Weekly Diary W/E 29th May

After a few very unproductive weeks, I decided to make a bit of an effort this week and try to do a bit more on my days off. I didn't start off too well, as on Sundays I always like to take it easy, but I did begin the day by hanging out some laundry and then I went through the three bags of clothes that LB was throwing out after her bedroom clearout, to see if there was anything I wanted to keep. 

On this occasion, there were just two items, one was a cute gingham summer dress that I decided to hang on to and the second an M&S plaid skirt that looks okay on. The dress needs a little bit of alteration to improve the fit, but it is very pretty. I bagged up the rest and later took them to the donation bank, along with some other bits of my own that I no longer wanted to keep. I also dropped off some books that I'd read recently to the Little Free Library, so that was a good few unwanted things leaving the house today. I did pick up one non-fiction book from the Little Free Library and I also picked up a few groceries on the way back, as I hate to have an empty fruit bowl.

I've taken a liking to eating instant porridge lately. I'm not sure if it's a comfort thing during the recent spell of rainy weather.  I've started to mix in some chopped hazelnuts, sultanas and chia seeds which made it extra special and yummy.  One great thing about the weather we've been having recently, is that the garden is looking very lush and green. Gooseberries and blueberries are growing on the bushes and everything seems to be thriving, even things that haven't really thrived in previous years seem to be doing well this year.

On Monday, I had a few bits and pieces of paperwork to do. The first task was to get some paperwork together for work, for the renewal of my DBS or Criminal Records check. I needed to copy several identity documents to take to work the following day. I then went on to do a bit of financial paperwork and check my state pension forecast, which had increased since I last looked. I also found that I now need just 3 more years of National Insurance contributions to qualify for a full state pension, which was encouraging.  I also looked at a couple of old workplace pensions that are due to mature and be paid to me when I'm 60, in 5 years time. I don't know if I'll defer these until I'm 65, so that they will hopefully increase in value, or start taking them from the age of 60. It's not a huge sum, but definitely worth having. I like to keep abreast of where I'm at pension wise, to help motivate me to continue to save towards retirement.

I also managed to get LB to set up an online account for her Child Trust Fund, which matured earlier this year and has now been transferred into an ISA. It's only taken 5 months to get around to it. I was happy when she did though, as I was able to see what the current balance is. What with that and a savings account I started years ago to save towards her university fees, there is now a healthy £12k set aside. I could have put more away if I had been more proactive over the years, but I will continue to put money aside for her every month until she goes to Uni next year and even whilst she's there and this should definitely help towards keeping her student debts as low as possible.

On Tuesday, I returned to work. As always there was plenty to do. When I got on the bus home I noticed that I'd had a message from my GP surgery inviting me to book my 2nd Covid vaccination, so I did that straight away and booked an appointment on Bank Holiday Monday. I know this is a strange day to go, but I've not got anything else planned and the shop isn't opening, so it makes no difference to me. I'm just happy to get it as soon as I can and that was the first date available.

LB informed me later that night that she'd got an interview for a part-time waitressing job with the same brewery company she used to work for,  before she was made redundant during Lockdown, but at a different pub/restaurant. She went for the interview on Wednesday and thought it went well. She found out on Thursday that she'd got the job and will be put on the rota in 10 days time, which is good news.

On Wednesday, I didn't really get around to a great deal on my day off as I felt pretty tired. I did go out and do a top up grocery shop though and posted some cards off to my sister in Australia. The remainder of the day was pretty chilled. I did a bit of sewing on my quilt whilst watching Nomadland on Disney+. OH subscribed for a month mainly for this film, which was very good but sad. I'm sure there'll be lots of other things on there that we'll find to watch before the month is up.

Thursday at work was busy as usual. I have to say that I'm actually feeling quite tired at the moment. The last two months getting the shop up and running has been quite intense and feels like much longer than just two months. I'm starting to feel like I need a break, so maybe my Jury Service coming up will give me that. I'm taking the time off as annual leave, despite the fact that I'm entitled to it by law, because I had so much time off last year due to Lockdown, that I don't want the charity to be out of pocket again by my absence. It's my decision and just a small way I can give back to my employer after the devastation that Covid has brought.

Friday was a leisurely day. OH went away for a few days with his cycling friends, to some event in Yorkshire. LB also went out for the day, so it was just me at home. I have to say I quite enjoyed it. I spent a bit of time in the garden pottering, putting a few plants in and doing a bit of weeding. I haven't done that for a good while, what with all the rain.

Most of the rest of the day was spent doing financial month end stuff and then later I popped up to the chemist to get a prescription and pick up some lateral flow tests, whilst out with the dog. I've decided I'm going to test myself every week now that I'm back out at work, especially with the new variant of the virus doing the rounds.

Saturday, I was back to work. As work days go it was okay. I didn't overdo it for once and just took it steady. The buses on the way home were so full that I had to let 3 go past, preferring not to get on them. That added 20 minutes to my commute home, but better to be a bit cautious.

On Sunday, I had the day and evening to myself again.  LB was heading out to stay at a friend's house for the evening, so it was going to be just me and the dog. I decided that we'd have a little outing to my favourite vintage shop. It meant a bus ride and a walk through a different park, which I thought would be a bit of a change for us both and would get me out and about on the Bank Holiday weekend. The weather was a bit overcast when I set out but soon warmed up. I found a few cute things, filling just a small bag for £10. We caught two buses home, as we were pretty tired, and then just chilled at home for the rest of the day.  At least the dog didn't need another walk as we'd been out for over 4 hours. 

I watched a great film on Netflix on Sunday night called Your Version of 40. It was funny.

It's been a slightly more productive week this week, which is good. I'm gradually coming out of my Lockdown hibernation and venturing out again, but only very slowly.