From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

KajiKita

How’s Mr GP this morning? I hope he’s taking the rest of the week off …?

KK

rtandon27

Hope MrGP saw sense and is spending the rest of the week healing up! An unwelll Mister is never fun - they make the worst patients!

Greying_Pilgrim

Ay up KajiKita - he seems a little bit better (which in chap patient terms, is in fact, huge! 🤣).  He wanted to take some ibuprofen/paracetamol at 10pm last night, along with the last dose of eardrops for the day.  He retired up to bed at 9pm-ish, and was going to come back down.  I was thinking of retiring, as the clock ticked round to 10.30ish, but he got up.  He was in alot of pain (seemingly nerve pain, from what he was saying), but took the pain medication, and I administered the drops.  

This morning, he does feel a little better.  He slept the night through - which lets face it, when you're ill is a huge achievement - and has managed to eat breakfast, although the toast is a little bit of a challenge.  

I'm hopeful he'll take tomorrow off too - he might make a significant healing leap if he has 4 days of rest and recuperation - letting the medicines work.  Next week is going to be full-on anyway, and I know he'll feel guilty about the hospital appt, but it's important he helps himself to heal.  As we all know, workplaces don't dither if they want to downsize staff or close up a site or move production overseas or whatever.  I'm not advocating DH suddenly becomes an unreliable employee, but I think there is still room for him to 'care a little less' about giving everything to the organisation, without it actually affecting his commitment and performance one little bit.

Shopping today.  I've not currently got my list written out.  

I MUST update my budget figures on here.  As well as the hospital visit shopping, LG and I went to hB later in the afternoon to get some bits for DH that the consultant had suggested, and we picked up some milk too.  I also picked up a couple of laundry baskets in hB, because ours have split and cracked.  This will all come out of the non-food budget - but I need to note it!

I'm determined to do something better for tea tonight!  In theory I can make something that all 3 of us can eat, as DH will be here.  

Last night we settled on dhal and rice, as DH admitted to struggling a little with the (soft white) baps at lunchtime.  I pimped the dhal with carrots and chickpeas.  I also steamed up a head of the YS'd broccoli.  It will be interesting to see if the second head will be useable - it had started to turn a little more than was obvious through the plastic (although I left the yellow heads of 'over' broccoli).  I knew that using both heads would have been 'too much' broccoli on our plates, whilst just using one was borderline too little - but still, we'll see how it goes.  I had thought I might make some sort of broccoli/mushroom bake thing in the SC, so I'll work on that.  Either way, I can process the YS'd mushrooms today, and cook/freeze for other meals.  They really were a bargain.  MrM had taken at least 2/3rds off their prices (arguably too high in the first place) in the YS'd baskets - better than MrT's 10 or 12 pence ☹️

I've snap to pack, and a small to bundle off to school.  Wish me luck 🤣

Ta for popping in.  Appreciated.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

rtandon27 said:

Hope MrGP saw sense and is spending the rest of the week healing up! An unwelll Mister is never fun - they make the worst patients!

I have to say, whilst you shouldn't judge on past performance........+1 for that being my experience.......  😁 But any lurking fellas - we loves ya really 😘

Greying X

themadvix

Glad to hear DH is stopping at home today (and tomorrow?). I hope the medication really kicks in soon.

Greying_Pilgrim

Thank tmv - he's better, but the pain is shifting, so it must feel a little 'one step forward.....'.  But definitely home today, and I'm pretty sure he won't be any better - in terms of being able to work accurately and concentrate - to go back in tomorrow.  I've just administered more drops - this will be the first full day with a 'clearer'  access route, and he's keeping up with the pain relief.

Back from shopping.  Quite a bit of money spent today.  But I did buy things like clothes washing powder, and a couple of bits for the holiday.  No boxes in MrS or MrL today.  Nothing yellow-stickered, and only several things on n*ctar price.  But I did buy the first swedish turnip of the season - here we go!

I have added in yesterday's spends (food and non-food), to today's spends.  It's not quite as bad as I thought it would be - although I forgot to transfer the washing powder cost out of the MrS spend - but I've corrected that now.  Budgets are correct and up to date.  I may even have a little bit of money to take on hols towards food spends - keep your fingers crossed for us!  We will definitely need more milk before we go away, but lets see what else I can marshall so that next week's grocery spend is as low as can be.  

I have got all the porridge pots now for the purpley hotel stops.  I do ask questions, and you very kindly answer them/give answers, so I'm trying something that you suggested.  I bought a tub of spreadable butter today.  I'm pretty sure it can be frozen, and what I'll do is take out a portion - for sandwiches on day two of our break (starting out from a purple hotel), and I'll put the rest of the (frozen) tub in a cool bag with ice blocks - which should stay unopened, and hopefully will be cold enough when we reach our accommodation and fridge.  I have also bought a carton of UHT milk.  It's not our favourite, BUT if if stops us having to cut short our second day out, because we have to race to a supermarket/get to our accommodation in office hours etc, well then it will be worth it.  

I put a whites wash on, and have pegged out.  We don't have sunshine, but we do have the faintest of breezes - the clothes are moving on the line, so I'm hopeful we'll get some drying.  

Dear EH has c'vid, and I know that other MSE'rs have had this latest version of it.  Who thought we would still be having to deal with it, 5 years on.  In doing some homework with LG this week, we were looking at the song 'You'll Never Walk Alone' - in relation to the lyrics, rather than any football connections - and I had forgotten - but remembered when I read it, that it was the song that was simulcast across European radio stations at 7.45am on March 20, 2020.  I remember listening to it on R2.  A lovely song though, and very emotional lyrics, although having heard the original version, I do think Gerry and the Pacemakers somewhat 'made it their own'.  

I'm going to make some soup for lunch - DH has said he would eat it.  

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

I'm of course lying, I did buy some 'sub rolls' from MrS that were YS'd.  Not overly cheap, but cheaper for sub rolls - even up against MrAl/MrL.  I've popped them in the freezer, as I'm pondering about taking them as 'sausage sangers' for brekkie on the road when we set off on our hols.  

I did also buy a carving pumpkin for LG.  I've never been into halloween, and certainly don't like the direction it's taken (sugar and horror*), but whilst pumpkin carving wasn't really a thing when I was little (not in our household, but if anything was carved, it was likely to be a swedish turnip - and those suckers are h.a.r.d!), I have seen that it's a relatively simple and 'nice' thing to do, and have bought LG a pumpkin for several years now.  They asked for one last night when we went to MrS for the milk, but I didn't really want to stand in the front lobby, picking through the box.  However, they also had a box/crate of pumpkins inside the shop today, and on the side of the n3ctar priced ones, there was one sitting on the top that was quite large, and nice and rounded, with 'tall sides', to transfer a design onto.  So I selected it and popped it in my trolley.  Grown in Cambridgeshire according to the label 👍 As it happened, it was marginally cheaper than MrL's offering for a similar size pumpkin, and the ones in MrL were possibly a bit wider, but slightly flatter too - not so much surface area for a design I think.  

DH has retired to bed.  I'm not sure whether to wake him or not.  He did say he would like some soup for lunch (I've made pea soup with frozen peas, and used up the 2 stalks off yesterday's YS'd brocolli - it tastes nicer than it sounds!), but I'm thinking sleep is so valuable when you're feeling crook.  He said he feels tired - but given his sleep has been disturbed for over a week, plus his body is fighting infection, it's par for the course I think.  

Greying X

* - each to their own with halloween, I've never been into scary movies as a genre anyway, and don't watch them (too scaredy cat!), but that and over-dosing on sweets doesn't endear the 'celebration' of all hallows eve anymore to me than how it was 'celebrated' when I was small - which consisted of 'bobbing for apples' in a cold water filled bucket, in a cold, north facing kitchen ☹️ 

badmemory

I wouldn't wake him.  Soup can be served up in moments whenever he wakens.  Sleep can be a major restorative.  I've never managed to prove my mother wrong on that one.

Cherryfudge

I'm catching up and sorry to hear how poorly Mr GP is. Thank goodness he got it hospital-checked and more fully treated. I'm in agreement with everyone who says 'rest' - though I've no idea how you make that happen.

There is also a case to be made for plenty of fluids and probably onions/garlic too.

Thanks for the mention of the CC discount. I'd not noticed it but I've activated my coupons now and will definitely be able to use them.

Baileys_Babe

I would leave DH to get some much needed sleep.