Moving on

rtandon27

@Sun_Addict - I too have said a few things in error that in hindsight perhaps I should not have!  One of my most memorable was being shushed by a fellow civilian when in a military work environment, I asked her if she really did like my new velvet pants as much as I did! (I'd been here in the UK less than a year at that point!)  Back then I'd come home and ask my personal English-to-English translator the meaning of at least one turn-of-phrase every single day!

Cherryfudge

That made me grin, @rtandon27!

Yesterday was really, really quiet. I don't think I went out all day and it rained. We needed the rain. It was probably the only 'proper' rain we've had in weeks, though DH had to go up the ladder as the rain also revealed the guttering had separated and needed to be shoved back into place.

The only work I did was to clean the bathroom, though I spent a bit of time trying to sort out a detail for newest DGD's passport. In the end the system wouldn't let me through as I'm a blood relative and a friend had to confirm her mother's identity instead. Other than that I read the book I bought on Saturday which was just over 400 pages!

It was a real grey day, the sort where it's not quite warm enough and in the end we gave in and put the heating back on. I don't think it was actually cold but the damp outside brought the temperature of the air down. However, things improved as the day went on and by evening I felt more able to do things (I think I needed a rest day, though I'm now out of synch with the running). The good news is the light headedness hardly bothered me yesterday and the dressing is now off the cut thumb, so I'll put the inactivity down as healing time.

Dinner was more of the cold chicken (still enough for a couple of meals) with mashed potato and veg, then I made a couple of hot cross buns into bread pudding. That was lush and I wish I had freezer space for more HXBs as I'd make it that way again. I also washed the potato peels, dried them in a tea towel, rubbed them in a spot of oil and seasoning and baked them alongside the pudding but for less time. Voila, 'crisps'. I've tried this a few times and I'm close to getting it right. Using the potato peeler gives a good depth (i.e. lack of it) but it needed more seasoning.

We still have loads of extra food - a nice problem to have. Tonight my friend has to work so I'm not doing pizzas with the Tuesday group. DH and I will either have chicken pie or veg soup and finish up the bread pudding (it was a mixture of recipe and guess work: two hot cross buns torn up and soaked in 5 fl oz of almond milk, 3 eggs and 4.5 oz sugar beaten in, add a handful of mixed dried fruit and bake in a greased Pyrex at 180C for about half and hour).

Right, time I got moving as I'm meant to be meeting DH and the grand daughters and am running late.

Cherryfudge

I continued to run late but did actually meet up with them, having got a load of washing out to take advantage of the fine weather. I took breadsticks and called in at L1dl to get myself a yogurt, so I wouldn't eat junk or spend a small fortune by taking the children into the supermarket. They had hot cross buns at half price so I got a couple of packets and that made quite a filling pram meal for the older child (the younger one fell asleep).

I'm not sure what was up with the children today, both were uncharacteristically out of sorts so eventually DH took the younger for a walk and she dozed of and woke up more cheerful while the older one stayed with me and she played at going to bed and having a bed time story. Of course she didn't got to sleep but I told her about plants drinking water and we ended up watering everything green and a few things brown.

I was worn out when we got home and DH made chicken pie while I dozed off (late night last night reading my book). We watched another episode of the G areth M alone programme which really drew us in. 

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £9.10

Cherryfudge

Today has felt more normal: DH is back in work and so am I (later). At lunchtime I had a meeting for the Wednesday job, but only for about half an hour so I got admin done for the Sunday role as well. Just as well, as I realised we were on the cusp of needing it. Moreover, I had a useful chat with the person who's overseeing the depleted cleaning team which clarifies a couple of things. I'm so glad we have new volunteers though they may not be in the area long.

Well, I wasn't going to buy anything, but... well, As da was on the way home and they might have had some of their excellent Easter reduced veg left over, which they didn't. However, my cappuccinos are still £1.38 there as opposed to a minimum of £1.70 elsewhere, so I got a couple of boxes. Then lactose free milk was reduced due to a short date so I got some of those too. It's long life so it'll last a bit more than the date stamp and perhaps could be divided up and frozen. And I admit I got reduced cream eggs...

Lunch was the overnight oats and I'll make another batch for tomorrow as the yogurt and remaining banana need to be used. Tea will be leftovers but I've now to clean out the fridge to see what's what.

Oh, and the sky looks rather threatening but rain isn't forecast so I've got towels drying.

Cherryfudge

Only a tiny start made on the fridge as I got launched into a necessary lot of admin for Sundays. A team member reminded me of some training I'd forgotten needed to be put in place and I seem to have spent all my spare time since reading up on it. I have loads of notes so I can see my way forward with implementing the policy but I can't provide the training and need to find the correct route to book the team onto it. And honestly, there are so many things in that policy that haven't been implemented adequately, but as the team leader it's now up to me to know what needs to be done and get us up to speed. Admittedly it would have helped if I'd read it in a  timely manner, but at least I've done it now.

Work was three hours.

Cherryfudge

A very bitty but productive day. I wrote a long post about it then accidentally deleted it!

First off, I spent some time on admin for Sunday. I've sent out the Code of Conduct we are supposed to have, according to the policy. Better late than never! The training is on the back burner, waiting to hear from the lead person. Meanwhile I discovered that this Sunday's service is scheduled to finished later than usual, leaving only twenty minutes for our meeting. I thought I'd be pushing it to finish in forty minutes, so I'm now waiting to hear from someone else and decide between rescheduling and locking the building up myself.

Doing this made me late for the toddler group but when I got there, it's under temporary leadership as the main person is away, and has been warned they want to try out new ideas! It's in a different part of the building and I thought that worked out very well: more accessible, warmer and comfortable. I stayed around afterwards to help clear up then for a long chat with the couple who will be doing a lot of the work for the next few weeks. That was useful as the woman is trained in nursery work and gave me some pointers for Sunday mornings, and we also found we think alike over the uniform tee shirts for the team and are going to look into ordering some that fit better. It's an expense, yes, but worth it if it helps people feel comfortable.

I went to As da on the way home and treated myself to half price cream eggs and some discounted salmon and a few y/s fruit and veg. No cappuccinos as that offer has ended, but still, a good saving.

I thought it would be mid-afternoon by the time I got home so it was a nice surprise that it was still lunch time. I had granola with banana, ginger and yogurt, and allowed myself a bit of down time after which I tidied away some laundry. There's still an ironing pile. I then tried to order my new medication, only to find the prescription's not been updated. I rang the surgery and was advised to come in, which put a stop to plans to do a bit in the garden and a bit of my course. I got changed to my work clothes as the surgery is near work, and at that point got a text from a Wednesday client needing advice. That advice was given as I walked to the surgery but at least it enabled her to to make a phone call and sort the situation out. It was lovely to see the relief once it was sorted out, and it gave me a bit of confidence that I can actually help people in that job.

The surgery, it transpired, could only advise me to email the letter from the consultant to them, which I did. I'll have to use some of my old tablets for now. They are less potent but better than nothing.

I was actually early for work for once! I did three hours, and was quite tired after. DH cooked salmon for me, and I dozed off in the bath.

Tomorrow I've to tidy up ahead of the course mentor visiting in the afternoon, and any spare time will need to go on making a bit pf progress on the course. To be honest, between being busy and being tired, and not finding much to engage with in the last session, I've made only a small amount of progress.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £8.89

Cherryfudge

Things have been a lot simpler today: I cleaned all morning, and for once it was at home! Lunch was similar to yesterday's (granola, yogurt, fruit, coffee) then I just had time to whizz through some notes from my course enough to have something to talk about with the mentor who was here after that. I seem to have quite a lot to work on and it will need to be fitted in next week as we're then away and after that comes the next session of the course.

I had another three ours at work in the evening and another trip to the supermarket as I wanted some cleaning stuff. Dinner was tabbouleh bought on impulse as it was discounted. I'm not very full and have been nibbling biscuits. Oh, and I'd commented to someone at work about some lovely calligraphy which it turns out is done by a colleague who does craft fairs. I've now met her and know when her next two fairs are, but I can't go overboard buying as they aren't cheap. She did mention a family and friends discount which was generous as she's only just met me! However, she knows DH as his department deals with hers.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £15.00

Cherryfudge

Car boot sale day. We just went to the morning one and went quite late but I still bought a few bits: an old children's book (Angela Brazil) for 50p, and pocket-sized book of simple knitting patterns, also 50p, a nice wooden box for DH to keep screwdrivers and a paper guillotine (£2.50 for both). Then there was a tomato plant for £1.30.

We had fish from the freezer for lunch with chip shops chips and rather too many vegetables. I also blanched and froze the rest of the broccoli: the stems are chopped separately and will go in curries. By weight they add about 6 portions from the three heads of broccoli, not counting the bits that are always eaten.

DH has run a few errands and I've done some laundry and the preparation for tomorrow's children's group - there's a big batch of salt dough for them to make 'food' out of, and a tub of coloured rice for them to practice pouring and making patterns. The salt dough 'food' ties in very loosely with the story, which is the road to Emmaus. Very loosely. Still to do: write out the running order which I've also WhatsApped to the team. I'm trialling letting them know what's expected of them.  We'll see if that works better than letting them find their own roles, but they are very good at covering all needs so it's more for their sake than the service.

There was a short trip to the shops for my free veg from L1dl (sweet potatoes) and other groceries and DH had already been to the greengrocer, chip shop and supermarket earlier. We have therefore spent rather a lot: £24.30! Definitely don't want to be doing that too often.

Cherryfudge

Full on morning - having a 'tuff' tray of rice followed by a salt dough activity for under fives... thank goodness for able helpers who were willing to wash hands and wield brooms! I do think the kids enjoyed it though.

After that we had our team meeting - fewer than half of us attended but lots sent their apologies and really, having fewer people meant we got through the agenda in better time. I walked home in the warmest day so far this year then slept a couple of hours in the afternoon to recover.

Dinner was Spanish-style chick pea and spinach stew with enough for another meal during the week. I made it more spicy that the first batch, and with plenty of toasted almonds, and that went down nicely.

Cherryfudge

I woke up a bit before the sun rose and was sleepily listening to the lovely dawn chorus when DH woke up and shut the window! I couldn't sleep so I went downstairs for a first breakfast and eventually got myself a hot water bottle which got me back to sleep.

DH is working today and I had a quiet morning but have been doing some pampering skin care then cleaned the upstairs mirrors and other glass. A couple of loads of laundry are done but the second is taking long to spin for some reason.

I investigated the fridge for lunch and decided to finish up the very last of the Christmas veg! This is a small red cabbage which I'd had standing in water for a long time, so it had kept going, though I had to compost the outer leaves. I've made Leftatthetrafficlights' Braised Cabbage with Red Beans and Rice. As it's red cabbage, the whole thing is much more purple than usual!

The compost has been watered too: good to feel back in touch with ordinary little jobs.