🌞 Happy Days in our Golden Years 🌞

Fortune_Smiles

Open Day

I had an 'Open Day' yesterday - no appointments, no commitments, one where I could decide exactly how to spend it. I didn't do anything exciting with it but I did get things done.

My main job was to tidy and deep clean the room I grandly call my Dressing Room. It's actually the smallest bedroom and where all my clothes live because Mr F has taken all the wardrobe space in our bedroom 😂 It's much clearer and cleaner now and, whilst rummaging around, I found 3 pairs of shoes to sell. They are all designer (throw backs to my city working days) and I haven't worn them in years and one pair has very high heels which I struggle to walk in now. I'll put them on the Bay and, hopefully, replenish some of the money I spent on the new sewing machine 😉

Mr F made his signature boiled eggs for breakfast, we had

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-ham-leek-mushroom-spaghetti

for lunch made with leeks from the garden and

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cauliflower-cheese-soup

for supper.

We rounded off the evening with a video call to one half of the Younger Fortunates. It was lovely to catch up with them and hear all their news. I was particularly pleased with my new laptop's performance. I've had a problem with it repeatedly dropping the internet connection. It turns out there is a setting called 'roaming aggressiveness' which determines how eagerly the machine will seek out a stronger wifi signal. We have a mesh system with three wifi frequencies so it was constantly trying to move between them and dropping out in the process. I've disabled that setting and set the frequency for 2.4 GHz which is the one considered to be the most stable and navigates thick walls best. Get me! I'm an IT expert now 😂 Anyhoo, it looks as though that's fixed the problem which is such a relief as my Court Hearing is a 3 hour video call and I was worried about connectivity. We have another video call with the other half of the Younger Fortunates this evening so I'll test things out in another room just to be sure.

I got a few other work and personal admin things ticked off the list including… and I will say this very quietly… booking my online Christmas grocery slot 🫢

I've been listening to a podcast whilst doing my housework - 'Complex' which is a really accessible look into mental health. Today they were talking about resilience and I found it very affirming. 2026 has been an incredibly tough year for me and I felt like I was failing it. I've always considered myself to be a very resilient person but I've struggled with life recently. Turns out resilience is not what I thought it was - and I haven't lost my talent for it! I'm just manifesting it in a different way now.

Have a great Thursday all.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

"You gorgeous stack of pancakes you"

Remember the quark pancake recipe I made that was supposed to make 6 pancakes but actually made about 40! I froze most and then promptly forgot about them. They resurfaced after a rummage in the freezer so I'm on a mission now to use them up. Yesterday and this morning we had very indulgent Pistachio & Cherry Pancakes for breakfast 😋

Lunch was the remaining Cauliflower Cheese Soup from yesterday. And supper was a quick frozen pizza as Mr F mixed up the timing for our video call with the other Younger Fortunates and we had very little time to eat.

It was a great call though - we got to share bath time with our little grandson who delighted in showing us all his bath toys. The call did show that we have a wifi cold spot in the dining room so I'll order another mesh node today to resolve that. The dining room is where we sit to do most video calls and it might help with the signal upstairs too.

I went to gym class in the morning and spent the afternoon on Court prep. I've cross-referenced all my evidence now so it's just a matter of printing everything off for easy reference and making sure my head is straight about the details. Feels good to know that the end is in sight and my time will be freed up for other things.

Today I need to make sure that the business accounts are up to date for year end and reconcile our personal accounts. Maybe I'll find a gorgeous stack of money somewhere 😂

Fortune x

Cheery_Daff

Thatwould be lovely, wouldn't it?? 😂

Gladto hear your are on top of your court paperwork. I strongly suspect you will be far more organised than the builder. He picked the wrong person to mess with!!

Fortune_Smiles

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82148690#Comment_82148690

Oh gosh I hope so Cheery. The thought of having to pay him more money after everything he's put me through 😭

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Dream On!

I hope not! I am bleary this morning. Mr F and I celebrated the start of the weekend with a tipple last night. We've run out of red wine so I had homemade cherry rum and cola - something I've never drunk before. It led to a restless night where I woke often and remembered several unsettling dreams. In one I came home to find a large number of people dismantling our barn. They said we didn't have planning permission. I was left staring at a plot of dirt 😲 Very odd because our barn has been in position since the early 1950's. I was tired and had already gone up for an early night yesterday to try to catch up on some sleep so I shall be fit for nothing today 🥱

Yesterday was spent reconciling bank accounts and credit cards, shuffling money around and getting the business accounts up to speed. I ordered two extra nodes for the mesh which should cover all of the cold wifi spots in the house. I did question whether we needed wifi in all areas of the house but so much depends on a wifi signal now and, as our walls are three bricks thick, we rely on wifi calling for our mobiles as we can't get a mobile signal inside. Mr F's previous employer paid for us to have a mobile signal booster but that gave out a year or so ago and they are far more expensive than a couple of extra nodes so nodes it is.

Lunch was Herby Courgette & Smoked Hummus Wraps made with some veg patch courgettes. Supper was Fish Finger Katsu - mainly because we have the last of the veg patch mini cucumbers to use and and also because it was quick and easy as I didn't have to make the sauce from scratch 😁

I usually sew or craft at the weekend but we're out for lunch tomorrow with friends so I don't want to start a new project yet. I think I'll print off some things I need for the Hearing and then have a long hot bubble bath/pedicure/ manicure this afternoon. And there's the first episode of the B@ke0ff to catch up on of course 🍰

And I must put a wine order in. I don't want to have any more bad dreams!

Fortune x

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, a luxurious daytime bath, how lovely 😍 I might follow your lead and have one myself!

Fortune_Smiles

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82149242#Comment_82149242

I know! When does that ever happen. But what a lovely treat. I'm spoilt for choice with my bathtime viewing options too - B@ke Off, Dr@g R@ce or the final episode of The D0ll which I've been enjoying lately.

Fortune x

rtandon27

On the rare occaision that I do drink, rum and coke would be the choice or perhaps a gin and tonic. I'd have them stiff with two shots. Wine on the other hand would have had the same effect on me as you had last night, odd dreams and restless sleep. It's amazing how differently we all react to various tipples!

Greying_Pilgrim

Ha! DH had a small glass of red wine last night and reported strange, unsettling dreams. Apparently we were under some form of 'zombie' attack, and DH could see all the bodies coming. I (ever the pragmatist), was apparently imploring him to "stop them taking the fruit, they're taking the fruit, stop them!" 🤣🤣🤣 Given we've no fruit trees in the garden (even Mr Squirrel is importing hazelnuts from elsewhere 🤔), and the fruit bowl is looking decidedly apple heavy - I'm not sure what fruit those norty zombies were half-hinchin. Whereas LG - who most certainly had NO wine, not so much as a sniff! Was imploring me to 'not cover them in leaves' when I went to check on them before I went to bed. They did a few swipes, and said, "no leaves, don't put leaves"…… 🤔 I know autumn is getting earlier, but we haven't sufficient leaves around the homestead to cover a flower bed, never mind a child-a-bed.

Greying X

Fortune_Smiles

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82149352#Comment_82149352

Isn't it RT. I don't drink much at all these days as more than a small glass of wine is likely to leave me with a hangover. We don't get through more than one bottle of wine a week if that between us but I do like to have a little tipple at the weekend sometimes. If I'm sharing a bottle with Mr F we'll go for a red wine but my favourite would be something with bubbles in - Prosecco or Champagne for a special occasion and if the budget stretches to it.

Fortune x