I know,I'm so excited it's ridiculous

Woke up this morning with a horrible sore throat,my DD1 and husband have both come down with awful colds and now I'm thinking that's what has been wrong with DGS and now I've caught it, I'm really annoyed because after working tomorrow I'm on holiday for a week and I have plans for things I need to get done in the house,my last holiday was ruined because I was ill too,I'm really hoping I will wake up tomorrow and it will have gone away,DD1 was not feeling at all well today,we did still meet up and she found a swimming costume but we came home early because she was feeling rough
I bought ingredients today to make the Butternut Squash and Gnocchi bake that I like so I had that for tea and have three more for the next three days,I like to try and take nice food to work because it cheers me up when I have something nice to eat in my lunch break and I now don't have to cook until Tuesday which is a lovely thought
I just have to work tomorrow and I have the week after that so I'm planning to do lots of decluttering and some bits in the garden,the spare room needs sorting out so that is a priority next week,I have been saying this for months but each time I'm supposed to do it I've been ill but it's getting done next week even if I have to crawl in there on my hands and knees
In other news I had a jailbreak this evening,I had let the chickens out in the garden and at about 7ish there was a knock at the door,it was next door but one to say one of my chickens was in their garden,she must have decided to go off on a little adventure ,she is named after Ginger from Chicken Run so is living up to her name,I had to go round there with a bag of mealworms to entice her home,on investigation I found that the chicken wire fence up the garden has come down,it must have been when we had the snow and I didn't notice,so that's another job for next week or she will be off again

You are making smashing progress on the money!

Hope the cold is soon gone. Perhaps you could give yourself a day of rest in your time off next week as well as tackling jobs? I do find that helps.

Thanks Cherryfudge,I'm feeling a lot more relaxed about things now and I'm actually enjoying being in control of my money for a change
I've had a lovely lie in this morning until 11am so that's perked me up,the sore throat appears to being easing off but I have a mild chesty cough now which I'm hoping won't come to much,Ive been taking supplements since that period of illness last time and trying to build my immune system up so hopefully my body will fight it off

Yay I am now on holiday until Sunday, yesterday at work was manic so I was shattered when I got home,I started my holiday off by having a lovely lie in until 11am followed by a relaxed breakfast,I still have a cold but it's not too bad at the moment so hopefully it will go away pretty swiftly
The plans this week are decluttering and getting rid of things to the charity shop,I'm making a start on that today and taking whatever I find to the charity shop tomorrow,I need to go and get some shopping tomorrow so will use my shopping trolley to take the bits to the CS and then go shopping on the way back,I have my main meal cooked until Tuesday so only have to sort lunch until then
The bonus is that my daughter made a start on the ironing yesterday so I can now actually reach the stuff that's on the bed that needs to be got rid of,there is half a basket of washing iron but I will do that later
I also plan to do a bit more in the garden if I have time and the weather is good,I get lots of primroses growing wild in my front lawn and can never bear to cut it until they have died off but there are only three really yellow ones there at the moment and I'm thinking I might dig them up and put them in some pots I have attached to my drainpipes,I was going to buy some plants to put in the pots but these would be free and will last a few weeks until the less hardy plants come out
SEWING.........I need to crack on with this because I am going to run out of time to finish it,I'm going to spend some evenings sewing instead of looikning mindlessly at my iPad

Today has been very productive but not in the way I intended, I finished the ironing and then went to put it away but my wardrobe is so packed I hate putting my clothes away so I decided to clear out my wardrobe instead of the spare room,I've got a large charity bag full of clothes that I don't wear to go tomorrow and my wardrobe is now organised so I know what's in there and everything fits without getting squished and creased,
When the boiler broke a few weeks ago I had to take all my bedding out of the airing cupboard so I dumped it in the spare room, well today I sorted it all out so my duvet sets and sheets and pillowcases are now all kept together by set,I can now find everything and won't be hunting round for sheets to go with different covers I've got rid of some bits from there that I don't use as well so it all fits on the shelves now without me ramming it in so I managed to decluttering two spaces and get rid of some stuff from the spare room,I'm now going to go and have a nice shower and chill out for the evening

Fabulous progress, OBL! Well done you. . It's so nice when your wardrobe is newly-sorted: you know what you've got and maybe discovered a couple of things you'd forgotten, the ironing is all done and you have the choice of anything you own.

Wild primroses are among my favourites: I have some of my Mum's which she in turn was given by her best friend who died before I was born... I have some primulas in flower here and I love them too.

I have read of people storing each set of bedding inside one of the pillowcases which sounds like a good idea (except when I tried it I had difficulty getting the inner layers to lie flat). You do sound as though you've done a lot of useful sorting this weekend.

Just a brilliant start

Tidy mind and all that

Keep it up and really hope you enjoy your week - primroses sound divine
Sam x

Thanks Cherryfudge,I did indeed find a top and a cardigan that I forgot I owned,it fits me really nicely now I've lost weight so that was a bonus
I also tried storing my bedding inside the pillowcase but didn't like it,so I just put the pillowcases and sheet inside the folded up duvet
Primroses always cheer me up when I see them

Thanks,I'm feeling very tidy minded tonight

Yay,got a letter from MBNA today saying they accept my offered payments via SC and have frozen all interest and charges on my account,NatWest are still being a pain in the bum though and have sent me a letter today saying I need to pay the full balance of my OD by the 12th of April despite me writing to them explaining my situation,they know I'm in a DMP because they have had two payments,I'm going to write to them again in case they didn't get the first letter and to remind them of my situation,I need them to stop charging me interest as well
I think I've had a letter from Barclays saying they accept my offer and have frozen interest but I can't remember so I need to get the paperwork out later and check that,if so that's two down and just NatWest to go,I've been a loyal customer of NatWest since I was 18 years old and they have had so much money off me in charges and a fee paying bank account so they can bog off if they think I'm backing down over this,I will pay them back but they will just have to wait like everyone else
In other news I've been to the charity shop this morning with my cleared out clutter so that's finally gone,I'm going to clean the house in a bit then I'm sitting down to do some sewing,my daughter bought me a book called Stay Away From The Hazlewood for Mother's Day and I started reading that yesterday ,it's really good and I couldn't put it down so I might read some of that too
I've still got a sore throat and have lost my voice today so this cold is hanging around, hopefully it won't go down onto my chest like last time as I can't use the inhaler they gave me as it reacts badly with the anti depressants I'm on
It's a miserable rainy day here today so I won't be doing any outside jobs,I'm really annoyed because I have bedding to dry and wanted to hang it out,it will have to go in the dryer now instead,I have cut down on my use of the dryer though which is good because it's expensive and really noisy so I try not to use it much anymore
I also did some food shopping while I was out because I want to make homity pie tomorrow to have with a salad,that will feed me for 4 days and I have the last of my Gnocchi bake tonight,then I might make the Leek Croustade again,I could literally live on these three dishes,they are so filling and proper comfort food and also not too expensive to make really
Well that's me updated for a bit now I just go and do some house work as there are dust balls the size of tumbleweed blowing across my living room floor:

Oops forgot to say I also declutterd all my important paperwork yesterday and I found last months wage slip and they did charge me twice for my bus pass last month as well,so the man from payroll was right I will get it back next payday in my wages

Sounds as though things are really on the up for you.... lovely to hear.

Thanks I'm definitely feeling more positive about things now and so far things are going well

Glad everything is going well for you. With reference to your sore throat etc that you had...try taking vitamin D3. It helps boost your immune system and since we have been taking it, we have been very good at avoiding stuff this winter.

Hi Ploppy,I take a vitamin Supplement called D Lux from H&B you spray it under your tongue once a day

Today was my day to look after DGS but I had also arranged to go with my younger DD to a neighbouring town because she had to go and meet the team she will be doing her student work placement with,so we had a nice early start to get the train for an hours journey,it didn't get off to a good start becaus it was tipping it down whe I took the dog out,however when it came time for us to walk to the station the rain stopped just long enough for us to get to the station
DGS enjoyed being in the train but then fell asleep,DD went off to meet her team and I went for a stroll round the town center,I was pleasantly surprised by how many shops there were,it's a really well stocked town
I had a bit of a spendy day though as we bought lunch and I also bought myself two tops,the first was a shirt reduced from £24.50 to £10 and the second was £8.99 ,I bought them both out of the money I got for Mother's Day so they haven't come out of my budget and both were total bargains
I still don't feel great and I'm shattered now so will be going to bed soon I think,I've got to get up early tomorrow to take the cat to the vet so need to get some sleep
I'm also meeting a friend for a coffee tomorrow,this is the friend I went to visit last week who had a fall,she needs cheering up so I'm meeting her for a chinwag

Oops forgot to post that my DDs boyfriend sorted out a new internet package for me yesterday,I have Tv,internet and phone as a package and was paying £57 a month,he has managed to get it reduced to £34 a month,it's not loads but it's £23 in my pocket,I didn't want the hassle of changing companies so he got the best deal the company I'm with now could offer me

Well done on MBNA, the bus pass, the bargainaceous shirts and the Internet savings! Hoping Natwest see sense and the cold soon disappears...

Hope you have a good night's rest and feel better for it.

You seem to be on a roll,OB Lady,and definitely sound brighter. Well done. I'm sure all that decluttering decluttered your mind as well. Its surprising how the removal of old stuff lightens mind as well as body.
Mr Dusty keeps shaking his head at me,he thinks I'm nuts because I cleared out my kitchen food cabinets and arranged the remainder neatly,a place for everything etc etc. Every time I open the cupboard I grin with pleasure and give a little nod to the little carton(it held pears at one time) which now corrals all those little odds and ends like oxo cubes,black and white pepper,saltcellar,and another which holds soy sauce,garlic sauce,vinegar No more rooting through the whole cupboard searching for something,and cleaning is easy,just lift out the whole carton and wipe. My kids just roll their eyes at weird mam,but it makes me happy!