A Mixed Week W/E 26/8/23

This week has been a real mixed bag, with quite a lot going on. On Saturday morning, OH headed off to the airport, as he was going on a week long cycling holiday in the Alps with a friend. He got off to the airport okay, but then within half an hour, I received a message from LB, who had gone off to work, saying that she'd had an accident and had hurt her foot.

It turned out that she'd got her trouser leg caught in the chain of the electric bike she'd hired and had fallen off it.  The bike had landed heavily on her foot. Luckily, a passing gentleman had helped her to free herself from the bike and she'd continued on to work, but was then in agony when she got there, so she came home to rest it and put an ice pack on it.

Once she was home, I took the dog out. With OH away, I was on dog walking duty for the week. We had a nice walk on the nearby marshes to get the week off to a good start, then it was back for lunch. 

I enjoyed getting back into eating salads for lunch again this week, as I'd rarely eaten them the previous week whilst working, so that was a treat.  Later, I made LB and I chilli for supper and then took the dog for a short walk.

On Sunday, I got up and did some laundry and then took the dog out. When I got back, I had another lovely salad for lunch and then I decided to go out and do the weekly shop a day early, as we were running out of a few things. 

I didn't need to buy too much this week, with OH being away. We could manage mostly on what we already had in the freezer and cupboards, but I did need to get some fruit and other fresh things that were running low. As a consequence, I went to a local Lidl to get most of what we needed and spent half the amount that I usually do, which was a win and should help to keep me as much within budget as possible this month.

I was super tempted by some items in the 'Middle of Lidl', notably a kettle bell, of which they had various weights.  These are difficult to buy online because of the weight for postage. I may go back and get one for that reason, as I do like using them for weight training. There was also a nice pair of workout leggings, but I'm not sure they would have fit me, as there were very limited sizes left in stock.  I resisted the urge and came away without either.

LB's foot seemed a bit better as the day wore on. She'd had to ring in sick again at work, but later on, she could at least put some weight on it, which was progress. It looked swollen and bruised, but I don't think anything was broken. At least I hope not.

On Monday, I woke early and found a couple of interesting jobs to apply for. My current job is a short temporary contract, so I'm still job hunting for when the contract finishes.

Monday was the day of the funeral of a friend of ours, who had died a few weeks ago. As OH was away, he was unable to attend, so I decided to go and represent the both of us. This was the main reason why I had done the weekly shop the day before.  The service was at a local crematorium, a few miles away. It was a lovely service. Very moving. I went back to the house for a drink and a chat and then came home.

LB returned to work today and she seemed to get through it okay.

Tuesday, I was back to the gym, to the class that I usually attend. I was so happy to get back to it, and that the teacher had returned to almost the original format using weights, which I love. I walked there and back to get my steps in.

Later in the afternoon, I finally got around to doing some sewing. I haven't touched any quilting for over a week. Just wasn't feeling it, but I'm glad that I picked the Xmas wreath quilt up again, as it is now progressing well.

LB suffered another blow today, when she was notified that her computer monitor, which had stopped working and had been returned to the manufacturer for repair, had been broken en route and they now want £200 if she wishes to replace it. Needless to say, she was not happy about that.

Wednesday, was LB's day off and my last day off before I go back to work for a couple of full on days. I don't know how late I'll be working on Thursday and Friday, as we need to work until the job is done on both days. As a consequence, the dog is going to a sitter, rather than being left home alone all day.

I had booked a gym session on Wednesday, so I headed out for that in the morning after walking the dog and then in the afternoon, I needed to take LB to her bank, which I combined with a small shop at Morrisons. I managed to find a small George Foreman grill for LB to take to Uni, for only £18, which was a good price. I also bought a pan, but forgot she needed one for an induction hob, so I need to take it back for a refund.

Wednesday night, I spent getting organised ready to go back to work on Thursday.

Thursday morning was a bit of a rush, getting my packed lunch made, and getting everything organised for taking the dog to the sitter. I dropped her off on route to work and then walked up and caught the bus not far from the dog sitter's house. I ended up being half an hour early. We were given lunch vouchers to get a meal deal from the cafe, but I had a packed lunch and preferred this, as I could control my calorie intake better, so I didn't use the vouchers either day this week.

Work on Thursday got off to a slow start, but once the work started coming in, we were busy constantly, all day.  We managed to get the work done by 5pm though, which was good, and left shortly afterwards. It wasn't as bad as I had imagined it might be.

When I got home on Thursday night I had all sorts of jobs to do i.e. feed the dog, make supper, put the bins out for collection the following day, do the washing up, do some washing, picking some lettuce from the garden for my packed lunch the following day, etc. which kept me busy all night. I then jumped into the shower, as it had been a very humid day and I was a sweaty mess.

I got up extra early on Friday and took the dog on a decent walk before dropping her off at the dog sitter's. Again, I got to work a little early, so I just got straight on with doing a small job before the day began proper. Today, the work was a bit more mind numbing, as we were inputting certain data that was very repetitive. We got quite a lot done and finished at 4.30 pm for the Bank Holiday weekend. Again it wasn't too stressful. In all honesty, I think that there might be just one or maybe two more days of work left for us to do next week, unless they find more tasks for us to do.  It's been a good job to do though. I've quite enjoyed it as jobs go.

Having said this, I was glad to get home on Friday night and get the dog home too. I definitely had that Friyay feeling and celebrated with a glass of wine, which is rare for me these days.

On Saturday, I had the day to myself, which was lovely. I took the dog for a walk in the morning and then came back and decided to do the weekly shop yet another day earlier than last week.  The main reason for this was that I had a voucher to use, that gave me £12 off an £80 spend at Tesco, which was expiring the following day. I thought I'd use it to buy LB another pan, an induction one this time and I struck gold as I found a Tefal stainless steel pan reduced from £32 to £16 on a Clubcard deal.

Although it always works out a little more expensive to shop at Tesco, I tend to have to get some things from there anyway each week, so it was worth it to find the bargain pan and use the voucher to pay for most of it.

I got a few things from Lidl too, as I needed to spend just £14 to qualify for 10% off my next shop and I only had this week to spend it, so I bought a few things from the list there. I have to admit that I also bought two kettle bells, one 4kg and one 6kg and two pairs of gym leggings which do fit. The reason I bought two of each, was because there was a deal to get the second of each half price.  The leggings ended up costing £5.25 each and the Kettlebells £6.75 each, which I thought was really reasonable. It was a treat to myself, to help me along on my fitness journey.

Last stop was B&M, for some dog treats, a few bits of food and other items. I spent quite a bit more than I intended in the end for all the shopping, mostly on account of the extra bits I bought, but I don't really regret it. Some of it will come out of next month's budget, as most of the food I bought from Tesco was storecupboard stuff that I bought just to use the voucher, that we didn't really need just yet, but which we will use over the next few weeks.

Luckily, I managed to get home and put the shopping away before the heavens opened and there was thunder, lightening and torrential rain on Saturday evening. Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent indoors.

The other reason that I did the shopping on Saturday, was that OH was arriving back into Gatwick on Sunday and I thought I might need to drive to the airport to pick him up, so I would have missed out on using the Tesco voucher otherwise. Sometimes, it just pays a little, to be flexible and swap around where and on what day you shop, to make the most of offers or money off where you can. 

Looking back on this week, it's been a very busy one, especially with OH away. We've got through it okay though and I should be able to enjoy Bank Holiday Monday before I return to work. Life should also get back to some sort of normality next week, hopefully.

I hope you've had a good week.