  R0tters!!  So lemon pudding pots  with chocolate topping will also be made with a 'el cheapo gingernut knockoff' biscuit  crumb base.  If there is any   melted chocolate leftover I will turn them into 'chocolate coated el cheapo gingernut knockoffs'.  Waste not, want not, and all that. There should be 2 packs of chocolate left over in case of any chocolate necessitating emergencies.   Have a massive craving for rum and raisin icecream, I have rum, I have sultanas (nearly a raisin) but  no icecream ...  might swing past £land on Monday after volunteering and liberate a tub of vanilla and adulterate it shamelessly.

Not a lot happened on the cleaning and clearing front - emails done, diary management done, the sofa cleared of tat back to where it should be, last energy bill on s/g bungalow actioned - wrote a cheque on the grounds that they can flippin' well wait while Monday for me to send it, and it is in a prepaid envelope, 2nd class postage.   Will claim it back from expenses related to s/g's estate -  and the letter from solicitors has still not arrived - maybe the postman can't find our little canal boat mooring?  

Anyway, bathrooms sparkling clean, sofa is sittable on again, did all the recycling and put the bins out, and have a little pile for the tip/recycling center when DH is away.  Going to relist s/g's possessions on selling pages next week while I am being the designated house adult,  or they can go and live in the charity shop - there is not enough room in my house for 6 people, their possessions, plus s/g's stuff.  It will be listed, and if that does not work, I am no worse off by donating it.

f0xh0les

Congratulations on the house sale @grandmanerd !

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for dh taking dc to bouldering and for me getting to the gym and to liddle, for lidl having their 85% choc back in stock, for dc going back to a friend's house after dance, for leftovers making a yummy tea, for my book.

Esmeralda2662

Pleased for nice weather so I could take mum carbooting. She got a nice top for herself and 3 for her toddler grandson and I got some bits and bobs so all good. Tried not to spend as much this week so did much rootling round in 10p boxes buying small toys, etc. 

Threaded 12 necklaces and packed 2 boxes for the shoebox appeal. Hope to drop them off Monday night after work. Be glad to get them cleared out of my bedroom.

Went to visit niece, her toddler and my sister for tea+cake. Ate their leftover falafels as they were about to be chucked out - delicious and didn't poison me! 

Cat-sitting for my son and his girlfriend till Monday night. A bit of a trek twice a day but don't want to leave her too long. Mind you, she just scratched me and drew blood so we're not speaking!  (the cat not the girlfriend!)

No NSD's yet as I've been away on a 2-day break. Will try harder this month.

Rest of my plans for our canal sojourn yet to be decided. Need to re-read Grandmanerd's Sept suggestions. X

BadBookkeeper

Evening turtles.

After burning my fingertips on the hob last night, I decided not to attempt a full house clean today and just did the bare minimum.

Disappointing afternoon watching the footy then took DS shopping for footy boots but none he liked so nothing spent there however I did have to pay for passport photo and passport renewal so still no NSD for me.

Had a meal deal rather than a takeaway.  Nothing else to report really.  Not looking forward to early morning start for ds start of season footy match!  

beanielou

That's a super quick house sale @grandmanerd.

ldee2111

Great news grandmanerd! 

Saturday

As planned, OH took DS to his football class and I tidied, cleaned some of the house, and got myself ready for the day. 

Started another charity bag - in went a pair of DS’s shoes. 

OH went to football game and DS and I went to the cinema. Took homemade popcorn and bottles of water. 

NSD 2/15 as tickets pre-bought.

Sunday

OH worked from home a few days this week so good savings on train fares.

Sunday sweep: 

Transport 54

Food 13

Leisure 0

This week’s sweep is going in an envelope for a bulk shop at Cost-co- possibly next month if I save enough in September. The 4 and 3 have been transferred to a mortgage OP - every little pound makes a difference. I look at it as I’ll never pay interest on that pound again. 

Today should be NSD 3 - we have no plans to go out. Weather’s to be wet. So we’ll be hanging around the house. I’ll do some tidying / cleaning / decluttering, and playing with DS. 

Grateful this morning for a slow Sunday, DS sleeping in, and the relaxing sound of rain.

wishus

Grr, lost my post! 

Simplify - no decluttering achieved yesterday. I spent most of the day watching a brilliant film- Everything Everywhere All at Once - and the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert, which was amazing. Many tears were cried!
Essentials - so, no extra spending. Just a few groceries. No snack purchases. Still have birthday chocolate though, right?
Planning - meal plan today.
Think - I will think a long time about accessories for my instant pot. Apparently you can buy a lid to make it an air fryer!
Eat - need more fruit and veg today. Yesterday we did fakeaway fish and chips, with oven cooked wedges and mushy peas. Plus a pickle!
Mindfulness - not good at this.
Be kind - sending a few messages to catch up with folks today.
Exercise - 9 hours active yesterday. 330 active minutes this week so far. It was 800+ last week though!
Report - ✔️

grandmanerd

Sunday 4th September 2022

Sunflowers follow the sun but did you know? .......When it's  cloudy they face each other and share their energy. imagine if we did this too.

Sunday Habits for an Organised Week
Pinterest offers a choice of 9/ 12/ 21 habits to help you organise your week (look them up  yourself if you want every moment of your week to be super organised and then chronicled). Some of them then go into further steps - setting up a habit tracker etc. So here's my simplified version for those of us who don't need to go into list overdrive.

1   My counsellor (one of many over the years) suggested a list of no more than 5 things to do during the week, then you add 2 more for yourself. Anything that doesn't get done is rolled over onto the next week - no stress (if it gets rolled over a third time, I'd suggest looking at whether you actually need/ want to do it or just there because it looks good).

2   Diary  You need to know where you are supposed to be and when (to avoid feeling muddled or fuddled). I try to jot down travel details (bus and train times) and things I need to take with me (for the Estate Agent it was my passport, the probate forms, a bill letter with both mum's and my address details as executor on and the house paperwork - good call as we ended up trawling through the deeds to establish whether it was freehold or leasehold) under the date in my diary so I can check back if I need to

3   Clean out your bag. We put the things we think we need in our bag but then add things as we go along so by the end of the week (or when we tip everything in there onto the bed because the pesky phone is in there, but hiding) we have - 5 pens, receipts, to do and shopping lists, lip salve, tissues and pills (I now have an extra pill to take during the day so keep some in my bag to take whenever I eat my 'lunch'), small bought items (I keep stamps in my purse but when I buy them I might just put them in 'my' bag so they don't get lost in a big bag.

4   Food (Food, clothes and bills are my 'feeling frazzled' essentials). My meal planning is still a work in progress but knowing I have things I can put together to make a meal keeps me calm, especially grab and go (celery and carrot sticks, cheese triangles), and supports my healthy eating habits.

5   Clean Clothes (their versions have you doing all the laundry and setting up all your outfits for the week on hangers with the accessories you will wear). Okay if you're an executive (but then you wouldn't be short of suits and matching accessories would you), and when my boys were small Saturdays featured a series of laundry loads sorted across the kitchen floor, waiting their turn (2 loads a day when I had one or more in real nappies). These days I can get by with one or two loads a week and it goes in the machine when there's enough for a load. Having tops and bottom that mostly go together  cuts out most of the stress - leggings + t-shirt/ warm tunic (layered if it's cold). Enough clean clothes for 2 -3 days works (length of time it takes to dry the next batch in poor weather).

6   Bills One thing nearly all the organisers/ declutterers agree on is somewhere to put post that needs dealing with and to do this once a week. (If you have mounds of old paperwork to wade through sorting the new stuff each week means you aren't adding to the problem or losing important stuff amongst the old stuff). Check your bank account. I know some of you use apps and know to the penny what you have but if other people put money in your account (irregular pay dates/ amounts) or you need to check whether debits/ credits went through (cost of living payments for many of us), making it a once a week allows you to keep track and not let potential problems build up. 

7   Clean the house. The suggestion is to clean the whole house once a week. If you are struggling (mental and physical health, work overload, life dumping all the problems in your lap at once), I'd suggest tidying aggressively (bedside table, by the chair you use regularly, behind the front door if everyone dumps their coats,shoes, bags, keys on entering) and working out the most important bits to keep clean (bathroom and kitchen ideally but around the bathroom sink, the area around the sink and cooker in the kitchen). A lot can be done in 5 minute bursts - whilst you wait for kettle to boil or the microwave to ping, in advert breaks during your favourite program. Cleaning the house should be a practice not a project. Those of you are fit and healthy may find this s l u t t y but I'm extremely proud of cleaning most of the bathroom in 5 minute bursts over a period of 7 - 10 days. When the winter bugs hit or you sprain an ankle, trap an important finger in a gate (working out who can stagger into the kitchen to heat soup, can't fasten a bra, wash your hair, brushing your teeth becomes incredibly complicated, getting to the bathroom is undignified - now I'd love to be still capable of shuffling upstairs on my bum) use these tips (I'll do more on another day).

8   Intentions this is a posh way of saying which small steps you want to take towards your goals. These might be drinklng more water, more sleep, set waking up time. Write it in big letters somewhere - this also helps when studying (learning maths formulas and accountancy regulations by taping information sheets on the bathroom walls). It can also help with exercise if you associate a particular place with an activity - I do very modified squats with my hands on the on the heated towel rail in the bathroom (and there's somewhere to sit down if I go dizzy.

9   Do something for you. None of this has to be done on a Sunday - make it fit with your own work/ life pattern. When I did multiple jobs I had a break on Wednesdays from mid-morning (after doing 3 early morning jobs) to school pick up at 3.30 pm. I could clean the house, batch cook using any veg left in the house, tackle any jobs that were safer or easier to do when the boys weren't there. I found it really satisfying and stress free. But whatever day/ hours work best for you, always include something for you - no day should be filled with mindless repetitive chores (unless you find ironing satisfying). Tidying and cleaning your space can make you feel better but be kind to yourself, if it's hard (or your current life is) break it down into small tasks, avoid overwhelm and always remember you are doing the best you can in difficult circumstances. Your children, family and pets are most important, your health and sanity come first.

Today
We've travelled down the Leigh branch of the canal to Wigan Flashes. Flashes are places where the mine workings underneath collapsed and then filled with water to make small lakes. Wigan Flashes is a collection of 8 flashes, Scotman's Flash and Pearson's Flash being the two largest (one either side of the canal) with the smaller ones equally distributed). There are 2 large towns in the borough, some smaller towns and a number of areas which have separate names and identities but in between there are huge gaps which were once mines and have now mostly been reclaimed and have become sanctuaries for wildlife and a social amenity for local people. Wigan Flashes is mostly reed beds and once you are amongst them you feel cut off from the rest of the world. 246 hectares of reed beds, tranquil lakes and woodland maintained by workers and volunteers from the local wildlife trust. 

Reeds are very useful for cleaning polluted landscapes (they were planted extensively around Chernobyl) and this former industrial site is now home to many birds. Just now we might see reed buntings, willow tits (the Flashes support 10% of the UK population of our most endangered small bird), reed warblers, sedge warblers, common terns and water rails. Many birds visit for the Winter including the extremely rare bittern (similar to a heron but all brown with a booming cry) with several breeding pairs returning each year. There are many paths, picnic areas, well behaved dogs on leads are welcome.

The dragonflies are large and spectacular (vibrant blues and greens) and as evening falls noctule and Daubenton's bats take over. orchids and Evening Primrose have thrived on the ash and spoil from the former power station and there are many other wild flowers including rare species. I hope everyone brought there food for the day because we're a long way from the shops. The reed beds have the potential to ease our energy needs as they're working on a process to turn them into pellets for use in wood burning stoves (natural waste as they have to be regularly cut back to allow the birds access to the water).

Don't wait for things to get easier, simpler, better. Life will always be complicated. Learn to be happy right now. Otherwise you'll run out of time.  

Toni'sfriend

Well done on the house sale, Grandmanerd. And thank you for the information on mindfulness. It's definitely something I should be practising. I'll look into it further.

Yesterday I used some bits and bobs to make omlettes for lunch and the last of the peppers and chillies to make a curry for dinner today. More perishables used.

The lovely cousin has sent me a list of food that the homeless mission needs. Apparently the level of support that they were getting from supermarkets has diminished greatly. I'll make up a bag and take it to the church when I'm passing. Probably be Thursday for that.

A few things I'd like to get on with today so I had better get on.