I have a peg bag cut out ready to sew you have just reminded me. It has been sat in the drawer for two years! My current one is a Morrisons carrier bag

On a more serious note are your neighbours renting or have they bought the place? If they are renting would you be able to find out who the landlord is? Good idea to phone social services too, they sound a nightmare.

Glad the boob fitting went well

It will feel really satisfying to make it yourself, OBL & it sounds like pretty fabric too. I used to spend a ridiculous amount of money on nice bits & bobs for my house.....& I think spending sprees at vintage fairs has the makings of a Debtisode all of its own.
I 'made' a new jelly bag last weekend. My old purpose bought one had a hole in it. I washed a clean white cotton pillowcase, folded it back on itself, cut 4 holes to enable it to hang on butcher's hooks from my pan rack & tested it out with my redcurrant jelly. Fab! The clearest brightest jelly I've ever made....it worked better than the bag I originally bought, so yay to a zero spend!
Enjoy your sewing.
F

They are renting at the moment,I know the landlord because they used to live in the house and to be honest were exactly the same,we heaved a sigh of relief when they moved out and bought somewhere else,they have been renting this house out for several years now and the last tennant was actually their son and his wife,I loved living next to them because they were quiet most of the time apart from the odd row, they won't care that these people are horrible

Well done on the jelly bag,my downfall is craft fairs and my local county show,I always come back with something that I don't really need but that is pretty not today though,today I looked and didn't buy a single thing,I saw soooo many pretty things but wasn't tempted at all

Today was spent at the flower show where my SIL was exhibiting his show garden,it looked beautiful and he won a Gold medal for it plus won the people's choice for the second year running,Im soooo pleased for him and his team becasue they have worked their socks off to get this garden done
DD and myself took DGS and had a wander round all the plants exhibits and the craft fair which is quite big,there were some lovely bits there but I came away without buying anything apart from lunch and an ice cream,I didn't have to pay to get in because my SIL get free entry for a few family members and I bought my own lunch and ice cream, I only took enough money for something to eat so so wouldnt send too much
It was soooooo hot today though, we melted on the drive home and poor DGS was too hot in his car seat even though we had the windows open,I'm just sitting here catching up then I'm going to bed,the house is a tip but I'm working all day tomorrow so won't see it,DDS boyfriend informed his mum is coming round tomorrow and I would normally go on a mad cleaning and tidying frenzy but the mess is all his so I'm just leaving it,she can see the mess he makes in someone else's house,the trouble is he has grown up with her picking up behind him which hasn't done him any favours,He has gone to his mums tonight with DD for a barbecue and they are staying overnight and I'm sure he is thinking I will tidy up before they come tomorrow but I didn't get home until late and I'm working tomorrow so I'm leaving it,he is going to Sweden on Monday for three or four weeks so I am going to do it then and at least then it will stay tidy
Right I must go to bed now or I w9nt want to get up in the morning, I haven't booked a taxi this week becasue I'm in money saving mode and the weather should be good so I thought I would walk,it takes me about an hour but I can take my time and enjoy the early morning sun

Well done to your SIL, the garden must be impressive! It sounds like a lovely day out apart from driving back in the heat.

Have a good shift tomorrow.

Thanks Cherryfudge it was a lovely day out

Yay,off today tomorrow and Wednesday.My new hours start this week,however my boss hasn't altered my shifts yet so I don't know which day I'm going to finish early as I'm not there now until Thursday,I tried to meet her three times last week but gave up in the end becasue it was just too busy,I was actually at the hospital today but I'm not sorting it out in my time
My employer is having a big campaign on health and wellness for their staff and one of the things they are focusing on is the menopause,there is a high percentage of staff who are going through or about to go through the menopause where I work and our trust is starting to recognise that to cut down on absence and to help people perform better they need support during this time,they have got the ball rolling by giving a talk on the menopause at work today, As I am currently going through the menopause myself I went along and it was quite interesting,the best bit for me though was a lady who has been going through the menopause told her story,I sat in that room and struggled not to cry,she could have been talking about me,she did get a bit emotional herself at one point and I thought she was so brave to stand up in front of all these people and share what is a very personal experience,I went and spoke to her afterwards to say thanks for sharing her story becasue it helped me to see that I am not losing my mind and that what I am feeling is entirely normal,I'm also wondering if I should be husking HRT instead of antidepressants as they don't seem to be helping me as much as they have in the past,my boss asked me to go back and speak to my GP about increasing the dose when I had my last sickness meeting so I'm going to go and have a chat and see what they say,I'm not too sure about HRT myself becasue of the breast cancer risk but it seems that the risk is very small,the person doing the talk today said you have to weight up the risk verses your quality of life and then decide which way to go,I certainly have lots to think about

In other news DDs boyfriend has gone off on his Swedish adventure so when I got home today I finally tidied and cleaned the house ,it looks lovely now,the house seems too quiet without him though so I can't win,he has been living here for a year though so I've got used to him being around and he chats to me a lot where as my DD tends to spend a lot of time in her room , anyway I have four weeks of a mess free house to look forward to now, I also got loads of washing done and that is now out overnight drying and I'm hoping it doesn't suddenly decide to rain,I am going to iron it all tomorrow night

Tomorrow is my day to have DGS and I am hoping and praying that he is not so grumpy this week,we think he might be getting some more teeth so it will be Calpol at the ready Im popping into town tomorrow then to my local Range store to buy a frame for the embroidery I've been doing ,I haven't finished it yet but I'm hoping if I buy the frame it will encourage me to get it done then we might take DGS to the park if it's not too hot

Haven't been here for a few days,I had my lovey three days off last week and went back to work on Thursday where I was given some bad news,one of my workmates has been off for over a year with severe depression,she had been in various mental health units over the year and had finally started to work towards coming back to work,however things took a turn for the worst last week and on Monday she committed suicide,Iwas poleaxed by this so have been spending the last few days trying to get my head round the situation,she was such a beautiful beautiful young woman inside and out and it's so so sad that she felt she had no choice but to end her life,her poor family must be devastated,everyone at work is just asking why ........we will never know........she will be missed terribly and the world has lost a lovely person
I've just spent the last few days thinking about her and her family as relflecting on my life,I'm not the most mentally stable person at the moment but thank god im not in danger of hurting myself,I'm very lucky that I have been able to deal with my low moods and tell myself that I have lots to live for.im drawing a line under it now for my own sanity,it's certainly been a shock and very very sad

I started my new hours last week so finished at 3.30 on Thursday,it was weird to finish work so early and I didn't really know what to do with myself,of course it was a weird day anyway after receiving the news from work so the afternoon went by in a blur really,I met my mum for lunch on Friday instead of Saturday because I was working on Saturday and we had a nice wander round town,
Saturday at work was an ok day workwise although moral is very low at the moment,I wasn't feeling too good because I had a pain flare up but I expected it because of the bad news,it's definitely stress related so the flare up didn't come as a shock,I had to take some painkillers though which I haven't done for a while but they worked which is the main thing
Today is my day off and I got up this morning full of energy,so I've cleaned the house got two loads of washing done and all the ironing,so I'm sitting here in a lovey tidy room
DD and myself went to to a charity shop on Tuesday and I bought a couple of books,both of them are thrillers which I am enjoying more lately,I love to read and always have a book on the go,the first one was The Lady In Cabin 10,I started reading it on Tuesday evening and finished it on Wednesday afternoon,I really enjoyed it and it was nice to lounge around reading,the second one is called The Good Daughter and Im about halfway through it,I'm really enjoying this one too and I'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out
I've also finally finished the cross stitch that my Sil asked me to sew for my DD. I've got the frame so just need to frame it now,I'm going to do that tomorrow when I get home from work,I'm finishing at 3.30 tomorrow but I have to get shopping on the way home so won't get home straight away

Another day another dollar,work was ok today and I was leaving early so that was a bonus,I managed to get my shopping on the way home,I was supposed to cook a curry tonight to eat over the next four days but I was too shattered and DD wanted me to take the dog out with her,so I made pitta bread pizzas instead and I'm going to make the curry tomorrow, they were yummy and cheap
Sadly im about to send some of my emergency fund this month as Ive discovered that my room thermostat for the central heating is broken,it's a wireless one and it's broken several times in the past,I've held it together with sellotape and put silver foil inside so the batteries connect but I think it's finally given up,I called someone today and he quoted £200,I know I can buy the thermostat for £108 but I'm not sure how to programme it,the man I called today tried to convince me to buy a fancy one I can control with my phone but I don't want that I want a like for like replacement that is easy to use,I discovered today that my brother in law is installing a new boiler for my mum and dad this week,I thought he had retired (I haven't spoken to him for several years what with one thing or another) so my mum is going to ask him tomorrow if he would be able to sort it out for me,hopefully he will ,he put the boiler in originally so he knows what I need
It's really funny that now I have the money put aside for things like this I really don't want to spend it,I was moaning to my DD about having to use some of the emergency fund and she pointed out that that's what it's there for,I know this but I like it being in the bank

I also finished my second charity shop book today,it was really good and had a satisfactory ending ,I have DGS tomorrow so I'm thinking I will go for a wander into the library in town to see if I can find any more Karin Slaughter books,I quite like her style of story telling , I do have some books in a pile in my bedroom that are waiting to be read but I like to save them for those times when I can't find anything in the library
I'm also going to sort out the material to make my peg bag,my employer has a monthly craft club you can join at work or you can join the FB group,I can't get to the club so I joined the group and I mentioned to a lady on there that I would like to knit some socks,I bought some wool that knits up in a lovely stripey pattern ages ago and started knitting some sockets but I couldn't do the heel,she has linked me to a tutorial on u tube so I'm going to have another go at socks too

I am the same about not wanting to take money out once its squirreled away.I am saving up for a variety of things (oven,carpet,hoover among them) and sigh with relief each time they keep on working and I dont have to raid the stash!

0h, OBL, it's been a mixed week for you, hasn't it? Sorry to hear about your work colleague - so sad.
Re women of a 'certain age'......well I'm another one, although I'm lucky in that I seem to have very few symptoms. I think I felt so rotten every month while I was still menstruating with dreadful cramps, headaches & crippling tiredness, that anything feels like an improvement compared with that! I have been trying to improve my nutritional profile by eating more varied lunches, with plenty of beans, nuts, avocado, protein, etc, instead of the sandwich & crisps I mainly had before, so perhaps that's helping.
Re sock knitting...don't give up!! I couldn't do the heel at first either, but once you know how to do it, it's like riding a bike! I've knitted HEAPS of pairs since then & with all the lovely self-patterning sock yarns out there, they make fab affordable presents. I can now knit 3 different sizes without needing to look at the pattern! You will just suddenly suss the heel instructions even though what they're telling you to do might not feel intuitive.
F x

I have just read the Good Daughter too. The first of Karin Slaughters books I have read but will definitely read more. Have also read the Woman in Cabin 10. I may have to venture to the library to reserve the Karin Slaughter books as I spend far too much on kindle books and still have loads to read. Have also been supporting our local independent book shop in the fear it may go if I stop buying books there. Not great for my purse though.

I feel for you withdrawing from emergency funds too but of course that is what they are there for. Just resolve to replace asap.

glad it's not just me then,I love looking at the balance in my saving account,maybe because it's been so long since I had any savings

Yep,definitely been a roller coaster week here but hopefully things are getting back onto an even keel now,the news about my colleague knocked me for six but I think I've got my head round it now

I've been coasting along with the menopause for a while and didn't feel too bad but I haven't had a period for 6months and since then I've rapidly gone downhill,I used to get really bad PMS every month and now it feels like I've got it all the time,I'm either trying not to cry at everything or trying not to kill people even my best friend who is lovely has been getting on my nerves so I know I'm not right,if I don't sort it out I'm going to end up saying something to I regret to the wrong person,I find myself wandering round muttering darkly to myself
This week I have been making an effort with my diet so I'm eating more fruit and veg I've had no chocolate for 5 days ( come to think of it maybe that's why I feel so grumpy )I am also trying to eat more protein as being vegetarian I miss out sometimes and I have realised that if I eat more protein I feel less hungry

I'm going to persevere with the socks as I love the feel of homemade socks,my daughter knots me socks for Xmas sometimes and they are sooooo soft and snuggly, I love them

The Good Daughter was the first one I've read too,they had one in my library today but I wasn't sure about it so didn't take it out,I did take another one out by Ruth Ware who wrote The Woman In Cabin 10 though but I can't remember what it's called and it's upstairs at the moment,I'm going to bed in a bit so will have a look
I try to buy Kindle books when they are on a deal for 99p there aren't usually many that I like though,we don't have any independent books shops in our city which is a shame,we just have the chain ones,my DD has one in the small town where she lives but I haven't had the chance to look in there yet,I'm checking out the charity shops nowadays as quite a few of my local ones sell books for a pound each

I'm trying to be be philosophical about the emergency fund and I'm thinking at least I have the cash there to pay for this repair and I'm not panicking about trying to find the money somewhere or drawing cash out on a credit card like I would have had to do last year,I think I'm worrying about it becasue I've just cut my hours and money is going to be even tighter so replaceing it might be a problem, it's Sod's law that something would break just as I decide to work less

I'm so sorry to hear about your colleague. What a tragedy.

I hope you feel the benefit of your new work hours though - and maybe chat to your doctor about whether hormones might help more than anti-depressants?

It's very sad and people have been left reeling with shock by what's happened, she was such a lovely person and very popular,I was having a clear out the other day
and found a book bag that she made for me ,she came to work with this bag she had made and I admired it then the next time she came in she had me me one too

I wa supposed to be having a phone consultation with a doctor tomorrow but I've cancelled it because I want to speak to my actual doctor and I think it's too much of a question to be asked over the phone,I have been wondering for ages if I should be on HRT rather than anti depressants,I just need to find out about the breast cancer risk

I haven't noticed any benefit yet with my new hours but it's only the second week so early days,I think when I do an early it doesn't really make a lot of difference because I still have to get up at 5.30 and I might leave work earlier but I'm still busy all day and got to bed at the same time,I might notice more of a benefit when I do a late because that shift is 12 until 8pm so I don't have to get up early,I'm doing some lates soon so I will see if it helps

Another busy day at work and despite being kept awake last night until gone midnight by next doors feral children I wasn't too tired this morning,I did however suddenly lose my oomph in the evenin,I went for my supper break at 6.30 and decided to read my book and I nodded off,luckily I woke up in time before my break ended
I have the day off tomorrow so I'm going to have a lie in before pottering round at home,I'm not sure what my plans for tomorrow are yet apart from doing some washing,I am soooo tired I'm off to bed now

Is there any possibility you could start later instead of finishing earlier?