Moving on

Cherryfudge

Today looks to be 'pearled with August haze' (thank you Kipling ) and hot again... though no, it's not August yet.

Last night, having rested a lot in the day, I wasn't ready for sleep. DH, who actually was asleep, was so restless from the heat that I eventually got up and had a snack. Then I made a (small, thin, not very hot) hot water bottle to lay on my stomach, which was telling me I'd had ibuprofen a few times, and do I expect it to say nothing? Thankfully that turned out to be enough to set things right again: that small amount of warmth and weight is nice! Then I slept through till morning and woke to find there's a massive outage of computer systems all over the place, but at least MSE is working and so far there's no sign of any hospitals being hit.

The plan for today is to do the church cleaning this morning and 'work' cleaning this evening. I'll finish the rice up for lunch, I think, but I haven't planned tea yet. DH will cook himself the rest of the defrosted sausages tonight but I'll see if there's anything interesting in the freezer.

Cherryfudge

Church cleaning and plant watering wore me out a bit this morning so I came home via the shops, finished off the rice dish and had a snooze before work. That set me up nicely and it was an easy shift. They put two of us on the shift I'd worked by myself the other day, so we got some extras done.

This evening J called in as she'd given L a lift and had a couple of hours to fill. We all had a walk out into the nearby countryside which is looking beautiful: waves of undulating fields with crops growing and the setting sun colouring it all. We finished off with a very interesting chat about how much the world has changed, in our life times and the generations before. I've passed some table linen on to her as they have a lovely older house and their dining table, with candle sticks and a white cloth, was absolutely the right place for the big old fashioned damask napkins I found at my Mum's house. They've been sitting here for a few years doing nothing.

Expenditure:
Medical 39p
Housekeeping £4.17

P.S. 22,000 steps. How did that happen?

Cherryfudge

Another warm day! Grey, but mid-twenties... summer is happening.

DH has been industrious and done more of the paint stripping. He says he finds it rewarding which is a relief as the bits I've done have been difficult and frustrating. Next door had some people out to do their garden (planted with great talent by previous owners but now maturing and trying to outgrow the space) and today have been working very hard at the front of the house. I'm glad I'd done our hedge the other day, but now the rest is in need of something.

I've had a very lazy day which is probably a healing thing but too much computer time and reading has given me a headache that won't shift. However, MSE-wise we've done quite well: resisted both car boot sales and used up a sausage casserole from the freezer instead of getting chips.

Cherryfudge

One of the houses on the other side of the lane behind us has been chopping some trees and putting them through a shredder: unrelenting noise most of the day. It wasn't till it stopped that I wondered if that was causing the headache, but as it was a constant buzz rather than banging or music, it didn't really bother me. DH was a bit concerned as it was immediately behind our neighbours and it looks as though the man has cut down some trees that were planted by the people who did their garden. Our neighbours were out by then, so we couldn't draw their attention to it. However, a pretty tree with red leaves that shields our window from their security light has been left intact, which was my main concern. It's an odd situation as the trees are in the lane which is a no-man's land: nobody stopped the previous people planting them, though it effectively added a bit to their garden which the current people don't seem to use. It's not in the direction I've gone when I've hacked through the undergrowth to ensure our access, but it's a similar grey area.

The noise seems to be finished now, the headache has been ibuprofened, I'm only sneezing occasionally and coughing rarely - so all is improving. I've been indoors apart from a brief session of weeding (ivy, long grass and buttercups today) and a saunter with DH to get some food from L1dl.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £5.20 plus DH's spending which will have to wait for the banking app.

badmemory

Are you sure the headache wasn't caused by hayfever caused by tree sap.  I know someone who is hardly bothered by grass & flowers but trees & bushes are a whole other thing.

Cherryfudge

I did wonder about hay fever, @badmemory, and one day I took an antihistamine which seemed to help - but the attendant sore throat disappeared after a couple of days to be followed by sneezing, coughing and tiredness, which is my usual pattern for a cold. So I can't rule out hay fever, and we certainly have lots of trees, but it's not usual for me to get it this time of year. If I get it at all, it's normally gone by the end of May. I don't think the noise helped my head, whatever the cause was, but if I get it the ache again I might try antihistamines - certainly worth investigating, thanks.

Cherryfudge

The cold's gone. Apart from the very occasional cough, I've been fine all day. Thankfully. And the weather's still nice, but cooler.

I went to church this morning: A has their house to himself for a few days as he has to stay for a meeting while H visits her parents, so he asked if he could come to church with us. We were delighted to have his company, though I managed to have one of those mornings where things happened. I put a water bottle in my bag but forgot to check the lid, as a result of which my bag started to stream water on the way from the car to the building! DH went to find seats while I threw out saturated tissues and sopping shopping lists, then I borrowed a tea towel from the kitchen to mop up the rest (must remember to wash and return it). A arrived and we went in, then I saw a text from the pre-schoolers' leader to say a key had gone missing. I went in search (someone found it on the wrong hook) which led to me being a bit late. Then after the service I had a meeting about leading the group, just an informal chat with the current leader to clarify a few things and check some ideas with her.

A went back to his after the service and we went home: DH cooked sea bass with veg and cous cous for dinner. This evening DH had a course at church (the one I dropped out of) so I sat down and worked through a lot of the booklet for the budgeting course. The actual course is on Wednesday but I feel better for having faced the material beforehand and even more so because I can see that although I didn't come to it by the recommended route, my budgeting isn't as far off 'proper' as I thought!

Expenditure:
2 x e-books £1.98

Cherryfudge

DH has been saving us lots of money this morning by changing the car and house insurances - both came up at the same time for some reason. He's reduced the car insurance to just under £200, which is a big reduction but he didn't have the figures to hand when I asked and I'd rather he processed the house insurance than got the other data for me. House insurance has gone from what would have been £149 with the previous company to £112, which includes a no-claims protection.

We really could do with some sort of inventory of contents but I've attempted that before and got overwhelmed. We have very few high-value items, being content to surround ourselves with old-world stuff. Our phones are almost at the point of needing to be replaced so we will end up paying out at some point, though H has just replaced hers and offered her old one to DH.

I have a load of washing nearly finished and too many tasks I could be doing but am entirely failing to engage with. We are having an early lunch and both off to our various volunteering afterwards, so there's an hour to turn into something useful.

Cherryfudge

Lots of exercise today: two hours cleaning at church and three at work. DH was able to help at the shop this afternoon as his job has him back on his original hours for this week. They seem to have taken his permission for an occasional variation of days as licence to make him work most Mondays, which is the day they need most staff but is unfortunate when he wants to do something else.

Someone had donated a biscuit barrel just like one we had when the children were little: DH posted a photo which caused hilarity among the family. It was a very pink pig - probably not what I'd choose nowadays but it was popular with children!

I filled the free hour with cooking: I had to chuck out a couple of the cheap bananas as they were beyond use but I used some others to make banana, coconut and cherry muffins, and I used some chicken from the freezer to make chicken and chorizo pasta for lunch. Of course, this resourcefulness has gone to my head and I went to L!dl for some store cupboard bits this afternoon (£10), then to T3sco this evening (£16, mostly on yellow sticker bargains). I do feel rich when I have a lovely assortment of fruit and veg, and this evening's shopping included rhubarb, two punnets of button mushrooms and blueberries all on discount, and a bag of sweet potatoes full price. There were also some jars of pasta sauce which seem to be end-of-line  so I got several. Also oatcakes, chocolate, pasta and mango chutney, all favourites.

I've also heard from one of our Tuesday group and she's been asked to work tomorrow (I think they call on her when other staff are on holiday, I hope she gets overtime) so our meeting is off for about the third week in a row. However, that gives me some more time and DH is also off, so we will probably go for our free coffee at the garden centre.

It's been hot work so I'm off to have a bath.

Expenditure
Housekeeping £26.28
Insurance - car £198 approx.
Insurance - house £112

Cherryfudge

It's been a strange day: I've been out of sorts as though I'd not slept well, but my app says I did. Headache, tickly and sore throat - I hope I'm not coming down with something else, just a couple of days after the last cold upped and went so suddenly.

The window cleaner has been so I must remember to pay him tomorrow. I'd been concerned as he hadn't been for a while but he's okay, has just been on holiday.

DH has had the day off. He spent the morning patching up the paintwork in the flat where the old heating came out, though I think there's still some issue with the carpet for another day.

I think the main thing that upset me was that I had a text to say I'd made an error signing out of work yesterday. I've texted back to say it was my mistake and I'll put it right once I'm back in, so I don't think there's anything else I can do. In fact it wasn't something I've come across before so I had been puzzled about what to do, but I just have to leave it at that for now. It's disheartening, though. You can try your best but you can't win them all.

After lunch (lentil and chorizo soup), we went to the garden centre for free coffee and to admire the roses. As soon as I smelled the coffee, I could feel anxiety rising (this happens quite often) so I got lemon and ginger tea instead, which turns out to be a good choice and much more relaxing, especially as I'm not all that keen on the coffee there (apart from it's free with my year's awards card.).

My Tuesday evening group wasn't meeting due to work commitments, so I had the evening off, and fell asleep. Needless to say I feel better for it.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £2.26