This Week - W/E 3/9/22

This week has been a tough one for me emotionally, as it has been the last week of having LB at home before she went off to University. I've felt a bit emotional, and sad at times.  Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy for her to be getting on with her life. It's been a tough year/18 months for her and she's so excited. 

I'm super excited for her too, it's a fun time of life for teenagers, meeting new friends, learning new things, living independently. I'm just sad that we won't see so much of her. I'm going to miss her. I'm sure it's natural to feel like this and most mothers have felt this at some point. I've just got to work through it and get used to it. Letting go is all part and parcel of parenting.

Other than this, the week has been okay. I did the weekly shop at my local Lidl on Bank Holiday Monday, using a £10 voucher and attended my usual class at the gym on Tuesday. I got an email telling me about he resumption of free New Age Games classes from 12th September, so I'm looking forward to that.

On Wednesday, I did some online listing work, after my new lightbox arrived.  It was very inexpensive at less than £5 and it is good for getting better photographs of small items that I list. I have been struggling using my phone, because of light issues and the fact that it has very little available storage, so I have now gone back to using a small compact digital camera that I borrowed from OH. The quality of the photos is much better, so I'm hoping it helps. 

In other news, a friend messaged me on Wednesday and arranged a meet up for next week, which will be nice.

On Thursday, I decided to do a different kind of exercise and took my bike for a spin around Hackney Marshes near to where we live. It's quite a big circuitous route, which probably takes 10-15 minutes each circuit. On my first circuit I saw some herons on the river, but I didn't stop to watch them (I love herons). I instantly regretted it, so I promised myself that on the next circuit I would stop for a while and take a look, after all, it's not as if I don't have the time at the moment. 

I almost had an accident getting down a steep bank next to the river bank, but was luckily saved by a runner who came to my rescue.  Anyway, it was worth it, as there was a mother heron and 4 chicks on the river. The chicks were playfighting and chasing each other, whilst the mother fished nonchalantly close by. It was a lovely thing to see. I've never seen heron chicks before.  They were quite grown, but they were a sight to see. I felt very priviledged.

The whole ride took 40+ minutes and it felt good to get out and breathe in the fresh air. I'm going to try to do it at least once a week, weather permitting. It's exercise, it's free and I do love riding my bike.

Later on Thursday, I drove to an out of town huge Tesco store to get some things that we needed. Mostly storecupboard items and branded condiments that I can't get from Lidl on my weekly shop, as the range they sell is limited. I had a £4 off a £40 spend voucher to use, which saved me some money and made the trip worthwhile. Needless to say, I had no trouble spending £40, but at least we are now stocked up on the main things that we use regularly, which will make weekly shops just the basic essentials for the rest of the month.

When I got back, I spent the rest of the afternoon cooking up offal for the dog, pickling beetroot and making a chilli for supper.

On Friday, I booked a session at the gym. I headed off there after walking the dog. I didn't do a lot else that day. It was the last day before LB headed off to University, so I just had a chill day.

Saturday, was the day we took LB to her new student digs. I've written more about this in another post. 

It's been quite a big week here in our lives, but it's been a positive one. I hope you've had a good week.