Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge · 14 June 2019 at 11:12PM

I don't think I've spent anything today... this morning seems rather a long time ago. Auntie treated DD and me to coffee before leaving. I've suggested she and I meet up one day at a mid-way point between her town and Mum's old house. A sort of 'girls' day on the town'! That might help her feel we had come to see her as well as giving me a break from the house.

I went home and found J packing for a weekend away and L had gone to a funeral for a friend who died very suddenly, so quite a gloomy atmosphere but I had a chat with J and this evening I've texted L to say I hope it went okay. We aren't likely to see either of them for a few days, and DS2 is out this evening - so we've gone from a full house to just us. I love having the stashed papers out of our room and messing up the dining room again! Is that a weird thing to say?! I don't like the fact that paper is my nemesis and I struggle to get rid of it, but it's so nice not being on good behaviour. :rotfl:

Work looks like being yet another heavy weekend. I had mentioned to my manager that between work and personal life I've not had a proper day off in a few weeks and I think he took notice because he looked at me and asked how I was. Not that he usually ignores me as he's pleasant and a good listener, but there was a feeling I was being assessed. Anyway there's not much he can do about it but be concerned as we are low on staff over the coming week. It might mean I don't get asked to do more, though. I suppose I have picked up a few extra shifts which is my own doing but it's the working through my days off that hasn't been addressed. The ones I picked up didn't affect that.

So there's nothing to report on spending, money saving or decluttering. I did get the laundry done and have nearly got a mark out of J's light-coloured coat which could save her the cost of a new one if I can just complete the job.

Today I'm thankful for a bit of down-time, the sun coming out and the laundry on the line.

Honeysucklelou2 · 15 June 2019 at 8:22AM

Older generations are amazing! I had a great aunt who, at a family wedding, was the last to leave the dance floor.

Enjoy the weekend.

HairyHandofDartmoor · 15 June 2019 at 5:48PM

Perhaps you need to schedule a few hours of relaxation on your days off occasionally. You sound like you might be feeling a bit frazzled?

I'm glad the sun has come out, it's so nice to be able to dry washing outside

.

Cherryfudge · 15 June 2019 at 11:28PM

I do tend to take mornings off when I have a day off, thanks HH, but losing days off entirely (training is scheduled on days off sometimes) has an impact. I reduced my work hours last year and that's helped but recently I've had the combination of training and things outside work just eating up my time and energy lately. I have two days off next week though (nearly - I realised I said I'd do the sleep in at work right at the end of those, which will lead me into the early shift when I get back).

Anyway, today's shift went more easily than expected as we had enough staff and found a new order for doing things which freed up the early evening. We had a torrential downpour but afterwards all spent a bit of time in the garden which was nice and, I think, a welcome change.

Earlier in the day DH and I went to the car boot sale which was a bit depleted but not muddy despite the recent weather. I spent £4 on plants then spotted a smaller version of a coffee pot my parents used to have. My sister has what remains of that set and I didn't have room anyway, but this little jug was only £4... it's mine now! I keep going past it and stroking it!

Spending:
Garden £4
Household £4
MS:
Had fish left over from feeding people during the week so had that with our chips (and it was really nice).
Didn't have enough change to buy the little casserole dish that was for sale with the jug, but might take money next time in case I happen on it again - though to be honest it was the coffee pot I fell for.
£2 coin for the jar.
No decluttering today.

I'm grateful for my little coffee pot, for an easier shift and for all my new plants - dianthus, busy lizzies and a pale lemon perennial viola.

Honeysucklelou2 · 15 June 2019 at 11:52PM

The coffee pot and plants sound delightful, especially the lemon viola

Cherryfudge · 17 June 2019 at 11:23PM

Nothing spent yesterday but not a good day due to tension between various members of the younger generation coming out when some of them weren't at home. DH and I are going to have to intervene and it isn't looking good - but then I'm too close to the situation to see it properly. Anyway today has been more peaceful and I heard from a colleague that she may have a property they could rent in a few months' time. However she's asked me not to mention it to them as she doesn't know for sure that it will be available.

In better news, DS2 has passed his dissertation! That's a relief, though it makes it more likely that he, too, will be moving away. Oooh, and I think there may be a girlfriend in the offing! How exciting! He did have a female friend round yesterday and has been buying new clothes. I mean, that's proof, isn't it?! :rotfl:

Today I had a lazy morning, got some shopping including chocolate and a pastry to cheer me up, then went to work for what promised to be a heavy shift. However, it worked out just the opposite and I got myself a few little brownie points with a senior colleague (I hope) by spotting something in some paperwork.

Work-wise, I turned down a couple of possible shifts, then discovered I was double-booked on another one, so cancelled it. Then we had a change in bookings so I was able to pull out of one that came on top of training on Thursday. It means less cash but the time off will be good. I've not heard any more about the gardening, officially, but colleagues have been suggesting ways I could progress so I expect when the rain stops for long enough I shall be back there mowing the lawn.

I am actually quite off-kilter between auntie's visit last week (which I found difficult) and the disagreement between the children where I can see both sides and someone is going to be hurt unless things change. I know I'm still fairly tired too, so I'm going to try to rest over the next couple of days - which are proper days off now with no meetings to go to and no sleep-in shifts to cover!

Spending:
Housekeeping £5.73
Clothing £12.00
MS:
10th coins saved 21p
Gift of some drinking glasses from L.
No decluttering.

I'm thankful today that things have gone well with DS2's dissertation, for an easier shift than expected and for days off to come.

Cherryfudge · 18 June 2019 at 7:08PM

Oh dear - an expensive day so far. I looked into dental insurance again and this year it would have been cheaper than the treatment I've now completed. No point in setting it up for a while though, the dentist seems to have done a good job and I'm all patched up for the foreseeable.

I decided to do a bit of decluttering this morning but it mostly amounted to tidying. I did throw paper waste into the log burner, which is somehow satisfying, and binned some trainers that are no longer comfortable due to being worn thin. They were nice while they lasted - I did my one-and-only 10K in those!

The house still feels sad, or maybe it's just me. J and L haven't got in yet: in my suspicious mind I think they might be steering clear of DS2 but it might not be that. L is usually sociable, which makes me think there's something to his absence. Hate it when people fall out but as I said the other day, I can see both sides.

At least I've done the laundry (how nice that it can line-dry again!) and the lady who looks after Mum's garden has texted to say she's razed the weeds, which I suspect is so I won't have to shell out for a strimmer.

Spending:
Medical £97.00 (oh, and 80p for anti histamines)
Housekeeping £2.70
MS:
Wombled 16p
Refilled a herb jar at the eco shop - all of 14p!
10th coin saved 5p
Decluttered:
2 bits of paper
a pair of trainers
a lid
an empty herb jar that's now a full herb jar.
I also found my travel cube that I keep electricals in, so now I have use of another charger cable, a power bank and my old phone that has music on.

Today I'm thankful for cheap herbs, good dental care and mild weather.

HairyHandofDartmoor · 18 June 2019 at 8:38PM

I'm sorry about the diagreement between children

. DS1 and DS2 didn't speak to each other for about two years once (loong story) and DH and I found this incredibly distressing but could do nothing about it. However they are on good terms now, so it blew over in the end.

I'm glad you're going to have some proper time off to relax

.

Cherryfudge · 18 June 2019 at 10:58PM

Thanks HH. Not sure what's going on now, I hope they don't wait two years to sort it out, that must have been very hard for you.

I went round to my friend's this evening and we watched the film Molokai, which is incredibly moving but a tough watch... oddly I feel better for watching it.

Nothing else to add tonight...

Cherryfudge · 19 June 2019 at 11:06PM

Today I'm busy putting off sending an order to Sp0rts D!rect… I'm already missing those trainers I threw out yesterday, though they'd stopped being comfortable. I've found an almost identical pair for £23 which should be well worth it, but the trouble is I've also spotted other things on their sale page (and aren't they in their entirety a sort of gigantic sale page?). So, I lost my favourite sweatshirt recently and it's been a couple of weeks gone so I'm tempted to replace it. I also have a favourite snuggly fleece top that I wear much of the time in the house and it's gradually getting a bit thin so when I saw one online I was tempted to it. The online one is a 'good' brand but might be thicker than the current one has ever been... and the current one might just last me through this winter. And then I saw a winter hoodie that I really liked...

So I'm not sending the order today, I'm going to see how I feel when I get back from my course tomorrow. It's odd thinking of winter clothes in June but I can be sure they are cheaper now than later - and equally sure I don't have much room for them!

Apart from that I've ordered a new resistance band as the one I got from physio has been missing for weeks and I feel the need to get back to exercise. That counts as 'medical' because it helps the arm muscles that were affected by the break last year.

Talking of exercise, I (literally) picked up a bag of compost while in town today. I carried it home too: 50 litres over about half a mile! I'm going to ache tomorrow. However, I had a nice time gardening: I've replanted two chimney pots that I had from Mum, and tidied a tub up, thus using quite a lot of plants I'd bought recently. The rest of the garden is very untidy but those little bits should look good as the new plants fill out. An unexpected plus was that a punnet of six busy lizzies turned out to have twelve in! I've carefully divided them up and still have about five to plant somewhere.

Spending:
Garden £3.00
Medical £3.35
Housekeeping £4.22
MS:
10th coin into savings: 20p
Decluttering:
a peach and a banana that had seen much better days - into the compost
a plant tray - binned
Finished a jar of pesto that had been cluttering up the fridge.

Today I'm thankful for feeling strong, news from the doctor that my cholesterol has been steadily reducing over the last few years and productive gardening time on a beautifully sunny afternoon (despite rain this morning).

Cherry takes the reins

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