Moving on

Cherryfudge

A very useful list thank you @peb! I'd not been able to find the Tesco list though the shop is near enough for me to pop in.

No Aldi and only a very small Morries here, but I have access to the others so I will stock up. It's a good job I love veg! Incidentally I also love coffee and Asda is doing my favourite cappuccinos much cheaper for some reason. The downside is it's a small branch and don't seem to stock the decaff.

I've had a little think about the food bills and come to the conclusion there are three main streams:

• Ours - I mostly feel this is in balance, especially as I can reduce DH's meal bill for when I'm not at home by watching out for his favourites and buying some of them when on offer. He still likes his pastries and fruit and I still have my coffees, and am trying to increase my fruit. Maybe fewer blueberries in my case... however we both love mildly spicy vegan food which isn't expensive and most recipes seem to do us a couple of days.
• Pizza feasts for when my friends come round. We rotate between our houses so I get two free meals for each one I provide. With a bit of planning I can make sides at home so long as I don't overload myself with work (it's the same day we look after grandchildren). I could also make a cake rather than buy biscuits, and DH can then have cake to take to work rather than buy pastries. That sounds like an MS plan.
• Shopping with and/or for the grandchildren. Their parents supply plenty but the timing of the morning activity means they are hungry/bored by the time we are heading home. DH does the early shift so I send him in with stuff I will personally need during the day but any extra snacks need me to plan. They have to be things I can carry on a forty minute walk, and the pram doesn't have storage space for then. Give me the old days when I could attach a hook to the handle and risk overbalancing the pram, but also carry enough shopping! Thoughts on keeping the price down are all around pre-planning - take bread or sandwiches or breadsticks or bananas. Bananas need to be bought the previous Saturday or they are too green. The girls always have water bottles so no cost there. And DH can't cope with planning snacks in the morning, so that's up to me.

Well, after a nice peaceful start to the day, my nerves are jangling!  This is possibly partly because DH is in a flurry but he will be going out to the post so I might calm down at that point. I'm also havering about whether to go to my church group tonight, I was all set to but the discussion is on depression and anxiety and since I read that, I noticed my anxiety is rising so perhaps I need to avoid it.

badmemory

Those lists look good.  But something I have noticed before at Aldi with these very special prices.  I bought carrots at 8p yesterday & this seems to be something they do if a local store has these prices better than their the Aldi price.  If there are no local stores doing those prices then they keep to their standard special price.

Cherryfudge

Our nearest Aldi is in another town, but Asda near here has the 8p vegetables so I got some of those. That reminds me, I need to start chopping veg for tonight's slow cooker meal.

DH has the day off so we both went for a run with me as pace setter, not because I'm faster but because he doesn't have the app and can't hear my shouted instructions out of doors as the wind fills his hearing aids. Marvellous gadgets, hearing aids: his are blue tooth so he can have phone conversations (meaning he can do his job), but they don't seem to have found a way to filter out background noise. Anyway, it was a nice run and lifted my mood a bit.

It rained a bit early on, but the ground is still dry enough to do the cross country route easily and we warmed up after a few minutes but still gave the running jackets an airing and I was glad of mine. Where did the warmth go?

This afternoon I'm going to get summer clothes out of the loft and put away the winteriest of winter clothes.

rtandon27

Given the topic of the church group discussion, I'd personally avoid it!

Our home group decided to talk about suicide one evening without saying so ahead of time & I had to get up and leave having been personally affected by the reality of the topic over the past few years.  Since that day, I write and ask for topics & a copy of the study sheet under the guise that I work a busy job and need to prepare my thoughts ahead of time!  I tend to beg off on topics that I find upsetting.

Cherryfudge

That's very sensible @rtandon27, I've cried off for tonight. I always feel better for going even if I didn't feel like it beforehand but the strength of my reaction to reading the questions this morning has shown me I'm not ready at the moment.

Cherryfudge

It's been so chilly that we put the heating on briefly twice during the day and gave in completely in the evening so we've warmed up. I think it's the cold wind that's made a big difference.

I made the swede recipe for dinner but it didn't turn out as well as last time, and I also managed to slice my thumb while chopping carrots. However, on the more positive side, I made a batch of marmalade including a little tub for granddaughter N who was telling me that I make jam and she eats it! How she remembered that I don't know, as it was last summer.

I have three free days of Super Duolingo, must try to use it.

DH got a large bag of my summer clothes out of the loft and I've put a bag of winter clothes up in its place. I've not really investigated far as it's too cold but right on top was a lovely sun dress that I'd completely forgotten. We haven't any sunshine holidays planned this year but I hope I get an opportunity to wear it.

Nothing spent by me today, though DH has posted a photo off to Auntie and probably got some groceries too.

Cherryfudge

Not so cold this morning - the wind has dropped, the sun came out and we put the heating on! I've turned it down now.

There's a bedding wash nearly finished and I think I'll stick some more in before I go out to take advantage of the sun and possible 15 degrees. I'm at work at five and before that have said I'll try to get ahead with cleaning at church. I'm also thinking about buying cheap veg, though I'm mindful that I don't want to waste any. No more swedes for now as there are still a couple of portions of yesterday's meal for me to have (DH was politely not keen) and the sore thumb doesn't want too much pressure - and you can't chop a swede with reduced control!

I will probably finish the hummus with carrot sticks for lunch. I wonder how my cholesterol levels are doing? It does look as though I'm one of those people who has a tendency to raised LDL, but the new statins and more care over diet are hopefully helping.

Yesterday despite the cold, I managed five minutes of ground elder control, so that's on the list again today and for months to come. There was light rain overnight but I think the garden is basically living off last year's deluges.

Easter Day is also A's birthday this year, so we are going to see them in the afternoon. I've not decided on a main meal or when we'll eat, but I suspect it will be lamb which we both love and which is normally too expensive. I know there are offers on but because I don't buy meat much, I've no idea what's what.

Anyway, the washer has finished so I'll change that round, add some sultanas to the remains of the casserole (they go so well, I'd add them during cooking but DH doesn't like them) and get myself moving.

peb

Lidl and Sainsbury's both have lamb on offer - I'm planning on Sainsbury's as they do a smaller joint 

rtandon27

@Cherryfudge & @peb - Land'o'ice are also doing a luxury whole leg of lamb at 1/2 price - 12.50 - can either defrost and cook or cook straight from frozen. OH spotted it on Faceache and thinks that will be our best bet as it is only 6.64 per kilo!  I'm rather pleased that he listened when I reminded that my preference for Easter was lamb rather than ham! - As an aside, I remember my gran doing both lamb & ham, as we had large family gatherings at Easter when I was young!

Cherryfudge

Thanks both re lamb - we have one of those icy places near us so I'll check there but I'm also remembering that L1dl overstocked on lamb last year and I got a leg for about £4.50!  The app is showing 'B1rchwood' lamb at £6.15 a kilo and West Country lamb at £9.99 so it may depend what I can get.

Yesterday's plans went awry though I did get two loads of washing done and dried. DH had splashed some tea on the dining room carpet before work and didn't have time to clean it so I got the Vax out and shampooed the heavy traffic area. As usual the water was filthy but the carpet looks better. I'd like to do it more thoroughly as there's still a mark.

I was feeling a bit odd so I grabbed a banana for a snack before leaving the house, and that helped. Then I had a coffee when I arrived at church, so between that and a hot water later, I stayed hydrated. I also discovered there are about 22 bins to empty! Yes, I could have left some but I don't find that easy, especially if there are banana skins or old tea bags - things that go mouldy. I leave the main kitchen bin to catering as kitchen cleaning is handled separately but the lady who heads that has just had a bereavement so she has enough on her plate.

It was productive time but I used up all my energy and didn't get home till it was almost time to go to work. So I survived most of the day on a packet of biscuits - not ideal! Thinking ahead, if that happens again I should grab a yogurt so at least I get some protein. Another team is doing the cleaning next week so I get time off, and I have to remember I could work to rule if necessary and let someone else pick up the deficit. It's getting close to that as I was wrecked and not able to do my best job at work, though work was quiet so I could get away with doing the basics. I sat down for a rest a few times. I was getting pains in my stomach which may have been the surfeit of biscuits or I could have pulled some small muscles when exercising, and I'm light headed again. However, on the good side of things, the cut on my thumb is behaving nicely! I'm too squeamish to look closely but when I changed the dressing I could see it's doing okay.

DH gave me a lift home and suggested a hot bath, which was a help, then I slept from about 10 till about 8.30. That and a hot water bottle seem to have corrected the stomach ache, so I'm just left feeling slightly off balance.

No sure what to do with today, taking it easy for now.