This Week - W/E 3rd August 2024

This week, I decided to do things a little differently. I was due at work on Sunday afternoon, from 2pm, so I decided to do the weekly shop on Sunday morning, instead of doing it on Monday. This was in part due to the fact that we'd run out of much of the food we regularly eat, and also in part because I had a voucher to use at Tesco that was expiring on Sunday. It was for £9 off a spend of £60 or more.  I made sure to do most of the weekly shop there to take advantage and then the rest of the shop was done at Lidl. I was home in time to have lunch and then get ready for work.

Work was crazy busy. There were a lot of people shopping despite it being super hot and sunny outside or maybe even because of it.  The shift passed really quickly and I was home by 6.30pm, which was great as I could relax and eat at a reasonable time. I even treated myself to a glass of wine, which is a rare thing for me these days.

On Monday, it felt strange not to need to go out shopping for once. I had a lie in and then when I did get up, I decided to tackle the next task on my to do list, which was to do a major overhaul/declutter of my wardrobe. It is currently way too full and I find it difficult to pull things out and put things into it. There were many things in it that I never wear and it was also clogged up with lots of work clothes that I only wear during colder weather.

I started at one end and worked my way through every item, trying most things on and assessing whether I was really likely to wear them again or ever. I was actually super ruthless this time and after a couple of hours I had a large pile of clothing to be donated or sold on Vinted and another large pile (mainly work clothes) to be put in out of season storage. It felt super satisfying, as I emptied almost half of the wardrobe. There are, however, quite a lot of items in the ironing basket that will be going back in there.

Here's an after picture:

You can tell how ruthless I was from the photo and how many empty hangers there are and also how much black I wear, although the items to the right are work clothes. I actually surprised myself, by letting go of lots of things that used to be old favourites. In reality though, they were just taking up precious space and really have had their time. I've changed a lot since I used to wear them and I couldn't see myself wearing them again. Besides, some of them weren't even flattering and life is too short to wear things that don't look nice. I think that once I get all of my clothes ironed and put away, it will be much easier to choose what I want to wear each day. The next task on my list, will be to go through all of my shoes and my drawers too and see if I can part with more items.

Later, I got ready and went to work, which was pretty busy, although I did get to leave a bit earlier again, which I was happy to do. 

On Tuesday morning, I got up and sorted some laundry, put away some clothes and bagged up donations from the day before. The donation pile has grown significantly in the last week. Here's a picture of how it stands currently and it's growing weekly:

I went to my usual class at the gym and then I was free to do as I pleased for the rest of the day, which felt great after working for five consequetive days. LB was heading out to view another flat, so on the spur of the moment, I decided to accompany her to South West London again. We set off around 3pm and got to the flat just in time for her appointment. It was a nice flat, very close indeed to the railway station. I'm not sure if she's going to make an offer, that will be up to her and her friend, but it was a nice space. We met the landlord and his wife too, which we didn't expect and they seemed very nice, although it's hard to tell from such a short interaction.

On the way home, we stopped off at a garden bar in East London for a drink. It was a steaming hot day and the bar was very busy. Basically, it is a bar/cafe in a garden, which has been created on what was originally derelict land, but has now been made into a lovely place to meet or hang out. It was nice to do something enjoyable together in the summer holidays. The last time I'd been there, a good 5-10 years ago, it was very small, but has since been extended into quite a sizeable trendy venue.

Wednesday, I was due back at work in the evening, so I decided to have a chill day at home. I didn't need to go anywhere and that was fine by me. LB headed out to look at another flat and meet a friend.  She got good news about the flat we saw the day before in that they had accepted an offer from her and her friend, so things seem to be moving forward on that, which is good.

I did a bit of financial reckoning today, as it was month end. I feel like I'm treading water at the moment. I just seem like I'm getting ahead a little and then something else comes along to upend all my efforts, i.e. the dental treatment. I still haven't made a decision, but I'm probably just going to have to get it done. At least it was payday today, so that was a positive.  I really am going to try for a very low spend month in August. No unplanned for purchases and minimal spending only on absolute necessities. Sometimes I guess it takes a bit of adversity to make you really knuckle down and stick to it.

Work was a bit more interesting tonight, as I got to work on my favourite section. It kept me very busy all night, but made a nice change from where I usually work.

On Thursday, I was tired after work the night before, so I had a lie in and then a very chill morning at home.  In the afternoon, I decided to take myself off to our local mall which is about 3 miles away, but I decided to walk there to get some steps in. It was a pretty hot day, so it was a bit uncomfortable weather for walking, but I got there okay and the air conditioning once there cooled me down.  The main reason to go was to get my favourite soap from the Waitrose there, as I'd run out. It's their basic essential cammomile soap and I really like it. I got a few other groceries whilst there, to tide us over until I shop again and then I came home, on the bus, as I didn't want to carry the groceries for 3 miles.

Later, when I got back, I had to go out to post a birthday card and I accompanied OH to the allotment to harvest, water and do a bit of weeding. I now have a few days off work and I'm going to enjoy having some free time to potter at home and do jobs about the house and garden. I may even feel inclined to do some sewing too.

Friday, I got up and went to the gym. I'm getting by on just two sessions of exercise per week lately. It's just too hot to train in the shed. I'll wait until the weather cools to train in there. Anything is better than nothing though. I've stopped tracking my calorie intake, as it just got too tedious and depressing as I kept overeating. I'm finding I'm eating less when I don't track.

I had a very chill day on Friday. I didn't do whole lot in the afternoon. It was very muggy outside, so I pottered about indoors, watered my plants, caught up on a bit of YouTube/Blogger. I also went to bed for a nap, as I didn't sleep hardly at all the night before. There's a lot going on behind the scenes right now, that I won't mention on here for now and sometimes when I go to bed at night my mind is racing and it prevents me from getting a good night's sleep.

The last couple of evenings, I've got into watching the Olympics and I'm really enjoying it. I missed the first week due to working quite a bit.

On Saturday morning, I had a really leisurely morning. I didn't need to go anywhere, so I had a shower and spent a couple of hours pampering myself. I say pampering, but it was really just getting up to scratch on the basics, such as removing my nail varnish and cutting my toenails, plucking my eyebrows, etc. It's easy to just not prioritise these things and I enjoy when I actually spend time doing them. It feels like I'm taking more care of myself.

After lunch, I decided to embark on another decluttering task that needs doing, namely decluttering a lot of financial paperwork from years ago. I decided it was time and it would be good to free up some space. I decided to let go of 5 ringbinders full of paperwork. I now need to shred most of it, which will take a while. I made a start on the shredding, but there's lots more to do.

When I finished that task, OH was ready to load the car and take all the decking debris to the tip, so I helped him and we managed to get it all there and disposed of with only 10 minutes left before the tip closed. It felt good to get it all out of the garden. OH has now removed all the old and rotten joists and cleared up the space where the decking had been in readiness for building the new deck.

We then spent the evening watching the Olympics again. I do love it when I get into watching it and it was a nice way to end the week. Have you been enjoying the Olympics?