Moving on

Seasidegal58

.....and from me too!🥂🍾

Cherryfudge

Thank you @Sun_Addict and @Seasidegal58. It's been a nice day.

I got no gardening done but the weather went up to about 20 degrees in the afternoon so it was nice for a walk into town to get DH's card (he knew it was going to be late!). You'd think hardly anybody got married or had babies or did much at all from September onwards apart from get ready for Christmas. Eventually I found a card I liked, and bought him some chocolate too.

The bodycare shop on the High Street, which I was hoping had been spared the problems of the parent company, is suddenly closing. Tomorrow is the last day. There wasn't much left but I went in partly for any lingering bargains (I bought foundation and a mascara) and partly to say goodbye. The staff were upset as it's all happened so suddenly and some of them have worked there for years. I had a chat with the woman on the till and wished her good luck with her job search.

The makeup I got was really guesswork, so I can't be sure I've really got bargains, but for £2.58 for both, I haven't lost much if they aren't right.

I also went to the optician's and ordered varifocals for one of my new sets of glasses which has set me back £140. However, I think they will make life easier. I need glasses mostly for distance but phone-reading is tricky without some sort of lenses.

Other shopping was the 50p table in a charity shop where I bought a pink L aura Ashl3y scarf, a nice plain one that should go with various outfits. I'm happy with that. I was tempted by some ankle boots too (not 50p) as I used to live in ankle boots and need more waterproof footwear for winter. However, having tried them, they were just a bit close fitting at the widest part, which could mean problems if I wear them much so I've left them there. If I'm still thinking about them tomorrow, I might go back for another try as I liked them.

We went to the local Italian place for dinner and I had the most incredibly salty pizza. It had capers, anchovies and olives, so some salt was inevitable, but I'd not choose it again. We actually didn't stay long, as we both had evening activities.

My evening group was fun: we got off topic at times but had a very good laugh.

Then it was home again and we finally exchanged anniversary cards, and now I need sleep!

Cherryfudge

Another warm day, and I managed to steer clear of the shops though DH picked up southern fried chicken for us on the way home from work.

No gardening done: at the moment I'm not doing well with mornings. It's that little bit too cold to get dressed first thing unless I have very good reason, but it does mean I'm wasting time. In the afternoon I went to do my stint at hoovering the church but I'll have to go back tomorrow to complete it. I had two and a half hours paid work this evening, and it's still nice enough to walk home in shirt sleeves even though it's nearly dark.

Cherryfudge

Once again I'm entirely failing to get to bed at a more healthy time. However, I've been enjoying what was probably the last of the really mild days. I did about ten minutes in the garden, just sorting through more of that area I'm clearing, and a bit of weeding next to the new path. Its amazing how much has suddenly sprung up now we have rain. I only pulled out some grass but to my delight there are quite a few aquilegia coming up. I've had aquilegia there for years without number: I'm sure I've mentioned them before. I treated myself to a packet of rather expensive fancy seeds at a point where it was a bit of an indulgence, considering our income. However, they have paid me back many times over. I was worried that the upheaval might have finished them off, but it hasn't. I also noticed the irises I planted last year are putting forth multiple leaves, so I'm hopeful for flowers next year as they are looking happy.

DH had the day off and made lunch (tune pasta) before setting off for a small procedure on his eye. He went by train and A brought him home as he wasn't allowed to drive, though it was a local anaesthetic. All has gone well and the cyst is no more, though he does have a bit of bruising. Interestingly, a friend of mine had laser work done on both eyes today. Just coincidence, I'm sure, not something in the air. She texted me to ask after DH and say she's glad hers is over with.

I realised the best way to organise my afternoon was to go straight from one outside activity to the other, so I packed stuff for work to take with me while I did church cleaning, then went straight on to work. Definitely the best choice as it saved time and energy. Work tonight was full-on: I think there were insufficient staff as two of us were asked to cover three areas between us. The other person is taking over an area that I have reason to believe has been poorly maintained (I don't know whether the previous person left or had to leave but I've seen how they cut corners in the past). Anyway, I think the person I was working with got carried away - they are very thorough - and spent what I felt was too long on their new responsibility, leaving me a large building to cover. Thankfully a colleague popped in to see if they could help and I was able to get them to check an important area that I didn't have time for. Also the person I was meant to be working with made a real point of telling people how much I'd done, which compensated for the hard work and rush. I can't pretend I did my best work, but at least I covered all the basics.

So it's been another NSD for me (DH bought food). Tomorrow is forecast to rain so no car boot sale. Dh has a voluntary shift in the afternoon so I must try to find something constructive to do. I've also swapped myself into the Sunday morning rota as something cropped up, but that will be fun, not work, as I'm not in charge!

Cherryfudge

It's rained solidly all day and DH's shift turned out to be morning not afternoon, so I had a quiet morning, washed my hair (thanks again to those who recommended aqueous cream or E 45 shampoo - it's so nice not to get itchy!) and set to work cleaning carpets. I don't think I've done them over the summer and they needed it. In fact I used two bottles of carpet shampoo and could probably have gone over them yet again, but I know my muscles will have something to say about all this activity.

In fact, there was a bit of extra motivation. DH had asked if I'd lost weight which I doubt, but a few days of lots of mopping at work has toned up some muscles! Got to keep my fitness regime up, LOL.

DH spent a lot of the afternoon fixing kitchen cupboard doors as one came off the other day. They are in better shape now but won't go quite right. Similarly, the carpets aren't perfect, just improved. It's hard to tell while they are still damp but that extra going over might yet be needed.

The vax is now drying out and I've deep cleaned in the bathroom after all the murk that came out of the cleaner, so that's another nicely sparkly area.

I managed about two minutes in the garden, picking out red brick 'gravel' that the rain exposed and flinging it in the collecting pot. If the rain washes it clean and lets the mud on the path area bed down well, I might be putting the mulch and gravel over it sooner than I thought.

Tomorrow looks like being even more fun than I expected: we've agreed to dress up in raincoats and umbrellas to take the children to their group. Last time someone did something similar, it really raised the profile of the group, but the kids liked it too. I am borrowing DH's big umbrella, an oversized raincoat and my hardly-worn wellies. The weather forecast is sunshine but I'm old enough not to worry unduly about looking daft.  

Cherryfudge

It's still raining, hard. I took a photo of the little 'moat' forming in the dip in the ground leading to the soakaway: the small dip where the earth settled over the soakaway makes me think what a perfect location for a pond. Perhaps if I continue to de-ground elder all winter, I can have a pond there in time for the frogs and newts to discover it in spring? I would love fish, too, but they'd eat the wildlife so that's not going to happen.

This evening I made carrot cake muffins and began to process those rose hips while they are still useable. I've had to throw some out but still have quite a lot - and what a faff! I tried blitzing some as per recipe and immediately saw what a mass of seeds and tiny hairs they have inside, so I tried separating them manually. Needless to say half are still not done so tomorrow I will just have to blitz the rest and cook as per recipe, then strain through double muslin, also as per recipe.

The carpets are drying nicely. It's also not cold, whatever the weather forecast says. Rain, nine degrees and 40mph gusts of wind, but not cold. I don't get it, but I'm not complaining. The weather also says we have low UV. Well, isn't that strange?  

Seasidegal58

The pond  idea sounds nice....

Cherryfudge

So I dressed up in waterproofs for 'Noah's Ark' and the session was quite fun though I should have thought to measure whether the umbrella could get between rows of people without poking anyone... lesson learned. I had the job of looking after a toddler who wants to walk but hasn't yet got the hang of it. He's a year younger than middle grand daughter but he seems to weigh more, so I had an achy back later.

The day has been mostly beautifully sunny, in complete contrast with yesterday. We spent much of the afternoon working in the garden: the older of the two greengage trees hasn't fruited so well and is smothered in next door's clematis, our brambles and, as we discovered when we went to cut back the overgrowth, a grape vine! DH took the tiny bunches of grapes to next door as the vine is theirs, and we collected a small bowl of greengages and some blackberries.

The result of all this work is a very full green wheelie bin, a bowl of homegrown fruit and a small stack of kindling set aside to dry till 2027. There's still a lot we could do as other trees need to be pruned, especially near the house. There's a big ash tree at the far end of the garden which is thankfully healthy and can just keep growing, but near the house we need light and some element of order.

I made a dhal for dinner, which I thought was quite nice but DH wasn't so keen. There's plenty left over so I will have that for meals on days when I'm at work over teatime. Saves planning and a decent helping means I'll eat fewer sweets and biscuits while working. Nothing spent today.

Cherryfudge

Monday, and I could do with a plan for the week ahead.

Today: work this evening.
Tuesday: Childcare, possibly meet friends in the evening?
Wednesday: Coffee with friend. Work in the evening.
Thursday: no plans.
Friday: no plans.
Saturday: Flu injection first thing, car boot if fine?
Sunday: run children's session in the morning.

All week there are events running at church, and work is going to contact me if they have shifts for me on Thursday or Friday.

Meanwhile I have to motivate myself to get things done that don't have a strict time structure.

Cherryfudge

I wish I could remember what I did yesterday! Not a huge amount, but nothing spent. In the afternoon I planted a couple of dianthus that have been sitting around in pots, then I went to work which was a great deal easier and less rushed than Friday's manic shift. It was nice that the person I worked with on Friday immediately and publicly thanked me again for the work I put in - she didn't need to. I also remembered it's Mum's former cleaner's birthday around now so I searched hard for the date and eventually found I had hit the right date, spot on. I've texted her and had a bit of a chat and I'm so pleased I didn't miss it.

Today was our childcare day: DH took them to the library for the morning, then I met them at the swings. We had fun over the afternoon, back at their house. The older one pretended to be stuck behind a sofa cushion and I pretended she was too difficult to pull out, resulting in me falling dramatically back on the sofa any number of times as the little one thought it was so funny.

As my mum used to say, 'Small things please small minds' (she said it tongue in cheek, I hasten to add: she took delight in all sorts of small things and loved helping people).

DH and I had a couple of trips to the supermarket (£15.16) and he cooked salmon with pasta and tomato and basil sauce for dinner. Asd4 currently seems best value for salmon round here.

My Tuesday group once again didn't meet this week - its been months but we keep trying. My friend who is almost always asked to work is going to remind her boss she's asked for Tuesday as her permanent day off. Meanwhile I have the deferred course session and a meeting of the cleaning team on Tuesdays in the near future so I'm going to be the spanner in the works.