NST Awesome August

lcc86

@applemuncher I've legit never heard of it or seen one in my life  no wonder I was so confused!

lcc86

Another night falling asleep on the sofa, oops! I watched a Norwegian WW2 drama before dozing off, never watched anything like that before but it was pretty good. Will watch some more this evening. 

As predicted I did get called into work today, loads of faffing and delays due to other services not doing what they should've done but we got the desired result in the end!

Managed to clean the inside of my car this afternoon, very overdue. I also managed to get a couple of coats of primer onto our new front door (good old fire regulations meant our old door was no longer good enough, but better to be safe than sorry). Will hopefully get it fully painted tomorrow. NSD number 7  dinner shortly followed by chocolate bao buns, an invention I only recently knew existed but am eternally grateful for!

f0xh0les

There are salted caramel bao buns too. But I didn't tell you that, because I am a nice person. 
Today was NSD 3.
  Dieting is boring.
Started a new book last night.
Deadheaded some flowers.
Thought about food ... a lot.....
Charged DS1&2 rent. More to get them into the idea stuff costs money, so charging them £5 a day for board and lodging. Not exactly extortionate. 

thriftylass

Semi busy day today. Did the school clothes shopping, weekly shop and moved our living room rug as well as DH desk (built by my grandad 90 years ago) into the conservatory and fitted the new wall light. looks good. 

Thrifty_Taylor

Evening all! It's been fantastic weather today. Wrote my shopping list & made a packed lunch for 3 whilst eating my breakfast. Then we headed to town, dropped sewing off & a borrowed pair of waterproof trousers, collected mum, then went over the Churchill Barriers for our annual trip. Left mum knitting in the car, whilst we walked around the headland & looking in all the war buildings. Then drove to a lovely beach for our picnic. Mum's eyes aren't too good at the moment +waiting for cells to be lasered off her lenses), I told her the ladies toilets was the first door, she carried on walking & nearly went in the men's 😂 then when we went into the ladies, she was saying how dark it was in there, I reminded her she'd still got her sunglasses on 🤣 We next drove to her favourite place, on the other side of the bay, & walked along there. The gardens are beautiful & very inspiring. 
Dropped DS3 off in town on our way back, did the supermarket shopping & came home. I lay on the bed for an hour, then out the shopping away. Washed up after tea, got the washing in & did more of my rug for an hour.

Grateful for a sunny day, exploring favourite places, laughter

grandmanerd

Sunday 13th August 2023

I just came across this (saw something about cleaning tasks to stop doing and jumped up and then it only gave me a raft of tasks you can do in under 10 minutes - hah, some days it takes 10 minutes to stand up). Most of the things about Boundaries are more 'rules' (as though we don't have enough things to be doing) but this is quite gentle - read, think about it for a moment "Yeah, that makes sense, I can do that"

15 Personal Boundaries for Self Worth
1   Mistakes make you human
2   Other people's opinions aren't fact
3   You are worthy
4   You don't need approval
5   It's okay if you inconvenience people (wow)
6   You are NOT a failure
7   Stand up  for yourself (you don't have to be confrontational, just say 'yeah, like that's going to happen' in your head
8   You BELONG
9   People don't have to like you
10 You are MORE than a caretaker
11  It's okay to Fail and it WILL happen
12  Being a woman is worth celebrating (or a man abundant)
13  A Life Obsessed with Acceptance is wasted
14  Progress not perfection
15  You are not responsible for other people's emotions
(Little Miss Lionheart)

By the Way (especially for new turtles but a reminder for all) these daily extras aren't compulsory, you don't have to 'do' anything with them. If you see something useful adopt it (or just write it in a notebook or put it on a post-it for later), if you don't like it, ignore it. 2 Checking in helps especially if you are struggling If something isn't working, or parts of the challenge are overwhelming you, you think you've gone off the rails big time or life has just hit you on the back of the head - check in (we  don't need all the gory details if they're private but feel free to let it all spill out if you want), tell us. usually one of us / or many of us will have gone through something similar, we can offer helpful advice (or just hugs if that's what you need) whether it's a big life event or just the springs poking out of your couch when you can't afford to replace it

ldee2111

Thanks for your last post Gradmanerd, a few things resonate with me. 

I’ve been reading along but not contributing to the chat. Don’t know why but I’ve been struggling for weeks to get into a good routine… maybe a consequence of not having the school schedule with DS. Despite having put money aside, we’re very tight for the rest of this 5-week month. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve spent money on some very enjoyable activities over the summer holidays but our budget is glad that the schools here are back this coming week. 

We are all sorted with new school clothes. Unfortunately nothing survived from last term down to DS’s growth! He’s keeping the same bag though. He’s also outgrown most of his shoes which I’ve cleaned up and will pop on V!ntD later. A pair I listed the other day have sold and need posted. Will do today.

In the last few days I’ve been grateful for having a garden to sit in on rare sunny days (more like moments), for feeling a little more positive about work (been feeling the opposite for a while which I’m aware is my mindset rather than a problem with the job), for getting a bit of motivation to tackle some things in the house that I’ve been putting off, (going through our life admin folders and clearing out and cleaning the inside of the fridge)… going to do a bit more today. And going to take DS swimming while OH is at the football with his Mum.

Have a good day, turtles xxx

grandmanerd

Yesterday I went back downstairs at 6 pm, heated and ate my soup, dry washing came in from the line, more things went out (not a lot). I gathered more rubbish from the yard (smaller pieces of cardboard that were welded to the flags, pieces of broken pots). I had gathered all the 'finished' poppy heads, I now have them in a bunch and they're all roughly the same size. They need to go in a brown paper bag suspended so the poppy seeds for next year fall out and then they might get painted silver for decorations or be added to the natural craft supplies.

I did more weeding then got a huge bag for life and went round collecting all the bits I've done this week + a few more and then that went into the green bin. I planted two tomato plants (survived from earlier in the year) into 10  l tin buckets - they should be going somewhere where I can control their water supply so don't need drainage). This entailed weeding a 50 l container, digging out the soil (retrieving the bulbs I'd forgotten about). There are more tomato plants, some more white tin buckets (but some were used earlier in the year for storing soil dug from huge containers and they're stuck in a tight corner). I put the 2 planted up tomatoes on top of upturned buckets so I don't need to bend to the floor when I've worked out where I can put them until the rest of the yard is re-arranged.

The large bin is getting in my way now. It's a 120 l kitchen bin which they bought. They just kept stuffing rubbish in it until it went bad (at which point I evicted from my kitchen). It is nearly full to the brim with soil which means moving it is nigh on impossible and it's in the middle of the path, near the gate. I have some unused containers (like window boxes but much wider than usual) and I'm thinking I could move the soil into those and plant them up even if it's only with radish and spring onions (multiple packets of those) or use as a seed bed for larger stuff until I've cleared the areas they are going in. They could also go on my little wall until I have time and energy to sort out the trellis. The more of a 'barrier' it looks, the less likely it is that someone would come into the yard.

Anyway I decided it was time to stop - I got up from the chair and parts of my body screamed in protest (my muscles are there somewhere) so came back upstairs. So many things in need of attention but the muscle complaints continued into the night (I took some ibuprofen when it stopped me getting back to sleep) so I'll be treating myself gently. I will be seeing my brother, his ex-wife and my 2 nieces tomorrow so I need to make sure all the bits of my outfit are ready and get together any things to be handed over to my nieces/ that need my brother's signature. Might also need a list of things to talk about - stuff I've actioned since meeting my brother and elder niece last month. I did bring supplies upstairs to make Christmas cards (that's one less elf on the p!gg!ng shelf for you) but didn't do anything - the cards I brought up turned out to be postcards - they have envelopes and 'charms'.

So many things to be grateful for - charity shops, online 'window shopping', books and films and enjoying a relationship with my nieces and their mother (I think a  lot of things have been passed on via my mother and many were misconceptions, the same thing happened with my husband although I was better positioned to spot some of his fallacious beliefs).

Actual shopping and rethinking - I'm not a huge fan of shopping in any form. I enjoy 'window shopping' and the occasional purchase when I'm on holiday (access to nicer shops - anything other than cs, shoe shops and pie shops) and when DS1 was a baby we did a twice a year journey to Manchester (I remember coming home with him sitting bolt upright in his carry cot on wheels with shabby tat anglepoise plus lamps behind him and other purchases in every available space. 

For large parts of my life I haven't had the money for anything but the basics (and sometimes that was a struggle). This means that when I was in a position to/ had to buy things I didn't know where to start - there were shops I didn't recognise and others had gone out of business. After my father died I bought a few things - my son's had each broken one of my sets of beads - jet/ crystal/ blue glass or crystal and I replaced these (jet, crystal, fake pearl). I also bought 4 white organic cotton bath sheets (I still have 3, one was ditched last year after suffering one accident too much) and I think that's when I bought my organic cotton duvet set (promptly put away in a cupboard because white duvet and black cats don't go). 

I always bought proper cotton sheets if I had any money in January (my original stock came from a stall on the market £2 for a double, found at country house sales) and would buy myself a couple of 'basics' (oversized linen shirts, per una t-shirts) to supplement my cs hoards.

So since my flash/ dash shop in April I seem to have acquired a taste for it (shopping f0xh0les). When I bought the blue full length T-shirt dress I wore for the baby's Baptism, I did ask if they did it in other colours. They didn't at the time but I've recently seen more online (same retailer). Unfortunately they didn't have my size but now it's back in stock.

So I've never wanted diamonds and gold jewellery (it'd probably bring me out in a rash). My 'go to' luxuries are sheets and towels (preferably organic) and I love 'capsule wardrobes'. I managed the years of poverty when the boys were small (when my then OH was putting all our money in slot machines) because I had drawers full  of classic basics (t-shirts, polo necks, Shetland wool jumpers and I could still wear shirts without bursting all the buttons every five minutes and didn't feel guilty buying them because they were hard for me to sew myself).

My wardrobe needs are fairly fixed - leggings, t-shirts, sundresses and tunics to cover my bum through all seasons, one or 2 jumpers, cardigans and jackets. Everything pulls on or up. Even if (when - it has to happen) I lose weight I won't be buying figure hugging clothes with plunge necklines. Basically I'm thinking about buying clothes (quite a lot of clothes) as 'an investment for the future' (that sounds pretentious). I can't guarantee that I'll be able to buy things in the future, none of the things I like is 'fashionable', clothes quality is diminishing (fast fashion - even dresses I've bought in subsequent years in the same style from the same retailer have deteriorated faster than the original item. Some 'basics' aren't always available - in recent years I've had problems buying leggings because I don't want ones that finish half way down my leg and I don't want 'jeggings'. I'd buy a couple of pairs from my present money each year so there was always a good pair in the drawers and I had a supply when the most worn had to be downgraded to 'painting clothes'. Finding clothes in cs is a rare occurrence nowadays - the ones that had stuff to fit me have gone and a lot of what is available is tat (or bling).

So am I being wise or just indulgent. I can upgrade to organic cotton /  sustainable materials and I have an idea of which patterns to avoid (no stripes or wording across my bosom, nothing too geometric - looks boxy, I won't do my mother's trick of buying one in each colour (nasty polyester is nasty polyester and I remember that suitcase full of 'never worn's under the bed - dancing clothes, going on holiday clothes, bought for a wedding clothes). So I'll go slowly. I have been looking at vinted and ebay so I will make the best buys (might even stretch to a 'little dog' bag at those prices). How much is fuelled by trying not to think about foods I shouldn't have or frustration because I can't do any of my big 'house improvements', I'll find out.

So time for a shower and to make a start and decide whether to go to the victory parade. I remember the last one, when I was a teenager and if it's another 41 years until the next win, I doubt I'll be around (or would want to be).

ldee2111

Sunday 

Grateful today for getting another sale on V!ntD right after posting the previous one. 

Spent about £10 on buying some extra food that I’d not had on our grocery delivery so no NSD for me. ☹️

Got a washing done and out on the line before leaving with DS for the swimming. We’ve had our family pass for the health club for 3 weeks now and I’m pleased that it’s not been a waste of money so far. 

Grateful today for playing fun word games with DS and my mother-outlaw, for OH making us all lunch, for meeting Mum at swimming, for Mum taking responsibility for DS while I used the steam room, for a great shower at the health club and not having to use our own electricity (a few kw saved)🤣, and  for OH preparing dinner. For my family. ❤️

lcc86

Evening turtles 

Where has the weekend gone!    got up early and went riding, dodged all the rain showers somehow and generally had a lovely ride. Came home via the cheap petrol station and then carried on painting the door, got it all done, will just need to do a couple of touchups tomorrow. 

Not done much else this afternoon, just relaxing as got most of my jobs done yesterday so took full advantage!