Settling in for the long haul

Dakota_Rose

Reporting back to say today was as MSE as could be really. I took a snack bag out with us so that kept littlest happy while we were out and about. We visited the school uniform shop in town, where we were able to try on the different sizes (good thing too as Little Miss needed a size larger than I expected) and get all the logo jumpers we need for the year ahead as they were in stock. The uniform pot is now lighter but I’m glad to have the last big purchase out of the way.

Little Miss almost didn’t have her ears pierced due to having a bit of a panic beforehand but the lady was wonderful with her and she is now floating on cloud 9, delighted with them. Mr D and I would’ve been perfectly happy for them to stay unpierced but she’s spoken of nothing else for months. I think she had her heart set on having them done ready for secondary school.

I bought a loaf, some ham and fruit while out so that I could make everyone a little lunch plate once we got back to Mum’s. £5.60 spent which I was happy with as it beats the price of a meal deal for 4 of us. The children also had a sweet treat each, but this was paid for out of the change in my purse. And… I picked up an Ian Rankin book for 50p from a charity shop. Again with the change in my purse. Happy with that!

Dinner tonight was actually lovely but very simple using up last night’s leftovers with pizzas. I’m proud to report that my portion control was more sensible today.

Happy hump day to the workers. All downhill to the next weekend from here 😊

Dakota_Rose

I’ve been tired and headachey today - I don’t think the humidity and my hayfever have helped any. Mr D treated us to a cup of tea and scone at our local garden centre and we picked up a lovely new dog basket that we had eyed up earlier in the week and decided could be assigned to the home improvements pot, seeing as the current dog bed is an eye-sore in the kitchen. This should last her a long time to come and looks so much nicer.

In other high-octane news, I had an afternoon nap, finished my jigsaw and have read several chapters of my library book. I’ve also used an offer on my Octopus app to buy a National Trust family pass for £8 and booked a day out to end our Lake District holiday at Hill Top, which was Beatrix Potter’s cottage, a place we’ve always thought would be lovely to visit. So we’ll detour over there to end our family holiday rather than heading straight home on the last day all being well.

Mr D finally got the email to say the £100 gift card is ready for a life insurance policy we took out in January. Well, we say ready, it should be in around 2 weeks now that he’s registered for it. They don’t half make it hard to access in the hope that people won’t see it through I’m sure. That’ll come in very handy for the birthdays pot!

ohdearhowdidthathappen

I’ve got a few different ear piercings as do my DDs and I go to a piercing/tattoo place that use needles. Never had any problems. You do seem to hear of quite a few issues with the guns at high street places 🥴

Love National Trust, always a lovely day out

Sun_Addict

The first time I had my ears pierced was by my friend with a needle and a bar of soap 😬 Needless to say that didn’t end well! My DD had her ears pierced at probably the same place as your DD and somehow the stud managed to embed itself in her earlobe 🤢 She had to have it surgically removed in A&E.

Rhyddid2026

surgically removed??!?!😮

how awful!

Dakota_Rose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82080293#Comment_82080293

This is horrendous @Sun_Addict, but unfortunately not surprising. When it goes well, great, but I’ve heard too many horror stories now. And how the cost difference can be £70 between there and the tattoo shop, I just can’t understand. Little Miss’s ears seem to be healing well so far and she’s comfortable with having them cleaned each day.

A later check in from me today as we’ve been out visiting family and friends today. We’re not long home from a lovely fish and chip supper at our friend’s house. It’s been too long since we last caught up so it was good to touch base again and as we only agreed it this morning, was an unexpected thing.

In the couple of quiet moments we’ve had today, I’ve squeezed in a few of chapters of my book which I’m finding to be a page-turner due to the style of writing. It’s another by Janice Hallett - The Examiner. I’m not sure that I’m enjoying it as thoroughly as I did the Twyford Code but it’s still a good read in my humble opinion.

Hoping everyone has a good weekend!

Dakota_Rose

Good news today in that the long awaited TCB payment has cleared and I’m now just waiting to cash it out. £163!

It will go into our summer holiday fund as a bonus pot of spending money for while we’re away next week. We had put aside much more than usual for this summer holiday as it’s a special one for our anniversary, but most of that fund is eaten up with accommodation so we were actually taking less spending money than we usually would. It would be wonderful to bring some back with us, but at least I won’t need to say no to a nice meal out (or ‘in’ in this case as we’ll be staying in a nice hotel twice on our travels). This feels extremely frivolous though so I may shave some off before we go and pop in to premium bonds savings.

Today is a home day. I intend to clear through Little Miss’ bedroom to sort for charity/bin and the boot sale we plan to do later this summer break.

Dakota_Rose

Have finished The Examiner by Janice Hallett this afternoon. The second half had me gripped and although far-fetched, it was definitely worth a read. I’d give it 8.5/10.

26 books for 2026

1.You Are Here (easy read) 9/10

2. The Seven Murders of Evelyn Hardcastle (time-travelling murder mystery) 9.5/10

3. Love Untold (ending made a middling read worthwhile) 8/10

4. Way Back (engaging easy read with a farm theme and a few typos) 8.5/10

5. The Cuckoo’s Calling (first of the Strike detective novels) 8.5/10

6. Yellowface (‘too awful to look away’ page-turner) 10/10

7. A Thousand Splendid Suns (emotive, heavy but worthwhile read) 10/10

8. Before the coffee gets cold (Japanese coffee-shop time-travelling scenarios) 8/10

9. Us Three (screenplay-style friendship story) 9/10

10. The Twyford Code (a puzzle within a puzzle) 9/10

11. The Shock of the Fall (first person narrative with flashbacks - includes childhood trauma told sensitively and with humour woven throughout) 8/10

12. Guilty (lots of shock factor details, but predictable storyline) 7.5/10

13. The Falls (Scottish detective novel) 8.5/10

14. The Examiner (murder mystery told through emails and messages) 8.5/10

Dakota_Rose

Okay, reporting back to say it’s been a no spend day (small victories). I’ve cleared Little Miss’s room and have one bin-liner full for the charity shop, two and a bit for the boot sale and one for the bin. Phew!

Sun_Addict

Well done 🥳