From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Right, we popped to the shops - as i had forgotten i hadn't got any 'snack' items for LG's pack-up. It's my fault because the cereal bar I buy is from MrAl and I don't shop there very often, so it had got pushed to the back of my mind.  

Anyhoo, I was amazed at how quiet the MrAl carpark was - wondered if they were open.  They were, and we got several other bits and pieces there too, rather than waiting until Thursday's shop. 

We popped into MrL on the way back (no green boxes 😢) and I picked up some extra bread, as I want to make sure that I am stocked with sandwich stuff for the next couple of weeks, just in case shopping times go awry.  MrL was heaving (relative to MrAl), which is odd - it is usually the other way around. 

I do however wonder if the push to self-serve has been putting people off our MrAl.  I know many people prefer self-serve, but there were still queues for the staffed tills (many people with very full trolleys), I don't think SS sits well with a large section of the local customer base.  I don't like them, but LG does and likes to "help", so we did use SS in MrAl today - that said, the blooming thing stopped and called over an assistant who was most gruff and rude 🙄 Mind, I think they were having to cover the SS and staff a till, so maybe it wasn't us they were grumpy about..... 

I spent £14.71 in total.  This did include 2 cinnamon buns from MrAl - which have been scoffed......... er, enjoyed, by LG and me.  

I had thought about popping into Greying town just now, as I could do a bit of banking and then I said to LG we could finish off our visit to the museum (we only saw half of it last time).  They warmed to this idea, but I'm not sure the window of 'not raining too much' will be big enough for us to make it into town without getting drenched.  It looks like it's just started raining again 🙄

Right, orf to re-jig my siggie and hang a piece of seaweed out the window........

Ta for popping in and leaving supportive comments.  I think there is a possibility that LG will have done more than some of their peers - although I am not sure kids of that age realise opportunities or activities that come their way.  2 weeks in a movie themed resort has bragging rights, irrespective of whether you enjoy it.  A day at the beach in "Dudley", doing all the things and enjoying the company of whomever you happen to be with just doesn't match up..... Unfortunately 😢

A couple of children a few doors down were going out as we came back - possibly with grandma & grandad (not their parents, anyway), and I couldn't help feeling a little pang of disappointment that LG no longer has adults other than DH or me to take care of them, or treat them, or whatever.  Of the adults that are left in our small family, few if any have the capacity to care for a young child or to take them places.  I do believe that knocking about with other adults can make children more rounded - maybe mum and dad don't get everything right, all the time, so it's good that Grandma, or Aunty Fleur, or Uncle Ray is there to provide a different perspective.  

Greying X

Grumpelstiltskin

I went in Mr L this morning and  on a quick glance I couldn't see any green boxes. A closer look revealed 2 small black boxes. I got one which contained packs of leeks, bananas, strawberries, peaches and fine green beans, nothing loose just packs.

All useable, but are they going smaller for the same price?

Greying_Pilgrim

I wouldn't be surprised Grumplestiltskin - 'shrinkflation' at its worst 😕.  Of the two boxes I have bought over the summer (first in many months), the contents were pretty much de-packaged - certainly the cellophane was removed.  Your box definitely contained useable stuff - bravo!

Greying X

badmemory

To my mind self service only has one use & that is using the cash one instead of using those machines that take over 10% as a fee for changing all those small coins that seem to fill my purse.  The young guy looking after them thought it was highly amusing, the older one not so much.  Not as much as last time when they had to empty the machine when I was part way through.

rtandon27

badmemory said:

To my mind self service only has one use & that is using the cash one instead of using those machines that take over 10% as a fee for changing all those small coins that seem to fill my purse.  The young guy looking after them thought it was highly amusing, the older one not so much.  Not as much as last time when they had to empty the machine when I was part way through.

@badmemory - that is beyond amusing!

The other evening we met up with friends for dinner & they asked us if they could give us cash for their half!  I said 'cash - what's that?' - and the OH quickly quipped - 'exact fare only - no change will be provided'!  After we all finished laughing, they explained that his Mom only did cash and had insisted on gifting them an amount when they had visited a few days earlier - as neither of them are able to squeeze a bank visit into their busy work days, they have elected to 'spread the love' and use it in place of their usual cards until it has been used up!

@Greying_Pilgrim - hunny you have done an amazing job creating memories this summer & leading us all down our own memory lanes as a result!  Never underestimate the silent power of just being yourself 🥰

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening MFW'rs

Thanks RT - you are kind.  I did ask LG earlier what we could have done differently this summer, or what we didn't do right, or what they missed.  They thought for a moment, and said that they had really wanted to go camping.....  I hadn't told them about the chum who'd offered to host us and then backtracked and found reasons why we couldn't when I'd actually tried to take them up on the offer.  But LG was aware of a very, very kind chum who'd stepped into the breach and offered us a 'pitch at theirs', and was looking forward to the adventure - but, as is the strapline of this summer, we were (all) thwarted at the last minute due to..... Mother Nature and the blessed weather!!  I did point out, that whilst it's not quite the same, we can now have 'carpet camping' far more regularly, as now we've got the stuff, and just about enough room to swing an airbed...... Plus, the very, very kind chum has told us that we can visit again, when the weather plays nicer.  So perhaps future camping trips will be possible.

LG did mention they would have liked to have 'visited more places', but then when we began listing where we had been, and what we had seen, I think they were a little surprised that the list was so long....... and to be fair, I think 'more visits' could have been satisfied by - for example - having popped to several more EH places, or a museum or something.  It wasn't necessarily even as complicated as "Three weeks in Thailand", or "D1sneylanD Paris, Florida and Calif, for a week each and at on-site hotels.........."  

I think we could have provided the "perfect" hols if we'd have done a bit of camping, gone to a couple of extra 'places', hooked up with a chum once or twice and had lunch "out" - we managed a drink and a bun at the local food waste diversion programme (nicer than it sounds), and although lunch was being prepped, LG wouldn't have really appreciated what was on offer anyway.  But I should have tried a bit harder to visit an eatery I was considering in Greying Town - it probably would have appealed to LG, they would have felt suitably "growed up" and it wouldn't have broken the bank......  An activity to squirrel away for "next time" methinks.

The weather scuppered our plans again today.  It didn't stop raining - or look like it would be dry long enough to walk into Greying Town.  As it happens, LG amused themselves beautifully today with their own toys, playing imaginative games; chattering to me, singing songs, or watching the antics of some squirrels.......  

Tea was lentil bolognese and I added in some chopped up olives as LG likes them and I also chopped up the (long) red pepper from the MrL green box.  I double-double-checked that it was a sweet pepper and even got LG to try a bit,  I cooked up some MrL spirali pasta to go with and microwaved the mahooosive head of broccoli that I also got in the MrL green box.  At the moment, I have kept the stalk, for soup possibly, but we ate all of the florets.  It was lovely.  LG and DH finished off the crumble with greek yoghurt.  

Now the weather is just dreich.  It went dark so quickly tonight 😕  But I do wish we would just have a thunderstorm and move on - it's quite humid and muggy and we've had rain, but it hasn't been overly heavy.  A good, quick thunder storm would clear the air and freshen things up.  

Today I am sad that it is 'the end of summer' - but glad that we've had a summer that was mostly under our control.  LG has enjoyed camping (just not with us), stayed away from home for a couple of nights, and has seen and done some lovely things.  They have been treated kindly by "strangers" and gained a sense of achievement from doing things.  

Ta for being here to support Family Greying.  It's appreciated.  Greatly.

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

I think you've done absolutely everything you could to give LG the best summer, and it sounds like they couldn't have wanted much more 😊 indoor camping sounds like excellent fun, and I'm sure outdoor camping will materialise at some point soon - maybe we will have a beautiful autumn! Who knows. And an eatery excursion can be saved for a weekend hopefully 😊

It's been grimly muggy here today too- everywhere just feels cold and sticky and damp, and I even put the little electric heater on in my study earlier (partly to make my first day back at work slightly less objectionable!)

Greying_Pilgrim

Cheery - I agree!  Plus it's nice to have a list of things "we still need to do/achieve" 😁  I was saying to DH that I think this summer has been the 'best' since LG started school.  We didn't have to adhere to lockdowns, didn't have caring responsibilities for elderly relations - involving dropping everything at anytime at the ring of the phone, didn't have to prioritise finding rent over any other expenditure.  We could, for once, do as we darn well pleasy'd.  So in that context, it's been a wonderful summer!  😁

Greying X

newgirly

That sounds like a lovely summer 😊 As a parent I know no matter what I did I always felt a little guilty, others had better holidays and more stuff. You can only do your best which you very clearly are, special moments are made up of lots of little things and it often won’t be the bits you think it will be, but the random moments you had long forgotten about that they remember 😁

Greying_Pilgrim

newgirly said:

That sounds like a lovely summer 😊 As a parent I know no matter what I did I always felt a little guilty, others had better holidays and more stuff. You can only do your best which you very clearly are, special moments are made up of lots of little things and it often won’t be the bits you think it will be, but the random moments you had long forgotten about that they remember 😁

For sure that is right newgirly - of the things LG said they enjoyed 'at the time' and more recently, are the things that weren't actually planned months in advance - the common feature was 'last minute booking' or 'change of plan' or 'let's go to X instead of Y'.  And for me, one stand out memory is the sense of achievement LG clearly felt when we'd got to the 'landmark on top of a hill' the other day.  They rarely if ever express a sense of achievement about things done at school - and in certain things, such and such a pupil is always 'better' than them.  Some of the teaching staff haven't been brilliant at celebrating the achievements of kids "outside school hours" either - which I think is a real pity and a missed opportunity, so it was nice to see LG realising "I did it" 😁

Right, snap is packed.  Clothes, shoes and coats are labelled.  Let's do this!

Greying X