Moving on

Cherryfudge

P. S. Thanks @Floss for the idea about the insoles. It's too early to say whether the insoles will ease the arthritis but I felt my feet were positioned better.

Also thanks to @Laura_Elsewhere for suggesting coconut oil as a makeup remover. It's suiting my skin very well and seems to do a good job as well as meaning I have one fewer bottles of 'stuff' hanging round.

Cherryfudge

I had an odd dream last night: I had to do some sort of exam where there was a sheet of paper with lots of little pictures on and I wasn't sure what to do with it but by dint of looking at other people's papers and asking questions, I thought I needed to group the pictures and write about them in French.

I'm very glad it was just a dream! However, it showed me there's some subconscious worry going on. I think it's to do with the budgeting advice role, but almost as soon as I'd worked that out, I realised I need to ask to see client's fact-finding information and draft a budget as-is based on that. From there I can go through it and tweak it with the client then start to work on possible changes. How I got there from trying to write French, I have no idea, but it was useful!

I have a few things coming up this week so I decided to stay at home and watch the service, which was possibly not the best idea. DH went and said it was good, but it didn't come across so well online with no one to discuss things with.

We finished up the chicken with some chorizo, pasta and veg for lunch, and watched most of the blue zone series we've been stuck into, then DH went for his walk and I spent four hours (yes!) finding empty plant pots and saucers and cleaning them. Some were under shrubbery but most were stacked in the box I set aside for plant pot storage. I was grateful to my former self for stacking so many pots in the past, as those were easy to clean, but it also meant that a lot of them fitted in a small space. I counted 174 in today's clean, plus thirty-something yesterday and still several stacks to go through! There were some very nice terracotta ones and quite a lot of larger pots but there must be dozens of three inch pots, more than I could use in years. I also found some plastic piping, brackets for the gutter, a rusty filling knife and three frogs. All but the frogs were around the big box but the frogs were in pots so I left them to make their way out. It's made me think it would be good to have a safe area for them either side of the house that was actually designed to be wildlife friendly.

KeepOnKnitting

Frog envy! I mostly just have grasshoppers. Although I did see bats out the other night. 

Cherryfudge

KeepOnKnitting said:

Frog envy! I mostly just have grasshoppers. Although I did see bats out the other night. 

I love bats! We see them here occasionally. I like frogs too, and newts - we get both once in a while. I'm not so keen on slugs but we have rather too many of those.

Cherryfudge

It's been a busy day. I said I'd help the children's leader sort out the craft resources and it took us the best part of five hours - and I've left the rest for her to do another day! The good news is that the cupboard for the group I lead is now ready for use as are a good portion of the resources we will share with the midweek toddler group, and a year's worth of curriculum is checked over and mostly in place. I was delighted to find a resource book that went missing months ago and which I've leaned on quite heavily, so I've borrowed it to have a further look.

I resisted Sains on the way home but went to Asd a where I found lots of yellow sticker items and some store cupboard staples. Then I had forty minutes at home before heading to work so I made myself a quick stir fry using some of the veg I'd just bought, but I can't say it was particularly good. Three hours at work - and less frantic than last week but still a cracking headache so I think I need to get to bed.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £10.22

Cherryfudge

I've spent a few hours already today sending messages to do with the children's group and I'm still in pyjamas! It just seemed easier to work through but I'll get dressed in a minute. Dh has a day off and so far has spent it trying to sort out plumbing at the flat, but is now waiting for the plumber for an emergency call out.

It's gratifying to have things as up to date as possible for the children, but I still have tonight's group to prepare for (if my friend isn't called in to work) and I really ought to do some more prep on the budgeting front, as I have my fortnightly session helping with the debt advice centre tomorrow. I'm hoping August stays quiet!

No work tonight as I will hopefully be eating pizzas instead.  

Cherryfudge

It turns out I'd already prepped some material for tonight, phew. Nice to have that one out of the way!

I've just put another big batch of curry on to simmer, so there's something healthy for us, even if we're eating separately through the next few days.

Still to do are budgeting and plant pot sorting! Plant pots come first as I need to move around. I've convinced myself regular movement is better for me than computer time.

Talking of 'better for me', after the first day the lunchtime chocolate lost its hold. Surprising, as I didn't expect it to let go easily! However, I had two chocolate biscuits after my overnight oats yesterday as I was out and needed to fill a gap.

The morning cappuccinos from a packet might be ultra-processed, they certainly aren't natural. I tried a coffee bag instead today and it was ever so nice. We'll see if I can make that a new habit... though I had a packet cappuccino after lunch today. I think it's the thickness of them that appeals.

Now I have a small using up problem: the soya yogurt needs to be used so I wanted to do the yogurt curry again, but we now have loads of chick pea masala and not a lot of freezer space. The last of the butternut squashes could make a butternut squash dhal, but again - freezer space. I did make a little freezer space today - 2 tsp of chopped chilli for the curry.  

And really I could do with using up the oddments of frozen veg in a soup, but that will have to wait.

Cherryfudge

Nothing spent today, at least not by me. DH has had to pay for the work at the flat but the plumber is very good and came immediately as it's an emergency and the money comes from the reserve that's kept for just such a happening and is completely separate from our funds.

I made some progress on the plant pots but only a little as I realised it was so windy that, if set on the lawn to dry, they would end up in the next town. I also did a bit of data entry for my budgeting but have been interrupted a few times with the return of the headache and a dizzy spell. I can't decide if it's eye strain, tension, dehydration or something unknown but I have to get to the optician tomorrow anyway as the glasses need the side fixed. It may clear up when that's done. It could also be too much computer time, who knows.

My friend did us a huge spread this evening - two pizzas with salad, pesto pasta, potatoes, hummus, olives, cottage cheese, beetroot, coleslaw, etc. I don't think I'll be hungry for a while!

Cherryfudge

Wrote this last night but the server was down so I couldn't post it:

It's felt like a well-balanced day, in contrast to some recently where I've done too much. The headache is gone, thankfully, and the glasses are mended. The arthritis has been unobtrusive.

I didn't take my laptop down to the debt advice centre because I've not really needed it recently, but I'm not sure this was a good move. Next time I would be better having it to hand, so I can look certain things up myself. However, I worked through a client's notes and filled in an initial budget and have arranged to meet the person to discuss it, so step one has been taken. I've also made a bit more progress with things for the pre-school group.

I had some of the chick pea tikka for dinner then had a rest before work, where I did three hours: there was plenty to be done but I'm satisfied with what I accomplished. If I'm given the same area tomorrow I will simply start office cleaning at the other end and that should even out the results.  

My current health kick continues: yes, I had a chocolate biscuit for my break this morning but I didn't miss not having chocolate after dinner. I also had granola, yogurt, honey and blueberries after work, which sounds good till I admit I then ate loads of oat cakes with firstly pate then jam.

Some food shopping has happened, mostly taking advantage of offers for store cupboard things, and a last-minute Kindle book.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £8.22
E-book 99p

Cherryfudge

I've remembered to cancel the free trial of A*azon Pr1me, with one day to go.

I've also paid off my credit card. There wasn't much on there but I don't want to end up paying them any more than I have to.

For what should have been an exhausting day, with two walks and two three-hour sessions of cleaning, I feel really healthy. Perhaps it's a bit like going for an hour's run? I also got a few groceries and a couple of bits for the pre-school group, which I could claim for but I'm going to count them as donations (it's six of one and half a dozen of the other).

I'm a bit concerned that I've not heard from H: we had spent a few Thursdays together but she had her parents to stay last week and I think before that was when N was poorly. I did see A at the supermarket yesterday, looking very washed out as he's just caught a 24-hour bug that N had over the weekend. I've sent the WhatsApp group a message apologising for not being in touch, but haven't heard back.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £5.99
Donations £3