NST March 2024: The Magic Roundabout

lcc86

@Thrifty_Taylor sorry to hear about your auntie passing away.

Got all my jobs done yesterday including batch cooking and four loads of washing. I did cheat and put the heating on to help it dry as there was just so much of it! Changed bedsheets, wrapped presents for my dad and did a little financial planning. 

Today will be a spend day as need petrol before bath, a couple of bits from the supermarket, and we're out for dinner later too. I do have a holiday budget so some spends will come from there but not all.

Off to see pony shortly before anything else 

DawnW

Condolences @Thrifty_Taylor

Looking forward to bed tonight, as I was up early to go to a flea market to buy items for my business. Lots of spends there, but these are accounted for elsewhere, outside of household or personal spending. Not a NSD though, as we stopped for fuel on the way back at a garage with an attached shop which often has yellow stickered items. I bought 2 whole chickens, a couple of pasties and some hot cross buns for £8, which I didn't think was bad. We had the pasties for lunch and the chickens are in the freezer. They aren't huge, but will each do at least a couple of meals for OH and I.

Cleaned up and put away the items I bought at the market, ready to go to my sales unit over the next few weeks.

Pegged my brother's washing out on the line and it all dried. Now all folded and ready to go back to him tomorrow.

Cleaned the bathroom and fed the orchids

Planted some gifted seed potatoes in some old, discarded recycling tubs, in the bottoms of which had OH drilled drainage holes. I reused old compost from last year, which I livened up with a bit of fertiliser and some manure, so we should have some free potatoes later on   

Watered the seedlings.

Made mushroom risotto for dinner - not a traditional Sunday dinner by any means, but it was yummy. Had pears from the fruit bowl for pudding.

Grateful for decent, though rather chilly, weather, finding some bargains and getting a lot done

Starlight_at_Sea

That does sound incredibly productive Dawn, well done! 

I am sorry for your loss Thrifty, be gentle with yourself as you support your family through the coming weeks. I'm not at all surprised you cried at the juxtaposition of the card arriving. I hope you and your mum have some lovely memories of your aunt. 

I have been mainly hanging out at the hospital this weekend, either that or keeping plates spinning in my cousin's life like school uniforms washed, kids fed, kids outdoor adventures to burn off energy, etc while she is with her mum at the hospital. I am honestly so tired tonight I can barely keep eyes open and am already in bed!

Have spent £23 on car parking at hospitals s
in past 2 days, that's a huge amount given I haven't actually been there anywhere near constantly. Today it was 6.20 for 2 hours. 

Just trying to think through any MS wins for this weekend. Hot thermos mugs are getting a lot of use minimising the drinks being bought in hospiral.

Took kids on a walk to a national trust paned monument that I have seen from the motorway for years but not been to before.  Free car parking with our NT card. 
Dad has dug out an old hosepipe from the depths of his garage for me to use at the flat, a neighbour has offered to powerwash soon. Grateful not to have to shell out £40 on a pipe now only to discover he has several in his shed at a later date. He says he'll help me sort out his garage this summer. That would be great! 
Went to the tip while en route to hospital today, dropped off a small bag of defunct electronics. Am celebrating when anything leaves this house at the moment! 
I cooked one huge batch of jacket potatoes this morning and shared them with my dad, aunt, and cousins household. We empty the skins out, mash the potatoes and add cheese into the mash, then top with more cheese and brown the tops. Then freeze in a bag of halves for quick snack when needed. 
Dinner tonight at cousins was one of these and veggie lasagne - comfort food at it's best! 
Did the olio collection this morning, and dropped some unclaimed things to my cousin's neighbour when i visited her. 
Did changeover after paying guests left this ..Have friends coming in to stay nthis coming week. They have offered to do some DIY in lieu of rent so I borrowed my cousin's hubbies decorating equipment. Paint itself was 3 for 2 so got a couple of extra tins for outside (to do at a later date!).. There was a lady at the paint mixing desk who had bought in old tins of paint from her shed to be re-mixed with the vibration machine. They weredoing that free of charge - I thought it was a great idea!

apple_muncher

Hugs, ThriftyT ❤️. Hope DH had a good bday.

Today I am grateful for a neighbour giving us a bundle of old papers for us to look through for stuff for pip's art project, for some quiet time to myself before anyone else got up, for pip enjoying bouldering, for my audiobook to listen to while pip bouldered, for simple food tasting so good today.

Thrifty_Taylor

Thank you for all your condolences. She was indeed a very special lady & we have lots of happy memories with her from when we lived south, or phoned her every week once we'd moved to our island home. Mum hasn't yet decided if she wants to go down for the funeral/cremation whenever it is, but I said I'd go with her if she chose to go. 

Well done on rveryond bring productive. @Starlight_at_Sea your family will really appreciate all you are doing for them. Rest when you can & hope you get lots of sleep tonight.

I've had an easier day today. Thankfully I felt more better than I did yesterday! Replaced 2 coat zips this afternoon, then phoned mum. Put the nearly dry washing on the airer - pleased the rain showers stopped long enough to dry the clothes as much as it did.

After tea, I baked the carrot cakes, ready to decorate tomorrow night for DS1's birthday on Tuesday, then gave myself a mini manicure & packed my jigsaw away now that it's completed.

Grateful for feeling a bit better, seeing a Wren & a baby rabbit in our garden today & for all of your support. Thank you x

DawnW

Remember to take care of you @Starlight_at_Sea - you seem to have an awful lot going on at the moment.

So, today - nothing spent

Did a fridge clear out, and made the following with the proceeds:

A large pan of ham and veg soup

Two roasted tomato, pesto and goats cheese tarts

12 filo mincemeat parcels

So plenty of lunches and snacks for a few days.

I also chopped and froze a tub of mushrooms

Reviewed the shopping list, not much needed this week

I am roasting one of yesterday's YS chickens with Indian spices. Not done this before, but it is nice to do something different. We will have this with salad today, and cold with *something* tomorrow.

DS turned up this morning, and DD2 just after lunch, so I haven't done much else. DD sampled the roasted tomato tarts and pronounced them 'lush', well, we are in the West country I suppose  

DS has a shoulder injury. He has seen the consultant and been signed off work for 6 weeks, awaiting a MRI scan and possible surgery. He is bored because he quite enjoys his driving job.

I passed some printer head cleaner stuff on to DD2, as I gave her our old printer, and ran a makeup / concealer thingy that I had bought, which turned out to be the wrong colour for me, past her. She reckoned it would make her look like Par*s H^lton so passed on that. Now binned. A shame, as I had only tried it once. I will stick with R*mmel in future, as it is cheap and I know it works for me    So anyway, two things out of the house one way or another!

Grateful today for seeing 2 of my 3 grown up kids, for making nice things from fridge shrapnel (I know the pesto thing sounded posh, but the pesto was from the freezer, I make and freeze loads from home grown basil each year, and the other ingredients came from L*dl. The mincemeat parcels used up some leftover filo pastry and the last jar of mincemeat from 2022), and for seeing a goldfinch in the garden, so pretty

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for the apple tree leaves budding, for visits from next door's cat, for making progress on certain things, for pip being able to pass on some of his wisdom to a friend, for jigsaws, for so much more daylight.

Thrifty_Taylor

Busy bees again ladies 😃

Another NSD, might be #8, not doing so well this month, but have 2 birthdays, 3 days apart!

A good day at work. Ate lunch in the office & had a good chat & a laugh. Had a few chest twinges on my way home. DH hooked me up to his BP machine, which also checks for irregular heart beat, but all seemed fine.

Wrapped DS1's presents up ready for tomorrow, & wrote on the card I've made him. After tea, I replaced a coat zip & shortened a pair of jeans, then started a new Moomin jigsaw. Messaged my cousin to see how she was coping & then a supportive reply.

Grateful for mama & baby rabbit in the garden first thing, kind colleagues, hearing a pheasant in the field across the road when j brought the washing in, & starting a new jigsaw

lcc86

Afternoon turtles, had a lovely 24 hours or so in Bath, enjoyed walking around, doing a little shopping, good food and visiting the spa. Love the spa there, just wish it wasn't so far away! All spends came from holiday pot, didn't go crazy but didn't scrimp either 

Now am sitting on the train to Norfolk to visit my parents for a couple of days. 

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for getting the back grass mown before the rain, for a chat with a neighbour, for Pip deciding not to go out tonight, for easy food (had some dodgy meat on sat eve and haven't wanted cooked food since then!), for my bed - always warm and welcoming!