NST April 2023: April adventurising

lcc86

Yesterday was a relaxing day. Woke up super early (my parents' sofa bed plays havoc with my back), so I did some pilates while I waited for everyone to get up. Went for a walk as well, the sun was out but so was the wind! We went out for dinner, mum and dad paid so I kept my NSD. I turned down dessert as I was full, much to the consternation of my mother, who complained of being full and feeling sick while continuing to eat her dessert because according to her you can't waste an ounce of food even if you're fit to burst!

Last night I slept much better, woke up a bit later today and have done pilates again. Weather is a bit questionable so not sure if we'll get out. I'll be heading home later this evening. 

I've checked my finances this morning and I'm on track for this point in the month. 

grandmanerd

It's  raining here so no painting for me although wall building might be possible later (it works better if the surfaces are wet). But for now I'm on the couch resting - I took two small rubbish bags to the bins and that was tough. Will do domestic stuff in five minute chunks with lots of rest in between.

Grateful for a slow careful wash with lots of hot water, not buying more clothes for now despite trawling websites (will wait to determine exactly what I need), resting (found a slightly slumped angle that's just right for my back), drinking more water and lots of sleep.

beanielou

Hope scan goes well @Toni'sfriend  xx

apple_muncher

Hugs Toni'sfriend.

Today I am grateful for buses, for visiting some friends this afternoon, for emails, for a good book, for 21 work days left 😎.

f0xh0les

Nearly a teenager @apple_muncher

Thrifty_Taylor

Well done on the painting @facethemusic! 🎉
Hugs @Toni'sfriend, I hope the scan goes ok.

Was woken in the night with a tickly cough, thought it'd gone away...
Phoned 8t to see if we could get a better deal for our phone/broadband. Have saved £6 a month on the new tariff, but as on the old tax credits & not universal credit, we can't access the social tariff. Oh well, better than nothing! Went for a walk with DH, then spent the rest of the afternoon sewing the memory bears. Got them all finished & dropped off after tea. The customers were very pleased with them 😃 came home & did the huge pile of ironing whilst watching a film I'd recorded earlier in the week. Got a few things put away in the living room too.

Grateful for hearing a Skylark on our walk, the customers loving their bears, getting the ironing done & space to sit in the settee again!

Shrewbie

f0xh0les said:

The mortgage companies here send round a surveyor @Shrewbie , we had a house that was valued at £3k under the asking price so that, minus the 10% deposit, was all they would lend.  We got the seller to drop to that price (£74,999 for a 3 bed corner plot , front and rear gardens and separate garage - that was how rough this estate was 🤣)we lived there for ten years and sold for 90k 8 years ago. 

Thanks f0xh0les, I’m glad it’s a weird other place thing not just a weird Spanish thing. I suppose it makes sense, it’s just annoying. Your story is fantastic, I certainly need to be less fussy about the area if I’m going to have any hope of affording somewhere. 

Yesterday was not an nsd. Booked flights to UK for Christmas so have saved at least €100 by booking early, although plans may change I decided it was worth the risk. My holiday budget is totally spent for the year and I will reimburse myself with my extra payment in July (we get 14 salary payments per year ) 

after work went to see a friend for their birthday - a sort of picnic by the river. The sun was out but it was pretty cold. Was back home at 9pm in front of the tv with a pizza.

bf and I will be looking at the meal plan very closely to get to make further savings. I was impressed by someone over on one of the other threads who has got shopping budget down to around £8 per person per week I believe. Not sure I can do that but will try.

Grateful for spending time with friends, for one day of eating junk food, for feeling inspired. 

All the best for the scan @tonisfriend

Toni'sfriend

NSD  No 7

Thanks, everyone. Having the scan wasn't as bad as I anticipated and was certainly less traumatic than the MRI. The staff were lovely. Just have to wait for the results now.

We decided to get a taxi back but the area has been redeveloped when they built the new hospital and the taxi rank was no longer there so we walked to where we knew there was another one. That had gone as well. So two and a half miles later I reached home shattered. In the past a walk like that would have been a stroll for us but since the most walking I've done recently is a ten minute toddle to the railway station it was a bit of an ordeal. Just goes to show how unfit I am generally. I really do need to start getting out and about again.

So it was a plate of pasta and an early night for me last night!

A bit misty here just now but I'm just finishing my coffee and then a trip to the shops the long way round.

Have a good day. xxx

f0xh0les

Hugs @Toni'sfriend  you will get stronger, just don't overdo. I woke up at 5am to shouty birds. It made me laugh. 
Today I woke up with a weight not in the teens!  🥳 Will keep on being on short rations. Had stewed rhubarb and custard for my dinner last night and it was lush.  Made everyone else a pie and roast potatoes and vegetables. Then rhubarb crumble and custard.  The fridge is full of leftovers from the week so it will be a pick-a-plate lunch.  
Going to have a trawl of the charity shops this morning to get my step count up. Looking for cheap coconut oil to make a homemade hair mask (masque?)(treatment?) before I really start to resemble a Brillo pad. (Not in the c/s)
Onwards and downwards! 

grandmanerd

Yesterday's progress made me happy but oh so creaky (creeping up on me from lunchtime and later on I had problems getting myself off the couch). It was a domestic day. I found somewhere to put the duvet to let it dry - doesn't do anything for the aesthetic in the front room but it's not trailing on the floor or anywhere it can get dragged/ knocked off in passing and it's 'tented' so should be ready soon. 

The second load of washing went in, washed, extra spin and finally into the dryer and the remainder of the washing went in late on (not a full load but there's a bath sheet and some heavy joggers so probably just right). So for now I'm caught up on laundry. I'd put two oven dishes to soak the night before so I cleaned the sink (gunky), then the washing up bowl and hand washed the two dishes that had been soaked and then last night's pots (stuff that appeared after the DW was set off).

I cleaned a small patch of the kitchen floor - a corner between the DW, the tall freezer and a cupboard that I've now blocked off (took the toaster out first) and then worked outwards doing in front of the sink and the freezer, especially the edges. Just using soaked rags and then the scruffy towels I've been keeping under the table for drying. I think that was the bit that stressed my body most so didn't do more. I moved the 3 drawer filing cabinet (it's only light) across into it's slot. It came out of thee bit leading to under the stairs weeks ago so I could set up a 4- cube unit and DS3's desk to make better use of the space and it's been marooned near the back door ever since.

I moved the bread bin, toaster and a few other bits off the worktop that runs over the corner cupboard and across the DW  and cleaned that, finishing off yet another bottle of spray and re-arranged all the sauces, vinegars and vegan mayo on the little set of shelves (they're spares but handy if I can't get to the other hoards - main stash is right at the furthest point under the stairs) and the one in my cooking corner has garden saws, the extension reel and the battery for the magic motorbike obscuring some of the contents. 

Some rubbish and recycling went out. I crawled up to bed at 8.30 pm having eaten around 6.30 pm. Currently my need for food is warring with my need to stay just where I am. DS3 is asleep or I'd get him to fetch me a yoghurt. My plan is to smother myself in factor 30/ 50 (my skin is dry, my eyes are dry) pull on a cover everything dress, drag myself downstairs and nest on the couch.

The marine blue paint came yesterday, the turquoise paint is due today (but it's not even on a van yet so late on I think), the reddish brown paint I need is not coming until Monday. It's a lovely day and I hate to waste it but not doing anything until my body is ready. I've had a shower and managed to get the lovely clean shower curtain back up (3 doodahs at a time)

Grateful for getting things done, a lovely phone call from my recently bereaved cousin, listening to my body. Can I have a 'day out' without going anywhere - I have a tub of ice cream in the freezer (I ate the last cone on Thursday).