A Visit to Yorkshire and Settling Back In at Home

On Thursday of last week, OH and I were heading off to Yorkshire to visit family. I was booked into the gym at 10am, so I headed off there on my bike, so I could get back as quickly as possible and pack in time for our departure.

The class was good, but the new music wasn't so good. I'm hoping that eventually the instructor will be able to find good enough music on the new system to enable her to continue with her regular class, otherwise we might find ourselves doing step routines, which I'm not that keen on, as I damaged my knee doing these classes many years ago. We'll just have to see how it pans out. It's early days.

When I got home, I showered and changed, packed and had some lunch before we headed off up the motorway. The journey wasn't too bad, although we did pass a car on the opposite carriage way that was engulfed in flames. Luckily, I think the passengers had got out, as there were a few people stood a distance from the car.  The fire brigade hadn't yet arrived, but we were surprised how close cars were passing the scene of the fire.

Anyway, we continued on and got to OH's mums around supper time. She had kindly made us some food, which was appreciated and we spent the evening chatting and catching up on news, inbetween watching a bit of Crufts on TV.

On Saturday morning, OH went off on a run and I drove to his brother's to meet him there, via the local charity shops. I haven't really had a look in a charity shop for a few weeks, as I haven't really had the budget, so it was nice to have a little browse. One of the shops had a half price sale on, and I ended up buying a 100% viscose dress for £3.

It's a flattering style, so I'm quite happy with it. I have made a small adjustment to it around the neckline, as it had two lots of ties. I removed both of these and stitched the neck slit closed, as it looks better on this way. I really like it and hope to get a lot of wear out of it. It's the first item of clothing that I've bought this year, which is good for me.

OH and I then visited his brother and his partner. Unfortunately, his brother is still not recovered from a major stroke, so is housebound. It was nice to see him and he seems okay in the circumstances. I took his partner out to do a bit of shopping whilst OH sat with him, as she struggles to get out of the house and it made a change for her.

Later, when we left, OH and I went over to Boyes to get a few bits we needed before stopping off at a pub for a drink on the way back to his mum's.

We spent the second evening at OH's mum's again. She had kindly made us supper. It was her 83rd birthday on Saturday, so we spent as much time with her as we could this visit.

Saturday morning, we got up and whilst OH's mum was at church we headed out to get a few extra bits for her birthday and to find a cake. We all later met at his brother's house, along with his sister who had driven over. It was nice to see her too and catch up with her family's news before heading back to London.

The journey back was quite good, with not too much traffic on the roads, but we were glad to get back to our house and settle back in. It was lovely to see LB too, when she got home from work.

I spent the evening working on the ironing board project. I miss my sewing when I go away and it was lovely to get back to it. It helps me stay calm.

On Sunday morning, I woke late, as I'd stayed up late watching a couple of movies on TV. I had a lie in reading for a while. I decided not to go to the gym today. I just wanted a day at home settling back in, making my shopping list for the week, unpacking, doing some laundry and catching up on jobs. I'll start back at the gym on Tuesday when I go to a class.

Later on Sunday, OH and I went to the allotment. He to plant out his potato tubers and sort out the new manure bin, that we need to store some fresh manure in to rot down, and I to do some weeding of the plot as a lot of small weeds were starting to surface now we've had some warmer weather. We took some spare York Stone pavers with us to sit the manure bin on. It was an enjoyable couple of hours pottering on the plot and it looked tidy as we came away. We probably won't be doing much else on it for the remainder of March. I may go down and do a bit more weeding of the paths, but only if I feel so inclined and the weather allows.

When we got home, I made some banana muffins from some overripe bananas that I had in the freezer. They'd been there a good while and needed using. I found a recipe on Pinterest and just gave it a go. They ended up being very tasty. I would definitely make them again.

We watched the best in show final of Crufts in the evening. We've enjoyed seeing all the lovely dogs.

A Return to Reading

For a few years now, I've done very little reading. I always used to be a voracious reader, especially as a child, but in recent years I've felt very distracted, and found it really difficult to sit down and pick up a book. I don't think the advent of smart phones and other online activities (i.e YouTube) have helped. Recently, however, my enthusiasm for reading has returned and it's wonderful. It's like being reacquainted with an old friend.

Whereas it used to take me months to work my way through a book, I've read half a dozen in the last couple of months and I am really enjoying myself. I tend to read in bed, in the morning when I wake up, as there are no distractions and I'm snug and comfortable under the covers. (I know I'm very fortunate that I can do this, due to not working at the moment) I do sometimes read at the kitchen table or lying on the sofa, but not often and only when I'm really engrossed in a book.

I've just recently finished an engrossing book and have now started reading another from my TBR (to be read) bookshelf, which has accumulated over the last few years. The book in question is called 'Feral' by George Monbiot, who is a writer and environmentalist and it concerns itself with re-wilding the land and sea and our human instincts for wildness. It's very interesting.

I've also lined up a couple of other reads on a similar subject, which seems to have become a favourite genre in recent weeks. Living in a big city, it is so easy to become estranged from nature, yet I find it very important for keeping myself sane and grounded in a chaotic and difficult world.

Reading is such a wonderful activity. It doesn't have to cost much, if you use your local library or buy books second hand, yet it can provide hours of entertainment.  I have to admit that, in general, I'm more drawn to non-fiction, which I know is not everyone's preferred choice, but it can be so interesting and enlightening about our world and our experiences in and of it.

I'm hoping that I continue to enjoy this hobby going forward and don't get too distracted from it again. Do you read much?

Monthly Make - February/March 2026

For the duration of February, I continued with my make for the month, namely to cover one side of a chair cover, using left over denim. It was a very slow and quite frustrating process, stitching each small piece using a zig zag stitch. Eventually by the end of the month I'd got to the bottom of the fabric I was attaching them to. I have to say that it was a relief, as it was a lot of work just to use up fabric scraps, but such is life. Here's a picture of the patchwork piece I created:

Before attaching it, I had to make a small repair to the velvet side of the cover, as a small hole had worn in it, but this was easy enough to do and it looked much better for it. I also washed and dried it, as I don't think I'd done that for a while.

Once it had dried, I could attach the patchworked denim backing and put it back into use. It was, however, March by the time I completed this, so I didn't actually complete this project in February as I intended, but here's a picture of the finished item anyway:

 

I'm happy enough with the result and at least it is now back in use and should serve it's purpose for many more years to come.

In between continuing with this make, I did also start a project to make a new ironing board cover and also made some fabric yarn for a forthcoming weaving project. I always like to have a few projects on the go, so that when I tire of one, I can distract myself with another, until I'm feeling motivated again.

My monthly make for March, however, is a slightly different project for me. I am intending to finally weave a reasonable sized rug for the sewing room. It will be in different shades of green, brown  and cream, to go with some new curtains I am going to put up. I have now finished making the fabric yarn for it and will weave it together later in the month.

I'm intending to weave it whilst OH and LB are both away, as I will have the space and lack of interruptions to set up a clothing rail as a loom in the living room. I'm hoping to get it finished, for the most part, whilst they are away and then maybe bind it by hand. It's a big new project for me, and I'm not sure how it will turn out, but it should be fun.

In between, I will also work on other existing projects and I'll update you on how these go next month. 

Have you got any interesting creative projects on the go at the moment?

A Short Week - W/E 8th March 2026 - Part One

This week was going to be a short week, as OH and I were heading up to Yorkshire to visit family on Thursday. LB was working, so wasn't able to come with us. As a consequence, I could be a little conservative with regard to the weekly shop. Some things I forgot to pick up, some items I couldn't find and a few items I decided to leave until we got back from Yorkshire. I still spent a lot this week though as some expensive items needed replenishing, i.e. xylitol and shampoo. (I use Alpecin and it's almost £9 per large bottle and Xylitol is £10 for a large bag)

There were lots of yellow stickered goods available in Tesco, but they weren't very heavily reduced, so I didn't buy many of them. I just bought some veggie bean burgers and some pork loin steaks to put in the freezer. I did also get some tangerines reduced, but nothing else, which was disappointing.

I did manage to get some crumpets reduced in B&M and Aldi and these just go into the freezer for my breakfasts, so they should last me a couple of weeks. I also had a 10% off voucher on my shopping at Lidl, so that helped me save £6+ pounds this week. I did probably buy more than we needed, but it will all get eaten at some point and I still needed to make sure there was enough food for LB to eat in our absence.

On Monday evening, OH and I continued watching a new drama series we found on Netflix called Dark Winds, it's set on a Navajo reservation in Arizona and it's quite interesting.

Tuesday, started off with an Aerobics class as usual. I was concerned that the change in music would make it less enjoyable, but it didn't this week at least. As it was a nice, bright, dry day, I took a much longer route home though a nature reserve, which was enjoyable and got me a few more steps in.

I did a bit of fabric yarn making for my weaving when I got home. I've almost made all the yarn that I need now. I then watched a couple of episodes of Silent Witness on BBC iPlayer and found a new series to watch on Netflix, which was quite funny. It wasn't a very productive day today, I have to admit, but some days are like that and I like not being busy rushing around and instead taking time to do things that I enjoy. 

On Wednesday, OH was out in the morning. I sorted a bit of laundry, did a bit of blogging/blog reading and then decided to do a bit of sewing in the new craft corner. I stitched the last 15 metres of fabric yarn together for weaving.  I was surprised at how little time it took, less than an hour. All the fabric yarn I need is now gathered together in a basket ready to weave. I'm looking forward to it.

I decided today, that my next weaving project, after the green rug for the sewing room, is going to be to make a colourful scrappy woven rug for the shed. It should be a good way to use up lots of colourful scraps of fabric I've accumulated. It will probably take a while, as it will take time to make all of the small scraps into fabric yarn and then weave them into a rug. It will, however, keep me busy and make good use of otherwise not easily usable fabric.

After making the fabric yarn, I finally finished stitching the seat cover, my February make. I attached the denim patchwork piece to the back of the old cover and trimmed up the edges. I had to hand stitch it closed as it was a bit too thick to machine top stitch, but it looks okay and will at least last a bit longer now. I've posted separately about this.

I then began working on the ironing board cover project that I started last month. I laid the EPP pieces I'd made on the board and then proceeded to hand stitch them together. I just need to add a few additional pieces around the edges so that it can be folded under the board, bound and strung. I'm liking the overall effect so far though. As a consequence, it felt like a much more productive day.

It's been quite a sewing heavy half of the week, which is all good, as I love progressing my projects.

Financial Round Up - February 2026

I love February, from a financial point of view at least, as it's a very short month. This said, I only just managed to eke it out through the month in spite of my spending being the least it has been in a long time, more than two years to be exact.

I'm now down to my last two months existing on what I saved from my last job. It should take me to the end of April, which isn't bad, as it will have lasted 8 months by then. OH does, of course, help out with food and other necessities, so I must give him credit for that, but it is surprising how little you can exist on if you put your mind to it.

From May, I will be using some savings as income, until some pensions mature later in the year, after which I'm hoping to use those going forward. Fortunately, I had a boost to the savings I will be using this month, when some dividends were paid out early and this account should now see me through until my pensions start paying me, give or take a few pounds. With a bit of luck, more money might appear between then and now, what with interest payments on savings due in April and possibly another dividend at some point. It is, of course, not ideal to eke out each month in this way, but until I find a job that resonates, which sounds very selective I know, I am happy to do so.

Spending this month was, as I've mentioned much reduced, probably by at least £150 on even the lowest months in recent years. I'm not quite sure how I did it, but I hardly bought anything other than food and household essentials. I did need to buy a few things on eBay for the allotment (potato tubers and seeds), some toiletries I can't get elsewhere and I spent £8 on a new fitted cotton sheet at Tesco using a £4 off voucher. 

The only other non-food/household expenditure was £5 on some books, £6 on various bits and £2 on some denim jeans for fabric, all bought from charity shops and well within the £20 per month limit that I allow myself for thrifting, so I'm fairly okay with these purchases. 

No items of clothing were bought this month, save for a couple of small accessories. Having got out of the habit of buying them, it does make me wonder why I was compulsively buying so many items when I did work and earn money.  I also bought a few consumable Valentines gifts, but these probably cost around £10 in total.

I didn't book a dental appointment, as I'm still on the fence about whether to move practice and I didn't book an optical appointment, as I didn't get a reminder from ASDA, but I'm intending to do that this coming month, as it is important and can't be left indefinitely. Not sure where I'm going to go for that though, possibly another optician's practice, as ASDA have in my experience, always been very slack on reminding me when I need an eye test.

Apart from this, I don't have any big expenses coming up next month, although Easter is approaching and I will need to buy some chocolate eggs for OH and LB. Also, it is OH's mother's birthday next month, so a present for her, which OH and I will take up north with us when we visit family this month.  It will be nice to have a change of scenery. 

OH and LB are also both going away at the same time later in March, so I will be home alone for a while, but I am intending to use this time to weave a rug using a clothing rail, as I need space to put up the rail and take my time using it to complete the weave. 

Once the weather warms up a bit, I will be able spend time on the allotment and in the garden, both of which are very inexpensive hobbies that I enjoy. I've also earmarked a few free events for Women's History Month that I'd like to attend in various parts of East London, so that might be interesting.

I didn't make it to an exhibition this month, as the weather put me off going out and I wasn't really feeling motivated to do it, but I'll try to do something next month. I was thinking of going to The Stitch Festival in Islington, but at £20 for a ticket, plus nearly £5 booking fee, I've decided not to bother, as I'll only want to spend money when I get there. The booking fee does seem particularly expensive too.

I hope you've had a good month financially in February and have lots of nice things planned for March.

Ekeing Things Out at the End of the Month - W/E 1st March 2026

The last week of February started with a lie in. I finished reading 'Worn - A People's History of Clothing' by Sofi Thanhauser. It was one of those books that I was sad to finish, as I have enjoyed it. I relished delving into a new chapter every time I picked it up. 

Anyway, I then read the first chapter of another book, which is essentially about food waste. It was written in 2009, so it is probably a little dated, but hopefully I'll enjoy reading it. I think perhaps there is more done to prevent food waste these days, as lots of supermarkets now seem to be on board with distributing their unsold items to charities or foodbanks.  There is, however, probably still a lot of food waste happening in the world, so it is still worth reading. We try very hard not to waste any food in our house, but occasionally we have little option than to throw out or compost some items that are beyond redemption.

After getting up and ready, I headed out to do the weekly shop. I had a limited budget this week of around £82, which I knew wasn't quite enough to get everything I needed. I did put £13 worth of stuff on my credit card, which will be paid off next month, and the rest came out of the £82 budget. I managed it just, with 8p to spare. Hopefully, I won't need to spend any further money this week, but if I do the credit card will have to come out again.

I managed to get quite a few yellow stickered items again this week, which was good and the freezer is full, so we've got more than we actually need for the week. I seem to have overspent on food this month by £60, which is probably on account of stocking up on quite a lot of things. It's fine though, it will all get eaten.

LB made use of the new crafting table on Monday afternoon, which is good. Talking of crafting, I started a new patchwork project on Monday evening, using some of my favourite fabrics in my stash. I've been saving them for something special for years, but I figured why just hang onto it, I need to use it and see it in daily use.  

Whilst making some fabric chains in the lead up to Xmas, I ironed some interfacing on the wrong side, sticking it to the ironing board, which was very stupid of me, so I've decided to make a new ironing board cover. It's an EPP project (English Paper Pieceing), so I've cut out some pieces, which I now need to baste and then start sewing together. As usual, I'm jumping from one project to another, but I like to have several projects on the go. I can't help myself.

Tuesday morning, I headed out to Zumba which was good. When I got back I spent a couple of hours sewing on my machine at the new craft table. It was nice to have a big space on which to sew and one that was in a different location in the house. LB was working in the afternoon, so I had the space to myself.

I then spent most of the rest of the afternoon working on other hand sewing projects, hanging out some laundry, etc. I finished a couple of small projects I'd started last week and did a bit more work on the new EPP project.

In the evening, I finished watching the Irish version of The Traitors which was good. No spoilers here though. Then, OH and I watched this week's episode of Industry.

Wednesday, I had a lie in in the morning and read a bit of my current book. It was a beautiful day, the best so far this year, with blue skies and sunshine, so I decided to finally get myself outside and walked into town to visit our newly refurbished library. I had a couple of other errands to do whilst out, so I did those too. It feels like it's been such a long wet winter, it was so lovely to feel the sun on my face again, whilst getting nearly 7,000 steps in.

It was very busy out and about. The sunshine had obviously had the same effect on many people. At the library, I found a few books to take out that sounded interesting. Here's a picture:

I also decided to order a particular book that I want to read. It's on my eBay watchlist, but rather than pay £12 -£13 for it, I thought I'd borrow it from the library for free instead. Although I'd like to own it, it isn't necessary to own every book I read. I also picked up a leaflet about London Open Gardens for charity and also one for Women's History Month, which takes place next month. There were a few events that I wouldn't mind attending, many of them free.

When I got home, I had a couple of hours on the sewing machine at the new craft table again. I'm trying to finish my February sewing project before the end of the week. LB was working again today, so I got to use the new crafting space, but for most of the rest of the week, she'll be using it herself.

The evening was spent watching another episode of The Lady on ITV that we'd recorded and then we watched a programme about painter L.S. Lowry which was interesting.

On Thursday, I was up and out to my class at the gym. It was the last class before the music changes, as the company that run the gym are refusing to pay license fees for Zumba and other music from March. Apparently they will have their own playlist of presumably non-licensed music. Sounds horrendous, but I'll just have to see how it pans out. OH came along with me today, to use the gym, but went home before I'd finished my workout, so I joined him at home later after taking a longer than normal route home, making the most of the weather being dry.

I didn't do a lot in the afternoon. I started watching a new drama series on BBC iplayer called The Walsh Sisters, which was about an Irish family with five daughters. It was good and I ended up binge watching 3 episodes before doing a bit of reading of one of the books I got from the library, called 'Homesick - Why I Live in a Shed' by Catrina Davies. I'm really enjoying it. It is well written and informative and talks a lot about rural and urban housing issues and poverty, which is very pertinent today for young people. It's taken priority over my current book, due to the fact that I will need to return it in a couple of weeks.

Friday, was a totally free day, with nothing planned. I had a long lie in reading the above book, which was enjoyable. After lunch I did a bit of financial housekeeping, as it was the end of the month, wrote a couple of blog posts and then made some deodorant, air freshener and a reed diffuser from some ingredients I had to hand.  Not sure how the latter will work out, but I make the other two regularly and they work well enough.  I then took a walk to the shops to get some milk and pick up a prescription.

On Saturday, we had next door's dog again. I did a bit of sewing for a couple of hours and finished attaching the small denim patches for the seat cover. I washed the actual cover and now just need to wait for it to dry before I can attach the new backing. 

We took the dog with us to the allotment after lunch and did a few small jobs. I say small, but we were there for 2 hours. We then took him for a walk. The sun even came out for a while, which was lovely. The dog came to us having just had a bath and by the time we got home he was stinky, having rolled in something not very nice at the park. OH had to shampoo him before sending him home.

In the evening, we finished watching The Lady and then I watched a couple more episodes of The Walsh Sisters which is really good. I didn't get to sleep until late as LB was out with friends and I never really settle until I know she's home safely.

As a consequence of a late night on Saturday, I had a lie in on Sunday morning reading my library book. It is so good, another book I will be sad to finish reading. I would definitely recommend it. I dug out a few books from my 'waiting to be read' pile, that I feel in the mood to read. I really need to work on getting this pile down this year and donating any read books I don't want to keep.

I was late going out to the gym, so I didn't get home until 2.30pm. I did a bit of hand sewing and chopping up waste fabric from some jeans I'm dismantling in the afternoon. Nothing exciting. I'm trying to get my current and ongoing sewing projects in some kind of order, as they got a bit messy and were sprawling all over the kitchen table.

It's been a quiet month, mainly due to the weather and financial limitations, but it has passed quite quickly. I'm hoping things will pick up a bit when the weather warms up and I can get out in the garden and onto the allotment more. I am, however, pretty happy living a slow and self determined existence, as opposed to being at the beck and call of a large corporation, always hungry to increase their profits. Life is much simpler and less demanding and I'm slowly learning to live within my new more restrictive means without too much difficulty.

A More Positive Week - W/E 22nd February 2026

This week started with a nice day out grocery shopping with LB. She decided to come along as she wasn't working until the end of the week, so we had a nice day out together. I'd forgotten that it was half term and the kids were off school, so when we got to Home Bargains it was very busy. It was also busy because it was the start of Ramadam the following day, so lots of families were out shopping in readiness. The car park was gridlocked, which was an unusual occurrence in recent weeks.

The remainder of the shopping went fine. I had a £4 off voucher to use at Tesco, so I bought a new 100% cotton fitted sheet that I needed and used it for that, making it just £8 instead of £12. There were  quite a few yellow stickered items to be had this week, for a change, which was good.

I also had a £5 voucher to use at Holland & Barrett, so I decided to use it to buy some Xylitol granules, which I use as a sweetener. I was only able to use £3 worth of the voucher, but that was fine as it made the cost 49p, so virtually free.

LB and I did visit the charity shop, but I just bought two pairs of denim jeans from the £1 rail to use for another denim project I have in mind. Too good to miss at that price. I'm planning on making some cushion covers for the outdoor chairs in the garden.

We had a family discussion in the evening, about altering the layout in the front living room, to give LB a space to do some crafting, as she doesn't really have space in her bedroom, as her desk is set up for computer gaming and not crafting. It will mean getting rid of the small sofa in there and getting her a new desk or table, but to be honest I've always found this sofa really uncomfortable and never use it. I much prefer the large sofa we have in the back living room, that we do use. Also,  LB may be doing some remote work soon, so it will also give her a place to work that isn't her bedroom, which I think is important. I'm just happy to make better use of our spaces within the house. I don't really have any strong opinions, so long as the space doesn't become too cluttered and an eyesore.

On Monday evening, I watched a couple more episodes of the Irish version of The Traitors. The characters in this version are interesting and quite entertaining. 

I was due at the gym on Tuesday morning for Zumba and really enjoyed the class. I have to say that I am really enjoying being back doing choreographed, dance type classes at the gym. I've realised how much I missed them, when I stopped going a few years ago. I think they are improving my aerobic fitness and they really lift my spirits. I've danced or done some type of dance classes for most of my life and find it a really positive form of self expression. It's more expensive, but it's worth it. I'm not ready to give them up yet. It also helped that for once, it was a lovely bright sunny day on Tuesday. Normally, it is raining as I make my way to the gym, so it made a really nice change. It's amazing how a little bit of sunshine can change your mood dramatically.

I spent the afternoon doing a few jobs at home, mainly laundry. I finished the wordsearch book I'd bought the previous week. I looked into buying another one, but priced at £3.40 in the shops, I decided to wait until I saw another one in the charity shop.  I also watched another episode of Silent Witness and then caught up to date with The Traitors (Ireland). 

After pancakes for supper, OH and I also watched the last two episodes of Small Prophets which whas really good. 

I love Wednesday mornings, as it's one of those mornings when I'm not at the gym and can read in bed for a while. I finished one book that I've been reading for over a year probably, so I can now donate it. I also read a chapter of another book I'm reading, before getting up and ready for the day. 

I decided to do some more decluttering today. I went through my scarves/hats/accessories baskets and then I went through another set of drawers, extracting all the things I no longer wanted to keep, in part to make them tidier, as they were a bit rammed full. In total, I think I put aside over 20 things to donate, which is all good and made my life a bit easier in the process. I also discovered some glasses that I may get lenses put in, when I have an eyetest this year, rather than buy new ones. Not sure yet, but they could tide me over until I can afford new glasses.

In the afternoon, I took myself off for a walk. It was cold though and I didn't wrap up warm enough. I should have put a hat on. When I got back, I made a chickpea masala from scratch for supper. It was the first time I'd tried a recipe I saw on YouTube and it turned out quite well. We all seemed to enjoy it, so I'll probably make it again sometime.

On Thursday morning, I really didn't want to wake up. I was enjoying a deep sleep, dreaming that I was late for my class at the gym. I eventually managed to get myself out of bed and get ready and go. I wasn't late in my waking life though thankfully. 

In the afternoon, I did a bit of blogging and blog reading. I also did a bit of work dismantling the two pairs of jeans I'd bought earlier in the week. It was a quiet afternoon spent at home, which is the usual these days. 

OH has sourced a free table for LB to craft on in the living room from a cycling friend, so we now just need to take the sofa to the tip, before he can collect it. She should be able to use the room as early as next week, hopefully. I may use it myself, when she isn't using it. It will give me a different space/view when sewing.

Friday, I had all good intentions of going to our newly opened central library, but it was raining heavily and I decided not to venture out as a consequence. Instead, I enjoyed watching some of the Winter Olympics, which has been very inspiring this month. I will definitely be going to the library next week, as I now have another errand that I need to do in the area, so it's probably just as well that I held off.

On Saturday, I had a lie in reading again and then our neighbours dropped their dog off with us for the day, as they were going out. It was nice to have his company again and OH and I took him out for a walk once the Rugby on TV, i.e. England vs Ireland had finished.  We stopped off at the pub again on the way home for a drink.

I treated OH to steak and asparagus for supper. I'd bought it for Valentine's day, but he'd taken us out to eat, so we had it this weekend instead. It's a rare treat these days, but we enjoyed it. LB was out working in the afternoon and then out with friends in the evening, so it was just OH and I at home.

Sunday morning, was my usual gym session. OH wasn't cycling this week, so he came with me.  Later in the afternoon, we took the sofa from the living room to the tip. We couldn't donate it, as I think I'd removed the fire retardancy labels, so the tip was our only option, which is regrettable. OH later went to pickup the new crafting table from his friend and set it up in the living room for LB. Hopefully, she will make good use of it.

In the evening, we watched a new series on ITV called The Lady which was good.

It's been a bit of a slow week this week, mainly due to the rainy weather, but small bits of progress have been made in certain areas, which is better than nothing. I hope you've had a more productive week than mine.