LonelyRat's (not so lonely) Road to Riches

lonelyrat · 11 July 2018 at 8:53PM

Silver Queen we may actually be :rotfl: I am no good at identifying mushrooms. In fact, I have never identified a mushroom before! These ones just piqued my interest and I wanted to have a go at *trying* to identify them. Bad news for the tree that had these ones though as I have read it is likely a sign that the tree is "suffering from a fungal disease or internal decay." According to google anyway.... By finding out which type of mushroom it is I can then figure out what plan of action to take to treat the tree. In my head this is now my tree and I am a tree surgeon... I am aware that this is not the case though but it's fun to pretend.

It looks most closely like an oyster mushroom but I can't be sure and I didn't take a picture. It shall remain a mystery it seems!

I would like to get good at all this nature business. I've wanted the tree book that's on it's way to me for quite a while. It's pocket size and has pictures and descriptions so will be fun to take out on my walks. The plan is to get reasonably well informed about trees then move on to other flora or, potentially, birds.

redofromstart I actually thought I was stuck for a minute, I had to hustle to pull myself out because I think I would have just kept sinking! Would like to think my OH would have stepped in to help pull me out but he was far too busy laughing. Trainers are A-OK thankfully! They're light grey so I was resigned to the fact that they may stain and be a kind of poo colour forever but OH managed to work some magic on them. He hosed them off outside then when I was in the shower went at them with some Vanish in the kitchen sink. They've been out on the washing line drying and the results are in - they're sparkling clean. He's a good egg.

Have had a lovely day but am very achy. Went for a 10k walk earlier on my todd which was really nice. I went exploring someplace I've never walked before and ended up outside the town on top of a hill which had a lovely view. Walked home via Tesco and got my squash and cereal. They had a big basket of Bran Flakes reduced to clear so I got a box of them rather than Special K. Hopefully they hang around until I get paid and I can stock up as I always alternate between the two.

Did 13,761 steps and also got the dumbbells out for a wee arm workout. I have strong legs but really, really weak arms so trying to get a bit stronger. Just did ten minutes but my arms are feeling it. Plan will be to do every other day and see how we get on.

Candles have now been lit, fairy lights have been turned on and I am about to climb into bed and sort my face. Have laid out my clothes for work tomorrow and OH and I have just changed the bed sheets so feeling very relaxed and comfy. I love having fresh sheets, makes getting into bed feel a bit special

lonelyrat · 13 July 2018 at 8:25AM

OH has decided we are off on an adventure today! Very excited as I am usually the organiser, not him. Not sure exactly where we are off to but he has said there are waterfalls involved

He has, however, fallen back asleep now so unsure if I should wake him up or if this is all part of the plan :rotfl:

Pocket tree book arrived yesterday so will be bringing that with me to try and begin my treeducation.

Have twenty pounds in my direct debit account which was acting as a buffer in case anything unexpected happened but will need to use some of that for fuel today I think - it's OK though as payday should be in 5/6 days

Silver_Queen · 13 July 2018 at 9:09AM

Your OH reminds me of my OH lonelyrat...

Funny story. For my OH's birthday a couple of years back I took him on a surprise holiday to Paris. It was really lovely and we had a great time and I felt smug for ages afterwards about being the best at birthdays.

Fast forward to my birthday about 6 months later. He made a huge fuss and told me he was going to take me somewhere that I would love and it was a big surprise as to where. He was talking about it for weeks.

He took me to the woods with a stop in the co-op along the way for a picnic :rotfl: it's the thought that counts....

lonelyrat · 13 July 2018 at 7:43PM

Haha 100% the thought that counts! OH asked me this morning to book my birthday off work as he is going to plan something... I am pretty confident his idea will be similar to your OH's!

Can't fault him today though

... Was wonderful. Drove to Callendar then went on a walk to the Bracklinn falls. It was great

The falls were really beautiful so we hung around there just dangling our legs over the water and admiring the scenery for a while, then we climbed up through some forestry (was a very steep climb! OH was threatening to give up at one point :rotfl:) and came out at the top of a glen surrounded by sheep. I did get a bit mucky again and the newly clean trainers have become poo coloured once more... Was walking through some growth near a pool and the ground got pretty swampy. Thankfully I realised and quickly retreated, before I could sink in, but I did get a bit mucky again :eek:

I successfully identified my first tree! Am feeling very proud

Was a Scots Pine. I was sitting down for a fair bit fiddling with cones / inspecting needles / consulting my pocket guide while OH moaned about the bugs. The trees were huge but I think were still relatively young as they were conical at the top and apparently they become flat topped when they are older.

The aim will be to identify one new tree every walk I go on and eventually I will start recognising them, hopefully.

The walk was circular and we did 15,802 steps which was quite solid. The end part was downhill which was very much appreciated by the both of us! We then went and got lunch in a pub in Callender. OH had fish and chips (as usual) and I had bruschetta. Spent £15 on lunch for us which we took from our joint overdraft. Feeling a little guilty about it, but it will be paid back in a couple of days when I'm paid. Have added it to the spreadsheet and adjusted spending money for next month a wee bit.

After lunch we had a walk through the town which was very quaint. Also started to walk around a sort of lake near the car park but OH was a bit pooped so we called it a day. He's now passed out on the bed next to me, poor thing.

Tomorrow we're going to go a walk near where I went the other day as I had spotted a "community nature reserve" that I've never seen before. Just did some digging and looks pretty sweet. Apparently it's home to deer and water vole :cool:

lonelyrat · 15 July 2018 at 6:34PM

Had a nothing day yesterday... Went for a walk which wrecked me then spent the rest of the day lying down in various locations in the house

Got some new lavender oil from Amazon which I hadn't used yet so burned some of that last night and ended up falling asleep at half 8 :eek: Doesn't smell quite as nice as the stuff I used to get from Holland and Barrett but it's half the price.

Was at work today and finally got the letter from them about the decision from my disciplinary... It's been over a month since the hearing and I was supposed to let them know if I wanted to appeal within 7 days but they only just gave me the outcome letter now. Bit of a mess and good news that I wasn't wanting to appeal!

Feeling very excited for payday (potentially 3 days to go :cool:) as the Santander card will be done - finally! I actually can't wait to see it at £0... This time last year it felt like it was weighing me down and I really had no idea how on earth I was going to get rid of it. Happy days! Just virgin to go then it's time to start saving

Weighed myself after work today and it wasn't great. Only lost 0.4 kg which seems like nothing, but it's still a loss and my body fat % decreased a fair bit since last week so I'm going to look at that as a positive and try and ignore the fact I basically still weigh the same :rotfl: I had set a mini goal which was to lose 3 kg by the time we go to Arran which I think is still possible if I just keep watching what I eat. Was my totm this last week which has had an impact on my mood a little bit and perhaps on my eating as well. Tomorrow is a new day though and am determined to have a good week food / exercise wise.

Money-wise am going to be strict with myself and OH with our budget again this month but have allowed more breathing room in fun money than the last few months. Am wanting to put a chunk of of that into savings for Arran and not touch it until we go

Also am 100% not going into the HSBC overdraft this month... It makes me feel really anxious that I'm slipping :eek: It's happened a few times in recent months and I don't want it to become a habit so am going to be very conscious of it this month.

OH not properly looked for jobs yet but think next week will be the week :j Am hoping he finds something that he enjoys. He could get something like I'm doing relatively easily but I don't want him to go down the same route I did. I panicked when I finished uni and just took something to get me cash to pay my rent but working in the environment I do has slowly took away my confidence in myself and it's quite hard work getting it back again.

Have faffed around and done a wee bit of tidying/ cleaning since I got home and am going to pop out at 6.45 for a short walk to get me up to 10,000. When I get back I'm going to get the dumbells out for 10 minutes then OH and I are going to start watching Game of Thrones again from the beginning :cool:

Toni'sfriend · 15 July 2018 at 6:45PM

When are you going to Arran? I haven't bee n there in about 40 years (showing my age). Himself and I had an overnight stay in Prestwick a couple of years ago. We got the bus back to Glasgow and the view of Arran was just beautiful. It was winter but a cold, crisp, sunny day and the mountains were covered in snow. It was just fantastic. I do hope you enjoy yourself.

Scott-Weiland · 16 July 2018 at 12:18AM

lonelyrat wrote: »

Had a nothing day yesterday... Went for a walk which wrecked me then spent the rest of the day lying down in various locations in the house
Got some new lavender oil from Amazon which I hadn't used yet so burned some of that last night and ended up falling asleep at half 8 :eek: Doesn't smell quite as nice as the stuff I used to get from Holland and Barrett but it's half the price.

Was at work today and finally got the letter from them about the decision from my disciplinary... It's been over a month since the hearing and I was supposed to let them know if I wanted to appeal within 7 days but they only just gave me the outcome letter now. Bit of a mess and good news that I wasn't wanting to appeal!

Feeling very excited for payday (potentially 3 days to go :cool:) as the Santander card will be done - finally! I actually can't wait to see it at £0... This time last year it felt like it was weighing me down and I really had no idea how on earth I was going to get rid of it. Happy days! Just virgin to go then it's time to start saving

Weighed myself after work today and it wasn't great. Only lost 0.4 kg which seems like nothing, but it's still a loss and my body fat % decreased a fair bit since last week so I'm going to look at that as a positive and try and ignore the fact I basically still weigh the same :rotfl: I had set a mini goal which was to lose 3 kg by the time we go to Arran which I think is still possible if I just keep watching what I eat. Was my totm this last week which has had an impact on my mood a little bit and perhaps on my eating as well. Tomorrow is a new day though and am determined to have a good week food / exercise wise.

Money-wise am going to be strict with myself and OH with our budget again this month but have allowed more breathing room in fun money than the last few months. Am wanting to put a chunk of of that into savings for Arran and not touch it until we go Also am 100% not going into the HSBC overdraft this month... It makes me feel really anxious that I'm slipping :eek: It's happened a few times in recent months and I don't want it to become a habit so am going to be very conscious of it this month.

OH not properly looked for jobs yet but think next week will be the week :j Am hoping he finds something that he enjoys. He could get something like I'm doing relatively easily but I don't want him to go down the same route I did. I panicked when I finished uni and just took something to get me cash to pay my rent but working in the environment I do has slowly took away my confidence in myself and it's quite hard work getting it back again.

Have faffed around and done a wee bit of tidying/ cleaning since I got home and am going to pop out at 6.45 for a short walk to get me up to 10,000. When I get back I'm going to get the dumbells out for 10 minutes then OH and I are going to start watching Game of Thrones again from the beginning :cool:

Dont be down re the weight loss, a body fat drop is good if you have dropped 1-2 percent bf thats good as an example. Baby steps its the long game. Well done lonely

lonelyrat · 17 July 2018 at 8:31PM

Hi Toni'sfriend

Going on the 7th of August for a few days... Right in the middle of midgie season :rotfl: I've never been before but looks like it will be a great trip. That sounds very beautiful! A crisp sunny day sounds like it would have been lovely. Am very excited for when we go and hoping we will have it mostly dry when we are there.

Thanks Scott, I'm feeling OK. Was a bit disappointed the number on the scales wasn't lower but I am very aware that it isn't everything. That's why I go to Boots to weigh myself rather than just use our bathroom scales - I want to measure body fat as well. That way even if the weight doesn't decrease I can still see that I'm making progress! I've tried to lose weight in the past and always got disheartened when it didn't happen quickly enough... Trying very hard to be more patient this time!

Work has been a bit meh. Very busy and none of my teammates have been in so have been a bit lonely. Off tomorrow though and OH and I going on another adventure

This time we are going to the "whangie" (a rock feature up some hills near Loch Lomond). There's supposedly a scientific explanation for how it was created but there's also a myth that I like more. Apparently the devil was on his way to a meeting with a coven of witches and his tail dragged across the hill creating the whangie :cool:

Will be fun! There's also a reservoir near the walk we're going on so will try and incorporate that as well. Have made sandwiches for us from bits we had in so will just be spending on diesel and maybe some juice. I get paid tomorrow so will come from next months spends. Have altered the budget a wee bit to add in extra travel/ diesel costs going forward. Just for the next few months while we're exploring a bit more... This way it doesn't come from general spending so I can track things a bit better. It can be reduced again in winter when I go into hibernation again :rotfl:

Very much looking forward to tomorrow morning. Will wake up early and fiddle with the finances for a bit before I get OH up to go. Will be making my FINAL Santander card payment as soon as I wake up :j

Feeling very proud. I know the debt isn't gone yet, but I'm almost there... I feel so free in comparison to this time last year

I'm still in the same crummy job and we're still skint, BUT I feel like the future is bright.

Either tomorrow evening or Thursday evening I'll be back on to update balances and do some snooping on diaries :cool:

lonelyrat · 19 July 2018 at 10:54AM

Santander card is officially at zero!

A few more months then the Virgin card will be paid off then it's time to start saving

Have allowed slightly more spending money than usual this month as we're going away.

Have decided that I wan't to be able to drive by Christmas (ideally)... So plan is to start saving a wee bit every month to be able to afford lessons. Unfortunately my theory has run out so will need to sit that again

Am thinking I will book it in for August and just get it out the way.

Yesterday was very, very lovely. Got to the hill we were climbing quite early so wasn't busy which was nice. The views from the top were amazing... Could see right over to Loch Lomond and the surrounding hills which was great. Couldn't actually find the Whangie for ages :rotfl: I think when we were walking up the hill we were too keen to get to the top and must have missed it. Once we did finally find it it was good though... It's a slit in the rock and you walk through it.

Ate our sandwiches perched on rocks at the opening of the Whangie looking out over the reservoir which was really lovely. We had the place to ourselves most of the time we were there which was nice. On our descent we picked some blueberries as well which were really tasty.

Later on we walked to the reservoir as well through some forest. Identified a small- leaved lime tree :cool: There's an app from the Woodland Trust called "British Trees" which is really good! It has an A- Z of trees and you can also identify them by feature (leaves, bark, flowers etc.) so I've been using that in conjunction with my tree book. It's quite good as it has actual photos of the trees whereas the book just has diagrams. There's also an option to mark a map where you saw a specific tree which I think is pretty cool.
Did 27,516 steps and climbed 110 floors :eek: I'm sure for people more active than me that's nothing... But for me and OH it felt like a pretty amazing feat

Plans today are to chill out and try not to spend any money

Need to nip to the post office to send a return but that's it. Going to maybe go to the Loch for a lap or two if OH is up for it later then just have an early night. Will be back on later to have a nosey around as I've been a bit lax.

dustydigger · 19 July 2018 at 11:53AM

:j:j:j:j:j:j
Well done Lonelyrat! What a difference to last year.
And WOW,look at the weight loss,it puts me to shame. I've put 10lbs on the last three months (stress/comfort eating,you know my problems),but am starting again now,aiming for maybe a kilo a month,because my stupid thyroid has slowed my metabolism down to nothing:(:(
Its probably going to take me till Xmas to get back to the 4 stone loss level I was at in January.:mad:

All that walking is having an amazing effect.Well done and keep it up

LonelyRat's (not so lonely) Road to Riches

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