This Week - W/E 15th October 2022

This week got off to a great start on Sunday. As my birthday is this week, we arranged to go over to see LB at her Halls of Residence in South London and take her out for lunch.

Before we met up with her, we spent a couple of hours over at Herne Hill Velodrome as OH was competing in a cycle cross competition.  That was quite enjoyable as it was a lovely day and I could take the dog into the spectator's area of the outdoor track.  There were lots of families there with children competing too.

Once OH had finished his race, we headed off to meet LB. It was so lovely to see her. It had been about a month since she'd been back home for a visit. We took a big bag full of things that she wanted from home, which she was happy to receive. The dog was really pleased to see her too.

Anyway, we headed out to lunch at a local pub with a beer garden. It was so nice to catch up with her news and find out how things were going at Uni.  She seems to be enjoying it and making lots of friends.

After lunch, we popped into a few shops on the high street and then we dropped her off back at her halls before heading home. It was a lovely day and a good start to my birthday week.

On Monday, it was back to doing the weekly shop. I didn't have a really big list, after doing a pretty big shop last week, so I was able to keep costs to a minimum.  I treated myself to a new handbag from Sainsbury's with some birthday money that OH had given me. It only cost £15, but I needed a new one, as my current one hasn't worn well. Usually, I would buy second hand, but I haven't seen any that I like at car boot sales or in charity shops when I've looked lately. Here's a picture of it:

It's not my usual style, but I fancied a change.

I put a few Xmas items into the trolley today when I saw them at good prices, as it will spread the cost for me this year. Just a few bits of food here and there, an advent calender for me and a couple of small consumable gifts. I was able to use some Nectar points in Sainsburys which saved me £5 today and was a blessing. 

In order to afford Xmas presents this year, I'm putting aside all the proceeds from any online sales and I will use these to buy presents for LB and OH. I'll wait until I've got a good amount, until I spend it, but it is steadily rising, week on week. Hopefully, I'll have enough to cover the cost of Xmas if I stick to it and continue to sell things.

When I got back from doing the shop, I posted off a couple of online sales and then pottered around at home,  did a bit of financial housekeeping and then worked on my patchwork for the rest of the day.

Tuesday, I got up and got ready and out with the dog. I then headed off to the gym for my aerobics class, which was good. I was told once again, that I can't book in using my current membership, which is for a different borough, and need to buy a new membership. I decided to set one up, as I was told it only cost £1.35, hopefully it will prevent me having trouble getting into classes in the future. 

I spent the afternoon listing online and preparing and posting out a couple of parcels.

I decided not to go to the Soca Aerobics class on Wednesday. I just wasn't feeling it. I wanted to have a day where I didn't need to rush round on the dog walk and dress in gym gear, so I put on a dress and tights and had a long walk with the dog.

When I got back we received a delivery of some smokeless coal to see us through  the winter. OH had ordered 10 bags a few weeks ago and they finally came. We should be fine now for heat, electricity, gas shortages or not.

Later, in the afternoon, I did a bit of financial housekeeping.  With everything that is happening with the economy, I decided to cash in a small pension. I'd been thinking about doing it for a few months and finally bit the bullet and did it. It felt like a big decision, but I have no regrets, as it drew a line under my employment with a particular employer, which wasn't a wholly positive experience. 

Trying to get through on the telephone to do this took a long time, as the lines were so busy, which just highlights peoples' current concerns about their pensions at the moment. It took over 40 minutes to get to speak to anyone. I have a plan for what I'm going to do with the proceeds and hopefully, I shouldn't need to pay too much tax on it, as I haven't been working for the past 4 months. Having had no success so far in getting a job either, I might not be working for months to come, so I may not even reach my tax free allowance this year.

Thursday was a quiet but productive day. I spent the afternoon, sewing and making new stock to sell online.  I tried a couple of new ideas. One was a no-go, as it was way to fiddly. Another was quite quick and simple, which is how I like makes to be. I cut out fabric ready to go for when I get the urge to make more items. I also made some packaging today too, which I enjoyed. It felt good to spend time on creative pursuits.

Friday, was another creative kind of day too. I finished off some items that I'd started previously, to clear a bit of space on my desk in the sewing room. It gets very cluttered up with half made things at times.

I also had to go out to take some library books back and I picked up a few more whilst there. One was a book about the Victoria and Albert Museum's Textile collection and I was interested to note that I have some pieces of one or two of the fabrics that were in there.

I then went to Lidl to do a top up shop for the weekend, as we were running low on salad items and dog kibble. I bought a bit more than we needed, so I shouldn't need to get as much on Monday when I do the weekly shop. I was in bed by 10pm as I hadn't slept well the night before, and thankfully got a really good night's sleep.

On Saturday morning, OH took the dog out, so I decided to spend the morning listing items online. A month or so ago, I went through my vintage linen collection and decided I would sell some items, but they have sat in boxes since, awaiting my attention.  Well, this was the day and I managed to list quite a few. I'm hoping they sell. A few others I decided weren't in good enough condition to list, so I will either use them or use them for the fabric and a couple more I decided to put back in my collection. Progress was made, however.

In other news, we had a bit of a power cut today.  I thought 'Oh here we go', thinking that it was a black out, but it was actually our toaster that had tripped everything.  We only got it during Lockdown too, so it's not that old. Very annoying, as I need it daily for my breakfast.  Potato cakes done in the microwave aren't quite the same. 

I hope you've had a good week.