2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

MrsCD

Oh dear me, how awful for you, @PipneyJane. It must have been quite a shock to you and a difficult journey wondering what you would find once you got there. Thankfully your MIL is improving, but there are some decisions to be made.... Hope things work out well for all of you.
Wow @Laura_Elsewhere, that was some workout! WELL DONE!!!
I'm working on being able to squat again, to be able to get into the cupboards and the fridge under the counter without having to crawl on my hands and knees. 😏

Cherryfudge

Laura_Elsewhere said:

(If it pleases you, having joined the gym in February specifically to work on strength and on balancing out my uneven muscle-strength, my legs are now able to do 100kg as of yesterday, on the seated leg-press machine. I am very pleased about it- not least because actually I cycled two miles on a heavy (22.5kg) old-fashioned 5-gear bike, including up steep hills, walked half a mile, then swam 300m, walked the half-mile back to the gym, did a full workout of legs-machines and squats, ending with the leg-press where I did two setsa of 12 reps on 60kg, then 6 reps on 70, 6 on 80, and then decided to go for it and managed 100kg for three slow but steady reps- and THEN cycled two miles home inc one long slow killer-uphill! ) 

I seem to have cross posted with you yet again! That's a lot of exercise @Laura_Elsewhere, I'm impressed.

I hope Mr E's ex takes the advice and makes some good decisions.

Watty1

@Laura_Elsewhere  that story had me in tears. I was trying to catch up but failed due to the tears.  

I've been to Normandy a few times on work trips many years ago and every time ended up in tears.  I'll go back and catch up properly.

PS No coupons spent since last posted although nearly derailed by a pair of shorts.   But then i thought, do I really want to spend my coupons on these? Are they gorgeous enough? Do I look fabulous enough?  And I put them back as the answer was a resounding no! 

I have bought riding boots to replace my riding boots and a jacket for showing but I specifically left my riding clothes off the challenge (and i have sold two items from riding clothes pile and thrown away the old boots that were beyond repair so I'm winning on the cutter front too).

PipneyJane

@Cherryfudge thanks for asking. I’m ok but worried about DH, because I can’t protect him from the inevitable.

I don’t know if it’s a nurse thing or because I lived my first 27 years with the threat of my mum dropping dead from a heart attack, but I can detach my grief for a while.  It’s why I cried at The Longest Thread.  That’s when the grief comes out.  I don’t know how this happens, just that it does.

(My mum had a dodgy heart, mainly due to atrial fibrillation.  Even at her sickest she looked like an athlete compared to my MIL a few months ago.)

@ Laura_Elsewhere I really feel for Master E.  It’s a burden you can’t shake.  We always had contingency plans about what to do with Dad when Mum died. When he died first, it was quite a shock.

- Pip

Cherryfudge

I don't have any great insights @PipneyJane, and as a nurse you will have a more informed view than I do, but my experience says that the thing we dread is very rarely what we have to deal with in real life. (As for instance, it looks as though both of us had plans for the wrong parent). And sometimes it's the people who look least resilient who somehow go on. However, I do appreciate the strain for you. Sending hugs.

thriftwizard

Third time lucky...? I keep getting interrupted when trying to post!

Just adding some {{{supportive vibes}}} to @PipneyJane, Mr. P and also Mr. E. And mention in passing that when my mother went into her care home, nearly 3 years ago, we all thought we'd be lucky if she saw that Christmas; she'd had infection after infection, antibiotics to the hilt, C. Diff, multiple falls and a small stroke which led to fits. Plus, just being 95, then... But she loves it there and is very much still with us, if somewhat muddly now. The end is inevitable, at some point, but we've given up second-guessing when now.

CapricornLass

Big hugs to everyone who is supporting their OH in dealing with fragile parent(s).  Its not easy for anyone.

Like Thriftwizard, my parents went into a home over three years ago.  Then, my mother wasn't expected to live more than a couple of weeks, yet here we are over three years later, and she's still here, very frail but still very interested in what's going on, while my father died a year ago of cancer and dementia.

I had some M&S vouchers to spend, so I've treated myself to a pair of yoga and a pair walking leggings, having realised that there is nothing that I really need clothes wise.  However, we've booked a trip to Tromso in December and we were advised to get wool thermal underwear.  I've bought some, but what do they count as?  Combinations?

Laura_Elsewhere

I'll just leave this basket of freshly-baked hugs behind the kitchen door there, and anyone in need of one can just help themselves. I've wrapped them up in a few traycloths so they should stay warm for a while...

thriftwizard

Oooh, thank you for a delicious freshly-baked hug, @Laura_Elsewhere, that will distract me from the ever-present scent of fresh garlic that's this week's harvest! Sorting into the best for next year's "seed" garlic, braiding a "rope" of decent bulbs for drying & using, and peeling & lacto-fermenting the smallest cloves has resulted in some lingering smells...

Just off to pick up an auction bargain of a L. Ashley rug for DD2's bedroom, swinging by the recycling centre on the way home. Wearing a HM t-shirt, and a pair of last week's bargain CS trousers, just right for today's grey & drizzly but warm-ish weather.  

PipneyJane

thriftwizard said:

Oooh, thank you for a delicious freshly-baked hug, @Laura_Elsewhere, that will distract me from the ever-present scent of fresh garlic that's this week's harvest! Sorting into the best for next year's "seed" garlic, braiding a "rope" of decent bulbs for drying & using, and peeling & lacto-fermenting the smallest cloves has resulted in some lingering smells...

Just off to pick up an auction bargain of a L. Ashley rug for DD2's bedroom, swinging by the recycling centre on the way home. Wearing a HM t-shirt, and a pair of last week's bargain CS trousers, just right for today's grey & drizzly but warm-ish weather.  

Please tell me more about your garlic processing, @thriftwizard.  We’ve got 9 growing, which I’ll harvest when we get home.

Laura_Elsewhere said:

I'll just leave this basket of freshly-baked hugs behind the kitchen door there, and anyone in need of one can just help themselves. I've wrapped them up in a few traycloths so they should stay warm for a while...

Thanks @Laura_Elsewhere.  

Yesterday, I was firmly told by SIL that I was not to go to the hospital - she is worried that I will find it too traumatic - so BIL took me to Wells. (It’s easier not to argue.)  May I recommend it as a charity shop destination?  I spotted at least half a dozen, on my way to view the cathedral.  All were beautifully presented.  Sadly, I could not browse them, but have promised myself that I will return at some point with DH (who loves shopping).

Per DH, MIL is considerably better.  She was eating without prompting yesterday.  (A good sign.). Today, we’ve got SIL’s house to ourselves.  DH has his security interview with the ministry this afternoon, so SIL and BIL have gone to the hospital without us, to sit with MIL.  Hopefully they arrived prior to the ward round and will find out her care plan, potential for discharge, etc.   (I really want to go home, have my own space, and not feel like I’m walking on eggshells all the time.)

- Pip