Moving on

itsthelittlethings

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81948250#Comment_81948250

I’ve still got kitchen bin bags from my dad’s house and he died 10 years ago.

Dakota_Rose

@Cherryfudge it sounds like you’ve been non-stop lately. I’m not surprised you’re feeling like you need to slow down a bit. Fab bargains on the shopping. I don’t think I’ll use my £5 off voucher this time (overspent in Aldi instead) but I did ‘crack the surprise’ egg on the app to get a free bag of branded mini-eggs yesterday so I will be popping in for those!

badmemory

I will be dicing my cabbage & freeezing it in my usual size portions. I often do a "well it is curry (spaghetti or casserole or !) so I will shove some cabbage (cauli, carrot or ! in). It will give us a bigger portion of veg. What DS doesn't see go in he won't worry over I suspect that he would only actually worry if I put him on a starvation diet.

Cherryfudge

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81948291#Comment_81948291

It's really interesting what people have excess of! My Grandmother used to get cleaning products to the point where my Grandad would secretly take them back to the shop. We think she wanted to prove how clean she kept her house.

In clearing my parents' house, apart from the cling film, freezer bags and greaseproof paper - which I understand as she was an excellent cook but in later years didn't have the demand for it or the strength to stand - the sheer number of boxes of sticking plasters puzzled me. Unfortunately they were too old to be sticky.

I wonder very much what my children will find to wonder at when I'm gone! Probably the collection of loo roll middles for crafts, that always accumulate faster than they get used and are really cluttering up the spare room! Also old till receipts that I keep meaning to attend to.

Cherryfudge

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81948300#Comment_81948300

Yes, we really need to slow down! Things are probably going to be a bit less strenuous next week, thankfully.

I rarely get to use the money off vouchers where you have to spend a certain amount. It's a shame as I had some very good ones for Waitr0se, and the nearest one is over 30 miles away. They had to be spent in store.

I'm pleased with how the shopping went yesterday, but also glad it's not a regular thing.

Cherryfudge

I've not bought cabbage this time around, but it froze really well and was quick to defrost so I need to remember that in future, @badmemory . I haven't tried sneaking it into things but it's a thought. We all need varied veg.

Cherryfudge

Well, Good Friday was full-on, but 'good' in more ways than one. I think both of us are sleeping better and DH seems less anxious though I can't necessarily see the whole picture. His chronic condition is grumbling away but I think he's managed a few days off the medication now, so that's not unexpected. We have talked a bit about the possibility of his having surgery and we accept it may come to that, but we'll see how it goes.

I was still only half awake this morning but between us we got the birthday presents wrapped and card written, and DH kindly did the ironing which made him happy as he was being useful, and me happy as it's been bothering me and I've not managed to get it done. Then we went to church, and it was a very contemplative service. I talked to a friend afterwards: our children are the same stage in life and one of hers has had an operation related to what DH would have if it comes to that, and is now into extreme sports, so I told DH about that to help us look 'beyond'.

We ducked back home long enough for me to decorate some fairy cakes with a blob of icing and 'sprinkles', having observed that 'sprinkles' are important to DGD1 and deduced they would make cakes more interesting to little 'uns. Then we went to DGD3's party.

It was held in a village hall a few miles away: they had hired soft play which was very popular. There were a lot of guests - DD said she'd invited about 50, many of whom we knew. Superb 'spread': DD texted an hour before to say they had over-catered, but the food was really good so we all made a serious dint in it.

There were also lots of balloons to begin with, but various loud bangs during the evening, so fewer balloons by the end of it. Interestingly, I only saw one kid distressed by a bang, and that was right behind him. Perhaps they noticed the others weren't bothered. DGD3 seemed to enjoy her day, as did everyone. I'm not sure how DD and family are going to cope with all the remaining food, but for once I didn't take any extras home: I ate far too much as it is and we don't need more! One of the really nice things was that both the baby's great grandmothers, one aged over 90, were there and taking an active part. One had set aside two days to bake: I've had her Parkin before and it's a treat. We helped clear up afterwards, too, which is a nice sociable thing to do after an event like that.

DH and I had a walk around the village after the party: it's really pretty, and made all the more so by white blossom against dark clouds, though there was sun behind us. When we got home, it was blue sky again and I had plants to water as the wind has made them droop.

For some reason DH wanted a proper dinner, so we had frozen fish with carrots, broccoli and couscous. I then feel asleep while DH went to choir practice - possibly not the best idea but it means I have a clear head now. He said the choir practice was hard work as the songs are tricky and not ones he would have chosen, but he's had a good day and that's such a blessing after the week we've had.

I've now not succeeded in finding the Easter cards we were going to take to family tomorrow but at least we have the Easter eggs for the children.

Sun_Addict

I’m glad you got to redeem the £5 off coupon. I don’t always use them but I needed a stock up shop this time so it was well timed. It’s encouraging you’ve heard a positive outcome about someone who’s had the op DH might need, might settle his mind a bit.

Cherryfudge

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81949500#Comment_81949500

I was pleased with myself, though, as DH pointed out, it was self-imposed stress!

Yesterday was the last of the full-on days for now. Phew. We had to be up in time to leave the house at 8.15 to drive to DS2's, then they gave us a lift to the family gathering. It was lovely for DH not to have to drive, and while we offered to share fuel costs or at least buy them a coffee, their car is an EV and they insisted they have a special rate through their app. Our car is a diesel and the prices have jumped enormously - about 15p in one week if I remember rightly what DH said.

There were 20 family members at the restaurant: it's something we've been doing for about 10 years or a little more, so I enjoyed the fact my phone then decided to show me the pictures of previous family meals. It was a restaurant we'd not tried before, and the food was very nice though it's a bit out of town. DS1 wondered about this but DH found the answer: there's a very battered old brick building next door which was a coach house and stables. It must have been a coaching route, perhaps before the railways were built in that area.

All of the Yorkshire contingent had met the previous day for the birthday party, but there were also those from abroad and the other side of the country. We were able to catch up with most people. I was sad to see that both DH and his sister are struggling with health at the moment: she had an operation last year which has created some highly unusual side effects that the doctors are still trying to understand, but she's finding for herself how to manage it. DH enjoyed himself and seemed to be on top of his symptoms, though it was quite demanding for him.

Driving back, we were going into Storm David, though only in terms of brisk winds and storm clouds. By the time we got home it was nice and sunny, but the wind hit during the night. I checked the weather app and it reckoned the windspeed was up to 49mph overnight.

I was tired on the journey and had a doze, which set me up for doing more work towards this morning's children's session. I'd already tracked down some resources so I printed off some pictures and made a book of them (which worked better than I could have expected, so that's another way to present the stories for the little ones).

I was all-in by bedtime!

Today I found that I'd been snoring (happens when I'm most tired) and kept DH awake, so the poor man hasn't had a good day. I slept fine.

As mentioned above, I took the children's session this morning and I'm happy with how it went apart from that I took my eyes off the ball long enough for a child to fall over the back of a tiny chair and crack his head. His gran was there (she'd also been distracted) and both of us tended to him. Accident book duly filled in, spoke to parents later and apologised - they were lovely. I followed up with a text this evening so I know he's bounced right back.

From lunchtime on, it's been a quiet day. DH had a walk out to the woods to get some solitary time. I spent a few minutes weeding the garden. Dinner was lamb with Moroccan flavours but it didn't work as well as last time so the rest is going to be a Shepherd's pie.

DD's birthday present arrived today and I've discovered I missed the roll-over date for Amaz0n Pr1me so that will be another £9 out of the account. That's what comes of being super-busy. I also spent £8.50 on extra phone data yesterday. I will leave the Pr1me in place for this month, as I've DS1's birthday present to get, and am also looking into a wi-fi extender. I think my phone often can't get a good enough connection to our broadband when I'm in bed, so I'm using data when I don't need to.

Other spending has been a gift for DH's niece (£30?), a few bits from the supermarket while out and the meal, which was about £52. Non-MS things included having to pour away half a small bottle of oil that had gone off. MS includes turning lots of paper scraps into 'notebooks' for next to the computer.

Happy Easter everyone. 😊

WelshmansDaughter

Happy Easter Cherry.

I am currently getting 300gb data with my provider for £15- it was some kind of random special offer but the normal data allowance is 150gb which is nothing to sneeze at. May be worth looking at a switch ?