Escape to the country & living off savings

Skint_yet_Again

Grey rainy morning here but supposed to brighten up later. 

Niece is dropping off her dog soon as they are going away overnight. He’s a big lazy pooch so will usually lay around snoozing 😆 Beef stew in my slow cooker today. I think most of the day will be watching tv & reading. Friend may pop in for a cuppa this afternoon. I will take pooch for a walk later. 

Skint_yet_Again

Pooch has been here overnight 🐾 He’s been very well behaved. Had a lovely walk in the sun with him yesterday afternoon. 

Very dark & windy today. Decided to have an early dog walk and managed to avoid the rain which started shortly after we got back. Beans and cheese on toast for breakfast but couldn’t taste it. Portion of yesterday’s stew for lunch today & 2 portions in the freezer. Will be resting today after 2 dog walks am feeling better for the fresh air. 

Saw DF for a short chat in his garden yesterday in the sun. He seems to be doing ok. Will ring him later. Pooch is getting picked up this afternoon. 

SuzeQStan

Really good to hear DF not too badly affected so far 🤗 sorry to hear that you still can’t taste anything tho SYA! How long has it been now?  

Doggy visits sound lovely - you have mentioned in the past but would you consider getting a dog of your own?  I know you have missed PD in between DS visits x

Tresinia511

Hey Sya, long time lurker here, I read all your "get a grip"  posts back to when you were working and hating it, (you working,  i mean lol) and found it very brave of you to take back control and escape the toxic world we now call work. Then switched threads when you changed over.   Amazing isn't it how little you need money wise,  if you can just let it be.  And of course moving back to your place you grew up was a master stroke with df and your long time friend for cuppas. Have loved following all the stories with pd et al and feel a bit robbed now there's only one or two posts to follow each time I log in. But enough of that,  I came in here to say about your loss of taste. Did you lose your sense of smell too? I had this exact thing when I had covid for the only time,  back in March 2020. It was my only symptom.  The nhs didn't consider it a symptom at the time,  but my mum had cancer and my dad was dying and me and my sister were looking after them at home. The NHS helpline said no need to isolate.  I asked our GP who said to be on side of caution as they had heard rumours it was a symptom of covid so I didn't visit.  Later it was added to the list as a symptom so my GP was correct.  I didn't regain my sense of taste or smell for 4 months! But it did get back to normal eventually  in case you were worried about own senses. It felt like forever at the time,  unable to enjoy food. So don't despair. 

Skint_yet_Again

You’re right SuzeQ I do miss puppy dog but I don’t miss the walking every day, often twice a day, through rain, wind, frost & ice and also snow here in the north. 

I felt exhausted yesterday afternoon, pooch went home around 6pm and I treated myself to pizza delivery half price offer. Some taste buds have started to come back. 🥳 

Hello @Tresinia511 thank you for delurking it’s amazing you have followed me for all that time. It’s nice to know that people are out there following the journey. I am sorry to hear about your parents and your loss of taste and smell for so long. That must have been a very hard time for you. I haven’t lost my sense of smell and some of my taste buds seem to be coming back. 🤞

It’s now 2 weeks SuzeQ since I tested positive. I am so glad I do not have to dog walk this morning 😆 I’m not going to aquafit this week but am hoping to feel well enough to return next week. It’s blue sky appearing on the horizon and breezy this morning so I am going to hot wash sofa throws since pooch laid on them & hang them out to dry. Will drive to DF’s chemist (not same village one as mine) to collect his meds for him & then get some shopping for us both at aldee. 

Tresinia511

Hi sya I'm so pleased you're getting your sense of taste back.  Obviously the virus mutates and also affects people differently.  Loss of taste and smells  turned out to be a big thing among covid sufferers back in the early days and I was a member of a fb site dedicated to loss of smell and taste,  some people lost it for a year or more,  so I was glad to get mine back after 4 months.  Not sure if the group still exists but it was good to have the support at the time,  it was a bit scary not knowing if it would come back.  My first signs were a whiff of dettol when I was cleaning the loo😁. Then it all came back gradually although the smell of things were distorted in a way I didn't expect.  It took over 6m to get back to normal. Keep up the updates,  I have enjoyed following your journey and interested to see what happens next! None of us can predict the future so there may be exciting times ahead.  I may have missed it but did you post any updates on how your son is getting on? Did he make any changes to the house and have they settled in? I always think it's a bit different if you now own a house which was yours from childhood 🤔 

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks Tresinia it was such a different time back then. I think we forget so much and after the years that have gone by I didn’t think much about it, so it was a surprise when I tested positive for the first time and a bit scary. I am thankful that I only had mild symptoms and the same for DF. 

DS and his fiancée have settled into the house and are in the process of making it their own. It’s lovely to see them breathe new life into it. 

Picked up DF’s meds and shopping and dropped off in the garden. His sore throat is feeling better and he just sounds like he has a bit of a cold & a bit croaky but said he feels ok just tired. This is day 5 since his symptoms started but he didn't test until Saturday. 

Aldee shopping for me £31.45. Meals this week

breakfast 
Porridge 
wheatbics 
sardines in Tom sauce on toast

lunch 
butternut squash soup
cheese omelette 
tin mushroom soup 
tin tomato soup

dinner
Minced beef, bean & butternut squash chilli (leftover kidney beans in freezer, butternut squash from DF allotment)
chicken casserole, (swede & carrots leftover from beef stew last week)
chicken Thai green curry (with broccoli not used last week)
tandoori chicken & roasted Mediterranean veg

Fruit = pears, strawberries, tinned peaches. 3 apples leftover from last week)

I am picking up my friend tomorrow and we are going for lunch and some retail therapy 😊

Skint_yet_Again

Skint_yet_Again said:

Regular saver (6%) £4921.08. So I will fill it to max 6% amount of £5k next month then cancel the standing order. If I have read it correctly the balance of 5k will continue to get 6% interest which can just be left to add up. 

Savings builder (2.5%) £4370.83. This is the remaining balance of this years money so the balance reduces monthly. For 1 Nov - 1 March = 5 x 833 = 4165 plus amount to transfer into regular saver on 1 Nov (to reach 5k) £78.92. Balance left is interest not spent £126.91. This will go into my holiday pot. 

Finally got round to changing my standing for 1 Nov. What a palaver! Cannot be changed on the app so had to log into online banking then use my card reader! Just to change the amount I transfer to my regular saver with the same bank from £150 to £78.92. This will fill it to the max £5k at 6%. I will then have to sign into online banking again to cancel the standing order after 1 Nov. 

Current account remaining now £84.13 =

petrol £10
food £40
Entertainment fund £34.13 including lunch tomorrow 

Next “payday” is 31/10/24

SuzeQStan

Lunch and retail therapy sounds like a perfect Tuesday to me!

speaking of tastebuds - the chat on here reminded me of when I had a flu as a child and I’d been so poorly m&d thought to cheer me up with a burger from mcdees and the flu must have affected my tastebuds as it tasted foul and vinegary and I’ve never been able to eat anything from there since! And it’s been decades lol.  Also they gave me brand name flat lemonade and that tasted like iron to me (yuck!) so  there’s another one I haven’t ever had since.

sorry to hear of the bank palaver - there’s so many scams out there I guess they are darned if they do or don’t . But I do wish they could find a secure way to make things a bit easier! 😤😤

badmemory

I had two different kinds of account last week that I hadn't used for some time.  Both came up with a version of you haven't used your account for some time so we have deleted it, followed by you can't open a new account because you already have one.  Tried ringing, your call is important to us - well it was until they cut me off without speaking to anyone.  I am sure everything hasn't always been such hard work.