Moving on

liselle

Ooh re.projects, my three-tier trolley has been so useful! Very lightweight, sold in the Swedish place and The R—ge.

Cherryfudge

A three-tier trolley would be great - maybe a few of them. At present I tend to put projects in tote bags which slump all over the place.

I'm quite pleased with what I got done today though there are still lots of things outstanding. The washing got drier but not entirely dry: by the time I brought it in, some of the pegs had frozen to the fabric. After writing my 4pm post, I went to the shops as I needed milk and stock cubes, and to collect a couple of parcels. One is Christmas socks to go in DD's stocking and the other is four saucers to go with the Denby I collect. They were only £2, though with postage it was more like £5, and I have the cups already. This is a bit indulgent as I never use saucers, but should I suddenly find myself in 1960, I expect they will come in useful.

I got very good pickings from Olio/Iceland: they have started to put frozen sales items on the app as well as fresh so I got sausage meat, frozen stuffing, honey-glazed parsnips and 4 plaice for the freezer, though we had two of them for dinner instead.

We still have most of the decorations up but there's clean bedlinen, the wild birds are fed and the parsnips have turned into soup, so I'll count those as wins and the rest will just have to wait. I went to fill the jug for watering the houseplants and realised the water butt is frozen, so all the other water will be as well. I found a plant saucer and put water out for the birds and they loved it. It was only a small water source but four sparrows came to drink and one decided to have a splash. I was amazed that a tiny thing like that could tolerate being in water when everything is frozen, but he practically brought a loofah to scrub his back as he sang, or at least he got himself thoroughly wet and fluttered his wings and looked to be very pleased at the chance.

I've looked in vain for a tub of the bird seed fat balls I can buy in smaller packs in town. The cheaper version is in tubs, but not the one that's full of seeds and I've found the birds don't eat the cheaper ones I tried a while ago. I'll need to get some more and carry it.

After dinner I had a meeting to go to as the last instalment of the course I took last year. It was quite interesting though it all moved a bit fast and I was mentally playing catchup rather than feeling I could contribute in a big way. However, the team was gracious and had each prepared a little card with some encouraging words for me, which was appreciated. It did give me the feeling of not really having finished with where the course was taking me: someone said something that made me wonder if eventually I will have a wider role, though I've no idea what.

The meeting was on a new estate that's still being built and DH drove me there. The house is right at the edge and from time to time the roads change as new ones are opened up. We've been there before but the road barriers had moved again so when we turned into what Dh thought was the right place, I wasn't sure. Then a car drew up with two people who we knew were going to the meeting, which validated DH until one of them went up to a door and announced it was the wrong house! Then we were all lost but after driving round for a minute found we needed a parallel road - and DH secured me a lift home with the others, meaning he didn't have to come out again. The car was frosty despite covers and the car I went home in said it was minus 7.

I seem to have got out of the habit of recording spending but it's happened. I really don't want to go searching for receipts now. I've scalded and cooled a couple of pints of OOD milk and it's now in the yogurt maker - just when I was finally getting through the yogurt I made recently. And something I feel guilty about and will have to sort out tomorrow: I've accidentally double-booked myself for Thursday. I'd completely forgotten about helping int he class and said I could look after DGD. I hope one of the parents can swap so I could do Wednesday afternoon.

Cherryfudge

Tuesday was mostly about child care. DGD is very spotty from her chicken pox but seems to be more lively. She and I had a lot of fun pointing random toys at DH and pretending to hose him down and throw glitter over him. He acted up to it and said he had to have a hair dryer which made DGD giggle as there's very little hair to dry. It's such fun seeing her begin to discern humour and laugh because she's genuinely finding it funny. Of course we couldn't take her anywhere but she wanted to go out when DH took her little sister for a walk. It's been below freezing, though, and she's infectious so she had to stay in. The little one walked as far as the nearest supermarket and helped Grandpa find the milk, then slept in the pram on the way home. She's growing up so fast! She strings words and phrases together and makes herself understood increasingly well.

DH and I bought sausages for tea and I made toad in the hole, partly to use up ingredients. It's a relief not to have three packets of plain flour on the go any more! I also made some little cakes which were a bit experimental and won't be repeated as the shop-bought topping turned out not to like being baked and turned into something between toffee and solder.

I had been going to meet up with friends but one now has her sister staying so I snoozed in bed for a while instead. I was pretty tired. DS1 has been able to change the leave he was taking to look after DGD so I'm now having her tomorrow afternoon instead of Thursday, meaning I can still help at the class. I've also had another change of doctor's appointment as their online booking doesn't allow for in-person appointments and they have to filter all those by hand. Anyway the replacement booking is at a better time for me - I just have to get my head round this week's irregular routine.

One other expense: £8.50 phone top up. I managed on my basic package last month so I'm not sure what happened but I suspect that it looses the home wifi signal if I go online while in bed.

rtandon27

Cherryfudge said:

...One other expense: £8.50 phone top up. I managed on my basic package last month so I'm not sure what happened but I suspect that it looses the home wifi signal if I go online while in bed.

@Cherryfudge - are you able to manage your wi-fi & mobile data manually?  We have a dead spot in our house which coincides with my side of the bed, so have in the past run into a similar problem with using up my mobile data!  I now turn on/off my mobile data manually and OH installed a booster in our bedroom to counteract whatever it is that stops me from getting a signal on the lolling in bed days!

Sun_Addict

rtandon27 said:

Cherryfudge said:

...One other expense: £8.50 phone top up. I managed on my basic package last month so I'm not sure what happened but I suspect that it looses the home wifi signal if I go online while in bed.

@Cherryfudge - are you able to manage your wi-fi & mobile data manually?  We have a dead spot in our house which coincides with my side of the bed, so have in the past run into a similar problem with using up my mobile data!  I now turn on/off my mobile data manually and OH installed a booster in our bedroom to counteract whatever it is that stops me from getting a signal on the lolling in bed days!

I turn off my data too and only use it if I need it when I'm outdoors. I also bought a wi-fi booster for my home office as this is a dead spot. It's only small and it just plugs in. I think it cost me less than £20 and was well worth it. 

WelshmansDaughter

Lol at three bags of plain flour on the go. Reminds me of a song my nephew used to like called Two Margarines

Cherryfudge

rtandon27 said:

@Cherryfudge - are you able to manage your wi-fi & mobile data manually?  We have a dead spot in our house which coincides with my side of the bed, so have in the past run into a similar problem with using up my mobile data!  I now turn on/off my mobile data manually and OH installed a booster in our bedroom to counteract whatever it is that stops me from getting a signal on the lolling in bed days!

Sun_Addict said:

I turn off my data too and only use it if I need it when I'm outdoors. I also bought a wi-fi booster for my home office as this is a dead spot. It's only small and it just plugs in. I think it cost me less than £20 and was well worth it. 

I used to turn it off manually - it's just such a faff! However, the wi-fi signal isn't the best. Our street was missed out when most of the town was brought up to date, due to being a private road. We tried to get added by power of requests but it seemed someone objected... then a  few months later the whole scenario moved on and cable companies started touting for our custom but there's always seemed to be something more urgent to sort out.

When DH was first working from home, he was going to use the spare room as an office but all the fancy equipment sent by work couldn't cope with anything but a direct wire to the lounge. Perhaps I need to look into a signal booster as it would pay for itself in a few months if I'm right about the bedroom being a black spot.

WelshmansDaughter said:

Lol at three bags of plain flour on the go. Reminds me of a song my nephew used to like called Two Margarines

I looked that one up, then realised we have three margarines! Only one in actual use: the other two were because I had an offer and the one already open was due to go out of date. As DH doesn't use it apart from in pastry and I rarely use bread, it's very slow to get used up. How we got two packets of flour in use and a third waiting in the wings, I'm not sure. Probably due to deep larder shelves so things can hide at the back. I think the song could be realistically re-written to take into consideration a couple with three packets of flour, three tubs of margarine, a tube of glycerine that will probably never be needed and a dozen fancy coffees but default drink is instant.

Cherryfudge

Another day of mostly child care. I got a bird feeder cleaned out and restocked first thing, which is good as I have loose bird food to use, and I bought fat balls while I was out though the 'good' ones have gone from the shelves. At least the temperature has gone up so I don't need to replace ice in the bird feeder.

I walked to DS's to look after DGD, which meant I called in at A1di and got some yellow-stickered bread, hummus, fruit and beans for lunch, much of which is now needing a plan to finish. The time with DGD was okay though she's taken to howling when she realises her Dad has gone out of the room. I can cope with that as I know she will come round, but it's trying for him. He's explained that if she won't let him work from home, he will have to go to the office in town, but I don't think she's emotionally able to cope with it yet and of course she's still under the weather with the chickenpox, which doesn't help. Once she gets over the separation, she's fine. Interestingly, she's gone from being absorbed in the TV (which parents limit) to self-limiting with it and we don't know why. Possibly something upset her and she doesn't want that to happen again.

Once again we had a lively patch with a silly game: being a seagull trying to catch a fish to eat, where one of us was the seagull and the other was the fish. It gave her a bit of exercise!

This evening I met with my church group for a post-Christmas meal: we all brought a contribution so I am still full of pizza, garlic bread, panettone etc. It was good to catch up as several people had important stuff going on, mostly positive.

The week continues to be rather too busy and I won't get a break till the weekend, but it's so much easier now that it's not so cold. I think that's because I can go out of doors without dressing for the artic. Funny how a few degrees above freezing feels quite reasonable after a dip below zero.

I need time at home though as housework just isn't getting done.

Cherryfudge

It's cold again today - zero degrees on my way home and the wind is bitter though not strong. I've put out yet more bird food as they've scoffed almost all the fat balls from the other day. They will have to put up with a less-favoured variety now as the others aren't available.

This morning I fitted in my doctor's appointment before catching the bus to work, which to me is an achievement. The appointment was fine, as was work. I had enough time between the bus arriving and walking to the class to look in a few charity shops and found some nice gloves which I am resisting even though they were £1.50 and I think they would have been around £10 - £15. I will put them in the stocking fillers, at least for now!

I thought about getting a coffee but it was sure to go cold on the way to the class so I just put the kettle on when I got there. I also had a look for a day-to-a-page diary for a spending diary, but was unsuccessful. There's a heap of receipts to log, though I've done a good many Christmas ones. I think that's all the money news.

Dinner tonight was liver and bacon with baked potatoes, tinned tomatoes and fried onion. Yummy indeed. There's plenty left over but it can be frozen so we don't go too heavy on the meat and cholesterol in a short time.

I've done some of the ironing mountain - not easy when there's a Christmas tree in the way, but we intend to put that in the loft tomorrow. Meanwhile I hope for an early night as I'm sleepy.

Spending:
Gift (gloves) £1.50
Bus fare (will be refunded) £3

Cherryfudge

We both have the day off today and the storm hasn't come this far north, apart from some rain.

I slept nine hours last night, which I hope will reset the body clock. One lives in hope! This morning I had a text from work to say that at present no one is on annual leave so she can't offer me any more shifts this month. However, I still have the Thursday hours from the other job, so I'm not totally without income and as DH has both his pay and a pension, we aren't going to suffer. There's enough in the account my pay goes into, to cover Council Tax, fuel and some smaller bills that come out of my pay, so I'm just going to keep an eye on that. The fact people haven't booked leave this month means they will book it later and there will be shifts to cover.

There are two parcels to collect (I'm still trawling V1nted for future presents) and DH, out running errands, has offered to ask the chemist if my prescription is in. I'm hoping they've just forgotten to send the notification as I'm now out of one tablet.

Not having evening work over the next few weeks could be useful as I'll be more available if DGD2 develops chicken pox and child care is needed. At present she shows no sign of it and her sister has fewer spots, but I'd be surprised if she misses it completely after such a lot of contact. I really ought to get my act together and use the time constructively: there are bulbs to go in the garden and for that I need to clear a patch. I'm not worrying too much about final layout as there are still large areas with ground elder so I will need to keep those as frequently reviewed and they can have temporary plantings like the garlic. Not an ideal plan, but the work I did last year has shown me how much time is needed to get an area completely clear.

I also need to do housework and decluttering. Eek.

Things I could usefully do today: tidy up the spare room, put away the rest of the Christmas stuff, check for laundry that needs doing, plan ahead for the Sunday morning children's group, stick one or two things on V1nted, have yet another go at the supposedly short but nevertheless overwhelming assignment outstanding from last year's course...