Moving on

itsthelittlethings

This weather is incredible! I too bought choccies for V day but for friends and family I'm seeing this weekend.

Cherryfudge

It was so nice having a sunny day again! No rain or snow, just sunshine. Cold, though.

In the afternoon we went to the garden centre for this month's 'free' hot drink (I reverted to cappuccino but they are small and no wow factor) and DH had a breakfast tea with a Bakewell slice which he said was very nice. He's avoided his lunchtime pastries all week as he has a lipids appointment coming up, so the Bakewell was more of a treat than a habit, but to be honest, a bit of both. No coffee grounds or large plant pots to be had this month, but I can live with that. On the way out I caught sight of the snow on the hill tops in the distance and got a few photos. Funny how snow looks good in black and white: I don't think I have a sepia filter on this phone but that used to be a favourite.

We went to Olio/Ice1and on the way home and got a half price chicken (i.e. a small one for £2.93), 125g of mushrooms for 27p instead of £1 and a punnet of vine tomatoes for 53p. The price of those tomatoes! There were four in the pack, originally costing £1.75. They were discounted as one was damaged, so I had the undamaged bit of it with cheese and salad leaves for tea, and honestly, it was insipid. I'd saved a few seeds in case the price was indicative of deliciousness, but no: they were just winter tomatoes, albeit from Spain and a nice colour. We then went to L1dl where I fell for the charms of a plug-in under-cupboard kitchen light (£6.99) and we bought various other foods (£18.67) as well as DH going to Mr T (£7.70). DH has got cash out for holiday spending too, so the bank account has taken a bit of a bashing over the last couple of days.

We are now at the stage of being careful what we buy so as not to leave fresh stuff while we are away.

Nothing else to report.

Sun_Addict

Regarding the Olio/Iceland deals, do you have to book them or just turn up in the hopes the items are still available?

Cherryfudge

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81885524#Comment_81885524

Just turn up. It's not necessary to have the app - it's just a way of publicising their discounts, but useful if you only have limited time. The items will be wherever they usually put discounted things: in our store, meats are generally along the front of the chiller cabinets, breads are in a trolley, salads etc are in a box in a chiller cabinet near the milk and things like pastries may be on the shelf or the bread trolley. Eggs are still on the shelf so you have to look for the relevant stickers.

I think some Ice1ands also do a goodie bag similar to Gr3gg's etc, but ours doesn't yet.

I found Ice1and is generally pricey for fresh goods in particular, but their discounts are well worth getting.

Sun_Addict

I ended up going today. We’d taken the dog on the park but it was waterlogged so we decided to go to a local high street with an Iceland. There wasn’t much reduced stuff that I wanted but I did get some reduced bread rolls and part baked baguettes. Also picked up some not reduced meat for Mr SA as they had minced beef in normal packs not the squashed up vacuum packs.

Cherryfudge

I don't think I slept all that well last night as I was struggling to get up this morning. I just about managed breakfast and a hair wash before going out. Someone sent a WhatsApp about our group being on teas and coffees at church this morning, so I had to show up! That all worked out okay and I was glad I'd made the effort.

The cleaning team has issues at the moment - upshot is that I've offered to pick up supplies and get reimbursed. The person who is supposed to do it is a friend who has more than enough to cope with at present but it's easy for me to take it on and let them know where we are up to. Now I just have to remember to do it!

Our main meal today was chicken, new potatoes and lots of veg - part of an attempt to get through fresh food before we go away. I spent the afternoon baking. All quite peaceful and mindful, more details here. I got some holiday clothes out of the loft and was rather shocked to find they smell faintly damp. That's never happened before. I suspect DH is right that we need to roof redone. Tomorrow I'll get some washed and aired, ready to pack.

The plan for this coming week is:

Monday - work in the evening. Laundry.

Tuesday - childcare followed by pancakes with A, H and family.

Wednesday - work in the evening. Any last-minute laundry. Start packing.

Thursday - try to get church cleaning done, then work in the evening.

Friday - DH may get the day off. Do church cleaning if not already done. Work in the evening.

Saturday - travel.

Cherryfudge

Nothing spent on Monday. I sorted through the clothes I brought out of the loft and have chosen some to take on holiday. Laundry has been done and reached near-dry on the line! I love it when the sun returns!

During the afternoon I baked carrot cake muffins and a rice pudding, as part of the drive to use things up. However, I ran out of time and appetite for a proper meal (porridge for lunch is healthy and filling and not good timing when I need to eat again at about four). I've lived mostly on baked goods today.

I had three hours at work, and realised I need to reduce my work time on Friday as I'd lost track that we actually set off that day! We are staying in a hotel so as to be near the airport and not have to get up at stupid o'clock.

I had a V1nted sale first thing this morning but haven't posted it yet as the wrapping split when I started on it. Must get it done first thing tomorrow.

Honeysucklelou2

Beautiful photos Cherryfudge. Your mention of sword drill made me smile! It certainly helps to improve one’s recall of the order of the Bible!

Hope you have a great time on holiday.

redofromstart

I love Portugal, and would like to go back to the Algarve. I went in early spring many years ago and it was light layers and a rain coat but I do have a magical ability to get rained on on every holiday.

Cherryfudge

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81887911#Comment_81887911

An umbrella and a light mac are ready to travel! I'm hoping to see the almond blossom, but we might not be close enough.

This morning I was woken by a text coming in - I usually sleep through things like that but not this time. It wasn't an unearthly hour or anything urgent, but I didn't get back to sleep. DH went to look after the grandchildren and I spent three or four hours struggling with feeling tired and light-headed. This cleared up after lunch but wasn't a good way to be when I needed to get out and about.

I posted the V1nted parcel and popped a couple of items on the packing pile, so the time wasn't utterly lost.

DH took the children to the library then to the swings (and we have returned/renewed the library books so as to avoid fines). The swings turned out to be very muddy and the wind was bitterly cold so after I joined them, we made our way to their home via the supermarket (£5.78) and stayed in the rest of the day. The usual hide and seek, jigsaws, 'the floor is lava' and similar games. Also too much telly.

DH slipped out for a doctor's appointment and we are relieved to hear that an outbreak of moles are actually only a variety of wart with the exception of two which are two other things but nothing to worry about and can be treated.

A riotous game grew out of a dolls' tea party where the girls argued over the 'pennies' (random foreign coins) in a purse that they both wanted. As a distraction, I told the little one lots of people do sofa searches when they want coins! She thought this was great fun (found a bead and a plastic hand off a toy, no money). Somehow this led to the ball pool becoming a boat in a storm, which I tipped up (increasing the older one's vocabulary is a worthy cause as she's now definitely heard the word 'capsize' twice 😁), then we had to put all the balls back so the play tunnel became a chute down which we hurled them. The girls then decided to be bubbles, crawled down the chute and the whole lot spilled again…

We stayed to tea - pancakes - then slumped at home for the rest of the evening. I wanted to wind down to get to bed but discovered a container had leaked in my bag, and tuna oil has got out. It soaked right through the bag into the wooden flooring, which obviously wanted the oil as it looks a much better colour but I don't want it to smell of fish so I've blotted it and covered it with bicarb overnight. I've done what I can with the lining of the bag but tomorrow I will try to wash the leather out. It's an old bag that generally goes through the washing machine every year or so (soft leather) then gets treated to shoe dye to restore the colour. I'm hoping if I spot treat the leather tomorrow, I will manage to get the oil out. Meanwhile I've washed anything that seemed to have been in contact with the liquid (and found a lot of pens). Tissues have been binned, my purse has been emptied and sponged, etc. The purse may need to be replaced but it wasn't a 'posh' one.