Getting Back to Normal

It's been a week of getting back to normal here, after returning from our holiday last Friday. It almost felt like we'd been away longer than just a week, which must be an indicator of how relaxing a break it was.

I got a nice surprise on returning home. I'd had another small win on the Premium Bonds whilst we were away. I hadn't had one for a couple of months, so I was very happy to win something again. Any income is welcome at the moment.

There was quite a bit to do once home, as always, when you return from holiday.  The garden needed some TLC after not being watered for a week. There were a couple of casualties, one of which was my rose bush, which was upsetting. I'm hoping it may recover next year.

On Saturday, I spent the day doing some post-holiday laundry and then heading out to Lidl to do a food shop for the week, as there was very little food in the fridge in particular. Once replenished we were set for the week.

On Sunday morning, OH and I headed over to the allotment, as quite a lot of work was needed there. There were lots of things to harvest.  We were very surprised and thankful that everything had fared so well in the week we'd been away. OH gave the whole plot a good water, whilst I did most of the harvesting.

My Big Green Smile order arrived an hour before we were due to go on holiday last week, so I didn't have time to unpack it before we set off. I did this on Sunday. Here's a picture of what I ordered:

In order to put everything away in the undersink cupboard, I needed to give it a good clean out, to make room. Once this was done, I was just about able to get everything in.  That's the only drawback of buying in bulk, you need enough space to store it.

Monday was a frustrating day, as I tried to attend a class at the gym and was told I couldn't use my membership to book it. I've not had a problem for the past month, but I couldn't be bothered to argue as there was a long queue of people waiting. 

Instead, I came home and made some new stock to sell and did some listing work on various online selling platforms, which was time well spent. 

On Tuesday, I went back to the gym to go to an Aerobics class and got in this time, thankfully. It was a really good class, I enjoyed it. 

On Wednesday, OH and I took a car full of rubbish to the tip. OH had had a good clear out in his office, well part of it anyway, and had got rid of a lot of clutter. It felt good to get it out of the house.

Thursday, it was my time to do a bit of sorting out. I decided to sort through my vintage linen collection, as I've decided to reduce it and sell some things.  I collected it all about 8-10 years ago and for the most part it has just sat in boxes unused, although I have been getting a few things out recently and using them, such as pillow cases and the odd sheet. I sorted out two boxes to sell. I'm hoping to get a good price for some of it, as most of it is from the 60's and 70's and quite collectable. This should reduce my collection by half, which will create a bit of space.

I also went through my fabric stash and sorted out a huge pile to try to sell. I have to accept that there is no way I'm going to use all of the fabric I own. It's better off going to someone who will use it. I'm feeling the need to clear some space at home at the moment. We have far too much stuff, most of it mine.

The final sort out was of some clothes that I had stored away because they no longer fitted me. Many items were things that I wouldn't wear these days, so a lot of things I was happy to send to the Charity shop. Some vintage things I'm keeping, but have put aside to see if I can sell them and the rest I am keeping in the hope I might fit into them again one day!!

It felt good to have a sort out. I now just need to list them for sale, which will take quite a bit of time, but will hopefully be worth it.

In the afternoon, I headed out in the car to the library to return some books. The roads in London are so much emptier in August, it makes it almost enjoyable to go out and about for once. I then did a small top up shop at Lidl, using up a £2 voucher whilst there. I dropped off a few bits into their food bank basket whilst there, which cleared more stuff from the house.

On Friday, I had booked myself into a session in the gym. After walking the dog, I headed off on my bike. I enjoyed working out in the gym, moving around the machines I like using. It was a good place to be on a hot day, as the air con was lovely and cold.  I was able to book it online very easily too, which made it a lot more straightforward.

It's been a slow and steady kind of week this week, but I feel settled back into some kind of routine which is a good thing.