From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

edinburgher

In defence of DH, some of us are just crap at DIY, I count myself in this category. No matter how easy something looks, there's a 50% chance it's going to turn into a fankle

beanielou

My ex DH once hung up a bathroom cabinet up upside down. DIY was definitely not his thing 😂

Greying_Pilgrim

Ha ha - loving the DIY disaster tales 😁  DH is 'ok' at DIY.  He'll hang on in there to get summat 'right' - long after the rest of us have given up and gone home.  But he is a touch perfectionist too - which means he has to get the job 'right'.  It doesn't always work out pursuing perfectionism - particularly when you're starting out with wonky walls, or fence posts that are 6'3" apart, when the largest fence panel you can get is 6'...........  To be fair to DH, after nearly 40 years of home-ownership (most, but not quite all with me), he's still willing to have a go at this s**t.  As the years have gone by, I've got less and less interested in DIY - not that I think getting 'trades' in is the answer - far from it.  

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Greetings from a PD day that has started in pedestrian mode in the extreme..... 🙄  It's taken forever to get to the shops - DH making prioritised telephone calls over getting out the house - and then the shops were full of kids from LG's school 🙄

Anyhoo,  £29.19 spent in MrL and MrAl.  Disappointed that the olive spread i use has gone up in price, 4p since last week.  The cucumbers were thin as runner beans too.  DH & LG went to MrAl, whilst I was in MrL.  They got 2/3rds of what was on their list, as MrAl seem to have discontinued one flavour of 'breakfast bar' that was the least sugar/salt/fat etc which LG sometimes takes to school for morning 'snack'.

With a degree in hindsight, I just wish we'd never bothered booking DH off for today, or that we'd booked a week away somewhere - this 'holiday' has been anything but ☹️I know, first world problems.  DH is not off now until the end of the summer hols, so I had better put all my energy into working out how to keep LG occupied for 5+ weeks.  I have to say - and again, it's a first world moan - but this is where I really miss not having a large family, scattered about.  Not that that would necessarily mean that LG could go and visit and/or have a little holiday with Aunty so&so, but I do remember when I was young I went to stay with my aunt for a few days and I went to stay with my (not very nice) grandmother - and my Aunty and Uncle took pity on me and whisked me off with them and my cousin in their trailer tent (which was a HUGE adventure for me as I'd never been camping before).  Just being somewhere different, and living with someone who does things differently to how you do (even if you are related), is just such an interesting time.  I recall that my aunt always drank tea, but had Camp coffee which you were offered if you asked for coffee 🤮

Right, LG is wanting to go somewhere for a picnic lunch again.  Will try and make that happen, although the picnic isn't going to be very interesting.  

Greying X

rtandon27

@Greying_Pilgrim - In 10 years time LG is not going to remember 'what' you had for lunch, but will remember that they picnicked with mama during school holibobs - buck up love - life is what we make it! XOXOX

themadvix

What RT said! You are creating wonderful, precious memories!

How about an activity jar for LG for the summer hols? A whole range of activities (low/no cost, naturally) written out on separate bits of paper (some that will involve you, some not, some that involve going out, some not etc. etc.) and each day LG pulls one out of the jar to do? You've got the time between now and then to think about what they could be (and I don't see why there can't be some duplicates - might just have to pull again if the same thing comes out twice in a row) to allow some planning/budgeting/getting 'ingredients' in. And some might even be chores/jobs you'd like to get done - but not too many or there'll be rebellion! 😆 How has LG done on the 50 things list? (Quite well, I imagine, but there might be some possibilities in there).

And remember, you've got a few weeks' break to find your enthusiasm again!

(Apologies if I'm teaching you to suck eggs!)

Greying_Pilgrim

No tmv - you most certainly are not teaching me to suck eggs, you're helping me to 're-fill' the focus jar, which has been a bit depleted what with one thing and another in the last few weeks.  rt you too hun, thank you - I am my own worst critic, so maybe things in LG's life aren't as 'dull' as I paint 'em.  And I do realise that whilst sitting gaming for hours on end is attractive to kiddos - there will come a point in life when gamers realise that the 'outside world' is actually twice as fascinating as the computer generated model.  

To that end, you'll be glad to hear that we did, indeed step out of the house again.  We didn't jump into the car, but went off in the direction of some community land/fishing pools/farmland just a hop, skip and jump from our back door.  We've lived here 18 months and not yet explored, so I thought now was the time!  It also happens that a bit further along - on a footpath network - there are some historical remains to be explored.  A great reminder that we are but a gnat bite on this earth and our influence on it.  

We came back through the woodland and sat by one of the pools and had our picnic.  We've seen buzzards, butterflies, dragonflies, moorhens (and their chicks), damsel flies and heard the most wonderful birdsong.  

Here's a thing too - would a blackbird eat a frog?  I was wandering around the pool and set up a female blackbird, quickly followed by a male.  The female had something in her beak.  It was too big to be worms or caterpillars, and appeared to be a 'bulk and sticky out legs'.  Because they came from the waters edge, I wondered if it was a frog?  

I forgot to say we saw a red kite this morning on the way back from shopping, it was flying down quite low, looking to land in a tree in a garden, marvellous.  

Thanks for your support, I do appreciate it, and I shall make a move to bring about some activities.  You're right tmv - I do have a little bit of time on my side to do some planning, preparation and budgetting.  

Greying X

themadvix

Ooh, interesting about the blackbird/frog conundrum. I guess it might if it was a young frog, just leaving the pond, which they could be at the moment? I saw a kite too earlier - they do make the heart soar (with them), don't they? Their comeback is such a joyful success story. The natural world is definitely thriving at the moment - there's always something to spot 🥰

rtandon27

yes hun - blackbirds will eat small frogs, small mice & field mice give the opportunity.  Back when we lived on the farm, I'd often see the parent blackbirds nabbing any one of these to take home to the nest.  Just this weekend, the baby blackbird in my garden nabbed a juicey slug that I'd found while gardening and left out in the open hopeing he'd find it enticing!

Greying_Pilgrim

Right, I'm taking heed of what tmv and rt have said (see, I do listen).  I've purposely set June's grocery budget to £200, because i didn't see the point of just zooming back up to £300 - where's the learning in that?  So, thinking about it logically, whilst we will still need money for the windows and eventually starting to fill the 'replacement car' pot, I can think about using any money to take LG around and about in the summer hols.  I know - technically - it will be the holidays, but 5 weeks of "entertainment" is probably as costly as a "week in the Costas" (not the cafe), so I probably need to be focusing on sustaining outings, rather than saving for '1 special week'.  And yes, whilst fun and days out/adventures can be no cost or low cost, I might need to buy slightly different food.  ie it's easier to make a pack of sandwiches to take for a walk than try to box up and eat 'leftovers' on the hoof.  

Also, we'll have....... 2 - maybe 3 weeks of July before the holidays start, so I can certainly ensure that the freezer is as full as I can get it, so that if we manage to go out for the day, I have an easy prep tea.  

I was reading the '50 things' link tmv put in her post and it was talking about children 'losing the link' with the natural world, and them being less likely to return to it, if they've not fostered a love for nature in their younger years.  I would hate for that to happen (although LG isn't quite as 'outdoorsy' as I'd hoped), and also I know the time is ticking for LG to still be wanting to be seen with their parents.  Us being aged fossils is only part of it - I know all children drift away - either to friends, books, or increasingly, electronic devices.  This summer is maybe not the 'last hurrah' of 'me & my kiddo time', but there aren't going to be that many opportunities left.  

I also forgot to add that on our walk we saw oodles of ladybird larva - both stomping about and at the first stage of changing into ladybirds.  There were all sorts of colours of adults, so whether the larva were traditional red and black spot ones, I don't know.  But it was wonderful to see them in abundance (and to show LG).  

We did pass a campsite that I didn't even know existed yesterday on our mystery tour, so I've investigated that.  We've not used the little tent I bought last year, so we need to recify that.  

Anyway, tea to prepare.  Need to get back into the 'school' routine, early night tonight.  

Greying X