NST OCTOBER 2022: Autumn Leaves and Sloe Berries

apple_muncher

Dfw38, welcome to the turtle gang!

Today I am grateful for a simple day at work, for dry weather, for dh being at home so dc could be poorly and stay off school, for an easy parents evening, for the library, for the crisp morning air.

Thrifty_Taylor

Welcome @Dfw38.
Get well soon @greent & @grandmanerd.

Finally NSD#2 🎉
I'm feeling a little better today thankfully. Listed some coins collected in my change last week on fleabay, then went for a walk with DH. Lots of small mushrooms/toadstools dotted about, it was nice to see them poking through the grass.
Emailed to appeal a parking ticket, then this afternoon I waited in a phone queue for 1hr 24mins re our insurance claim. They've apparently not heard back from the 2 doctors, so chased one of them up straight away. Tidied a little pile of paperwork in my bedroom & did the ironing.
Knitted & watched TV, then had a nice soak with my book. A friend invited me to the cinema next week, something to look forward to 😊

Grateful for nature, getting little bits achieved, hearing from DS1 on his trip

pollyanna_26

beanielou said:

polly~~Did not think of a patch.  Will ponder.  Thanks 
Nothing from PIP as yet.
I find it frustrating that you have a life long condition you still have to jump through hoops & provide yet another shed load of medical evidence.
Bitter, mio? 

Before I trained as a teacher my mum forced me in to the then Inland revenue in the then Civil Service telling me it was a job  for life.. Not what I wanted but my dad had died recently  and i didn't want to upset her.

The job for life sounded like a threat but I sat high up in the Liver Building  with the Liver Birds above my head and stared out of my window watching The Mersey Ferries go backwards and forward across the River Mersey. Once a year things got interesting all Inland Revenue  departments dealt with tax returns from various parts of the UK.

we were dealing with a part of London.

Harold Wilsons government . Most returns came from accountants who would enclose a letter with the form and some of those were hilarious. Harold Wilson and George Browns returns were beyond belief. and some others were ridiculous. I'd read through a few times then pick up a red pen and score a line through certain sections. Someone else would then check and do the same again

The request for another tax return would be sent out. I was plotting on how I could leave  then decided to just tell my mum I was leaving.

I had learned that everything was checked and double checked looking as we were for false claims. All governments are accountable to the treasury and everything has to be gone ttrough with a fine tooth comb a numer of times.

I waved goodbye to the Liver Birds and went to follow my heart.

Over the years I wondered about the DWP testing and retesting people who are never going to get properly better especailly those with life changing and limiting disabilities.

I came to the conclusion they kept assessing to follow some government rule to make sure there was no fraud.Oce you were on record they had to keep an eye on you in case you were out working and suddenly dancing the night away.

The only thing added to dds last paper assessment was being ECV the pandemic had added to all her anxiety and worries.

With the coat pocket if you have a shop near that sells those patches near they will probably be able to tell you if their iron on patches will be ok on the pocket lining. and not damage it the packaging often has that info. It's probably worth wearing the coat or taking it with you.

The big river site sell them and you can probably read what fabrics they're safe on.

Try not to get angry or frustrated waiting for the PIP result. As I've often told youngest stressing is ruining her days . The reply will come when it does. We;ve never needed to do it but there is the manditory reconsideration process.

You were born with your disabilities try to live with them but if they were to read this thread they will see all the falls which hurt you over and over again you do all you can with the foodbank and the good advice you give people on the forum but I doubt they would turn your claim down as like my youngest you have a consistant history over the years and they're aware of all that history.

I'll be sending positive vibes . The wait times are ridiculous but they are working through a big backlog.

pollyx

Wanna_Bee_Free

I'm two pages behind. The move has gone ok and unpacking has started. I have been visiting my father in hospital after his stroke. Unfortunately he started to feel poorly the night before last and tested positive for Covid yesterday so is now in a covid ward with 5 others. 
MSE wise I finally took my own food in yesterday, we'd unpacked the kitchen enough. OH got a great deal on our contents insurance and got a discount from A*miral who were already the cheapest as I had my new car insurance with them and they did it as an add on. Really pleased he is in this mentality as he never used to try and shop around. 
Outside - very little today
Inside - more boxes unpacked, more possessions unearthed again. Will it ever end!
P4D  - nope
Read - yes!
Gratitude: my father making a joke to one of the nurses, my oh saying he was feeling homey in our new place which was very much my choice/need due to my family. My sister being there for me on the end of a phone during my solo hospital stint this week, while she's in Edinburgh for work. 

hazeldreams

Morning,

Glad you're starting to feel better thrifty. Sorry to hear you're now poorly greent

Congrats on surviving the house move wannabefree - make sure you make some time for yourself, even if it's only for an hour this weekend. It sounds like you've had one hell of a stressful week with the move and your dad being in the hospital.

I've taken some time off work this week because my niece (she's 9) is in hospital and quite poorly and I just couldn't deal with the day-to-day stresses of work and life on top of running back and forth to the hospital to support my sister (she's on her knees with exhaustion as its a long term illness that my niece has). I'm exhausted, I don't know how you've managed a house move as well!

Outside Didn't manage the clearing up of the drive. Not sure i'll have the energy today either. Didn't get back from the hospital until 10.30pm last night and didn't sleep til gone midnight. Didn't make my 5.30am get up again, but did manage 6.30.

Inside Not much.

Fun Nope.

Food/Drink Still not drinking enough water 

Read No, but listening to Dave Ramsey's podcasts still.

Plan 4 Dec No

Gratitudes if you could see what my pooch is doing right now. Thank god for dogs! He keeps me sane! Being able to have time off to support my sister and niece.

Yoga/Meditation Did a lovely meditation this morning. Really managed to focus on my breath and when the thoughts crept in I was able to come back to my breath.

Spending Still on only NSD 1/10. Hospital car parking is outrageous. £15 gone on that.

Hope everyone has a good day

Hazel x

BadBookkeeper

Morning turtles,

Heres my update for yesterday:
Outside - Walked to parents up the road and took DS to footy.  Started a list to tidy up the garden ready for winter. Hope to do list at the weekend.

Inside - Will dig out hot water bottles as I think it’s time!  There’s also a dumping ground under the stairs that could do with a good sort out & tidy up.  Will spend a few minutes a day on that.  Still need to sort my wardrobe. 

Fun - Chatting to other parents at footy & finishing Lego build with DS.

Food / alcohol - Too many goodies left over from weekend.  Rediscovered my love of custard creams.  This could be dangerous!  No alcohol. 

Read - Only newspaper & Fb 

Plan for December - Nothing here.

NSD - Nothing spent so 6/15.  Did look at deals on the big river shop but nothing I needed had a good discount. 

MSE - Confirmation of my bank account switch.  Also read on MSE about a heated clothes airer costs 8.5p an hour to run but is also good at heating a small room for those working from home in one room of the house who don’t want to put the heating on for the whole house.  This sounds good to be.  Anyone use one?  Does it heat the room too? 

Gratitude - Grateful for: Catching up on work backlog, parents living up the road, leftover custard creams. 

Will post an update for today later.  Have a lovely day. 

firsview

pollyanna I worked for the Inland Revenue for 30 years, but I am ashamed to say I loved it!

Toni'sfriend

Pollyanna - I'm in Scotland too and we also have a grit bin at the end of the road but as soon as the Council fill it people appear from all over the place and fill their buckets up so there's never enough to go round. The Council do grit the main roads and pavements but nowhere else. Lack of money, I suspect. I've also remembered that I must look out my "yaktracts". Chain thingies that go over your shoes. I bought them in one of those outdoor shops in the Lake District a number of years ago. They were expensive at the time but they've proved to be worth every penny. Great for walking on icy pavements.

Well, as you all know, I'm a bit silly. I assumed that all I had to do was go into the electrical store (this one was in a huge retail park in the middle of nowhere and took ages to find) point out what I wanted and give them the measurements of the space things had to fit into. No! All sorts of questions that I didn't know the answer to. Glad I took the booklet for the oven that needed replacing. I gave it to the very helpful salesman and after double checking numerous details we are now sorted. Oven coming (with electrician to fit it) next week and the freezer whenever it becomes available. I have to say by the time we eventually found a bus stop to catch the bus home I was fair exhausted.

So, on the way home since we'd already spent all that money anyway I decided to go into Aldi and stock up on the Halloween sweets. Whilst we were there got a message to say our batteries had been left with the receptionist. ????? Apparently that Amazon speak for we left the package outside your door for all to see and help themselves if they so desired.

Anyway, nothing done from yesterday's list so I had better get on with it.

Have a good day.

pollyanna_26

firsview said:

pollyanna I worked for the Inland Revenue for 30 years, but I am ashamed to say I loved it!

It was regarded as a good job and I was much better paid than my friends however I had wanted to become a teacher since my early teens and had no idea why my mum viewed the Civil Service as a better choice than teaching  saying it was more secure and a job for life.

Two of my cousins were working in different branches of the civil service quite happy and had already beeen promoted they were a few years older than me and had been able to choose their career for life. Back then it was a very common choice for school leavers with far better working conditions than many jobs even my holidays were longer than many of my friends.

My cousins fathers had chosen jobs in the Civil Service after serving in WW2 life was comfortable which probably influenced both my cousins.

Those who'd served during the war were prioritised when they returned home seeking employment but as I pointed out to my mum  many others had been offered training to become teachers.. My own english teacher who had been in the RAF taught this left handed pupil how to use the pens we had to dip in an ink well back then.

I was educated mainly by a teaching order of nuns and the headmistress was pretty horrible always shouting at me about the smears and blots on my written work.

She was outraged when a man appeared as the new English teacher. He was kind and gentle with lots of patience and began showing me how to write with those straight dipped in an inkwell pens without blots and smears.. Lifting my wrist so I wasn't trailng it over the not yet dry words I'd already written causing smears and blots.

One day the head shouted at him telling him he was wasting his time, He replied ok but I can tell you now she will not pass those important exams as examiners can not mark work full of smears and blots. He'd flown a Spitfire during the war so unlke other members of staff especially the other teachers who were teaching nuns the head did not frighten him he'd looked in to the eyes of german pilots trying to shoot him down.

She quietend down left him to get on with things and I passed the exams that would soon take me to Uni.

I'm glad you loved your job. I loved teaching and would never have taken to the job for life as my mum called it but found my job for life and never regretted it.

pollyx

f0xh0les

Welcome with us on our Autumnal wanderings @Dfw38 you are #21

Happy New House @Wanna_Bee_Free I love moving house!!  That is really nice that OH is getting with the programme.  It can be quite annoying when one of you 'gets it', but the other one has not yet had the penny drop moment - my DH was a flippin' nightmare.  He is getting better, but he only registered with T0pCa$hback last week  - that is how late to the party he is.  Drives me insane, but he is very cute naked, so I'll keep him .

thrifty, greent and Grandmanerd/mothernerd all have reserved places on the chaise longue ward -  with various crafting projects, love    to all our ill Turtles, keep warm and wet and fed. Everything else can slide, so just do  stuff  you enjoy and rest,  or it will just linger and annoy you.  Delegate the boring stuff to someone else who is completely capable of helping....it won't kill them, I promise.

Our hot water bottles have been deployed for the  kids since the start of the month BBK.  Don't forget to test them first, there is nothing worse than trying to dry out a cold wet bed in the middle of the night while a teenager chastises you for deliberately perishing the rubber.... (?).  It is getting much colder, the windscreen of my car tells me so, when it fogs up in the morning because we have the temerity to breathe. 

Last night I made a butterscotch sauce for the first time, I had baked unstuffed apples and ice cream, and I thought a toffee apple style flavour could be fab.... and it was! marg, sugar, and a splodge of cream went in, 5 minutes later... divine!    All stuff from the cupboards/fridge/freezer so  NSD 5ish.  

Congratulations to those Turtles already on their school half term hols, I have another 2 1/2 days left of the school run, I am planning on playing Park Tourist next week - a different park a day, all within reasonable walking distance, I have noticed on The b00k of Faces, people asking where the best oak trees are for acorns at the minute.... I have no idea what they are doing with them, I know you can paint them and make faces and decorations and things, but they are a crafty bunch round here, I am wondering if they are thinking wreath embellishments - there is a 2 hour wreath making session advertised in my area at  £45 a person..... so collecting acorns would be free money for them..... 

Saw a squirrel running across the school field yesterday afternoon with an apple in its mouth bigger than its head.  Laughed my face off so the mantra for today is ' Be  more Squirrel'  - where there's a will, there's a way!