Moving on

Cherryfudge

Really tired tonight, but at over 20,000 steps, it's not a problem.

I did a couple of hours at the church over lunch and thankfully the new team member came too, despite it being school holidays so all her children came too. Between us we got a lot done, then I went to get some shopping which turned out to include super-expensive pears reduced from £2.50 for four to 89p. I was quite good and snacked on easy peelers rather than muesli bars, but succumbed to chocolate ginger on the way home.

I also treated myself to a recipe book I wanted from a charity shop: £2.80 for 'One Pot, Pan, Planet' by Anna Jones, hardback.

I solved the problem of how to eat the curry by adding instant potato and a handful of dried cranberries. I feel that's pretty original but it got the consistency right, saved me having to wait for rice to cook and added sweetness as well as using up things that needed to be used up. There are still about four portions left, though.

There was enough time in the afternoon to doze before work, then a three hour shift.

Expenditure:
Book £2.80
Housekeeping £5.18

Cherryfudge

I think I got myself too tired last night as I woke after about four hours and ended up on the snack/hot drink/hot water bottle routine, after which I slept till nine.

I've seen the mouse again: once outside the back door and once inside. On seeing me it dashed towards the back door, so I think that's where it's finding a way in. We need to investigate. I know they can get through tiny spaces and there's a gap under the skirting that needs to be sealed from inside.

I wanted to go to the car boot this morning but there's not really time after a late start so perhaps next week. Today I should focus on my sister and family visiting tomorrow, though that's like herding cats. Our older two children are both out and about that day but will try to make it to see them at some point which I greatly appreciate. Youngest showed a bit of interest but doesn't really reply to texts so I don't know what his expectations are. My sister does reply, or thinks she does, but often not with the information I could do with. I've texted again this morning to ask what time they think they will arrive. As for food, she has multiple intolerances so I think I will do baked potatoes with a range of fillings. I'm as sure as I can be that she can eat potatoes and that won't have changed since last year.

Cherryfudge

Some progress has been made on little jobs: DH has done much of the ironing and gone round de-cobwebbing and I've emptied bins and put the washing out. DD has just sent a video from a few miles further north of her husband getting drenched while cleaning the patio, and it looks as though we may be in for similar so I'd better get a move on and mow the grass.

I went through a big bundle of uncategorised receipts and got a few of them done and recycled. They've only made it to the notebook, not the spreadsheet and I'm realising that my lack of a pre-determined budget is holding me back. The two outstanding categories are holiday spending and the little items I buy towards the children's group and don't bother claiming for. I think I will stick the latter under donations as, although I have surplus, it's an expense I wouldn't have off my own bat. The holiday expenses I know need to be set against a housekeeping/food budget which, oddly enough for such a major category, I don't really have. I was tracking it on the spreadsheet and it looks like around £335 a month earlier in the year, so perhaps once I've got a few more numbers in there I will know how much of an overspend there was when we've been away. That's complicated by extra food in the house and a lot more eating out when we have guests. Some of that I'd categorise as entertaining/entertainment - complicated, I know.

How do other people tackle food costs? Perhaps I need to put all takeaways/eating out in a separate pot? We've cut back on takeaways quite successfully for our own purposes but the amount spent on eating out when we have guests really alters the totals.

I've also made a tiny inroad into necessary sewing tasks by pulling through a couple of snagged threads. Nice to have that out of the way.

Still to do (initial list):
grass
ironing
Shopping (fruit, baking potatoes, anything needed for toppings, squash, anything else?)
Tidy dining room
hoover
clean bathroom
clean kitchen

Cherryfudge

Ha! I mowed the grass before the rain came!
 Small victories = worth doing.

DH also got back before the rain, having bought a watercolour for £5.

I'm making myself drink more in case the headaches were from dehydration (I think you were probably right there, Welshmansdaughter) so I've had two coffees, one hot water and now a fruit tea.

I'm part way through cleaning the kitchen and have brought the (nearly dry) washing in off the line. The rain sounds nice and I noticed the small lawn needs water, so it's timely. I will make up some plant food for the tomatoes and houseplants, too.

WelshmansDaughter

I speak from experience 🤦

Cherryfudge

WelshmansDaughter said:

I speak from experience 🤦

It's too easy to lose track isn't it? Today... h'm... a hot water, a cappuccino, another cappuccino, a glass of water, a fruit tea, a black decaff coffee... two to go.

I did some heavy-duty floor cleaning this afternoon and DH has done various things in between dodging showers, like my shopping list for tomorrow. I've heard back from my sister and they're arriving about 12. I will finish the hoovering soon, then might pop down to L!dl for chocolate and milk, which I managed to miss off the list.

The plants are fed and the kitchen is mostly cleaned, if untidy. Still to do: upstairs and dining room hoovering, bathroom, last bits of ironing and tidy the dining room... then see if there's any prep ahead needed for tomorrow but I can't think of anything. It all makes a nice bit of checking bank statements seem appealing.  

I found where the frog hangs out, by the way. I was filling a jug for watering the houseplants and between the bricks that hold up the water butt, a little yellow nose was poking out. I'm glad it lives near there, as that will help keep down the slugs.

Cherryfudge

Most of the list in the post above is still not done apart from the upstairs hoovering. We went to the supermarket and ended up spending another £23 - eek! I think I've over-catered quite a bit but we really don't know who will be around, and we've got dairy-free and gluten-free options as well as mainstream.

I've brought the wrapping paper down for my niece's gifts as it's nearly her birthday - the whole presents thing fell to bits as I explained somewhere the other day, but I have hers and there's no reason for her not to have them. 

DH has paid his credit card up to date - hefty as there were the car tyres and goodness knows what else on there. The bank will think we've gone over the top, but at least the fridge is full.

Expenditure:
Hobbies £10.35 (DH's)
Housekeeping/entertaining £48.75

Sun_Addict

You certainly fit a lot into your day, do you ever sit down 😆 I keep a separate pot for entertainment/eating out otherwise it leaves a big hole in the food budget. Not that we do a lot on that front but it’s nice to have a separate pot for it. 

Cherryfudge

I feel I spend a lot of time sitting down, SA! However yesterday there was a lot to get done. The sound of approaching visitors concentrates the mind wonderfully.

The rest of the ironing is stashed in the airing cupboard (there wasn't much but I'm not going to do it right now). The dining room is half tidied, DH has set out chairs in the garden as it's going to be a hot day, the presents are wrapped. All the jobs are done!

I got a last minute message from D to say they aren't coming - apparently committed to something this afternoon, which is annoying as they could have let me know that ages ago. Grr.

Right, time the computer was out away and the kettle put on as they're expected soon.

Cherryfudge

DH pointed out that D and E might have been waiting to hear whether my sister and family were coming in the morning - they might have been able to see them if that was the case. It's a possibility, as they could then have gone to their other event in the afternoon.

The day has gone well from our point of view. My sister arrived just after 12 and we all sat out in the garden for a while. My niece had her birthday presents (I said she could open them early so she can make a decision whether or not to take them when they fly back). My sister has given me an African shoulder bag and a top to wear.

We had our main meal at lunchtime: baked potatoes with cheese/tuna followed by mixed berries with yogurt and meringues. I think I made quite good decisions about the food on the whole: people got what they liked though the vegan yogurt stayed unopened as it has soya in it, which my sister can't have. Teatime was make-your-own sandwiches, then cake, biscuits and fruit... again it worked quite well though with hindsight the gluten-free bread wasn't suitable for one person so next time I must remember to ask what works. Not a lot of fruit was used but I'm glad it was there as an option: we can eat the rest during the week. I noticed my sister took a real liking to chocolate-topped rice cakes so I'll try to remember those for her another time - she tried them with marmalade on and talked DH into trying that combination and they both loved it.

During the afternoon my niece had a rest - she's just back from a week's summer camp and was wiped out - while the rest of us went for a walk and a catch-up. I heard about the difficulties they've had with their house, which is empty most of the year. They had a flood when an unmapped land drain poured water into the house - it looks as though they will need to replace their kitchen cupboards and washing machine and the garden got dug up in an effort to find and repair the source of the trouble. I do feel for them as they couldn't have seen that coming. The house is very old and there's no history of flooding (it's on high ground) so how could they have known it could happen?

We had texts from J to say they were still at their godson's party and wouldn't be able to make it to meet up in reasonable time, and from A and H who had set off at 10 in the morning but met a lot of roadworks and were on the move till they arrived at ours about 6.30. By that time we were all looking at very old photos - I hoped my sister could help identify a few people in a photo album of my Dad's from 1949, which led on to trying to decipher his old diaries. I felt a bit sorry for my BiL as it wasn't his relatives, but he helped research an old map which turned out to be from near Alexandria in Egypt.

Poor A and H arrived with two little children who had slept in the car, but we had plenty of food so were able to fortify them and it gave our visitors the chance to meet baby F, who was very smiley and is getting into commando crawling. Little N let me talk her into having some yogurt and doing some drawing (a spider, for some reason) and eventually said she didn't want to go home, bless her.

Everybody had to leave by about half past seven, with a long journey ahead of my sister and family and a long journey behind the others. I dozed off in the bath later so I'm awake now.